NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

     nice - change process scheduling priority

SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]

     #include <unistd.h>

     int
     nice(int incr);

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

     This interface is obsoleted by setpriority(2).

     The nice() function adds the value specified in incr to  the
scheduling
     priority of the invoking process.

     incr is an integer such that the resulting scheduling priority is within
     the range -20 to 20.  Priority values outside this range are
truncated to
     the  appropriate  limit.   The  default priority is 0; lower
priorities cause
     more favorable scheduling.  Only  the  superuser  may  lower
priorities.

     Children  inherit the priority of their parent processes via
fork(2).

RETURN VALUES    [Toc]    [Back]

     On success, nice() returns the new priority.  On  error,  it
returns -1.

     Since  nice()  can  legitimately  return the value -1, it is
necessary to
     clear the external variable errno prior to  the  call,  then
check it afterward
 to determine if a -1 is an error or a legitimate value.

ERRORS    [Toc]    [Back]

     nice() has the same failure conditions as setpriority(2).

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

     nice(1), fork(2), setpriority(2), renice(8)

HISTORY    [Toc]    [Back]

     A nice() syscall appeared in Version 6 AT&T UNIX.

OpenBSD      3.6                           June      4,      1993