std::abort

 

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Program support utilities

Program termination
abort exit quick_exit (C++11) _Exit (C++11)	atexit at_quick_exit (C++11) EXIT_SUCCESSEXIT_FAILURE
Unreachable control flow
unreachable (C++23)
Communicating with the environment
system	getenv
Signals
signal raise sig_atomic_t	SIG_DFLSIG_IGN SIG_ERR
Signal types
SIGABRTSIGFPESIGILL	SIGINTSIGSEGVSIGTERM
Non-local jumps
setjmp	longjmp
Types
jmp_buf

 

Defined in header <cstdlib>
void abort();		(until C++11)
[[noreturn]] void abort() noexcept;		(since C++11)

Causes abnormal program termination unless SIGABRT is being caught by a signal handler passed to std::signal and the handler does not return.

Destructors of variables with automatic, thread local(since C++11) and static storage durations are not called. Functions registered with std::atexit() and std::at_quick_exit(since C++11) are also not called. Whether open resources such as files are closed is implementation defined. An implementation defined status is returned to the host environment that indicates unsuccessful execution.

Parameters

(none)

Return value

None because it does not return.

Exceptions

Throws nothing.

Notes

POSIX specifies that the abort() function overrides blocking or ignoring the SIGABRT signal.

Some compiler intrinsics, e.g. __builtin_trap (gcc, clang, and icc) or __debugbreak (msvc), can be used to terminate the program as fast as possible.

Example

Run this code

#include <csignal>
#include <iostream>
#include <cstdlib>
 
class Tester {
public:
    Tester()  { std::cout << "Tester ctor\n"; }
    ~Tester() { std::cout << "Tester dtor\n"; }
};
 
Tester static_tester; // Destructor not called
 
void signal_handler(int signal) 
{
    if (signal == SIGABRT) {
        std::cerr << "SIGABRT received\n";
    } else {
        std::cerr << "Unexpected signal " << signal << " received\n";
    }
    std::_Exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
 
int main()
{
    Tester automatic_tester; // Destructor not called
 
    // Setup handler
    auto previous_handler = std::signal(SIGABRT, signal_handler);
    if (previous_handler == SIG_ERR) {
        std::cerr << "Setup failed\n";
        return EXIT_FAILURE;
    }
 
    std::abort();  // Raise SIGABRT
    std::cout << "This code is unreachable\n";
}

Output:

Tester ctor
Tester ctor
SIGABRT received

See also

exit	causes normal program termination with cleaning up (function)
atexit	registers a function to be called on std::exit() invocation (function)
quick_exit (C++11)	causes quick program termination without completely cleaning up (function)
at_quick_exit (C++11)	registers a function to be called on std::quick_exit invocation (function)
signal	sets a signal handler for particular signal (function)
terminate	function called when exception handling fails (function)
C documentation for abort