NAME

wait − await completion of process

SYNOPSIS

wait [ n ]

DESCRIPTION

Wait for your background process whose process id is n and report its termination status.  If n is omitted, all your shell’s currently active background processes are waited for and the return code will be zero. 

The shell itself executes wait, without creating a new process.

SEE ALSO

sh(1). 

CAVEAT

If you get the error message cannot fork, too many processes, try using the wait(1) command to clean up your background processes. If this doesn’t help, the system process table is probably full or you have too many active foreground processes. (There is a limit to the number of process ids associated with your login, and to the number the system can keep track of.)

BUGS

Not all the processes of a 3- or more-stage pipeline are children of the shell, and thus cannot be waited for. 

If n is not an active process id, all your shell’s currently active background processes are waited for and the return code will be zero. 

September 02, 1992