std::abort

C++

Language

Headers

Freestanding and hosted implementations

Named requirements

Language support library

Concepts library (C++20)

Diagnostics library

Utilities library

Strings library

Containers library

Algorithms library

Iterators library

Numerics library

Input/output library

Localizations library

Regular expressions library (C++11)

Atomic operations library (C++11)

Thread support library (C++11)

Filesystem library (C++17)

Technical Specifications

Utilities library

Type support (basic types, RTTI, type traits)
Dynamic memory management
Error handling
Program utilities
Variadic functions
Library feature-test macros
Date and time
Function objects
initializer_list (C++11)
bitset
hash (C++11)
integer_sequence (C++14)
Relational operators (deprecated)
rel_ops::operator!=rel_ops::operator>rel_ops::operator<=rel_ops::operator>=
Comparisons (C++20)
strong_order weak_order partial_order strong_equal weak_equal	strong_ordering weak_ordering partial_ordering strong_equality weak_equality	is_eqis_neqis_ltis_lteqis_gtis_gteq
common_comparison_category
Common vocabulary types
pair tuple (C++11) apply (C++17) make_from_tuple (C++17)	optional (C++17) any (C++17) variant (C++17)
Swap, forward and move
swap
exchange (C++14)
forward (C++11)
move (C++11)
move_if_noexcept (C++11)
Elementary string conversions
to_chars (C++17)
from_chars (C++17)
chars_format (C++17)
Type operations
declval (C++11)
as_const (C++17)

Program support utilities

Program termination
abort exit quick_exit (C++11) _Exit (C++11)	atexit at_quick_exit (C++11) EXIT_SUCCESSEXIT_FAILURE
Communicating with the environment
system	getenv
Signals
signal raise sig_atomic_t	SIG_DFLSIG_IGN SIG_ERR
Signal types
SIGABRTSIGFPESIGILLSIGINTSIGSEGVSIGTERM
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)

Exceptions

(none)

Notes

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

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)
signal	sets a signal handler for particular signal (function)