Module Abort

module Abort: sig .. end

Protocol to discard the current continuation and replace it with a thunk. In short, E[ abort M ] -> M ()

Often we want to fork a child process with a limited task, after which it should exit. The idea of Abort.abort is that it enforces that control does not escape the given thunk. Furthermore, calling Abort.set_abort high up the stack enables memory that is no longer in use to be recovered on the next GC. (Obviously you don't want to do this if you're about to exec, since you'll destroy copy-on-write efficiency, but if you're going to fork and then stick around a while, it might be worthwhile.)

val abort : (unit -> unit) -> 'a

Abort the current continuation, replacing it with a thunk. This function doesn't return.

val set_abort : (unit -> 'a) -> 'a

Set the abort handler if none is set. Call this as soon as possible in a program, so that the rest is in its dynamic extent, and then Abort.abort can throw control there.