Question regarding <defunct> processes

[Bala Rajaraman]

Hi,
	I have a question regarding <defunct> processes. The context of
the question is as follows. I have a device simulator which is
essentially used as a base for writing Operating Systems. The operating
systems makes calls to procedures which simulate devices. The program
uses a fork call to create a background process which simulates the
delay and other features of different devices. 
	The problem, I'm running into is that there may be a whole bunch
of calls to devices causing a lot of forked processes. Not all the
child processes are active all the time. However when a child process
terminates it leaves something behind, which is called <defunct>.
I can see that when I do a "ps -ax". These <defunct> processes cause the
maximum quota of processes allowed to be exceeded. The program then
fails since it can fork() no more.
	When child processes complete, they use exit() to terminate. 

I'm not sure if, I've gotten down all of the info needed for one of you
UNIX wizards to see the problem. But in any case, I would be real
grateful for an answer/ any additional info. I also need this in a real hurry.

Thanks
Bala
rajarar at hubcap.clemson.edu

Please E-mail all responses to: rajarar at hubcap.clemson.edu