The ACUCOBOL-GT runtime normally installs default signal handlers to ensure that the runtime system is cleaned up before terminating. In some environments, the runtime may frequently need to switch back and forth between executing COBOL programs and C programs. Used with the runtime option, "--no-signal-handlers", the acu_abend() function allows you to optimize performance by specifying when to preserve signal handlers based on the signal type.
In OLTP environments, for example, the server may need to install and uninstall signal handlers while processing an EXEC CICS statement. In this case, you can enable the ACUCOBOL-GT signal handlers when an application is running COBOL code and enable the previously installed signal handlers when the application is not running COBOL programs.
When you initialize the runtime with "--no-signal-handlers", the runtime does not call the ACUCOBOL-GT signal handlers. You can then install your own signal handlers and call the acu_abend() function to perform the equivalent of the ACUCOBOL-GT signal handlers when needed.