*htparser* do any daemonizing or chrooting as specified by options.
The root handler must be a persistent program as specified in
-*ashd*(7). If the handler program exits, *htparser* will exit too.
+*ashd*(7). If the handler program exits, *htparser* will exit too,
+following the procedure described below under SIGNALS.
PORT SPECIFICATION
------------------
Currently, the available 'HANDLERs' are *plain* and *ssl*, for
handling plain TCP connections and SSL/TLS-protected connections,
respectively. For details regarding the arguments that each handler
-accept, simply run *htparser* with 'HANDLER'*:help*. For example, the
-command "`htparser ssl:help`" will display help for the *ssl* handler to
-standard output and then exit.
+accepts, simply run *htparser* with 'HANDLER'*:help*. For example, the
+command "`htparser ssl:help`" will display help for the *ssl* handler
+to standard output and then exit.
The port specifications must be followed by the `--` argument to
distinguish them from the root handler specification.
Daemonize after all specified ports have been successfully
bound and the root handler has been started.
-*-u*::
+*-u* 'USER'::
Change UID to 'USER' once all specified ports have been
successfully bound and the root handler has been
started. 'USER' must be specified symbolically (i.e. not as a
numeric UID).
-*-r*::
+*-r* 'ROOT'::
Change root directory to 'ROOT' once all specified ports have
been successfully bound and the root handler has been started.
-*-p*::
+*-p* 'PIDFILE'::
After having daemonized, write the PID of the new process to
'PIDFILE'.
+If the *-u*, *-r* or *-p* option is presented with an empty argument,
+it will be treated as if the option had not been given.
+
+SIGNALS
+-------
+
+SIGTERM, SIGINT::
+
+ Upon first reception, `htparser` closes all listening ports
+ and the socket to the root handler, but continues to serve all
+ currently ongoing requests until none remain, not keeping the
+ connections open for keep-alive. Upon second reception,
+ `htparser` shuts down completely.
+
+PID-FILE PROTOCOL
+-----------------
+
+If the *-p* option is used to create a PID file, `htparser` will
+follow a simple protocol to allow state monitoring for clean shutdown
+purposes. When `htparser` is signalled to terminate, as described
+under SIGNALS, then it appends a single newline at the end of the PID
+file. Once all outstanding connections have been terminated, then
+`htparser` will truncate the PID file to zero size just prior to
+exiting. Thus, init scripts or other state-monitoring tools can know
+that `htparser` is serving remaining connections as long as the PID
+file contains two lines (the last of which is empty).
+
+Further, when `htparser` starts, it does not overwrite the contents of
+an existing PID file, but rather creates a new file, replacing the old
+file. Thus, if a new instance of `htparser` is started while a
+previous instance is still running (or serving remaining connections),
+the PID file for the new instance will not be truncated when the
+previous instance terminates.
+
+The reason for the somewhat unorthodox protocol is that it works by
+simply keeping the PID file open in the running process, allowing the
+protocol to work without pathnames, and therefore even if `htparser`
+is instructed to change root directory with the *-r* option.
+
EXAMPLES
--------