====== The wait builtin command ======

===== Synopsis =====
<code>wait [-f] [-n] [-p VARNAME] [ID...]</code>

===== Description =====
The ''wait'' builtin command is used to wait for job completion and return exit status.

  * if ''ID'' is a job specification, it waits for all processes in the pipeline of this job
  * waits for a specific job (asynchronous command) and report its exit status if one or more ''ID'' is given
  * waits for all running jobs (asynchronous commands)
  * waits for "the next" job (''-n'' option)
  * waits for termination instead of status change (''-f'' option)

''ID'' may be an operating system process identifier or a shell job specification.

==== Options ====

^ Option          ^ Description                                                                                                                        ^
| ''-n''          | Waits for "the next" child to exit (as opposed to "all children" without this option). Accepts a list of IDs (jobs)                |
| ''-f''          | Waits for the termination of the given ''ID'' (instead of waiting for a status change only)                                        |
| ''-p VARNAME''  | When waiting for a list (-n) or all jobs, writes the job ID to the job that was actually terminated into the variable ''VARNAME''  |

==== Return status ====

The return status is the return status of the job waited for, or

^Status  ^Reason  ^
|0     |waited for all jobs in shell's job list  |
|1     |the given ''ID'' is not a valid job or process ID  |

===== Examples =====


===== Portability considerations =====


===== See also =====