// Copyright (C) 2003 Davis E. King (davisking@users.sourceforge.net)
// License: Boost Software License See LICENSE.txt for the full license.
#undef DLIB_THREADS_KERNEl_ABSTRACT_
#ifdef DLIB_THREADS_KERNEl_ABSTRACT_
namespace dlib
{
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
/*!
GENERAL COMMENTS
Unlike the other API wrappers you may make instances of these objects at the
global scope and call these functions before main() has been entered.
PROGRAM TERMINATION
When the main() function ends the program will wait until all outstanding
threads have terminated before allowing the program itself to terminate.
This means that if you want your program to actually be able to terminate
you have to ensure that all your threads will eventually end. To help you
make sure all your threads end you can use the register_program_ending_handler()
function. It allows you to register a member function that will be called after
main() has ended. Thus, you can register a function that can tell your
threads to end.
Note that you can't safely use the destructor of a global static object
to tell a thread to end. This is because the order in which global objects
in different translation units is undefined. So what may happen if you
attempt this is that dlib may begin to wait for threads to terminate (
in the main program thread, i.e. the one that executes global object's
destructors) before your object is destructed. Thus your program would
hang forever. So just use the register_thread_end_handler() function
instead of a global object's destructor if you have threads that will
survive beyond the end of main().
Finally, note that once main() ends C++ will start destructing global and
static objects so any threads making use of those resources may get into
trouble. So you probably just want to ensure that all your threads are
done *before* you try to terminate the program. But if that isn't possible
for whatever reason then you can use the register_program_ending_handler()
function to notify those threads that it is time to end.
THREAD POOL
When threads end they go into a global thread pool and each waits there
for 30 seconds before timing out and having its resources returned to the
operating system. When create_new_thread() is called it first looks in the
thread pool to see if there are any threads it can snatch from the pool, if
not then it makes a new one.
Note that whenever I say something happens when a thread "terminates" or "ends"
I mean "when it returns to the thread pool." From the client programmer point
of view a thread terminates/ends when it returns to the dlib thread pool and you
shouldn't and indeed don't need to know when it actually gets its resources
reclaimed by the operating system.
If you want to change the timeout to a different value you can #define
DLIB_THREAD_POOL_TIMEOUT to whatever value (in milliseconds) that you like.
!*/
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
thread_id_type get_thread_id (
);
/*!
ensures
- returns a unique id for the calling thread. Note that while the id is unique
among all currently existing threads it may have been used by a previous
thread that has terminated.
!*/
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
bool is_dlib_thread (
thread_id_type id = get_thread_id()
);
/*!
ensures
- if (the thread with the given id was spawned by a call to
dlib::create_new_thread) then
- returns true
- else
- returns false
!*/
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
template <
typename T
>
void register_thread_end_handler (
T& obj,
void (T::*handler)()
);
/*!
requires
- handler == a valid member function pointer for class T
- handler does not throw
- handler does not call register_thread_end_handler()
- handler does not block
- is_dlib_thread() == true (i.e. the calling thread was spawned by dlib::create_new_thread())
ensures
- let ID == the thread id for the thread calling register_thread_end_handler()
- (obj.*handler)() will be called when the thread with thread id ID is
terminating and it will be called from within that terminating thread.
(i.e. inside the handler function get_thread_id() == ID == the id of the
thread that is terminating. )
- each call to this function adds another handler that will be called when
the given thread terminates. This means that if you call it a bunch of
times then you will end up registering multiple handlers (or single
handlers multiple times) that will be called when the thread ends.
throws
- std::bad_alloc
If this exception is thrown then the call to this function had no effect.
!*/
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
template <
typename T
>
void register_program_ending_handler (
T& obj,
void (T::*handler)()
);
/*!
requires
- handler == a valid member function pointer for class T
- handler does not throw
- handler does not call register_thread_end_handler()
- handler does not call register_program_ending_handler()
- handler does not block
ensures
- (obj.*handler)() will be called after main() has terminated.
- each call to this function adds another handler that will be called at
program termination. This means that if you call it a bunch of
times then you will end up registering multiple handlers (or single
handlers multiple times).
throws
- std::bad_alloc
If this exception is thrown then the call to this function had no effect.
!*/
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
bool create_new_thread (
void (*funct)(void*),
void* param
);
/*!
ensures
- creates a new thread for the function pointed to by funct
- passes it param as its parameter
- returns true upon success and false upon failure to create the new thread
!*/
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// mutex object
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
class mutex
{
/*!
INITIAL VALUE
mutex is in the unlocked state
WHAT THIS OBJECT REPRESENTS
This object represents a mutex intended to be used for synchronous
thread control of shared data. When a thread wants to access some
shared data it locks out other threads by calling lock() and calls
unlock() when it is finished.
!*/
public:
mutex (
);
/*!
ensures
- #*this is properly initialized
throws
- dlib::thread_error
the constructor may throw this exception if there is a problem
gathering resources to create the mutex.
!*/
~mutex (
);
/*!
requires
- *this is not locked
ensures
- all resources allocated by *this have been freed
!*/
void lock (
) const;
/*!
requires
- the thread calling lock() does not already have a lock on *this
ensures
- if (*this is currently locked by another thread) then
- the thread that called lock() on *this is put to sleep until
it becomes available
- if (*this is currently unlocked) then
- #*this becomes locked and the current thread is NOT put to sleep
but now "owns" #*this
!*/
void unlock (
) const;
/*!
ensures
- if (*this is currently locked and owned by the thread calling unlock) then
- #*this is unlocked (i.e. other threads may now lock this object)
- else
- the call to unlock() has no effect
!*/
private:
// restricted functions
mutex(mutex&); // copy constructor
mutex& operator=(mutex&); // assignment operator
};
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// signaler object
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
class signaler
{
/*!
WHAT THIS OBJECT REPRESENTS
This object represents an event signaling system for threads. It gives
a thread the ability to wake up other threads that are waiting for a
particular signal.
Each signaler object is associated with one and only one mutex object.
More than one signaler object may be associated with a single mutex
but a signaler object may only be associated with a single mutex.
NOTE:
You must guard against spurious wakeups. This means that a thread
might return from a call to wait even if no other thread called
signal. This is rare but must be guarded against.
!*/
public:
signaler (
const mutex& associated_mutex
);
/*!
ensures
- #*this is properly initialized
- #get_mutex() == associated_mutex
throws
- dlib::thread_error
the constructor may throw this exception if there is a problem
gathering resources to create the signaler.
!*/
~signaler (
);
/*!
ensures
- all resources allocated by *this have been freed
!*/
void wait (
) const;
/*!
requires
- get_mutex() is locked and owned by the calling thread
ensures
- atomically unlocks get_mutex() and blocks the calling thread
- calling thread may wake if another thread calls signal() or broadcast()
on *this
- when wait() returns the calling thread again has a lock on get_mutex()
!*/
bool wait_or_timeout (
unsigned long milliseconds
) const;
/*!
requires
- get_mutex() is locked and owned by the calling thread
ensures
- atomically unlocks get_mutex() and blocks the calling thread
- calling thread may wake if another thread calls signal() or broadcast()
on *this
- after the specified number of milliseconds has elapsed the calling thread
will wake once get_mutex() is free
- when wait returns the calling thread again has a lock on get_mutex()
- returns false if the call to wait_or_timeout timed out
- returns true if the call did not time out
!*/
void signal (
) const;
/*!
ensures
- if (at least one thread is waiting on *this) then
- at least one of the waiting threads will wake
!*/
void broadcast (
) const;
/*!
ensures
- any and all threads waiting on *this will wake
!*/
const mutex& get_mutex (
) const;
/*!
ensures
- returns a const reference to the mutex associated with *this
!*/
private:
// restricted functions
signaler(signaler&); // copy constructor
signaler& operator=(signaler&); // assignment operator
};
// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
}
#endif // DLIB_THREADS_KERNEl_ABSTRACT_