.\" $NetBSD: pthread_cond.3,v 1.5 2010/07/09 20:56:01 wiz Exp $ .\" .\" Copyright (c) 2002, 2008 The NetBSD Foundation, Inc. .\" All rights reserved. .\" .\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without .\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions .\" are met: .\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. .\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the .\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. .\" .\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE NETBSD FOUNDATION, INC. AND CONTRIBUTORS .\" ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED .\" TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR .\" PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE FOUNDATION OR CONTRIBUTORS .\" BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR .\" CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF .\" SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS .\" INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN .\" CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) .\" ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE .\" POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. .\" .\" Copyright (c) 1997 Brian Cully .\" All rights reserved. .\" .\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without .\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions .\" are met: .\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. .\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the .\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. .\" 3. Neither the name of the author nor the names of any co-contributors .\" may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software .\" without specific prior written permission. .\" .\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY JOHN BIRRELL AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND .\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE .\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE .\" ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE .\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL .\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS .\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) .\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT .\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY .\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF .\" SUCH DAMAGE. .\" .\" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- .Dd July 8, 2010 .Dt PTHREAD_COND 3 .Os .Sh NAME .Nm pthread_cond .Nd condition variable interface .Sh LIBRARY .Lb libpthread .\" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- .Sh SYNOPSIS .In pthread.h .Ft int .Fn pthread_cond_init "pthread_cond_t * restrict cond" \ "const pthread_condattr_t * restrict attr" .Ft int .Fn pthread_cond_destroy "pthread_cond_t *cond" .Ft int .Fn pthread_cond_broadcast "pthread_cond_t *cond" .Ft int .Fn pthread_cond_signal "pthread_cond_t *cond" .Ft int .Fn pthread_cond_wait "pthread_cond_t * restrict cond" \ "pthread_mutex_t * restrict mutex" .Ft int .Fn pthread_cond_timedwait "pthread_cond_t * restrict cond" \ "pthread_mutex_t * restrict mutex" "const struct timespec * restrict abstime" .Pp .Va pthread_cond_t cond = Dv PTHREAD_COND_INITIALIZER; .\" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- .Sh DESCRIPTION Condition variables are intended to be used to communicate changes in the state of data shared between threads. Condition variables are always associated with a mutex to provide synchronized access to the shared data. A single predicate should always be associated with a condition variable. The predicate should identify a state of the shared data that must be true before the thread proceeds. .Pp The .Fn pthread_cond_init function creates a new condition variable, with attributes specified with .Fa attr . If .Fa attr is .Dv NULL the default attributes are used. The .Fn pthread_cond_destroy function frees the resources allocated by the condition variable .Fa cond . .Pp The macro .Dv PTHREAD_COND_INITIALIZER can be used to initialize a condition variable when it can be statically allocated and the default attributes are appropriate. The effect is similar to calling .Fn pthread_cond_init with .Fa attr specified as .Dv NULL , except that no error checking is done. .Pp .\" ----- The difference between .Fn pthread_cond_broadcast and .Fn pthread_cond_signal is that the former unblocks all threads waiting for the condition variable, whereas the latter blocks only one waiting thread. If no threads are waiting on .Fa cond , neither function has any effect. If more than one thread is blocked on a condition variable, the used scheduling policy determines the order in which threads are unblocked. The same mutex used for waiting must be held while calling either function. Although neither function strictly enforces this requirement, undefined behavior may follow if the mutex is not held. .Pp .\" ----- The .Fn pthread_cond_wait function atomically blocks the current thread waiting on the condition variable specified by .Fa cond , and unlocks the mutex specified by .Fa mutex . The .Fn pthread_cond_timedwait function behaves similarly, but unblocks also if the system time reaches the time specified in .Fa abstime , represented as .Em struct timespec (see .Xr timespec 3 ) . With both functions the waiting thread unblocks after another thread calls .Fn pthread_cond_signal or .Fn pthread_cond_broadcast with the same condition variable and by holding the same .Fa mutex that was associated with .Fa cond by either one of the blocking functions. The current thread holds the lock on .Fa mutex upon return from either function. .\" ----- .Pp Note that a call to .Fn pthread_cond_wait or .Fn pthread_cond_timedwait may wake up spontaneously, without a call to .Fn pthread_cond_signal or .Fn pthread_cond_broadcast . The caller should prepare for this by invoking either function within a predicate loop that tests whether the thread should proceed. .Pp .\" ----- As noted, when calling either function that waits on a condition variable, a temporary binding is established between the condition variable .Fa cond and the mutex .Fa mutex . During this time, the effect of an attempt by any thread to wait on that condition variable using a different mutex is undefined. The same mutex must be held while broadcasting or signaling on .Fa cond . Additionally, the same mutex must be used for concurrent calls to .Fn pthread_cond_wait and .Fn pthread_cond_timedwait . Only when a condition variable is known to be quiescent may an application change the mutex associated with it. In this implementation, none of the functions enforce this requirement, but if the mutex is not held or independent mutexes are used the resulting behaviour is undefined. .\" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- .Sh RETURN VALUES If successful, all functions return zero. Otherwise, an error number will be returned to indicate the error. .Sh ERRORS The .Fn pthread_cond_init function may fail if: .Bl -tag -width Er .It Bq Er EINVAL The value specified by .Fa attr is invalid. .El .Pp .\" ----- The .Fn pthread_cond_destroy function may fail if: .Bl -tag -width Er .It Bq Er EBUSY The variable .Fa cond is locked by another thread. .It Bq Er EINVAL The value specified by .Fa cond is invalid. .El .Pp .\" ----- Both .Fn pthread_cond_broadcast and .Fn pthread_cond_signal may fail if: .Bl -tag -width Er .It Bq Er EINVAL The value specified by .Fa cond is invalid. .El .Pp .\" ----- Both .Fn pthread_cond_wait and .Fn pthread_cond_timedwait may fail if: .Bl -tag -width Er .It Bq Er EINVAL The value specified by .Fa cond or the value specified by .Fa mutex is invalid. .It Bq Er EPERM The value specified by .Fa mutex was not locked in the condition wait. .El .Pp The .Fn pthread_cond_timedwait function may additionally fail if: .Bl -tag -width Er .It Bq Er ETIMEDOUT The system time has reached or exceeded the time specified in .Fa abstime . .El .Sh SEE ALSO .Xr pthread 3 , .Xr pthread_barrier 3 , .Xr pthread_condattr 3 , .Xr pthread_mutex 3 , .Xr pthread_rwlock 3 , .Xr pthread_spin 3 .Sh STANDARDS These functions conform to .St -p1003.1-2001 .