sem_init

SEMAPHORES(3)                                                    SEMAPHORES(3)



NAME
       sem_init,  sem_wait, sem_trywait, sem_post, sem_getvalue, sem_destroy -
       operations on semaphores


SYNOPSIS
       #include <semaphore.h>

       int sem_init(sem_t *sem, int pshared, unsigned int value);

       int sem_wait(sem_t * sem);

       int sem_trywait(sem_t * sem);

       int sem_post(sem_t * sem);

       int sem_getvalue(sem_t * sem, int * sval);

       int sem_destroy(sem_t * sem);


DESCRIPTION
       This manual page documents POSIX 1003.1b semaphores, not to be confused
       with SystemV semaphores as described in ipc(5), semctl(2) and semop(2).

       Semaphores are counters for resources shared between threads. The basic
       operations  on  semaphores  are:  increment the counter atomically, and
       wait until the counter is non-null and decrement it atomically.

       sem_init initializes the semaphore object pointed to by sem.  The count
       associated  with  the semaphore is set initially to value.  The pshared
       argument indicates whether the semaphore is local to the  current  pro-
       cess  ( pshared is zero) or is to be shared between several processes (
       pshared is not zero). LinuxThreads currently does not support  process-
       shared  semaphores,  thus  sem_init always returns with error ENOSYS if
       pshared is not zero.

       sem_wait suspends the calling thread until the semaphore pointed to  by
       sem  has  non-zero  count.  It  then atomically decreases the semaphore
       count.

       sem_trywait is a non-blocking variant of sem_wait.   If  the  semaphore
       pointed to by sem has non-zero count, the count is atomically decreased
       and sem_trywait immediately returns 0.  If the semaphore count is zero,
       sem_trywait immediately returns with error EAGAIN.

       sem_post  atomically increases the count of the semaphore pointed to by
       sem.  This function never blocks and can safely be used in asynchronous
       signal handlers.

       sem_getvalue  stores  in  the  location  pointed to by sval the current
       count of the semaphore sem.

       sem_destroy destroys a semaphore object, freeing the resources it might
       hold.  No  threads  should  be  waiting  on  the  semaphore at the time
       sem_destroy is called. In the LinuxThreads implementation, no resources
       are  associated  with semaphore objects, thus sem_destroy actually does
       nothing except checking that no thread is waiting on the semaphore.


CANCELLATION
       sem_wait is a cancellation point.


ASYNC-SIGNAL SAFETY
       On processors supporting atomic compare-and-swap  (Intel  486,  Pentium
       and  later,  Alpha, PowerPC, MIPS II, Motorola 68k), the sem_post func-
       tion is async-signal safe and can therefore be called from signal  han-
       dlers.  This  is  the  only thread synchronization function provided by
       POSIX threads that is async-signal safe.

       On the Intel 386 and the Sparc, the current LinuxThreads implementation
       of  sem_post  is  not  async-signal safe by lack of the required atomic
       operations.


RETURN VALUE
       The sem_wait and sem_getvalue functions always  return  0.   All  other
       semaphore functions return 0 on success and -1 on error, in addition to
       writing an error code in errno.


ERRORS
       The sem_init function sets errno to the following codes on error:

              EINVAL value exceeds the maximal counter value SEM_VALUE_MAX

              ENOSYS pshared is not zero

       The sem_trywait function sets errno to  the  following  error  code  on
       error:

              EAGAIN the semaphore count is currently 0

       The sem_post function sets errno to the following error code on error:

              ERANGE after  incrementation,  the  semaphore value would exceed
                     SEM_VALUE_MAX (the semaphore count is left  unchanged  in
                     this case)

       The  sem_destroy  function  sets  errno  to the following error code on
       error:

              EBUSY  some  threads  are  currently  blocked  waiting  on   the
                     semaphore.


AUTHOR
       Xavier Leroy <Xavier.Leroy@inria.fr>


SEE ALSO
       pthread_mutex_init(3), pthread_cond_init(3), pthread_cancel(3), ipc(5).




                                 LinuxThreads                    SEMAPHORES(3)