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Tcl_CreateThread

Threads(3)                  Tcl Library Procedures                  Threads(3)



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NAME
       Tcl_ConditionNotify, Tcl_ConditionWait, Tcl_ConditionFinalize, Tcl_Get-
       ThreadData, Tcl_MutexLock, Tcl_MutexUnlock, Tcl_MutexFinalize, Tcl_Cre-
       ateThread - Tcl thread support.

SYNOPSIS
       #include <tcl.h>

       void
       Tcl_ConditionNotify(condPtr)

       void
       Tcl_ConditionWait(condPtr, mutexPtr, timePtr)

       void
       Tcl_ConditionFinalize(condPtr)

       Void *
       Tcl_GetThreadData(keyPtr, size)

       void
       Tcl_MutexLock(mutexPtr)

       void
       Tcl_MutexUnlock(mutexPtr)

       void
       Tcl_MutexFinalize(mutexPtr)

       int
       Tcl_CreateThread(idPtr, threadProc, clientData, stackSize, flags)

ARGUMENTS
       Tcl_Condition       *condPtr  (in)      A   condition  variable,  which
                                               must be associated with a mutex
                                               lock.

       Tcl_Condition       *mutexPtr (in)      A mutex lock.

       Tcl_Time            *timePtr  (in)      A  time  limit on the condition
                                               wait.  NULL  to  wait  forever.
                                               Note  that a polling value of 0
                                               seconds   doesn't   make   much
                                               sense.

       Tcl_ThreadDataKey   *keyPtr   (in)      This   identifies  a  block  of
                                               thread local storage.  The  key
                                               should  be  static and process-
                                               wide, yet each thread will  end
                                               up   associating   a  different
                                               block of storage with this key.

       int                 *size     (in)      The  size  of  the thread local
                                               storage block.  This amount  of
                                               data  is allocated and initial-
                                               ized to  zero  the  first  time
                                               each   thread   calls  Tcl_Get-
                                               ThreadData.

       Tcl_ThreadId        *idPtr    (out)     The refered storage  will  con-
                                               tain   the   id  of  the  newly
                                               created thread as  returned  by
                                               the operating system.

       Tcl_ThreadId        id        (in)      Id of the thread waited upon.

       Tcl_ThreadCreateProc          threadProc(in)
                                               This  procedure will act as the
                                               main()  of  the  newly  created
                                               thread.  The  specified client-
                                               Data will be its sole argument.

       ClientData          clientData(in)      Arbitrary  information.  Passed
                                               as sole argument to the thread-
                                               Proc.

       int                 stackSize (in)      The  size of the stack given to
                                               the new thread.

       int                 flags     (in)      Bitmask containing flags allow-
                                               ing   the   caller   to  modify
                                               behaviour of the new thread.

       int                 *result   (out)     The refered storage is used  to
                                               place  the  exit  code  of  the
                                               thread waited upon into it.
_________________________________________________________________

INTRODUCTION
       Beginning with the 8.1 release, the Tcl  core  is  thread  safe,  which
       allows  you  to incorporate Tcl into multithreaded applications without
       customizing the Tcl core.  To enable Tcl  multithreading  support,  you
       must  include the --enable-threads option to configure when you config-
       ure and compile your Tcl core.

       An important contstraint of the Tcl threads implementation is that only
       the thread that created a Tcl interpreter can use that interpreter.  In
       other words, multiple threads can not access the same Tcl  interpreter.
       (However,  as  was  the  case in previous releases, a single thread can
       safely create and use multiple interpreters.)

       Tcl does provide Tcl_CreateThread for creating threads. The caller  can |
       determine  the size of the stack given to the new thread and modify the |
       behaviour     through     the     supplied     flags.     The     value |
       TCL_THREAD_STACK_DEFAULT  for  the stackSize indicates that the default |
       size as specified by the operating system is to be  used  for  the  new |
       thread.   As   for   the   flags,   currently   are   only  the  values |
       TCL_THREAD_NOFLAGS and TCL_THREAD_JOINABLE defined. The first  of  them |
       invokes  the  default  behaviour with no specialities. Using the second |
       value marks the new thread as joinable. This means that another  thread |
       can wait for the such marked thread to exit and join it.                |

       Restrictions: On some unix systems the pthread-library does not contain |
       the functionality to specify the stacksize of a thread.  The  specified |
       value  for  the stacksize is ignored on these systems. Both Windows and |
       Macintosh currently do not support joinable threads. This flag value is |
       therefore ignored on these platforms.

       Tcl  does provide Tcl_ExitThread and Tcl_FinalizeThread for terminating
       threads and  invoking  optional  per-thread  exit  handlers.   See  the
       Tcl_Exit page for more information on these procedures.

       Tcl  provides  Tcl_ThreadQueueEvent  and  Tcl_ThreadAlert  for handling
       event queueing in multithreaded applications.  See the Notifier  manual
       page for more information on these procedures.

       In this release, the Tcl language itself provides no support for creat-
       ing multithreaded scripts (for example, scripts that could spawn a  Tcl
       interpreter  in a separate thread).  If you need to add this feature at
       this time, see the tclThreadTest.c file in the Tcl source  distribution
       for an experimental implementation of a Tcl "Thread" package implement-
       ing thread creation and management commands at the script level.


DESCRIPTION
       A mutex is a lock that is used to serialize all threads through a piece
       of  code  by  calling Tcl_MutexLock and Tcl_MutexUnlock.  If one thread
       holds a mutex, any other thread calling Tcl_MutexLock will block  until
       Tcl_MutexUnlock  is  called.  A mutex can be destroyed after its use by |
       calling Tcl_MutexFinalize.  The result of locking a  mutex  twice  from |
       the  same  thread  is undefined.  On some platforms it will result in a |
       deadlock.  The  Tcl_MutexLock,  Tcl_MutexUnlock  and  Tcl_MutexFinalize
       procedures  are  defined  as empty macros if not compiling with threads
       enabled.

       A condition variable is used as a signaling  mechanism:  a  thread  can
       lock  a mutex and then wait on a condition variable with Tcl_Condition-
       Wait.  This atomically releases the mutex lock and blocks  the  waiting
       thread  until  another thread calls Tcl_ConditionNotify.  The caller of
       Tcl_ConditionNotify should have the associated mutex held by previously
       calling  Tcl_MutexLock, but this is not enforced.  Notifying the condi-
       tion variable unblocks all threads waiting on the  condition  variable,
       but  they  do not proceed until the mutex is released with Tcl_MutexUn-
       lock.  The implementation of Tcl_ConditionWait automatically locks  the
       mutex before returning.

       The caller of Tcl_ConditionWait should be prepared for spurious notifi-
       cations by calling Tcl_ConditionWait within a  while  loop  that  tests
       some invariant.

       A condition variable can be destroyed after its use by calling Tcl_Con- |
       ditionFinalize.                                                         |

       The Tcl_ConditionNotify,  Tcl_ConditionWait  and  Tcl_ConditionFinalize |
       procedures  are  defined  as empty macros if not compiling with threads |
       enabled.

       The Tcl_GetThreadData call returns a pointer to a block of  thread-pri-
       vate  data.   Its argument is a key that is shared by all threads and a
       size for the block of storage.  The storage is automatically  allocated
       and  initialized  to  all zeros the first time each thread asks for it.
       The storage is automatically deallocated by Tcl_FinalizeThread.

INITIALIZATION
       All of these synchronization objects are self initializing.   They  are
       implemented as opaque pointers that should be NULL upon first use.  The
       mutexes and condition variables are either cleaned up by  process  exit |
       handlers  (if  living that long) or explicitly by calls to Tcl_MutexFi- |
       nalize or Tcl_ConditionFinalize.  Thread  local  storage  is  reclaimed
       during Tcl_FinalizeThread.

CREATING THREADS
       The  API  to  create  threads is not finalized at this time.  There are
       private facilities to create threads that  contain  a  new  Tcl  inter-
       preter,  and  to send scripts among threads.  Dive into tclThreadTest.c
       and tclThread.c for examples.

SEE ALSO
       Tcl_GetCurrentThread, Tcl_ThreadQueueEvent, Tcl_ThreadAlert,  Tcl_Exit-
       Thread,         Tcl_FinalizeThread,        Tcl_CreateThreadExitHandler,
       Tcl_DeleteThreadExitHandler

KEYWORDS
       thread, mutex, condition variable, thread local storage



Tcl                                   8.1                           Threads(3)