xref: /illumos-gate/usr/src/man/man3c/mtx.3c (revision f3041bfa)
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12.\" Copyright 2016 Joyent, Inc.
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14.Dd "Jan 11, 2015"
15.Dt MTX 3C
16.Os
17.Sh NAME
18.Nm mtx ,
19.Nm mtx_destroy ,
20.Nm mtx_init ,
21.Nm mtx_lock ,
22.Nm mtx_timedlock ,
23.Nm mtx_trylock ,
24.Nm mtx_unlock
25.Nd C11 mutex operations
26.Sh SYNOPSIS
27.In threads.h
28.Ft int
29.Fo mtx_init
30.Fa "mtx_t *mtx"
31.Fa "int type"
32.Fc
33.Ft void
34.Fo mtx_destroy
35.Fa "mtx_t *mtx"
36.Fc
37.Ft int
38.Fo mtx_lock
39.Fa "mtx_t *mtx"
40.Fc
41.Ft int
42.Fo mtx_timedlock
43.Fa "mtx_t *mtx"
44.Fa "const struct timespec *restrict ts"
45.Fc
46.Ft int
47.Fo mtx_trylock
48.Fa "mtx_t *mtx"
49.Fc
50.Ft int
51.Fo mtx_unlock
52.Fa "mtx_t *mtx"
53.Fc
54.Sh DESCRIPTION
55The
56.Sy mtx
57family of functions implement mutual exclusion locks (mutexes) and behave
58similarly to both POSIX threads and illumos threads; however, they have
59slightly different call signatures and return values.
60For more information, see
61.Xr threads 5 .
62Importantly, they do not allow for inter-process synchronization.
63.Ss Creating and Destroying Mutexes
64The
65.Fn mtx_init
66function initializes the mutex specified by
67.Fa mtx .
68The following types of mutexes are valid and may be specified by the
69.Fa type
70argument:
71.Bl -tag -width Dv
72.It Sy mtx_plain
73A simple, intra-process mutex.
74.It Sy mtx_timed
75A simple, intra-process mutex, which allows timed locking operations.
76.It Sy mtx_plain | mtx_recursive
77An intra-process mutex that may be acquired recursively by the same
78thread.
79It must be unlocked an equal number of times that it is locked.
80.It Sy mtx_timed | mtx_recursive
81An intra-process mutex that supports timed locking operations and may be
82acquired recursively by the same thread.
83It must be unlocked an equal number of times that it is locked.
84.El
85For more information on the different kind of mutexes, see
86.Xr mutex_init 3C .
87.Pp
88The
89.Fn mtx_destroy
90function destroys the mutex pointed to by
91.Fa mtx .
92It is illegal for threads to be blocked waiting for
93.Fa mtx
94when
95.Fn mtx_destroy
96is called .
97.Ss Locking and Unlocking Mutexes
98The
99.Fn mtx_lock
100function attempts to lock the mutex
101.Fa mtx .
102When the function returns, it will be the sole owner of the mutex and
103must call
104.Fn mtx_unlock
105when it is done, or risk inducing a deadlock in the process.
106Other threads that make calls to
107.Fn mtx_lock
108after another thread has successfully completed its call to
109.Fn mtx_lock
110will block.
111When they finally return, then they will have obtained the mutex
112.Fa mtx .
113.Pp
114Unless a lock of type
115.Sy mtx_recursive
116was created, a thread calling
117.Fn mtx_lock
118when it already holds
119.Fa mtx
120will cause the thread to deadlock.
121Othewrise, the lock will be successfully taken again.
122However, a thread must call
123.Fn mtx_unlock
124for each time that it has acquried
125.Fa mtx .
126.Pp
127The
128.Fn mtx_trylock
129function will attempt to obtain the mutex pointed to by
130.Fa mtx .
131However, unlike
132.Fn mtx_lock ,
133if
134.Fa mtx
135is locked, then it will not block and wait for
136.Fa mtx
137and instead return
138.Sy thrd_busy
139to indicate that the lock is currently held.
140.Pp
141The
142.Fn mtx_timedlock
143function attempts to obtain the mutex pointed to by
144.Fa mtx .
145If it is unable to obtain it, then it will block for a set amount of
146time dictated by
147.Fa ts .
148The timeout in
149.Fa ts
150is treated as an absolute time in UTC to block until, measured based on
151the
152.Sy CLOCK_REALTIME
153clock.
154.Pp
155The
156.Fn mtx_unlock
157function unlocks the mutex pointed to by
158.Fa mtx ,
159which allows another thread the opportunity to obtain it.
160If any threads are actively blocking on the mutex, one of them will obtain it
161and be woken up.
162It is an error to call
163.Fn mtx_unlock
164on a mutex which the calling thread does not currently own.
165.Sh RETURN VALUES
166Upon successful completion, the function
167.Fn mtx_init returns
168.Sy thrd_success.
169If there was insufficient memory to create the thread,
170it instead returns
171.Sy thrd_nomem .
172If any other error occurred, it returns
173.Sy thrd_error .
174.Pp
175The functions
176.Fn mtx_lock ,
177and
178.Fn mtx_unlock
179return
180.Sy thrd_success .
181If they were unable to successfully complete the operation, they instead
182return
183.Sy thrd_error .
184.Pp
185Upon successful completion, the
186.Fn mtx_timedlock
187function returns
188.Sy thrd_success .
189If the timeout is reached and the calling thread is unable to obtain the
190mutex, then
191.Sy thrd_timedout
192is returned .
193If any other error occurs, then
194.Sy thrd_error is returned.
195.Pp
196Upon successful completion, the
197.Fn mtx_trylock
198function returns
199.Sy thrd_success .
200If the thread was unable to obtain the mutex because another thread owns
201it, then it returns
202.Sy thrd_busy .
203Otherwise, an error will have occurred and
204.Sy thrd_error
205is returned.
206.Sh INTERFACE STABILITY
207.Sy Standard
208.Sh MT-LEVEL
209.Sy MT-Safe
210.Sh SEE ALSO
211.Xr mutex_init 3C ,
212.Xr pthread_mutex_destroy 3C ,
213.Xr pthread_mutex_init 3C ,
214.Xr pthread_mutex_lock 3C ,
215.Xr pthread_mutex_timedlock 3C ,
216.Xr pthread_mutex_trylock 3C ,
217.Xr pthread_mutex_unlock 3C ,
218.Xr threads.h 3HEAD ,
219.Xr attributes 5
220