This file documents non-portable functions and other issues.
Non-portable functions included in pthreads-win32
-------------------------------------------------
BOOL
pthread_win32_test_features_np(int mask)
This routine allows an application to check which
run-time auto-detected features are available within
the library.
The possible features are:
PTW32_SYSTEM_INTERLOCKED_COMPARE_EXCHANGE
Return TRUE if the native version of
InterlockedCompareExchange() is being used.
PTW32_ALERTABLE_ASYNC_CANCEL
Return TRUE is the QueueUserAPCEx package
QUSEREX.DLL is available and the AlertDrv.sys
driver is loaded into Windows, providing
alertable (pre-emptive) asyncronous threads
cancelation. If this feature returns FALSE
then the default async cancel scheme is in
use, which cannot cancel blocked threads.
Features may be Or'ed into the mask parameter, in which case
the routine returns TRUE if any of the Or'ed features would
return TRUE. At this stage it doesn't make sense to Or features
but it may some day.
void *
pthread_timechange_handler_np(void *)
To improve tolerance against operator or time service
initiated system clock changes.
This routine can be called by an application when it
receives a WM_TIMECHANGE message from the system. At
present it broadcasts all condition variables so that
waiting threads can wake up and re-evaluate their
conditions and restart their timed waits if required.
It has the same return type and argument type as a
thread routine so that it may be called directly
through pthread_create(), i.e. as a separate thread.
Parameters
Although a parameter must be supplied, it is ignored.
The value NULL can be used.
Return values
It can return an error EAGAIN to indicate that not
all condition variables were broadcast for some reason.
Otherwise, 0 is returned.
If run as a thread, the return value is returned
through pthread_join().
The return value should be cast to an integer.
HANDLE
pthread_getw32threadhandle_np(pthread_t thread);
Returns the win32 thread handle that the POSIX
thread "thread" is running as.
Applications can use the win32 handle to set
win32 specific attributes of the thread.
DWORD
pthread_getw32threadid_np (pthread_t thread)
Returns the win32 thread ID that the POSIX
thread "thread" is running as.
Only valid when the library is built where
! defined (__MINGW32__) || defined (__MSVCRT__) || defined (__DMC__)
and otherwise returns 0.
int
pthread_mutexattr_setkind_np(pthread_mutexattr_t * attr, int kind)
int
pthread_mutexattr_getkind_np(pthread_mutexattr_t * attr, int *kind)
These two routines are included for Linux compatibility
and are direct equivalents to the standard routines
pthread_mutexattr_settype
pthread_mutexattr_gettype
pthread_mutexattr_setkind_np accepts the following
mutex kinds:
PTHREAD_MUTEX_FAST_NP
PTHREAD_MUTEX_ERRORCHECK_NP
PTHREAD_MUTEX_RECURSIVE_NP
These are really just equivalent to (respectively):
PTHREAD_MUTEX_NORMAL
PTHREAD_MUTEX_ERRORCHECK
PTHREAD_MUTEX_RECURSIVE
int
pthread_delay_np (const struct timespec *interval);
This routine causes a thread to delay execution for a specific period of time.
This period ends at the current time plus the specified interval. The routine
will not return before the end of the period is reached, but may return an
arbitrary amount of time after the period has gone by. This can be due to
system load, thread priorities, and system timer granularity.
Specifying an interval of zero (0) seconds and zero (0) nanoseconds is
allowed and can be used to force the thread to give up the processor or to
deliver a pending cancelation request.
This routine is a cancelation point.
The timespec structure contains the following two fields:
tv_sec is an integer number of seconds.
tv_nsec is an integer number of nanoseconds.
Return Values
If an error condition occurs, this routine returns an integer value
indicating the type of error. Possible return values are as follows:
0 Successful completion.
[EINVAL] The value specified by interval is invalid.
int
pthread_num_processors_np (void)
This routine (found on HPUX systems) returns the number of processors
in the system. This implementation actually returns the number of
processors available to the process, which can be a lower number
than the system's number, depending on the process's affinity mask.
BOOL
pthread_win32_process_attach_np (void);
BOOL
pthread_win32_process_detach_np (void);
BOOL
pthread_win32_thread_attach_np (void);
BOOL
pthread_win32_thread_detach_np (void);
These functions contain the code normally run via dllMain
when the library is used as a dll but which need to be
called explicitly by an application when the library
is statically linked.
You will need to call pthread_win32_process_attach_np() before
you can call any pthread routines when statically linking.
You should call pthread_win32_process_detach_np() before
exiting your application to clean up.
pthread_win32_thread_attach_np() is currently a no-op, but
pthread_win32_thread_detach_np() is needed to clean up
the implicit pthread handle that is allocated to a Win32 thread if
it calls certain pthreads routines. Call this routine when the
Win32 thread exits.
These functions invariably return TRUE except for
pthread_win32_process_attach_np() which will return FALSE
if pthreads-win32 initialisation fails.
int
pthreadCancelableWait (HANDLE waitHandle);
int
pthreadCancelableTimedWait (HANDLE waitHandle, DWORD timeout);
These two functions provide hooks into the pthread_cancel
mechanism that will allow you to wait on a Windows handle
and make it a cancellation point. Both functions block
until either the given w32 handle is signaled, or
pthread_cancel has been called. It is implemented using
WaitForMultipleObjects on 'waitHandle' and a manually
reset w32 event used to implement pthread_cancel.
Non-portable issues
-------------------
Thread priority
POSIX defines a single contiguous range of numbers that determine a
thread's priority. Win32 defines priority classes and priority
levels relative to these classes. Classes are simply priority base
levels that the defined priority levels are relative to such that,
changing a process's priority class will change the priority of all
of it's threads, while the threads retain the same relativity to each
other.
A Win32 system defines a single contiguous monotonic range of values
that define system priority levels, just like POSIX. However, Win32
restricts individual threads to a subset of this range on a
per-process basis.
The following table shows the base priority levels for combinations
of priority class and priority value in Win32.
Process Priority Class Thread Priority Level
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1 IDLE_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_IDLE
1 BELOW_NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_IDLE
1 NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_IDLE
1 ABOVE_NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_IDLE
1 HIGH_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_IDLE
2 IDLE_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_LOWEST
3 IDLE_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_BELOW_NORMAL
4 IDLE_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_NORMAL
4 BELOW_NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_LOWEST
5 IDLE_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_ABOVE_NORMAL
5 BELOW_NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_BELOW_NORMAL
5 Background NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_LOWEST
6 IDLE_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_HIGHEST
6 BELOW_NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_NORMAL
6 Background NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_BELOW_NORMAL
7 BELOW_NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_ABOVE_NORMAL
7 Background NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_NORMAL
7 Foreground NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_LOWEST
8 BELOW_NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_HIGHEST
8 NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_ABOVE_NORMAL
8 Foreground NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_BELOW_NORMAL
8 ABOVE_NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_LOWEST
9 NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_HIGHEST
9 Foreground NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_NORMAL
9 ABOVE_NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_BELOW_NORMAL
10 Foreground NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_ABOVE_NORMAL
10 ABOVE_NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_NORMAL
11 Foreground NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_HIGHEST
11 ABOVE_NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_ABOVE_NORMAL
11 HIGH_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_LOWEST
12 ABOVE_NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_HIGHEST
12 HIGH_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_BELOW_NORMAL
13 HIGH_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_NORMAL
14 HIGH_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_ABOVE_NORMAL
15 HIGH_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_HIGHEST
15 HIGH_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_TIME_CRITICAL
15 IDLE_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_TIME_CRITICAL
15 BELOW_NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_TIME_CRITICAL
15 NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_TIME_CRITICAL
15 ABOVE_NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_TIME_CRITICAL
16 REALTIME_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_IDLE
17 REALTIME_PRIORITY_CLASS -7
18 REALTIME_PRIORITY_CLASS -6
19 REALTIME_PRIORITY_CLASS -5
20 REALTIME_PRIORITY_CLASS -4
21 REALTIME_PRIORITY_CLASS -3
22 REALTIME_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_LOWEST
23 REALTIME_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_BELOW_NORMAL
24 REALTIME_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_NORMAL
25 REALTIME_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_ABOVE_NORMAL
26 REALTIME_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_HIGHEST
27 REALTIME_PRIORITY_CLASS 3
28 REALTIME_PRIORITY_CLASS 4
29 REALTIME_PRIORITY_CLASS 5
30 REALTIME_PRIORITY_CLASS 6
31 REALTIME_PRIORITY_CLASS THREAD_PRIORITY_TIME_CRITICAL
Windows NT: Values -7, -6, -5, -4, -3, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are not supported.
As you can see, the real priority levels available to any individual
Win32 thread are non-contiguous.
An application using pthreads-win32 should not make assumptions about
the numbers used to represent thread priority levels, except that they
are monotonic between the values returned by sched_get_priority_min()
and sched_get_priority_max(). E.g. Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000, XP make
available a non-contiguous range of numbers between -15 and 15, while
at least one version of WinCE (3.0) defines the minimum priority
(THREAD_PRIORITY_LOWEST) as 5, and the maximum priority
(THREAD_PRIORITY_HIGHEST) as 1.
Internally, pthreads-win32 maps any priority levels between
THREAD_PRIORITY_IDLE and THREAD_PRIORITY_LOWEST to THREAD_PRIORITY_LOWEST,
or between THREAD_PRIORITY_TIME_CRITICAL and THREAD_PRIORITY_HIGHEST to
THREAD_PRIORITY_HIGHEST. Currently, this also applies to
REALTIME_PRIORITY_CLASSi even if levels -7, -6, -5, -4, -3, 3, 4, 5, and 6
are supported.
If it wishes, a Win32 application using pthreads-win32 can use the Win32
defined priority macros THREAD_PRIORITY_IDLE through
THREAD_PRIORITY_TIME_CRITICAL.