xref: /illumos-gate/usr/src/man/man3c/call_once.3c (revision 058c4bb45994ad954199a7e36d99b487725043ad)
1.\"
2.\" This file and its contents are supplied under the terms of the
3.\" Common Development and Distribution License ("CDDL"), version 1.0.
4.\" You may only use this file in accordance with the terms of version
5.\" 1.0 of the CDDL.
6.\"
7.\" A full copy of the text of the CDDL should have accompanied this
8.\" source.  A copy of the CDDL is also available via the Internet at
9.\" http://www.illumos.org/license/CDDL.
10.\"
11.\"
12.\" Copyright 2016 Joyent, Inc.
13.\"
14.Dd "Jan 11, 2015"
15.Dt CALL_ONCE 3C
16.Os
17.Sh NAME
18.Nm call_once
19.Nd ensure function is only called once
20.Sh SYNOPSIS
21.In treads.h
22.Vt "once_flag once = ONCE_FLAG_INIT;"
23.Ft void
24.Fo call_once
25.Fa "once_flag *once"
26.Fa "void (*func)(void)"
27.Fc
28.Sh DESCRIPTION
29The
30.Fn call_once
31function is used to ensure that an operation occurs only once, even
32across multiple threads. Each instance of a properly initialized
33.Ft once_flag
34can be pased to the
35.Ft call_once
36function; however, only a single caller will successfully execute the
37specified function,
38.Fa func .
39This ensures that the argument
40.Fa func
41is called only once. Note, the argument
42.Fa once
43is the only thing used as a point of synchronization. If multiple
44callers use the same pointer for
45.Fa once ,
46but use different values for
47.Fa func ,
48then only one of the functions will be successfully called.
49.Pp
50The argument
51.Fn once
52should always be initialized to the symbol
53.Sy ONCE_FLAG_INIT
54before calling
55.Fn call_once .
56Failure to do so will result in undefined behavior.
57.Pp
58Like
59.Xr pthread_once 3C ,
60the
61.Fn call_once
62function is not itself a cancellation point; however, if the thread
63calling
64.Fn func
65encounters a cancellation point and is cancelled, then the value pointed
66to by
67.Fa once
68will be as though
69.Fn call_once
70had not been called, as
71.Fn func
72had not completed successfully.
73.Sh RETURN VALUES
74The
75.Fn call_once
76function does not return any values. Upon its completion, it is guaranteed that
77.Fa func
78will have been called at most once across the liftime of the
79.Fa once
80argument .
81.Sh INTERFACE STABILITY
82.Sy Standard
83.Sh MT-LEVEL
84.Sy MT-Safe
85.Sh SEE ALSO
86.Xr pthread_once 3C ,
87.Xr threads.h 3HEAD ,
88.Xr attributes 5 ,
89.Xr threads 5
90