xref: /illumos-gate/usr/src/man/man3c/mtx.3c (revision bbf215553c7233fbab8a0afdf1fac74c44781867)

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.Dd "February 14, 2020"
.Dt MTX 3C
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm mtx ,
.Nm mtx_destroy ,
.Nm mtx_init ,
.Nm mtx_lock ,
.Nm mtx_timedlock ,
.Nm mtx_trylock ,
.Nm mtx_unlock
.Nd C11 mutex operations
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.In threads.h
.Ft int
.Fo mtx_init
.Fa "mtx_t *mtx"
.Fa "int type"
.Fc
.Ft void
.Fo mtx_destroy
.Fa "mtx_t *mtx"
.Fc
.Ft int
.Fo mtx_lock
.Fa "mtx_t *mtx"
.Fc
.Ft int
.Fo mtx_timedlock
.Fa "mtx_t *mtx"
.Fa "const struct timespec *restrict ts"
.Fc
.Ft int
.Fo mtx_trylock
.Fa "mtx_t *mtx"
.Fc
.Ft int
.Fo mtx_unlock
.Fa "mtx_t *mtx"
.Fc
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Sy mtx
family of functions implement mutual exclusion locks (mutexes) and behave
similarly to both POSIX threads and illumos threads; however, they have
slightly different call signatures and return values.
For more information, see
.Xr threads 7 .
Importantly, they do not allow for inter-process synchronization.
.Ss Creating and Destroying Mutexes
The
.Fn mtx_init
function initializes the mutex specified by
.Fa mtx .
The following types of mutexes are valid and may be specified by the
.Fa type
argument:
.Bl -tag -width Dv
.It Dv mtx_plain
A simple, intra-process mutex.
.It Dv mtx_timed
A simple, intra-process mutex, which allows timed locking operations.
.It Dv mtx_plain | mtx_recursive
An intra-process mutex that may be acquired recursively by the same
thread.
It must be unlocked an equal number of times that it is locked.
.It Dv mtx_timed | mtx_recursive
An intra-process mutex that supports timed locking operations and may be
acquired recursively by the same thread.
It must be unlocked an equal number of times that it is locked.
.El
For more information on the different kind of mutexes, see
.Xr mutex_init 3C .
.Pp
The
.Fn mtx_destroy
function destroys the mutex pointed to by
.Fa mtx .
It is illegal for threads to be blocked waiting for
.Fa mtx
when
.Fn mtx_destroy
is called .
.Ss Locking and Unlocking Mutexes
The
.Fn mtx_lock
function attempts to lock the mutex
.Fa mtx .
When the function returns, it will be the sole owner of the mutex and
must call
.Fn mtx_unlock
when it is done, or risk inducing a deadlock in the process.
Other threads that make calls to
.Fn mtx_lock
after another thread has successfully completed its call to
.Fn mtx_lock
will block.
When they finally return, then they will have obtained the mutex
.Fa mtx .
.Pp
Unless a lock of type
.Dv mtx_recursive
was created, a thread calling
.Fn mtx_lock
when it already holds
.Fa mtx
will cause the thread to deadlock.
Otherwise, the lock will be successfully taken again.
However, a thread must call
.Fn mtx_unlock
for each time that it has acquired
.Fa mtx .
.Pp
The
.Fn mtx_trylock
function will attempt to obtain the mutex pointed to by
.Fa mtx .
However, unlike
.Fn mtx_lock ,
if
.Fa mtx
is locked, then it will not block and wait for
.Fa mtx
and instead return
.Dv thrd_busy
to indicate that the lock is currently held.
.Pp
The
.Fn mtx_timedlock
function attempts to obtain the mutex pointed to by
.Fa mtx .
If it is unable to obtain it, then it will block for a set amount of
time dictated by
.Fa ts .
The timeout in
.Fa ts
is treated as an absolute time in UTC to block until, measured based on
the
.Dv CLOCK_REALTIME
clock.
.Pp
The
.Fn mtx_unlock
function unlocks the mutex pointed to by
.Fa mtx ,
which allows another thread the opportunity to obtain it.
If any threads are actively blocking on the mutex, one of them will obtain it
and be woken up.
It is an error to call
.Fn mtx_unlock
on a mutex which the calling thread does not currently own.
.Sh RETURN VALUES
Upon successful completion, the function
.Fn mtx_init
returns
.Dv thrd_success .
If there was insufficient memory to create the thread,
it instead returns
.Dv thrd_nomem .
If any other error occurred, it returns
.Dv thrd_error .
.Pp
The functions
.Fn mtx_lock ,
and
.Fn mtx_unlock
return
.Dv thrd_success .
If they were unable to successfully complete the operation, they instead
return
.Dv thrd_error .
.Pp
Upon successful completion, the
.Fn mtx_timedlock
function returns
.Dv thrd_success .
If the timeout is reached and the calling thread is unable to obtain the
mutex, then
.Dv thrd_timedout
is returned.
If any other error occurs, then
.Dv thrd_error
is returned.
.Pp
Upon successful completion, the
.Fn mtx_trylock
function returns
.Dv thrd_success .
If the thread was unable to obtain the mutex because another thread owns
it, then it returns
.Dv thrd_busy .
Otherwise, an error will have occurred and
.Dv thrd_error
is returned.
.Sh INTERFACE STABILITY
.Sy Standard
.Sh MT-LEVEL
.Sy MT-Safe
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr mutex_init 3C ,
.Xr pthread_mutex_destroy 3C ,
.Xr pthread_mutex_init 3C ,
.Xr pthread_mutex_lock 3C ,
.Xr pthread_mutex_timedlock 3C ,
.Xr pthread_mutex_trylock 3C ,
.Xr pthread_mutex_unlock 3C ,
.Xr threads.h 3HEAD ,
.Xr attributes 7