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1 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
2 // Name: thread.h
3 // Purpose: interface of all thread-related wxWidgets classes
4 // Author: wxWidgets team
5 // RCS-ID: $Id$
6 // Licence: wxWindows licence
7 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
8
9
10 /** See wxCondition. */
11 enum wxCondError
12 {
13 wxCOND_NO_ERROR = 0,
14 wxCOND_INVALID,
15 wxCOND_TIMEOUT, //!< WaitTimeout() has timed out
16 wxCOND_MISC_ERROR
17 };
18
19
20 /**
21 @class wxCondition
22
23 wxCondition variables correspond to pthread conditions or to Win32 event objects.
24 They may be used in a multithreaded application to wait until the given condition
25 becomes @true which happens when the condition becomes signaled.
26
27 For example, if a worker thread is doing some long task and another thread has
28 to wait until it is finished, the latter thread will wait on the condition
29 object and the worker thread will signal it on exit (this example is not
30 perfect because in this particular case it would be much better to just
31 wxThread::Wait for the worker thread, but if there are several worker threads
32 it already makes much more sense).
33
34 Note that a call to wxCondition::Signal may happen before the other thread calls
35 wxCondition::Wait and, just as with the pthread conditions, the signal is then
36 lost and so if you want to be sure that you don't miss it you must keep the
37 mutex associated with the condition initially locked and lock it again before calling
38 wxCondition::Signal. Of course, this means that this call is going to block
39 until wxCondition::Wait is called by another thread.
40
41 @section condition_example Example
42
43 This example shows how a main thread may launch a worker thread which starts
44 running and then waits until the main thread signals it to continue:
45
46 @code
47 class MySignallingThread : public wxThread
48 {
49 public:
50 MySignallingThread(wxMutex *mutex, wxCondition *condition)
51 {
52 m_mutex = mutex;
53 m_condition = condition;
54 }
55
56 virtual ExitCode Entry()
57 {
58 ... do our job ...
59
60 // tell the other(s) thread(s) that we're about to terminate: we must
61 // lock the mutex first or we might signal the condition before the
62 // waiting threads start waiting on it!
63 wxMutexLocker lock(*m_mutex);
64 m_condition->Broadcast(); // same as Signal() here -- one waiter only
65
66 return 0;
67 }
68
69 private:
70 wxCondition *m_condition;
71 wxMutex *m_mutex;
72 };
73
74 int main()
75 {
76 wxMutex mutex;
77 wxCondition condition(mutex);
78
79 // the mutex should be initially locked
80 mutex.Lock();
81
82 // create and run the thread but notice that it won't be able to
83 // exit (and signal its exit) before we unlock the mutex below
84 MySignallingThread *thread = new MySignallingThread(&mutex, &condition);
85
86 thread->Run();
87
88 // wait for the thread termination: Wait() atomically unlocks the mutex
89 // which allows the thread to continue and starts waiting
90 condition.Wait();
91
92 // now we can exit
93 return 0;
94 }
95 @endcode
96
97 Of course, here it would be much better to simply use a joinable thread and
98 call wxThread::Wait on it, but this example does illustrate the importance of
99 properly locking the mutex when using wxCondition.
100
101 @library{wxbase}
102 @category{threading}
103
104 @see wxThread, wxMutex
105 */
106 class wxCondition
107 {
108 public:
109 /**
110 Default and only constructor.
111 The @a mutex must be locked by the caller before calling Wait() function.
112 Use IsOk() to check if the object was successfully initialized.
113 */
114 wxCondition(wxMutex& mutex);
115
116 /**
117 Destroys the wxCondition object.
118
119 The destructor is not virtual so this class should not be used polymorphically.
120 */
121 ~wxCondition();
122
123 /**
124 Broadcasts to all waiting threads, waking all of them up.
125
126 Note that this method may be called whether the mutex associated with
127 this condition is locked or not.
128
129 @see Signal()
130 */
131 wxCondError Broadcast();
132
133 /**
134 Returns @true if the object had been initialized successfully, @false
135 if an error occurred.
136 */
137 bool IsOk() const;
138
139 /**
140 Signals the object waking up at most one thread.
141
142 If several threads are waiting on the same condition, the exact thread
143 which is woken up is undefined. If no threads are waiting, the signal is
144 lost and the condition would have to be signalled again to wake up any
145 thread which may start waiting on it later.
146
147 Note that this method may be called whether the mutex associated with this
148 condition is locked or not.
149
150 @see Broadcast()
151 */
152 wxCondError Signal();
153
154 /**
155 Waits until the condition is signalled.
156
157 This method atomically releases the lock on the mutex associated with this
158 condition (this is why it must be locked prior to calling Wait()) and puts the
159 thread to sleep until Signal() or Broadcast() is called.
160 It then locks the mutex again and returns.
161
162 Note that even if Signal() had been called before Wait() without waking
163 up any thread, the thread would still wait for another one and so it is
164 important to ensure that the condition will be signalled after
165 Wait() or the thread may sleep forever.
166
167 @return Returns wxCOND_NO_ERROR on success, another value if an error occurred.
168
169 @see WaitTimeout()
170 */
171 wxCondError Wait();
172
173 /**
174 Waits until the condition is signalled or the timeout has elapsed.
175
176 This method is identical to Wait() except that it returns, with the
177 return code of @c wxCOND_TIMEOUT as soon as the given timeout expires.
178
179 @param milliseconds
180 Timeout in milliseconds
181
182 @return Returns wxCOND_NO_ERROR if the condition was signalled,
183 wxCOND_TIMEOUT if the timeout elapsed before this happened or
184 another error code from wxCondError enum.
185 */
186 wxCondError WaitTimeout(unsigned long milliseconds);
187 };
188
189
190 /**
191 @class wxCriticalSectionLocker
192
193 This is a small helper class to be used with wxCriticalSection objects.
194
195 A wxCriticalSectionLocker enters the critical section in the constructor and
196 leaves it in the destructor making it much more difficult to forget to leave
197 a critical section (which, in general, will lead to serious and difficult
198 to debug problems).
199
200 Example of using it:
201
202 @code
203 void Set Foo()
204 {
205 // gs_critSect is some (global) critical section guarding access to the
206 // object "foo"
207 wxCriticalSectionLocker locker(gs_critSect);
208
209 if ( ... )
210 {
211 // do something
212 ...
213
214 return;
215 }
216
217 // do something else
218 ...
219
220 return;
221 }
222 @endcode
223
224 Without wxCriticalSectionLocker, you would need to remember to manually leave
225 the critical section before each @c return.
226
227 @library{wxbase}
228 @category{threading}
229
230 @see wxCriticalSection, wxMutexLocker
231 */
232 class wxCriticalSectionLocker
233 {
234 public:
235 /**
236 Constructs a wxCriticalSectionLocker object associated with given
237 @a criticalsection and enters it.
238 */
239 wxCriticalSectionLocker(wxCriticalSection& criticalsection);
240
241 /**
242 Destructor leaves the critical section.
243 */
244 ~wxCriticalSectionLocker();
245 };
246
247
248
249 /**
250 @class wxThreadHelper
251
252 The wxThreadHelper class is a mix-in class that manages a single background
253 thread, either detached or joinable (see wxThread for the differences).
254 By deriving from wxThreadHelper, a class can implement the thread
255 code in its own wxThreadHelper::Entry() method and easily share data and
256 synchronization objects between the main thread and the worker thread.
257
258 Doing this prevents the awkward passing of pointers that is needed when the
259 original object in the main thread needs to synchronize with its worker thread
260 in its own wxThread derived object.
261
262 For example, wxFrame may need to make some calculations in a background thread
263 and then display the results of those calculations in the main window.
264
265 Ordinarily, a wxThread derived object would be created with the calculation
266 code implemented in wxThread::Entry. To access the inputs to the calculation,
267 the frame object would often need to pass a pointer to itself to the thread object.
268 Similarly, the frame object would hold a pointer to the thread object.
269
270 Shared data and synchronization objects could be stored in either object
271 though the object without the data would have to access the data through
272 a pointer.
273 However with wxThreadHelper the frame object and the thread object are
274 treated as the same object. Shared data and synchronization variables are
275 stored in the single object, eliminating a layer of indirection and the
276 associated pointers.
277
278 Example:
279 @code
280 wxDECLARE_EVENT(myEVT_THREAD_UPDATE, wxThreadEvent);
281
282 class MyFrame : public wxFrame, public wxThreadHelper
283 {
284 public:
285 MyFrame(...) { ... }
286 ~MyFrame()
287 {
288 // it's better to do any thread cleanup in the OnClose()
289 // event handler, rather than in the destructor.
290 // This is because the event loop for a top-level window is not
291 // active anymore when its destructor is called and if the thread
292 // sends events when ending, they won't be processed unless
293 // you ended the thread from OnClose.
294 // See @ref overview_windowdeletion for more info.
295 }
296
297 ...
298 void DoStartALongTask();
299 void OnThreadUpdate(wxThreadEvent& evt);
300 void OnClose(wxCloseEvent& evt);
301 ...
302
303 protected:
304 virtual wxThread::ExitCode Entry();
305
306 // the output data of the Entry() routine:
307 char m_data[1024];
308 wxCriticalSection m_dataCS; // protects field above
309
310 wxDECLARE_EVENT_TABLE();
311 };
312
313 wxDEFINE_EVENT(myEVT_THREAD_UPDATE, wxThreadEvent)
314 wxBEGIN_EVENT_TABLE(MyFrame, wxFrame)
315 EVT_THREAD(wxID_ANY, myEVT_THREAD_UPDATE, MyFrame::OnThreadUpdate)
316 EVT_CLOSE(MyFrame::OnClose)
317 wxEND_EVENT_TABLE()
318
319 void MyFrame::DoStartALongTask()
320 {
321 // we want to start a long task, but we don't want our GUI to block
322 // while it's executed, so we use a thread to do it.
323 if (CreateThread(wxTHREAD_JOINABLE) != wxTHREAD_NO_ERROR)
324 {
325 wxLogError("Could not create the worker thread!");
326 return;
327 }
328
329 // go!
330 if (GetThread()->Run() != wxTHREAD_NO_ERROR)
331 {
332 wxLogError("Could not run the worker thread!");
333 return;
334 }
335 }
336
337 wxThread::ExitCode MyFrame::Entry()
338 {
339 // IMPORTANT:
340 // this function gets executed in the secondary thread context!
341
342 int offset = 0;
343
344 // here we do our long task, periodically calling TestDestroy():
345 while (!GetThread()->TestDestroy())
346 {
347 // since this Entry() is implemented in MyFrame context we don't
348 // need any pointer to access the m_data, m_processedData, m_dataCS
349 // variables... very nice!
350
351 // this is an example of the generic structure of a download thread:
352 char buffer[1024];
353 download_chunk(buffer, 1024); // this takes time...
354
355 {
356 // ensure no one reads m_data while we write it
357 wxCriticalSectionLocker lock(m_dataCS);
358 memcpy(m_data+offset, buffer, 1024);
359 offset += 1024;
360 }
361
362
363 // VERY IMPORTANT: do not call any GUI function inside this
364 // function; rather use wxQueueEvent():
365 wxQueueEvent(this, new wxThreadEvent(wxEVT_COMMAND_MYTHREAD_UPDATE));
366 // we used pointer 'this' assuming it's safe; see OnClose()
367 }
368
369 // TestDestroy() returned true (which means the main thread asked us
370 // to terminate as soon as possible) or we ended the long task...
371 return (wxThread::ExitCode)0;
372 }
373
374 void MyFrame::OnClose(wxCloseEvent&)
375 {
376 // important: before terminating, we _must_ wait for our joinable
377 // thread to end, if it's running; in fact it uses variables of this
378 // instance and posts events to *this event handler
379
380 if (GetThread() && // DoStartALongTask() may have not been called
381 GetThread()->IsRunning())
382 GetThread()->Wait();
383
384 Destroy();
385 }
386
387 void MyFrame::OnThreadUpdate(wxThreadEvent& evt)
388 {
389 // ...do something... e.g. m_pGauge->Pulse();
390
391 // read some parts of m_data just for fun:
392 wxCriticalSectionLocker lock(m_dataCS);
393 wxPrintf("%c", m_data[100]);
394 }
395 @endcode
396
397 @library{wxbase}
398 @category{threading}
399
400 @see wxThread, wxThreadEvent
401 */
402 class wxThreadHelper
403 {
404 public:
405 /**
406 This constructor simply initializes internal member variables and tells
407 wxThreadHelper which type the thread internally managed should be.
408 */
409 wxThreadHelper(wxThreadKind kind = wxTHREAD_JOINABLE);
410
411 /**
412 The destructor frees the resources associated with the thread, forcing
413 it to terminate (it uses wxThread::Kill function).
414
415 Because of the wxThread::Kill unsafety, you should always wait
416 (with wxThread::Wait) for joinable threads to end or call wxThread::Delete
417 on detached threads, instead of relying on this destructor for stopping
418 the thread.
419 */
420 virtual ~wxThreadHelper();
421
422 /**
423 This is the entry point of the thread.
424
425 This function is pure virtual and must be implemented by any derived class.
426 The thread execution will start here.
427
428 You'll typically want your Entry() to look like:
429 @code
430 wxThread::ExitCode Entry()
431 {
432 while (!GetThread()->TestDestroy())
433 {
434 // ... do some work ...
435
436 if (IsWorkCompleted)
437 break;
438
439 if (HappenedStoppingError)
440 return (wxThread::ExitCode)1; // failure
441 }
442
443 return (wxThread::ExitCode)0; // success
444 }
445 @endcode
446
447 The returned value is the thread exit code which is only useful for
448 joinable threads and is the value returned by @c "GetThread()->Wait()".
449
450 This function is called by wxWidgets itself and should never be called
451 directly.
452 */
453 virtual ExitCode Entry() = 0;
454
455 /**
456 Callback called by Delete() before actually deleting the thread.
457
458 This function can be overridden by the derived class to perform some
459 specific task when the thread is gracefully destroyed. Notice that it
460 will be executed in the context of the thread that called Delete() and
461 <b>not</b> in this thread's context.
462
463 TestDestroy() will be true for the thread before OnDelete() gets
464 executed.
465
466 @since 2.9.2
467
468 @see OnKill()
469 */
470 virtual void OnDelete();
471
472 /**
473 Callback called by Kill() before actually killing the thread.
474
475 This function can be overridden by the derived class to perform some
476 specific task when the thread is terminated. Notice that it will be
477 executed in the context of the thread that called Kill() and <b>not</b>
478 in this thread's context.
479
480 @since 2.9.2
481
482 @see OnDelete()
483 */
484 virtual void OnKill();
485
486 /**
487 @deprecated
488 Use CreateThread() instead.
489 */
490 wxThreadError Create(unsigned int stackSize = 0);
491
492 /**
493 Creates a new thread of the given @a kind.
494
495 The thread object is created in the suspended state, and you
496 should call @ref wxThread::Run "GetThread()->Run()" to start running it.
497
498 You may optionally specify the stack size to be allocated to it (ignored
499 on platforms that don't support setting it explicitly, e.g. Unix).
500
501 @return One of the ::wxThreadError enum values.
502 */
503 wxThreadError CreateThread(wxThreadKind kind = wxTHREAD_JOINABLE,
504 unsigned int stackSize = 0);
505
506 /**
507 This is a public function that returns the wxThread object associated with
508 the thread.
509 */
510 wxThread* GetThread() const;
511
512 /**
513 Returns the last type of thread given to the CreateThread() function
514 or to the constructor.
515 */
516 wxThreadKind GetThreadKind() const;
517 };
518
519 /**
520 Possible critical section types
521 */
522
523 enum wxCriticalSectionType
524 {
525 wxCRITSEC_DEFAULT,
526 /** Recursive critical section under both Windows and Unix */
527
528 wxCRITSEC_NON_RECURSIVE
529 /** Non-recursive critical section under Unix, recursive under Windows */
530 };
531
532 /**
533 @class wxCriticalSection
534
535 A critical section object is used for exactly the same purpose as a wxMutex.
536 The only difference is that under Windows platform critical sections are only
537 visible inside one process, while mutexes may be shared among processes,
538 so using critical sections is slightly more efficient.
539
540 The terminology is also slightly different: mutex may be locked (or acquired)
541 and unlocked (or released) while critical section is entered and left by the program.
542
543 Finally, you should try to use wxCriticalSectionLocker class whenever
544 possible instead of directly using wxCriticalSection for the same reasons
545 wxMutexLocker is preferable to wxMutex - please see wxMutex for an example.
546
547 @library{wxbase}
548 @category{threading}
549
550 @note Critical sections can be used before the wxWidgets library is fully
551 initialized. In particular, it's safe to create global
552 wxCriticalSection instances.
553
554 @see wxThread, wxCondition, wxCriticalSectionLocker
555 */
556 class wxCriticalSection
557 {
558 public:
559 /**
560 Default constructor initializes critical section object.
561 By default critical sections are recursive under Unix and Windows.
562 */
563 wxCriticalSection( wxCriticalSectionType critSecType = wxCRITSEC_DEFAULT );
564
565 /**
566 Destructor frees the resources.
567 */
568 ~wxCriticalSection();
569
570 /**
571 Enter the critical section (same as locking a mutex): if another thread
572 has already entered it, this call will block until the other thread
573 calls Leave().
574 There is no error return for this function.
575
576 After entering the critical section protecting a data variable,
577 the thread running inside the critical section may safely use/modify it.
578
579 Note that entering the same critical section twice or more from the same
580 thread doesn't result in a deadlock; in this case in fact this function will
581 immediately return.
582 */
583 void Enter();
584
585 /**
586 Try to enter the critical section (same as trying to lock a mutex).
587 If it can't, immediately returns false.
588
589 @since 2.9.3
590 */
591 bool TryEnter();
592
593 /**
594 Leave the critical section allowing other threads use the global data
595 protected by it. There is no error return for this function.
596 */
597 void Leave();
598 };
599
600 /**
601 The possible thread wait types.
602
603 @since 2.9.2
604 */
605 enum wxThreadWait
606 {
607 /**
608 No events are processed while waiting.
609
610 This is the default under all platforms except for wxMSW.
611 */
612 wxTHREAD_WAIT_BLOCK,
613
614 /**
615 Yield for event dispatching while waiting.
616
617 This flag is dangerous as it exposes the program using it to unexpected
618 reentrancies in the same way as calling wxYield() function does so you
619 are strongly advised to avoid its use and not wait for the thread
620 termination from the main (GUI) thread at all to avoid making your
621 application unresponsive.
622
623 Also notice that this flag is not portable as it is only implemented in
624 wxMSW and simply ignored under the other platforms.
625 */
626 wxTHREAD_WAIT_YIELD,
627
628 /**
629 Default wait mode for wxThread::Wait() and wxThread::Delete().
630
631 For compatibility reasons, the default wait mode is currently
632 wxTHREAD_WAIT_YIELD if WXWIN_COMPATIBILITY_2_8 is defined (and it is
633 by default). However, as mentioned above, you're strongly encouraged to
634 not use wxTHREAD_WAIT_YIELD and pass wxTHREAD_WAIT_BLOCK to wxThread
635 method explicitly.
636 */
637 wxTHREAD_WAIT_DEFAULT = wxTHREAD_WAIT_YIELD
638 };
639
640 /**
641 The possible thread kinds.
642 */
643 enum wxThreadKind
644 {
645 /** Detached thread */
646 wxTHREAD_DETACHED,
647
648 /** Joinable thread */
649 wxTHREAD_JOINABLE
650 };
651
652 /**
653 The possible thread errors.
654 */
655 enum wxThreadError
656 {
657 /** No error */
658 wxTHREAD_NO_ERROR = 0,
659
660 /** No resource left to create a new thread. */
661 wxTHREAD_NO_RESOURCE,
662
663 /** The thread is already running. */
664 wxTHREAD_RUNNING,
665
666 /** The thread isn't running. */
667 wxTHREAD_NOT_RUNNING,
668
669 /** Thread we waited for had to be killed. */
670 wxTHREAD_KILLED,
671
672 /** Some other error */
673 wxTHREAD_MISC_ERROR
674 };
675
676 /**
677 @class wxThread
678
679 A thread is basically a path of execution through a program.
680 Threads are sometimes called @e light-weight processes, but the fundamental difference
681 between threads and processes is that memory spaces of different processes are
682 separated while all threads share the same address space.
683
684 While it makes it much easier to share common data between several threads, it
685 also makes it much easier to shoot oneself in the foot, so careful use of
686 synchronization objects such as mutexes (see wxMutex) or critical sections
687 (see wxCriticalSection) is recommended.
688 In addition, don't create global thread objects because they allocate memory
689 in their constructor, which will cause problems for the memory checking system.
690
691
692 @section thread_types Types of wxThreads
693
694 There are two types of threads in wxWidgets: @e detached and @e joinable,
695 modeled after the POSIX thread API. This is different from the Win32 API
696 where all threads are joinable.
697
698 By default wxThreads in wxWidgets use the @b detached behaviour.
699 Detached threads delete themselves once they have completed, either by themselves
700 when they complete processing or through a call to Delete(), and thus
701 @b must be created on the heap (through the new operator, for example).
702
703 Typically you'll want to store the instances of the detached wxThreads you
704 allocate, so that you can call functions on them.
705 Because of their nature however you'll need to always use a critical section
706 when accessing them:
707
708 @code
709 // declare a new type of event, to be used by our MyThread class:
710 wxDECLARE_EVENT(wxEVT_COMMAND_MYTHREAD_COMPLETED, wxThreadEvent);
711 wxDECLARE_EVENT(wxEVT_COMMAND_MYTHREAD_UPDATE, wxThreadEvent);
712 class MyFrame;
713
714 class MyThread : public wxThread
715 {
716 public:
717 MyThread(MyFrame *handler)
718 : wxThread(wxTHREAD_DETACHED)
719 { m_pHandler = handler }
720 ~MyThread();
721
722 protected:
723 virtual ExitCode Entry();
724 MyFrame *m_pHandler;
725 };
726
727 class MyFrame : public wxFrame
728 {
729 public:
730 ...
731 ~MyFrame()
732 {
733 // it's better to do any thread cleanup in the OnClose()
734 // event handler, rather than in the destructor.
735 // This is because the event loop for a top-level window is not
736 // active anymore when its destructor is called and if the thread
737 // sends events when ending, they won't be processed unless
738 // you ended the thread from OnClose.
739 // See @ref overview_windowdeletion for more info.
740 }
741 ...
742 void DoStartThread();
743 void DoPauseThread();
744
745 // a resume routine would be nearly identic to DoPauseThread()
746 void DoResumeThread() { ... }
747
748 void OnThreadUpdate(wxThreadEvent&);
749 void OnThreadCompletion(wxThreadEvent&);
750 void OnClose(wxCloseEvent&);
751
752 protected:
753 MyThread *m_pThread;
754 wxCriticalSection m_pThreadCS; // protects the m_pThread pointer
755
756 wxDECLARE_EVENT_TABLE();
757 };
758
759 wxBEGIN_EVENT_TABLE(MyFrame, wxFrame)
760 EVT_CLOSE(MyFrame::OnClose)
761 EVT_MENU(Minimal_Start, MyFrame::DoStartThread)
762 EVT_COMMAND(wxID_ANY, wxEVT_COMMAND_MYTHREAD_UPDATE, MyFrame::OnThreadUpdate)
763 EVT_COMMAND(wxID_ANY, wxEVT_COMMAND_MYTHREAD_COMPLETED, MyFrame::OnThreadCompletion)
764 wxEND_EVENT_TABLE()
765
766 wxDEFINE_EVENT(wxEVT_COMMAND_MYTHREAD_COMPLETED, wxThreadEvent)
767 wxDEFINE_EVENT(wxEVT_COMMAND_MYTHREAD_UPDATE, wxThreadEvent)
768
769 void MyFrame::DoStartThread()
770 {
771 m_pThread = new MyThread(this);
772
773 if ( m_pThread->Run() != wxTHREAD_NO_ERROR )
774 {
775 wxLogError("Can't create the thread!");
776 delete m_pThread;
777 m_pThread = NULL;
778 }
779
780 // after the call to wxThread::Run(), the m_pThread pointer is "unsafe":
781 // at any moment the thread may cease to exist (because it completes its work).
782 // To avoid dangling pointers OnThreadExit() will set m_pThread
783 // to NULL when the thread dies.
784 }
785
786 wxThread::ExitCode MyThread::Entry()
787 {
788 while (!TestDestroy())
789 {
790 // ... do a bit of work...
791
792 wxQueueEvent(m_pHandler, new wxThreadEvent(wxEVT_COMMAND_MYTHREAD_UPDATE));
793 }
794
795 // signal the event handler that this thread is going to be destroyed
796 // NOTE: here we assume that using the m_pHandler pointer is safe,
797 // (in this case this is assured by the MyFrame destructor)
798 wxQueueEvent(m_pHandler, new wxThreadEvent(wxEVT_COMMAND_MYTHREAD_COMPLETED));
799
800 return (wxThread::ExitCode)0; // success
801 }
802
803 MyThread::~MyThread()
804 {
805 wxCriticalSectionLocker enter(m_pHandler->m_pThreadCS);
806
807 // the thread is being destroyed; make sure not to leave dangling pointers around
808 m_pHandler->m_pThread = NULL;
809 }
810
811 void MyFrame::OnThreadCompletion(wxThreadEvent&)
812 {
813 wxMessageOutputDebug().Printf("MYFRAME: MyThread exited!\n");
814 }
815
816 void MyFrame::OnThreadUpdate(wxThreadEvent&)
817 {
818 wxMessageOutputDebug().Printf("MYFRAME: MyThread update...\n");
819 }
820
821 void MyFrame::DoPauseThread()
822 {
823 // anytime we access the m_pThread pointer we must ensure that it won't
824 // be modified in the meanwhile; since only a single thread may be
825 // inside a given critical section at a given time, the following code
826 // is safe:
827 wxCriticalSectionLocker enter(m_pThreadCS);
828
829 if (m_pThread) // does the thread still exist?
830 {
831 // without a critical section, once reached this point it may happen
832 // that the OS scheduler gives control to the MyThread::Entry() function,
833 // which in turn may return (because it completes its work) making
834 // invalid the m_pThread pointer
835
836 if (m_pThread->Pause() != wxTHREAD_NO_ERROR )
837 wxLogError("Can't pause the thread!");
838 }
839 }
840
841 void MyFrame::OnClose(wxCloseEvent&)
842 {
843 {
844 wxCriticalSectionLocker enter(m_pThreadCS);
845
846 if (m_pThread) // does the thread still exist?
847 {
848 wxMessageOutputDebug().Printf("MYFRAME: deleting thread");
849
850 if (m_pThread->Delete() != wxTHREAD_NO_ERROR )
851 wxLogError("Can't delete the thread!");
852 }
853 } // exit from the critical section to give the thread
854 // the possibility to enter its destructor
855 // (which is guarded with m_pThreadCS critical section!)
856
857 while (1)
858 {
859 { // was the ~MyThread() function executed?
860 wxCriticalSectionLocker enter(m_pThreadCS);
861 if (!m_pThread) break;
862 }
863
864 // wait for thread completion
865 wxThread::This()->Sleep(1);
866 }
867
868 Destroy();
869 }
870 @endcode
871
872 For a more detailed and comprehensive example, see @sample{thread}.
873 For a simpler way to share data and synchronization objects between
874 the main and the secondary thread see wxThreadHelper.
875
876 Conversely, @b joinable threads do not delete themselves when they are done
877 processing and as such are safe to create on the stack. Joinable threads
878 also provide the ability for one to get value it returned from Entry()
879 through Wait().
880 You shouldn't hurry to create all the threads joinable, however, because this
881 has a disadvantage as well: you @b must Wait() for a joinable thread or the
882 system resources used by it will never be freed, and you also must delete the
883 corresponding wxThread object yourself if you did not create it on the stack.
884 In contrast, detached threads are of the "fire-and-forget" kind: you only have
885 to start a detached thread and it will terminate and destroy itself.
886
887
888 @section thread_deletion wxThread Deletion
889
890 Regardless of whether it has terminated or not, you should call Wait() on a
891 @b joinable thread to release its memory, as outlined in @ref thread_types.
892 If you created a joinable thread on the heap, remember to delete it manually
893 with the @c delete operator or similar means as only detached threads handle
894 this type of memory management.
895
896 Since @b detached threads delete themselves when they are finished processing,
897 you should take care when calling a routine on one. If you are certain the
898 thread is still running and would like to end it, you may call Delete()
899 to gracefully end it (which implies that the thread will be deleted after
900 that call to Delete()). It should be implied that you should @b never attempt
901 to delete a detached thread with the @c delete operator or similar means.
902
903 As mentioned, Wait() or Delete() functions attempt to gracefully terminate a
904 joinable and a detached thread, respectively. They do this by waiting until
905 the thread in question calls TestDestroy() or ends processing (i.e. returns
906 from wxThread::Entry).
907
908 Obviously, if the thread does call TestDestroy() and does not end, the
909 thread which called Wait() or Delete() will come to halt.
910 This is why it's important to call TestDestroy() in the Entry() routine of
911 your threads as often as possible and immediately exit when it returns @true.
912
913 As a last resort you can end the thread immediately through Kill(). It is
914 strongly recommended that you do not do this, however, as it does not free
915 the resources associated with the object (although the wxThread object of
916 detached threads will still be deleted) and could leave the C runtime
917 library in an undefined state.
918
919
920 @section thread_secondary wxWidgets Calls in Secondary Threads
921
922 All threads other than the "main application thread" (the one running
923 wxApp::OnInit() or the one your main function runs in, for example) are
924 considered "secondary threads".
925
926 GUI calls, such as those to a wxWindow or wxBitmap are explicitly not safe
927 at all in secondary threads and could end your application prematurely.
928 This is due to several reasons, including the underlying native API and
929 the fact that wxThread does not run a GUI event loop similar to other APIs
930 as MFC.
931
932 A workaround for some wxWidgets ports is calling wxMutexGUIEnter()
933 before any GUI calls and then calling wxMutexGUILeave() afterwords.
934 However, the recommended way is to simply process the GUI calls in the main
935 thread through an event that is posted by wxQueueEvent().
936 This does not imply that calls to these classes are thread-safe, however,
937 as most wxWidgets classes are not thread-safe, including wxString.
938
939
940 @section thread_poll Don't Poll a wxThread
941
942 A common problem users experience with wxThread is that in their main thread
943 they will check the thread every now and then to see if it has ended through
944 IsRunning(), only to find that their application has run into problems
945 because the thread is using the default behaviour (i.e. it's @b detached) and
946 has already deleted itself.
947 Naturally, they instead attempt to use joinable threads in place of the previous
948 behaviour. However, polling a wxThread for when it has ended is in general a
949 bad idea - in fact calling a routine on any running wxThread should be avoided
950 if possible. Instead, find a way to notify yourself when the thread has ended.
951
952 Usually you only need to notify the main thread, in which case you can
953 post an event to it via wxQueueEvent().
954 In the case of secondary threads you can call a routine of another class
955 when the thread is about to complete processing and/or set the value of
956 a variable, possibly using mutexes (see wxMutex) and/or other synchronization
957 means if necessary.
958
959 @library{wxbase}
960 @category{threading}
961
962 @see wxThreadHelper, wxMutex, wxCondition, wxCriticalSection,
963 @ref overview_thread
964 */
965 class wxThread
966 {
967 public:
968 /**
969 The return type for the thread functions.
970 */
971 typedef void* ExitCode;
972
973 /**
974 This constructor creates a new detached (default) or joinable C++
975 thread object. It does not create or start execution of the real thread -
976 for this you should use the Run() method.
977
978 The possible values for @a kind parameters are:
979 - @b wxTHREAD_DETACHED - Creates a detached thread.
980 - @b wxTHREAD_JOINABLE - Creates a joinable thread.
981 */
982 wxThread(wxThreadKind kind = wxTHREAD_DETACHED);
983
984 /**
985 The destructor frees the resources associated with the thread.
986 Notice that you should never delete a detached thread -- you may only call
987 Delete() on it or wait until it terminates (and auto destructs) itself.
988
989 Because the detached threads delete themselves, they can only be allocated on the heap.
990 Joinable threads should be deleted explicitly. The Delete() and Kill() functions
991 will not delete the C++ thread object. It is also safe to allocate them on stack.
992 */
993 virtual ~wxThread();
994
995 /**
996 Creates a new thread.
997
998 The thread object is created in the suspended state, and you should call Run()
999 to start running it. You may optionally specify the stack size to be allocated
1000 to it (Ignored on platforms that don't support setting it explicitly,
1001 eg. Unix system without @c pthread_attr_setstacksize).
1002
1003 If you do not specify the stack size, the system's default value is used.
1004
1005 @note
1006 It is not necessary to call this method since 2.9.5, Run() will create
1007 the thread internally. You only need to call Create() if you need to do
1008 something with the thread (e.g. pass its ID to an external library)
1009 before it starts.
1010
1011 @warning
1012 It is a good idea to explicitly specify a value as systems'
1013 default values vary from just a couple of KB on some systems (BSD and
1014 OS/2 systems) to one or several MB (Windows, Solaris, Linux).
1015 So, if you have a thread that requires more than just a few KB of memory, you
1016 will have mysterious problems on some platforms but not on the common ones.
1017 On the other hand, just indicating a large stack size by default will give you
1018 performance issues on those systems with small default stack since those
1019 typically use fully committed memory for the stack.
1020 On the contrary, if you use a lot of threads (say several hundred),
1021 virtual address space can get tight unless you explicitly specify a
1022 smaller amount of thread stack space for each thread.
1023
1024 @return One of:
1025 - @b wxTHREAD_NO_ERROR - No error.
1026 - @b wxTHREAD_NO_RESOURCE - There were insufficient resources to create the thread.
1027 - @b wxTHREAD_NO_RUNNING - The thread is already running
1028 */
1029 wxThreadError Create(unsigned int stackSize = 0);
1030
1031 /**
1032 Calling Delete() gracefully terminates a @b detached thread, either when
1033 the thread calls TestDestroy() or when it finishes processing.
1034
1035 @param rc
1036 The thread exit code, if rc is not NULL.
1037
1038 @param waitMode
1039 As described in wxThreadWait documentation, wxTHREAD_WAIT_BLOCK
1040 should be used as the wait mode even although currently
1041 wxTHREAD_WAIT_YIELD is for compatibility reasons. This parameter is
1042 new in wxWidgets 2.9.2.
1043
1044 @note
1045 This function works on a joinable thread but in that case makes
1046 the TestDestroy() function of the thread return @true and then
1047 waits for its completion (i.e. it differs from Wait() because
1048 it asks the thread to terminate before waiting).
1049
1050 See @ref thread_deletion for a broader explanation of this routine.
1051 */
1052 wxThreadError Delete(ExitCode *rc = NULL,
1053 wxThreadWait waitMode = wxTHREAD_WAIT_BLOCK);
1054
1055 /**
1056 Returns the number of system CPUs or -1 if the value is unknown.
1057
1058 For multi-core systems the returned value is typically the total number
1059 of @e cores, since the OS usually abstract a single N-core CPU
1060 as N different cores.
1061
1062 @see SetConcurrency()
1063 */
1064 static int GetCPUCount();
1065
1066 /**
1067 Returns the platform specific thread ID of the current thread as a long.
1068
1069 This can be used to uniquely identify threads, even if they are not wxThreads.
1070
1071 @see GetMainId()
1072 */
1073 static wxThreadIdType GetCurrentId();
1074
1075 /**
1076 Gets the thread identifier: this is a platform dependent number that uniquely
1077 identifies the thread throughout the system during its existence
1078 (i.e.\ the thread identifiers may be reused).
1079 */
1080 wxThreadIdType GetId() const;
1081
1082 /**
1083 Returns the thread kind as it was given in the ctor.
1084
1085 @since 2.9.0
1086 */
1087 wxThreadKind GetKind() const;
1088
1089 /**
1090 Returns the thread ID of the main thread.
1091
1092 @see IsMain()
1093
1094 @since 2.9.1
1095 */
1096 static wxThreadIdType GetMainId();
1097
1098 /**
1099 Gets the priority of the thread, between 0 (lowest) and 100 (highest).
1100
1101 @see SetPriority()
1102 */
1103 unsigned int GetPriority() const;
1104
1105 /**
1106 Returns @true if the thread is alive (i.e.\ started and not terminating).
1107
1108 Note that this function can only safely be used with joinable threads, not
1109 detached ones as the latter delete themselves and so when the real thread is
1110 no longer alive, it is not possible to call this function because
1111 the wxThread object no longer exists.
1112 */
1113 bool IsAlive() const;
1114
1115 /**
1116 Returns @true if the thread is of the detached kind, @false if it is a
1117 joinable one.
1118 */
1119 bool IsDetached() const;
1120
1121 /**
1122 Returns @true if the calling thread is the main application thread.
1123
1124 Main thread in the context of wxWidgets is the one which initialized
1125 the library.
1126
1127 @see GetMainId(), GetCurrentId()
1128 */
1129 static bool IsMain();
1130
1131 /**
1132 Returns @true if the thread is paused.
1133 */
1134 bool IsPaused() const;
1135
1136 /**
1137 Returns @true if the thread is running.
1138
1139 This method may only be safely used for joinable threads, see the remark in
1140 IsAlive().
1141 */
1142 bool IsRunning() const;
1143
1144 /**
1145 Immediately terminates the target thread.
1146
1147 @b "This function is dangerous and should be used with extreme care"
1148 (and not used at all whenever possible)! The resources allocated to the
1149 thread will not be freed and the state of the C runtime library may become
1150 inconsistent. Use Delete() for detached threads or Wait() for joinable
1151 threads instead.
1152
1153 For detached threads Kill() will also delete the associated C++ object.
1154 However this will not happen for joinable threads and this means that you will
1155 still have to delete the wxThread object yourself to avoid memory leaks.
1156
1157 In neither case OnExit() of the dying thread will be called, so no
1158 thread-specific cleanup will be performed.
1159 This function can only be called from another thread context, i.e. a thread
1160 cannot kill itself.
1161
1162 It is also an error to call this function for a thread which is not running or
1163 paused (in the latter case, the thread will be resumed first) -- if you do it,
1164 a @b wxTHREAD_NOT_RUNNING error will be returned.
1165 */
1166 wxThreadError Kill();
1167
1168 /**
1169 Suspends the thread.
1170
1171 Under some implementations (Win32), the thread is suspended immediately,
1172 under others it will only be suspended when it calls TestDestroy() for
1173 the next time (hence, if the thread doesn't call it at all, it won't be
1174 suspended).
1175
1176 This function can only be called from another thread context.
1177 */
1178 wxThreadError Pause();
1179
1180 /**
1181 Resumes a thread suspended by the call to Pause().
1182
1183 This function can only be called from another thread context.
1184 */
1185 wxThreadError Resume();
1186
1187 /**
1188 Starts the thread execution.
1189
1190 Note that once you Run() a @b detached thread, @e any function call you do
1191 on the thread pointer (you must allocate it on the heap) is @e "unsafe";
1192 i.e. the thread may have terminated at any moment after Run() and your pointer
1193 may be dangling. See @ref thread_types for an example of safe manipulation
1194 of detached threads.
1195
1196 This function can only be called from another thread context.
1197
1198 Finally, note that once a thread has completed and its Entry() function
1199 returns, you cannot call Run() on it again (an assert will fail in debug
1200 builds or @c wxTHREAD_RUNNING will be returned in release builds).
1201 */
1202 wxThreadError Run();
1203
1204 /**
1205 Sets the thread concurrency level for this process.
1206
1207 This is, roughly, the number of threads that the system tries to schedule
1208 to run in parallel.
1209 The value of 0 for @a level may be used to set the default one.
1210
1211 @return @true on success or @false otherwise (for example, if this function is
1212 not implemented for this platform -- currently everything except Solaris).
1213 */
1214 static bool SetConcurrency(size_t level);
1215
1216 /**
1217 Sets the priority of the thread, between 0 (lowest) and 100 (highest).
1218
1219 The following symbolic constants can be used in addition to raw
1220 values in 0..100 range:
1221 - ::wxPRIORITY_MIN: 0
1222 - ::wxPRIORITY_DEFAULT: 50
1223 - ::wxPRIORITY_MAX: 100
1224 */
1225 void SetPriority(unsigned int priority);
1226
1227 /**
1228 Pauses the thread execution for the given amount of time.
1229
1230 This is the same as wxMilliSleep().
1231 */
1232 static void Sleep(unsigned long milliseconds);
1233
1234 /**
1235 This function should be called periodically by the thread to ensure that
1236 calls to Pause() and Delete() will work.
1237
1238 If it returns @true, the thread should exit as soon as possible.
1239 Notice that under some platforms (POSIX), implementation of Pause() also
1240 relies on this function being called, so not calling it would prevent
1241 both stopping and suspending thread from working.
1242 */
1243 virtual bool TestDestroy();
1244
1245 /**
1246 Return the thread object for the calling thread.
1247
1248 @NULL is returned if the calling thread is the main (GUI) thread, but
1249 IsMain() should be used to test whether the thread is really the main one
1250 because @NULL may also be returned for the thread not created with wxThread
1251 class. Generally speaking, the return value for such a thread is undefined.
1252 */
1253 static wxThread* This();
1254
1255 /**
1256 Waits for a @b joinable thread to terminate and returns the value the thread
1257 returned from Entry() or @c "(ExitCode)-1" on error. Notice that, unlike
1258 Delete(), this function doesn't cancel the thread in any way so the caller
1259 waits for as long as it takes to the thread to exit.
1260
1261 You can only Wait() for @b joinable (not detached) threads.
1262
1263 This function can only be called from another thread context.
1264
1265 @param waitMode
1266 As described in wxThreadWait documentation, wxTHREAD_WAIT_BLOCK
1267 should be used as the wait mode even although currently
1268 wxTHREAD_WAIT_YIELD is for compatibility reasons. This parameter is
1269 new in wxWidgets 2.9.2.
1270
1271 See @ref thread_deletion for a broader explanation of this routine.
1272 */
1273 ExitCode Wait(wxThreadWait flags = wxTHREAD_WAIT_BLOCK);
1274
1275 /**
1276 Give the rest of the thread's time-slice to the system allowing the other
1277 threads to run.
1278
1279 Note that using this function is @b strongly discouraged, since in
1280 many cases it indicates a design weakness of your threading model
1281 (as does using Sleep() functions).
1282
1283 Threads should use the CPU in an efficient manner, i.e. they should
1284 do their current work efficiently, then as soon as the work is done block
1285 on a wakeup event (wxCondition, wxMutex, select(), poll(), ...) which will
1286 get signalled e.g. by other threads or a user device once further thread
1287 work is available.
1288 Using Yield() or Sleep() indicates polling-type behaviour, since we're
1289 fuzzily giving up our timeslice and wait until sometime later we'll get
1290 reactivated, at which time we realize that there isn't really much to do
1291 and Yield() again...
1292
1293 The most critical characteristic of Yield() is that it's operating system
1294 specific: there may be scheduler changes which cause your thread to not
1295 wake up relatively soon again, but instead many seconds later,
1296 causing huge performance issues for your application.
1297
1298 <strong>
1299 With a well-behaving, CPU-efficient thread the operating system is likely
1300 to properly care for its reactivation the moment it needs it, whereas with
1301 non-deterministic, Yield-using threads all bets are off and the system
1302 scheduler is free to penalize them drastically</strong>, and this effect
1303 gets worse with increasing system load due to less free CPU resources available.
1304 You may refer to various Linux kernel @c sched_yield discussions for more
1305 information.
1306
1307 See also Sleep().
1308 */
1309 static void Yield();
1310
1311 protected:
1312
1313 /**
1314 This is the entry point of the thread.
1315
1316 This function is pure virtual and must be implemented by any derived class.
1317 The thread execution will start here.
1318
1319 The returned value is the thread exit code which is only useful for
1320 joinable threads and is the value returned by Wait().
1321 This function is called by wxWidgets itself and should never be called
1322 directly.
1323 */
1324 virtual ExitCode Entry() = 0;
1325
1326 /**
1327 This is a protected function of the wxThread class and thus can only be called
1328 from a derived class. It also can only be called in the context of this
1329 thread, i.e. a thread can only exit from itself, not from another thread.
1330
1331 This function will terminate the OS thread (i.e. stop the associated path of
1332 execution) and also delete the associated C++ object for detached threads.
1333 OnExit() will be called just before exiting.
1334 */
1335 void Exit(ExitCode exitcode = 0);
1336
1337 private:
1338
1339 /**
1340 Called when the thread exits.
1341
1342 This function is called in the context of the thread associated with the
1343 wxThread object, not in the context of the main thread.
1344 This function will not be called if the thread was @ref Kill() killed.
1345
1346 This function should never be called directly.
1347 */
1348 virtual void OnExit();
1349 };
1350
1351
1352 /** See wxSemaphore. */
1353 enum wxSemaError
1354 {
1355 wxSEMA_NO_ERROR = 0,
1356 wxSEMA_INVALID, //!< semaphore hasn't been initialized successfully
1357 wxSEMA_BUSY, //!< returned by TryWait() if Wait() would block
1358 wxSEMA_TIMEOUT, //!< returned by WaitTimeout()
1359 wxSEMA_OVERFLOW, //!< Post() would increase counter past the max
1360 wxSEMA_MISC_ERROR
1361 };
1362
1363 /**
1364 @class wxSemaphore
1365
1366 wxSemaphore is a counter limiting the number of threads concurrently accessing
1367 a shared resource. This counter is always between 0 and the maximum value
1368 specified during the semaphore creation. When the counter is strictly greater
1369 than 0, a call to wxSemaphore::Wait() returns immediately and decrements the
1370 counter. As soon as it reaches 0, any subsequent calls to wxSemaphore::Wait
1371 block and only return when the semaphore counter becomes strictly positive
1372 again as the result of calling wxSemaphore::Post which increments the counter.
1373
1374 In general, semaphores are useful to restrict access to a shared resource
1375 which can only be accessed by some fixed number of clients at the same time.
1376 For example, when modeling a hotel reservation system a semaphore with the counter
1377 equal to the total number of available rooms could be created. Each time a room
1378 is reserved, the semaphore should be acquired by calling wxSemaphore::Wait
1379 and each time a room is freed it should be released by calling wxSemaphore::Post.
1380
1381 @library{wxbase}
1382 @category{threading}
1383 */
1384 class wxSemaphore
1385 {
1386 public:
1387 /**
1388 Specifying a @a maxcount of 0 actually makes wxSemaphore behave as if
1389 there is no upper limit. If @a maxcount is 1, the semaphore behaves almost as a
1390 mutex (but unlike a mutex it can be released by a thread different from the one
1391 which acquired it).
1392
1393 @a initialcount is the initial value of the semaphore which must be between
1394 0 and @a maxcount (if it is not set to 0).
1395 */
1396 wxSemaphore(int initialcount = 0, int maxcount = 0);
1397
1398 /**
1399 Destructor is not virtual, don't use this class polymorphically.
1400 */
1401 ~wxSemaphore();
1402
1403 /**
1404 Increments the semaphore count and signals one of the waiting
1405 threads in an atomic way. Returns @e wxSEMA_OVERFLOW if the count
1406 would increase the counter past the maximum.
1407
1408 @return One of:
1409 - wxSEMA_NO_ERROR: There was no error.
1410 - wxSEMA_INVALID : Semaphore hasn't been initialized successfully.
1411 - wxSEMA_OVERFLOW: Post() would increase counter past the max.
1412 - wxSEMA_MISC_ERROR: Miscellaneous error.
1413 */
1414 wxSemaError Post();
1415
1416 /**
1417 Same as Wait(), but returns immediately.
1418
1419 @return One of:
1420 - wxSEMA_NO_ERROR: There was no error.
1421 - wxSEMA_INVALID: Semaphore hasn't been initialized successfully.
1422 - wxSEMA_BUSY: Returned by TryWait() if Wait() would block, i.e. the count is zero.
1423 - wxSEMA_MISC_ERROR: Miscellaneous error.
1424 */
1425 wxSemaError TryWait();
1426
1427 /**
1428 Wait indefinitely until the semaphore count becomes strictly positive
1429 and then decrement it and return.
1430
1431 @return One of:
1432 - wxSEMA_NO_ERROR: There was no error.
1433 - wxSEMA_INVALID: Semaphore hasn't been initialized successfully.
1434 - wxSEMA_MISC_ERROR: Miscellaneous error.
1435 */
1436 wxSemaError Wait();
1437
1438 /**
1439 Same as Wait(), but with a timeout limit.
1440
1441 @return One of:
1442 - wxSEMA_NO_ERROR: There was no error.
1443 - wxSEMA_INVALID: Semaphore hasn't been initialized successfully.
1444 - wxSEMA_TIMEOUT: Timeout occurred without receiving semaphore.
1445 - wxSEMA_MISC_ERROR: Miscellaneous error.
1446 */
1447 wxSemaError WaitTimeout(unsigned long timeout_millis);
1448 };
1449
1450
1451
1452 /**
1453 @class wxMutexLocker
1454
1455 This is a small helper class to be used with wxMutex objects.
1456
1457 A wxMutexLocker acquires a mutex lock in the constructor and releases
1458 (or unlocks) the mutex in the destructor making it much more difficult to
1459 forget to release a mutex (which, in general, will promptly lead to serious
1460 problems). See wxMutex for an example of wxMutexLocker usage.
1461
1462 @library{wxbase}
1463 @category{threading}
1464
1465 @see wxMutex, wxCriticalSectionLocker
1466 */
1467 class wxMutexLocker
1468 {
1469 public:
1470 /**
1471 Constructs a wxMutexLocker object associated with mutex and locks it.
1472 Call IsOk() to check if the mutex was successfully locked.
1473 */
1474 wxMutexLocker(wxMutex& mutex);
1475
1476 /**
1477 Destructor releases the mutex if it was successfully acquired in the ctor.
1478 */
1479 ~wxMutexLocker();
1480
1481 /**
1482 Returns @true if mutex was acquired in the constructor, @false otherwise.
1483 */
1484 bool IsOk() const;
1485 };
1486
1487
1488 /**
1489 The possible wxMutex kinds.
1490 */
1491 enum wxMutexType
1492 {
1493 /** Normal non-recursive mutex: try to always use this one. */
1494 wxMUTEX_DEFAULT,
1495
1496 /** Recursive mutex: don't use these ones with wxCondition. */
1497 wxMUTEX_RECURSIVE
1498 };
1499
1500
1501 /**
1502 The possible wxMutex errors.
1503 */
1504 enum wxMutexError
1505 {
1506 /** The operation completed successfully. */
1507 wxMUTEX_NO_ERROR = 0,
1508
1509 /** The mutex hasn't been initialized. */
1510 wxMUTEX_INVALID,
1511
1512 /** The mutex is already locked by the calling thread. */
1513 wxMUTEX_DEAD_LOCK,
1514
1515 /** The mutex is already locked by another thread. */
1516 wxMUTEX_BUSY,
1517
1518 /** An attempt to unlock a mutex which is not locked. */
1519 wxMUTEX_UNLOCKED,
1520
1521 /** wxMutex::LockTimeout() has timed out. */
1522 wxMUTEX_TIMEOUT,
1523
1524 /** Any other error */
1525 wxMUTEX_MISC_ERROR
1526 };
1527
1528
1529 /**
1530 @class wxMutex
1531
1532 A mutex object is a synchronization object whose state is set to signaled when
1533 it is not owned by any thread, and nonsignaled when it is owned. Its name comes
1534 from its usefulness in coordinating mutually-exclusive access to a shared
1535 resource as only one thread at a time can own a mutex object.
1536
1537 Mutexes may be recursive in the sense that a thread can lock a mutex which it
1538 had already locked before (instead of dead locking the entire process in this
1539 situation by starting to wait on a mutex which will never be released while the
1540 thread is waiting) but using them is not recommended under Unix and they are
1541 @b not recursive by default. The reason for this is that recursive
1542 mutexes are not supported by all Unix flavours and, worse, they cannot be used
1543 with wxCondition.
1544
1545 For example, when several threads use the data stored in the linked list,
1546 modifications to the list should only be allowed to one thread at a time
1547 because during a new node addition the list integrity is temporarily broken
1548 (this is also called @e program @e invariant).
1549
1550 @code
1551 // this variable has an "s_" prefix because it is static: seeing an "s_" in
1552 // a multithreaded program is in general a good sign that you should use a
1553 // mutex (or a critical section)
1554 static wxMutex *s_mutexProtectingTheGlobalData;
1555
1556 // we store some numbers in this global array which is presumably used by
1557 // several threads simultaneously
1558 wxArrayInt s_data;
1559
1560 void MyThread::AddNewNode(int num)
1561 {
1562 // ensure that no other thread accesses the list
1563 s_mutexProtectingTheGlobalList->Lock();
1564
1565 s_data.Add(num);
1566
1567 s_mutexProtectingTheGlobalList->Unlock();
1568 }
1569
1570 // return true if the given number is greater than all array elements
1571 bool MyThread::IsGreater(int num)
1572 {
1573 // before using the list we must acquire the mutex
1574 wxMutexLocker lock(s_mutexProtectingTheGlobalData);
1575
1576 size_t count = s_data.Count();
1577 for ( size_t n = 0; n < count; n++ )
1578 {
1579 if ( s_data[n] > num )
1580 return false;
1581 }
1582
1583 return true;
1584 }
1585 @endcode
1586
1587 Notice how wxMutexLocker was used in the second function to ensure that the
1588 mutex is unlocked in any case: whether the function returns true or false
1589 (because the destructor of the local object @e lock is always called).
1590 Using this class instead of directly using wxMutex is, in general, safer
1591 and is even more so if your program uses C++ exceptions.
1592
1593 @library{wxbase}
1594 @category{threading}
1595
1596 @see wxThread, wxCondition, wxMutexLocker, wxCriticalSection
1597 */
1598 class wxMutex
1599 {
1600 public:
1601 /**
1602 Default constructor.
1603 */
1604 wxMutex(wxMutexType type = wxMUTEX_DEFAULT);
1605
1606 /**
1607 Destroys the wxMutex object.
1608 */
1609 ~wxMutex();
1610
1611 /**
1612 Locks the mutex object.
1613 This is equivalent to LockTimeout() with infinite timeout.
1614
1615 Note that if this mutex is already locked by the caller thread,
1616 this function doesn't block but rather immediately returns.
1617
1618 @return One of: @c wxMUTEX_NO_ERROR, @c wxMUTEX_DEAD_LOCK.
1619 */
1620 wxMutexError Lock();
1621
1622 /**
1623 Try to lock the mutex object during the specified time interval.
1624
1625 @return One of: @c wxMUTEX_NO_ERROR, @c wxMUTEX_DEAD_LOCK, @c wxMUTEX_TIMEOUT.
1626 */
1627 wxMutexError LockTimeout(unsigned long msec);
1628
1629 /**
1630 Tries to lock the mutex object. If it can't, returns immediately with an error.
1631
1632 @return One of: @c wxMUTEX_NO_ERROR, @c wxMUTEX_BUSY.
1633 */
1634 wxMutexError TryLock();
1635
1636 /**
1637 Unlocks the mutex object.
1638
1639 @return One of: @c wxMUTEX_NO_ERROR, @c wxMUTEX_UNLOCKED.
1640 */
1641 wxMutexError Unlock();
1642 };
1643
1644
1645
1646 // ============================================================================
1647 // Global functions/macros
1648 // ============================================================================
1649
1650 /** @addtogroup group_funcmacro_thread */
1651 //@{
1652
1653 /**
1654 This macro declares a (static) critical section object named @a cs if
1655 @c wxUSE_THREADS is 1 and does nothing if it is 0.
1656
1657 @header{wx/thread.h}
1658 */
1659 #define wxCRIT_SECT_DECLARE(cs)
1660
1661 /**
1662 This macro declares a critical section object named @a cs if
1663 @c wxUSE_THREADS is 1 and does nothing if it is 0. As it doesn't include
1664 the @c static keyword (unlike wxCRIT_SECT_DECLARE()), it can be used to
1665 declare a class or struct member which explains its name.
1666
1667 @header{wx/thread.h}
1668 */
1669 #define wxCRIT_SECT_DECLARE_MEMBER(cs)
1670
1671 /**
1672 This macro creates a wxCriticalSectionLocker named @a name and associated
1673 with the critical section @a cs if @c wxUSE_THREADS is 1 and does nothing
1674 if it is 0.
1675
1676 @header{wx/thread.h}
1677 */
1678 #define wxCRIT_SECT_LOCKER(name, cs)
1679
1680 /**
1681 This macro combines wxCRIT_SECT_DECLARE() and wxCRIT_SECT_LOCKER(): it
1682 creates a static critical section object and also the lock object
1683 associated with it. Because of this, it can be only used inside a function,
1684 not at global scope. For example:
1685
1686 @code
1687 int IncCount()
1688 {
1689 static int s_counter = 0;
1690
1691 wxCRITICAL_SECTION(counter);
1692
1693 return ++s_counter;
1694 }
1695 @endcode
1696
1697 Note that this example assumes that the function is called the first time
1698 from the main thread so that the critical section object is initialized
1699 correctly by the time other threads start calling it, if this is not the
1700 case this approach can @b not be used and the critical section must be made
1701 a global instead.
1702
1703 @header{wx/thread.h}
1704 */
1705 #define wxCRITICAL_SECTION(name)
1706
1707 /**
1708 This macro is equivalent to
1709 @ref wxCriticalSection::Leave "critical_section.Leave()" if
1710 @c wxUSE_THREADS is 1 and does nothing if it is 0.
1711
1712 @header{wx/thread.h}
1713 */
1714 #define wxLEAVE_CRIT_SECT(critical_section)
1715
1716 /**
1717 This macro is equivalent to
1718 @ref wxCriticalSection::Enter "critical_section.Enter()" if
1719 @c wxUSE_THREADS is 1 and does nothing if it is 0.
1720
1721 @header{wx/thread.h}
1722 */
1723 #define wxENTER_CRIT_SECT(critical_section)
1724
1725 /**
1726 Returns @true if this thread is the main one. Always returns @true if
1727 @c wxUSE_THREADS is 0.
1728
1729 @header{wx/thread.h}
1730 */
1731 bool wxIsMainThread();
1732
1733
1734
1735 /**
1736 This function must be called when any thread other than the main GUI thread
1737 wants to get access to the GUI library. This function will block the
1738 execution of the calling thread until the main thread (or any other thread
1739 holding the main GUI lock) leaves the GUI library and no other thread will
1740 enter the GUI library until the calling thread calls wxMutexGuiLeave().
1741
1742 Typically, these functions are used like this:
1743
1744 @code
1745 void MyThread::Foo(void)
1746 {
1747 // before doing any GUI calls we must ensure that
1748 // this thread is the only one doing it!
1749
1750 wxMutexGuiEnter();
1751
1752 // Call GUI here:
1753 my_window->DrawSomething();
1754
1755 wxMutexGuiLeave();
1756 }
1757 @endcode
1758
1759 This function is only defined on platforms which support preemptive
1760 threads and only works under some ports (wxMSW currently).
1761
1762 @note Under GTK, no creation of top-level windows is allowed in any thread
1763 but the main one.
1764
1765 @header{wx/thread.h}
1766 */
1767 void wxMutexGuiEnter();
1768
1769 /**
1770 This function is only defined on platforms which support preemptive
1771 threads.
1772
1773 @see wxMutexGuiEnter()
1774
1775 @header{wx/thread.h}
1776 */
1777 void wxMutexGuiLeave();
1778
1779 //@}
1780