I've registered a Trac "feature request" for a "hierarchical" mutex to facilitate lock hierarchies [1] in boost. Lock hierarchies is a construct that associates mutexes with software layer numbers, and enforces the application to only lock "downwards" in the software hierarchy [2]. This effectively translates potential deadlocks into deterministic run-time failures that can more easily be detected during testing.

An example draft implementation is attached to the issue. The attachment also includes a BOOST_THREAD_LOCAL work-around for missing "thread_local" support that should probably be moved to more neutral ground

Please let me know if there are any questions regarding the usefulness of hierarchical_mutex, or comments on the implementation, and I'll do my best to assist.

Regards,

Fredrik Orderud

[1] https://svn.boost.org/trac/boost/ticket/8094

[2]  http://www.drdobbs.com/parallel/use-lock-hierarchies-to-avoid-deadlock/204801163