Re: [Boost-users] help needed picking up pthread.h with Visual Studio .NET 2003

From: Andrew Marlow (Andrew.Marlow_at_[hidden])
Date: 2006-12-28 11:35:39

boost-users-bounces_at_[hidden] wrote:
> Andrew Marlow wrote:
>>> 1) Building the boost library on top of pthread instead of native
>>> WinThreads?
>> 
>> Yes. Once the boost libs (and a few examples) have built ok I will
>> then release these as prebuilts.
> 
> Sorry this does not make sense to me, as this would imply
> your project will be using the boost library: Boost.Thread.

Yes it will.

> So normally you wouldn't want to have them use the pthread
> implementation in turn. 

Things are not normal here. My app has to use an in-house lib that was
coded using pthreads. When that lib had to be available on windoze they
did it by using the win32 port of pthreads. My app has to use this
in-house lib, hence I have to link with the win32 port of pthreads. But
I also want to do my own threading. I want to do it in a
platform-independent way so I choose boost threads. 

> The only exception I can think of is
> when you are doing some performance testing.

Nope.

> Usually the Boost.Thread on native windows API will be faster
> than on top of pthreads, since there is one emulation layer less.

Agreed. And if it was not for the in-house lib being built on the win32
port of pthreads then we would probably use boost threads throughout
with a default build that uses the win32 api. But that is not an option.
We do not want any apps to contain a mixture of win32 pthreads and win32
API threads.

> 
>> I will have to do this for a number of versions of Visual Studio.
>> Then for VC71 I will use the prebuilt boost lib to build my own
>> project. It will be developed using the VC71 IDE but will be built
>> overnight by a perl script that uses msdev in command line mode.
>> This overnight job will not build boost, it will pick up the boost
>> prebuilt. 
> 
> So I assume you are attempting to build the boost library?

Yes, but I want to build it with a version of the win32 port of pthreads
that lives in a special (non-std place).

> If so, simply read the getting started from the boost
> homepage and then precompiler your library, which basically
> has to be done from the boost root directory: bjam
> -s"TOOLS=vc-7_1" install which will install to C:\Boost directory by
> default. (The above is for version 1.33, upcoming 1.34 is different. )

I don't think that works. I already tried it and it builds to the WIN32
API, not to the win32 port of pthreads that I have.

> As an alternative you might also download the prebuilt binary
> versions of the lib. 

I thought of that, but that won't work either. The boost that I wind up
with MUST be one that is built wrt the win32 port of pthreads that comes
with this in-house lib. Even if there was a prebuilt version of boost
built with the win32 port of pthread even that would not do. It must be
the particular version of the win32 port of pthreads that the in-house
lib was built with. Wot a pain, eh?

-Andrew M.

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