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Threads-Devel : |
From: Anthony Williams (anthony_at_[hidden])
Date: 2006-10-05 11:03:55
I have revamped the code on the threads_rewrite branch for the mutex and
read_write_mutex.
The mutex code is now "swap-based", to eliminate the hand-off problems
highlighted by Alexander Terekhov and Peter Dimov. It can be seen in CVS at
boost/thread/win32/basic_timed_mutex.hpp on the thread_rewrite branch, or in
the CVS web viewer at
It keeps track of the "active count" of threads with an interest in the mutex,
in order to try and avoid signalling the semaphore unnecessarily.
The read_write_mutex code is based on ideas from the code offered by Peter
Dimov and Cory Nelson. However, I have extended it to include upgradeable
locks, and more closely mirror the interface proposed in the C++ Standard
threading proposal N2094. At the moment it does not support try_ or timed_
variants. The code can be seen in CVS at
boost/thread/win32/read_write_mutex.hpp on the thread_rewrite branch, or in
the CVS web viewer at
In all cases, the code tries to change state using compare-and-swap
instructions. If the current state is blocking the state change (e.g. there is
already a writer when we try to lock a reader), then the lock blocks on one of
three win32 Event objects. The shared event is a manual reset event, so once
readers are allowed access, they are all freed until a thread obtains an
exclusive lock and resets the event. There is a limit on how many threads can
have a shared/upgradeable lock (0x1fff), and how many can be waiting for a
write lock (0xfff). Given the nature of read-write mutexes, this could easily
be adjusted to allow more shared locks, and fewer waiting writers.
Anthony
-- Anthony Williams Software Developer Just Software Solutions Ltd http://www.justsoftwaresolutions.co.uk