Tribblix: manual page: pthread

PTHREAD_CREATE(3C) Standard C Library Functions PTHREAD_CREATE(3C)

NAME

pthread_create - create a thread

SYNOPSIS

cc -mt [ flag... ] file... -lpthread [ library... ]
#include <pthread.h>

int pthread_create(pthread_t *restrict thread,
const pthread_attr_t *restrict attr,
void *(*start_routine)(void*), void *restrict arg);

DESCRIPTION

The pthread_create() function is used to create a new thread, with
attributes specified by attr, within a process. If attr is NULL, the
default attributes are used. (See pthread_attr_init(3C)). If the
attributes specified by attr are modified later, the thread's
attributes are not affected. Upon successful completion,
pthread_create() stores the ID of the created thread in the location
referenced by thread.

The thread is created executing start_routine with arg as its sole
argument. If the start_routine returns, the effect is as if there was
an implicit call to pthread_exit() using the return value of
start_routine as the exit status. Note that the thread in which
main() was originally invoked differs from this. When it returns from
main(), the effect is as if there was an implicit call to exit()
using the return value of main() as the exit status.

The signal state of the new thread is initialised as follows:

o The signal mask is inherited from the creating thread.

o The set of signals pending for the new thread is empty.

Default thread creation:

pthread_t tid;
void *start_func(void *), *arg;

pthread_create(&tid, NULL, start_func, arg);

This would have the same effect as:

pthread_attr_t attr;

pthread_attr_init(&attr); /* initialize attr with default */
/* attributes */
pthread_create(&tid, &attr, start_func, arg);

User-defined thread creation: To create a thread that is scheduled on
a system-wide basis, use:

pthread_attr_init(&attr); /* initialize attr with default */
/* attributes */
pthread_attr_setscope(&attr, PTHREAD_SCOPE_SYSTEM);
/* system-wide contention */
pthread_create(&tid, &attr, start_func, arg);

To customize the attributes for POSIX threads, see
pthread_attr_init(3C).

A new thread created with pthread_create() uses the stack specified
by the stackaddr attribute, and the stack continues for the number of
bytes specified by the stacksize attribute. By default, the stack
size is 1 megabyte for 32-bit processes and 2 megabyte for 64-bit
processes (see pthread_attr_setstacksize(3C)). If the default is used
for both the stackaddr and stacksize attributes, pthread_create()
creates a stack for the new thread with at least 1 megabyte for
32-bit processes and 2 megabyte for 64-bit processes. (For
customizing stack sizes, see NOTES).

If pthread_create() fails, no new thread is created and the contents
of the location referenced by thread are undefined.

RETURN VALUES

If successful, the pthread_create() function returns 0. Otherwise,
an error number is returned to indicate the error.

ERRORS

The pthread_create() function will fail if:

EAGAIN
The system lacked the necessary resources to create another
thread, or the system-imposed limit on the total number of
threads in a process PTHREAD_THREADS_MAX would be exceeded.

EINVAL
The value specified by attr is invalid.

EPERM
The caller does not have appropriate permission to set the
required scheduling parameters or scheduling policy.

EXAMPLES

Example 1: Example of concurrency with multithreading

The following is an example of concurrency with multithreading. Since
POSIX threads and Solaris threads are fully compatible even within
the same process, this example uses pthread_create() if you execute
a.out 0, or thr_create() if you execute a.out 1.

Five threads are created that simultaneously perform a time-consuming
function, sleep(10). If the execution of this process is timed, the
results will show that all five individual calls to sleep for ten-
seconds completed in about ten seconds, even on a uniprocessor. If a
single-threaded process calls sleep(10) five times, the execution
time will be about 50-seconds.

The command-line to time this process is:

POSIX threading
/usr/bin/time a.out 0

Solaris threading
/usr/bin/time a.out 1

/* cc thisfile.c -lthread -lpthread */
#define _REENTRANT /* basic 3-lines for threads */
#include <pthread.h>
#include <thread.h>

#define NUM_THREADS 5
#define SLEEP_TIME 10

void *sleeping(void *); /* thread routine */
int i;
thread_t tid[NUM_THREADS]; /* array of thread IDs */

int
main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
if (argc == 1) {
printf("use 0 as arg1 to use pthread_create()\n");
printf("or use 1 as arg1 to use thr_create()\n");
return (1);
}

switch (*argv[1]) {
case '0': /* POSIX */
for ( i = 0; i < NUM_THREADS; i++)
pthread_create(&tid[i], NULL, sleeping,
(void *)SLEEP_TIME);
for ( i = 0; i < NUM_THREADS; i++)
pthread_join(tid[i], NULL);
break;

case '1': /* Solaris */
for ( i = 0; i < NUM_THREADS; i++)
thr_create(NULL, 0, sleeping, (void *)SLEEP_TIME, 0,
&tid[i]);
while (thr_join(0, NULL, NULL) == 0)
;
break;
} /* switch */
printf("main() reporting that all %d threads have
terminated\n", i);
return (0);
} /* main */

void *
sleeping(void *arg)
{
int sleep_time = (int)arg;
printf("thread %d sleeping %d seconds ...\n", thr_self(),
sleep_time);
sleep(sleep_time);
printf("\nthread %d awakening\n", thr_self());
return (NULL);
}

If main() had not waited for the completion of the other threads
(using pthread_join(3C) or thr_join(3C)), it would have continued to
process concurrently until it reached the end of its routine and the
entire process would have exited prematurely. See exit(2).

ATTRIBUTES

NOTES

Multithreaded application threads execute independently of each
other, so their relative behavior is unpredictable. Therefore, it is
possible for the thread executing main() to finish before all other
user application threads. The pthread_join(3C)function, on the other
hand, must specify the terminating thread (IDs) for which it will
wait.

A user-specified stack size must be greater than the value
PTHREAD_STACK_MIN. A minimum stack size may not accommodate the stack
frame for the user thread function start_func. If a stack size is
specified, it must accommodate start_func requirements and the
functions that it may call in turn, in addition to the minimum
requirement.

It is usually very difficult to determine the runtime stack
requirements for a thread. PTHREAD_STACK_MIN specifies how much stack
storage is required to execute a NULL start_func. The total runtime
requirements for stack storage are dependent on the storage required
to do runtime linking, the amount of storage required by library
runtimes (as printf()) that your thread calls. Since these storage
parameters are not known before the program runs, it is best to use
default stacks. If you know your runtime requirements or decide to
use stacks that are larger than the default, then it makes sense to
specify your own stacks.

March 23, 2005 PTHREAD_CREATE(3C)