xref: /netbsd-src/share/man/man9/condvar.9 (revision e77448e07be3174235c13f58032a0d6d0ab7638d)
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30.Dd January 26, 2008
31.Dt CONDVAR 9
32.Os
33.Sh NAME
34.Nm cv ,
35.Nm condvar ,
36.Nm cv_init ,
37.Nm cv_destroy ,
38.Nm cv_wait ,
39.Nm cv_wait_sig ,
40.Nm cv_timedwait ,
41.Nm cv_timedwait_sig ,
42.Nm cv_signal ,
43.Nm cv_broadcast ,
44.Nm cv_has_waiters
45.Nd condition variables
46.Sh SYNOPSIS
47.In sys/condvar.h
48.Ft void
49.Fn cv_init "kcondvar_t *cv" "const char *wmesg"
50.Ft void
51.Fn cv_destroy "kcondvar_t *cv"
52.Ft void
53.Fn cv_wait "kcondvar_t *cv" "kmutex_t *mtx"
54.Ft int
55.Fn cv_wait_sig "kcondvar_t *cv" "kmutex_t *mtx"
56.Ft int
57.Fn cv_timedwait "kcondvar_t *cv" "kmutex_t *mtx" "int ticks"
58.Ft int
59.Fn cv_timedwait_sig "kcondvar_t *cv" "kmutex_t *mtx" "int ticks"
60.Ft void
61.Fn cv_signal "kcondvar_t *cv"
62.Ft void
63.Fn cv_broadcast "kcondvar_t *cv"
64.Ft bool
65.Fn cv_has_waiters "kcondvar_t *cv"
66.Sh DESCRIPTION
67Condition variables (CVs) are used in the kernel to synchronize access
68to resources that are limited (for example, memory) and to wait for
69pending I/O operations to complete.
70.Pp
71The
72.Vt kcondvar_t
73type provides storage for the CV object.
74This should be treated as an opaque object and not examined directly by
75consumers.
76.Sh FUNCTIONS
77.Bl -tag -width abcd
78.It Fn cv_init "cv" "wmesg"
79.Pp
80Initialize a CV for use.
81No other operations can be performed on the CV until it has been initialized.
82.Pp
83The
84.Fa wmesg
85argument specifies a string of no more than 8 characters that describes
86the resource or condition associated with the CV.
87The kernel does not use this argument directly but makes it available for
88utilities such as
89.Xr ps 1
90to display.
91.It Fn cv_destroy "cv"
92.Pp
93Release resources used by a CV.
94The CV must not be in use when it is destroyed, and must not be used afterwards.
95.It Fn cv_wait "cv" "mtx"
96.Pp
97Cause the current LWP to wait non-interruptably for access to a resource,
98or for an I/O operation to complete.
99The LWP will resume execution when awoken by another thread using
100.Fn cv_signal
101or
102.Fn cv_broadcast .
103.Pp
104.Fa mtx
105specifies a kernel mutex to be used as an interlock, and must be held by the
106calling LWP on entry to
107.Fn cv_wait .
108It will be released once the LWP has prepared to sleep, and will be reacquired
109before
110.Fn cv_wait
111returns.
112.Pp
113A small window exists between testing for availability of a resource and
114waiting for the resource with
115.Fn cv_wait ,
116in which the resource may become available again.
117The interlock is used to guarentee that the resource will not be signalled
118as available until the calling LWP has begun to wait for it.
119.Pp
120Non-interruptable waits have the potential to deadlock the system, and so must
121be kept short (typically, under one second).
122.It Fn cv_wait_sig "cv" "mtx"
123.Pp
124As per
125.Fn cv_wait ,
126but causes the current LWP to wait interruptably.
127If the LWP recieves a signal, or is interrupted by another condition such
128as its containing process exiting, the wait is ended early and an error
129code returned.
130.Pp
131If
132.Fn cv_wait_sig
133returns as a result of a signal, the return value is
134.Er ERESTART
135if the signal
136has the
137.Dv SA_RESTART
138property.
139If awoken normally, the value is zero, and
140.Er EINTR
141under all other conditions.
142.It Fn cv_timedwait "cv" "mtx" "ticks"
143.Pp
144As per
145.Fn cv_wait ,
146but will return early if a timeout specified by the
147.Fa ticks
148argument expires.
149.Pp
150.Fa ticks
151is an architecture and system dependent value related to the number of
152clock interrupts per second.
153See
154.Xr hz 9
155for details.
156The
157.Xr mstohz 9
158macro can be used to convert a timeout expressed in milliseconds to
159one suitable for
160.Fn cv_timedwait .
161If the
162.Fa ticks
163argument is zero,
164.Fn cv_timedwait
165behaves exactly like
166.Fn cv_wait .
167.Pp
168If the timeout expires before the LWP is awoken, the return value is
169.Er EWOULDBLOCK .
170If awoken normally, the return value is zero.
171.It Fn cv_timedwait_sig "cv" "mtx" "ticks"
172.Pp
173As per
174.Fn cv_wait_sig ,
175but also accepts a timeout value and will return
176.Er EWOULDBLOCK
177if the timeout expires.
178.It Fn cv_signal "cv"
179.Pp
180Awaken one LWP (potentially among many) that is waiting on the specified
181condition variable.
182The mutex passed to the wait function
183.Po Fa mtx Pc
184must also be held when calling
185.Fn cv_signal .
186.Pp
187(Note that
188.Fn cv_signal
189is erroneously named in that it does not send a signal in the traditional
190sense to LWPs waiting on a CV.)
191.It Fn cv_broadcast "cv"
192.Pp
193Awaken all LWPs waiting on the specified condition variable.
194The mutex passed to the wait function
195.Po Fa mtx Pc
196must also be held when calling
197.Fn cv_broadcast .
198.It Fn cv_has_waiters "cv"
199.Pp
200Return
201.Dv true
202if one or more LWPs are waiting on the specified condition variable.
203.Pp
204.Fn cv_has_waiters
205cannot test reliably for interruptable waits.
206It should only be used to test for non-interruptable waits
207made using
208.Fn cv_wait .
209.Pp
210.Fn cv_has_waiters
211should only be used when making diagnostic assertions, and must
212be called while holding the interlocking mutex passed to
213.Fn cv_wait .
214.El
215.Sh EXAMPLES
216.Bd -literal
217Consuming a resource:
218
219	/*
220	 * Lock the resource.  Its mutex will also serve as the
221	 * interlock.
222	 */
223	mutex_enter(\*[Am]res-\*[Gt]mutex);
224
225	/*
226	 * Wait for the resource to become available.
227	 */
228	while (res-\*[Gt]state == BUSY)
229		cv_wait(\*[Am]res-\*[Gt]condvar, \*[Am]res-\*[Gt]mutex);
230
231	/*
232	 * It's now available to us.  Take ownership of the
233	 * resource, and consume it.
234	 */
235	res-\*[Gt]state = BUSY;
236	mutex_exit(\*[Am]res-\*[Gt]mutex);
237	consume(res);
238
239Releasing a resource for the next consumer to use:
240
241	mutex_enter(\*[Am]res-\*[Gt]mutex);
242	res-\*[Gt]state = IDLE;
243	cv_signal(\*[Am]res-\*[Gt]condvar);
244	mutex_exit(\*[Am]res-\*[Gt]mutex);
245.Ed
246.Sh CODE REFERENCES
247This section describes places within the
248.Nx
249source tree where code implementing condition variables can be found.
250All pathnames are relative to
251.Pa /usr/src .
252.Pp
253The core of the CV implementation is in
254.Pa sys/kern/kern_condvar.c .
255.Pp
256The header file
257.Pa sys/sys/condvar.h
258describes the public interface.
259.Sh SEE ALSO
260.Xr sigaction 2 ,
261.Xr errno 9 ,
262.Xr mb 9 ,
263.Xr mstohz 9 ,
264.Xr mutex 9 ,
265.Xr rwlock 9
266.Pp
267.Rs
268.%A Jim Mauro
269.%A Richard McDougall
270.%T Solaris Internals: Core Kernel Architecture
271.%I Prentice Hall
272.%D 2001
273.%O ISBN 0-13-022496-0
274.Re
275.Sh HISTORY
276The CV primitives first appeared in
277.Nx 5.0 .
278