pthread_key_create.3p (8647B)
- '\" et
- .TH PTHREAD_KEY_CREATE "3P" 2017 "IEEE/The Open Group" "POSIX Programmer's Manual"
- .\"
- .SH PROLOG
- This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual.
- The Linux implementation of this interface may differ (consult
- the corresponding Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior),
- or the interface may not be implemented on Linux.
- .\"
- .SH NAME
- pthread_key_create
- \(em thread-specific data key creation
- .SH SYNOPSIS
- .LP
- .nf
- #include <pthread.h>
- .P
- int pthread_key_create(pthread_key_t *\fIkey\fP, void (*\fIdestructor\fP)(void*));
- .fi
- .SH DESCRIPTION
- The
- \fIpthread_key_create\fR()
- function shall create a thread-specific data key visible to all threads
- in the process. Key values provided by
- \fIpthread_key_create\fR()
- are opaque objects used to locate thread-specific data. Although the
- same key value may be used by different threads, the values bound to
- the key by
- \fIpthread_setspecific\fR()
- are maintained on a per-thread basis and persist for the life of the
- calling thread.
- .P
- Upon key creation, the value NULL shall be associated with the new key
- in all active threads. Upon thread creation, the value NULL shall be
- associated with all defined keys in the new thread.
- .P
- An optional destructor function may be associated with each key value.
- At thread exit, if a key value has a non-NULL destructor pointer, and
- the thread has a non-NULL value associated with that key, the value of
- the key is set to NULL, and then the function pointed to is called with
- the previously associated value as its sole argument. The order of
- destructor calls is unspecified if more than one destructor exists for
- a thread when it exits.
- .P
- If, after all the destructors have been called for all non-NULL values
- with associated destructors, there are still some non-NULL values with
- associated destructors, then the process is repeated. If, after at
- least
- {PTHREAD_DESTRUCTOR_ITERATIONS}
- iterations of destructor calls for outstanding non-NULL values, there
- are still some non-NULL values with associated destructors,
- implementations may stop calling destructors, or they may continue
- calling destructors until no non-NULL values with associated
- destructors exist, even though this might result in an infinite loop.
- .SH "RETURN VALUE"
- If successful, the
- \fIpthread_key_create\fR()
- function shall store the newly created key value at *\fIkey\fP and
- shall return zero. Otherwise, an error number shall be returned to
- indicate the error.
- .SH ERRORS
- The
- \fIpthread_key_create\fR()
- function shall fail if:
- .TP
- .BR EAGAIN
- The system lacked the necessary resources to create another
- thread-specific data key, or the system-imposed limit on the total
- number of keys per process
- {PTHREAD_KEYS_MAX}
- has been exceeded.
- .TP
- .BR ENOMEM
- Insufficient memory exists to create the key.
- .P
- The
- \fIpthread_key_create\fR()
- function shall not return an error code of
- .BR [EINTR] .
- .LP
- .IR "The following sections are informative."
- .SH EXAMPLES
- The following example demonstrates a function that initializes a
- thread-specific data key when it is first called, and associates a
- thread-specific object with each calling thread, initializing this
- object when necessary.
- .sp
- .RS 4
- .nf
- static pthread_key_t key;
- static pthread_once_t key_once = PTHREAD_ONCE_INIT;
- .P
- static void
- make_key()
- {
- (void) pthread_key_create(&key, NULL);
- }
- .P
- func()
- {
- void *ptr;
- .P
- (void) pthread_once(&key_once, make_key);
- if ((ptr = pthread_getspecific(key)) == NULL) {
- ptr = malloc(OBJECT_SIZE);
- ...
- (void) pthread_setspecific(key, ptr);
- }
- ...
- }
- .fi
- .P
- .RE
- .P
- Note that the key has to be initialized before
- \fIpthread_getspecific\fR()
- or
- \fIpthread_setspecific\fR()
- can be used. The
- \fIpthread_key_create\fR()
- call could either be explicitly made in a module initialization
- routine, or it can be done implicitly by the first call to a module as
- in this example. Any attempt to use the key before it is initialized
- is a programming error, making the code below incorrect.
- .sp
- .RS 4
- .nf
- static pthread_key_t key;
- .P
- func()
- {
- void *ptr;
- .P
- /* KEY NOT INITIALIZED!!! THIS WILL NOT WORK!!! */
- if ((ptr = pthread_getspecific(key)) == NULL &&
- pthread_setspecific(key, NULL) != 0) {
- pthread_key_create(&key, NULL);
- ...
- }
- }
- .fi
- .P
- .RE
- .SH "APPLICATION USAGE"
- None.
- .br
- .SH RATIONALE
- .SS "Destructor Functions"
- .P
- Normally, the value bound to a key on behalf of a particular thread is
- a pointer to storage allocated dynamically on behalf of the calling
- thread. The destructor functions specified with
- \fIpthread_key_create\fR()
- are intended to be used to free this storage when the thread exits.
- Thread
- cancellation cleanup handlers cannot be used for this purpose because
- thread-specific data may persist outside the lexical scope in which the
- cancellation cleanup handlers operate.
- .P
- If the value associated with a key needs to be updated during the
- lifetime of the thread, it may be necessary to release the storage
- associated with the old value before the new value is bound. Although
- the
- \fIpthread_setspecific\fR()
- function could do this automatically, this feature is not needed often
- enough to justify the added complexity. Instead, the programmer is
- responsible for freeing the stale storage:
- .sp
- .RS 4
- .nf
- pthread_getspecific(key, &old);
- new = allocate();
- destructor(old);
- pthread_setspecific(key, new);
- .fi
- .P
- .RE
- .TP 10
- .BR Note:
- The above example could leak storage if run with asynchronous
- cancellation enabled. No such problems occur in the default cancellation
- state if no cancellation points occur between the get and set.
- .P
- .P
- There is no notion of a destructor-safe function. If an application
- does not call
- \fIpthread_exit\fR()
- from a signal handler, or if it blocks any signal whose handler may
- call
- \fIpthread_exit\fR()
- while calling async-unsafe functions, all functions may be safely
- called from destructors.
- .SS "Non-Idempotent Data Key Creation"
- .P
- There were requests to make
- \fIpthread_key_create\fR()
- idempotent with respect to a given
- .IR key
- address parameter. This would allow applications to call
- \fIpthread_key_create\fR()
- multiple times for a given
- .IR key
- address and be guaranteed that only one key would be created. Doing so
- would require the key value to be previously initialized (possibly at
- compile time) to a known null value and would require that implicit
- mutual-exclusion be performed based on the address and contents of the
- .IR key
- parameter in order to guarantee that exactly one key would be created.
- .P
- Unfortunately, the implicit mutual-exclusion would not be limited to
- only
- \fIpthread_key_create\fR().
- On many implementations, implicit mutual-exclusion would also have to
- be performed by
- \fIpthread_getspecific\fR()
- and
- \fIpthread_setspecific\fR()
- in order to guard against using incompletely stored or not-yet-visible
- key values. This could significantly increase the cost of important
- operations, particularly
- \fIpthread_getspecific\fR().
- .P
- Thus, this proposal was rejected. The
- \fIpthread_key_create\fR()
- function performs no implicit synchronization. It is the
- responsibility of the programmer to ensure that it is called exactly
- once per key before use of the key. Several straightforward mechanisms
- can already be used to accomplish this, including calling explicit
- module initialization functions, using mutexes, and using
- \fIpthread_once\fR().
- This places no significant burden on the programmer, introduces no
- possibly confusing \fIad hoc\fP implicit synchronization mechanism, and
- potentially allows commonly used thread-specific data operations to be
- more efficient.
- .SH "FUTURE DIRECTIONS"
- None.
- .SH "SEE ALSO"
- .IR "\fIpthread_getspecific\fR\^(\|)",
- .IR "\fIpthread_key_delete\fR\^(\|)"
- .P
- The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1\(hy2017,
- .IR "\fB<pthread.h>\fP"
- .\"
- .SH COPYRIGHT
- Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
- from IEEE Std 1003.1-2017, Standard for Information Technology
- -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
- Specifications Issue 7, 2018 Edition,
- Copyright (C) 2018 by the Institute of
- Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group.
- In the event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
- The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard
- is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online at
- http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .
- .PP
- Any typographical or formatting errors that appear
- in this page are most likely
- to have been introduced during the conversion of the source files to
- man page format. To report such errors, see
- https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .