I've created threads before using begin_thread_ex() and end_thread_ex(), but I've never quite got how to pass variables. I also never learned how to make my code "thread safe". All I know that is there is something called a mutex which is used for data storage( might be wrong on that ), and you can "lock" parts to make sure your data doesn't go bad. Can someone explain this subject more to me or point me to some links on more detailed explanation than the MSDN explanation.
Edit : I found an example on MSDN that compiles fine. I understand what they're doing because of the comments, but I don't get the reason for the thread-safe part or why they have to use specialized functions for everything.
Code:#include <windows.h>
#include <tchar.h>
#include <strsafe.h>
#define MAX_THREADS 3
#define BUF_SIZE 255
DWORD WINAPI MyThreadFunction( LPVOID lpParam );
void ErrorHandler(LPTSTR lpszFunction);
// Sample custom data structure for threads to use.
// This is passed by void pointer so it can be any data type
// that can be passed using a single void pointer (LPVOID).
typedef struct MyData {
int val1;
int val2;
} MYDATA, *PMYDATA;
int _tmain()
{
PMYDATA pDataArray[MAX_THREADS];
DWORD dwThreadIdArray[MAX_THREADS];
HANDLE hThreadArray[MAX_THREADS];
int i = 0;
// Create MAX_THREADS worker threads.
for( ; i<MAX_THREADS; i++ )
{
// Allocate memory for thread data.
pDataArray[i] = (PMYDATA) HeapAlloc(GetProcessHeap(), HEAP_ZERO_MEMORY,
sizeof(MYDATA));
if( pDataArray[i] == NULL )
{
// If the array allocation fails, the system is out of memory
// so there is no point in trying to print an error message.
// Just terminate execution.
ExitProcess(2);
}
// Generate unique data for each thread to work with.
pDataArray[i]->val1 = i;
pDataArray[i]->val2 = i+100;
// Create the thread to begin execution on its own.
hThreadArray[i] = CreateThread(
NULL, // default security attributes
0, // use default stack size
MyThreadFunction, // thread function name
pDataArray[i], // argument to thread function
0, // use default creation flags
&dwThreadIdArray[i]); // returns the thread identifier
// Check the return value for success.
// If CreateThread fails, terminate execution.
// This will automatically clean up threads and memory.
if (hThreadArray[i] == NULL)
{
ErrorHandler(TEXT("CreateThread"));
ExitProcess(3);
}
} // End of main thread creation loop.
// Wait until all threads have terminated.
WaitForMultipleObjects(MAX_THREADS, hThreadArray, TRUE, INFINITE);
// Close all thread handles and free memory allocations.
for(i=0; i<MAX_THREADS; i++)
{
CloseHandle(hThreadArray[i]);
if(pDataArray[i] != NULL)
{
HeapFree(GetProcessHeap(), 0, pDataArray[i]);
pDataArray[i] = NULL; // Ensure address is not reused.
}
}
return 0;
}
DWORD WINAPI MyThreadFunction( LPVOID lpParam )
{
HANDLE hStdout;
PMYDATA pDataArray;
TCHAR msgBuf[BUF_SIZE];
size_t cchStringSize = 0;
DWORD dwChars;
// Make sure there is a console to receive output results.
hStdout = GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE);
if( hStdout == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE )
return 1;
// Cast the parameter to the correct data type.
// The pointer is known to be valid because
// it was checked for NULL before the thread was created.
pDataArray = (PMYDATA)lpParam;
// Print the parameter values using thread-safe functions.
StringCchPrintf(msgBuf, BUF_SIZE, TEXT("Parameters = %d, %d\n"),
pDataArray->val1, pDataArray->val2);
StringCchLength(msgBuf, BUF_SIZE, &cchStringSize);
WriteConsole(hStdout, msgBuf, (DWORD)cchStringSize, &dwChars, NULL);
return 0;
}
void ErrorHandler(LPTSTR lpszFunction)
{
// Retrieve the system error message for the last-error code.
LPVOID lpMsgBuf;
LPVOID lpDisplayBuf;
DWORD dw = GetLastError();
FormatMessage(
FORMAT_MESSAGE_ALLOCATE_BUFFER |
FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM |
FORMAT_MESSAGE_IGNORE_INSERTS,
NULL,
dw,
MAKELANGID(LANG_NEUTRAL, SUBLANG_DEFAULT),
(LPTSTR) &lpMsgBuf,
0, NULL );
// Display the error message.
lpDisplayBuf = (LPVOID)LocalAlloc(LMEM_ZEROINIT,
(lstrlen((LPCTSTR) lpMsgBuf) + lstrlen((LPCTSTR) lpszFunction) + 40) * sizeof(TCHAR));
StringCchPrintf((LPTSTR)lpDisplayBuf,
LocalSize(lpDisplayBuf) / sizeof(TCHAR),
TEXT("%s failed with error %d: %s"),
lpszFunction, dw, lpMsgBuf);
MessageBox(NULL, (LPCTSTR) lpDisplayBuf, TEXT("Error"), MB_OK);
// Free error-handling buffer allocations.
LocalFree(lpMsgBuf);
LocalFree(lpDisplayBuf);
}