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std::recursive_mutex

From cppreference.com
< cpp‎ | thread
 
 
Concurrency support library
Threads
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this_thread namespace
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(C++11)
(C++11)
Mutual exclusion
(C++11)
recursive_mutex
(C++11)  
Generic lock management
(C++11)
(C++11)
(C++11)
(C++11)(C++11)(C++11)
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(C++11)
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Safe Reclamation
(C++26)
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Defined in header <mutex>
class recursive_mutex;
(since C++11)

The recursive_mutex class is a synchronization primitive that can be used to protect shared data from being simultaneously accessed by multiple threads.

recursive_mutex offers exclusive, recursive ownership semantics:

  • A calling thread owns a recursive_mutex for a period of time that starts when it successfully calls either lock or try_lock. During this period, the thread may make additional calls to lock or try_lock. The period of ownership ends when the thread makes a matching number of calls to unlock.
  • When a thread owns a recursive_mutex, all other threads will block (for calls to lock) or receive a false return value (for try_lock) if they attempt to claim ownership of the recursive_mutex.
  • The maximum number of times that a recursive_mutex may be locked is unspecified, but after that number is reached, calls to lock will throw std::system_error and calls to try_lock will return false.

The behavior of a program is undefined if a recursive_mutex is destroyed while still owned by some thread. The recursive_mutex class satisfies all requirements of Mutex and StandardLayoutType.

Contents

[edit] Member types

Member type Definition
native_handle_type (optional*) implementation-defined[edit]

[edit] Member functions

constructs the mutex
(public member function) [edit]
destroys the mutex
(public member function) [edit]
operator=
[deleted]
not copy-assignable
(public member function) [edit]
Locking
locks the mutex, blocks if the mutex is not available
(public member function) [edit]
tries to lock the mutex, returns if the mutex is not available
(public member function) [edit]
unlocks the mutex
(public member function) [edit]
Native handle
returns the underlying implementation-defined native handle object
(public member function) [edit]

[edit] Example

One use case for recursive_mutex is protecting shared state in a class whose member functions may call each other.

#include <iostream>
#include <mutex>
#include <thread>
 
class X
{
    std::recursive_mutex m;
    std::string shared;
public:
    void fun1()
    {
        std::lock_guard<std::recursive_mutex> lk(m);
        shared = "fun1";
        std::cout << "in fun1, shared variable is now " << shared << '\n';
    }
    void fun2()
    {
        std::lock_guard<std::recursive_mutex> lk(m);
        shared = "fun2";
        std::cout << "in fun2, shared variable is now " << shared << '\n';
        fun1(); // recursive lock becomes useful here
        std::cout << "back in fun2, shared variable is " << shared << '\n';
    }
};
 
int main() 
{
    X x;
    std::thread t1(&X::fun1, &x);
    std::thread t2(&X::fun2, &x);
    t1.join();
    t2.join();
}

Possible output:

in fun1, shared variable is now fun1
in fun2, shared variable is now fun2
in fun1, shared variable is now fun1
back in fun2, shared variable is fun1

[edit] See also

(C++11)
provides basic mutual exclusion facility
(class) [edit]