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author | Pierre Ossman <ossman@cendio.se> | 2006-05-17 11:07:16 +0000 |
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committer | Pierre Ossman <ossman@cendio.se> | 2006-05-17 11:07:16 +0000 |
commit | d4d1e5edf7af01b0d0e32da9fa323702f5174232 (patch) | |
tree | b6249361794423612c62fe936d6eda0cdaf6f090 /src/polyp/thread-mainloop.h | |
parent | 71f681aa43156056965a906101e07b27c94eef45 (diff) |
Documentation for the threaded main loop API.
git-svn-id: file:///home/lennart/svn/public/pulseaudio/trunk@892 fefdeb5f-60dc-0310-8127-8f9354f1896f
Diffstat (limited to 'src/polyp/thread-mainloop.h')
-rw-r--r-- | src/polyp/thread-mainloop.h | 201 |
1 files changed, 201 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/src/polyp/thread-mainloop.h b/src/polyp/thread-mainloop.h index 94a48d02..81e8d674 100644 --- a/src/polyp/thread-mainloop.h +++ b/src/polyp/thread-mainloop.h @@ -27,6 +27,207 @@ PA_C_DECL_BEGIN +/** \page threaded_mainloop Threaded Main Loop + * + * \section overv_sec Overview + * + * The threaded main loop implementation is a special version of the primary + * main loop implementation (see \ref mainloop). For the basic design, see + * its documentation. + * + * The added feature in the threaded main loop is that it spawns a new thread + * that runs the real main loop. This allows a synchronous application to use + * the asynchronous API without risking to stall the Polypaudio library. + * + * \section creat_sec Creation + * + * A pa_threaded_mainloop object is created using pa_threaded_mainloop_new(). + * This will only allocate the required structures though, so to use it the + * thread must also be started. This is done through + * pa_threaded_mainloop_start(), after which you can start using the main loop. + * + * \section destr_sec Destruction + * + * When the Polypaudio connection has been terminated, the thread must be + * stopped and the resources freed. Stopping the thread is done using + * pa_threaded_mainloop_stop(), which must be called without the lock (see + * below) held. When that function returns, the thread is stopped and the + * pa_threaded_mainloop object can be freed using pa_threaded_mainloop_free(). + * + * \section lock_sec Locking + * + * Since the Polypaudio API doesn't allow concurrent accesses to objects, + * a locking scheme must be used to guarantee safe usage. The threaded main + * loop API provides such a scheme through the functions + * pa_threaded_mainloop_lock() and pa_threaded_mainloop_unlock(). + * + * The lock is recursive, so it's safe to use it multiple times from the same + * thread. Just make sure you call pa_threaded_mainloop_unlock() the same + * number of times you called pa_threaded_mainloop_lock(). + * + * The lock needs to be held whenever you call any Polypaudio function that + * uses an object associated with this main loop. Make sure you do not hold + * on to the lock more than necessary though, as the threaded main loop stops + * while the lock is held. + * + * Example: + * + * \code + * void my_check_stream_func(pa_threaded_mainloop *m, pa_stream *s) { + * pa_stream_state_t state; + * + * pa_threaded_mainloop_lock(m); + * + * state = pa_stream_get_state(s); + * + * pa_threaded_mainloop_unlock(m); + * + * if (state == PA_STREAM_READY) + * printf("Stream is ready!"); + * else + * printf("Stream is not ready!"); + * } + * \endcode + * + * \section cb_sec Callbacks + * + * Callbacks in Polypaudio are asynchronous, so they require extra care when + * using them together with a threaded main loop. + * + * The easiest way to turn the callback based operations into synchronous + * ones, is to simply wait for the callback to be called and continue from + * there. This is the approach chosen in Polypaudio's threaded API. + * + * \subsection basic_subsec Basic callbacks + * + * For the basic case, where all that is required is to wait for the callback + * to be invoked, the code should look something like this: + * + * Example: + * + * \code + * static void my_drain_callback(pa_stream*s, int success, void *userdata) { + * pa_threaded_mainloop *m; + * + * m = (pa_threaded_mainloop*)userdata; + * assert(m); + * + * pa_threaded_mainloop_signal(m, 0); + * } + * + * void my_drain_stream_func(pa_threaded_mainloop *m, pa_stream *s) { + * pa_operation *o; + * + * pa_threaded_mainloop_lock(m); + * + * o = pa_stream_drain(s, my_drain_callback, m); + * assert(o); + * + * while (pa_operation_get_state(o) != OPERATION_DONE) + * pa_threaded_mainloop_wait(m); + * + * pa_operation_unref(o); + * + * pa_threaded_mainloop_unlock(m); + * } + * \endcode + * + * The main function, my_drain_stream_func(), will wait for the callback to + * be called using pa_threaded_mainloop_wait(). + * + * If your application is multi-threaded, then this waiting must be done + * inside a while loop. The reason for this is that multiple threads might be + * using pa_threaded_mainloop_wait() at the same time. Each thread must + * therefore verify that it was its callback that was invoked. + * + * The callback, my_drain_callback(), indicates to the main function that it + * has been called using pa_threaded_mainloop_signal(). + * + * As you can see, both pa_threaded_mainloop_wait() may only be called with + * the lock held. The same thing is true for pa_threaded_mainloop_signal(), + * but as the lock is held before the callback is invoked, you do not have to + * deal with that. + * + * The functions will not dead lock because the wait function will release + * the lock before waiting and then regrab it once it has been signaled. + * For those of you familiar with threads, the behaviour is that of a + * condition variable. + * + * \subsection data_subsec Data callbacks + * + * For many callbacks, simply knowing that they have been called is + * insufficient. The callback also receives some data that is desired. To + * access this data safely, we must extend our example a bit: + * + * \code + * static int *drain_result; + * + * static void my_drain_callback(pa_stream*s, int success, void *userdata) { + * pa_threaded_mainloop *m; + * + * m = (pa_threaded_mainloop*)userdata; + * assert(m); + * + * drain_result = &success; + * + * pa_threaded_mainloop_signal(m, 1); + * } + * + * void my_drain_stream_func(pa_threaded_mainloop *m, pa_stream *s) { + * pa_operation *o; + * + * pa_threaded_mainloop_lock(m); + * + * o = pa_stream_drain(s, my_drain_callback, m); + * assert(o); + * + * while (pa_operation_get_state(o) != OPERATION_DONE) + * pa_threaded_mainloop_wait(m); + * + * pa_operation_unref(o); + * + * if (*drain_result) + * printf("Success!"); + * else + * printf("Bitter defeat..."); + * + * pa_threaded_mainloop_accept(m); + * + * pa_threaded_mainloop_unlock(m); + * } + * \endcode + * + * The example is a bit silly as it would probably have been easier to just + * copy the contents of success, but for larger data structures this can be + * wasteful. + * + * The difference here compared to the basic callback is the 1 sent to + * pa_threaded_mainloop_signal() and the call to + * pa_threaded_mainloop_accept(). What will happen is that + * pa_threaded_mainloop_signal() will signal the main function and then stop. + * The main function is then free to use the data in the callback until + * pa_threaded_mainloop_accept() is called, which will allow the callback + * to continue. + * + * Note that pa_threaded_mainloop_accept() must be called some time between + * exiting the while loop and unlocking the main loop! Failure to do so will + * result in a race condition. I.e. it is not ok to release the lock and + * regrab it before calling pa_threaded_mainloop_accept(). + * + * \subsection async_subsec Asynchronous callbacks + * + * Polypaudio also has callbacks that are completely asynchronous, meaning + * that they can be called at any time. The threading main loop API provides + * the locking mechanism to handle concurrent accesses, but nothing else. + * Applications will have to handle communication from the callback to the + * main program through some own system. + * + * The callbacks that are completely asynchronous are: + * + * \li State callbacks for contexts, streams, etc. + * \li Subscription notifications + */ + /** \file * * A thread based event loop implementation based on pa_mainloop. The |