Mutual Exclusion Lock Attributes

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Use mutual exclusion locks (mutexes) to serialize thread execution. Mutual exclusion locks synchronize threads, usually by ensuring that only one thread at a time executes a critical section of code. Mutex locks can also preserve single-threaded code.

To change the default mutex attributes, you can declare and initialize an attribute object. Often, the mutex attributes are set in one place at the beginning of the application so the attributes can be located quickly and modified easily. Table 4–1 lists the functions that manipulate mutex attributes.

Table 4-1 Mutex Attributes Routines

Operation	Related Function Description
Initialize a mutex attribute object	pthread_mutexattr_init Syntax
Destroy a mutex attribute object	pthread_mutexattr_destroy Syntax
Set the scope of a mutex	pthread_mutexattr_setpshared Syntax
Get the scope of a mutex	pthread_mutexattr_getpshared Syntax
Set the mutex type attribute	pthread_mutexattr_settype Syntax
Get the mutex type attribute	pthread_mutexattr_gettype Syntax
Set mutex attribute's protocol	pthread_mutexattr_setprotocol Syntax
Get mutex attribute's protocol	pthread_mutexattr_getprotocol Syntax
Set mutex attribute's priority ceiling	pthread_mutexattr_setprioceiling Syntax
Get mutex attribute's priority ceiling	pthread_mutexattr_getprioceiling Syntax
Set mutex's priority ceiling	pthread_mutex_setprioceiling Syntax
Get mutex's priority ceiling	pthread_mutex_getprioceiling Syntax
Set mutex's robust attribute	pthread_mutexattr_setrobust_np Syntax
Get mutex's robust attribute	pthread_mutexattr_getrobust_np Syntax