thread (Threading)

Overview

Platform-neutral threads.

#include "etcpal/thread.h"

Provides a platform-neutral threading API with an interface similar to pthread.

void thread_function(void* arg)
{
  int val = *(int*)arg;
  printf("Hello from a thread! The value is %d.\n", val);
  etcpal_thread_sleep(10); // Sleep for 10 milliseconds
}
 
EtcPalThreadParams params = ETCPAL_THREAD_PARAMS_INIT;
int arg = 42;
etcpal_thread_t handle;
etcpal_error_t result = etcpal_thread_create(&handle, &params, thread_function, &arg);
if (result == kEtcPalErrOk)
{
  // The thread is running and prints "Hello from a thread! The value is 42."
  etcpal_thread_join(&handle);
  // The thread is no longer running.
}

On some platforms you can wait a finite time for a thread to exit:

if (etcpal_thread_timed_join(&handle, 1000) == kEtcPalErrOk)
{
  // The thread is no longer running.
}
else
{
  // If etcpal_thread_timed_join() returns kEtcPalErrTimedOut, the thread failed to stop within
  // the timeout given.
}

This behavior is platform-dependent:

Platform	ETCPAL_THREAD_HAS_TIMED_JOIN
FreeRTOS	Yes
Linux	No
macOS	No
MQX	No
Windows	Yes

Manipulate the EtcPalThreadParams structure to change parameters about the thread to be created:

EtcPalThreadParams params;
 
// The meaning of these numbers is platform-defined, and they are not honored on all platforms. See the description
// of the EtcPalThreadParams struct for more information.
params.priority = 8;
params.stack_size = 1500;
 
params.thread_name = "My Thread";

You can also use the etcpal_thread_sleep() function to sleep for a given number of milliseconds from any valid thread context:

etcpal_thread_sleep(200); // Sleep for 200 milliseconds

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR RTOS USERS: The EtcPal threading API does not initialize the scheduler on real-time systems (e.g. it does not call vTaskStartScheduler() on FreeRTOS or _mqx() on MQX). The application writer is responsible for managing the interaction between starting the scheduler and starting EtcPal threads, just like when starting native RTOS tasks.

Data Structures
struct	EtcPalThreadParams
	A set of parameters for an etcpal_thread. More...

Macros
#define	ETCPAL_THREAD_SET_DEFAULT_PARAMS(threadparamsptr)
	Set the platform-default values for the EtcPalThreadParams struct. More...
#define	ETCPAL_THREAD_PARAMS_INIT_VALUES    ETCPAL_THREAD_DEFAULT_PRIORITY, ETCPAL_THREAD_DEFAULT_STACK, ETCPAL_THREAD_DEFAULT_NAME, NULL
	The set of default values for an EtcPalThreadParamsStructure. More...
#define	ETCPAL_THREAD_PARAMS_INIT
	A default initializer value for an EtcPalThreadParams structure. More...
#define	ETCPAL_THREAD_DEFAULT_PRIORITY
	The platform-specific default priority for an etcpal_thread. More...
#define	ETCPAL_THREAD_DEFAULT_STACK
	The plaform-specific default stack size for an etcpal_thread. More...
#define	ETCPAL_THREAD_DEFAULT_NAME
	The default name for an etcpal_thread.
#define	ETCPAL_THREAD_NAME_MAX_LENGTH
	The maximum length of an etcpal_thread name C-string.
#define	ETCPAL_THREAD_OS_HANDLE_INVALID   /* platform-defined */
	An invalid value for the native OS thread handle type. More...
#define	ETCPAL_THREAD_HAS_TIMED_JOIN   /* platform-defined */
	Whether etcpal_thread_timed_join() is meaningful on this platform. More...

Typedefs
typedef struct EtcPalThreadParams	EtcPalThreadParams
	A set of parameters for an etcpal_thread. More...
typedef PLATFORM_DEFINED	etcpal_thread_t
	The thread handle. More...
typedef PLATFORM_DEFINED	etcpal_thread_os_handle_t
	The native OS handle type for threads on this platform. More...

Functions
etcpal_error_t	etcpal_thread_create (etcpal_thread_t *id, const EtcPalThreadParams *params, void(*thread_fn)(void *), void *thread_arg)
	Create a new thread. More...
etcpal_error_t	etcpal_thread_join (etcpal_thread_t *id)
	Wait for a thread to finish execution. More...
etcpal_error_t	etcpal_thread_timed_join (etcpal_thread_t *id, int timeout_ms)
	Wait for a thread to finish execution, giving up after a timeout. More...
etcpal_error_t	etcpal_thread_terminate (etcpal_thread_t *id)
	Forcefully kill a thread. More...
etcpal_thread_os_handle_t	etcpal_thread_get_os_handle (etcpal_thread_t *id)
	Get the native OS handle of an EtcPal thread. More...
void	etcpal_thread_sleep (unsigned int sleep_ms)
	Provides a platform-neutral sleep. More...
etcpal_thread_os_handle_t	etcpal_thread_get_current_os_handle (void)
	Get the native OS handle of the currently executing thread. More...

Macro Definition Documentation

ETCPAL_THREAD_DEFAULT_PRIORITY

#define ETCPAL_THREAD_DEFAULT_PRIORITY

The platform-specific default priority for an etcpal_thread.

Note that thread priority is not valid on all platforms.

ETCPAL_THREAD_DEFAULT_STACK

#define ETCPAL_THREAD_DEFAULT_STACK

The plaform-specific default stack size for an etcpal_thread.

Note that thread stack size is not valid on all platforms.

ETCPAL_THREAD_HAS_TIMED_JOIN

#define ETCPAL_THREAD_HAS_TIMED_JOIN   /* platform-defined */

Whether etcpal_thread_timed_join() is meaningful on this platform.

If defined to 0, etcpal_thread_timed_join() executes the equivalent of etcpal_thread_join(), and the timeout_ms argument is ignored.

ETCPAL_THREAD_OS_HANDLE_INVALID

#define ETCPAL_THREAD_OS_HANDLE_INVALID   /* platform-defined */

An invalid value for the native OS thread handle type.

Warning

On POSIX platforms (currently Linux and macOS), there is no defined value for an invalid pthread_t. This is defined to (pthread_t)-1 as a heuristic.

ETCPAL_THREAD_PARAMS_INIT

#define ETCPAL_THREAD_PARAMS_INIT

Value:

  {                                  \
    ETCPAL_THREAD_PARAMS_INIT_VALUES \
  }

A default initializer value for an EtcPalThreadParams structure.

Usage:

EtcPalThreadParams params = ETCPAL_THREAD_PARAMS_INIT;

ETCPAL_THREAD_PARAMS_INIT_VALUES

#define ETCPAL_THREAD_PARAMS_INIT_VALUES    ETCPAL_THREAD_DEFAULT_PRIORITY, ETCPAL_THREAD_DEFAULT_STACK, ETCPAL_THREAD_DEFAULT_NAME, NULL

The set of default values for an EtcPalThreadParamsStructure.

Suitable for using in a bracket initializer, e.g.:

EtcPalThreadParams params = ETCPAL_THREAD_PARAMS_INIT_VALUES;

ETCPAL_THREAD_SET_DEFAULT_PARAMS

#define ETCPAL_THREAD_SET_DEFAULT_PARAMS

(

threadparamsptr

)

Value:

  do                                                                   \
  {                                                                    \
    (threadparamsptr)->priority      = ETCPAL_THREAD_DEFAULT_PRIORITY; \
    (threadparamsptr)->stack_size    = ETCPAL_THREAD_DEFAULT_STACK;    \
    (threadparamsptr)->thread_name   = ETCPAL_THREAD_DEFAULT_NAME;     \
    (threadparamsptr)->platform_data = NULL;                           \
  } while (0)

Set the platform-default values for the EtcPalThreadParams struct.

Typedef Documentation

etcpal_thread_os_handle_t

typedef PLATFORM_DEFINED etcpal_thread_os_handle_t

The native OS handle type for threads on this platform.

This is a scalar type on all platforms for which EtcPal is ported.

etcpal_thread_t

typedef PLATFORM_DEFINED etcpal_thread_t

The thread handle.

Depending on the platform, this could be a scalar type or a struct.

EtcPalThreadParams

typedef struct EtcPalThreadParams EtcPalThreadParams

A set of parameters for an etcpal_thread.

The members of this structure are not all honored on all platforms. Here is a breakdown:

Platform	Priority Honored	Stack Size Honored	Thread Name Honored	Platform Data Available
FreeRTOS	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Linux	No	Yes	Yes	No
macOS	No	Yes	Yes	No
MQX	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes, EtcPalThreadParamsMqx
Windows	Yes	Yes	Yes	No

Function Documentation

etcpal_thread_create()

etcpal_error_t etcpal_thread_create	(	etcpal_thread_t *	id,
		const EtcPalThreadParams *	params,
		void(*)(void *)	thread_fn,
		void *	thread_arg
	)

Create a new thread.

If your application has exit/shutdown behavior (i.e. it is a non-embedded application), it's good practice to always pair this with a call to etcpal_thread_join() on exit. On some platforms, extra signaling resources are allocated when the thread is created that are not deallocated unless etcpal_thread_join() is called.

Parameters

[out]	id	Identifier for the thread that was created.
[in]	params	Thread parameters for the thread to create
[in]	thread_fn	Pointer to function that should be called from the new thread. This function takes one void* argument and returns void.
[in]	thread_arg	Argument to the function called from the new thread.

Returns

kEtcPalErrOk: The thread was created.

kEtcPalErrInvalid: Invalid argument.

Other codes translated from system error codes are possible.

etcpal_thread_get_current_os_handle()

etcpal_thread_os_handle_t etcpal_thread_get_current_os_handle

(

void

)

Get the native OS handle of the currently executing thread.

This cannot be converted back to an etcpal_thread_t, but it can be used as a thread identifier for non-EtcPal purposes.

etcpal_thread_get_os_handle()

etcpal_thread_os_handle_t etcpal_thread_get_os_handle

(

etcpal_thread_t *

id

)

Get the native OS handle of an EtcPal thread.

Parameters

[in]

id

Identifier for the thread for which to get the OS handle.

Returns

The OS handle, or ETCPAL_THREAD_OS_HANDLE_INVALID if an invalid argument was given.

etcpal_thread_join()

etcpal_error_t etcpal_thread_join

(

etcpal_thread_t *

id

)

Wait for a thread to finish execution.

Blocks until the thread has exited.

Parameters

[in]

id

Identifier for the thread to stop.

Returns

kEtcPalErrOk: The thread was stopped.

kEtcPalErrInvalid: id does not represent a joinable thread.

Other codes translated from system error codes are possible.

etcpal_thread_sleep()

void etcpal_thread_sleep

(

unsigned int

sleep_ms

)

Provides a platform-neutral sleep.

Parameters

[in]

sleep_ms

How long to sleep, in milliseconds.

etcpal_thread_terminate()

etcpal_error_t etcpal_thread_terminate

(

etcpal_thread_t *

id

)

Forcefully kill a thread.

Be careful when using this function. Depending on the state of a thread when it is terminated, shared resources or memory could not be freed, resulting in memory leaks or deadlocks.

Parameters

[in]

id

Identifier for the thread to terminate.

Returns

kEtcPalErrOk: The thread was terminated.

kEtcPalErrInvalid: id does not represent a joinable thread.

Other codes translated from system error codes are possible.

etcpal_thread_timed_join()

etcpal_error_t etcpal_thread_timed_join	(	etcpal_thread_t *	id,
		int	timeout_ms
	)

Wait for a thread to finish execution, giving up after a timeout.

This function is not honored on all platforms. The value of ETCPAL_THREAD_HAS_TIMED_JOIN can be used to determine whether this function is honored on the current platform. If it is defined to 0, this function executes the equivalent of etcpal_thread_join(), and the timeout_ms argument is ignored.

Parameters

[in]	id	Identifier for the thread to stop.
[in]	timeout_ms	Maximum amount of time to wait for the thread, in milliseconds. If ETCPAL_WAIT_FOREVER is given, the result is the same as if etcpal_thread_join() was called.

Returns

kEtcPalErrOk: The thread was stopped.

kEtcPalErrInvalid: id does not represent a joinable thread.

kEtcPalErrTimedOut: Timed out waiting for the thread to stop.

Other codes translated from system error codes are possible.