Using One-Time Initialization

The following examples demonstrate the use of the one-time initialization functions.

Synchronous Example

In this example, the g_InitOnce global variable is the one-time initialization structure. It is initialized statically using INIT_ONCE_STATIC_INIT.

The OpenEventHandleSync function returns a handle to an event that is created only once. It calls the InitOnceExecuteOnce function to execute the initialization code contained in the InitHandleFunction callback function. If the callback function succeeds, OpenEventHandleSync returns the event handle returned in lpContext; otherwise, it returns INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE.

The InitHandleFunction function is the one-time initialization callback function. InitHandleFunction calls the CreateEvent function to create the event and returns the event handle in the lpContext parameter.

#define _WIN32_WINNT 0x0600
#include <windows.h>

// Global variable for one-time initialization structure
INIT_ONCE g_InitOnce = INIT_ONCE_STATIC_INIT; // Static initialization

// Initialization callback function 
BOOL CALLBACK InitHandleFunction (
    PINIT_ONCE InitOnce,        
    PVOID Parameter,            
    PVOID *lpContext);           

// Returns a handle to an event object that is created only once
HANDLE OpenEventHandleSync()
{
  PVOID lpContext;
  BOOL  bStatus;
  
  // Execute the initialization callback function 
  bStatus = InitOnceExecuteOnce(&g_InitOnce,          // One-time initialization structure
                                InitHandleFunction,   // Pointer to initialization callback function
                                NULL,                 // Optional parameter to callback function (not used)
                                &lpContext);          // Receives pointer to event object stored in g_InitOnce

  // InitOnceExecuteOnce function succeeded. Return event object.
  if (bStatus)
  {
    return (HANDLE)lpContext;
  }
  else
  {
    return (INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE);
  }
}

// Initialization callback function that creates the event object 
BOOL CALLBACK InitHandleFunction (
    PINIT_ONCE InitOnce,        // Pointer to one-time initialization structure        
    PVOID Parameter,            // Optional parameter passed by InitOnceExecuteOnce            
    PVOID *lpContext)           // Receives pointer to event object           
{
  HANDLE hEvent;

  // Create event object
  hEvent = CreateEvent(NULL,    // Default security descriptor
                       TRUE,    // Manual-reset event object
                       TRUE,    // Initial state of object is signaled 
                       NULL);   // Object is unnamed

  // Event object creation failed.
  if (NULL == hEvent)
  {
    return FALSE;
  }
  // Event object creation succeeded.
  else
  {
    *lpContext = hEvent;
    return TRUE;
  }
}

Asynchronous Example

In this example, the g_InitOnce global variable is the one-time initialization structure. It is initialized statically using INIT_ONCE_STATIC_INIT.

The OpenEventHandleAsync function returns a handle to an event that is created only once. OpenEventHandleAsync calls the InitOnceBeginInitialize function to enter the initializing state.

If the call succeeds, the code checks the value of the fPending parameter to determine whether to create the event or simply return a handle to the event created by another thread. If fPending is FALSE, initialization has already completed so OpenEventHandleAsync returns the event handle returned in the lpContext parameter. Otherwise, it calls the CreateEvent function to create the event and the InitOnceComplete function to complete the initialization.

If the call to InitOnceComplete succeeds, OpenEventHandleAsync returns the new event handle. Otherwise, it closes the event handle and calls InitOnceBeginInitialize with INIT_ONCE_CHECK_ONLY to determine whether initialization failed or was completed by another thread.

If the initialization was completed by another thread, OpenEventHandleAsync returns the event handle returned in lpContext. Otherwise, it returns INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE.

#define _WIN32_WINNT 0x0600
#include <windows.h>

// Global variable for one-time initialization structure
INIT_ONCE g_InitOnce = INIT_ONCE_STATIC_INIT; // Static initialization

// Returns a handle to an event object that is created only once
HANDLE OpenEventHandleAsync()
{
  PVOID  lpContext;
  BOOL   fStatus;
  BOOL   fPending;
  HANDLE hEvent;
  
  // Begin one-time initialization
  fStatus = InitOnceBeginInitialize(&g_InitOnce,       // Pointer to one-time initialization structure
                                    INIT_ONCE_ASYNC,   // Asynchronous one-time initialization
                                    &fPending,         // Receives initialization status
                                    &lpContext);       // Receives pointer to data in g_InitOnce  

  // InitOnceBeginInitialize function failed.
  if (!fStatus)
  {
    return (INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE);
  }

  // Initialization has already completed and lpContext contains event object.
  if (!fPending)
  {
    return (HANDLE)lpContext;
  }

  // Create event object for one-time initialization.
  hEvent = CreateEvent(NULL,    // Default security descriptor
                       TRUE,    // Manual-reset event object
                       TRUE,    // Initial state of object is signaled 
                       NULL);   // Object is unnamed

  // Event object creation failed.
  if (NULL == hEvent)
  {
    return (INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE);
  }

  // Complete one-time initialization.
  fStatus = InitOnceComplete(&g_InitOnce,             // Pointer to one-time initialization structure
                             INIT_ONCE_ASYNC,         // Asynchronous initialization
                             (PVOID)hEvent);          // Pointer to event object to be stored in g_InitOnce

  // InitOnceComplete function succeeded. Return event object.
  if (fStatus)
  {
    return hEvent;
  }
  
  // Initialization has already completed. Free the local event.
  CloseHandle(hEvent);


  // Retrieve the final context data.
  fStatus = InitOnceBeginInitialize(&g_InitOnce,            // Pointer to one-time initialization structure
                                    INIT_ONCE_CHECK_ONLY,   // Check whether initialization is complete
                                    &fPending,              // Receives initialization status
                                    &lpContext);            // Receives pointer to event object in g_InitOnce
  
  // Initialization is complete. Return handle.
  if (fStatus && !fPending)
  {
    return (HANDLE)lpContext;
  }
  else
  {
    return INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE;
  }
}

Related topics

One-Time Initialization