lock_when Enum

Specifies deferred locking.

enum lock_when {
   lock_later
};

Remarks

When passed to lock::lock, lock_later specifies that the lock is not to be taken now.

Example

This example uses a single instance of a class across multiple threads. The class uses a lock on itself to ensure that accesses to its internal data are consistent for each thread. The main application thread uses a lock on the same instance of the class to periodically check to see if any worker threads still exist, and waits to exit until all worker threads have completed their tasks.

// msl_lock_lock_when.cpp
// compile with: /clr
#include <msclr/lock.h>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Threading;
using namespace msclr;

ref class CounterClass {
private:
   int Counter;   

public:
   property int ThreadCount;

   // function called by multiple threads, use lock to keep Counter consistent
   // for each thread
   void UseCounter() {
      try {
         lock l(this); // wait infinitely

         Console::WriteLine("In thread {0}, Counter = {1}", Thread::CurrentThread->ManagedThreadId, 
            Counter);

         for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
            Counter++;
            Thread::Sleep(10);
         }
         
         Console::WriteLine("In thread {0}, Counter = {1}", Thread::CurrentThread->ManagedThreadId, 
            Counter);

         Counter = 0;
         // lock is automatically released when it goes out of scope and its destructor is called
      }
      catch (...) {
         Console::WriteLine("Couldn't acquire lock!");
      }

      ThreadCount--;
   }
};

int main() {
   // create a few threads to contend for access to the shared data
   CounterClass^ cc = gcnew CounterClass;
   array<Thread^>^ tarr = gcnew array<Thread^>(5);
   ThreadStart^ startDelegate = gcnew ThreadStart(cc, &CounterClass::UseCounter);
   for (int i = 0; i < tarr->Length; i++) {
      tarr[i] = gcnew Thread(startDelegate);
      cc->ThreadCount++;
      tarr[i]->Start();
   }

   // keep our main thread alive until all worker threads have completed
   lock l(cc, lock_later); // don't lock now, just create the object
   while (true) {
      if (l.try_acquire(50)) { // try to acquire lock, don't throw an exception if can't
         if (0 == cc->ThreadCount) {
            Console::WriteLine("All threads completed.");
            break; // all threads are gone, exit while
         }
         else {
            Console::WriteLine("{0} threads exist, continue waiting...", cc->ThreadCount);
            l.release(); // some threads exist, let them do their work
         }
      }
   }
}

In thread 3, Counter = 0
In thread 3, Counter = 10
In thread 5, Counter = 0
In thread 5, Counter = 10
In thread 7, Counter = 0
In thread 7, Counter = 10
In thread 4, Counter = 0
In thread 4, Counter = 10
In thread 6, Counter = 0
In thread 6, Counter = 10
All threads completed.

Requirements

Header file <msclr\lock.h>

Namespace msclr

See Also

Reference

lock