Mutex Class

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A synchronization primitive that can also be used for interprocess synchronization.

Inheritance Hierarchy

System.Object
  System.Threading.WaitHandle
    System.Threading.Mutex

Namespace:  System.Threading
Assembly:  mscorlib.Extensions (in mscorlib.Extensions.dll)

Syntax

'Declaration
Public NotInheritable Class Mutex _
    Inherits WaitHandle

public sealed class Mutex : WaitHandle

The Mutex type exposes the following members.

Constructors

	Name	Description
	Mutex	Initializes a new instance of the Mutex class with a Boolean value that indicates whether the calling thread should have initial ownership of the mutex, and a string that is the name of the mutex.

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Properties

	Name	Description
	SafeWaitHandle	Gets or sets the native operating-system handle. (Inherited from WaitHandle.)

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Methods

	Name	Description
	Close	When overridden in a derived class, releases all resources held by the current WaitHandle. (Inherited from WaitHandle.)
	Dispose()	Releases all resources used by the current instance of the WaitHandle class. (Inherited from WaitHandle.)
	Dispose(Boolean)	When overridden in a derived class, releases the unmanaged resources used by the WaitHandle, and optionally releases the managed resources. (Inherited from WaitHandle.)
	Equals(Object)	Determines whether the specified Object is equal to the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
	Finalize	Allows an object to try to free resources and perform other cleanup operations before the Object is reclaimed by garbage collection. (Inherited from Object.)
	GetHashCode	Serves as a hash function for a particular type. (Inherited from Object.)
	GetType	Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object.)
	MemberwiseClone	Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
	ReleaseMutex	Releases the Mutex once.
	ToString	Returns a string that represents the current object. (Inherited from Object.)
	WaitOne()	Blocks the current thread until the current Mutex receives a signal. (Overrides WaitHandle.WaitOne().)
	WaitOne(Int32)	Blocks the calling thread for the specified time until the current WaitHandle receives a signal. (Overrides WaitHandle.WaitOne(Int32).)
	WaitOne(TimeSpan)	Blocks the current thread until the current instance receives a signal, using a TimeSpan to specify the time interval. (Inherited from WaitHandle.)

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Remarks

When two or more threads need to access a shared resource at the same time, the system needs a synchronization mechanism to ensure that only one thread at a time uses the resource. Mutex is a synchronization primitive that grants exclusive access to the shared resource to only one thread. If a thread acquires a mutex, the second thread that wants to acquire that mutex is suspended until the first thread releases the mutex.

The Mutex class enforces thread identity, so a mutex can be released only by the thread that acquired it.

If a thread terminates while owning a mutex, the mutex is said to be abandoned. The state of the mutex is set to signaled, and the next waiting thread gets ownership.

Caution:
An abandoned mutex often indicates a serious error in the code. When a thread exits without releasing the mutex, the data structures protected by the mutex might not be in a consistent state. The next thread to request ownership of the mutex can handle this exception and proceed, if the integrity of the data structures can be verified.

In the case of a system-wide mutex, an abandoned mutex might indicate that an application has been terminated abruptly.

Mutexes are of two types: local mutexes, which are unnamed, and named system mutexes. A local mutex exists only within your process. It can be used by any thread in your process that has a reference to the Mutex object that represents the mutex. Each unnamed Mutex object represents a separate local mutex.

Named system mutexes are visible throughout the operating system, and can be used to synchronize the activities of processes. You can create a Mutex object that represents a named system mutex by using a constructor that accepts a name. The operating-system object can be created at the same time, or it can exist before the creation of the Mutex object. You can create multiple Mutex objects that represent the same named system mutex.

Version Notes

 Silverlight for Windows Phone

 Mutex is supported in Silverlight for Windows Phone Only.

Version Information

Silverlight for Windows Phone

Supported in: Windows Phone OS 7.1

Platforms

For a list of the operating systems and browsers that are supported by Silverlight, see Supported Operating Systems and Browsers.

Thread Safety

This type is thread safe.

See Also

Reference

System.Threading Namespace