rwlock(9F) Kernel Functions for Drivers rwlock(9F)NAME
rwlock, rw_init, rw_destroy, rw_enter, rw_exit, rw_tryenter, rw_down‐
grade, rw_tryupgrade, rw_read_locked - readers/writer lock functions
SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/ksynch.h>
void rw_init(krwlock_t *rwlp, char *name, krw_type_t type, void *arg);
void rw_destroy(krwlock_t *rwlp);
void rw_enter(krwlock_t *rwlp, krw_t enter_type);
void rw_exit(krwlock_t *rwlp);
int rw_tryenter(krwlock_t *rwlp, krw_t enter_type);
void rw_downgrade(krwlock_t *rwlp);
int rw_tryupgrade(krwlock_t *rwlp);
int rw_read_locked(krwlock_t *rwlp);
INTERFACE LEVEL
Solaris DDI specific (Solaris DDI).
PARAMETERS
rwlp Pointer to a krwlock_t readers/writer lock.
name Descriptive string. This is obsolete and should be NULL.
(Non-null strings are legal, but they're a waste of ker‐
nel memory.)
type Type of readers/writer lock.
arg Type-specific argument for initialization function.
enter_type One of the values RW_READER or RW_WRITER, indicating
whether the lock is to be acquired non-exclusively
(RW_READER) or exclusively (RW_WRITER).
DESCRIPTION
A multiple-readers, single-writer lock is represented by the krwlock_t
data type. This type of lock will allow many threads to have simultane‐
ous read-only access to an object. Only one thread may have write
access at any one time. An object which is searched more frequently
than it is changed is a good candidate for a readers/writer lock.
Readers/writer locks are slightly more expensive than mutex locks, and
the advantage of multiple read access may not occur if the lock will
only be held for a short time.
The rw_init() function initializes a readers/writer lock. It is an
error to initialize a lock more than once. The type argument should be
set to RW_DRIVER. If the lock is used by the interrupt handler, the
type-specific argument, arg, should be the interrupt priority returned
from ddi_intr_get_pri(9F) or ddi_intr_get_softint_pri(9F). Note that
arg should be the value of the interrupt priority cast by calling the
DDI_INTR_PRI macro. If the lock is not used by any interrupt handler,
the argument should be NULL.
The rw_destroy() function releases any resources that might have been
allocated by rw_init(). It should be called before freeing the memory
containing the lock. The lock must not be held by any thread when it is
destroyed.
The rw_enter() function acquires the lock, and blocks if necessary. If
enter_type is RW_READER, the caller blocks if there is a writer or a
thread attempting to enter for writing. If enter_type is RW_WRITER, the
caller blocks if any thread holds the lock.
NOTE: It is a programming error for any thread to acquire an rwlock it
already holds, even as a reader. Doing so can deadlock the system: if
thread R acquires the lock as a reader, then thread W tries to acquire
the lock as a writer, W will set write-wanted and block. When R tries
to get its second read hold on the lock, it will honor the write-wanted
bit and block waiting for W; but W cannot run until R drops the lock.
Thus threads R and W deadlock.
The rw_exit() function releases the lock and may wake up one or more
threads waiting on the lock.
The rw_tryenter() function attempts to enter the lock, like rw_enter(),
but never blocks. It returns a non-zero value if the lock was success‐
fully entered, and zero otherwise.
A thread which holds the lock exclusively (entered with RW_WRITER), may
call rw_downgrade() to convert to holding the lock non-exclusively (as
if entered with RW_READER). One or more waiting readers may be
unblocked.
The rw_tryupgrade() function can be called by a thread which holds the
lock for reading to attempt to convert to holding it for writing. This
upgrade can only succeed if no other thread is holding the lock and no
other thread is blocked waiting to acquire the lock for writing.
The rw_read_locked() function returns non-zero if the calling thread
holds the lock for read, and zero if the caller holds the lock for
write. The caller must hold the lock. The system may panic if
rw_read_locked() is called for a lock that isn't held by the caller.
RETURN VALUES
0 rw_tryenter() could not obtain the lock without blocking.
0 rw_tryupgrade() was unable to perform the upgrade because
of other threads holding or waiting to hold the lock.
0 rw_read_locked() returns 0 if the lock is held by the call‐
er for write.
non-zero from rw_read_locked() if the lock is held by the caller for
read.
non-zero successful return from rw_tryenter() or rw_tryupgrade().
CONTEXT
These functions can be called from user, interrupt, or kernel context,
except for rw_init() and rw_destroy(), which can be called from user
context only.
SEE ALSOcondvar(9F), ddi_intr_alloc(9F), ddi_intr_add_handler(9F),
ddi_intr_get_pri(9F), ddi_intr_get_softint_pri(9F), mutex(9F), sema‐
phore(9F)NOTES
Compiling with _LOCKTEST or _MPSTATS defined no longer has any effect.
To gather lock statistics, see lockstat(1M).
SunOS 5.10 16 Jan 2006 rwlock(9F)
