Patent Abstract:
A facility for managing a synchronization mechanism that supports initialization, acquisition, release, and deletion operations is described. When a thread seeks to perform the acquisition operation, the facility permits performance of the acquisition operation only if the initialization operation has been performed more recently than the deletion operation. When a thread seeks to perform the deletion operation, the facility waits until any threads that are seeking to perform the acquisition operation or have performed the acquisition operation more recently than the release operation have performed the release operation before deleting the synchronization mechanism.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND  
       [0001]     Synchronization mechanisms such as critical sections are used by software developers to coordinate the usage of resources by different threads of execution. For example, a software developer may use a synchronization mechanism to ensure that only one thread at a time manipulates the contents of a data structure, or that only one thread at a time executes a sensitive section of code.  
         [0002]     It is typical for a synchronization mechanism to provide 4 functions:  
                                       Initialize:   create the synchronization mechanism and prepare it for use       Acquire:   seek to own the synchronization mechanism in order to be           able to interact with the associated resource; thread is           blocked until Acquire succeeds       Release:   relinquish ownership of the synchronization mechanism       Delete:   delete the synchronization mechanism                  
 
         [0003]     These functions often have different names in various operating systems. Function names can also vary between different types of synchronization mechanisms provided by the same operating system. Parameters of these functions can similarly vary.  
         [0004]     In some cases, synchronization mechanisms are implemented in a way that creates unpredictable and/or undesirable results when these functions are called in certain orders. For example, in some versions of Microsoft Windows, one or more of the following combinations of function calls for a critical section synchronization mechanism can produce unpredictable and/or undesirable results: (1) calling the Acquire or Release function before the Initialize function is called; (2) calling the Acquire or Release function after the Delete function is called; and (3) calling the Delete function while one or more threads is blocked on the synchronization mechanism.  
         [0005]     Because the simultaneous execution of multiple threads can create unexpected execution scenarios, it is sometimes difficult for software developers to generate code that uniformly avoids these combinations of function calls under all conditions.  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0006]     This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.  
         [0007]     A software facility that establishes a wrapper around a native synchronization mechanism provided by an operating system and native functions called to interact with the native synchronization mechanism in order to preclude undesirable behavior of the native synchronization mechanism (“the facility”) is described. As part of the wrapper, the facility provides an analog for each of the native synchronization object functions as follows: 
        safeInitialize: analog of Initialize     safeAcquire: analog of Acquire     safeRelease: analog of Release     safeDelete: analog of Delete       
 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]      FIG. 1  illustrates an example of a suitable computing system environment or operating environment in which the techniques or facility may be implemented.  
         [0013]      FIG. 2  is an object diagram showing the implementation of the wrapper as a SafeSynchronizationMechanism object in some embodiments.  
         [0014]      FIG. 3  is a flow diagram showing steps typically performed by the facility when the safeInitialize( ) function is called.  
         [0015]      FIG. 4  is a flow diagram showing steps typically performed by the facility when the safeAcquire( ) function is called.  
         [0016]      FIG. 5  is flow diagram showing steps typically performed by the facility when the safeRelease( ) function is called.  
         [0017]      FIG. 6  is a flow diagram showing steps typically performed by the facility when the safeDelete( ) function is called. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0018]     A software facility that establishes a wrapper around a native synchronization mechanism provided by an operating system and native functions called to interact with the native synchronization mechanism in order to preclude undesirable behavior of the native synchronization mechanism (“the facility”) is described. In some embodiments, the facility implements these analog functions as methods on a wrapper synchronization object. In some embodiments, in order to maintain the integrity of the wrapper functions when the analog functions are called in various combinations by different threads, the facility implements the analog functions using atomic variable access operations—such as InterlockedXXX operations provided by Microsoft Windows—that, once begun, are uninterruptible.  
         [0019]     As part of the wrapper, the facility provides an analog for each of the native synchronization object functions as follows: 
        safeInitialize: analog of Initialize     safeAcquire: analog of Acquire     safeRelease: analog of Release     safeDelete: analog of Delete        
 
         [0024]     In some embodiments, the facility implements safeInitialize and safeAcquire in such a manner that they fail if called before safeInitialize is called or after Delete is called.  
         [0025]     In some embodiments, the facility implements safeDelete so that, rather calling Delete, it marks the synchronization mechanism for later deletion by safeRelease. SafeRelease deletes a synchronization mechanism marked for deletion only after a reference count maintained on the synchronization mechanism by the facility indicates that no threads currently own or are waiting to acquire the synchronization mechanism. In some embodiments, safeAcquire requires any threads that acquire the synchronization mechanism after it has been marked for deletion to immediately release the synchronization mechanism. In some embodiments, safeAcquire prevents threads from attempting to acquire the synchronization mechanism after it has been marked for deletion.  
         [0026]     By providing a synchronization mechanism wrapper in some or all of the ways described above, the facility precludes potential undesirable behavior of the native synchronization object, making it easier to develop reliable software using the native synchronization mechanism through the wrapper than using the native synchronization mechanism directly.  
         [0027]      FIG. 1  illustrates an example of a suitable computing system environment  110  or operating environment in which the techniques or facility may be implemented. The computing system environment  110  is only one example of a suitable computing environment and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of the facility. Neither should the computing system environment  110  be interpreted as having any dependency or requirement relating to any one or a combination of components illustrated in the exemplary operating environment  110 .  
         [0028]     The facility is operational with numerous other general purpose or special purpose computing system environments or configurations. Examples of well-known computing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with the facility include, but are not limited to, personal computers, server computers, hand-held or laptop devices, tablet devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices, and the like.  
         [0029]     The facility may be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computer. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, and so forth that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The facility may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in local and/or remote computer storage media including memory storage devices.  
         [0030]     With reference to  FIG. 1 , an exemplary system for implementing the facility includes a general purpose computing device in the form of a computer  111 . Components of the computer  111  may include, but are not limited to, a processing unit  120 , a system memory  130 , and a system bus  121  that couples various system components including the system memory  130  to the processing unit  120 . The system bus  121  may be any of several types of bus structures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and not limitation, such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus also known as Mezzanine bus.  
         [0031]     The computer  111  typically includes a variety of computer-readable media. Computer-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by the computer  111  and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media and removable and nonremovable media. By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media may comprise computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media include volatile and nonvolatile, removable and nonremovable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Computer storage media include, but are not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by the computer  111 . Communication media typically embody computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and include any information delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media include wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared, and other wireless media. Combinations of any of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.  
         [0032]     The system memory  130  includes computer storage media in the form of volatile and/or nonvolatile memory such as read only memory (ROM)  131  and random access memory (RAM)  132 . A basic input/output system (BIOS)  133 , containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within the computer  111 , such as during start-up, is typically stored in ROM  131 . RAM  132  typically contains data and/or program modules that are immediately accessible to and/or presently being operated on by the processing unit  120 . By way of example, and not limitation,  FIG. 1  illustrates operating system  134 , application programs  135 , other program modules  136  and program data  137 .  
         [0033]     The computer  111  may also include other removable/nonremovable, volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media. By way of example only,  FIG. 1  illustrates a hard disk drive  141  that reads from or writes to nonremovable, nonvolatile magnetic media, a magnetic disk drive  151  that reads from or writes to a removable, nonvolatile magnetic disk  152 , and an optical disk drive  155  that reads from or writes to a removable, nonvolatile optical disk  156  such as a CD-ROM or other optical media. Other removable/nonremovable, volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media that can be used in the exemplary operating environment include, but are not limited to, magnetic tape cassettes, flash memory cards, digital versatile disks, digital video tape, solid state RAM, solid state ROM, and the like. The hard disk drive  141  is typically connected to the system bus  121  through a nonremovable memory interface such as interface  140 , and magnetic disk drive  151  and optical disk drive  155  are typically connected to the system bus  121  by a removable memory interface, such as interface  150 .  
         [0034]     The drives and their associated computer storage media, discussed above and illustrated in  FIG. 1 , provide storage of computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and other data for the computer  111 . In  FIG. 1 , for example, hard disk drive  141  is illustrated as storing operating system  144 , application programs  145 , other program modules  146  and program data  147 . Note that these components can either be the same as or different from operating system  134 , application programs  135 , other program modules  136 , and program data  137 . Operating system  144 , application programs  145 , other program modules  146 , and program data  147  are given different numbers herein to illustrate that, at a minimum, they are different copies. A user may enter commands and information into the computer  111  through input devices such as a tablet or electronic digitizer  164 , a microphone  163 , a keyboard  162  and pointing device  161 , commonly referred to as a mouse, trackball or touch pad. Other input devices not shown in  FIG. 1  may include a joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, or the like. These and other input devices are often connected to the processing unit  120  through a user input interface  160  that is coupled to the system bus  121 , but may be connected by other interface and bus structures, such as a parallel port, game port, or a universal serial bus (USB). A monitor  191  or other type of display device is also connected to the system bus  121  via an interface, such as a video interface  190 . The monitor  191  may also be integrated with a touch-screen panel or the like. Note that the monitor  191  and/or touch screen panel can be physically coupled to a housing in which the computer  111  is incorporated, such as in a tablet-type personal computer. In addition, computing devices such as the computer  111  may also include other peripheral output devices such as speakers  195  and printer  196 , which may be connected through an output peripheral interface  194  or the like.  
         [0035]     The computer  111  may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer  180 . The remote computer  180  may be a personal computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a peer device, or other common network node, and typically includes many or all of the elements described above relative to the computer  111 , although only a memory storage device  181  has been illustrated in  FIG. 1 . The logical connections depicted in  FIG. 1  include a local area network (LAN)  171  and a wide area network (WAN)  173 , but may also include other networks. Such networking environments are commonplace in offices, enterprisewide computer networks, intranets and the Internet. For example, in the present facility, the computer  111  may comprise the source machine from which data is being migrated, and the remote computer  180  may comprise the destination machine. Note, however, that source and destination machines need not be connected by a network or any other means, but instead, data may be migrated via any media capable of being written by the source platform and read by the destination platform or platforms.  
         [0036]     When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer  111  is connected to the LAN  171  through a network interface or adapter  170 . When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer  111  typically includes a modem  172  or other means for establishing communications over the WAN  173 , such as the Internet. The modem  172 , which may be internal or external, may be connected to the system bus  121  via the user input interface  160  or other appropriate mechanism. In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to the computer  111 , or portions thereof, may be stored in the remote memory storage device  181 . By way of example, and not limitation,  FIG. 1  illustrates remote application programs  185  as residing on memory storage device  181 . It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and other means of establishing a communications link between the computers may be used.  
         [0037]     While various functionalities and data are shown in  FIG. 1  as residing on particular computer systems that are arranged in a particular way, those skilled in the art will appreciate that such functionalities and data may be distributed in various other ways across computer systems in different arrangements. While computer systems configured as described above are typically used to support the operation of the facility, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the facility may be implemented using devices of various types and configurations, and having various components.  
         [0038]      FIG. 2  is an object diagram showing the implementation of the wrapper as a SafeSynchronizationMechanism object in some embodiments. A SynchronizationMechanism object  250  representing the native synchronization mechanism has data members  260  containing the native synchronization mechanism&#39;s state, as well as function members  270 . The function members of the SynchronizationMechanism object include Initialize( ), Acquire( ), Release( ), and Delete( ).  
         [0039]     An instance  211  of the SynchronizationMechanism object is among the data members of a SafeSynchronizationMechanism object  200 . The data members  210  of the SafeSynchronizationMechanism object further include a reference count variable  212  and initialization state flag  213 . The function members  220  of the SafeSynchronizationMechanism object include safeInitialize( ), safeAcquire( ), safeRelease( ), and safeDelete( ), which ultimately call the function members of the SynchronizationMechanism object.  
         [0040]     Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, while the wrapper is shown here is being implemented as an object containing a native synchronization mechanism object, in various embodiments, the native synchronization mechanism, the wrapper, or both may be implemented using procedural programming or another programming scheme. Where the native synchronization mechanism or the wrapper is an object, those skilled and there will appreciate that it may be implemented having different contents and/or organization than shown.  
         [0041]      FIGS. 3-6  illustrate the four wrapper functions.  FIG. 3  is a flow diagram showing steps typically performed by the facility when the safeInitialize( ) function is called. In step  301 , if the initialization flag m_flnit is true, indicating that the synchronization mechanism is already initialized, then the facility continues in step  302  to return failure, else the facility continues in step  303 . In step  303 , the facility calls the Initialize( ) function to initialize the native synchronization mechanism, passing it the address of the native synchronization mechanism. In step  304 , the facility sets reference count m_IRefCount equal to zero, indicating that no threads own or are waiting for the synchronization mechanism. In step  305 , the facility sets initialization flag m_flnit to true, indicating that the synchronization mechanism has been initialized. In step  306 , the facility returns success.  
         [0042]      FIG. 4  is a flow diagram showing steps typically performed by the facility when the safeAcquire( ) function is called. In step  401 , if the initialization flag is false, indicating that the synchronization mechanism isn&#39;t initialized, then the facility continues in step  402  to return failure, else the facility continues in step  403 . In step  403 , the facility calls an atomic increment function—such as the InterlockedIncrement( ) function provided by Microsoft Windows—to atomically increment the reference count to reflect the acquisition of the synchronization mechanism. If the result is greater than or equal to the DELETION_DONE constant, indicating that the synchronization mechanism has been marked by the safeRelease( ) function as deleted, then the facility continues in step  404  to return failure, else the facility continues in step  405 . In step  405 , the facility calls the Acquire( ) function to acquire the native synchronization mechanism, passing it the address of the native synchronization mechanism. In step  406 , if the reference count is greater than or equal to the TO_BE_DELETED constant, indicating that the synchronization mechanism has been marked for deletion by the safeDelete( ) function, then the facility continues in step  408 , else the facility continues in step  407  to return success. If the  408 , the facility calls the Release( ) function to release the native transition mechanism, passing it the address of the native synchronization mechanism. In step  409 , the facility returns failure.  
         [0043]      FIG. 5  is flow diagram showing steps typically performed by the facility when the safeRelease( ) function is called. In step  501 , if the initialization flag is false, indicating that the synchronization mechanism isn&#39;t initialized, then the facility continues in step  502  to return failure, else the facility continues in step  503 . In step  503 , the facility calls the Release( ) function to release the native synchronization mechanism, passing it the address of the native synchronization mechanism. In step  504 , the facility calls an atomic compare exchange function—such as the InterlockedCompareExchange( ) function provided by Microsoft Windows—to atomically store the value of the DELETE_DONE constant in the reference count if the reference count is equal to one more than the value of the TO_BE_DELETED constant—that is, if the synchronization mechanism has been marked for deletion by the safeDelete( ) function and the thread executing the safeRelease( ) function is the last thread owning or waiting for the synchronization mechanism. If this condition is satisfied, then the facility continues in step  505 , else the facility continues in step  507 . In step  505 , the facility sets initialization flag to false, indicating that the synchronization mechanism is no longer initialized. In step  506 , the facility calls the Delete( ) function to delete the native synchronization mechanism, passing it the address of the native synchronization mechanism. After step  506 , the facility continues in step  508  to return success. In step  507 , the facility calls an atomic decrement function—such as the InterlockedDecrement( ) function provided by Microsoft Windows—to atomically decrement the reference count to reflect the release of the synchronization mechanism. After step  507 , the facility continues in step  508  to return success.  
         [0044]      FIG. 6  is a flow diagram showing steps typically performed by the facility when the safeDelete( ) function is called. In step  601 , if the initialization flag is false, indicating that the synchronization mechanism isn&#39;t initialized, then the facility continues in step  602  to return failure, else the facility continues in step  603 . In step six a  3 - 605 , the facility acquires the synchronization mechanism to be sure that owns the synchronization mechanism when it marks the synchronization mechanism for deletion, then releases the synchronization mechanism to undo its acquisition. In step  603 , the facility calls the Acquire( ) function to acquire the native synchronization mechanism, passing it the address of the native synchronization mechanism. If this function call returns success, then the facility continues in step  604 , else the facility continues in step  606 . In step  604 , the facility calls an atomic exchange add function—such as the InterlockedExchangeAdd( ) function provided by Microsoft Windows—to atomically add the value of the TO_BE_DELETED constant to the reference count, indicating that the synchronization mechanism is to be deleted. In step  605 , the facility calls the Release( ) function to release the native synchronization mechanism, passing at the address of the native synchronization mechanism. In step  606 , the facility returns success.  
         [0045]     Tables 1 and 2 below contain pseudocode that can be used to implement some embodiments of the facility, such as embodiments directed to wrapping a critical section object provided by the Microsoft Windows operating system. Table 1 is a structure declaration for a SafeCS wrapper object.  
                   TABLE 1                            1   // provides enhanced functionality to the normal           CRITICAL_SECTION object        2   struct SafeCS        3   {        4   CRITICAL_SECTION m_cs; //the actual critical section           object        5   LONG m_IRefCount; //to keep track of the number of           threads waiting for/already holding the CS object        6   BOOL m_fInit; //to check for initialization consistency        7   // This function is used to safely initialize the critical section           object.        8   // Ensure that the SafeCS object is zero filled before calling           initialize (to ensure that m_fInit is FALSE)        9   BOOL Initialize( );       10   // to enter the critical section, returns TRUE is successful,           FALSE is failed       11   // this function will fail, if...       12   // 1. if we try to enter un-initialized object       13   // 2. if we try to enter an object that has been deleted           (un-initialized)       14   // 3. if we are waiting for entering this object while someone           else has deleted the object       15   BOOL Enter( );       16   // to leave the acquired critical section       17   // caller has to ensure that he calls this fn. only if he had           successfully acquired the critical section using Enter( )       18   BOOL Leave( );       19   // used to safely delete the critical section object       20   // after this object has been deleted everyone waiting for this           object will return with a failure       21   // this function internally enters the critical section object,           callers have to ensure that this behavior doesn&#39;t cause deadlock       22   BOOL Delete( );       23   };                  
 
         [0046]     The SafeCS wrapper object contains the following data members: m_CS, a native critical section object; m_IRefCount, a counter of the number of threads that are waiting for or already holding the native critical section object, with adjustments to reflect to-be-deleted and deletion-done status; and m_flnit, to indicate whether the safe critical section object has been initialized more recently than it has been deleted. The SafeCS object has the following function members: Initialize, Enter, Leave, and Delete.  
         [0047]     Table 2 below shows pseudocode containing implementations for the Initialize, Enter, Leave, and Delete methods of the SafeCS object.  
         [0048]     m_IRefCount is used throughout the SafeCS object&#39;s function members. This variable is used to keep track of the total number of threads which are either waiting to enter the critical section or has entered the critical section.  
         [0049]     This reference count is a counter in the normal sense when the object is initialized and being used.  
         [0050]     When the object is marked for deletion, this reference count will be greater than or equal to the value of TO_BE_DELETED. The reference count minus TO_BE_DELETED will give the number of threads which are either waiting to enter the critical section object or has entered the critical section object.  
         [0051]     When the critical section object is actually deleted, the reference count will be made equal to DELETION_DONE, and any other thread which tries to enter the object after this will find the reference count value to be greater than this and will return failing the call.  
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           TABLE 2                            1   #include “pch.h”        2   #include “SafeCS.h”             3   #define TO_BE_DELETED   (0x20000000)             4   //added to the reference count variable to indicate the object is to be deleted             5   #define DELETION_DONE   (0x40000000)             6   //added to reference count var. to indicate that the object has been deleted and can&#39;t be used                further             7   /*********************************************************************************        8   ** Function Name: SafeCS.Initialize( )        9   ** Comments: simple fn. to initialize the object, ensure that the object is zero filled before                calling this fn.             10   *********************************************************************************/             11   BOOL   SafeCS::Initialize( )        12   {             13   //Step #1: ensure that this is not already initialized        14   if ( TRUE == m_fInit )             15   return FALSE;        16             17   //Step #2: do the required setting up        18   InitializeCriticalSection ( &amp;m_cs );        19   m_lRefCount = 0;        20   m_fInit = TRUE;        21   //Step #3: things were successful        22   return TRUE;             23   }        24   /*********************************************************************************        25   ** Function Name: SafeCS.Enter( )        26   ** Comments: to enter the critical section, will fail if the object is deleted (or marked for                deletion)             27   *********************************************************************************/             28   BOOL   SafeCS::Enter( )        29   {             30   //Step #1: valid only if this object has been initialized already (and not yet deleted)        31   if ( FALSE == m_fInit )             32   return FALSE;             33   //Step #2: to ensure that the object is not yet deleted             34   //   deleted objects will have this flag set on the reference count variable        35   //   we do the increment simultaneously to have the operation as atomic             36   if ( DELETION_DONE &lt;= InterlockedIncrement ( &amp;m_lRefCount ) )             37   return FALSE;             38   //Step #3: now we can safely enter the critical section as it is not yet deleted             39   //   even if some other thread marks the object for deletion we don&#39;t mind        40   //   as we have incremented the reference count, we can safely wait to enter             41   EnterCriticalSection ( &amp;m_cs );        42   //Step #4: but if it is marked for deletion, we have to leave and return failure             43   //   while waiting, if some other guy has marked this object for deletion        44   //   we must leave this object asap and return a failure             45   if ( TO_BE_DELETED &lt;= m_lRefCount )        46   {             47   Leave( );        48   return FALSE;             49   }        50   //Step #5: return success, as we&#39;ve successfully acquired the critical section object        51   return TRUE;             52   }        53   /*********************************************************************************        54   ** Function Name: SafeCS.Leave( )        55   ** Comments: to leave an acquired critical section, assumes that the call will be legitimate                (i.e., leave only if successfully entered)             56   *********************************************************************************/             57   BOOL   SafeCS::Leave( )        58   {             59   //Step #1: valid only if this object has been initialized already        60   if ( FALSE == m_fInit )             61   return FALSE;             62   //Step #2: leave the critical section first        63   LeaveCriticalSection ( &amp;m_cs );        64   //Step #3: check if we are the last person holding this critical section and delete if                needed             65   //   refer to MSDN to see how ‘InterlockedCompareExchange’ works        66   //   we are the last person if reference count equals 1 or (TO_BE_DELETED+1)        67   //    if the reference count is (TO_BE_DELETED+1), it means that we need to delete                the object after this             68   //   else if the reference count is ‘x’ or (TO_BE_DELETED+‘x’) where ‘x’&gt;1, a simple                decrement is enough             69   //   if the critical section is deleted, we also update the reference count to                indicate DELETION_DONE             70   if ( TO_BE_DELETED+1 == InterlockedCompareExchange ( &amp;m_lRefCount, DELETION_DONE,                TO_BE_DELETED+1 ) )             71   {             72   m_fInit = FALSE;        73   DeleteCriticalSection ( &amp;m_cs );             74   }        75   else             76   InterlockedDecrement ( &amp;m_lRefCount );             77   //the object is not yet deleted, a simple reference count decrement is enough             78   //Step #4: we simply return a success        79   return TRUE;             80   }        81   /*********************************************************************************        82   ** Function Name: SafeCS.Delete( )        83   ** Comments: used to mark that a critical section object is to be deleted and no one should be                given access to it             84   *********************************************************************************/             85   BOOL   SafeCS::Delete( )        86   {             87   //Step #1: valid only if this object has been initialized already        88   if ( FALSE == m_fInit )             89   return FALSE;             90   //Step #2: enter the critical section, this is to ensure that a CS is not marked for                deletion when someone else is holding it             91   //   however, if the same thread is holding this critical section, it is not a                problem             92   if ( TRUE == Enter( ) )        93   {             94   //Step #3: add TO_BE_DELETED to the reference count to indicate that it is to be                deleted             95   InterlockedExchangeAdd ( &amp;m_lRefCount, TO_BE_DELETED );             96   //Step #4:   done the job, hereafter, anyone waiting to enter on the critical section                will return with FALSE             97   //   leave the critical section now        98   Leave( );             99   }       100   //Step #5: we simply return a success       101   return TRUE;            102   }                  
 
         [0052]     The facility addresses the problem of calling safeAcquire or safeRelease before safeInitialize by maintaining and testing the m_flnit variable, which indicates whether the SafeSynchronization mechanism is currently initialized or uninitialized. safeAcquire and safeRelease both test this variable, and return failure if it is false.  
         [0053]     The facility addresses the problem of a thread calling the safeAcquire or safeRelease function after the synchronization mechanism object has been deleted by calling safeDelete in the same manner as described immediately above.  
         [0054]     The facility addresses the problem of a thread calling safeDelete while the synchronization mechanism is owned or being waited on by one or more other threads by ensuring that a thread which tries to delete the SafeSynchronizationMechanism object has to first acquire the synchronization mechanism (after ensuring that it is initialized first of all using safeInitialize( )). Once the synchronization mechanism is acquired in safeDelete( ), it is marked as unusable by other threads which might be waiting for it. (The TO_BE_DELETED flag is used for this.)  
         [0055]     By acquiring the synchronization mechanism in safeDelete( ), the facility ensures that no other thread is holding onto it. Further, since the synchronization mechanism is not immediately deleted, but rather marked as unusable, other threads that are waiting for it still have the proper synchronization mechanism object to work upon.  
         [0056]     If any thread waiting in safeAcquire( ) acquires the synchronization mechanism after it has been marked as unusable, it will release it immediately and the safeAcquire( ) call would fail (returning FALSE).  
         [0057]     When the last thread waiting in Acquire( ) to acquire the synchronization mechanism while the synchronization mechanism is marked as unusable returns from Acquire( ), safeAcquire( ) marks the object as deleted, delete the synchronization mechanism, and fails the call (returning FALSE).  
         [0058]     The techniques may be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, executed by one or more computers or other devices. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Typically, the functionality of the program modules may be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments.  
         [0059]     It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the above-described facility may be straightforwardly adapted or extended in various ways. For example, the facility may be used to interact with various types of synchronization mechanisms, implemented by various operating systems or other software systems. The facility may be implemented using various programming schemes, including but not limited to object-oriented programming and procedural programming. While the foregoing description makes reference to particular embodiments, the scope of the invention is defined solely by the claims that follow and the elements recited therein.

Technology Classification (CPC): 6