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Is _endthread() necessary?

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Started by Dookie November 29, 2008 11:21 PM

6 comments, last by the_edd 15 years, 4 months ago

Dookie

290

Author

November 29, 2008 11:21 PM

Hello! I have some code called with '_beginthread()' and it executes fine. But when I get to the end of the thread function, I call '_endthread()' and it doesn't go beyond that... For example (pseudocode):

void MyThread(void *Duh)
{
	print "Thread entered successfully."
	Sleep(500);
	print "Gonna execute '_endthread()'..."
	_endthread();
	print "Thread ended successfully"
}
...
_beginthread(MyThread, 0, 0);

will display:

Thread entered successfully.
Gonna execute '_endthread()'...

It never displays that last part ("Thread ended successfully") because it gets hung up on the _endthread() statement. Am I doing something wrong? Are resources getting hogged up because of this? Is _endthread() even necessary? Am I nuts? Thanks in advance for the help!

"The crows seemed to be calling his name, thought Caw"

the_edd

2,109

November 30, 2008 06:04 AM

Quote:Original post by Dookie
Hello!

I have some code called with '_beginthread()' and it executes fine. But when I get to the end of the thread function, I call '_endthread()' and it doesn't go beyond that...

Of course not! You've ended the thread.

Quote:Is _endthread() even necessary?

Have you read the MSDN page? It's pretty clear, I think. The relevant quote:

Quote:You can call _endthread or _endthreadex explicitly to terminate a thread; however, _endthread or _endthreadex is called automatically when the thread returns from the routine passed as a parameter to _beginthread or _beginthreadex. Terminating a thread with a call to endthread or _endthreadex helps ensure proper recovery of resources allocated for the thread.

http://www.mr-edd.co.uk
http://bitbucket.org/edd

Dookie

290

Author

November 30, 2008 02:21 PM

Thanks for the reply, the_edd!

If you look at the code segment, you'll notice that "_endthread()" was being called from within the MyThread() function itself (the function called by "_beginthread()"). The thread had not ended yet, so I was going to use _endthread() at the end of the function to formally free up any resources it may have been using.

I have indeed read the MSDN page on threads, and I've heard differing opinions here and there whether it's necessary to manually shut down a thread. I figured that I probably didn't need to actually use _endthread(), but I was just baffled as to why the function was getting stuck when it tried to execute _endthread().

I still don't know why the MyThread() function stops at _endthread()... Anybody else know why?

Thanks in advance for the help!

"The crows seemed to be calling his name, thought Caw"

SiCrane

11,840

November 30, 2008 02:28 PM

Because _endthread() ends the thread.

Sneftel

1,788

November 30, 2008 02:32 PM

I'm going to type the word DUCK, and then I'm going to hit "Reply", and then I'm going to type the word SOUP.

DUCK

Sneftel

1,788

November 30, 2008 02:32 PM

Shit! That didn't work! Why not?

KulSeran

3,272

November 30, 2008 02:37 PM

Yup yup. Just to draw analogy, what you did is equivelent to

void foo()
{
cout << "hello" << endl;
return;
cout << "goodbye" << endl;
}

My Blog

the_edd

2,109

November 30, 2008 05:52 PM

Quote:Original post by Dookie
If you look at the code segment, you'll notice that "_endthread()" was being called from within the MyThread() function itself (the function called by "_beginthread()").

Yes, that is the thread that _endthread() acts upon (the one in which it is called).

Indeed, given _endthread's prototype, it simply cannot act on another thread, because how would it know which other thread to terminate? You don't pass it a thread identifier of any kind and there can be more than two threads in an app...

http://www.mr-edd.co.uk
http://bitbucket.org/edd

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