Home | History | Annotate | Download | only in pulse
      1 #ifndef foothreadmainloophfoo
      2 #define foothreadmainloophfoo
      3 
      4 /***
      5   This file is part of PulseAudio.
      6 
      7   Copyright 2006 Lennart Poettering
      8   Copyright 2006 Pierre Ossman <ossman (at) cendio.se> for Cendio AB
      9 
     10   PulseAudio is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
     11   it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published
     12   by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License,
     13   or (at your option) any later version.
     14 
     15   PulseAudio is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
     16   WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
     17   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
     18   General Public License for more details.
     19 
     20   You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
     21   along with PulseAudio; if not, write to the Free Software
     22   Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307
     23   USA.
     24 ***/
     25 
     26 #include <pulse/mainloop-api.h>
     27 #include <pulse/cdecl.h>
     28 #include <pulse/version.h>
     29 
     30 PA_C_DECL_BEGIN
     31 
     32 /** \page threaded_mainloop Threaded Main Loop
     33  *
     34  * \section overv_sec Overview
     35  *
     36  * The threaded main loop implementation is a special version of the primary
     37  * main loop implementation (see \ref mainloop). For the basic design, see
     38  * its documentation.
     39  *
     40  * The added feature in the threaded main loop is that it spawns a new thread
     41  * that runs the real main loop. This allows a synchronous application to use
     42  * the asynchronous API without risking to stall the PulseAudio library.
     43  *
     44  * \section creat_sec Creation
     45  *
     46  * A pa_threaded_mainloop object is created using pa_threaded_mainloop_new().
     47  * This will only allocate the required structures though, so to use it the
     48  * thread must also be started. This is done through
     49  * pa_threaded_mainloop_start(), after which you can start using the main loop.
     50  *
     51  * \section destr_sec Destruction
     52  *
     53  * When the PulseAudio connection has been terminated, the thread must be
     54  * stopped and the resources freed. Stopping the thread is done using
     55  * pa_threaded_mainloop_stop(), which must be called without the lock (see
     56  * below) held. When that function returns, the thread is stopped and the
     57  * pa_threaded_mainloop object can be freed using pa_threaded_mainloop_free().
     58  *
     59  * \section lock_sec Locking
     60  *
     61  * Since the PulseAudio API doesn't allow concurrent accesses to objects,
     62  * a locking scheme must be used to guarantee safe usage. The threaded main
     63  * loop API provides such a scheme through the functions
     64  * pa_threaded_mainloop_lock() and pa_threaded_mainloop_unlock().
     65  *
     66  * The lock is recursive, so it's safe to use it multiple times from the same
     67  * thread. Just make sure you call pa_threaded_mainloop_unlock() the same
     68  * number of times you called pa_threaded_mainloop_lock().
     69  *
     70  * The lock needs to be held whenever you call any PulseAudio function that
     71  * uses an object associated with this main loop. Make sure you do not hold
     72  * on to the lock more than necessary though, as the threaded main loop stops
     73  * while the lock is held.
     74  *
     75  * Example:
     76  *
     77  * \code
     78  * void my_check_stream_func(pa_threaded_mainloop *m, pa_stream *s) {
     79  *     pa_stream_state_t state;
     80  *
     81  *     pa_threaded_mainloop_lock(m);
     82  *
     83  *     state = pa_stream_get_state(s);
     84  *
     85  *     pa_threaded_mainloop_unlock(m);
     86  *
     87  *     if (state == PA_STREAM_READY)
     88  *         printf("Stream is ready!");
     89  *     else
     90  *         printf("Stream is not ready!");
     91  * }
     92  * \endcode
     93  *
     94  * \section cb_sec Callbacks
     95  *
     96  * Callbacks in PulseAudio are asynchronous, so they require extra care when
     97  * using them together with a threaded main loop.
     98  *
     99  * The easiest way to turn the callback based operations into synchronous
    100  * ones, is to simply wait for the callback to be called and continue from
    101  * there. This is the approach chosen in PulseAudio's threaded API.
    102  *
    103  * \subsection basic_subsec Basic callbacks
    104  *
    105  * For the basic case, where all that is required is to wait for the callback
    106  * to be invoked, the code should look something like this:
    107  *
    108  * Example:
    109  *
    110  * \code
    111  * static void my_drain_callback(pa_stream *s, int success, void *userdata) {
    112  *     pa_threaded_mainloop *m;
    113  *
    114  *     m = userdata;
    115  *     assert(m);
    116  *
    117  *     pa_threaded_mainloop_signal(m, 0);
    118  * }
    119  *
    120  * void my_drain_stream_func(pa_threaded_mainloop *m, pa_stream *s) {
    121  *     pa_operation *o;
    122  *
    123  *     pa_threaded_mainloop_lock(m);
    124  *
    125  *     o = pa_stream_drain(s, my_drain_callback, m);
    126  *     assert(o);
    127  *
    128  *     while (pa_operation_get_state(o) == PA_OPERATION_RUNNING)
    129  *         pa_threaded_mainloop_wait(m);
    130  *
    131  *     pa_operation_unref(o);
    132  *
    133  *     pa_threaded_mainloop_unlock(m);
    134  * }
    135  * \endcode
    136  *
    137  * The main function, my_drain_stream_func(), will wait for the callback to
    138  * be called using pa_threaded_mainloop_wait().
    139  *
    140  * If your application is multi-threaded, then this waiting must be
    141  * done inside a while loop. The reason for this is that multiple
    142  * threads might be using pa_threaded_mainloop_wait() at the same
    143  * time. Each thread must therefore verify that it was its callback
    144  * that was invoked. Also the underlying OS synchronization primitives
    145  * are usually not free of spurious wake-ups, so a
    146  * pa_threaded_mainloop_wait() must be called within a loop even if
    147  * you have only one thread waiting.
    148  *
    149  * The callback, my_drain_callback(), indicates to the main function that it
    150  * has been called using pa_threaded_mainloop_signal().
    151  *
    152  * As you can see, pa_threaded_mainloop_wait() may only be called with
    153  * the lock held. The same thing is true for pa_threaded_mainloop_signal(),
    154  * but as the lock is held before the callback is invoked, you do not have to
    155  * deal with that.
    156  *
    157  * The functions will not dead lock because the wait function will release
    158  * the lock before waiting and then regrab it once it has been signaled.
    159  * For those of you familiar with threads, the behaviour is that of a
    160  * condition variable.
    161  *
    162  * \subsection data_subsec Data callbacks
    163  *
    164  * For many callbacks, simply knowing that they have been called is
    165  * insufficient. The callback also receives some data that is desired. To
    166  * access this data safely, we must extend our example a bit:
    167  *
    168  * \code
    169  * static int *drain_result;
    170  *
    171  * static void my_drain_callback(pa_stream*s, int success, void *userdata) {
    172  *     pa_threaded_mainloop *m;
    173  *
    174  *     m = userdata;
    175  *     assert(m);
    176  *
    177  *     drain_result = &success;
    178  *
    179  *     pa_threaded_mainloop_signal(m, 1);
    180  * }
    181  *
    182  * void my_drain_stream_func(pa_threaded_mainloop *m, pa_stream *s) {
    183  *     pa_operation *o;
    184  *
    185  *     pa_threaded_mainloop_lock(m);
    186  *
    187  *     o = pa_stream_drain(s, my_drain_callback, m);
    188  *     assert(o);
    189  *
    190  *     while (pa_operation_get_state(o) == PA_OPERATION_RUNNING)
    191  *         pa_threaded_mainloop_wait(m);
    192  *
    193  *     pa_operation_unref(o);
    194  *
    195  *     if (*drain_result)
    196  *         printf("Success!");
    197  *     else
    198  *         printf("Bitter defeat...");
    199  *
    200  *     pa_threaded_mainloop_accept(m);
    201  *
    202  *     pa_threaded_mainloop_unlock(m);
    203  * }
    204  * \endcode
    205  *
    206  * The example is a bit silly as it would probably have been easier to just
    207  * copy the contents of success, but for larger data structures this can be
    208  * wasteful.
    209  *
    210  * The difference here compared to the basic callback is the 1 sent to
    211  * pa_threaded_mainloop_signal() and the call to
    212  * pa_threaded_mainloop_accept(). What will happen is that
    213  * pa_threaded_mainloop_signal() will signal the main function and then stop.
    214  * The main function is then free to use the data in the callback until
    215  * pa_threaded_mainloop_accept() is called, which will allow the callback
    216  * to continue.
    217  *
    218  * Note that pa_threaded_mainloop_accept() must be called some time between
    219  * exiting the while loop and unlocking the main loop! Failure to do so will
    220  * result in a race condition. I.e. it is not ok to release the lock and
    221  * regrab it before calling pa_threaded_mainloop_accept().
    222  *
    223  * \subsection async_subsec Asynchronous callbacks
    224  *
    225  * PulseAudio also has callbacks that are completely asynchronous, meaning
    226  * that they can be called at any time. The threading main loop API provides
    227  * the locking mechanism to handle concurrent accesses, but nothing else.
    228  * Applications will have to handle communication from the callback to the
    229  * main program through some own system.
    230  *
    231  * The callbacks that are completely asynchronous are:
    232  *
    233  * \li State callbacks for contexts, streams, etc.
    234  * \li Subscription notifications
    235  */
    236 
    237 /** \file
    238  *
    239  * A thread based event loop implementation based on pa_mainloop. The
    240  * event loop is run in a helper thread in the background. A few
    241  * synchronization primitives are available to access the objects
    242  * attached to the event loop safely.
    243  *
    244  * See also \subpage threaded_mainloop
    245  */
    246 
    247 /** An opaque threaded main loop object */
    248 typedef struct pa_threaded_mainloop pa_threaded_mainloop;
    249 
    250 /** Allocate a new threaded main loop object. You have to call
    251  * pa_threaded_mainloop_start() before the event loop thread starts
    252  * running. */
    253 pa_threaded_mainloop *pa_threaded_mainloop_new(void);
    254 
    255 /** Free a threaded main loop object. If the event loop thread is
    256  * still running, terminate it with pa_threaded_mainloop_stop()
    257  * first. */
    258 void pa_threaded_mainloop_free(pa_threaded_mainloop* m);
    259 
    260 /** Start the event loop thread. */
    261 int pa_threaded_mainloop_start(pa_threaded_mainloop *m);
    262 
    263 /** Terminate the event loop thread cleanly. Make sure to unlock the
    264  * mainloop object before calling this function. */
    265 void pa_threaded_mainloop_stop(pa_threaded_mainloop *m);
    266 
    267 /** Lock the event loop object, effectively blocking the event loop
    268  * thread from processing events. You can use this to enforce
    269  * exclusive access to all objects attached to the event loop. This
    270  * lock is recursive. This function may not be called inside the event
    271  * loop thread. Events that are dispatched from the event loop thread
    272  * are executed with this lock held. */
    273 void pa_threaded_mainloop_lock(pa_threaded_mainloop *m);
    274 
    275 /** Unlock the event loop object, inverse of pa_threaded_mainloop_lock() */
    276 void pa_threaded_mainloop_unlock(pa_threaded_mainloop *m);
    277 
    278 /** Wait for an event to be signalled by the event loop thread. You
    279  * can use this to pass data from the event loop thread to the main
    280  * thread in synchronized fashion. This function may not be called
    281  * inside the event loop thread. Prior to this call the event loop
    282  * object needs to be locked using pa_threaded_mainloop_lock(). While
    283  * waiting the lock will be released, immediately before returning it
    284  * will be acquired again. This function may spuriously wake up even
    285  * without _signal() being called. You need to make sure to handle
    286  * that! */
    287 void pa_threaded_mainloop_wait(pa_threaded_mainloop *m);
    288 
    289 /** Signal all threads waiting for a signalling event in
    290  * pa_threaded_mainloop_wait(). If wait_for_release is non-zero, do
    291  * not return before the signal was accepted by a
    292  * pa_threaded_mainloop_accept() call. While waiting for that condition
    293  * the event loop object is unlocked. */
    294 void pa_threaded_mainloop_signal(pa_threaded_mainloop *m, int wait_for_accept);
    295 
    296 /** Accept a signal from the event thread issued with
    297  * pa_threaded_mainloop_signal(). This call should only be used in
    298  * conjunction with pa_threaded_mainloop_signal() with a non-zero
    299  * wait_for_accept value.  */
    300 void pa_threaded_mainloop_accept(pa_threaded_mainloop *m);
    301 
    302 /** Return the return value as specified with the main loop's quit() routine. */
    303 int pa_threaded_mainloop_get_retval(pa_threaded_mainloop *m);
    304 
    305 /** Return the abstract main loop abstraction layer vtable for this
    306     main loop. No need to free the API as it is owned by the loop
    307     and is destroyed when the loop is freed. */
    308 pa_mainloop_api* pa_threaded_mainloop_get_api(pa_threaded_mainloop*m);
    309 
    310 /** Returns non-zero when called from withing the event loop thread. \since 0.9.7 */
    311 int pa_threaded_mainloop_in_thread(pa_threaded_mainloop *m);
    312 
    313 PA_C_DECL_END
    314 
    315 #endif
    316