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Class: Semaphore


Inheritance:

   Object
   |
   +--Semaphore
      |
      +--EventSemaphore
      |
      +--RecursionLock

Package:
stx:libbasic
Category:
Kernel-Processes
Version:
rev: 1.124 date: 2019/06/28 07:12:17
user: cg
file: Semaphore.st directory: libbasic
module: stx stc-classLibrary: libbasic
Author:
Claus Gittinger

Description:


Semaphores are used to synchronize processes providing a nonBusy wait
mechanism. A process can wait for the availability of some resource by
performing a Semaphore>>wait, which will suspend the process until the
resource becomes available. Signalling is done by (another process performing)
Semaphore>>signal.
If the resource has been already available before the wait, no suspending is
done, but the resource immediately allocated.
The resource internally keeps a count, the number of times the resource can be
allocated. If the semaphore is created with a count greater than 1, the sema
can be waited-upon that many times without blocking.
On the other hand, if initialized with a negative count, the semaphore
must be signalled that many times more often in order for a wait to not block.
In other words: whenever the semaphore has a count greater than zero,
the wait operation will proceed. Otherwise, it will block until the count has
been incremented by signal operations to be greater than zero.

There are also semaphores for mutual access to a critical region
(Semaphore>>forMutualExclusion and Semaphore>>critical:).

Additional protocol is provided for oneShot semaphores,
(#signalOnce) and for conditional signalling (#signalIf).

You can also attach semaphores to external events (such as I/O arrival or
timer events).
This is done by telling the Processor to signal the semaphore
under some condition.
See 'Processor>>signal:afterSeconds:', 'Processor>>signal:onInput:' etc.

See examples in doc/coding (found in the CodingExamples-nameSpace).

Warning/Note/Hint:
    a Semaphore-forMutualExclusion does NEVER allow for the critical
    region to be entered twice - NOT EVEN by the same process.
    That means, that a recursive attempt to enter that section leads
    to a deadlock.
    Use a RecursionLock instead, to avoid this.

Hint:
    now (Jul2002), Semaphores now allow for a negative count; this allows for
    a sync-point to be implemented easily (i.e. to wait for multiple other processes
    to arrive at a sync-point).
    See examples.


[instance variables:]
    count                   <SmallInteger>          the number of waits, that will go through
                                                    without blocking.
                                                    Incremented on #signal; decremented on #wait.

    waitingProcesses        <OrderedCollection>     waiting processes - will be served first
                                                    come first served when signalled.

    lastOwnerId             <SmallInteger>          a debugging aid: set when count drops
                                                    to zero to the current processes id.
                                                    Helps in finding deadlocks.

    name                    <String>                a debugging aid: an optional userFriendly
                                                    name; helps to identify a semaphore easier.


Related information:

    SemaphoreSet
    RecursionLock
    Monitor
    SharedQueue
    Delay
    Process
    ProcessorScheduler

Class protocol:

instance creation
o  cleanup
an emergency helper: manually signal all semaphores which were held by a now dead process.
Can only (;-?) happen, if a semaphore-holding process was hard terminated
(i.e. no ensure handling happened), and semas remain in a bad state.

o  forMutualExclusion
create & return a new semaphore which allows exactly one process to
wait on it without blocking. This type of semaphore is used
for mutual exclusion from critical regions (see #critical:).
Also see RecursionLock, to avoid deadlock in case of recursive entered
critical regions.

o  name: aString
create & return a new semaphore which blocks until a signal is sent

o  new
create & return a new semaphore which blocks until a signal is sent

o  new: n
create & return a new semaphore which allows n waits before
blocking


Instance protocol:

Compatibility-Squeak
o  isSignaled

o  waitTimeoutMSecs: milliSeconds

o  waitTimeoutSeconds: seconds

accessing
o  owner
an optional reference to someone who owns this semaphore,
typically a shared queue or a windowgroup or similar.
This has no semantic meaning and is only used to support debugging

o  owner: something
an optional reference to someone who owns this semaphore,
typically a shared queue or a windowgroup or similar.
This has no semantic meaning and is only used to support debugging

printing & storing
o  displayOn: aGCOrStream
return a string to display the receiver - include the
count for your convenience

o  name
return the semaphore's userFriendly name (only used by semaphore- and process monitors)

o  name: aString
set the semaphore's userFriendly name (only used by semaphore- and process monitors)

private
o  addWaitingProcess: aProcess
add aProcess to the list of waiting processes.
all processes are ordered first-come-first-serve.

NOTE: must be called with blocked interrupts

o  removeWaitingProcess: aProcess
remove aProcess from the list of waiting processes
NO action if it is not in the list.

NOTE: must be called with blocked interrupts

o  wakeupWaiters
remove all waiting processes from the list of waiting processes
and resume them.
Answer true, if a higher priority process became ready, false if not.
NOTE: Must be called when known that waitingProcesses is nonNil and
also with blocked interrupts.
Must not perform an operation that causes a reschedule.

private-accessing
o  clear
clear the semaphore's count

o  initSignals
set the count of the semaphore to zero.
provided for ST-80 compatibility.

o  setCount: n
set the count of the semaphore;
that's the number of possible waits, without blocking

o  setCount: n name: aString
set the count of the semaphore;
that's the number of possible waits, without blocking

queries
o  count
return the number of 'already-counted' trigger events.
That's the number of waits which will succeed without blocking

o  lastOwner
return the last owning process or nil
(the one which counted to zero).
May be very useful in debugging deadLock situations

o  lastOwnerId
return the processId of the last owning process
(the one which counted to zero).
May be very useful in debugging deadLock situations

o  numberOfWaitingProcesses
return the number of processes waiting on the receiver

o  waitingProcesses
return the processes waiting on the receiver

semaphoreSet interface
o  checkAndAddWaitingProcess: process
interface for SemaphoreSet.
If the semaphore is available, decrement it and return true.
Otherwise register our process to be wakened up once the semaphore is available
and return false.
ATTENTION: this must be invoked with OperatingSystem-interrupts-blocked.

signaling
o  signal
waking up the highest prio waiter.

o  signal: anInteger
increment semaphore by anInteger waking up the highest prio waiters.

o  signalForAll
signal the semaphore for all waiters.
This can be used for process synchronization, if multiple processes are
waiting for a common event.

o  signalIf
signal the semaphore, but only if being waited upon.
This can be used for one-shot semaphores (i.e. not remembering
previous signals)

o  signalIfWithReturn
signal the semaphore, but only if being waited upon.
This can be used for one-shot semaphores (i.e. not remembering
previous signals).
Answer true if a reschedule is needed, false if not.

o  signalOnce
wakeup waiters - but only once.
I.e. if the semaphore has already been signaled, this is ignored.

o  signalOnceWithoutReschedule
wakeup waiters - but only once.
I.e. if the semaphore has already been signaled, this is ignored.

testing
o  isEmpty
ST80 compatibility - return true if there are no waiters

o  wouldBlock
return true, if the receiver would block the activeProcess
if a wait was performed. False otherwise.
Attention: if asked without some global lock (blockedInterrupts),
the returned value may be outdated right away.

waiting
o  consume
consume the resource without waiting.
This works even if the count is 0 (count may become negative).
Answer the new count afterwards

o  consume: n
consume the resource n times without waiting.
This works even if the count is 0 (count may become negative).
Answer the new count afterwards

o  consumeIfPossible
if the semaphore is currently free,
acquire it, lock it and return true.
Otherwise, do not wait, but return false immediately.

o  critical: aBlock
evaluate aBlock as a critical region; the receiver must be
created using Semaphore>>forMutualExclusion

usage example(s):

      the example below is stupid (it should use a SharedQueue,
      or at least a Queue with critical regions).
      Anyhow, it demonstrates how two processes lock each other
      from accessing coll at the same time

     |sema coll|

     sema := Semaphore forMutualExclusion.
     coll := OrderedCollection new:10.

     [
        1 to:1000 do:[:i |
            sema critical:[
                coll addLast:i.
                (Delay forSeconds:0.1) wait.
            ]
        ]
     ] forkAt:4.

     [
        1 to:1000 do:[:i |
            sema critical:[
                coll removeFirst.
                (Delay forSeconds:0.1) wait.
            ]
        ]
     ] forkAt:4.

o  critical: aBlock ifBlocking: blockingBlock
like critical:, but do not block if the lock cannot be acquired.
Instead, return the value of the second argument, blockingBlock.

o  critical: aBlock timeoutMs: timeoutMs ifBlocking: blockingBlock
like critical:, but do not block if the lock cannot be acquired
within timeoutMs milliseconds.
Instead, return the value of blockingBlock.

o  wait
wait for the semaphore

usage example(s):

         need a while-loop here, since more than one process may
         wait for it and another one may also wake up.
         Thus, the count is not always non-zero after returning from
         suspend.

usage example(s):

             for some more descriptive info in processMonitor ...
             ... set the state to #wait (instead of #suspend)

o  waitUncounted
wait for the semaphore; do not consume the resource
(i.e. do not count down)

o  waitUncountedWithTimeout: secondsOrNilOrTimeDuration
wait for the semaphore, but abort the wait after some time (seconds).
return the receiver if the semaphore triggered normal, nil if we return
due to a timeout.
The argument may be a time duration or the number of seconds as integer
or float (i.e. use 0.1 for a 100ms timeout).
With zero timeout, this can be used to poll a semaphore (returning
the receiver if the semaphore is available, nil if not).
However, polling is not the intended use of semaphores, though.
If seconds is nil, wait without timeout.

o  waitUncountedWithTimeoutMs: milliSecondsOrNil
wait for the semaphore; do not consume the resource
(i.e. do not count down).
Abort the wait after some time.
return the receiver if the semaphore triggered normal, nil if we return
due to a timeout.
With zero timeout, this can be used to poll a semaphore (returning
the receiver if the semaphore is available, nil if not).
However, polling is not the intended use of semaphores, though.
If milliSecondsOrNil is nil, wait without timeout.

o  waitUncountedWithTimeoutMs: milliSecondsOrNil state: newStateSymbol
wait for the semaphore; do not consume the resource
(i.e. do not count down).
Abort the wait after some time.
return the receiver if the semaphore triggered normal, nil if we return
due to a timeout.
With zero timeout, this can be used to poll a semaphore
(returning the receiver if the semaphore is available, nil if not).
However, polling is not the intended use of semaphores, though.
If milliSecondsOrNil is nil, wait without timeout.
The stateSymbol argument is purely for the ProcessMonitor, to present a nicer
threadState (#wait instead of #suspend)

o  waitWithTimeout: secondsOrNilOrTimeDuration
wait for the semaphore, but abort the wait after some time (seconds).
return the receiver if the semaphore triggered normal, nil if we return
due to a timeout.

The argument may be a time duration or the number of seconds as integer
or float (i.e. use 0.1 for a 100ms timeout).
With zero timeout, this can be used to poll a semaphore (returning
the receiver if the semaphore is available, nil if not).
However, polling is not the intended use of semaphores, though.
If the argument is nil, wait without timeout (forever).

o  waitWithTimeoutMs: milliSecondsOrNil
wait for the semaphore, but abort the wait after some time.
return the receiver if the semaphore triggered normal, nil if we return
due to a timeout.
With zero timeout, this can be used to poll a semaphore (returning
the receiver if the semaphore is available, nil if not).
However, polling is not the intended use of semaphores, though.
If milliSeconds is nil, wait without timeout.

o  waitWithTimeoutMs: milliSecondsOrNil state: waitStateSymbol
wait for the semaphore, but abort the wait after some time.
return the receiver if the semaphore triggered normal, nil if we return
due to a timeout.
With zero timeout, this can be used to poll a semaphore (returning
the receiver if the semaphore is available, nil if not).
However, polling is not the intended use of semaphores, though.
If milliSecondsOrNil is nil, wait without timeout.

THIS IS A COPY of #waitWithTimeoutMs - the only difference is setting waitStateSymbol.
waitStateSymbol is the state the process is set to while waiting - normally #wait.


Examples:


two processes synchronizing on a sema:
    |sema thread1 thread2|

    sema := Semaphore new.

    thread1 := [
                    Transcript showCR:'here is thread 1; now waiting ...'.
                    sema wait.
                    Transcript showCR:'here is thread 1 again.'.
               ] newProcess.

    thread2 := [
                    Transcript showCR:'here is thread 2; delaying a bit ...'.
                    Delay waitForSeconds:5.
                    Transcript showCR:'here is thread 2 again; now signalling the sema'.
                    sema signal.
                    Transcript showCR:'here is thread 2 after the signalling.'.
              ] newProcess.

    thread1 priority:7.
    thread2 priority:6.

    thread1 resume.
    thread2 resume.
semaphore for critical regions:
    |accessLock|

    accessLock := Semaphore forMutualExclusion.

    [
        5 timesRepeat:[
            Delay waitForSeconds:2.
            accessLock critical:[
                Transcript showCR:'thread1 in critical region'.
                Delay waitForSeconds:1.
                Transcript showCR:'thread1 leaving critical region'.
            ].
        ]
    ] forkAt:5.

    [
        5 timesRepeat:[
            Delay waitForSeconds:1.
            accessLock critical:[
                Transcript showCR:'thread2 in critical region'.
                Delay waitForSeconds:2.
                Transcript showCR:'thread2 leaving critical region'.
            ].
        ]
    ] forkAt:4.
a deadlock due to recursive enter of a critical region:
    |accessLock block|

    accessLock := Semaphore forMutualExclusion.

    block := [:arg |
                Transcript showCR:'about to enter'.
                accessLock critical:[
                    Transcript showCR:'entered - doing action'.
                    arg value
                ].
                Transcript showCR:'left region'.
             ].

    block value:[].                 'this works'.
    block value:[block value:[] ].  'this deadlocks'.
Avoid the deadlock by using a RecursionLock instead:
    |accessLock block|

    accessLock := RecursionLock new.

    block := [:arg |
                Transcript showCR:'about to enter'.
                accessLock critical:[
                    Transcript showCR:'entered - doing action'.
                    arg value
                ].
                Transcript showCR:'left region'.
             ].

    block value:[].                 'this works'.
    block value:[block value:[] ].  'this deadlocks'.
Wait for multiple processes to arrive at a sync-point:
    |syncSema proceedSema thread1 thread2 thread3|

    syncSema := Semaphore new.
    syncSema setCount:(1-3).
    proceedSema := Semaphore new.

    thread1 := [
                    Transcript showCR:'here is thread 1; now busy ...'.
                    Delay waitForSeconds:(2 + (Random nextIntegerBetween:2 and:4)).
                    Transcript showCR:'here is thread 1 again - now syncing.'.
                    syncSema signal.
                    Transcript showCR:'thread 1 is waiting for all others...'.
                    proceedSema wait.
                    Transcript showCR:'thread 1 done.'.
               ] newProcess.

    thread2 := [
                    Transcript showCR:'here is thread 2; now busy ...'.
                    Delay waitForSeconds:(3 + (Random nextIntegerBetween:2 and:4)).
                    Transcript showCR:'here is thread 2 again - now syncing.'.
                    syncSema signal.
                    Transcript showCR:'thread 2 is waiting for all others...'.
                    proceedSema wait.
                    Transcript showCR:'thread 2 done.'.
              ] newProcess.

    thread3 := [
                    Transcript showCR:'here is thread 3; now busy ...'.
                    Delay waitForSeconds:(4 + (Random nextIntegerBetween:2 and:4)).
                    Transcript showCR:'here is thread 3 again - now syncing.'.
                    syncSema signal.
                    Transcript showCR:'thread 3 is waiting for all others...'.
                    proceedSema wait.
                    Transcript showCR:'thread 3 done.'.
              ] newProcess.

    thread1 priority:7.
    thread2 priority:6.
    thread3 priority:9.

    thread1 resume.
    thread2 resume.
    thread3 resume.

    Transcript showCR:'main thread: now waiting for other threads...'.
    syncSema wait.
    Transcript showCR:'main thread: all other threads at syncPoint.'.
    Delay waitForSeconds:2.
    Transcript showCR:'main thread: now let them proceed...'.
    proceedSema signalForAll.
    Transcript showCR:'main thread: done.'.
waitWithTimeout:0 can also be used to conditionally acquire the semaphore i.e. only acquire it if it is available. |s| s := Semaphore new. [ (s waitWithTimeout:0) notNil ifTrue:[ Transcript showCR:'process1 got the sema'. Delay waitForSeconds:1. Transcript showCR:'process1 signals sema'. s signal. ] ifFalse:[ Transcript showCR:'process1 has NOT got the sema'. ]. ] fork. [ (s waitWithTimeout:0) notNil ifTrue:[ Transcript showCR:'process2 got the sema'. Delay waitForSeconds:1. Transcript showCR:'process2 signals sema'. s signal. ] ifFalse:[ Transcript showCR:'process2 has NOT got the sema'. ] ] fork. s signal. Delay waitForSeconds:0.5. Transcript showCR:'master waits for sema'. s wait. Transcript showCR:'master got the sema'.

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