How to use mutex in C for multithread? - c

Question

I have 4 processed called A, B, C, D in 4 thread, They printf their name. I want use mutex to process A, B, C, D run in order A, B, C, D. This is my code but it don't work such as me think. How to they work?
#include <stdio.h>
#include <pthread.h>
void processA();
void processB();
void processC();
void processD();
pthread_mutex_t mutex;
void main(){
pthread_t thread1;
pthread_t thread2;
pthread_t thread3;
pthread_t thread4;
pthread_mutex_init(&mutex,NULL);
pthread_create(&thread1, NULL, (void *)&processA,NULL);
pthread_create(&thread2, NULL, (void *)&processB,NULL);
pthread_create(&thread3, NULL, (void *)&processC,NULL);
pthread_create(&thread4, NULL, (void *)&processD,NULL);
pthread_join(thread1, NULL);
pthread_join(thread2, NULL);
pthread_join(thread3, NULL);
pthread_join(thread4, NULL);
pthread_mutex_destroy(&mutex);
}
void processA()
{
while (1)
{
pthread_mutex_lock(&mutex);
printf("A \n");
pthread_mutex_unlock(&mutex);
}
}
void processB()
{
while (1)
{
pthread_mutex_lock(&mutex);
printf("B \n");
pthread_mutex_unlock(&mutex);
}
}
void processC()
{
while (1)
{
pthread_mutex_lock(&mutex);
printf("C \n");
pthread_mutex_unlock(&mutex);
}
}
void processD()
{
pthread_mutex_lock(&mutex);
while (1)
{
pthread_mutex_lock(&mutex);
printf("D \n");
pthread_mutex_unlock(&mutex);
}
}

Answer 1

mutex is for creating mutual exclusion on some context. For example if you have an object that should be reached by one thread at a time, you can use mutex.
You should use 3 semaphores for implementing such feature. You can say:
//semaphore1 = up, semaphore2 = up, semaphore3 = up
//Thread A
//wait for semaphore1 is up
//work
//make semaphore1 down
//Thread B
//wait for semaphore1 is down
//work
//make semaphore2 down
//Thread C
//wait for semaphore2 is down
//work
//make semaphore3 down
//Thread D
//wait for semaphore3 is down
//work

Answer 2

Well this is how you can do it, you just use mutex for the mutual variable (f in this case) and a pthread conditional signal to trigger the action of one thread per second. All of the threads get the signal but only one can access the mutex.
#include <unistd.h>
#include <signal.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <errno.h>
#include <sys/time.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <memory.h>
#include <stdarg.h>
#include <pthread.h>
pthread_mutex_t v1 = PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
pthread_cond_t v2 = PTHREAD_COND_INITIALIZER;
int f = 0;
void *processA(){
while(1){
pthread_mutex_lock(&v1);
pthread_cond_wait(&v2,&v1);
printf("A,%d\n",f);
f++;
pthread_mutex_unlock(&v1);
}
return NULL;
}
void *processB(){
while(1){
pthread_mutex_lock(&v1);
pthread_cond_wait(&v2,&v1);
printf("B,%d\n",f);
f++;
pthread_mutex_unlock(&v1);
}
return NULL;
}
void *processC(){
while(1){
pthread_mutex_lock(&v1);
pthread_cond_wait(&v2,&v1);
printf("C,%d\n",f);
f++;
pthread_mutex_unlock(&v1);
}
void main(){
pthread_t *h;
int i,ptnum = 3;
h = malloc(sizeof(pthread_t)*ptnum);
pthread_create(&h[0],NULL,processA,NULL);
pthread_create(&h[1],NULL,processB,NULL);
pthread_create(&h[2],NULL,processC,NULL);
while(f<=30){
pthread_cond_signal(&v2);
sleep(1);
}
pthread_mutex_lock(&v1);
printf("Main Mutex\n");
for(i=0;i<ptnum;i++){
pthread_join(&h[i],PTHREAD_CANCELED);
}
pthread_mutex_unlock(&v1);
return NULL;
}