pthread_exit(3) Library Functions Manual pthread_exit(3)
NAME
pthread_exit - terminate calling thread
LIBRARY
POSIX threads library (libpthread, -lpthread)
SYNOPSIS
#include <pthread.h>
[[noreturn]] void pthread_exit(void *retval);
DESCRIPTION
The pthread_exit() function terminates the calling thread and returns a
value via retval that (if the thread is joinable) is available to an-
other thread in the same process that calls pthread_join(3).
Any clean-up handlers established by pthread_cleanup_push(3) that have
not yet been popped, are popped (in the reverse of the order in which
they were pushed) and executed. If the thread has any thread-specific
data, then, after the clean-up handlers have been executed, the corre-
sponding destructor functions are called, in an unspecified order.
When a thread terminates, process-shared resources (e.g., mutexes, con-
dition variables, semaphores, and file descriptors) are not released,
and functions registered using atexit(3) are not called.
After the last thread in a process terminates, the process terminates as
by calling exit(3) with an exit status of zero; thus, process-shared re-
sources are released and functions registered using atexit(3) are
called.
RETURN VALUE
This function does not return to the caller.
ERRORS
This function always succeeds.
ATTRIBUTES
For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see attributes(7).
┌────────────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────┬─────────┐
│ Interface │ Attribute │ Value │
├────────────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼─────────┤
│ pthread_exit() │ Thread safety │ MT-Safe │
└────────────────────────────────────────────┴───────────────┴─────────┘
STANDARDS
POSIX.1-2008.
HISTORY
POSIX.1-2001.
NOTES
Performing a return from the start function of any thread other than the
main thread results in an implicit call to pthread_exit(), using the
function's return value as the thread's exit status.
To allow other threads to continue execution, the main thread should
terminate by calling pthread_exit() rather than exit(3).
The value pointed to by retval should not be located on the calling
thread's stack, since the contents of that stack are undefined after the
thread terminates.
BUGS
Currently, there are limitations in the kernel implementation logic for
wait(2)ing on a stopped thread group with a dead thread group leader.
This can manifest in problems such as a locked terminal if a stop signal
is sent to a foreground process whose thread group leader has already
called pthread_exit().
SEE ALSO
pthread_create(3), pthread_join(3), pthreads(7)
Linux man-pages 6.9.1 2024-05-02 pthread_exit(3)
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