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Q151893: DOC: CCriticalSection::Lock Doesn’t Do a Timed Wait

Article: Q151893
Product(s): Microsoft C Compiler
Version(s): winnt:4.0,4.1
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbdocfix kbdocerr kbMFC kbThread kbVC400bug kbVC410bug kbVC420fix kbGrpDSMFCATL
Last Modified: 06-MAY-2001

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The information in this article applies to:

- The Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC), used with:
   - Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Editions, versions 4.0, 4.1 
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SUMMARY
=======

The CCriticalSection class contains a member function, Lock, that can be used by
a thread to gain ownership of a Critical Section object. There are two versions
of the Lock function, one taking no arguments and the other taking a DWORD
argument. The documentation for the latter version of Lock states that the DWORD
argument specifies the amount of time, in milliseconds, to wait for the critical
section to become available.

This information is not correct. The CCriticalSection class wraps the SDK
CRITICAL_SECTION object. This object does not have the capability for timed
waits. As a consequence, entering or leaving the Critical Section always results
in blocked waits. Hence, when CCriticalSection::Lock is called, the argument
passed is ignored and an infinite wait is executed.

The Mutex object has the capability for timed waits. The functionality of this
object is wrapped by the MFC class CMutex. An MFC application should use the
CMutex class when timed waits are desired.

MORE INFORMATION
================

CCriticalSection::Lock makes a call to ::EnterCriticalSection. This is a
blocking call that does an infinite wait. For example, if another thread
currently owns the Critical Section object, ::EnterCriticalSection blocks the
execution of the calling thread indefinitely until the other thread releases its
ownership. The classes, such as CEvent, CMutex, and CSemaphore, that wrap other
synchronization objects, make a call to ::WaitForSingleObject from their Lock
functions. ::WaitForSingleObject accepts an argument that identifies the
time-out interval and executes a true timed wait. A Critical Section object
cannot be used with ::WaitForSingleObject. Therefore, it is not possible to do a
timed wait with Critical Section objects.

This documentation error was corrected in Visual C++ 4.2 and later versions.

Additional query words: kbVC400bug

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Keywords          : kbdocfix kbdocerr kbMFC kbThread kbVC400bug kbVC410bug kbVC420fix kbGrpDSMFCATL 
Technology        : kbAudDeveloper kbMFC
Version           : winnt:4.0,4.1
Solution Type     : kbfix

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