Question

This is an assignment I’m working on. It must use semaphores, not mutex.

#include <stdio.h> 
#include <pthread.h> 
#include <assert.h> 
#include <unistd.h> 
#include <semaphore.h> 
#include <fcntl.h>
sem_t *ab, *ac, *ad, *de, *ce, *bf, *ef; 

void *a(void *arg) {
    printf("Entering A...\n");
    sleep(1);
    printf("Exiting A...\n");
    assert(sem_post(ab)==0);
    assert(sem_post(ac)==0);
    assert(sem_post(ad)==0);
    pthread_exit((void *)99);
}

void *b(void *arg) {
    assert(sem_wait(ab)==0);
    printf("Entering B...\n");
    sleep(1);
    printf("Exiting B...\n");
    assert(sem_post(bf)==0);
    pthread_exit((void *)99);
}

void *c(void *arg) {
    assert(sem_wait(ac)==0);
    printf("Entering C...\n");
    sleep(1);
    printf("Exiting C...\n");
    assert(sem_post(ce)==0);
    pthread_exit((void *)99);
}

void *d(void *arg) {
    assert(sem_wait(ad)==0);
    printf("Entering D...\n");
    sleep(1);
    printf("Exiting D...\n");
    assert(sem_post(de)==0);
    pthread_exit((void *)99);
}

void *e(void *arg) {
    assert(sem_wait(ce)==0);
    assert(sem_wait(de)==0);
    printf("Entering E...\n");
    sleep(1);
    printf("Exiting E...\n");
    assert(sem_post(ef)==0);
    pthread_exit((void *)99);
}

void *f(void *arg) {
    assert(sem_wait(bf)==0);
    assert(sem_wait(ef)==0);
    printf("Entering F...\n");
    sleep(1);
    printf("Exiting F...\n");
    pthread_exit((void *)99);
}


int main() { 
    pthread_t _a, _b, _c, _d, _e, _f;
    int r1, r2, r3, r4, r5, r6;

    ab=sem_open("foobar", O_CREAT, 0700, 0);
    ac=sem_open("foobar", O_CREAT, 0700, 0);
    ad=sem_open("foobar", O_CREAT, 0700, 0);
    ce=sem_open("foobar", O_CREAT, 0700, 0);
    de=sem_open("foobar", O_CREAT, 0700, 0);
    ef=sem_open("foobar", O_CREAT, 0700, 0);
    bf=sem_open("foobar", O_CREAT, 0700, 0);

    /*sem_init(ab,0,1);
    sem_init(ac,0,1);
    sem_init(ad,0,1);
    sem_init(ce,0,1);
    sem_init(de,0,1);
    sem_init(ef,0,1);
    sem_init(bf,0,1);*/

    assert(pthread_create(&_a, NULL, a, &r1) == 0);
    assert(pthread_create(&_b, NULL, b, &r2) == 0);
    assert(pthread_create(&_c, NULL, c, &r3) == 0);
    assert(pthread_create(&_d, NULL, d, &r4) == 0);
    assert(pthread_create(&_e, NULL, e, &r5) == 0);
    assert(pthread_create(&_f, NULL, f, &r6) == 0);

    assert(pthread_join(_a, NULL) == 0);
    assert(pthread_join(_b, NULL) == 0);
    assert(pthread_join(_c, NULL) == 0);    
    assert(pthread_join(_d, NULL) == 0);
    assert(pthread_join(_e, NULL) == 0);
    assert(pthread_join(_f, NULL) == 0);

    assert( sem_close(ab)==0 ); 
    assert( sem_close(ac)==0 ); 
    assert( sem_close(ad)==0 ); 
    assert( sem_close(ce)==0 );
    assert( sem_close(de)==0 ); 
    assert( sem_close(bf)==0 );
    assert( sem_close(ef)==0 ); 

    return 0; 
}

It’s pretty simple but for some reason it’s not executing in the right order. The output is far from consistent but always incorrect. Here is one sample output:

Entering A…
Entering B… <—-sem_post(ab) has not even been called yet
Exiting A…
Entering C…
Entering D…
Exiting B…
Exiting D…
Exiting C…
Entering E…
Entering F…
Exiting F…
Exiting E…

It should be following this diagram:

Any help with this will be greatly appreciated, but it’s an assignment so don’t start telling me to do it a completely different way and don’t give the answer straight up, just point me in the right direction.

Answer 1

In your code A is not locked before printing the exit line with ab.

This means that when it returns from the sleep it can do whatever it wants, because it’s not dependent on the lock or anything else.

You should use the semaphores to stop the other thread/functions from continuing. sleep() just gives up the processor the amount of time you specify, after that they can continue.

Note:

You probably don’t have to use sleep. the threads will give up the CPU if they can’t attain the lock