Training courses

Kernel and Embedded Linux

Bootlin training courses

Embedded Linux, kernel,
Yocto Project, Buildroot, real-time,
graphics, boot time, debugging...

Bootlin logo

Elixir Cross Referencer

   1
   2
   3
   4
   5
   6
   7
   8
   9
  10
  11
  12
  13
  14
  15
  16
  17
  18
  19
  20
  21
  22
  23
  24
  25
  26
  27
  28
  29
  30
  31
  32
  33
  34
  35
  36
  37
  38
  39
  40
  41
  42
  43
  44
  45
  46
  47
  48
  49
  50
  51
  52
  53
  54
  55
  56
  57
  58
  59
  60
  61
  62
  63
  64
  65
  66
  67
  68
  69
  70
  71
  72
  73
  74
  75
  76
  77
  78
  79
  80
  81
  82
  83
  84
  85
  86
  87
  88
  89
  90
  91
  92
  93
  94
  95
  96
  97
  98
  99
 100
 101
 102
 103
 104
 105
 106
 107
 108
 109
 110
 111
 112
 113
 114
 115
 116
 117
 118
 119
 120
 121
 122
 123
 124
 125
 126
 127
 128
 129
 130
 131
 132
 133
 134
 135
 136
 137
 138
 139
 140
 141
 142
 143
 144
 145
 146
 147
 148
 149
 150
 151
 152
 153
 154
 155
 156
 157
 158
 159
 160
 161
 162
 163
 164
 165
 166
 167
 168
 169
 170
 171
 172
 173
 174
 175
 176
 177
 178
 179
 180
 181
 182
 183
 184
 185
 186
 187
 188
 189
 190
 191
 192
 193
 194
 195
 196
 197
 198
 199
 200
 201
 202
 203
 204
 205
 206
 207
 208
 209
 210
 211
 212
 213
 214
 215
 216
 217
 218
 219
 220
 221
 222
 223
 224
 225
 226
 227
 228
 229
 230
 231
 232
 233
 234
 235
 236
 237
 238
 239
 240
 241
 242
 243
 244
 245
 246
 247
 248
 249
 250
 251
 252
 253
 254
 255
 256
 257
 258
 259
 260
 261
 262
 263
 264
 265
 266
 267
 268
 269
 270
 271
 272
 273
 274
 275
 276
 277
 278
 279
 280
 281
 282
 283
 284
 285
 286
 287
 288
 289
 290
 291
 292
 293
 294
 295
 296
 297
 298
 299
 300
 301
 302
 303
 304
 305
 306
 307
 308
 309
 310
 311
 312
 313
 314
 315
 316
 317
 318
 319
 320
 321
 322
 323
 324
 325
 326
 327
 328
 329
 330
 331
 332
 333
 334
 335
 336
 337
 338
 339
 340
 341
 342
 343
 344
 345
 346
 347
 348
 349
 350
 351
 352
 353
 354
 355
 356
 357
 358
 359
 360
 361
 362
 363
 364
 365
 366
 367
 368
 369
 370
 371
 372
 373
 374
 375
 376
 377
 378
 379
 380
 381
 382
 383
 384
 385
 386
 387
 388
 389
 390
 391
 392
 393
 394
 395
 396
 397
 398
 399
 400
 401
 402
 403
 404
 405
 406
 407
 408
 409
 410
 411
 412
 413
 414
 415
 416
 417
 418
 419
 420
 421
 422
 423
 424
 425
 426
 427
 428
 429
 430
 431
 432
 433
 434
 435
 436
 437
 438
 439
 440
 441
 442
 443
 444
 445
 446
 447
 448
 449
 450
 451
 452
 453
 454
 455
 456
 457
 458
 459
 460
 461
 462
 463
 464
 465
 466
 467
 468
 469
 470
 471
 472
 473
 474
 475
 476
 477
 478
 479
 480
 481
 482
 483
 484
 485
 486
 487
 488
 489
 490
 491
 492
 493
 494
 495
 496
 497
 498
 499
 500
 501
 502
 503
 504
 505
 506
 507
 508
 509
 510
 511
 512
 513
 514
 515
 516
 517
 518
 519
 520
 521
 522
 523
 524
 525
 526
 527
 528
 529
 530
 531
 532
 533
 534
 535
 536
 537
 538
 539
 540
 541
 542
 543
 544
 545
 546
 547
 548
 549
 550
 551
 552
 553
 554
 555
 556
 557
 558
 559
 560
 561
 562
 563
 564
 565
 566
 567
 568
 569
 570
 571
 572
 573
 574
 575
 576
 577
 578
 579
 580
 581
 582
 583
 584
 585
 586
 587
 588
 589
 590
 591
 592
 593
 594
 595
 596
 597
 598
 599
 600
 601
 602
 603
 604
 605
 606
 607
 608
 609
 610
 611
 612
 613
 614
 615
 616
 617
 618
 619
 620
 621
 622
 623
 624
 625
 626
 627
 628
 629
 630
 631
 632
 633
 634
 635
 636
 637
 638
 639
 640
 641
 642
 643
 644
 645
 646
 647
 648
 649
 650
 651
 652
 653
 654
 655
 656
 657
 658
 659
 660
 661
 662
 663
 664
 665
 666
 667
 668
 669
 670
 671
 672
 673
 674
 675
 676
 677
 678
 679
 680
 681
 682
 683
 684
 685
 686
 687
 688
 689
 690
 691
 692
 693
 694
 695
 696
 697
 698
 699
 700
 701
 702
 703
 704
 705
 706
 707
 708
 709
 710
 711
 712
 713
 714
 715
 716
 717
 718
 719
 720
 721
 722
 723
 724
 725
 726
 727
 728
 729
 730
 731
 732
 733
 734
 735
 736
 737
 738
 739
 740
 741
 742
 743
 744
 745
 746
 747
 748
 749
 750
 751
 752
 753
 754
 755
 756
 757
 758
 759
 760
 761
 762
 763
 764
 765
 766
 767
 768
 769
 770
 771
 772
 773
 774
 775
 776
 777
 778
 779
 780
 781
 782
 783
 784
 785
 786
 787
 788
 789
 790
 791
 792
 793
 794
 795
 796
 797
 798
 799
 800
 801
 802
 803
 804
 805
 806
 807
 808
 809
 810
 811
 812
 813
 814
 815
 816
 817
 818
 819
 820
 821
 822
 823
 824
 825
 826
 827
 828
 829
 830
 831
 832
 833
 834
 835
 836
 837
 838
 839
 840
 841
 842
 843
 844
 845
 846
 847
 848
 849
 850
 851
 852
 853
 854
 855
 856
 857
 858
 859
 860
 861
 862
 863
 864
 865
 866
 867
 868
 869
 870
 871
 872
 873
 874
 875
 876
 877
 878
 879
 880
 881
 882
 883
 884
 885
 886
 887
 888
 889
 890
 891
 892
 893
 894
 895
 896
 897
 898
 899
 900
 901
 902
 903
 904
 905
 906
 907
 908
 909
 910
 911
 912
 913
 914
 915
 916
 917
 918
 919
 920
 921
 922
 923
 924
 925
 926
 927
 928
 929
 930
 931
 932
 933
 934
 935
 936
 937
 938
 939
 940
 941
 942
 943
 944
 945
 946
 947
 948
 949
 950
 951
 952
 953
 954
 955
 956
 957
 958
 959
 960
 961
 962
 963
 964
 965
 966
 967
 968
 969
 970
 971
 972
 973
 974
 975
 976
 977
 978
 979
 980
 981
 982
 983
 984
 985
 986
 987
 988
 989
 990
 991
 992
 993
 994
 995
 996
 997
 998
 999
1000
1001
1002
1003
1004
1005
1006
1007
1008
1009
1010
1011
1012
1013
1014
1015
1016
1017
1018
1019
1020
1021
1022
1023
1024
1025
1026
1027
1028
1029
1030
1031
1032
1033
1034
1035
1036
1037
1038
1039
1040
1041
1042
1043
1044

======================
Thread Safety Analysis
======================

Introduction
============

Clang Thread Safety Analysis is a C++ language extension which warns about
potential race conditions in code.  The analysis is completely static (i.e.
compile-time); there is no run-time overhead.  The analysis is still
under active development, but it is mature enough to be deployed in an
industrial setting.  It is being developed by Google, in collaboration with
CERT/SEI, and is used extensively in Google's internal code base.

Thread safety analysis works very much like a type system for multi-threaded
programs.  In addition to declaring the *type* of data (e.g. ``int``, ``float``,
etc.), the programmer can (optionally) declare how access to that data is
controlled in a multi-threaded environment.  For example, if ``foo`` is
*guarded by* the mutex ``mu``, then the analysis will issue a warning whenever
a piece of code reads or writes to ``foo`` without first locking ``mu``.
Similarly, if there are particular routines that should only be called by
the GUI thread, then the analysis will warn if other threads call those
routines.

Getting Started
----------------

.. code-block:: c++

  #include "mutex.h"

  class BankAccount {
  private:
    Mutex mu;
    int   balance GUARDED_BY(mu);

    void depositImpl(int amount) {
      balance += amount;       // WARNING! Cannot write balance without locking mu.
    }

    void withdrawImpl(int amount) REQUIRES(mu) {
      balance -= amount;       // OK. Caller must have locked mu.
    }

  public:
    void withdraw(int amount) {
      mu.Lock();
      withdrawImpl(amount);    // OK.  We've locked mu.
    }                          // WARNING!  Failed to unlock mu.

    void transferFrom(BankAccount& b, int amount) {
      mu.Lock();
      b.withdrawImpl(amount);  // WARNING!  Calling withdrawImpl() requires locking b.mu.
      depositImpl(amount);     // OK.  depositImpl() has no requirements.
      mu.Unlock();
    }
  };

This example demonstrates the basic concepts behind the analysis.  The
``GUARDED_BY`` attribute declares that a thread must lock ``mu`` before it can
read or write to ``balance``, thus ensuring that the increment and decrement
operations are atomic.  Similarly, ``REQUIRES`` declares that
the calling thread must lock ``mu`` before calling ``withdrawImpl``.
Because the caller is assumed to have locked ``mu``, it is safe to modify
``balance`` within the body of the method.

The ``depositImpl()`` method does not have ``REQUIRES``, so the
analysis issues a warning.  Thread safety analysis is not inter-procedural, so
caller requirements must be explicitly declared.
There is also a warning in ``transferFrom()``, because although the method
locks ``this->mu``, it does not lock ``b.mu``.  The analysis understands
that these are two separate mutexes, in two different objects.

Finally, there is a warning in the ``withdraw()`` method, because it fails to
unlock ``mu``.  Every lock must have a corresponding unlock, and the analysis
will detect both double locks, and double unlocks.  A function is allowed to
acquire a lock without releasing it, (or vice versa), but it must be annotated
as such (using ``ACQUIRE``/``RELEASE``).


Running The Analysis
--------------------

To run the analysis, simply compile with the ``-Wthread-safety`` flag, e.g.

.. code-block:: bash

  clang -c -Wthread-safety example.cpp

Note that this example assumes the presence of a suitably annotated
:ref:`mutexheader` that declares which methods perform locking,
unlocking, and so on.


Basic Concepts: Capabilities
============================

Thread safety analysis provides a way of protecting *resources* with
*capabilities*.  A resource is either a data member, or a function/method
that provides access to some underlying resource.  The analysis ensures that
the calling thread cannot access the *resource* (i.e. call the function, or
read/write the data) unless it has the *capability* to do so.

Capabilities are associated with named C++ objects which declare specific
methods to acquire and release the capability.  The name of the object serves
to identify the capability.  The most common example is a mutex.  For example,
if ``mu`` is a mutex, then calling ``mu.Lock()`` causes the calling thread
to acquire the capability to access data that is protected by ``mu``. Similarly,
calling ``mu.Unlock()`` releases that capability.

A thread may hold a capability either *exclusively* or *shared*.  An exclusive
capability can be held by only one thread at a time, while a shared capability
can be held by many threads at the same time.  This mechanism enforces a
multiple-reader, single-writer pattern.  Write operations to protected data
require exclusive access, while read operations require only shared access.

At any given moment during program execution, a thread holds a specific set of
capabilities (e.g. the set of mutexes that it has locked.)  These act like keys
or tokens that allow the thread to access a given resource.  Just like physical
security keys, a thread cannot make copy of a capability, nor can it destroy
one.  A thread can only release a capability to another thread, or acquire one
from another thread.  The annotations are deliberately agnostic about the
exact mechanism used to acquire and release capabilities; it assumes that the
underlying implementation (e.g. the Mutex implementation) does the handoff in
an appropriate manner.

The set of capabilities that are actually held by a given thread at a given
point in program execution is a run-time concept.  The static analysis works
by calculating an approximation of that set, called the *capability
environment*.  The capability environment is calculated for every program point,
and describes the set of capabilities that are statically known to be held, or
not held, at that particular point.  This environment is a conservative
approximation of the full set of capabilities that will actually held by a
thread at run-time.


Reference Guide
===============

The thread safety analysis uses attributes to declare threading constraints.
Attributes must be attached to named declarations, such as classes, methods,
and data members. Users are *strongly advised* to define macros for the various
attributes; example definitions can be found in :ref:`mutexheader`, below.
The following documentation assumes the use of macros.

The attributes only control assumptions made by thread safety analysis and the
warnings it issues.  They don't affect generated code or behavior at run-time.

For historical reasons, prior versions of thread safety used macro names that
were very lock-centric.  These macros have since been renamed to fit a more
general capability model.  The prior names are still in use, and will be
mentioned under the tag *previously* where appropriate.


GUARDED_BY(c) and PT_GUARDED_BY(c)
----------------------------------

``GUARDED_BY`` is an attribute on data members, which declares that the data
member is protected by the given capability.  Read operations on the data
require shared access, while write operations require exclusive access.

``PT_GUARDED_BY`` is similar, but is intended for use on pointers and smart
pointers. There is no constraint on the data member itself, but the *data that
it points to* is protected by the given capability.

.. code-block:: c++

  Mutex mu;
  int *p1             GUARDED_BY(mu);
  int *p2             PT_GUARDED_BY(mu);
  unique_ptr<int> p3  PT_GUARDED_BY(mu);

  void test() {
    p1 = 0;             // Warning!

    *p2 = 42;           // Warning!
    p2 = new int;       // OK.

    *p3 = 42;           // Warning!
    p3.reset(new int);  // OK.
  }


REQUIRES(...), REQUIRES_SHARED(...)
-----------------------------------

*Previously*: ``EXCLUSIVE_LOCKS_REQUIRED``, ``SHARED_LOCKS_REQUIRED``

``REQUIRES`` is an attribute on functions or methods, which
declares that the calling thread must have exclusive access to the given
capabilities.  More than one capability may be specified.  The capabilities
must be held on entry to the function, *and must still be held on exit*.

``REQUIRES_SHARED`` is similar, but requires only shared access.

.. code-block:: c++

  Mutex mu1, mu2;
  int a GUARDED_BY(mu1);
  int b GUARDED_BY(mu2);

  void foo() REQUIRES(mu1, mu2) {
    a = 0;
    b = 0;
  }

  void test() {
    mu1.Lock();
    foo();         // Warning!  Requires mu2.
    mu1.Unlock();
  }


ACQUIRE(...), ACQUIRE_SHARED(...), RELEASE(...), RELEASE_SHARED(...), RELEASE_GENERIC(...)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Previously*: ``EXCLUSIVE_LOCK_FUNCTION``, ``SHARED_LOCK_FUNCTION``,
``UNLOCK_FUNCTION``

``ACQUIRE`` and ``ACQUIRE_SHARED`` are attributes on functions or methods
declaring that the function acquires a capability, but does not release it.
The given capability must not be held on entry, and will be held on exit
(exclusively for ``ACQUIRE``, shared for ``ACQUIRE_SHARED``).

``RELEASE``, ``RELEASE_SHARED``, and ``RELEASE_GENERIC`` declare that the
function releases the given capability.  The capability must be held on entry
(exclusively for ``RELEASE``, shared for ``RELEASE_SHARED``, exclusively or
shared for ``RELEASE_GENERIC``), and will no longer be held on exit.

.. code-block:: c++

  Mutex mu;
  MyClass myObject GUARDED_BY(mu);

  void lockAndInit() ACQUIRE(mu) {
    mu.Lock();
    myObject.init();
  }

  void cleanupAndUnlock() RELEASE(mu) {
    myObject.cleanup();
  }                          // Warning!  Need to unlock mu.

  void test() {
    lockAndInit();
    myObject.doSomething();
    cleanupAndUnlock();
    myObject.doSomething();  // Warning, mu is not locked.
  }

If no argument is passed to ``ACQUIRE`` or ``RELEASE``, then the argument is
assumed to be ``this``, and the analysis will not check the body of the
function.  This pattern is intended for use by classes which hide locking
details behind an abstract interface.  For example:

.. code-block:: c++

  template <class T>
  class CAPABILITY("mutex") Container {
  private:
    Mutex mu;
    T* data;

  public:
    // Hide mu from public interface.
    void Lock()   ACQUIRE() { mu.Lock(); }
    void Unlock() RELEASE() { mu.Unlock(); }

    T& getElem(int i) { return data[i]; }
  };

  void test() {
    Container<int> c;
    c.Lock();
    int i = c.getElem(0);
    c.Unlock();
  }


EXCLUDES(...)
-------------

*Previously*: ``LOCKS_EXCLUDED``

``EXCLUDES`` is an attribute on functions or methods, which declares that
the caller must *not* hold the given capabilities.  This annotation is
used to prevent deadlock.  Many mutex implementations are not re-entrant, so
deadlock can occur if the function acquires the mutex a second time.

.. code-block:: c++

  Mutex mu;
  int a GUARDED_BY(mu);

  void clear() EXCLUDES(mu) {
    mu.Lock();
    a = 0;
    mu.Unlock();
  }

  void reset() {
    mu.Lock();
    clear();     // Warning!  Caller cannot hold 'mu'.
    mu.Unlock();
  }

Unlike ``REQUIRES``, ``EXCLUDES`` is optional.  The analysis will not issue a
warning if the attribute is missing, which can lead to false negatives in some
cases.  This issue is discussed further in :ref:`negative`.


NO_THREAD_SAFETY_ANALYSIS
-------------------------

``NO_THREAD_SAFETY_ANALYSIS`` is an attribute on functions or methods, which
turns off thread safety checking for that method.  It provides an escape hatch
for functions which are either (1) deliberately thread-unsafe, or (2) are
thread-safe, but too complicated for the analysis to understand.  Reasons for
(2) will be described in the :ref:`limitations`, below.

.. code-block:: c++

  class Counter {
    Mutex mu;
    int a GUARDED_BY(mu);

    void unsafeIncrement() NO_THREAD_SAFETY_ANALYSIS { a++; }
  };

Unlike the other attributes, NO_THREAD_SAFETY_ANALYSIS is not part of the
interface of a function, and should thus be placed on the function definition
(in the ``.cc`` or ``.cpp`` file) rather than on the function declaration
(in the header).


RETURN_CAPABILITY(c)
--------------------

*Previously*: ``LOCK_RETURNED``

``RETURN_CAPABILITY`` is an attribute on functions or methods, which declares
that the function returns a reference to the given capability.  It is used to
annotate getter methods that return mutexes.

.. code-block:: c++

  class MyClass {
  private:
    Mutex mu;
    int a GUARDED_BY(mu);

  public:
    Mutex* getMu() RETURN_CAPABILITY(mu) { return &mu; }

    // analysis knows that getMu() == mu
    void clear() REQUIRES(getMu()) { a = 0; }
  };


ACQUIRED_BEFORE(...), ACQUIRED_AFTER(...)
-----------------------------------------

``ACQUIRED_BEFORE`` and ``ACQUIRED_AFTER`` are attributes on member
declarations, specifically declarations of mutexes or other capabilities.
These declarations enforce a particular order in which the mutexes must be
acquired, in order to prevent deadlock.

.. code-block:: c++

  Mutex m1;
  Mutex m2 ACQUIRED_AFTER(m1);

  // Alternative declaration
  // Mutex m2;
  // Mutex m1 ACQUIRED_BEFORE(m2);

  void foo() {
    m2.Lock();
    m1.Lock();  // Warning!  m2 must be acquired after m1.
    m1.Unlock();
    m2.Unlock();
  }


CAPABILITY(<string>)
--------------------

*Previously*: ``LOCKABLE``

``CAPABILITY`` is an attribute on classes, which specifies that objects of the
class can be used as a capability.  The string argument specifies the kind of
capability in error messages, e.g. ``"mutex"``.  See the ``Container`` example
given above, or the ``Mutex`` class in :ref:`mutexheader`.


SCOPED_CAPABILITY
-----------------

*Previously*: ``SCOPED_LOCKABLE``

``SCOPED_CAPABILITY`` is an attribute on classes that implement RAII-style
locking, in which a capability is acquired in the constructor, and released in
the destructor.  Such classes require special handling because the constructor
and destructor refer to the capability via different names; see the
``MutexLocker`` class in :ref:`mutexheader`, below.

Scoped capabilities are treated as capabilities that are implicitly acquired
on construction and released on destruction. They are associated with
the set of (regular) capabilities named in thread safety attributes on the
constructor. Acquire-type attributes on other member functions are treated as
applying to that set of associated capabilities, while ``RELEASE`` implies that
a function releases all associated capabilities in whatever mode they're held.


TRY_ACQUIRE(<bool>, ...), TRY_ACQUIRE_SHARED(<bool>, ...)
---------------------------------------------------------

*Previously:* ``EXCLUSIVE_TRYLOCK_FUNCTION``, ``SHARED_TRYLOCK_FUNCTION``

These are attributes on a function or method that tries to acquire the given
capability, and returns a boolean value indicating success or failure.
The first argument must be ``true`` or ``false``, to specify which return value
indicates success, and the remaining arguments are interpreted in the same way
as ``ACQUIRE``.  See :ref:`mutexheader`, below, for example uses.

Because the analysis doesn't support conditional locking, a capability is
treated as acquired after the first branch on the return value of a try-acquire
function.

.. code-block:: c++

  Mutex mu;
  int a GUARDED_BY(mu);

  void foo() {
    bool success = mu.TryLock();
    a = 0;         // Warning, mu is not locked.
    if (success) {
      a = 0;       // Ok.
      mu.Unlock();
    } else {
      a = 0;       // Warning, mu is not locked.
    }
  }


ASSERT_CAPABILITY(...) and ASSERT_SHARED_CAPABILITY(...)
--------------------------------------------------------

*Previously:*  ``ASSERT_EXCLUSIVE_LOCK``, ``ASSERT_SHARED_LOCK``

These are attributes on a function or method which asserts the calling thread
already holds the given capability, for example by performing a run-time test
and terminating if the capability is not held.  Presence of this annotation
causes the analysis to assume the capability is held after calls to the
annotated function.  See :ref:`mutexheader`, below, for example uses.


GUARDED_VAR and PT_GUARDED_VAR
------------------------------

Use of these attributes has been deprecated.


Warning flags
-------------

* ``-Wthread-safety``:  Umbrella flag which turns on the following three:

  + ``-Wthread-safety-attributes``: Sanity checks on attribute syntax.
  + ``-Wthread-safety-analysis``: The core analysis.
  + ``-Wthread-safety-precise``: Requires that mutex expressions match precisely.
       This warning can be disabled for code which has a lot of aliases.
  + ``-Wthread-safety-reference``: Checks when guarded members are passed by reference.


:ref:`negative` are an experimental feature, which are enabled with:

* ``-Wthread-safety-negative``:  Negative capabilities.  Off by default.

When new features and checks are added to the analysis, they can often introduce
additional warnings.  Those warnings are initially released as *beta* warnings
for a period of time, after which they are migrated into the standard analysis.

* ``-Wthread-safety-beta``:  New features.  Off by default.


.. _negative:

Negative Capabilities
=====================

Thread Safety Analysis is designed to prevent both race conditions and
deadlock.  The GUARDED_BY and REQUIRES attributes prevent race conditions, by
ensuring that a capability is held before reading or writing to guarded data,
and the EXCLUDES attribute prevents deadlock, by making sure that a mutex is
*not* held.

However, EXCLUDES is an optional attribute, and does not provide the same
safety guarantee as REQUIRES.  In particular:

  * A function which acquires a capability does not have to exclude it.
  * A function which calls a function that excludes a capability does not
    have transitively exclude that capability.

As a result, EXCLUDES can easily produce false negatives:

.. code-block:: c++

  class Foo {
    Mutex mu;

    void foo() {
      mu.Lock();
      bar();           // No warning.
      baz();           // No warning.
      mu.Unlock();
    }

    void bar() {       // No warning.  (Should have EXCLUDES(mu)).
      mu.Lock();
      // ...
      mu.Unlock();
    }

    void baz() {
      bif();           // No warning.  (Should have EXCLUDES(mu)).
    }

    void bif() EXCLUDES(mu);
  };


Negative requirements are an alternative EXCLUDES that provide
a stronger safety guarantee.  A negative requirement uses the  REQUIRES
attribute, in conjunction with the ``!`` operator, to indicate that a capability
should *not* be held.

For example, using ``REQUIRES(!mu)`` instead of ``EXCLUDES(mu)`` will produce
the appropriate warnings:

.. code-block:: c++

  class FooNeg {
    Mutex mu;

    void foo() REQUIRES(!mu) {   // foo() now requires !mu.
      mu.Lock();
      bar();
      baz();
      mu.Unlock();
    }

    void bar() {
      mu.Lock();       // WARNING!  Missing REQUIRES(!mu).
      // ...
      mu.Unlock();
    }

    void baz() {
      bif();           // WARNING!  Missing REQUIRES(!mu).
    }

    void bif() REQUIRES(!mu);
  };


Negative requirements are an experimental feature which is off by default,
because it will produce many warnings in existing code.  It can be enabled
by passing ``-Wthread-safety-negative``.


.. _faq:

Frequently Asked Questions
==========================

(Q) Should I put attributes in the header file, or in the .cc/.cpp/.cxx file?

(A) Attributes are part of the formal interface of a function, and should
always go in the header, where they are visible to anything that includes
the header.  Attributes in the .cpp file are not visible outside of the
immediate translation unit, which leads to false negatives and false positives.


(Q) "*Mutex is not locked on every path through here?*"  What does that mean?

(A) See :ref:`conditional_locks`, below.


.. _limitations:

Known Limitations
=================

Lexical scope
-------------

Thread safety attributes contain ordinary C++ expressions, and thus follow
ordinary C++ scoping rules.  In particular, this means that mutexes and other
capabilities must be declared before they can be used in an attribute.
Use-before-declaration is okay within a single class, because attributes are
parsed at the same time as method bodies. (C++ delays parsing of method bodies
until the end of the class.)  However, use-before-declaration is not allowed
between classes, as illustrated below.

.. code-block:: c++

  class Foo;

  class Bar {
    void bar(Foo* f) REQUIRES(f->mu);  // Error: mu undeclared.
  };

  class Foo {
    Mutex mu;
  };


Private Mutexes
---------------

Good software engineering practice dictates that mutexes should be private
members, because the locking mechanism used by a thread-safe class is part of
its internal implementation.  However, private mutexes can sometimes leak into
the public interface of a class.
Thread safety attributes follow normal C++ access restrictions, so if ``mu``
is a private member of ``c``, then it is an error to write ``c.mu`` in an
attribute.

One workaround is to (ab)use the ``RETURN_CAPABILITY`` attribute to provide a
public *name* for a private mutex, without actually exposing the underlying
mutex.  For example:

.. code-block:: c++

  class MyClass {
  private:
    Mutex mu;

  public:
    // For thread safety analysis only.  Does not actually return mu.
    Mutex* getMu() RETURN_CAPABILITY(mu) { return 0; }

    void doSomething() REQUIRES(mu);
  };

  void doSomethingTwice(MyClass& c) REQUIRES(c.getMu()) {
    // The analysis thinks that c.getMu() == c.mu
    c.doSomething();
    c.doSomething();
  }

In the above example, ``doSomethingTwice()`` is an external routine that
requires ``c.mu`` to be locked, which cannot be declared directly because ``mu``
is private.  This pattern is discouraged because it
violates encapsulation, but it is sometimes necessary, especially when adding
annotations to an existing code base.  The workaround is to define ``getMu()``
as a fake getter method, which is provided only for the benefit of thread
safety analysis.


.. _conditional_locks:

No conditionally held locks.
----------------------------

The analysis must be able to determine whether a lock is held, or not held, at
every program point.  Thus, sections of code where a lock *might be held* will
generate spurious warnings (false positives).  For example:

.. code-block:: c++

  void foo() {
    bool b = needsToLock();
    if (b) mu.Lock();
    ...  // Warning!  Mutex 'mu' is not held on every path through here.
    if (b) mu.Unlock();
  }


No checking inside constructors and destructors.
------------------------------------------------

The analysis currently does not do any checking inside constructors or
destructors.  In other words, every constructor and destructor is treated as
if it was annotated with ``NO_THREAD_SAFETY_ANALYSIS``.
The reason for this is that during initialization, only one thread typically
has access to the object which is being initialized, and it is thus safe (and
common practice) to initialize guarded members without acquiring any locks.
The same is true of destructors.

Ideally, the analysis would allow initialization of guarded members inside the
object being initialized or destroyed, while still enforcing the usual access
restrictions on everything else.  However, this is difficult to enforce in
practice, because in complex pointer-based data structures, it is hard to
determine what data is owned by the enclosing object.

No inlining.
------------

Thread safety analysis is strictly intra-procedural, just like ordinary type
checking.  It relies only on the declared attributes of a function, and will
not attempt to inline any method calls.  As a result, code such as the
following will not work:

.. code-block:: c++

  template<class T>
  class AutoCleanup {
    T* object;
    void (T::*mp)();

  public:
    AutoCleanup(T* obj, void (T::*imp)()) : object(obj), mp(imp) { }
    ~AutoCleanup() { (object->*mp)(); }
  };

  Mutex mu;
  void foo() {
    mu.Lock();
    AutoCleanup<Mutex>(&mu, &Mutex::Unlock);
    // ...
  }  // Warning, mu is not unlocked.

In this case, the destructor of ``Autocleanup`` calls ``mu.Unlock()``, so
the warning is bogus.  However,
thread safety analysis cannot see the unlock, because it does not attempt to
inline the destructor.  Moreover, there is no way to annotate the destructor,
because the destructor is calling a function that is not statically known.
This pattern is simply not supported.


No alias analysis.
------------------

The analysis currently does not track pointer aliases.  Thus, there can be
false positives if two pointers both point to the same mutex.


.. code-block:: c++

  class MutexUnlocker {
    Mutex* mu;

  public:
    MutexUnlocker(Mutex* m) RELEASE(m) : mu(m)  { mu->Unlock(); }
    ~MutexUnlocker() ACQUIRE(mu) { mu->Lock(); }
  };

  Mutex mutex;
  void test() REQUIRES(mutex) {
    {
      MutexUnlocker munl(&mutex);  // unlocks mutex
      doSomeIO();
    }                              // Warning: locks munl.mu
  }

The MutexUnlocker class is intended to be the dual of the MutexLocker class,
defined in :ref:`mutexheader`.  However, it doesn't work because the analysis
doesn't know that munl.mu == mutex.  The SCOPED_CAPABILITY attribute handles
aliasing for MutexLocker, but does so only for that particular pattern.


ACQUIRED_BEFORE(...) and ACQUIRED_AFTER(...) are currently unimplemented.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

To be fixed in a future update.


.. _mutexheader:

mutex.h
=======

Thread safety analysis can be used with any threading library, but it does
require that the threading API be wrapped in classes and methods which have the
appropriate annotations.  The following code provides ``mutex.h`` as an example;
these methods should be filled in to call the appropriate underlying
implementation.


.. code-block:: c++


  #ifndef THREAD_SAFETY_ANALYSIS_MUTEX_H
  #define THREAD_SAFETY_ANALYSIS_MUTEX_H

  // Enable thread safety attributes only with clang.
  // The attributes can be safely erased when compiling with other compilers.
  #if defined(__clang__) && (!defined(SWIG))
  #define THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(x)   __attribute__((x))
  #else
  #define THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(x)   // no-op
  #endif

  #define CAPABILITY(x) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(capability(x))

  #define SCOPED_CAPABILITY \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(scoped_lockable)

  #define GUARDED_BY(x) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(guarded_by(x))

  #define PT_GUARDED_BY(x) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(pt_guarded_by(x))

  #define ACQUIRED_BEFORE(...) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(acquired_before(__VA_ARGS__))

  #define ACQUIRED_AFTER(...) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(acquired_after(__VA_ARGS__))

  #define REQUIRES(...) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(requires_capability(__VA_ARGS__))

  #define REQUIRES_SHARED(...) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(requires_shared_capability(__VA_ARGS__))

  #define ACQUIRE(...) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(acquire_capability(__VA_ARGS__))

  #define ACQUIRE_SHARED(...) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(acquire_shared_capability(__VA_ARGS__))

  #define RELEASE(...) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(release_capability(__VA_ARGS__))

  #define RELEASE_SHARED(...) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(release_shared_capability(__VA_ARGS__))

  #define RELEASE_GENERIC(...) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(release_generic_capability(__VA_ARGS__))

  #define TRY_ACQUIRE(...) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(try_acquire_capability(__VA_ARGS__))

  #define TRY_ACQUIRE_SHARED(...) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(try_acquire_shared_capability(__VA_ARGS__))

  #define EXCLUDES(...) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(locks_excluded(__VA_ARGS__))

  #define ASSERT_CAPABILITY(x) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(assert_capability(x))

  #define ASSERT_SHARED_CAPABILITY(x) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(assert_shared_capability(x))

  #define RETURN_CAPABILITY(x) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(lock_returned(x))

  #define NO_THREAD_SAFETY_ANALYSIS \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(no_thread_safety_analysis)


  // Defines an annotated interface for mutexes.
  // These methods can be implemented to use any internal mutex implementation.
  class CAPABILITY("mutex") Mutex {
  public:
    // Acquire/lock this mutex exclusively.  Only one thread can have exclusive
    // access at any one time.  Write operations to guarded data require an
    // exclusive lock.
    void Lock() ACQUIRE();

    // Acquire/lock this mutex for read operations, which require only a shared
    // lock.  This assumes a multiple-reader, single writer semantics.  Multiple
    // threads may acquire the mutex simultaneously as readers, but a writer
    // must wait for all of them to release the mutex before it can acquire it
    // exclusively.
    void ReaderLock() ACQUIRE_SHARED();

    // Release/unlock an exclusive mutex.
    void Unlock() RELEASE();

    // Release/unlock a shared mutex.
    void ReaderUnlock() RELEASE_SHARED();

    // Generic unlock, can unlock exclusive and shared mutexes.
    void GenericUnlock() RELEASE_GENERIC();

    // Try to acquire the mutex.  Returns true on success, and false on failure.
    bool TryLock() TRY_ACQUIRE(true);

    // Try to acquire the mutex for read operations.
    bool ReaderTryLock() TRY_ACQUIRE_SHARED(true);

    // Assert that this mutex is currently held by the calling thread.
    void AssertHeld() ASSERT_CAPABILITY(this);

    // Assert that is mutex is currently held for read operations.
    void AssertReaderHeld() ASSERT_SHARED_CAPABILITY(this);
    
    // For negative capabilities.
    const Mutex& operator!() const { return *this; }
  };

  // Tag types for selecting a constructor.
  struct adopt_lock_t {} inline constexpr adopt_lock = {};
  struct defer_lock_t {} inline constexpr defer_lock = {};
  struct shared_lock_t {} inline constexpr shared_lock = {};

  // MutexLocker is an RAII class that acquires a mutex in its constructor, and
  // releases it in its destructor.
  class SCOPED_CAPABILITY MutexLocker {
  private:
    Mutex* mut;
    bool locked;

  public:
    // Acquire mu, implicitly acquire *this and associate it with mu.
    MutexLocker(Mutex *mu) ACQUIRE(mu) : mut(mu), locked(true) {
      mu->Lock();
    }

    // Assume mu is held, implicitly acquire *this and associate it with mu.
    MutexLocker(Mutex *mu, adopt_lock_t) REQUIRES(mu) : mut(mu), locked(true) {}

    // Acquire mu in shared mode, implicitly acquire *this and associate it with mu.
    MutexLocker(Mutex *mu, shared_lock_t) ACQUIRE_SHARED(mu) : mut(mu), locked(true) {
      mu->ReaderLock();
    }

    // Assume mu is held in shared mode, implicitly acquire *this and associate it with mu.
    MutexLocker(Mutex *mu, adopt_lock_t, shared_lock_t) REQUIRES_SHARED(mu)
      : mut(mu), locked(true) {}

    // Assume mu is not held, implicitly acquire *this and associate it with mu.
    MutexLocker(Mutex *mu, defer_lock_t) EXCLUDES(mu) : mut(mu), locked(false) {}

    // Release *this and all associated mutexes, if they are still held.
    // There is no warning if the scope was already unlocked before.
    ~MutexLocker() RELEASE() {
      if (locked)
        mut->GenericUnlock();
    }

    // Acquire all associated mutexes exclusively.
    void Lock() ACQUIRE() {
      mut->Lock();
      locked = true;
    }

    // Try to acquire all associated mutexes exclusively.
    bool TryLock() TRY_ACQUIRE(true) {
      return locked = mut->TryLock();
    }

    // Acquire all associated mutexes in shared mode.
    void ReaderLock() ACQUIRE_SHARED() {
      mut->ReaderLock();
      locked = true;
    }

    // Try to acquire all associated mutexes in shared mode.
    bool ReaderTryLock() TRY_ACQUIRE_SHARED(true) {
      return locked = mut->ReaderTryLock();
    }

    // Release all associated mutexes. Warn on double unlock.
    void Unlock() RELEASE() {
      mut->Unlock();
      locked = false;
    }

    // Release all associated mutexes. Warn on double unlock.
    void ReaderUnlock() RELEASE() {
      mut->ReaderUnlock();
      locked = false;
    }
  };


  #ifdef USE_LOCK_STYLE_THREAD_SAFETY_ATTRIBUTES
  // The original version of thread safety analysis the following attribute
  // definitions.  These use a lock-based terminology.  They are still in use
  // by existing thread safety code, and will continue to be supported.

  // Deprecated.
  #define PT_GUARDED_VAR \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(pt_guarded_var)

  // Deprecated.
  #define GUARDED_VAR \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(guarded_var)

  // Replaced by REQUIRES
  #define EXCLUSIVE_LOCKS_REQUIRED(...) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(exclusive_locks_required(__VA_ARGS__))

  // Replaced by REQUIRES_SHARED
  #define SHARED_LOCKS_REQUIRED(...) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(shared_locks_required(__VA_ARGS__))

  // Replaced by CAPABILITY
  #define LOCKABLE \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(lockable)

  // Replaced by SCOPED_CAPABILITY
  #define SCOPED_LOCKABLE \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(scoped_lockable)

  // Replaced by ACQUIRE
  #define EXCLUSIVE_LOCK_FUNCTION(...) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(exclusive_lock_function(__VA_ARGS__))

  // Replaced by ACQUIRE_SHARED
  #define SHARED_LOCK_FUNCTION(...) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(shared_lock_function(__VA_ARGS__))

  // Replaced by RELEASE and RELEASE_SHARED
  #define UNLOCK_FUNCTION(...) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(unlock_function(__VA_ARGS__))

  // Replaced by TRY_ACQUIRE
  #define EXCLUSIVE_TRYLOCK_FUNCTION(...) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(exclusive_trylock_function(__VA_ARGS__))

  // Replaced by TRY_ACQUIRE_SHARED
  #define SHARED_TRYLOCK_FUNCTION(...) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(shared_trylock_function(__VA_ARGS__))

  // Replaced by ASSERT_CAPABILITY
  #define ASSERT_EXCLUSIVE_LOCK(...) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(assert_exclusive_lock(__VA_ARGS__))

  // Replaced by ASSERT_SHARED_CAPABILITY
  #define ASSERT_SHARED_LOCK(...) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(assert_shared_lock(__VA_ARGS__))

  // Replaced by EXCLUDE_CAPABILITY.
  #define LOCKS_EXCLUDED(...) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(locks_excluded(__VA_ARGS__))

  // Replaced by RETURN_CAPABILITY
  #define LOCK_RETURNED(x) \
    THREAD_ANNOTATION_ATTRIBUTE__(lock_returned(x))

  #endif  // USE_LOCK_STYLE_THREAD_SAFETY_ATTRIBUTES

  #endif  // THREAD_SAFETY_ANALYSIS_MUTEX_H