PTHREAD_EXIT(3) 					     Linux Programmer's Manual						   PTHREAD_EXIT(3)

NAME

       pthread_exit - terminate calling thread

SYNOPSIS

       #include <pthread.h>

       void pthread_exit(void *retval);

       Compile and link with -pthread.

DESCRIPTION

       The  pthread_exit()  function terminates the calling thread and returns a value via retval that (if the thread is joinable) is available to
       another 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 corresponding destructor functions are called, in an unspecified order.

       When a thread terminates, process-shared resources (e.g., mutexes, condition 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 resources 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.

CONFORMING TO

       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)

COLOPHON

       This page is part of release 3.44 of the Linux man-pages project.  A description of the project, and information about reporting bugs,  can
       be found at http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.

Linux								    2009-03-30							   PTHREAD_EXIT(3)