Boost C++ Libraries

The documentation was converted to BoostBook format, and a number of errors and inconsistencies were fixed in the process. Since this was a fairly large task, there are likely to be more errors and inconsistencies remaining. If you find any, please report them!

The option to link Boost.Threads as a static library has been added (with some limitations on Win32 platforms). This feature was originally removed from an earlier version of Boost because boost::thread_specific_ptr required that Boost.Threads be dynamically linked in order for its cleanup functionality to work on Win32 platforms. Because this limitation never applied to non-Win32 platforms, because significant progress has been made in removing the limitation on Win32 platforms (many thanks to Aaron LaFramboise and Roland Scwarz!), and because the lack of static linking is one of the most common complaints of Boost.Threads users, this decision was reversed.

On non-Win32 platforms: To choose the dynamically linked version of Boost.Threads using Boost's auto-linking feature, #define BOOST_THREAD_USE_DLL; to choose the statically linked version, #define BOOST_THREAD_USE_LIB. If neither symbols is #defined, the default will be chosen. Currently the default is the statically linked version.

On Win32 platforms using VC++: Use the same #defines as for non-Win32 platforms (BOOST_THREAD_USE_DLL and BOOST_THREAD_USE_LIB). If neither is #defined, the default will be chosen. Currently the default is the statically linked version if the VC++ run-time library is set to "Multi-threaded" or "Multi-threaded Debug", and the dynamically linked version if the VC++ run-time library is set to "Multi-threaded DLL" or "Multi-threaded Debug DLL".

On Win32 platforms using compilers other than VC++: Use the same #defines as for non-Win32 platforms (BOOST_THREAD_USE_DLL and BOOST_THREAD_USE_LIB). If neither is #defined, the default will be chosen. Currently the default is the dynamically linked version because it has not yet been possible to implement automatic tss cleanup in the statically linked version for compilers other than VC++, although it is hoped that this will be possible in a future version of Boost.Threads. Note for advanced users: Boost.Threads provides several "hook" functions to allow users to experiment with the statically linked version on Win32 with compilers other than VC++. These functions are on_process_enter(), on_process_exit(), on_thread_enter(), and on_thread_exit(), and are defined in tls_hooks.cpp. See the comments in that file for more information.

A new class, boost::barrier, was added.

New classes, boost::read_write_mutex, boost::try_read_write_mutex, and boost::timed_read_write_mutex were added.

The boost::thread_specific_ptr constructor now takes an optional pointer to a cleanup function that is called to release the thread-specific data that is being pointed to by boost::thread_specific_ptr objects.

Fixed: the number of available thread-specific storage "slots" is too small on some platforms.

Fixed: thread_specific_ptr::reset() doesn't check error returned by tss::set() (the tss::set() function now throws if it fails instead of returning an error code).

Fixed: calling boost::thread_specific_ptr::reset() or boost::thread_specific_ptr::release() causes double-delete: once when boost::thread_specific_ptr::reset() or boost::thread_specific_ptr::release() is called and once when boost::thread_specific_ptr::~thread_specific_ptr() is called.

On Win32, boost::mutex, boost::try_mutex, boost::recursive_mutex, and boost::recursive_try_mutex now use a Win32 critical section whenever possible; otherwise they use a Win32 mutex. As before, boost::timed_mutex and boost::recursive_timed_mutex use a Win32 mutex.

Minor changes were made to make Boost.Threads work on Windows CE.