producer consumer problem

thread-ex

#include <pthread.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <semaphore.h>

#define BUFF_SIZE 4
#define FULL 0
#define EMPTY 0
char buffer[BUFF_SIZE];
int nextIn = 0;
int nextOut = 0;

sem_t empty_sem_mutex; //producer semaphore
sem_t full_sem_mutex; //consumer semaphore

void Put(char item)
{
  int value;
  sem_wait(&empty_sem_mutex); //get the mutex to fill the buffer

  buffer[nextIn] = item;
  nextIn = (nextIn + 1) % BUFF_SIZE;
  printf("Producing %c ...nextIn %d..Ascii=%d\n",item,nextIn,item);
  if(nextIn==FULL)
    {
      sem_post(&full_sem_mutex);
      sleep(1);
    }
  sem_post(&empty_sem_mutex);

}

void * Producer()
{
  int i;
  for(i = 0; i < 10; i++)
    {
      Put((char)('A'+ i % 26));
    }
}

void Get()
{
  int item;

  sem_wait(&full_sem_mutex); // gain the mutex to consume from buffer

  item = buffer[nextOut];
  nextOut = (nextOut + 1) % BUFF_SIZE;
  printf("\t...Consuming %c ...nextOut %d..Ascii=%d\n",item,nextOut,item);
  if(nextOut==EMPTY) //its empty
    {
      sleep(1);
    }

  sem_post(&full_sem_mutex);
}

void * Consumer()
{
  int i;
  for(i = 0; i < 10; i++)
    {
      Get();
    }
}

int main()
{
  pthread_t ptid,ctid;
  //initialize the semaphores

  sem_init(&empty_sem_mutex,0,1);
  sem_init(&full_sem_mutex,0,0);

  //creating producer and consumer threads

  if(pthread_create(&ptid, NULL,Producer, NULL))
    {
      printf("\n ERROR creating thread 1");
      exit(1);
    }

  if(pthread_create(&ctid, NULL,Consumer, NULL))
    {
      printf("\n ERROR creating thread 2");
      exit(1);
    }

  if(pthread_join(ptid, NULL)) /* wait for the producer to finish */
    {
      printf("\n ERROR joining thread");
      exit(1);
    }

  if(pthread_join(ctid, NULL)) /* wait for consumer to finish */
    {
      printf("\n ERROR joining thread");
      exit(1);
    }

  sem_destroy(&empty_sem_mutex);
  sem_destroy(&full_sem_mutex);

  //exit the main thread

  pthread_exit(NULL);
  return 1;
}

This example will show how condition variables can be used to control access of reads and writes to a buffer. This example can also be thought as a producer/consumer problem, where the producer adds items to the buffer and the consumer removes items from the buffer.

Two condition variables control access to the buffer. One condition variable is used to tell if the buffer is full, and the other is used to tell if the buffer is empty. When the producer wants to add an item to the buffer, it checks to see if the buffer is full; if it is full the producer blocks on the cond_wait() call, waiting for an item to be removed from the buffer. When the consumer removes an item from the buffer, the buffer is no longer full, so the producer is awakened from the cond_wait() call. The producer is then allowed to add another item to the buffer.

The consumer works, in many ways, the same as the producer. The consumer uses the other condition variable to determine if the buffer is empty. When the consumer wants to remove an item from the buffer, it checks to see if it is empty. If the buffer is empty, the consumer then blocks on the cond_wait() call, waiting for an item to be added to the buffer. When the producer adds an item to the buffer, the consumer's condition is satisfied, so it can then remove an item from the buffer.

The example copies a file by reading data into a shared buffer (producer) and then writing data out to the new file (consumer). The Buf data structure is used to hold both the buffered data and the condition variables that control the flow of the data.

The main thread opens both files, initializes the Buf data structure, creates the consumer thread, and then assumes the role of the producer. The producer reads data from the input file, then places the data into an open buffer position. If no buffer positions are available, then the producer waits via the cond_wait() call. After the producer has read all the data from the input file, it closes the file and waits for (joins) the consumer thread.

The consumer thread reads from a shared buffer and then writes the data to the output file. If no buffers positions are available, then the consumer waits for the producer to fill a buffer position. After the consumer has read all the data, it closes the output file and exits.

If the input file and the output file were residing on different physical disks, then this example could execute the reads and writes in parallel. This parallelism would significantly increase the throughput of the example through the use of threads.