Windows HANDLE resource leak on pthread_create

Windows HANDLE resource leak on pthread_create

[Dominic Gamble]

I have some code which creates a new thread every second or so, which
sends a windows message using (SendMessage) and then exits.

I use pthread_create to create the thread. I use pthread_exit at the end
of my function.

When the program is running the handle count in the windows task manager
seems to increase continually. The rate is approximately 800 handles
every 10 minutes (The thread count is stable though). I took out the
"SendMessage()" call in case it had anything to do with that but the
problem persisted.

I then changed my code to use a basic Win32 API thread using
"CreateThread(...)".

The handle count is now stable.

I'm using the 2003-09-18 Snapshot, however I've read through the change
logs since then and there doesn't appear to be anything relating to a
resource leak on windows Handles. There is a mention of this being fixed
in the 2000-08-10 Snapshot, in the Bugs Fixed section:

"Win32 thread handle leakage bug"

Also in the 2003-08-15 Snapshot it says:

"* POSIX thread handles are now reused and their memory is not freed on
thread exit. This allows for stronger thread validity checking."

Can someone please verify that what is happening is a bug, as it appears
to lock up the entire system once the Handle Count reaches a certain
amount. I couldn't find anything about this on the Known Bugs page on
the website.

FYI: This happens both on Windows 2000 & XP.

Cheers,
Dominic

-- 
Dominic Gamble
Director
Advancen Software Solutions & Multimedia

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Re: Windows HANDLE resource leak on pthread_create

[Dominic Gamble]

Thanks for those who responded. It seems I have to create the thread as
detached initially.

Cheers,
Dominic.

On Mon, 2005-01-17 at 18:01, Dominic Gamble wrote:
> I have some code which creates a new thread every second or so, which
> sends a windows message using (SendMessage) and then exits.
> 
> I use pthread_create to create the thread. I use pthread_exit at the end
> of my function.
> 
> When the program is running the handle count in the windows task manager
> seems to increase continually. The rate is approximately 800 handles
> every 10 minutes (The thread count is stable though). I took out the
> "SendMessage()" call in case it had anything to do with that but the
> problem persisted.
> 
> I then changed my code to use a basic Win32 API thread using
> "CreateThread(...)".
> 
> The handle count is now stable.
> 
> I'm using the 2003-09-18 Snapshot, however I've read through the change
> logs since then and there doesn't appear to be anything relating to a
> resource leak on windows Handles. There is a mention of this being fixed
> in the 2000-08-10 Snapshot, in the Bugs Fixed section:
> 
> "Win32 thread handle leakage bug"
> 
> Also in the 2003-08-15 Snapshot it says:
> 
> "* POSIX thread handles are now reused and their memory is not freed on
> thread exit. This allows for stronger thread validity checking."
> 
> Can someone please verify that what is happening is a bug, as it appears
> to lock up the entire system once the Handle Count reaches a certain
> amount. I couldn't find anything about this on the Known Bugs page on
> the website.
> 
> FYI: This happens both on Windows 2000 & XP.
> 
> Cheers,
> Dominic