The beginthread function creates a new
thread of execution within the current process. It is part of the
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
runtime library
In computer programming, a runtime library is a set of low-level routines used by a compiler to invoke some of the behaviors of a runtime environment, by inserting calls to the runtime library into compiled executable binary. The runtime enviro ...
and is
declared in the
process.h
process.h is a C header file which contains function declarations and macros used in working with threads and processes. Most C compilers that target DOS, Windows 3.1x, Win32, OS/2, Novell NetWare or DOS extenders supply this header and the librar ...
header file
Many programming languages and other computer files have a directive, often called include (sometimes copy or import), that causes the contents of the specified file to be inserted into the original file. These included files are called copybooks ...
.
Prototype
unsigned long _beginthread(void(* Func)(void*), unsigned Stack_size, void *Arg);
Func
Thread execution starts at the beginning of the function
func. To terminate the thread correctly,
func must call
_endthread or end with "return 0", freeing memory allocated by the run time library to support the thread.
Stack_size
The operating system allocates a stack for the thread containing the number of bytes specified by
stack_size. If the value of
stack_size is zero, the operating system creates a stack the same size as that of the main thread.
[MSDN _beginthread](_blank)
/ref>
Arg
The operating system passes Arg to Func when execution begins. Arg can be any 32-bit value cast to void*.
Return value
Returns the operating system handle of the newly created thread. If unsuccessful, the function returns -1 and sets errno
errno.h is a header file in the standard library of the C programming language. It defines macros for reporting and retrieving error conditions using the symbol errno (short for "error number").International Standard for Programming Language C ...
.
Compiler switches
To compile a program using multiple threads with the Microsoft C/C++ Compiler, you must specify the /MT switch (or /MTd, for debug programs).
References
Process.h
Threads (computing)