The beginthread function creates a new
thread of execution within the current process. It is part of the
Microsoft Windows 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 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)