This routine sets the scheduling parameters associated with
the scheduling policy attribute of the thread attributes object
specified by the attr argument.
Scheduling Priority
Use the sched_priority field of a sched_param structure to set
a thread's execution priority. The effect of the scheduling
priority you assign depends on the scheduling policy specified
for the attributes object specified by the attr argument.
By default, a created thread inherits the priority of the thread
calling pthread_create(). To specify a priority using this
routine, scheduling inheritance must be disabled at the time the
thread is created. Before calling pthread_create(), call pthread_
attr_setinheritsched() and specify the value PTHREAD_EXPLICIT_
SCHED for the inherit argument.
An application specifies priority only to express the urgency
of executing the thread relative to other threads. Do not use
priority to control mutual exclusion when you are accessing
shared data. With a sufficient number of processors present, all
ready threads, regardless of priority, execute simultaneously.
Even on a uniprocessor, a lower priority thread could either
execute before or be interleaved with a higher priority thread,
for example due to page fault behavior. See <REFERENCE>(intro_
threads_chap) and <REFERENCE>(threads_concepts_chap) for more
information.
Valid values of the sched_priority scheduling parameter depend on
the chosen scheduling policy. Use the POSIX routines sched_get_
priority_min() or sched_get_priority_max() to determine the low
and high limits of each policy.
Additionally, the Threads Library provides nonportable priority
range constants, as follows:
Policy Low High
SCHED_FIFO PRI_FIFO_MIN PRI_FIFO_MAX
SCHED_RR PRI_RR_MIN PRI_RR_MAX
SCHED_OTHER PRI_OTHER_MIN PRI_OTHER_MAX
SCHED_FG_NP PRI_FG_MIN_NP PRI_FG_MAX_NP
SCHED_BG_NP PRI_BG_MIN_NP PRI_BG_MAX_NP
The default priority varies by platform. On Tru64 UNIX, the
default is 19 (that is, the POSIX priority of a normal timeshare
process). On other platforms, the default priority is the
midpoint between PRI_FG_MIN_NP and PRI_FG_MAX_NP.