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This function releases ownership of the specified mutex object.
BOOL ReleaseMutex( HANDLE hMutex );
Parameters
- hMutex
- [in] Handle to the mutex object. The
CreateMutexfunction
returns this handle.
Return Values
Nonzero indicates success. Zero indicates failure. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.
Remarks
The ReleaseMutexfunction fails if the calling thread does not own the mutex object.
A thread gets ownership of a mutex by specifying a handle to the mutex in one of the wait functions. The thread that creates a mutex object can also get immediate ownership without using one of the wait functions. When the owning thread no longer needs to own the mutex object, it calls the ReleaseMutexfunction.
While a thread has ownership of a mutex, it can specify the same mutex in additional wait-function calls without blocking its execution. This prevents a thread from deadlocking itself while waiting for a mutex that it already owns. However, to release its ownership, the thread must call ReleaseMutexonce for each time that the mutex satisfied a wait.
Requirements
Runs on Versions Defined in Include Link to Windows CE OS 1.01 and later Winbase.h Nk.lib Note This API is part of the complete Windows CE OS package as provided by Microsoft. The functionality of a particular platform is determined by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and some devices may not support this API.
See Also