I think I don't understand your problem exactly... what are p(x) and v(x)? Why would they cause deadlocks?? Anyway, it seems to me that the most adequate object for you would be a critical section instead of a mutex. The critical section has the benefit of being somewhat more efficient than a mutex. A critical section executes and locks in about 10 cpu cycles (if available) while a mutex locks in about 600 cpu cycles. The critical sections also have a very nice property that allows the same thread to lock it more than once. In fact, after a thread grabs hold of a critical section object, it can lock it as often as requested and never be blocked. This is useful in the following example: int FuncA() { cs.Lock(); do something A cs.UnLock() } int FuncB() { cs.Lock(); do something B cs.UnLock() } int FuncC() { cs.Lock(); FuncA(); FuncB(); do something C cs.UnLock() } This property may make it easier for you to avoid deadlocks, since a critical section never locks the thread that owns it. In the example above you can export FuncA(), funcB(), and also FuncC() which uses the already protected FuncA() and FuncB(), and adds a lock of its own. As mentioned, the sequence of 3 locks and unlocks is extremelly fast. There are also some downsides to critical sections. 1) They can only be used inside the same process space, and not across processes. 2) Some users also report that critical sections do not react very well when they are destroyed if some threads are trying to lock it under Windows 95. I never had any problems. 3) They don't allow a timeout value to be specified in the 95/98/Me fmaily, and also in NT4. I hope this helps. Rilhas
