Thread::Detach - fix broken threads->detach on Windows

    use Thread::Detach ();   # apply the fix

                  *** A note of CAUTION ***

 This module only functions on Perl versions 5.8.0 and later.
 And then only when threads are enabled with -Dusethreads.  It
 is of no use with any version of Perl before 5.8.0 or without
 threads enabled.

                  *************************

Perl versions before 5.8.4 don't support the "detach" method of the threads module on Windows!. This module provides a temporary fix for this problem if it is running under Windows and with a version of Perl that has the problem. In any other situation, this module does nothing.

All of this happens on Windows only and if the version of the Perl executor is known to have the problem.

This module replaces the standard threads-detach> method with another subroutine that just sets an internal flag to mark the thread as "detached".

Futhermore it uses Thread::Exit to register a subroutine that is executed after each thread is finished executing: this subroutine marks the thread as "done" if the thread was marked as "detached" earlier.

Lastly, it uses Thread::Exit to register a subroutine that is executed at the beginning of each thread: this subroutine reaps all the threads that were marked "done", hence providing the necessary cleanup.

 Thread::Exit (0.08)

Maybe the reliance on Thread::Exit should be replaced by some more direct magic. Using Thread::Exit made this module all the more simple, though.

Examples should be added.

Elizabeth Mattijsen, <liz@dijkmat.nl>.

Please report bugs to <perlbugs@dijkmat.nl>.

Copyright (c) 2004 Elizabeth Mattijsen <liz@dijkmat.nl>. All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

threads, Thread::Exit.