sem_unlink在man手册里有这么一段话：
sem_unlink() removes the named semaphore referred to by name.
The semaphore name is removed immediately. The semaphore is
destroyed once all other processes that have the semaphore open close it.
这段话的意思是说，sem_unlink会马上删除指定的信号量名，但要等到所有打开该信号量的进程关闭该信号量后才删除该信号。详细地说，当进程创建一个有名信号量，会在/dev/shm下生成一个sem.xxx的文件，所有打开该信号量的进程（包括创建它的进程）都会增加该文件的引用计数，并且这个计数由内核管理。当调用sem_unlink时，/dev/shm下的sem.xxx文件会马上被删除，但是信号量本身并没有被删除，所有已打开该信号量的进程仍能正常使用它。直到所有打开该信号量的进程关闭该信号量后，内核才真正删除信号量。
因此，信号量跟sem.xxx并不是共存亡的。下面来测试下：
/* sem_create.cpp */
#include <iostream> #include <fcntl.h> /* For O_* constants */ #include <sys/stat.h> /* For mode constants */ #include <semaphore.h> #include <unistd.h> #include <cerrno> #include <cstring> int main() { sem_t *psem = sem_open( "/sem_test",O_CREAT,S_IRWXU,1 ); if ( SEM_FAILED == psem ) { std::cout << "sem_open fail:" << strerror(errno) << std::endl; return 0; } int sval = 0; sem_getvalue( psem,&sval ); std::cout << "sleep now ....value is " << sval << std::endl; sleep( 30 ); sem_getvalue( psem,&sval ); std::cout << "wake up ....value is " << sval << std::endl; sem_post( psem ); sem_getvalue( psem,&sval ); std::cout << "raise value and try again ....value is " << sval << std::endl; sem_close( psem ); }
/** * * sem_destruct.cpp */ #include <iostream> #include <fcntl.h> /* For O_* constants */ #include <sys/stat.h> /* For mode constants */ #include <semaphore.h> #include <cerrno> #include <cstring> int main() { sem_t *psem = sem_open( "/sem_test",O_CREAT,S_IRWXU,1 ); if ( SEM_FAILED == psem ) { std::cout << "sem_open fail:" << strerror(errno) << std::endl; return 0; } std::cout << "decrease value and remove sem now..." << std::endl; sem_wait ( psem ); sem_close( psem ); sem_unlink( "/sem_test" ); std::cout << "sem should remove from /dev/shm,but not really remove" << std::endl; }
分别编译上面的文件：
g++ -pthread -o sem_create sem_create.cpp g++ -pthread -o sem_destruct sem_destruct.cpp
先运行sem_create，再运行sem_destruct这时个可以看到输出为：
xzc@xzc-HP-ProBook-4446s:~/code/sem$ ./sem_create sleep now ....value is 1 xzc@xzc-HP-ProBook-4446s:~/code/sem$ ./sem_destruct decrease value and remove sem now... sem should remove from /dev/shm,but not really remove wake up ....value is 0 raise value and try again ....value is 1
可以看到，即使sem_destruct从/dev/shm把信号量删除了，ls /dev/shm也确认对应的文件删除了。但是经过sleep的sem_create进程在wake up后仍能对信号量进行操作。
可以看到，有名信号量一旦打开后，跟名字并没有多大关系。下面再来测试有名信号量调用sem_unlink但仍有进程在使用，这时另外一个进程又要创建同名信号量的情况
/** * * sem_again.cpp */ #include <iostream> #include <fcntl.h> /* For O_* constants */ #include <sys/stat.h> /* For mode constants */ #include <semaphore.h> #include <unistd.h> #include <cerrno> #include <cstring> int main() { sem_t *psem = sem_open( "/sem_test",O_CREAT|O_EXCL,S_IRWXU,1 ); if ( SEM_FAILED == psem ) { std::cout << "sem_open fail:" << strerror(errno) << std::endl; return 0; } int sval = 0; sem_getvalue( psem,&sval ); //std::cout << "sleep now ....value is " << sval << std::endl; //sleep( 30 ); sem_getvalue( psem,&sval ); std::cout << "value is " << sval << std::endl; sem_post( psem ); sem_getvalue( psem,&sval ); std::cout << "raise value and try again ....value is " << sval << std::endl; sem_close( psem ); sem_unlink( "/sem_test" ); }
编译一下：g++ -pthread -o sem_again sem_again.cpp，然后依次运行sem_create、sem_destruct、sem_again
xzc@xzc-HP-ProBook-4446s:~/code/sem$ ./sem_create sleep now ....value is 1 xzc@xzc-HP-ProBook-4446s:~/code/sem$ ./sem_destruct decrease value and remove sem now... sem should remove from /dev/shm,but not really remove xzc@xzc-HP-ProBook-4446s:~/code/sem$ ./sem_again value is 1 raise value and try again ....value is 2 wake up ....value is 0 raise value and try again ....value is 1
在sem_again中特意使用了O_CREATE|O_EXCL标志，如果已存在同名信号量，则创建失败。但从上面的结果来看，创建成功并且互不干扰。也就是说，一个有名信号量，在打开并调用sem_unlink后可以当作无名信号量来使用(但这时新的进程还想使用该信号量，不可能了)。
注：上面只做了简单测试，并未测试sem_unlink后各进程的竞争情况，在生产环境请自行测试。
PS：在debian 6上，不用unistd.h也能调用sleep函数，在ubuntu 14.04上不行。在debian 6上是链接的库是-lrt，在ubuntu 14.04上是-pthread，-lrt不行。linux这是要闹哪样。
