[erlang-questions] Join equivalent

[Christian S]

On 9/8/06, theeepan <theepan@REDACTED> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Is there an equivalent function in Erlang to "C pthreads join"? This can
> semantically be implemented with linked process with 'receive to exit', but
> what I want to know is whether there is a direct BIF to call after spawn?

Short answer: No, not directly.

Longer answer:

You can use erlang:monitor/2 to follow the status of the process. See
the manual for this.

Different approach: By passing the spawned process your pid and having
it report back with a message to you when it has completed its task is
also an option. Psuedo-ish code:

Pid = spawn_link(M, F, [self()),
mystuff(),
receive
  {done, Pid} ->
    phew()
after 5000 ->
   ohnoes()
end

If the spawned process fails, it will crash and bring you down as
well. This can be a good thing that moves error handling higher up in
abstraction.

PS.
The function rpc:pmap/3 could be a better api for you, depending on
what problem you are trying to solve.