Windows® via C/C++, Fifth Edition

Event Kernel Objects

Of all the kernel objects, events are by far the most primitive. They contain a usage count (as all kernel objects do), a Boolean value indicating whether the event is an auto-reset or manual-reset event, and another Boolean value indicating whether the event is signaled or nonsignaled.

Events signal that an operation has completed. There are two different types of event objects: manual-reset events and auto-reset events. When a manual-reset event is signaled, all threads waiting on the event become schedulable. When an auto-reset event is signaled, only one of the threads waiting on the event becomes schedulable.

Events are most commonly used when one thread performs initialization work and then signals another thread to perform ...