ViewVC Help
View File | Revision Log | Show Annotations | Download File
/cvs/AnyEvent-Fork-RPC/RPC.pm
(Generate patch)

Comparing AnyEvent-Fork-RPC/RPC.pm (file contents):
Revision 1.9 by root, Wed Apr 17 21:48:35 2013 UTC vs.
Revision 1.33 by root, Tue Oct 15 09:15:59 2013 UTC

2 2
3AnyEvent::Fork::RPC - simple RPC extension for AnyEvent::Fork 3AnyEvent::Fork::RPC - simple RPC extension for AnyEvent::Fork
4 4
5=head1 SYNOPSIS 5=head1 SYNOPSIS
6 6
7 use AnyEvent::Fork;
7 use AnyEvent::Fork::RPC; 8 use AnyEvent::Fork::RPC;
8 # use AnyEvent::Fork is not needed
9 9
10 my $rpc = AnyEvent::Fork 10 my $rpc = AnyEvent::Fork
11 ->new 11 ->new
12 ->require ("MyModule") 12 ->require ("MyModule")
13 ->AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::run ( 13 ->AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::run (
14 "MyModule::server", 14 "MyModule::server",
15 ); 15 );
16 16
17 use AnyEvent;
18
17 my $cv = AE::cv; 19 my $cv = AE::cv;
18 20
19 $rpc->(1, 2, 3, sub { 21 $rpc->(1, 2, 3, sub {
20 print "MyModule::server returned @_\n"; 22 print "MyModule::server returned @_\n";
21 $cv->send; 23 $cv->send;
24 $cv->recv; 26 $cv->recv;
25 27
26=head1 DESCRIPTION 28=head1 DESCRIPTION
27 29
28This module implements a simple RPC protocol and backend for processes 30This module implements a simple RPC protocol and backend for processes
29created via L<AnyEvent::Fork>, allowing you to call a function in the 31created via L<AnyEvent::Fork> or L<AnyEvent::Fork::Remote>, allowing you
30child process and receive its return values (up to 4GB serialised). 32to call a function in the child process and receive its return values (up
33to 4GB serialised).
31 34
32It implements two different backends: a synchronous one that works like a 35It implements two different backends: a synchronous one that works like a
33normal function call, and an asynchronous one that can run multiple jobs 36normal function call, and an asynchronous one that can run multiple jobs
34concurrently in the child, using AnyEvent. 37concurrently in the child, using AnyEvent.
35 38
36It also implements an asynchronous event mechanism from the child to the 39It also implements an asynchronous event mechanism from the child to the
37parent, that could be used for progress indications or other information. 40parent, that could be used for progress indications or other information.
38 41
39Loading this module also always loads L<AnyEvent::Fork>, so you can make a
40separate C<use AnyEvent::Fork> if you wish, but you don't have to.
41
42=head1 EXAMPLES 42=head1 EXAMPLES
43 43
44=head2 Synchronous Backend 44=head2 Example 1: Synchronous Backend
45 45
46Here is a simple example that implements a backend that executes C<unlink> 46Here is a simple example that implements a backend that executes C<unlink>
47and C<rmdir> calls, and reports their status back. It also reports the 47and C<rmdir> calls, and reports their status back. It also reports the
48number of requests it has processed every three requests, which is clearly 48number of requests it has processed every three requests, which is clearly
49silly, but illustrates the use of events. 49silly, but illustrates the use of events.
58 58
59 my $rpc = AnyEvent::Fork 59 my $rpc = AnyEvent::Fork
60 ->new 60 ->new
61 ->require ("MyWorker") 61 ->require ("MyWorker")
62 ->AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::run ("MyWorker::run", 62 ->AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::run ("MyWorker::run",
63 on_error => sub { warn "FATAL: $_[0]"; exit 1 }, 63 on_error => sub { warn "ERROR: $_[0]"; exit 1 },
64 on_event => sub { warn "$_[0] requests handled\n" }, 64 on_event => sub { warn "$_[0] requests handled\n" },
65 on_destroy => $done, 65 on_destroy => $done,
66 ); 66 );
67 67
68 for my $id (1..6) { 68 for my $id (1..6) {
137 137
138And as a final remark, there is a fine module on CPAN that can 138And as a final remark, there is a fine module on CPAN that can
139asynchronously C<rmdir> and C<unlink> and a lot more, and more efficiently 139asynchronously C<rmdir> and C<unlink> and a lot more, and more efficiently
140than this example, namely L<IO::AIO>. 140than this example, namely L<IO::AIO>.
141 141
142=head3 Example 1a: the same with the asynchronous backend
143
144This example only shows what needs to be changed to use the async backend
145instead. Doing this is not very useful, the purpose of this example is
146to show the minimum amount of change that is required to go from the
147synchronous to the asynchronous backend.
148
149To use the async backend in the previous example, you need to add the
150C<async> parameter to the C<AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::run> call:
151
152 ->AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::run ("MyWorker::run",
153 async => 1,
154 ...
155
156And since the function call protocol is now changed, you need to adopt
157C<MyWorker::run> to the async API.
158
159First, you need to accept the extra initial C<$done> callback:
160
161 sub run {
162 my ($done, $cmd, $path) = @_;
163
164And since a response is now generated when C<$done> is called, as opposed
165to when the function returns, we need to call the C<$done> function with
166the status:
167
168 $done->($status or (0, "$!"));
169
170A few remarks are in order. First, it's quite pointless to use the async
171backend for this example - but it I<is> possible. Second, you can call
172C<$done> before or after returning from the function. Third, having both
173returned from the function and having called the C<$done> callback, the
174child process may exit at any time, so you should call C<$done> only when
175you really I<are> done.
176
177=head2 Example 2: Asynchronous Backend
178
179This example implements multiple count-downs in the child, using
180L<AnyEvent> timers. While this is a bit silly (one could use timers in te
181parent just as well), it illustrates the ability to use AnyEvent in the
182child and the fact that responses can arrive in a different order then the
183requests.
184
185It also shows how to embed the actual child code into a C<__DATA__>
186section, so it doesn't need any external files at all.
187
188And when your parent process is often busy, and you have stricter timing
189requirements, then running timers in a child process suddenly doesn't look
190so silly anymore.
191
192Without further ado, here is the code:
193
194 use AnyEvent;
195 use AnyEvent::Fork;
196 use AnyEvent::Fork::RPC;
197
198 my $done = AE::cv;
199
200 my $rpc = AnyEvent::Fork
201 ->new
202 ->require ("AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::Async")
203 ->eval (do { local $/; <DATA> })
204 ->AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::run ("run",
205 async => 1,
206 on_error => sub { warn "ERROR: $_[0]"; exit 1 },
207 on_event => sub { print $_[0] },
208 on_destroy => $done,
209 );
210
211 for my $count (3, 2, 1) {
212 $rpc->($count, sub {
213 warn "job $count finished\n";
214 });
215 }
216
217 undef $rpc;
218
219 $done->recv;
220
221 __DATA__
222
223 # this ends up in main, as we don't use a package declaration
224
225 use AnyEvent;
226
227 sub run {
228 my ($done, $count) = @_;
229
230 my $n;
231
232 AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::event "starting to count up to $count\n";
233
234 my $w; $w = AE::timer 1, 1, sub {
235 ++$n;
236
237 AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::event "count $n of $count\n";
238
239 if ($n == $count) {
240 undef $w;
241 $done->();
242 }
243 };
244 }
245
246The parent part (the one before the C<__DATA__> section) isn't very
247different from the earlier examples. It sets async mode, preloads
248the backend module (so the C<AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::event> function is
249declared), uses a slightly different C<on_event> handler (which we use
250simply for logging purposes) and then, instead of loading a module with
251the actual worker code, it C<eval>'s the code from the data section in the
252child process.
253
254It then starts three countdowns, from 3 to 1 seconds downwards, destroys
255the rpc object so the example finishes eventually, and then just waits for
256the stuff to trickle in.
257
258The worker code uses the event function to log some progress messages, but
259mostly just creates a recurring one-second timer.
260
261The timer callback increments a counter, logs a message, and eventually,
262when the count has been reached, calls the finish callback.
263
264On my system, this results in the following output. Since all timers fire
265at roughly the same time, the actual order isn't guaranteed, but the order
266shown is very likely what you would get, too.
267
268 starting to count up to 3
269 starting to count up to 2
270 starting to count up to 1
271 count 1 of 3
272 count 1 of 2
273 count 1 of 1
274 job 1 finished
275 count 2 of 2
276 job 2 finished
277 count 2 of 3
278 count 3 of 3
279 job 3 finished
280
281While the overall ordering isn't guaranteed, the async backend still
282guarantees that events and responses are delivered to the parent process
283in the exact same ordering as they were generated in the child process.
284
285And unless your system is I<very> busy, it should clearly show that the
286job started last will finish first, as it has the lowest count.
287
288This concludes the async example. Since L<AnyEvent::Fork> does not
289actually fork, you are free to use about any module in the child, not just
290L<AnyEvent>, but also L<IO::AIO>, or L<Tk> for example.
291
292=head2 Example 3: Asynchronous backend with Coro
293
294With L<Coro> you can create a nice asynchronous backend implementation by
295defining an rpc server function that creates a new Coro thread for every
296request that calls a function "normally", i.e. the parameters from the
297parent process are passed to it, and any return values are returned to the
298parent process, e.g.:
299
300 package My::Arith;
301
302 sub add {
303 return $_[0] + $_[1];
304 }
305
306 sub mul {
307 return $_[0] * $_[1];
308 }
309
310 sub run {
311 my ($done, $func, @arg) = @_;
312
313 Coro::async_pool {
314 $done->($func->(@arg));
315 };
316 }
317
318The C<run> function creates a new thread for every invocation, using the
319first argument as function name, and calls the C<$done> callback on it's
320return values. This makes it quite natural to define the C<add> and C<mul>
321functions to add or multiply two numbers and return the result.
322
323Since this is the asynchronous backend, it's quite possible to define RPC
324function that do I/O or wait for external events - their execution will
325overlap as needed.
326
327The above could be used like this:
328
329 my $rpc = AnyEvent::Fork
330 ->new
331 ->require ("MyWorker")
332 ->AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::run ("My::Arith::run",
333 on_error => ..., on_event => ..., on_destroy => ...,
334 );
335
336 $rpc->(add => 1, 3, Coro::rouse_cb); say Coro::rouse_wait;
337 $rpc->(mul => 3, 2, Coro::rouse_cb); say Coro::rouse_wait;
338
339The C<say>'s will print C<4> and C<6>.
340
341=head2 Example 4: Forward AnyEvent::Log messages using C<on_event>
342
343This partial example shows how to use the C<event> function to forward
344L<AnyEvent::Log> messages to the parent.
345
346For this, the parent needs to provide a suitable C<on_event>:
347
348 ->AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::run (
349 on_event => sub {
350 if ($_[0] eq "ae_log") {
351 my (undef, $level, $message) = @_;
352 AE::log $level, $message;
353 } else {
354 # other event types
355 }
356 },
357 )
358
359In the child, as early as possible, the following code should reconfigure
360L<AnyEvent::Log> to log via C<AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::event>:
361
362 $AnyEvent::Log::LOG->log_cb (sub {
363 my ($timestamp, $orig_ctx, $level, $message) = @{+shift};
364
365 if (defined &AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::event) {
366 AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::event (ae_log => $level, $message);
367 } else {
368 warn "[$$ before init] $message\n";
369 }
370 });
371
372There is an important twist - the C<AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::event> function
373is only defined when the child is fully initialised. If you redirect the
374log messages in your C<init> function for example, then the C<event>
375function might not yet be available. This is why the log callback checks
376whether the fucntion is there using C<defined>, and only then uses it to
377log the message.
378
142=head1 PARENT PROCESS USAGE 379=head1 PARENT PROCESS USAGE
143 380
144This module exports nothing, and only implements a single function: 381This module exports nothing, and only implements a single function:
145 382
146=over 4 383=over 4
153 390
154use Errno (); 391use Errno ();
155use Guard (); 392use Guard ();
156 393
157use AnyEvent; 394use AnyEvent;
158use AnyEvent::Fork; # we don't actually depend on it, this is for convenience
159 395
160our $VERSION = 0.1; 396our $VERSION = 1.21;
161 397
162=item my $rpc = AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::run $fork, $function, [key => value...] 398=item my $rpc = AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::run $fork, $function, [key => value...]
163 399
164The traditional way to call it. But it is way cooler to call it in the 400The traditional way to call it. But it is way cooler to call it in the
165following way: 401following way:
185Called on (fatal) errors, with a descriptive (hopefully) message. If 421Called on (fatal) errors, with a descriptive (hopefully) message. If
186this callback is not provided, but C<on_event> is, then the C<on_event> 422this callback is not provided, but C<on_event> is, then the C<on_event>
187callback is called with the first argument being the string C<error>, 423callback is called with the first argument being the string C<error>,
188followed by the error message. 424followed by the error message.
189 425
190If neither handler is provided it prints the error to STDERR and will 426If neither handler is provided, then the error is reported with loglevel
191start failing badly. 427C<error> via C<AE::log>.
192 428
193=item on_event => $cb->(...) 429=item on_event => $cb->(...)
194 430
195Called for every call to the C<AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::event> function in the 431Called for every call to the C<AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::event> function in the
196child, with the arguments of that function passed to the callback. 432child, with the arguments of that function passed to the callback.
218It is called very early - before the serialisers are created or the 454It is called very early - before the serialisers are created or the
219C<$function> name is resolved into a function reference, so it could be 455C<$function> name is resolved into a function reference, so it could be
220used to load any modules that provide the serialiser or function. It can 456used to load any modules that provide the serialiser or function. It can
221not, however, create events. 457not, however, create events.
222 458
459=item done => $function (default C<CORE::exit>)
460
461The function to call when the asynchronous backend detects an end of file
462condition when reading from the communications socket I<and> there are no
463outstanding requests. It's ignored by the synchronous backend.
464
465By overriding this you can prolong the life of a RPC process after e.g.
466the parent has exited by running the event loop in the provided function
467(or simply calling it, for example, when your child process uses L<EV> you
468could provide L<EV::loop> as C<done> function).
469
470Of course, in that case you are responsible for exiting at the appropriate
471time and not returning from
472
223=item async => $boolean (default: 0) 473=item async => $boolean (default: 0)
224 474
225The default server used in the child does all I/O blockingly, and only 475The default server used in the child does all I/O blockingly, and only
226allows a single RPC call to execute concurrently. 476allows a single RPC call to execute concurrently.
227 477
228Setting C<async> to a true value switches to another implementation that 478Setting C<async> to a true value switches to another implementation that
229uses L<AnyEvent> in the child and allows multiple concurrent RPC calls. 479uses L<AnyEvent> in the child and allows multiple concurrent RPC calls (it
480does not support recursion in the event loop however, blocking condvar
481calls will fail).
230 482
231The actual API in the child is documented in the section that describes 483The actual API in the child is documented in the section that describes
232the calling semantics of the returned C<$rpc> function. 484the calling semantics of the returned C<$rpc> function.
233 485
234If you want to pre-load the actual back-end modules to enable memory 486If you want to pre-load the actual back-end modules to enable memory
236synchronous, and C<AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::Async> for asynchronous mode. 488synchronous, and C<AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::Async> for asynchronous mode.
237 489
238If you use a template process and want to fork both sync and async 490If you use a template process and want to fork both sync and async
239children, then it is permissible to load both modules. 491children, then it is permissible to load both modules.
240 492
241=item serialiser => $string (default: '(sub { pack "(w/a*)*", @_ }, sub { unpack "(w/a*)*", shift })') 493=item serialiser => $string (default: $AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::STRING_SERIALISER)
242 494
243All arguments, result data and event data have to be serialised to be 495All arguments, result data and event data have to be serialised to be
244transferred between the processes. For this, they have to be frozen and 496transferred between the processes. For this, they have to be frozen and
245thawed in both parent and child processes. 497thawed in both parent and child processes.
246 498
247By default, only octet strings can be passed between the processes, which 499By default, only octet strings can be passed between the processes, which
248is reasonably fast and efficient. 500is reasonably fast and efficient and requires no extra modules.
249 501
250For more complicated use cases, you can provide your own freeze and thaw 502For more complicated use cases, you can provide your own freeze and thaw
251functions, by specifying a string with perl source code. It's supposed to 503functions, by specifying a string with perl source code. It's supposed to
252return two code references when evaluated: the first receives a list of 504return two code references when evaluated: the first receives a list of
253perl values and must return an octet string. The second receives the octet 505perl values and must return an octet string. The second receives the octet
255 507
256If you need an external module for serialisation, then you can either 508If you need an external module for serialisation, then you can either
257pre-load it into your L<AnyEvent::Fork> process, or you can add a C<use> 509pre-load it into your L<AnyEvent::Fork> process, or you can add a C<use>
258or C<require> statement into the serialiser string. Or both. 510or C<require> statement into the serialiser string. Or both.
259 511
512Here are some examples - some of them are also available as global
513variables that make them easier to use.
514
515=over 4
516
517=item octet strings - C<$AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::STRING_SERIALISER>
518
519This serialiser concatenates length-prefixes octet strings, and is the
520default. That means you can only pass (and return) strings containing
521character codes 0-255.
522
523Implementation:
524
525 (
526 sub { pack "(w/a*)*", @_ },
527 sub { unpack "(w/a*)*", shift }
528 )
529
530=item json - C<$AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::JSON_SERIALISER>
531
532This serialiser creates JSON arrays - you have to make sure the L<JSON>
533module is installed for this serialiser to work. It can be beneficial for
534sharing when you preload the L<JSON> module in a template process.
535
536L<JSON> (with L<JSON::XS> installed) is slower than the octet string
537serialiser, but usually much faster than L<Storable>, unless big chunks of
538binary data need to be transferred.
539
540Implementation:
541
542 use JSON ();
543 (
544 sub { JSON::encode_json \@_ },
545 sub { @{ JSON::decode_json shift } }
546 )
547
548=item storable - C<$AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::STORABLE_SERIALISER>
549
550This serialiser uses L<Storable>, which means it has high chance of
551serialising just about anything you throw at it, at the cost of having
552very high overhead per operation. It also comes with perl. It should be
553used when you need to serialise complex data structures.
554
555Implementation:
556
557 use Storable ();
558 (
559 sub { Storable::freeze \@_ },
560 sub { @{ Storable::thaw shift } }
561 )
562
563=item portable storable - C<$AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::NSTORABLE_SERIALISER>
564
565This serialiser also uses L<Storable>, but uses it's "network" format
566to serialise data, which makes it possible to talk to different
567perl binaries (for example, when talking to a process created with
568L<AnyEvent::Fork::Remote>).
569
570Implementation:
571
572 use Storable ();
573 (
574 sub { Storable::nfreeze \@_ },
575 sub { @{ Storable::thaw shift } }
576 )
577
578=back
579
260=back 580=back
261 581
262See the examples section earlier in this document for some actual 582See the examples section earlier in this document for some actual
263examples. 583examples.
264 584
265=cut 585=cut
266 586
267our $STRING_SERIALISER = '(sub { pack "(w/a*)*", @_ }, sub { unpack "(w/a*)*", shift })'; 587our $STRING_SERIALISER = '(sub { pack "(w/a*)*", @_ }, sub { unpack "(w/a*)*", shift })';
588our $JSON_SERIALISER = 'use JSON (); (sub { JSON::encode_json \@_ }, sub { @{ JSON::decode_json shift } })';
589our $STORABLE_SERIALISER = 'use Storable (); (sub { Storable::freeze \@_ }, sub { @{ Storable::thaw shift } })';
590our $NSTORABLE_SERIALISER = 'use Storable (); (sub { Storable::nfreeze \@_ }, sub { @{ Storable::thaw shift } })';
268 591
269sub run { 592sub run {
270 my ($self, $function, %arg) = @_; 593 my ($self, $function, %arg) = @_;
271 594
272 my $serialiser = delete $arg{serialiser} || $STRING_SERIALISER; 595 my $serialiser = delete $arg{serialiser} || $STRING_SERIALISER;
275 my $on_destroy = delete $arg{on_destroy}; 598 my $on_destroy = delete $arg{on_destroy};
276 599
277 # default for on_error is to on_event, if specified 600 # default for on_error is to on_event, if specified
278 $on_error ||= $on_event 601 $on_error ||= $on_event
279 ? sub { $on_event->(error => shift) } 602 ? sub { $on_event->(error => shift) }
280 : sub { die "AnyEvent::Fork::RPC: uncaught error: $_[0].\n" }; 603 : sub { AE::log die => "AnyEvent::Fork::RPC: uncaught error: $_[0]." };
281 604
282 # default for on_event is to raise an error 605 # default for on_event is to raise an error
283 $on_event ||= sub { $on_error->("event received, but no on_event handler") }; 606 $on_event ||= sub { $on_error->("event received, but no on_event handler") };
284 607
285 my ($f, $t) = eval $serialiser; die $@ if $@; 608 my ($f, $t) = eval $serialiser; die $@ if $@;
306 }; 629 };
307 630
308 my $module = "AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::" . ($arg{async} ? "Async" : "Sync"); 631 my $module = "AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::" . ($arg{async} ? "Async" : "Sync");
309 632
310 $self->require ($module) 633 $self->require ($module)
311 ->send_arg ($function, $arg{init}, $serialiser) 634 ->send_arg ($function, $arg{init}, $serialiser, $arg{done} || "$module\::do_exit")
312 ->run ("$module\::run", sub { 635 ->run ("$module\::run", sub {
313 $fh = shift; 636 $fh = shift;
314 637
315 my ($id, $len); 638 my ($id, $len);
316 $rw = AE::io $fh, 0, sub { 639 $rw = AE::io $fh, 0, sub {
317 $rlen = $rlen * 2 + 16 if $rlen - 128 < length $rbuf; 640 $rlen = $rlen * 2 + 16 if $rlen - 128 < length $rbuf;
318 $len = sysread $fh, $rbuf, $rlen - length $rbuf, length $rbuf; 641 $len = sysread $fh, $rbuf, $rlen - length $rbuf, length $rbuf;
319 642
320 if ($len) { 643 if ($len) {
321 while (8 <= length $rbuf) { 644 while (8 <= length $rbuf) {
322 ($id, $len) = unpack "LL", $rbuf; 645 ($id, $len) = unpack "NN", $rbuf;
323 8 + $len <= length $rbuf 646 8 + $len <= length $rbuf
324 or last; 647 or last;
325 648
326 my @r = $t->(substr $rbuf, 8, $len); 649 my @r = $t->(substr $rbuf, 8, $len);
327 substr $rbuf, 0, 8 + $len, ""; 650 substr $rbuf, 0, 8 + $len, "";
341 } 664 }
342 } elsif (defined $len) { 665 } elsif (defined $len) {
343 undef $rw; undef $ww; # it ends here 666 undef $rw; undef $ww; # it ends here
344 667
345 if (@rcb || %rcb) { 668 if (@rcb || %rcb) {
346 use Data::Dump;ddx[\@rcb,\%rcb];#d#
347 $on_error->("unexpected eof"); 669 $on_error->("unexpected eof");
348 } else { 670 } else {
349 $on_destroy->(); 671 $on_destroy->()
672 if $on_destroy;
350 } 673 }
351 } elsif ($! != Errno::EAGAIN && $! != Errno::EWOULDBLOCK) { 674 } elsif ($! != Errno::EAGAIN && $! != Errno::EWOULDBLOCK) {
352 undef $rw; undef $ww; # it ends here 675 undef $rw; undef $ww; # it ends here
353 $on_error->("read: $!"); 676 $on_error->("read: $!");
354 } 677 }
357 $ww ||= AE::io $fh, 1, $wcb; 680 $ww ||= AE::io $fh, 1, $wcb;
358 }); 681 });
359 682
360 my $guard = Guard::guard { 683 my $guard = Guard::guard {
361 $shutdown = 1; 684 $shutdown = 1;
362 $ww ||= $fh && AE::io $fh, 1, $wcb; 685
686 shutdown $fh, 1 if $fh && !$ww;
363 }; 687 };
364 688
365 my $id; 689 my $id;
366 690
367 $arg{async} 691 $arg{async}
369 $id = ($id == 0xffffffff ? 0 : $id) + 1; 693 $id = ($id == 0xffffffff ? 0 : $id) + 1;
370 $id = ($id == 0xffffffff ? 0 : $id) + 1 while exists $rcb{$id}; # rarely loops 694 $id = ($id == 0xffffffff ? 0 : $id) + 1 while exists $rcb{$id}; # rarely loops
371 695
372 $rcb{$id} = pop; 696 $rcb{$id} = pop;
373 697
374 $guard; # keep it alive 698 $guard if 0; # keep it alive
375 699
376 $wbuf .= pack "LL/a*", $id, &$f; 700 $wbuf .= pack "NN/a*", $id, &$f;
377 $ww ||= $fh && AE::io $fh, 1, $wcb; 701 $ww ||= $fh && AE::io $fh, 1, $wcb;
378 } 702 }
379 : sub { 703 : sub {
380 push @rcb, pop; 704 push @rcb, pop;
381 705
382 $guard; # keep it alive 706 $guard; # keep it alive
383 707
384 $wbuf .= pack "L/a*", &$f; 708 $wbuf .= pack "N/a*", &$f;
385 $ww ||= $fh && AE::io $fh, 1, $wcb; 709 $ww ||= $fh && AE::io $fh, 1, $wcb;
386 } 710 }
387} 711}
388 712
389=item $rpc->(..., $cb->(...)) 713=item $rpc->(..., $cb->(...))
431See the examples section earlier in this document for some actual 755See the examples section earlier in this document for some actual
432examples. 756examples.
433 757
434=back 758=back
435 759
760=head2 PROCESS EXIT
761
762If and when the child process exits depends on the backend and
763configuration. Apart from explicit exits (e.g. by calling C<exit>) or
764runtime conditions (uncaught exceptions, signals etc.), the backends exit
765under these conditions:
766
767=over 4
768
769=item Synchronous Backend
770
771The synchronous backend is very simple: when the process waits for another
772request to arrive and the writing side (usually in the parent) is closed,
773it will exit normally, i.e. as if your main program reached the end of the
774file.
775
776That means that if your parent process exits, the RPC process will usually
777exit as well, either because it is idle anyway, or because it executes a
778request. In the latter case, you will likely get an error when the RPc
779process tries to send the results to the parent (because agruably, you
780shouldn't exit your parent while there are still outstanding requests).
781
782The process is usually quiescent when it happens, so it should rarely be a
783problem, and C<END> handlers can be used to clean up.
784
785=item Asynchronous Backend
786
787For the asynchronous backend, things are more complicated: Whenever it
788listens for another request by the parent, it might detect that the socket
789was closed (e.g. because the parent exited). It will sotp listening for
790new requests and instead try to write out any remaining data (if any) or
791simply check whether the socket cna be written to. After this, the RPC
792process is effectively done - no new requests are incoming, no outstanding
793request data can be written back.
794
795Since chances are high that there are event watchers that the RPC server
796knows nothing about (why else would one use the async backend if not for
797the ability to register watchers?), the event loop would often happily
798continue.
799
800This is why the asynchronous backend explicitly calls C<CORE::exit> when
801it is done (under other circumstances, such as when there is an I/O error
802and there is outstanding data to write, it will log a fatal message via
803L<AnyEvent::Log>, also causing the program to exit).
804
805You can override this by specifying a function name to call via the C<done>
806parameter instead.
807
808=back
809
810=head1 ADVANCED TOPICS
811
812=head2 Choosing a backend
813
814So how do you decide which backend to use? Well, that's your problem to
815solve, but here are some thoughts on the matter:
816
817=over 4
818
819=item Synchronous
820
821The synchronous backend does not rely on any external modules (well,
822except L<common::sense>, which works around a bug in how perl's warning
823system works). This keeps the process very small, for example, on my
824system, an empty perl interpreter uses 1492kB RSS, which becomes 2020kB
825after C<use warnings; use strict> (for people who grew up with C64s around
826them this is probably shocking every single time they see it). The worker
827process in the first example in this document uses 1792kB.
828
829Since the calls are done synchronously, slow jobs will keep newer jobs
830from executing.
831
832The synchronous backend also has no overhead due to running an event loop
833- reading requests is therefore very efficient, while writing responses is
834less so, as every response results in a write syscall.
835
836If the parent process is busy and a bit slow reading responses, the child
837waits instead of processing further requests. This also limits the amount
838of memory needed for buffering, as never more than one response has to be
839buffered.
840
841The API in the child is simple - you just have to define a function that
842does something and returns something.
843
844It's hard to use modules or code that relies on an event loop, as the
845child cannot execute anything while it waits for more input.
846
847=item Asynchronous
848
849The asynchronous backend relies on L<AnyEvent>, which tries to be small,
850but still comes at a price: On my system, the worker from example 1a uses
8513420kB RSS (for L<AnyEvent>, which loads L<EV>, which needs L<XSLoader>
852which in turn loads a lot of other modules such as L<warnings>, L<strict>,
853L<vars>, L<Exporter>...).
854
855It batches requests and responses reasonably efficiently, doing only as
856few reads and writes as needed, but needs to poll for events via the event
857loop.
858
859Responses are queued when the parent process is busy. This means the child
860can continue to execute any queued requests. It also means that a child
861might queue a lot of responses in memory when it generates them and the
862parent process is slow accepting them.
863
864The API is not a straightforward RPC pattern - you have to call a
865"done" callback to pass return values and signal completion. Also, more
866importantly, the API starts jobs as fast as possible - when 1000 jobs
867are queued and the jobs are slow, they will all run concurrently. The
868child must implement some queueing/limiting mechanism if this causes
869problems. Alternatively, the parent could limit the amount of rpc calls
870that are outstanding.
871
872Blocking use of condvars is not supported.
873
874Using event-based modules such as L<IO::AIO>, L<Gtk2>, L<Tk> and so on is
875easy.
876
877=back
878
879=head2 Passing file descriptors
880
881Unlike L<AnyEvent::Fork>, this module has no in-built file handle or file
882descriptor passing abilities.
883
884The reason is that passing file descriptors is extraordinary tricky
885business, and conflicts with efficient batching of messages.
886
887There still is a method you can use: Create a
888C<AnyEvent::Util::portable_socketpair> and C<send_fh> one half of it to
889the process before you pass control to C<AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::run>.
890
891Whenever you want to pass a file descriptor, send an rpc request to the
892child process (so it expects the descriptor), then send it over the other
893half of the socketpair. The child should fetch the descriptor from the
894half it has passed earlier.
895
896Here is some (untested) pseudocode to that effect:
897
898 use AnyEvent::Util;
899 use AnyEvent::Fork;
900 use AnyEvent::Fork::RPC;
901 use IO::FDPass;
902
903 my ($s1, $s2) = AnyEvent::Util::portable_socketpair;
904
905 my $rpc = AnyEvent::Fork
906 ->new
907 ->send_fh ($s2)
908 ->require ("MyWorker")
909 ->AnyEvent::Fork::RPC::run ("MyWorker::run"
910 init => "MyWorker::init",
911 );
912
913 undef $s2; # no need to keep it around
914
915 # pass an fd
916 $rpc->("i'll send some fd now, please expect it!", my $cv = AE::cv);
917
918 IO::FDPass fileno $s1, fileno $handle_to_pass;
919
920 $cv->recv;
921
922The MyWorker module could look like this:
923
924 package MyWorker;
925
926 use IO::FDPass;
927
928 my $s2;
929
930 sub init {
931 $s2 = $_[0];
932 }
933
934 sub run {
935 if ($_[0] eq "i'll send some fd now, please expect it!") {
936 my $fd = IO::FDPass::recv fileno $s2;
937 ...
938 }
939 }
940
941Of course, this might be blocking if you pass a lot of file descriptors,
942so you might want to look into L<AnyEvent::FDpasser> which can handle the
943gory details.
944
945=head1 EXCEPTIONS
946
947There are no provisions whatsoever for catching exceptions at this time -
948in the child, exeptions might kill the process, causing calls to be lost
949and the parent encountering a fatal error. In the parent, exceptions in
950the result callback will not be caught and cause undefined behaviour.
951
436=head1 SEE ALSO 952=head1 SEE ALSO
437 953
438L<AnyEvent::Fork> (to create the processes in the first place), 954L<AnyEvent::Fork>, to create the processes in the first place.
955
956L<AnyEvent::Fork::Remote>, likewise, but helpful for remote processes.
957
439L<AnyEvent::Fork::Pool> (to manage whole pools of processes). 958L<AnyEvent::Fork::Pool>, to manage whole pools of processes.
440 959
441=head1 AUTHOR AND CONTACT INFORMATION 960=head1 AUTHOR AND CONTACT INFORMATION
442 961
443 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 962 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
444 http://software.schmorp.de/pkg/AnyEvent-Fork-RPC 963 http://software.schmorp.de/pkg/AnyEvent-Fork-RPC

Diff Legend

Removed lines
+ Added lines
< Changed lines
> Changed lines