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Revision 1.18 by root, Sat Apr 6 01:33:56 2013 UTC vs.
Revision 1.57 by root, Sun Aug 25 17:38:43 2013 UTC

4 4
5=head1 SYNOPSIS 5=head1 SYNOPSIS
6 6
7 use AnyEvent::Fork; 7 use AnyEvent::Fork;
8 8
9 ################################################################## 9 AnyEvent::Fork
10 ->new
11 ->require ("MyModule")
12 ->run ("MyModule::server", my $cv = AE::cv);
13
14 my $fh = $cv->recv;
15
16=head1 DESCRIPTION
17
18This module allows you to create new processes, without actually forking
19them from your current process (avoiding the problems of forking), but
20preserving most of the advantages of fork.
21
22It can be used to create new worker processes or new independent
23subprocesses for short- and long-running jobs, process pools (e.g. for use
24in pre-forked servers) but also to spawn new external processes (such as
25CGI scripts from a web server), which can be faster (and more well behaved)
26than using fork+exec in big processes.
27
28Special care has been taken to make this module useful from other modules,
29while still supporting specialised environments such as L<App::Staticperl>
30or L<PAR::Packer>.
31
32=head2 WHAT THIS MODULE IS NOT
33
34This module only creates processes and lets you pass file handles and
35strings to it, and run perl code. It does not implement any kind of RPC -
36there is no back channel from the process back to you, and there is no RPC
37or message passing going on.
38
39If you need some form of RPC, you could use the L<AnyEvent::Fork::RPC>
40companion module, which adds simple RPC/job queueing to a process created
41by this module.
42
43And if you need some automatic process pool management on top of
44L<AnyEvent::Fork::RPC>, you can look at the L<AnyEvent::Fork::Pool>
45companion module.
46
47Or you can implement it yourself in whatever way you like: use some
48message-passing module such as L<AnyEvent::MP>, some pipe such as
49L<AnyEvent::ZeroMQ>, use L<AnyEvent::Handle> on both sides to send
50e.g. JSON or Storable messages, and so on.
51
52=head2 COMPARISON TO OTHER MODULES
53
54There is an abundance of modules on CPAN that do "something fork", such as
55L<Parallel::ForkManager>, L<AnyEvent::ForkManager>, L<AnyEvent::Worker>
56or L<AnyEvent::Subprocess>. There are modules that implement their own
57process management, such as L<AnyEvent::DBI>.
58
59The problems that all these modules try to solve are real, however, none
60of them (from what I have seen) tackle the very real problems of unwanted
61memory sharing, efficiency, not being able to use event processing or
62similar modules in the processes they create.
63
64This module doesn't try to replace any of them - instead it tries to solve
65the problem of creating processes with a minimum of fuss and overhead (and
66also luxury). Ideally, most of these would use AnyEvent::Fork internally,
67except they were written before AnyEvent:Fork was available, so obviously
68had to roll their own.
69
70=head2 PROBLEM STATEMENT
71
72There are two traditional ways to implement parallel processing on UNIX
73like operating systems - fork and process, and fork+exec and process. They
74have different advantages and disadvantages that I describe below,
75together with how this module tries to mitigate the disadvantages.
76
77=over 4
78
79=item Forking from a big process can be very slow.
80
81A 5GB process needs 0.05s to fork on my 3.6GHz amd64 GNU/Linux box. This
82overhead is often shared with exec (because you have to fork first), but
83in some circumstances (e.g. when vfork is used), fork+exec can be much
84faster.
85
86This module can help here by telling a small(er) helper process to fork,
87which is faster then forking the main process, and also uses vfork where
88possible. This gives the speed of vfork, with the flexibility of fork.
89
90=item Forking usually creates a copy-on-write copy of the parent
91process.
92
93For example, modules or data files that are loaded will not use additional
94memory after a fork. When exec'ing a new process, modules and data files
95might need to be loaded again, at extra CPU and memory cost. But when
96forking, literally all data structures are copied - if the program frees
97them and replaces them by new data, the child processes will retain the
98old version even if it isn't used, which can suddenly and unexpectedly
99increase memory usage when freeing memory.
100
101The trade-off is between more sharing with fork (which can be good or
102bad), and no sharing with exec.
103
104This module allows the main program to do a controlled fork, and allows
105modules to exec processes safely at any time. When creating a custom
106process pool you can take advantage of data sharing via fork without
107risking to share large dynamic data structures that will blow up child
108memory usage.
109
110In other words, this module puts you into control over what is being
111shared and what isn't, at all times.
112
113=item Exec'ing a new perl process might be difficult.
114
115For example, it is not easy to find the correct path to the perl
116interpreter - C<$^X> might not be a perl interpreter at all.
117
118This module tries hard to identify the correct path to the perl
119interpreter. With a cooperative main program, exec'ing the interpreter
120might not even be necessary, but even without help from the main program,
121it will still work when used from a module.
122
123=item Exec'ing a new perl process might be slow, as all necessary modules
124have to be loaded from disk again, with no guarantees of success.
125
126Long running processes might run into problems when perl is upgraded
127and modules are no longer loadable because they refer to a different
128perl version, or parts of a distribution are newer than the ones already
129loaded.
130
131This module supports creating pre-initialised perl processes to be used as
132a template for new processes.
133
134=item Forking might be impossible when a program is running.
135
136For example, POSIX makes it almost impossible to fork from a
137multi-threaded program while doing anything useful in the child - in
138fact, if your perl program uses POSIX threads (even indirectly via
139e.g. L<IO::AIO> or L<threads>), you cannot call fork on the perl level
140anymore without risking corruption issues on a number of operating
141systems.
142
143This module can safely fork helper processes at any time, by calling
144fork+exec in C, in a POSIX-compatible way (via L<Proc::FastSpawn>).
145
146=item Parallel processing with fork might be inconvenient or difficult
147to implement. Modules might not work in both parent and child.
148
149For example, when a program uses an event loop and creates watchers it
150becomes very hard to use the event loop from a child program, as the
151watchers already exist but are only meaningful in the parent. Worse, a
152module might want to use such a module, not knowing whether another module
153or the main program also does, leading to problems.
154
155Apart from event loops, graphical toolkits also commonly fall into the
156"unsafe module" category, or just about anything that communicates with
157the external world, such as network libraries and file I/O modules, which
158usually don't like being copied and then allowed to continue in two
159processes.
160
161With this module only the main program is allowed to create new processes
162by forking (because only the main program can know when it is still safe
163to do so) - all other processes are created via fork+exec, which makes it
164possible to use modules such as event loops or window interfaces safely.
165
166=back
167
168=head1 EXAMPLES
169
10 # create a single new process, tell it to run your worker function 170=head2 Create a single new process, tell it to run your worker function.
11 171
12 AnyEvent::Fork 172 AnyEvent::Fork
13 ->new 173 ->new
14 ->require ("MyModule") 174 ->require ("MyModule")
15 ->run ("MyModule::worker, sub { 175 ->run ("MyModule::worker, sub {
17 177
18 # now $master_filehandle is connected to the 178 # now $master_filehandle is connected to the
19 # $slave_filehandle in the new process. 179 # $slave_filehandle in the new process.
20 }); 180 });
21 181
22 # MyModule::worker might look like this 182C<MyModule> might look like this:
183
184 package MyModule;
185
23 sub MyModule::worker { 186 sub worker {
24 my ($slave_filehandle) = @_; 187 my ($slave_filehandle) = @_;
25 188
26 # now $slave_filehandle is connected to the $master_filehandle 189 # now $slave_filehandle is connected to the $master_filehandle
27 # in the original prorcess. have fun! 190 # in the original prorcess. have fun!
28 } 191 }
29 192
30 ##################################################################
31 # create a pool of server processes all accepting on the same socket 193=head2 Create a pool of server processes all accepting on the same socket.
32 194
33 # create listener socket 195 # create listener socket
34 my $listener = ...; 196 my $listener = ...;
35 197
36 # create a pool template, initialise it and give it the socket 198 # create a pool template, initialise it and give it the socket
48 } 210 }
49 211
50 # now do other things - maybe use the filehandle provided by run 212 # now do other things - maybe use the filehandle provided by run
51 # to wait for the processes to die. or whatever. 213 # to wait for the processes to die. or whatever.
52 214
53 # My::Server::run might look like this 215C<My::Server> might look like this:
54 sub My::Server::run { 216
217 package My::Server;
218
219 sub run {
55 my ($slave, $listener, $id) = @_; 220 my ($slave, $listener, $id) = @_;
56 221
57 close $slave; # we do not use the socket, so close it to save resources 222 close $slave; # we do not use the socket, so close it to save resources
58 223
59 # we could go ballistic and use e.g. AnyEvent here, or IO::AIO, 224 # we could go ballistic and use e.g. AnyEvent here, or IO::AIO,
61 while (my $socket = $listener->accept) { 226 while (my $socket = $listener->accept) {
62 # do sth. with new socket 227 # do sth. with new socket
63 } 228 }
64 } 229 }
65 230
66=head1 DESCRIPTION 231=head2 use AnyEvent::Fork as a faster fork+exec
67 232
68This module allows you to create new processes, without actually forking 233This runs C</bin/echo hi>, with standard output redirected to F</tmp/log>
69them from your current process (avoiding the problems of forking), but 234and standard error redirected to the communications socket. It is usually
70preserving most of the advantages of fork. 235faster than fork+exec, but still lets you prepare the environment.
71 236
72It can be used to create new worker processes or new independent 237 open my $output, ">/tmp/log" or die "$!";
73subprocesses for short- and long-running jobs, process pools (e.g. for use
74in pre-forked servers) but also to spawn new external processes (such as
75CGI scripts from a web server), which can be faster (and more well behaved)
76than using fork+exec in big processes.
77 238
78Special care has been taken to make this module useful from other modules, 239 AnyEvent::Fork
79while still supporting specialised environments such as L<App::Staticperl> 240 ->new
80or L<PAR::Packer>. 241 ->eval ('
242 # compile a helper function for later use
243 sub run {
244 my ($fh, $output, @cmd) = @_;
81 245
82=head1 WHAT THIS MODULE IS NOT 246 # perl will clear close-on-exec on STDOUT/STDERR
247 open STDOUT, ">&", $output or die;
248 open STDERR, ">&", $fh or die;
83 249
84This module only creates processes and lets you pass file handles and 250 exec @cmd;
85strings to it, and run perl code. It does not implement any kind of RPC - 251 }
86there is no back channel from the process back to you, and there is no RPC 252 ')
87or message passing going on. 253 ->send_fh ($output)
254 ->send_arg ("/bin/echo", "hi")
255 ->run ("run", my $cv = AE::cv);
88 256
89If you need some form of RPC, you can either implement it yourself 257 my $stderr = $cv->recv;
90in whatever way you like, use some message-passing module such
91as L<AnyEvent::MP>, some pipe such as L<AnyEvent::ZeroMQ>, use
92L<AnyEvent::Handle> on both sides to send e.g. JSON or Storable messages,
93and so on.
94 258
95=head1 PROBLEM STATEMENT 259=head2 For stingy users: put the worker code into a C<DATA> section.
96 260
97There are two ways to implement parallel processing on UNIX like operating 261When you want to be stingy with files, you cna put your code into the
98systems - fork and process, and fork+exec and process. They have different 262C<DATA> section of your module (or program):
99advantages and disadvantages that I describe below, together with how this
100module tries to mitigate the disadvantages.
101 263
102=over 4 264 use AnyEvent::Fork;
103 265
104=item Forking from a big process can be very slow (a 5GB process needs 266 AnyEvent::Fork
1050.05s to fork on my 3.6GHz amd64 GNU/Linux box for example). This overhead 267 ->new
106is often shared with exec (because you have to fork first), but in some 268 ->eval (do { local $/; <DATA> })
107circumstances (e.g. when vfork is used), fork+exec can be much faster. 269 ->run ("doit", sub { ... });
108 270
109This module can help here by telling a small(er) helper process to fork, 271 __DATA__
110or fork+exec instead.
111 272
112=item Forking usually creates a copy-on-write copy of the parent 273 sub doit {
113process. Memory (for example, modules or data files that have been 274 ... do something!
114will not take additional memory). When exec'ing a new process, modules 275 }
115and data files might need to be loaded again, at extra CPU and memory
116cost. Likewise when forking, all data structures are copied as well - if
117the program frees them and replaces them by new data, the child processes
118will retain the memory even if it isn't used.
119 276
120This module allows the main program to do a controlled fork, and allows 277=head2 For stingy standalone programs: do not rely on external files at
121modules to exec processes safely at any time. When creating a custom 278all.
122process pool you can take advantage of data sharing via fork without
123risking to share large dynamic data structures that will blow up child
124memory usage.
125 279
126=item Exec'ing a new perl process might be difficult and slow. For 280For single-file scripts it can be inconvenient to rely on external
127example, it is not easy to find the correct path to the perl interpreter, 281files - even when using < C<DATA> section, you still need to C<exec>
128and all modules have to be loaded from disk again. Long running processes 282an external perl interpreter, which might not be available when using
129might run into problems when perl is upgraded for example. 283L<App::Staticperl>, L<Urlader> or L<PAR::Packer> for example.
130 284
131This module supports creating pre-initialised perl processes to be used 285Two modules help here - L<AnyEvent::Fork::Early> forks a template process
132as template, and also tries hard to identify the correct path to the perl 286for all further calls to C<new_exec>, and L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template>
133interpreter. With a cooperative main program, exec'ing the interpreter 287forks the main program as a template process.
134might not even be necessary.
135 288
136=item Forking might be impossible when a program is running. For example, 289Here is how your main program should look like:
137POSIX makes it almost impossible to fork from a multi-threaded program and
138do anything useful in the child - strictly speaking, if your perl program
139uses posix threads (even indirectly via e.g. L<IO::AIO> or L<threads>),
140you cannot call fork on the perl level anymore, at all.
141 290
142This module can safely fork helper processes at any time, by calling 291 #! perl
143fork+exec in C, in a POSIX-compatible way.
144 292
145=item Parallel processing with fork might be inconvenient or difficult 293 # optional, as the very first thing.
146to implement. For example, when a program uses an event loop and creates 294 # in case modules want to create their own processes.
147watchers it becomes very hard to use the event loop from a child 295 use AnyEvent::Fork::Early;
148program, as the watchers already exist but are only meaningful in the
149parent. Worse, a module might want to use such a system, not knowing
150whether another module or the main program also does, leading to problems.
151 296
152This module only lets the main program create pools by forking (because 297 # next, load all modules you need in your template process
153only the main program can know when it is still safe to do so) - all other 298 use Example::My::Module
154pools are created by fork+exec, after which such modules can again be 299 use Example::Whatever;
155loaded.
156 300
157=back 301 # next, put your run function definition and anything else you
302 # need, but do not use code outside of BEGIN blocks.
303 sub worker_run {
304 my ($fh, @args) = @_;
305 ...
306 }
307
308 # now preserve everything so far as AnyEvent::Fork object
309 # in §TEMPLATE.
310 use AnyEvent::Fork::Template;
311
312 # do not put code outside of BEGIN blocks until here
313
314 # now use the $TEMPLATE process in any way you like
315
316 # for example: create 10 worker processes
317 my @worker;
318 my $cv = AE::cv;
319 for (1..10) {
320 $cv->begin;
321 $TEMPLATE->fork->send_arg ($_)->run ("worker_run", sub {
322 push @worker, shift;
323 $cv->end;
324 });
325 }
326 $cv->recv;
158 327
159=head1 CONCEPTS 328=head1 CONCEPTS
160 329
161This module can create new processes either by executing a new perl 330This module can create new processes either by executing a new perl
162process, or by forking from an existing "template" process. 331process, or by forking from an existing "template" process.
332
333All these processes are called "child processes" (whether they are direct
334children or not), while the process that manages them is called the
335"parent process".
163 336
164Each such process comes with its own file handle that can be used to 337Each such process comes with its own file handle that can be used to
165communicate with it (it's actually a socket - one end in the new process, 338communicate with it (it's actually a socket - one end in the new process,
166one end in the main process), and among the things you can do in it are 339one end in the main process), and among the things you can do in it are
167load modules, fork new processes, send file handles to it, and execute 340load modules, fork new processes, send file handles to it, and execute
241 my ($fork_fh) = @_; 414 my ($fork_fh) = @_;
242 }); 415 });
243 416
244=back 417=back
245 418
246=head1 FUNCTIONS 419=head1 THE C<AnyEvent::Fork> CLASS
420
421This module exports nothing, and only implements a single class -
422C<AnyEvent::Fork>.
423
424There are two class constructors that both create new processes - C<new>
425and C<new_exec>. The C<fork> method creates a new process by forking an
426existing one and could be considered a third constructor.
427
428Most of the remaining methods deal with preparing the new process, by
429loading code, evaluating code and sending data to the new process. They
430usually return the process object, so you can chain method calls.
431
432If a process object is destroyed before calling its C<run> method, then
433the process simply exits. After C<run> is called, all responsibility is
434passed to the specified function.
435
436As long as there is any outstanding work to be done, process objects
437resist being destroyed, so there is no reason to store them unless you
438need them later - configure and forget works just fine.
247 439
248=over 4 440=over 4
249 441
250=cut 442=cut
251 443
258use AnyEvent; 450use AnyEvent;
259use AnyEvent::Util (); 451use AnyEvent::Util ();
260 452
261use IO::FDPass; 453use IO::FDPass;
262 454
263our $VERSION = 0.2; 455our $VERSION = 1.1;
264
265our $PERL; # the path to the perl interpreter, deduces with various forms of magic
266
267=item my $pool = new AnyEvent::Fork key => value...
268
269Create a new process pool. The following named parameters are supported:
270
271=over 4
272
273=back
274
275=cut
276 456
277# the early fork template process 457# the early fork template process
278our $EARLY; 458our $EARLY;
279 459
280# the empty template process 460# the empty template process
281our $TEMPLATE; 461our $TEMPLATE;
462
463sub QUEUE() { 0 }
464sub FH() { 1 }
465sub WW() { 2 }
466sub PID() { 3 }
467sub CB() { 4 }
468
469sub _new {
470 my ($self, $fh, $pid) = @_;
471
472 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking $fh, 1;
473
474 $self = bless [
475 [], # write queue - strings or fd's
476 $fh,
477 undef, # AE watcher
478 $pid,
479 ], $self;
480
481 $self
482}
282 483
283sub _cmd { 484sub _cmd {
284 my $self = shift; 485 my $self = shift;
285 486
286 # ideally, we would want to use "a (w/a)*" as format string, but perl 487 # ideally, we would want to use "a (w/a)*" as format string, but perl
287 # versions from at least 5.8.9 to 5.16.3 are all buggy and can't unpack 488 # versions from at least 5.8.9 to 5.16.3 are all buggy and can't unpack
288 # it. 489 # it.
289 push @{ $self->[2] }, pack "L/a*", pack "(w/a*)*", @_; 490 push @{ $self->[QUEUE] }, pack "a L/a*", $_[0], $_[1];
290 491
291 unless ($self->[3]) { 492 $self->[WW] ||= AE::io $self->[FH], 1, sub {
292 my $wcb = sub {
293 do { 493 do {
294 # send the next "thing" in the queue - either a reference to an fh, 494 # send the next "thing" in the queue - either a reference to an fh,
295 # or a plain string. 495 # or a plain string.
296 496
297 if (ref $self->[2][0]) { 497 if (ref $self->[QUEUE][0]) {
298 # send fh 498 # send fh
299 unless (IO::FDPass::send fileno $self->[1], fileno ${ $self->[2][0] }) { 499 unless (IO::FDPass::send fileno $self->[FH], fileno ${ $self->[QUEUE][0] }) {
300 return if $! == Errno::EAGAIN || $! == Errno::EWOULDBLOCK; 500 return if $! == Errno::EAGAIN || $! == Errno::EWOULDBLOCK;
301 undef $self->[3]; 501 undef $self->[WW];
302 die "AnyEvent::Fork: file descriptor send failure: $!"; 502 die "AnyEvent::Fork: file descriptor send failure: $!";
303 }
304
305 shift @{ $self->[2] };
306
307 } else {
308 # send string
309 my $len = syswrite $self->[1], $self->[2][0];
310
311 unless ($len) {
312 return if $! == Errno::EAGAIN || $! == Errno::EWOULDBLOCK;
313 undef $self->[3];
314 die "AnyEvent::Fork: command write failure: $!";
315 }
316
317 substr $self->[2][0], 0, $len, "";
318 shift @{ $self->[2] } unless length $self->[2][0];
319 } 503 }
504
505 shift @{ $self->[QUEUE] };
506
507 } else {
508 # send string
509 my $len = syswrite $self->[FH], $self->[QUEUE][0];
510
511 unless ($len) {
512 return if $! == Errno::EAGAIN || $! == Errno::EWOULDBLOCK;
513 undef $self->[WW];
514 die "AnyEvent::Fork: command write failure: $!";
515 }
516
517 substr $self->[QUEUE][0], 0, $len, "";
518 shift @{ $self->[QUEUE] } unless length $self->[QUEUE][0];
519 }
320 } while @{ $self->[2] }; 520 } while @{ $self->[QUEUE] };
321 521
322 # everything written 522 # everything written
323 undef $self->[3]; 523 undef $self->[WW];
524
324 # invoke run callback 525 # invoke run callback, if any
526 if ($self->[CB]) {
325 $self->[0]->($self->[1]) if $self->[0]; 527 $self->[CB]->($self->[FH]);
528 @$self = ();
326 }; 529 }
327
328 $wcb->();
329
330 $self->[3] ||= AE::io $self->[1], 1, $wcb
331 if @{ $self->[2] };
332 } 530 };
333 531
334 () # make sure we don't leak the watcher 532 () # make sure we don't leak the watcher
335}
336
337sub _new {
338 my ($self, $fh) = @_;
339
340 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking $fh, 1;
341
342 $self = bless [
343 undef, # run callback
344 $fh,
345 [], # write queue - strings or fd's
346 undef, # AE watcher
347 ], $self;
348
349 $self
350} 533}
351 534
352# fork template from current process, used by AnyEvent::Fork::Early/Template 535# fork template from current process, used by AnyEvent::Fork::Early/Template
353sub _new_fork { 536sub _new_fork {
354 my ($fh, $slave) = AnyEvent::Util::portable_socketpair; 537 my ($fh, $slave) = AnyEvent::Util::portable_socketpair;
359 if ($pid eq 0) { 542 if ($pid eq 0) {
360 require AnyEvent::Fork::Serve; 543 require AnyEvent::Fork::Serve;
361 $AnyEvent::Fork::Serve::OWNER = $parent; 544 $AnyEvent::Fork::Serve::OWNER = $parent;
362 close $fh; 545 close $fh;
363 $0 = "$_[1] of $parent"; 546 $0 = "$_[1] of $parent";
364 $SIG{CHLD} = 'IGNORE';
365 AnyEvent::Fork::Serve::serve ($slave); 547 AnyEvent::Fork::Serve::serve ($slave);
366 exit 0; 548 exit 0;
367 } elsif (!$pid) { 549 } elsif (!$pid) {
368 die "AnyEvent::Fork::Early/Template: unable to fork template process: $!"; 550 die "AnyEvent::Fork::Early/Template: unable to fork template process: $!";
369 } 551 }
370 552
371 AnyEvent::Fork->_new ($fh) 553 AnyEvent::Fork->_new ($fh, $pid)
372} 554}
373 555
374=item my $proc = new AnyEvent::Fork 556=item my $proc = new AnyEvent::Fork
375 557
376Create a new "empty" perl interpreter process and returns its process 558Create a new "empty" perl interpreter process and returns its process
377object for further manipulation. 559object for further manipulation.
378 560
379The new process is forked from a template process that is kept around 561The new process is forked from a template process that is kept around
380for this purpose. When it doesn't exist yet, it is created by a call to 562for this purpose. When it doesn't exist yet, it is created by a call to
381C<new_exec> and kept around for future calls. 563C<new_exec> first and then stays around for future calls.
382
383When the process object is destroyed, it will release the file handle
384that connects it with the new process. When the new process has not yet
385called C<run>, then the process will exit. Otherwise, what happens depends
386entirely on the code that is executed.
387 564
388=cut 565=cut
389 566
390sub new { 567sub new {
391 my $class = shift; 568 my $class = shift;
428 605
429You should use C<new> whenever possible, except when having a template 606You should use C<new> whenever possible, except when having a template
430process around is unacceptable. 607process around is unacceptable.
431 608
432The path to the perl interpreter is divined using various methods - first 609The path to the perl interpreter is divined using various methods - first
433C<$^X> is investigated to see if the path ends with something that sounds 610C<$^X> is investigated to see if the path ends with something that looks
434as if it were the perl interpreter. Failing this, the module falls back to 611as if it were the perl interpreter. Failing this, the module falls back to
435using C<$Config::Config{perlpath}>. 612using C<$Config::Config{perlpath}>.
436 613
614The path to perl can also be overriden by setting the global variable
615C<$AnyEvent::Fork::PERL> - it's value will be used for all subsequent
616invocations.
617
437=cut 618=cut
619
620our $PERL;
438 621
439sub new_exec { 622sub new_exec {
440 my ($self) = @_; 623 my ($self) = @_;
441 624
442 return $EARLY->fork 625 return $EARLY->fork
443 if $EARLY; 626 if $EARLY;
444 627
628 unless (defined $PERL) {
445 # first find path of perl 629 # first find path of perl
446 my $perl = $; 630 my $perl = $;
447 631
448 # first we try $^X, but the path must be absolute (always on win32), and end in sth. 632 # first we try $^X, but the path must be absolute (always on win32), and end in sth.
449 # that looks like perl. this obviously only works for posix and win32 633 # that looks like perl. this obviously only works for posix and win32
450 unless ( 634 unless (
451 ($^O eq "MSWin32" || $perl =~ m%^/%) 635 ($^O eq "MSWin32" || $perl =~ m%^/%)
452 && $perl =~ m%[/\\]perl(?:[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)+)?(\.exe)?$%i 636 && $perl =~ m%[/\\]perl(?:[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)+)?(\.exe)?$%i
453 ) { 637 ) {
454 # if it doesn't look perlish enough, try Config 638 # if it doesn't look perlish enough, try Config
455 require Config; 639 require Config;
456 $perl = $Config::Config{perlpath}; 640 $perl = $Config::Config{perlpath};
457 $perl =~ s/(?:\Q$Config::Config{_exe}\E)?$/$Config::Config{_exe}/; 641 $perl =~ s/(?:\Q$Config::Config{_exe}\E)?$/$Config::Config{_exe}/;
642 }
643
644 $PERL = $perl;
458 } 645 }
459 646
460 require Proc::FastSpawn; 647 require Proc::FastSpawn;
461 648
462 my ($fh, $slave) = AnyEvent::Util::portable_socketpair; 649 my ($fh, $slave) = AnyEvent::Util::portable_socketpair;
469 # quick. also doesn't work in win32. of course. what did you expect 656 # quick. also doesn't work in win32. of course. what did you expect
470 #local $ENV{PERL5LIB} = join ":", grep !ref, @INC; 657 #local $ENV{PERL5LIB} = join ":", grep !ref, @INC;
471 my %env = %ENV; 658 my %env = %ENV;
472 $env{PERL5LIB} = join +($^O eq "MSWin32" ? ";" : ":"), grep !ref, @INC; 659 $env{PERL5LIB} = join +($^O eq "MSWin32" ? ";" : ":"), grep !ref, @INC;
473 660
474 Proc::FastSpawn::spawn ( 661 my $pid = Proc::FastSpawn::spawn (
475 $perl, 662 $PERL,
476 ["perl", "-MAnyEvent::Fork::Serve", "-e", "AnyEvent::Fork::Serve::me", fileno $slave, $$], 663 ["perl", "-MAnyEvent::Fork::Serve", "-e", "AnyEvent::Fork::Serve::me", fileno $slave, $$],
477 [map "$_=$env{$_}", keys %env], 664 [map "$_=$env{$_}", keys %env],
478 ) or die "unable to spawn AnyEvent::Fork server: $!"; 665 ) or die "unable to spawn AnyEvent::Fork server: $!";
479 666
480 $self->_new ($fh) 667 $self->_new ($fh, $pid)
668}
669
670=item $pid = $proc->pid
671
672Returns the process id of the process I<iff it is a direct child of the
673process running AnyEvent::Fork>, and C<undef> otherwise.
674
675Normally, only processes created via C<< AnyEvent::Fork->new_exec >> and
676L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template> are direct children, and you are responsible
677to clean up their zombies when they die.
678
679All other processes are not direct children, and will be cleaned up by
680AnyEvent::Fork itself.
681
682=cut
683
684sub pid {
685 $_[0][PID]
481} 686}
482 687
483=item $proc = $proc->eval ($perlcode, @args) 688=item $proc = $proc->eval ($perlcode, @args)
484 689
485Evaluates the given C<$perlcode> as ... perl code, while setting C<@_> to 690Evaluates the given C<$perlcode> as ... Perl code, while setting C<@_> to
486the strings specified by C<@args>. 691the strings specified by C<@args>, in the "main" package.
487 692
488This call is meant to do any custom initialisation that might be required 693This call is meant to do any custom initialisation that might be required
489(for example, the C<require> method uses it). It's not supposed to be used 694(for example, the C<require> method uses it). It's not supposed to be used
490to completely take over the process, use C<run> for that. 695to completely take over the process, use C<run> for that.
491 696
492The code will usually be executed after this call returns, and there is no 697The code will usually be executed after this call returns, and there is no
493way to pass anything back to the calling process. Any evaluation errors 698way to pass anything back to the calling process. Any evaluation errors
494will be reported to stderr and cause the process to exit. 699will be reported to stderr and cause the process to exit.
495 700
701If you want to execute some code (that isn't in a module) to take over the
702process, you should compile a function via C<eval> first, and then call
703it via C<run>. This also gives you access to any arguments passed via the
704C<send_xxx> methods, such as file handles. See the L<use AnyEvent::Fork as
705a faster fork+exec> example to see it in action.
706
496Returns the process object for easy chaining of method calls. 707Returns the process object for easy chaining of method calls.
497 708
498=cut 709=cut
499 710
500sub eval { 711sub eval {
501 my ($self, $code, @args) = @_; 712 my ($self, $code, @args) = @_;
502 713
503 $self->_cmd (e => $code, @args); 714 $self->_cmd (e => pack "(w/a*)*", $code, @args);
504 715
505 $self 716 $self
506} 717}
507 718
508=item $proc = $proc->require ($module, ...) 719=item $proc = $proc->require ($module, ...)
525=item $proc = $proc->send_fh ($handle, ...) 736=item $proc = $proc->send_fh ($handle, ...)
526 737
527Send one or more file handles (I<not> file descriptors) to the process, 738Send one or more file handles (I<not> file descriptors) to the process,
528to prepare a call to C<run>. 739to prepare a call to C<run>.
529 740
530The process object keeps a reference to the handles until this is done, 741The process object keeps a reference to the handles until they have
531so you must not explicitly close the handles. This is most easily 742been passed over to the process, so you must not explicitly close the
532accomplished by simply not storing the file handles anywhere after passing 743handles. This is most easily accomplished by simply not storing the file
533them to this method. 744handles anywhere after passing them to this method - when AnyEvent::Fork
745is finished using them, perl will automatically close them.
534 746
535Returns the process object for easy chaining of method calls. 747Returns the process object for easy chaining of method calls.
536 748
537Example: pass a file handle to a process, and release it without 749Example: pass a file handle to a process, and release it without
538closing. It will be closed automatically when it is no longer used. 750closing. It will be closed automatically when it is no longer used.
545sub send_fh { 757sub send_fh {
546 my ($self, @fh) = @_; 758 my ($self, @fh) = @_;
547 759
548 for my $fh (@fh) { 760 for my $fh (@fh) {
549 $self->_cmd ("h"); 761 $self->_cmd ("h");
550 push @{ $self->[2] }, \$fh; 762 push @{ $self->[QUEUE] }, \$fh;
551 } 763 }
552 764
553 $self 765 $self
554} 766}
555 767
556=item $proc = $proc->send_arg ($string, ...) 768=item $proc = $proc->send_arg ($string, ...)
557 769
558Send one or more argument strings to the process, to prepare a call to 770Send one or more argument strings to the process, to prepare a call to
559C<run>. The strings can be any octet string. 771C<run>. The strings can be any octet strings.
560 772
561The protocol is optimised to pass a moderate number of relatively short 773The protocol is optimised to pass a moderate number of relatively short
562strings - while you can pass up to 4GB of data in one go, this is more 774strings - while you can pass up to 4GB of data in one go, this is more
563meant to pass some ID information or other startup info, not big chunks of 775meant to pass some ID information or other startup info, not big chunks of
564data. 776data.
568=cut 780=cut
569 781
570sub send_arg { 782sub send_arg {
571 my ($self, @arg) = @_; 783 my ($self, @arg) = @_;
572 784
573 $self->_cmd (a => @arg); 785 $self->_cmd (a => pack "(w/a*)*", @arg);
574 786
575 $self 787 $self
576} 788}
577 789
578=item $proc->run ($func, $cb->($fh)) 790=item $proc->run ($func, $cb->($fh))
579 791
580Enter the function specified by the fully qualified name in C<$func> in 792Enter the function specified by the function name in C<$func> in the
581the process. The function is called with the communication socket as first 793process. The function is called with the communication socket as first
582argument, followed by all file handles and string arguments sent earlier 794argument, followed by all file handles and string arguments sent earlier
583via C<send_fh> and C<send_arg> methods, in the order they were called. 795via C<send_fh> and C<send_arg> methods, in the order they were called.
584 796
585If the called function returns, the process exits.
586
587Preparing the process can take time - when the process is ready, the
588callback is invoked with the local communications socket as argument.
589
590The process object becomes unusable on return from this function. 797The process object becomes unusable on return from this function - any
798further method calls result in undefined behaviour.
799
800The function name should be fully qualified, but if it isn't, it will be
801looked up in the C<main> package.
802
803If the called function returns, doesn't exist, or any error occurs, the
804process exits.
805
806Preparing the process is done in the background - when all commands have
807been sent, the callback is invoked with the local communications socket
808as argument. At this point you can start using the socket in any way you
809like.
591 810
592If the communication socket isn't used, it should be closed on both sides, 811If the communication socket isn't used, it should be closed on both sides,
593to save on kernel memory. 812to save on kernel memory.
594 813
595The socket is non-blocking in the parent, and blocking in the newly 814The socket is non-blocking in the parent, and blocking in the newly
596created process. The close-on-exec flag is set on both. Even if not used 815created process. The close-on-exec flag is set in both.
816
597otherwise, the socket can be a good indicator for the existence of the 817Even if not used otherwise, the socket can be a good indicator for the
598process - if the other process exits, you get a readable event on it, 818existence of the process - if the other process exits, you get a readable
599because exiting the process closes the socket (if it didn't create any 819event on it, because exiting the process closes the socket (if it didn't
600children using fork). 820create any children using fork).
601 821
602Example: create a template for a process pool, pass a few strings, some 822Example: create a template for a process pool, pass a few strings, some
603file handles, then fork, pass one more string, and run some code. 823file handles, then fork, pass one more string, and run some code.
604 824
605 my $pool = AnyEvent::Fork 825 my $pool = AnyEvent::Fork
613 ->send_arg ("str3") 833 ->send_arg ("str3")
614 ->run ("Some::function", sub { 834 ->run ("Some::function", sub {
615 my ($fh) = @_; 835 my ($fh) = @_;
616 836
617 # fh is nonblocking, but we trust that the OS can accept these 837 # fh is nonblocking, but we trust that the OS can accept these
618 # extra 3 octets anyway. 838 # few octets anyway.
619 syswrite $fh, "hi #$_\n"; 839 syswrite $fh, "hi #$_\n";
620 840
621 # $fh is being closed here, as we don't store it anywhere 841 # $fh is being closed here, as we don't store it anywhere
622 }); 842 });
623 } 843 }
625 # Some::function might look like this - all parameters passed before fork 845 # Some::function might look like this - all parameters passed before fork
626 # and after will be passed, in order, after the communications socket. 846 # and after will be passed, in order, after the communications socket.
627 sub Some::function { 847 sub Some::function {
628 my ($fh, $str1, $str2, $fh1, $fh2, $str3) = @_; 848 my ($fh, $str1, $str2, $fh1, $fh2, $str3) = @_;
629 849
630 print scalar <$fh>; # prints "hi 1\n" and "hi 2\n" 850 print scalar <$fh>; # prints "hi #1\n" and "hi #2\n" in any order
631 } 851 }
632 852
633=cut 853=cut
634 854
635sub run { 855sub run {
636 my ($self, $func, $cb) = @_; 856 my ($self, $func, $cb) = @_;
637 857
638 $self->[0] = $cb; 858 $self->[CB] = $cb;
639 $self->_cmd (r => $func); 859 $self->_cmd (r => $func);
860}
861
862=back
863
864=head2 EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
865
866These methods might go away completely or change behaviour, at any time.
867
868=over 4
869
870=item $proc->to_fh ($cb->($fh)) # EXPERIMENTAL, MIGHT BE REMOVED
871
872Flushes all commands out to the process and then calls the callback with
873the communications socket.
874
875The process object becomes unusable on return from this function - any
876further method calls result in undefined behaviour.
877
878The point of this method is to give you a file handle thta you cna pass
879to another process. In that other process, you can call C<new_from_fh
880AnyEvent::Fork> to create a new C<AnyEvent::Fork> object from it, thereby
881effectively passing a fork object to another process.
882
883=cut
884
885sub to_fh {
886 my ($self, $cb) = @_;
887
888 $self->[CB] = $cb;
889
890 unless ($self->[WW]) {
891 $self->[CB]->($self->[FH]);
892 @$self = ();
893 }
894}
895
896=item new_from_fh AnyEvent::Fork $fh # EXPERIMENTAL, MIGHT BE REMOVED
897
898Takes a file handle originally rceeived by the C<to_fh> method and creates
899a new C<AnyEvent:Fork> object. The child process itself will not change in
900any way, i.e. it will keep all the modifications done to it before calling
901C<to_fh>.
902
903The new object is very much like the original object, except that the
904C<pid> method will return C<undef> even if the process is a direct child.
905
906=cut
907
908sub new_from_fh {
909 my ($class, $fh) = @_;
910
911 $class->_new ($fh)
640} 912}
641 913
642=back 914=back
643 915
644=head1 PERFORMANCE 916=head1 PERFORMANCE
654 926
655 2079 new processes per second, using manual socketpair + fork 927 2079 new processes per second, using manual socketpair + fork
656 928
657Then I did the same thing, but instead of calling fork, I called 929Then I did the same thing, but instead of calling fork, I called
658AnyEvent::Fork->new->run ("CORE::exit") and then again waited for the 930AnyEvent::Fork->new->run ("CORE::exit") and then again waited for the
659socket form the child to close on exit. This does the same thing as manual 931socket from the child to close on exit. This does the same thing as manual
660socket pair + fork, except that what is forked is the template process 932socket pair + fork, except that what is forked is the template process
661(2440kB), and the socket needs to be passed to the server at the other end 933(2440kB), and the socket needs to be passed to the server at the other end
662of the socket first. 934of the socket first.
663 935
664 2307 new processes per second, using AnyEvent::Fork->new 936 2307 new processes per second, using AnyEvent::Fork->new
669 479 vfork+execs per second, using AnyEvent::Fork->new_exec 941 479 vfork+execs per second, using AnyEvent::Fork->new_exec
670 942
671So how can C<< AnyEvent->new >> be faster than a standard fork, even 943So how can C<< AnyEvent->new >> be faster than a standard fork, even
672though it uses the same operations, but adds a lot of overhead? 944though it uses the same operations, but adds a lot of overhead?
673 945
674The difference is simply the process size: forking the 6MB process takes 946The difference is simply the process size: forking the 5MB process takes
675so much longer than forking the 2.5MB template process that the overhead 947so much longer than forking the 2.5MB template process that the extra
676introduced is canceled out. 948overhead is canceled out.
677 949
678If the benchmark process grows, the normal fork becomes even slower: 950If the benchmark process grows, the normal fork becomes even slower:
679 951
680 1340 new processes, manual fork in a 20MB process 952 1340 new processes, manual fork of a 20MB process
681 731 new processes, manual fork in a 200MB process 953 731 new processes, manual fork of a 200MB process
682 235 new processes, manual fork in a 2000MB process 954 235 new processes, manual fork of a 2000MB process
683 955
684What that means (to me) is that I can use this module without having a 956What that means (to me) is that I can use this module without having a bad
685very bad conscience because of the extra overhead required to start new 957conscience because of the extra overhead required to start new processes.
686processes.
687 958
688=head1 TYPICAL PROBLEMS 959=head1 TYPICAL PROBLEMS
689 960
690This section lists typical problems that remain. I hope by recognising 961This section lists typical problems that remain. I hope by recognising
691them, most can be avoided. 962them, most can be avoided.
692 963
693=over 4 964=over 4
694 965
695=item exit runs destructors
696
697=item "leaked" file descriptors for exec'ed processes 966=item leaked file descriptors for exec'ed processes
698 967
699POSIX systems inherit file descriptors by default when exec'ing a new 968POSIX systems inherit file descriptors by default when exec'ing a new
700process. While perl itself laudably sets the close-on-exec flags on new 969process. While perl itself laudably sets the close-on-exec flags on new
701file handles, most C libraries don't care, and even if all cared, it's 970file handles, most C libraries don't care, and even if all cared, it's
702often not possible to set the flag in a race-free manner. 971often not possible to set the flag in a race-free manner.
722libraries or the code that leaks those file descriptors. 991libraries or the code that leaks those file descriptors.
723 992
724Fortunately, most of these leaked descriptors do no harm, other than 993Fortunately, most of these leaked descriptors do no harm, other than
725sitting on some resources. 994sitting on some resources.
726 995
727=item "leaked" file descriptors for fork'ed processes 996=item leaked file descriptors for fork'ed processes
728 997
729Normally, L<AnyEvent::Fork> does start new processes by exec'ing them, 998Normally, L<AnyEvent::Fork> does start new processes by exec'ing them,
730which closes file descriptors not marked for being inherited. 999which closes file descriptors not marked for being inherited.
731 1000
732However, L<AnyEvent::Fork::Early> and L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template> offer 1001However, L<AnyEvent::Fork::Early> and L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template> offer
740trouble with a fork. 1009trouble with a fork.
741 1010
742The solution is to either not load these modules before use'ing 1011The solution is to either not load these modules before use'ing
743L<AnyEvent::Fork::Early> or L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template>, or to delay 1012L<AnyEvent::Fork::Early> or L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template>, or to delay
744initialising them, for example, by calling C<init Gtk2> manually. 1013initialising them, for example, by calling C<init Gtk2> manually.
1014
1015=item exiting calls object destructors
1016
1017This only applies to users of L<AnyEvent::Fork:Early> and
1018L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template>, or when initialising code creates objects
1019that reference external resources.
1020
1021When a process created by AnyEvent::Fork exits, it might do so by calling
1022exit, or simply letting perl reach the end of the program. At which point
1023Perl runs all destructors.
1024
1025Not all destructors are fork-safe - for example, an object that represents
1026the connection to an X display might tell the X server to free resources,
1027which is inconvenient when the "real" object in the parent still needs to
1028use them.
1029
1030This is obviously not a problem for L<AnyEvent::Fork::Early>, as you used
1031it as the very first thing, right?
1032
1033It is a problem for L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template> though - and the solution
1034is to not create objects with nontrivial destructors that might have an
1035effect outside of Perl.
745 1036
746=back 1037=back
747 1038
748=head1 PORTABILITY NOTES 1039=head1 PORTABILITY NOTES
749 1040
752to make it so, mostly due to the bloody broken perl that nobody seems to 1043to make it so, mostly due to the bloody broken perl that nobody seems to
753care about. The fork emulation is a bad joke - I have yet to see something 1044care about. The fork emulation is a bad joke - I have yet to see something
754useful that you can do with it without running into memory corruption 1045useful that you can do with it without running into memory corruption
755issues or other braindamage. Hrrrr. 1046issues or other braindamage. Hrrrr.
756 1047
757Cygwin perl is not supported at the moment, as it should implement fd 1048Since fork is endlessly broken on win32 perls (it doesn't even remotely
758passing, but doesn't, and rolling my own is hard, as cygwin doesn't 1049work within it's documented limits) and quite obviously it's not getting
759support enough functionality to do it. 1050improved any time soon, the best way to proceed on windows would be to
1051always use C<new_exec> and thus never rely on perl's fork "emulation".
1052
1053Cygwin perl is not supported at the moment due to some hilarious
1054shortcomings of its API - see L<IO::FDPoll> for more details. If you never
1055use C<send_fh> and always use C<new_exec> to create processes, it should
1056work though.
760 1057
761=head1 SEE ALSO 1058=head1 SEE ALSO
762 1059
763L<AnyEvent::Fork::Early> (to avoid executing a perl interpreter), 1060L<AnyEvent::Fork::Early>, to avoid executing a perl interpreter at all
1061(part of this distribution).
1062
764L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template> (to create a process by forking the main 1063L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template>, to create a process by forking the main
765program at a convenient time). 1064program at a convenient time (part of this distribution).
766 1065
767=head1 AUTHOR 1066L<AnyEvent::Fork::Remote>, for another way to create processes that is
1067mostly compatible to this module and modules building on top of it, but
1068works better with remote processes.
1069
1070L<AnyEvent::Fork::RPC>, for simple RPC to child processes (on CPAN).
1071
1072L<AnyEvent::Fork::Pool>, for simple worker process pool (on CPAN).
1073
1074=head1 AUTHOR AND CONTACT INFORMATION
768 1075
769 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 1076 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
770 http://home.schmorp.de/ 1077 http://software.schmorp.de/pkg/AnyEvent-Fork
771 1078
772=cut 1079=cut
773 1080
7741 10811
775 1082

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