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Revision 1.18 by root, Sat Apr 6 01:33:56 2013 UTC vs.
Revision 1.64 by root, Wed Nov 26 13:37:40 2014 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 or not being able to use event processing, GUI
62toolkits or similar 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. Exec'ing a new process, in contrast, means modules
95and data files might need to be loaded again, at extra CPU and memory
96cost.
97
98But when forking, you still create a copy of your data structures - if
99the program frees them and replaces them by new data, the child processes
100will retain the old version even if it isn't used, which can suddenly and
101unexpectedly increase memory usage when freeing memory.
102
103For example, L<Gtk2::CV> is an image viewer optimised for large
104directories (millions of pictures). It also forks subprocesses for
105thumbnail generation, which inherit the data structure that stores all
106file information. If the user changes the directory, it gets freed in
107the main process, leaving a copy in the thumbnailer processes. This can
108lead to many times the memory usage that would actually be required. The
109solution is to fork early (and being unable to dynamically generate more
110subprocesses or do this from a module)... or to use L<AnyEvent:Fork>.
111
112There is a trade-off between more sharing with fork (which can be good or
113bad), and no sharing with exec.
114
115This module allows the main program to do a controlled fork, and allows
116modules to exec processes safely at any time. When creating a custom
117process pool you can take advantage of data sharing via fork without
118risking to share large dynamic data structures that will blow up child
119memory usage.
120
121In other words, this module puts you into control over what is being
122shared and what isn't, at all times.
123
124=item Exec'ing a new perl process might be difficult.
125
126For example, it is not easy to find the correct path to the perl
127interpreter - C<$^X> might not be a perl interpreter at all. Worse, there
128might not even be a perl binary installed on the system.
129
130This module tries hard to identify the correct path to the perl
131interpreter. With a cooperative main program, exec'ing the interpreter
132might not even be necessary, but even without help from the main program,
133it will still work when used from a module.
134
135=item Exec'ing a new perl process might be slow, as all necessary modules
136have to be loaded from disk again, with no guarantees of success.
137
138Long running processes might run into problems when perl is upgraded
139and modules are no longer loadable because they refer to a different
140perl version, or parts of a distribution are newer than the ones already
141loaded.
142
143This module supports creating pre-initialised perl processes to be used as
144a template for new processes at a later time, e.g. for use in a process
145pool.
146
147=item Forking might be impossible when a program is running.
148
149For example, POSIX makes it almost impossible to fork from a
150multi-threaded program while doing anything useful in the child - in
151fact, if your perl program uses POSIX threads (even indirectly via
152e.g. L<IO::AIO> or L<threads>), you cannot call fork on the perl level
153anymore without risking memory corruption or worse on a number of
154operating systems.
155
156This module can safely fork helper processes at any time, by calling
157fork+exec in C, in a POSIX-compatible way (via L<Proc::FastSpawn>).
158
159=item Parallel processing with fork might be inconvenient or difficult
160to implement. Modules might not work in both parent and child.
161
162For example, when a program uses an event loop and creates watchers it
163becomes very hard to use the event loop from a child program, as the
164watchers already exist but are only meaningful in the parent. Worse, a
165module might want to use such a module, not knowing whether another module
166or the main program also does, leading to problems.
167
168Apart from event loops, graphical toolkits also commonly fall into the
169"unsafe module" category, or just about anything that communicates with
170the external world, such as network libraries and file I/O modules, which
171usually don't like being copied and then allowed to continue in two
172processes.
173
174With this module only the main program is allowed to create new processes
175by forking (because only the main program can know when it is still safe
176to do so) - all other processes are created via fork+exec, which makes it
177possible to use modules such as event loops or window interfaces safely.
178
179=back
180
181=head1 EXAMPLES
182
183This is where the wall of text ends and code speaks.
184
10 # create a single new process, tell it to run your worker function 185=head2 Create a single new process, tell it to run your worker function.
11 186
12 AnyEvent::Fork 187 AnyEvent::Fork
13 ->new 188 ->new
14 ->require ("MyModule") 189 ->require ("MyModule")
15 ->run ("MyModule::worker, sub { 190 ->run ("MyModule::worker, sub {
17 192
18 # now $master_filehandle is connected to the 193 # now $master_filehandle is connected to the
19 # $slave_filehandle in the new process. 194 # $slave_filehandle in the new process.
20 }); 195 });
21 196
22 # MyModule::worker might look like this 197C<MyModule> might look like this:
198
199 package MyModule;
200
23 sub MyModule::worker { 201 sub worker {
24 my ($slave_filehandle) = @_; 202 my ($slave_filehandle) = @_;
25 203
26 # now $slave_filehandle is connected to the $master_filehandle 204 # now $slave_filehandle is connected to the $master_filehandle
27 # in the original prorcess. have fun! 205 # in the original prorcess. have fun!
28 } 206 }
29 207
30 ##################################################################
31 # create a pool of server processes all accepting on the same socket 208=head2 Create a pool of server processes all accepting on the same socket.
32 209
33 # create listener socket 210 # create listener socket
34 my $listener = ...; 211 my $listener = ...;
35 212
36 # create a pool template, initialise it and give it the socket 213 # create a pool template, initialise it and give it the socket
48 } 225 }
49 226
50 # now do other things - maybe use the filehandle provided by run 227 # now do other things - maybe use the filehandle provided by run
51 # to wait for the processes to die. or whatever. 228 # to wait for the processes to die. or whatever.
52 229
53 # My::Server::run might look like this 230C<My::Server> might look like this:
54 sub My::Server::run { 231
232 package My::Server;
233
234 sub run {
55 my ($slave, $listener, $id) = @_; 235 my ($slave, $listener, $id) = @_;
56 236
57 close $slave; # we do not use the socket, so close it to save resources 237 close $slave; # we do not use the socket, so close it to save resources
58 238
59 # we could go ballistic and use e.g. AnyEvent here, or IO::AIO, 239 # we could go ballistic and use e.g. AnyEvent here, or IO::AIO,
61 while (my $socket = $listener->accept) { 241 while (my $socket = $listener->accept) {
62 # do sth. with new socket 242 # do sth. with new socket
63 } 243 }
64 } 244 }
65 245
66=head1 DESCRIPTION 246=head2 use AnyEvent::Fork as a faster fork+exec
67 247
68This module allows you to create new processes, without actually forking 248This runs C</bin/echo hi>, with standard output redirected to F</tmp/log>
69them from your current process (avoiding the problems of forking), but 249and standard error redirected to the communications socket. It is usually
70preserving most of the advantages of fork. 250faster than fork+exec, but still lets you prepare the environment.
71 251
72It can be used to create new worker processes or new independent 252 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.
77 253
78Special care has been taken to make this module useful from other modules, 254 AnyEvent::Fork
79while still supporting specialised environments such as L<App::Staticperl> 255 ->new
80or L<PAR::Packer>. 256 ->eval ('
257 # compile a helper function for later use
258 sub run {
259 my ($fh, $output, @cmd) = @_;
81 260
82=head1 WHAT THIS MODULE IS NOT 261 # perl will clear close-on-exec on STDOUT/STDERR
262 open STDOUT, ">&", $output or die;
263 open STDERR, ">&", $fh or die;
83 264
84This module only creates processes and lets you pass file handles and 265 exec @cmd;
85strings to it, and run perl code. It does not implement any kind of RPC - 266 }
86there is no back channel from the process back to you, and there is no RPC 267 ')
87or message passing going on. 268 ->send_fh ($output)
269 ->send_arg ("/bin/echo", "hi")
270 ->run ("run", my $cv = AE::cv);
88 271
89If you need some form of RPC, you can either implement it yourself 272 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.
94 273
95=head1 PROBLEM STATEMENT 274=head2 For stingy users: put the worker code into a C<DATA> section.
96 275
97There are two ways to implement parallel processing on UNIX like operating 276When you want to be stingy with files, you can put your code into the
98systems - fork and process, and fork+exec and process. They have different 277C<DATA> section of your module (or program):
99advantages and disadvantages that I describe below, together with how this
100module tries to mitigate the disadvantages.
101 278
102=over 4 279 use AnyEvent::Fork;
103 280
104=item Forking from a big process can be very slow (a 5GB process needs 281 AnyEvent::Fork
1050.05s to fork on my 3.6GHz amd64 GNU/Linux box for example). This overhead 282 ->new
106is often shared with exec (because you have to fork first), but in some 283 ->eval (do { local $/; <DATA> })
107circumstances (e.g. when vfork is used), fork+exec can be much faster. 284 ->run ("doit", sub { ... });
108 285
109This module can help here by telling a small(er) helper process to fork, 286 __DATA__
110or fork+exec instead.
111 287
112=item Forking usually creates a copy-on-write copy of the parent 288 sub doit {
113process. Memory (for example, modules or data files that have been 289 ... do something!
114will not take additional memory). When exec'ing a new process, modules 290 }
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.
119 291
120This module allows the main program to do a controlled fork, and allows 292=head2 For stingy standalone programs: do not rely on external files at
121modules to exec processes safely at any time. When creating a custom 293all.
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.
125 294
126=item Exec'ing a new perl process might be difficult and slow. For 295For 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, 296files - even when using a C<DATA> section, you still need to C<exec> an
128and all modules have to be loaded from disk again. Long running processes 297external perl interpreter, which might not be available when using
129might run into problems when perl is upgraded for example. 298L<App::Staticperl>, L<Urlader> or L<PAR::Packer> for example.
130 299
131This module supports creating pre-initialised perl processes to be used 300Two 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 301for all further calls to C<new_exec>, and L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template>
133interpreter. With a cooperative main program, exec'ing the interpreter 302forks the main program as a template process.
134might not even be necessary.
135 303
136=item Forking might be impossible when a program is running. For example, 304Here 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.
141 305
142This module can safely fork helper processes at any time, by calling 306 #! perl
143fork+exec in C, in a POSIX-compatible way.
144 307
145=item Parallel processing with fork might be inconvenient or difficult 308 # optional, as the very first thing.
146to implement. For example, when a program uses an event loop and creates 309 # in case modules want to create their own processes.
147watchers it becomes very hard to use the event loop from a child 310 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.
151 311
152This module only lets the main program create pools by forking (because 312 # 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 313 use Example::My::Module
154pools are created by fork+exec, after which such modules can again be 314 use Example::Whatever;
155loaded.
156 315
157=back 316 # next, put your run function definition and anything else you
317 # need, but do not use code outside of BEGIN blocks.
318 sub worker_run {
319 my ($fh, @args) = @_;
320 ...
321 }
322
323 # now preserve everything so far as AnyEvent::Fork object
324 # in $TEMPLATE.
325 use AnyEvent::Fork::Template;
326
327 # do not put code outside of BEGIN blocks until here
328
329 # now use the $TEMPLATE process in any way you like
330
331 # for example: create 10 worker processes
332 my @worker;
333 my $cv = AE::cv;
334 for (1..10) {
335 $cv->begin;
336 $TEMPLATE->fork->send_arg ($_)->run ("worker_run", sub {
337 push @worker, shift;
338 $cv->end;
339 });
340 }
341 $cv->recv;
158 342
159=head1 CONCEPTS 343=head1 CONCEPTS
160 344
161This module can create new processes either by executing a new perl 345This module can create new processes either by executing a new perl
162process, or by forking from an existing "template" process. 346process, or by forking from an existing "template" process.
347
348All these processes are called "child processes" (whether they are direct
349children or not), while the process that manages them is called the
350"parent process".
163 351
164Each such process comes with its own file handle that can be used to 352Each such process comes with its own file handle that can be used to
165communicate with it (it's actually a socket - one end in the new process, 353communicate with it (it's actually a socket - one end in the new process,
166one end in the main process), and among the things you can do in it are 354one end in the main process), and among the things you can do in it are
167load modules, fork new processes, send file handles to it, and execute 355load modules, fork new processes, send file handles to it, and execute
241 my ($fork_fh) = @_; 429 my ($fork_fh) = @_;
242 }); 430 });
243 431
244=back 432=back
245 433
246=head1 FUNCTIONS 434=head1 THE C<AnyEvent::Fork> CLASS
435
436This module exports nothing, and only implements a single class -
437C<AnyEvent::Fork>.
438
439There are two class constructors that both create new processes - C<new>
440and C<new_exec>. The C<fork> method creates a new process by forking an
441existing one and could be considered a third constructor.
442
443Most of the remaining methods deal with preparing the new process, by
444loading code, evaluating code and sending data to the new process. They
445usually return the process object, so you can chain method calls.
446
447If a process object is destroyed before calling its C<run> method, then
448the process simply exits. After C<run> is called, all responsibility is
449passed to the specified function.
450
451As long as there is any outstanding work to be done, process objects
452resist being destroyed, so there is no reason to store them unless you
453need them later - configure and forget works just fine.
247 454
248=over 4 455=over 4
249 456
250=cut 457=cut
251 458
258use AnyEvent; 465use AnyEvent;
259use AnyEvent::Util (); 466use AnyEvent::Util ();
260 467
261use IO::FDPass; 468use IO::FDPass;
262 469
263our $VERSION = 0.2; 470our $VERSION = 1.2;
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
276 471
277# the early fork template process 472# the early fork template process
278our $EARLY; 473our $EARLY;
279 474
280# the empty template process 475# the empty template process
281our $TEMPLATE; 476our $TEMPLATE;
477
478sub QUEUE() { 0 }
479sub FH() { 1 }
480sub WW() { 2 }
481sub PID() { 3 }
482sub CB() { 4 }
483
484sub _new {
485 my ($self, $fh, $pid) = @_;
486
487 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking $fh, 1;
488
489 $self = bless [
490 [], # write queue - strings or fd's
491 $fh,
492 undef, # AE watcher
493 $pid,
494 ], $self;
495
496 $self
497}
282 498
283sub _cmd { 499sub _cmd {
284 my $self = shift; 500 my $self = shift;
285 501
286 # ideally, we would want to use "a (w/a)*" as format string, but perl 502 # 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 503 # versions from at least 5.8.9 to 5.16.3 are all buggy and can't unpack
288 # it. 504 # it.
289 push @{ $self->[2] }, pack "L/a*", pack "(w/a*)*", @_; 505 push @{ $self->[QUEUE] }, pack "a L/a*", $_[0], $_[1];
290 506
291 unless ($self->[3]) { 507 $self->[WW] ||= AE::io $self->[FH], 1, sub {
292 my $wcb = sub {
293 do { 508 do {
294 # send the next "thing" in the queue - either a reference to an fh, 509 # send the next "thing" in the queue - either a reference to an fh,
295 # or a plain string. 510 # or a plain string.
296 511
297 if (ref $self->[2][0]) { 512 if (ref $self->[QUEUE][0]) {
298 # send fh 513 # send fh
299 unless (IO::FDPass::send fileno $self->[1], fileno ${ $self->[2][0] }) { 514 unless (IO::FDPass::send fileno $self->[FH], fileno ${ $self->[QUEUE][0] }) {
300 return if $! == Errno::EAGAIN || $! == Errno::EWOULDBLOCK; 515 return if $! == Errno::EAGAIN || $! == Errno::EWOULDBLOCK;
301 undef $self->[3]; 516 undef $self->[WW];
302 die "AnyEvent::Fork: file descriptor send failure: $!"; 517 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 } 518 }
519
520 shift @{ $self->[QUEUE] };
521
522 } else {
523 # send string
524 my $len = syswrite $self->[FH], $self->[QUEUE][0];
525
526 unless ($len) {
527 return if $! == Errno::EAGAIN || $! == Errno::EWOULDBLOCK;
528 undef $self->[WW];
529 die "AnyEvent::Fork: command write failure: $!";
530 }
531
532 substr $self->[QUEUE][0], 0, $len, "";
533 shift @{ $self->[QUEUE] } unless length $self->[QUEUE][0];
534 }
320 } while @{ $self->[2] }; 535 } while @{ $self->[QUEUE] };
321 536
322 # everything written 537 # everything written
323 undef $self->[3]; 538 undef $self->[WW];
539
324 # invoke run callback 540 # invoke run callback, if any
541 if ($self->[CB]) {
325 $self->[0]->($self->[1]) if $self->[0]; 542 $self->[CB]->($self->[FH]);
543 @$self = ();
326 }; 544 }
327
328 $wcb->();
329
330 $self->[3] ||= AE::io $self->[1], 1, $wcb
331 if @{ $self->[2] };
332 } 545 };
333 546
334 () # make sure we don't leak the watcher 547 () # make sure we don't leak the watcher
335}
336
337sub _new {
338 my ($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 $self
350} 548}
351 549
352# fork template from current process, used by AnyEvent::Fork::Early/Template 550# fork template from current process, used by AnyEvent::Fork::Early/Template
353sub _new_fork { 551sub _new_fork {
354 my ($fh, $slave) = AnyEvent::Util::portable_socketpair; 552 my ($fh, $slave) = AnyEvent::Util::portable_socketpair;
359 if ($pid eq 0) { 557 if ($pid eq 0) {
360 require AnyEvent::Fork::Serve; 558 require AnyEvent::Fork::Serve;
361 $AnyEvent::Fork::Serve::OWNER = $parent; 559 $AnyEvent::Fork::Serve::OWNER = $parent;
362 close $fh; 560 close $fh;
363 $0 = "$_[1] of $parent"; 561 $0 = "$_[1] of $parent";
364 $SIG{CHLD} = 'IGNORE';
365 AnyEvent::Fork::Serve::serve ($slave); 562 AnyEvent::Fork::Serve::serve ($slave);
366 exit 0; 563 exit 0;
367 } elsif (!$pid) { 564 } elsif (!$pid) {
368 die "AnyEvent::Fork::Early/Template: unable to fork template process: $!"; 565 die "AnyEvent::Fork::Early/Template: unable to fork template process: $!";
369 } 566 }
370 567
371 AnyEvent::Fork->_new ($fh) 568 AnyEvent::Fork->_new ($fh, $pid)
372} 569}
373 570
374=item my $proc = new AnyEvent::Fork 571=item my $proc = new AnyEvent::Fork
375 572
376Create a new "empty" perl interpreter process and returns its process 573Create a new "empty" perl interpreter process and returns its process
377object for further manipulation. 574object for further manipulation.
378 575
379The new process is forked from a template process that is kept around 576The 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 577for this purpose. When it doesn't exist yet, it is created by a call to
381C<new_exec> and kept around for future calls. 578C<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.
387 579
388=cut 580=cut
389 581
390sub new { 582sub new {
391 my $class = shift; 583 my $class = shift;
428 620
429You should use C<new> whenever possible, except when having a template 621You should use C<new> whenever possible, except when having a template
430process around is unacceptable. 622process around is unacceptable.
431 623
432The path to the perl interpreter is divined using various methods - first 624The path to the perl interpreter is divined using various methods - first
433C<$^X> is investigated to see if the path ends with something that sounds 625C<$^X> is investigated to see if the path ends with something that looks
434as if it were the perl interpreter. Failing this, the module falls back to 626as if it were the perl interpreter. Failing this, the module falls back to
435using C<$Config::Config{perlpath}>. 627using C<$Config::Config{perlpath}>.
436 628
629The path to perl can also be overriden by setting the global variable
630C<$AnyEvent::Fork::PERL> - it's value will be used for all subsequent
631invocations.
632
437=cut 633=cut
634
635our $PERL;
438 636
439sub new_exec { 637sub new_exec {
440 my ($self) = @_; 638 my ($self) = @_;
441 639
442 return $EARLY->fork 640 return $EARLY->fork
443 if $EARLY; 641 if $EARLY;
444 642
643 unless (defined $PERL) {
445 # first find path of perl 644 # first find path of perl
446 my $perl = $; 645 my $perl = $^X;
447 646
448 # first we try $^X, but the path must be absolute (always on win32), and end in sth. 647 # first we try $^X, but the path must be absolute (always on win32), and end in sth.
449 # that looks like perl. this obviously only works for posix and win32 648 # that looks like perl. this obviously only works for posix and win32
450 unless ( 649 unless (
451 ($^O eq "MSWin32" || $perl =~ m%^/%) 650 ($^O eq "MSWin32" || $perl =~ m%^/%)
452 && $perl =~ m%[/\\]perl(?:[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)+)?(\.exe)?$%i 651 && $perl =~ m%[/\\]perl(?:[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)+)?(\.exe)?$%i
453 ) { 652 ) {
454 # if it doesn't look perlish enough, try Config 653 # if it doesn't look perlish enough, try Config
455 require Config; 654 require Config;
456 $perl = $Config::Config{perlpath}; 655 $perl = $Config::Config{perlpath};
457 $perl =~ s/(?:\Q$Config::Config{_exe}\E)?$/$Config::Config{_exe}/; 656 $perl =~ s/(?:\Q$Config::Config{_exe}\E)?$/$Config::Config{_exe}/;
657 }
658
659 $PERL = $perl;
458 } 660 }
459 661
460 require Proc::FastSpawn; 662 require Proc::FastSpawn;
461 663
462 my ($fh, $slave) = AnyEvent::Util::portable_socketpair; 664 my ($fh, $slave) = AnyEvent::Util::portable_socketpair;
469 # quick. also doesn't work in win32. of course. what did you expect 671 # quick. also doesn't work in win32. of course. what did you expect
470 #local $ENV{PERL5LIB} = join ":", grep !ref, @INC; 672 #local $ENV{PERL5LIB} = join ":", grep !ref, @INC;
471 my %env = %ENV; 673 my %env = %ENV;
472 $env{PERL5LIB} = join +($^O eq "MSWin32" ? ";" : ":"), grep !ref, @INC; 674 $env{PERL5LIB} = join +($^O eq "MSWin32" ? ";" : ":"), grep !ref, @INC;
473 675
474 Proc::FastSpawn::spawn ( 676 my $pid = Proc::FastSpawn::spawn (
475 $perl, 677 $PERL,
476 ["perl", "-MAnyEvent::Fork::Serve", "-e", "AnyEvent::Fork::Serve::me", fileno $slave, $$], 678 ["perl", "-MAnyEvent::Fork::Serve", "-e", "AnyEvent::Fork::Serve::me", fileno $slave, $$],
477 [map "$_=$env{$_}", keys %env], 679 [map "$_=$env{$_}", keys %env],
478 ) or die "unable to spawn AnyEvent::Fork server: $!"; 680 ) or die "unable to spawn AnyEvent::Fork server: $!";
479 681
480 $self->_new ($fh) 682 $self->_new ($fh, $pid)
683}
684
685=item $pid = $proc->pid
686
687Returns the process id of the process I<iff it is a direct child of the
688process running AnyEvent::Fork>, and C<undef> otherwise. As a general
689rule (that you cannot rely upon), processes created via C<new_exec>,
690L<AnyEvent::Fork::Early> or L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template> are direct
691children, while all other processes are not.
692
693Or in other words, you do not normally have to take care of zombies for
694processes created via C<new>, but when in doubt, or zombies are a problem,
695you need to check whether a process is a diretc child by calling this
696method, and possibly creating a child watcher or reap it manually.
697
698=cut
699
700sub pid {
701 $_[0][PID]
481} 702}
482 703
483=item $proc = $proc->eval ($perlcode, @args) 704=item $proc = $proc->eval ($perlcode, @args)
484 705
485Evaluates the given C<$perlcode> as ... perl code, while setting C<@_> to 706Evaluates the given C<$perlcode> as ... Perl code, while setting C<@_> to
486the strings specified by C<@args>. 707the strings specified by C<@args>, in the "main" package.
487 708
488This call is meant to do any custom initialisation that might be required 709This 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 710(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. 711to completely take over the process, use C<run> for that.
491 712
492The code will usually be executed after this call returns, and there is no 713The 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 714way to pass anything back to the calling process. Any evaluation errors
494will be reported to stderr and cause the process to exit. 715will be reported to stderr and cause the process to exit.
495 716
717If you want to execute some code (that isn't in a module) to take over the
718process, you should compile a function via C<eval> first, and then call
719it via C<run>. This also gives you access to any arguments passed via the
720C<send_xxx> methods, such as file handles. See the L<use AnyEvent::Fork as
721a faster fork+exec> example to see it in action.
722
496Returns the process object for easy chaining of method calls. 723Returns the process object for easy chaining of method calls.
497 724
498=cut 725=cut
499 726
500sub eval { 727sub eval {
501 my ($self, $code, @args) = @_; 728 my ($self, $code, @args) = @_;
502 729
503 $self->_cmd (e => $code, @args); 730 $self->_cmd (e => pack "(w/a*)*", $code, @args);
504 731
505 $self 732 $self
506} 733}
507 734
508=item $proc = $proc->require ($module, ...) 735=item $proc = $proc->require ($module, ...)
525=item $proc = $proc->send_fh ($handle, ...) 752=item $proc = $proc->send_fh ($handle, ...)
526 753
527Send one or more file handles (I<not> file descriptors) to the process, 754Send one or more file handles (I<not> file descriptors) to the process,
528to prepare a call to C<run>. 755to prepare a call to C<run>.
529 756
530The process object keeps a reference to the handles until this is done, 757The process object keeps a reference to the handles until they have
531so you must not explicitly close the handles. This is most easily 758been passed over to the process, so you must not explicitly close the
532accomplished by simply not storing the file handles anywhere after passing 759handles. This is most easily accomplished by simply not storing the file
533them to this method. 760handles anywhere after passing them to this method - when AnyEvent::Fork
761is finished using them, perl will automatically close them.
534 762
535Returns the process object for easy chaining of method calls. 763Returns the process object for easy chaining of method calls.
536 764
537Example: pass a file handle to a process, and release it without 765Example: pass a file handle to a process, and release it without
538closing. It will be closed automatically when it is no longer used. 766closing. It will be closed automatically when it is no longer used.
545sub send_fh { 773sub send_fh {
546 my ($self, @fh) = @_; 774 my ($self, @fh) = @_;
547 775
548 for my $fh (@fh) { 776 for my $fh (@fh) {
549 $self->_cmd ("h"); 777 $self->_cmd ("h");
550 push @{ $self->[2] }, \$fh; 778 push @{ $self->[QUEUE] }, \$fh;
551 } 779 }
552 780
553 $self 781 $self
554} 782}
555 783
556=item $proc = $proc->send_arg ($string, ...) 784=item $proc = $proc->send_arg ($string, ...)
557 785
558Send one or more argument strings to the process, to prepare a call to 786Send one or more argument strings to the process, to prepare a call to
559C<run>. The strings can be any octet string. 787C<run>. The strings can be any octet strings.
560 788
561The protocol is optimised to pass a moderate number of relatively short 789The 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 790strings - 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 791meant to pass some ID information or other startup info, not big chunks of
564data. 792data.
568=cut 796=cut
569 797
570sub send_arg { 798sub send_arg {
571 my ($self, @arg) = @_; 799 my ($self, @arg) = @_;
572 800
573 $self->_cmd (a => @arg); 801 $self->_cmd (a => pack "(w/a*)*", @arg);
574 802
575 $self 803 $self
576} 804}
577 805
578=item $proc->run ($func, $cb->($fh)) 806=item $proc->run ($func, $cb->($fh))
579 807
580Enter the function specified by the fully qualified name in C<$func> in 808Enter the function specified by the function name in C<$func> in the
581the process. The function is called with the communication socket as first 809process. The function is called with the communication socket as first
582argument, followed by all file handles and string arguments sent earlier 810argument, 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. 811via C<send_fh> and C<send_arg> methods, in the order they were called.
584 812
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. 813The process object becomes unusable on return from this function - any
814further method calls result in undefined behaviour.
815
816The function name should be fully qualified, but if it isn't, it will be
817looked up in the C<main> package.
818
819If the called function returns, doesn't exist, or any error occurs, the
820process exits.
821
822Preparing the process is done in the background - when all commands have
823been sent, the callback is invoked with the local communications socket
824as argument. At this point you can start using the socket in any way you
825like.
591 826
592If the communication socket isn't used, it should be closed on both sides, 827If the communication socket isn't used, it should be closed on both sides,
593to save on kernel memory. 828to save on kernel memory.
594 829
595The socket is non-blocking in the parent, and blocking in the newly 830The 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 831created process. The close-on-exec flag is set in both.
832
597otherwise, the socket can be a good indicator for the existence of the 833Even 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, 834existence 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 835event on it, because exiting the process closes the socket (if it didn't
600children using fork). 836create any children using fork).
837
838=over 4
839
840=item Compatibility to L<AnyEvent::Fork::Remote>
841
842If you want to write code that works with both this module and
843L<AnyEvent::Fork::Remote>, you need to write your code so that it assumes
844there are two file handles for communications, which might not be unix
845domain sockets. The C<run> function should start like this:
846
847 sub run {
848 my ($rfh, @args) = @_; # @args is your normal arguments
849 my $wfh = fileno $rfh ? $rfh : *STDOUT;
850
851 # now use $rfh for reading and $wfh for writing
852 }
853
854This checks whether the passed file handle is, in fact, the process
855C<STDIN> handle. If it is, then the function was invoked visa
856L<AnyEvent::Fork::Remote>, so STDIN should be used for reading and
857C<STDOUT> should be used for writing.
858
859In all other cases, the function was called via this module, and there is
860only one file handle that should be sued for reading and writing.
861
862=back
601 863
602Example: create a template for a process pool, pass a few strings, some 864Example: create a template for a process pool, pass a few strings, some
603file handles, then fork, pass one more string, and run some code. 865file handles, then fork, pass one more string, and run some code.
604 866
605 my $pool = AnyEvent::Fork 867 my $pool = AnyEvent::Fork
613 ->send_arg ("str3") 875 ->send_arg ("str3")
614 ->run ("Some::function", sub { 876 ->run ("Some::function", sub {
615 my ($fh) = @_; 877 my ($fh) = @_;
616 878
617 # fh is nonblocking, but we trust that the OS can accept these 879 # fh is nonblocking, but we trust that the OS can accept these
618 # extra 3 octets anyway. 880 # few octets anyway.
619 syswrite $fh, "hi #$_\n"; 881 syswrite $fh, "hi #$_\n";
620 882
621 # $fh is being closed here, as we don't store it anywhere 883 # $fh is being closed here, as we don't store it anywhere
622 }); 884 });
623 } 885 }
625 # Some::function might look like this - all parameters passed before fork 887 # Some::function might look like this - all parameters passed before fork
626 # and after will be passed, in order, after the communications socket. 888 # and after will be passed, in order, after the communications socket.
627 sub Some::function { 889 sub Some::function {
628 my ($fh, $str1, $str2, $fh1, $fh2, $str3) = @_; 890 my ($fh, $str1, $str2, $fh1, $fh2, $str3) = @_;
629 891
630 print scalar <$fh>; # prints "hi 1\n" and "hi 2\n" 892 print scalar <$fh>; # prints "hi #1\n" and "hi #2\n" in any order
631 } 893 }
632 894
633=cut 895=cut
634 896
635sub run { 897sub run {
636 my ($self, $func, $cb) = @_; 898 my ($self, $func, $cb) = @_;
637 899
638 $self->[0] = $cb; 900 $self->[CB] = $cb;
639 $self->_cmd (r => $func); 901 $self->_cmd (r => $func);
902}
903
904=back
905
906=head2 EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
907
908These methods might go away completely or change behaviour, at any time.
909
910=over 4
911
912=item $proc->to_fh ($cb->($fh)) # EXPERIMENTAL, MIGHT BE REMOVED
913
914Flushes all commands out to the process and then calls the callback with
915the communications socket.
916
917The process object becomes unusable on return from this function - any
918further method calls result in undefined behaviour.
919
920The point of this method is to give you a file handle that you can pass
921to another process. In that other process, you can call C<new_from_fh
922AnyEvent::Fork $fh> to create a new C<AnyEvent::Fork> object from it,
923thereby effectively passing a fork object to another process.
924
925=cut
926
927sub to_fh {
928 my ($self, $cb) = @_;
929
930 $self->[CB] = $cb;
931
932 unless ($self->[WW]) {
933 $self->[CB]->($self->[FH]);
934 @$self = ();
935 }
936}
937
938=item new_from_fh AnyEvent::Fork $fh # EXPERIMENTAL, MIGHT BE REMOVED
939
940Takes a file handle originally rceeived by the C<to_fh> method and creates
941a new C<AnyEvent:Fork> object. The child process itself will not change in
942any way, i.e. it will keep all the modifications done to it before calling
943C<to_fh>.
944
945The new object is very much like the original object, except that the
946C<pid> method will return C<undef> even if the process is a direct child.
947
948=cut
949
950sub new_from_fh {
951 my ($class, $fh) = @_;
952
953 $class->_new ($fh)
640} 954}
641 955
642=back 956=back
643 957
644=head1 PERFORMANCE 958=head1 PERFORMANCE
654 968
655 2079 new processes per second, using manual socketpair + fork 969 2079 new processes per second, using manual socketpair + fork
656 970
657Then I did the same thing, but instead of calling fork, I called 971Then I did the same thing, but instead of calling fork, I called
658AnyEvent::Fork->new->run ("CORE::exit") and then again waited for the 972AnyEvent::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 973socket 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 974socket 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 975(2440kB), and the socket needs to be passed to the server at the other end
662of the socket first. 976of the socket first.
663 977
664 2307 new processes per second, using AnyEvent::Fork->new 978 2307 new processes per second, using AnyEvent::Fork->new
669 479 vfork+execs per second, using AnyEvent::Fork->new_exec 983 479 vfork+execs per second, using AnyEvent::Fork->new_exec
670 984
671So how can C<< AnyEvent->new >> be faster than a standard fork, even 985So how can C<< AnyEvent->new >> be faster than a standard fork, even
672though it uses the same operations, but adds a lot of overhead? 986though it uses the same operations, but adds a lot of overhead?
673 987
674The difference is simply the process size: forking the 6MB process takes 988The difference is simply the process size: forking the 5MB process takes
675so much longer than forking the 2.5MB template process that the overhead 989so much longer than forking the 2.5MB template process that the extra
676introduced is canceled out. 990overhead is canceled out.
677 991
678If the benchmark process grows, the normal fork becomes even slower: 992If the benchmark process grows, the normal fork becomes even slower:
679 993
680 1340 new processes, manual fork in a 20MB process 994 1340 new processes, manual fork of a 20MB process
681 731 new processes, manual fork in a 200MB process 995 731 new processes, manual fork of a 200MB process
682 235 new processes, manual fork in a 2000MB process 996 235 new processes, manual fork of a 2000MB process
683 997
684What that means (to me) is that I can use this module without having a 998What 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 999conscience because of the extra overhead required to start new processes.
686processes.
687 1000
688=head1 TYPICAL PROBLEMS 1001=head1 TYPICAL PROBLEMS
689 1002
690This section lists typical problems that remain. I hope by recognising 1003This section lists typical problems that remain. I hope by recognising
691them, most can be avoided. 1004them, most can be avoided.
692 1005
693=over 4 1006=over 4
694 1007
695=item exit runs destructors
696
697=item "leaked" file descriptors for exec'ed processes 1008=item leaked file descriptors for exec'ed processes
698 1009
699POSIX systems inherit file descriptors by default when exec'ing a new 1010POSIX systems inherit file descriptors by default when exec'ing a new
700process. While perl itself laudably sets the close-on-exec flags on new 1011process. 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 1012file 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. 1013often not possible to set the flag in a race-free manner.
722libraries or the code that leaks those file descriptors. 1033libraries or the code that leaks those file descriptors.
723 1034
724Fortunately, most of these leaked descriptors do no harm, other than 1035Fortunately, most of these leaked descriptors do no harm, other than
725sitting on some resources. 1036sitting on some resources.
726 1037
727=item "leaked" file descriptors for fork'ed processes 1038=item leaked file descriptors for fork'ed processes
728 1039
729Normally, L<AnyEvent::Fork> does start new processes by exec'ing them, 1040Normally, L<AnyEvent::Fork> does start new processes by exec'ing them,
730which closes file descriptors not marked for being inherited. 1041which closes file descriptors not marked for being inherited.
731 1042
732However, L<AnyEvent::Fork::Early> and L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template> offer 1043However, L<AnyEvent::Fork::Early> and L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template> offer
740trouble with a fork. 1051trouble with a fork.
741 1052
742The solution is to either not load these modules before use'ing 1053The solution is to either not load these modules before use'ing
743L<AnyEvent::Fork::Early> or L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template>, or to delay 1054L<AnyEvent::Fork::Early> or L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template>, or to delay
744initialising them, for example, by calling C<init Gtk2> manually. 1055initialising them, for example, by calling C<init Gtk2> manually.
1056
1057=item exiting calls object destructors
1058
1059This only applies to users of L<AnyEvent::Fork:Early> and
1060L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template>, or when initialising code creates objects
1061that reference external resources.
1062
1063When a process created by AnyEvent::Fork exits, it might do so by calling
1064exit, or simply letting perl reach the end of the program. At which point
1065Perl runs all destructors.
1066
1067Not all destructors are fork-safe - for example, an object that represents
1068the connection to an X display might tell the X server to free resources,
1069which is inconvenient when the "real" object in the parent still needs to
1070use them.
1071
1072This is obviously not a problem for L<AnyEvent::Fork::Early>, as you used
1073it as the very first thing, right?
1074
1075It is a problem for L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template> though - and the solution
1076is to not create objects with nontrivial destructors that might have an
1077effect outside of Perl.
745 1078
746=back 1079=back
747 1080
748=head1 PORTABILITY NOTES 1081=head1 PORTABILITY NOTES
749 1082
752to make it so, mostly due to the bloody broken perl that nobody seems to 1085to 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 1086care 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 1087useful that you can do with it without running into memory corruption
755issues or other braindamage. Hrrrr. 1088issues or other braindamage. Hrrrr.
756 1089
757Cygwin perl is not supported at the moment, as it should implement fd 1090Since 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 1091work within it's documented limits) and quite obviously it's not getting
759support enough functionality to do it. 1092improved any time soon, the best way to proceed on windows would be to
1093always use C<new_exec> and thus never rely on perl's fork "emulation".
1094
1095Cygwin perl is not supported at the moment due to some hilarious
1096shortcomings of its API - see L<IO::FDPoll> for more details. If you never
1097use C<send_fh> and always use C<new_exec> to create processes, it should
1098work though.
1099
1100=head1 USING AnyEvent::Fork IN SUBPROCESSES
1101
1102AnyEvent::Fork itself cannot generally be used in subprocesses. As long as
1103only one process ever forks new processes, sharing the template processes
1104is possible (you could use a pipe as a lock by writing a byte into it to
1105unlock, and reading the byte to lock for example)
1106
1107To make concurrent calls possible after fork, you should get rid of the
1108template and early fork processes. AnyEvent::Fork will create a new
1109template process as needed.
1110
1111 undef $AnyEvent::Fork::EARLY;
1112 undef $AnyEvent::Fork::TEMPLATE;
1113
1114It doesn't matter whether you get rid of them in the parent or child after
1115a fork.
760 1116
761=head1 SEE ALSO 1117=head1 SEE ALSO
762 1118
763L<AnyEvent::Fork::Early> (to avoid executing a perl interpreter), 1119L<AnyEvent::Fork::Early>, to avoid executing a perl interpreter at all
1120(part of this distribution).
1121
764L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template> (to create a process by forking the main 1122L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template>, to create a process by forking the main
765program at a convenient time). 1123program at a convenient time (part of this distribution).
766 1124
767=head1 AUTHOR 1125L<AnyEvent::Fork::Remote>, for another way to create processes that is
1126mostly compatible to this module and modules building on top of it, but
1127works better with remote processes.
1128
1129L<AnyEvent::Fork::RPC>, for simple RPC to child processes (on CPAN).
1130
1131L<AnyEvent::Fork::Pool>, for simple worker process pool (on CPAN).
1132
1133=head1 AUTHOR AND CONTACT INFORMATION
768 1134
769 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 1135 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
770 http://home.schmorp.de/ 1136 http://software.schmorp.de/pkg/AnyEvent-Fork
771 1137
772=cut 1138=cut
773 1139
7741 11401
775 1141

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