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Revision 1.39 by root, Sat Apr 6 22:39:37 2013 UTC vs.
Revision 1.54 by root, Fri Apr 26 17:24:05 2013 UTC

34This module only creates processes and lets you pass file handles and 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 - 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 36there is no back channel from the process back to you, and there is no RPC
37or message passing going on. 37or message passing going on.
38 38
39If you need some form of RPC, you can either implement it yourself 39If you need some form of RPC, you could use the L<AnyEvent::Fork::RPC>
40in whatever way you like, use some message-passing module such 40companion module, which adds simple RPC/job queueing to a process created
41as L<AnyEvent::MP>, some pipe such as L<AnyEvent::ZeroMQ>, use 41by this module.
42L<AnyEvent::Handle> on both sides to send e.g. JSON or Storable messages, 42
43and so on. 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.
44 51
45=head2 COMPARISON TO OTHER MODULES 52=head2 COMPARISON TO OTHER MODULES
46 53
47There is an abundance of modules on CPAN that do "something fork", such as 54There is an abundance of modules on CPAN that do "something fork", such as
48L<Parallel::ForkManager>, L<AnyEvent::ForkManager>, L<AnyEvent::Worker> 55L<Parallel::ForkManager>, L<AnyEvent::ForkManager>, L<AnyEvent::Worker>
221 } 228 }
222 } 229 }
223 230
224=head2 use AnyEvent::Fork as a faster fork+exec 231=head2 use AnyEvent::Fork as a faster fork+exec
225 232
226This runs C</bin/echo hi>, with stdandard output redirected to /tmp/log 233This runs C</bin/echo hi>, with standard output redirected to F</tmp/log>
227and standard error redirected to the communications socket. It is usually 234and standard error redirected to the communications socket. It is usually
228faster than fork+exec, but still lets you prepare the environment. 235faster than fork+exec, but still lets you prepare the environment.
229 236
230 open my $output, ">/tmp/log" or die "$!"; 237 open my $output, ">/tmp/log" or die "$!";
231 238
232 AnyEvent::Fork 239 AnyEvent::Fork
233 ->new 240 ->new
234 ->eval (' 241 ->eval ('
242 # compile a helper function for later use
235 sub run { 243 sub run {
236 my ($fh, $output, @cmd) = @_; 244 my ($fh, $output, @cmd) = @_;
237 245
238 # perl will clear close-on-exec on STDOUT/STDERR 246 # perl will clear close-on-exec on STDOUT/STDERR
239 open STDOUT, ">&", $output or die; 247 open STDOUT, ">&", $output or die;
246 ->send_arg ("/bin/echo", "hi") 254 ->send_arg ("/bin/echo", "hi")
247 ->run ("run", my $cv = AE::cv); 255 ->run ("run", my $cv = AE::cv);
248 256
249 my $stderr = $cv->recv; 257 my $stderr = $cv->recv;
250 258
259=head2 For stingy users: put the worker code into a C<DATA> section.
260
261When you want to be stingy with files, you cna put your code into the
262C<DATA> section of your module (or program):
263
264 use AnyEvent::Fork;
265
266 AnyEvent::Fork
267 ->new
268 ->eval (do { local $/; <DATA> })
269 ->run ("doit", sub { ... });
270
271 __DATA__
272
273 sub doit {
274 ... do something!
275 }
276
277=head2 For stingy standalone programs: do not rely on external files at
278all.
279
280For single-file scripts it can be inconvenient to rely on external
281files - even when using < C<DATA> section, you still need to C<exec>
282an external perl interpreter, which might not be available when using
283L<App::Staticperl>, L<Urlader> or L<PAR::Packer> for example.
284
285Two modules help here - L<AnyEvent::Fork::Early> forks a template process
286for all further calls to C<new_exec>, and L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template>
287forks the main program as a template process.
288
289Here is how your main program should look like:
290
291 #! perl
292
293 # optional, as the very first thing.
294 # in case modules want to create their own processes.
295 use AnyEvent::Fork::Early;
296
297 # next, load all modules you need in your template process
298 use Example::My::Module
299 use Example::Whatever;
300
301 # next, put your run function definition and anything else you
302 # need, but do not use code outside of BEGIN blocks.
303 sub worker_run {
304 my ($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;
327
251=head1 CONCEPTS 328=head1 CONCEPTS
252 329
253This module can create new processes either by executing a new perl 330This module can create new processes either by executing a new perl
254process, 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".
255 336
256Each 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
257communicate 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,
258one 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
259load modules, fork new processes, send file handles to it, and execute 340load modules, fork new processes, send file handles to it, and execute
369use AnyEvent; 450use AnyEvent;
370use AnyEvent::Util (); 451use AnyEvent::Util ();
371 452
372use IO::FDPass; 453use IO::FDPass;
373 454
374our $VERSION = 0.5; 455our $VERSION = '1.0';
375
376our $PERL; # the path to the perl interpreter, deduces with various forms of magic
377
378=over 4
379
380=back
381
382=cut
383 456
384# the early fork template process 457# the early fork template process
385our $EARLY; 458our $EARLY;
386 459
387# the empty template process 460# the empty template process
388our $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}
389 483
390sub _cmd { 484sub _cmd {
391 my $self = shift; 485 my $self = shift;
392 486
393 # 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
394 # 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
395 # it. 489 # it.
396 push @{ $self->[2] }, pack "a L/a*", $_[0], $_[1]; 490 push @{ $self->[QUEUE] }, pack "a N/a*", $_[0], $_[1];
397 491
398 $self->[3] ||= AE::io $self->[1], 1, sub { 492 $self->[WW] ||= AE::io $self->[FH], 1, sub {
399 do { 493 do {
400 # 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,
401 # or a plain string. 495 # or a plain string.
402 496
403 if (ref $self->[2][0]) { 497 if (ref $self->[QUEUE][0]) {
404 # send fh 498 # send fh
405 unless (IO::FDPass::send fileno $self->[1], fileno ${ $self->[2][0] }) { 499 unless (IO::FDPass::send fileno $self->[FH], fileno ${ $self->[QUEUE][0] }) {
406 return if $! == Errno::EAGAIN || $! == Errno::EWOULDBLOCK; 500 return if $! == Errno::EAGAIN || $! == Errno::EWOULDBLOCK;
407 undef $self->[3]; 501 undef $self->[WW];
408 die "AnyEvent::Fork: file descriptor send failure: $!"; 502 die "AnyEvent::Fork: file descriptor send failure: $!";
409 } 503 }
410 504
411 shift @{ $self->[2] }; 505 shift @{ $self->[QUEUE] };
412 506
413 } else { 507 } else {
414 # send string 508 # send string
415 my $len = syswrite $self->[1], $self->[2][0]; 509 my $len = syswrite $self->[FH], $self->[QUEUE][0];
416 510
417 unless ($len) { 511 unless ($len) {
418 return if $! == Errno::EAGAIN || $! == Errno::EWOULDBLOCK; 512 return if $! == Errno::EAGAIN || $! == Errno::EWOULDBLOCK;
419 undef $self->[3]; 513 undef $self->[WW];
420 die "AnyEvent::Fork: command write failure: $!"; 514 die "AnyEvent::Fork: command write failure: $!";
421 } 515 }
422 516
423 substr $self->[2][0], 0, $len, ""; 517 substr $self->[QUEUE][0], 0, $len, "";
424 shift @{ $self->[2] } unless length $self->[2][0]; 518 shift @{ $self->[QUEUE] } unless length $self->[QUEUE][0];
425 } 519 }
426 } while @{ $self->[2] }; 520 } while @{ $self->[QUEUE] };
427 521
428 # everything written 522 # everything written
429 undef $self->[3]; 523 undef $self->[WW];
430 524
431 # invoke run callback, if any 525 # invoke run callback, if any
432 $self->[4]->($self->[1]) if $self->[4]; 526 if ($self->[CB]) {
527 $self->[CB]->($self->[FH]);
528 @$self = ();
529 }
433 }; 530 };
434 531
435 () # make sure we don't leak the watcher 532 () # make sure we don't leak the watcher
436}
437
438sub _new {
439 my ($self, $fh, $pid) = @_;
440
441 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking $fh, 1;
442
443 $self = bless [
444 $pid,
445 $fh,
446 [], # write queue - strings or fd's
447 undef, # AE watcher
448 ], $self;
449
450 $self
451} 533}
452 534
453# fork template from current process, used by AnyEvent::Fork::Early/Template 535# fork template from current process, used by AnyEvent::Fork::Early/Template
454sub _new_fork { 536sub _new_fork {
455 my ($fh, $slave) = AnyEvent::Util::portable_socketpair; 537 my ($fh, $slave) = AnyEvent::Util::portable_socketpair;
460 if ($pid eq 0) { 542 if ($pid eq 0) {
461 require AnyEvent::Fork::Serve; 543 require AnyEvent::Fork::Serve;
462 $AnyEvent::Fork::Serve::OWNER = $parent; 544 $AnyEvent::Fork::Serve::OWNER = $parent;
463 close $fh; 545 close $fh;
464 $0 = "$_[1] of $parent"; 546 $0 = "$_[1] of $parent";
465 $SIG{CHLD} = 'IGNORE';
466 AnyEvent::Fork::Serve::serve ($slave); 547 AnyEvent::Fork::Serve::serve ($slave);
467 exit 0; 548 exit 0;
468 } elsif (!$pid) { 549 } elsif (!$pid) {
469 die "AnyEvent::Fork::Early/Template: unable to fork template process: $!"; 550 die "AnyEvent::Fork::Early/Template: unable to fork template process: $!";
470 } 551 }
589AnyEvent::Fork itself. 670AnyEvent::Fork itself.
590 671
591=cut 672=cut
592 673
593sub pid { 674sub pid {
594 $_[0][0] 675 $_[0][PID]
595} 676}
596 677
597=item $proc = $proc->eval ($perlcode, @args) 678=item $proc = $proc->eval ($perlcode, @args)
598 679
599Evaluates the given C<$perlcode> as ... perl code, while setting C<@_> to 680Evaluates the given C<$perlcode> as ... Perl code, while setting C<@_> to
600the strings specified by C<@args>, in the "main" package. 681the strings specified by C<@args>, in the "main" package.
601 682
602This call is meant to do any custom initialisation that might be required 683This call is meant to do any custom initialisation that might be required
603(for example, the C<require> method uses it). It's not supposed to be used 684(for example, the C<require> method uses it). It's not supposed to be used
604to completely take over the process, use C<run> for that. 685to completely take over the process, use C<run> for that.
666sub send_fh { 747sub send_fh {
667 my ($self, @fh) = @_; 748 my ($self, @fh) = @_;
668 749
669 for my $fh (@fh) { 750 for my $fh (@fh) {
670 $self->_cmd ("h"); 751 $self->_cmd ("h");
671 push @{ $self->[2] }, \$fh; 752 push @{ $self->[QUEUE] }, \$fh;
672 } 753 }
673 754
674 $self 755 $self
675} 756}
676 757
762=cut 843=cut
763 844
764sub run { 845sub run {
765 my ($self, $func, $cb) = @_; 846 my ($self, $func, $cb) = @_;
766 847
767 $self->[4] = $cb; 848 $self->[CB] = $cb;
768 $self->_cmd (r => $func); 849 $self->_cmd (r => $func);
850}
851
852=back
853
854=head2 ADVANCED METHODS
855
856=over 4
857
858=item new_from_stdio AnyEvent::Fork $fh
859
860Assume that you have a perl interpreter running (without any special
861options or a program) somewhere and it has it's STDIN and STDOUT connected
862to the C<$fh> somehow. I.e. exactly the state perl is in when you start it
863without any arguments:
864
865 perl
866
867Then you can create an C<AnyEvent::Fork> object out of this perl
868interpreter with this constructor.
869
870When the usefulness of this isn't immediately clear, imagine you manage to
871run a perl interpreter remotely (F<ssh remotemachine perl>), then you can
872manage it mostly like a local C<AnyEvent::Fork> child.
873
874This works without any module support, i.e. the remote F<perl> does not
875need to have any special modules installed.
876
877There are a number of limitations though: C<send_fh> will only work if the
878L<IO::FDPass> module is loadable by the remote perl and the two processes
879are connected in a way that let's L<IO::FDPass> do it's work.
880
881This will therefore not work over a network connection. From this follows
882that C<fork> will also not work under these circumstances, as it relies on
883C<send_fh> internally.
884
885Although not a limitation of this module, keep in mind that the
886"communications socket" is simply C<STDIN>, and depending on how you
887started F<perl> (e.g. via F<ssh>), it might only be half-duplex. This is
888fine for C<AnyEvent::Fork>, but your C<run> function might want to use
889C<STDIN> (or the "communications socket") for input and C<STDOUT> for
890output.
891
892You can support both cases by checking the C<fileno> of the handle passed
893to your run function:
894
895 sub run {
896 my ($rfh) = @_;
897
898 my $wfh = fileno $rfh ? $rfh : *STDOUT;
899
900 # now use $rfh for reading and $wfh for writing
901 }
902
903=cut
904
905sub new_from_stdio {
906 my ($class, $fh) = @_;
907
908 my $self = $class->_new ($fh);
909
910 # send startup code
911 push @{ $self->[QUEUE] },
912 (do "AnyEvent/Fork/serve.pl")
913 . <<'EOF';
914
915$OWNER = "another process";
916$0 = "AnyEvent::Fork/stdio of $OWNER";
917
918serve *STDIN;
919__END__
920EOF
921
922 # the data is only sent when the user requests additional things, which
923 # is likely early enough for our purposes.
924
925 $self
926}
927
928=back
929
930=head2 EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
931
932These methods might go away completely or change behaviour, a any time.
933
934=over 4
935
936=item $proc->to_fh ($cb->($fh)) # EXPERIMENTAL, MIGHT BE REMOVED
937
938Flushes all commands out to the process and then calls the callback with
939the communications socket.
940
941The process object becomes unusable on return from this function - any
942further method calls result in undefined behaviour.
943
944The point of this method is to give you a file handle thta you cna pass
945to another process. In that other process, you can call C<new_from_fh
946AnyEvent::Fork> to create a new C<AnyEvent::Fork> object from it, thereby
947effectively passing a fork object to another process.
948
949=cut
950
951sub to_fh {
952 my ($self, $cb) = @_;
953
954 $self->[CB] = $cb;
955
956 unless ($self->[WW]) {
957 $self->[CB]->($self->[FH]);
958 @$self = ();
959 }
960}
961
962=item new_from_fh AnyEvent::Fork $fh # EXPERIMENTAL, MIGHT BE REMOVED
963
964Takes a file handle originally rceeived by the C<to_fh> method and creates
965a new C<AnyEvent:Fork> object. The child process itself will not change in
966any way, i.e. it will keep all the modifications done to it before calling
967C<to_fh>.
968
969The new object is very much like the original object, except that the
970C<pid> method will return C<undef> even if the process is a direct child.
971
972=cut
973
974sub new_from_fh {
975 my ($class, $fh) = @_;
976
977 $class->_new ($fh)
769} 978}
770 979
771=back 980=back
772 981
773=head1 PERFORMANCE 982=head1 PERFORMANCE
783 992
784 2079 new processes per second, using manual socketpair + fork 993 2079 new processes per second, using manual socketpair + fork
785 994
786Then I did the same thing, but instead of calling fork, I called 995Then I did the same thing, but instead of calling fork, I called
787AnyEvent::Fork->new->run ("CORE::exit") and then again waited for the 996AnyEvent::Fork->new->run ("CORE::exit") and then again waited for the
788socket form the child to close on exit. This does the same thing as manual 997socket from the child to close on exit. This does the same thing as manual
789socket pair + fork, except that what is forked is the template process 998socket pair + fork, except that what is forked is the template process
790(2440kB), and the socket needs to be passed to the server at the other end 999(2440kB), and the socket needs to be passed to the server at the other end
791of the socket first. 1000of the socket first.
792 1001
793 2307 new processes per second, using AnyEvent::Fork->new 1002 2307 new processes per second, using AnyEvent::Fork->new
800So how can C<< AnyEvent->new >> be faster than a standard fork, even 1009So how can C<< AnyEvent->new >> be faster than a standard fork, even
801though it uses the same operations, but adds a lot of overhead? 1010though it uses the same operations, but adds a lot of overhead?
802 1011
803The difference is simply the process size: forking the 5MB process takes 1012The difference is simply the process size: forking the 5MB process takes
804so much longer than forking the 2.5MB template process that the extra 1013so much longer than forking the 2.5MB template process that the extra
805overhead introduced is canceled out. 1014overhead is canceled out.
806 1015
807If the benchmark process grows, the normal fork becomes even slower: 1016If the benchmark process grows, the normal fork becomes even slower:
808 1017
809 1340 new processes, manual fork of a 20MB process 1018 1340 new processes, manual fork of a 20MB process
810 731 new processes, manual fork of a 200MB process 1019 731 new processes, manual fork of a 200MB process
870initialising them, for example, by calling C<init Gtk2> manually. 1079initialising them, for example, by calling C<init Gtk2> manually.
871 1080
872=item exiting calls object destructors 1081=item exiting calls object destructors
873 1082
874This only applies to users of L<AnyEvent::Fork:Early> and 1083This only applies to users of L<AnyEvent::Fork:Early> and
875L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template>, or when initialiasing code creates objects 1084L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template>, or when initialising code creates objects
876that reference external resources. 1085that reference external resources.
877 1086
878When a process created by AnyEvent::Fork exits, it might do so by calling 1087When a process created by AnyEvent::Fork exits, it might do so by calling
879exit, or simply letting perl reach the end of the program. At which point 1088exit, or simply letting perl reach the end of the program. At which point
880Perl runs all destructors. 1089Perl runs all destructors.
900to make it so, mostly due to the bloody broken perl that nobody seems to 1109to make it so, mostly due to the bloody broken perl that nobody seems to
901care about. The fork emulation is a bad joke - I have yet to see something 1110care about. The fork emulation is a bad joke - I have yet to see something
902useful that you can do with it without running into memory corruption 1111useful that you can do with it without running into memory corruption
903issues or other braindamage. Hrrrr. 1112issues or other braindamage. Hrrrr.
904 1113
1114Since fork is endlessly broken on win32 perls (it doesn't even remotely
1115work within it's documented limits) and quite obviously it's not getting
1116improved any time soon, the best way to proceed on windows would be to
1117always use C<new_exec> and thus never rely on perl's fork "emulation".
1118
905Cygwin perl is not supported at the moment due to some hilarious 1119Cygwin perl is not supported at the moment due to some hilarious
906shortcomings of its API - see L<IO::FDPoll> for more details. 1120shortcomings of its API - see L<IO::FDPoll> for more details. If you never
1121use C<send_fh> and always use C<new_exec> to create processes, it should
1122work though.
907 1123
908=head1 SEE ALSO 1124=head1 SEE ALSO
909 1125
910L<AnyEvent::Fork::Early> (to avoid executing a perl interpreter), 1126L<AnyEvent::Fork::Early>, to avoid executing a perl interpreter at all
1127(part of this distribution).
1128
911L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template> (to create a process by forking the main 1129L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template>, to create a process by forking the main
912program at a convenient time). 1130program at a convenient time (part of this distribution).
913 1131
914=head1 AUTHOR 1132L<AnyEvent::Fork::RPC>, for simple RPC to child processes (on CPAN).
1133
1134L<AnyEvent::Fork::Pool>, for simple worker process pool (on CPAN).
1135
1136=head1 AUTHOR AND CONTACT INFORMATION
915 1137
916 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 1138 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
917 http://home.schmorp.de/ 1139 http://software.schmorp.de/pkg/AnyEvent-Fork
918 1140
919=cut 1141=cut
920 1142
9211 11431
922 1144

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