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Revision 1.42 by root, Mon Apr 8 05:44:23 2013 UTC vs.
Revision 1.56 by root, Sun Apr 28 13:47:52 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
247 ->send_arg ("/bin/echo", "hi") 254 ->send_arg ("/bin/echo", "hi")
248 ->run ("run", my $cv = AE::cv); 255 ->run ("run", my $cv = AE::cv);
249 256
250 my $stderr = $cv->recv; 257 my $stderr = $cv->recv;
251 258
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
252=head1 CONCEPTS 328=head1 CONCEPTS
253 329
254This module can create new processes either by executing a new perl 330This module can create new processes either by executing a new perl
255process, 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".
256 336
257Each 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
258communicate 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,
259one 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
260load modules, fork new processes, send file handles to it, and execute 340load modules, fork new processes, send file handles to it, and execute
370use AnyEvent; 450use AnyEvent;
371use AnyEvent::Util (); 451use AnyEvent::Util ();
372 452
373use IO::FDPass; 453use IO::FDPass;
374 454
375our $VERSION = 0.6; 455our $VERSION = 1.1;
376
377=over 4
378
379=back
380
381=cut
382 456
383# the early fork template process 457# the early fork template process
384our $EARLY; 458our $EARLY;
385 459
386# the empty template process 460# the empty template process
434 # send string 508 # send string
435 my $len = syswrite $self->[FH], $self->[QUEUE][0]; 509 my $len = syswrite $self->[FH], $self->[QUEUE][0];
436 510
437 unless ($len) { 511 unless ($len) {
438 return if $! == Errno::EAGAIN || $! == Errno::EWOULDBLOCK; 512 return if $! == Errno::EAGAIN || $! == Errno::EWOULDBLOCK;
439 undef $self->[3]; 513 undef $self->[WW];
440 die "AnyEvent::Fork: command write failure: $!"; 514 die "AnyEvent::Fork: command write failure: $!";
441 } 515 }
442 516
443 substr $self->[QUEUE][0], 0, $len, ""; 517 substr $self->[QUEUE][0], 0, $len, "";
444 shift @{ $self->[QUEUE] } unless length $self->[QUEUE][0]; 518 shift @{ $self->[QUEUE] } unless length $self->[QUEUE][0];
447 521
448 # everything written 522 # everything written
449 undef $self->[WW]; 523 undef $self->[WW];
450 524
451 # invoke run callback, if any 525 # invoke run callback, if any
526 if ($self->[CB]) {
452 $self->[CB]->($self->[FH]) if $self->[CB]; 527 $self->[CB]->($self->[FH]);
528 @$self = ();
529 }
453 }; 530 };
454 531
455 () # make sure we don't leak the watcher 532 () # make sure we don't leak the watcher
456} 533}
457 534
532The path to the perl interpreter is divined using various methods - first 609The path to the perl interpreter is divined using various methods - first
533C<$^X> is investigated to see if the path ends with something that sounds 610C<$^X> is investigated to see if the path ends with something that sounds
534as if it were the perl interpreter. Failing this, the module falls back to 611as if it were the perl interpreter. Failing this, the module falls back to
535using C<$Config::Config{perlpath}>. 612using C<$Config::Config{perlpath}>.
536 613
614The path to perl can also be overriden by setting the global variable
615C<$AnyEvent::Fork::PERL> - it's value will be used for all subsequent
616invocations.
617
537=cut 618=cut
619
620our $PERL;
538 621
539sub new_exec { 622sub new_exec {
540 my ($self) = @_; 623 my ($self) = @_;
541 624
542 return $EARLY->fork 625 return $EARLY->fork
543 if $EARLY; 626 if $EARLY;
544 627
628 unless (defined $PERL) {
545 # first find path of perl 629 # first find path of perl
546 my $perl = $; 630 my $perl = $;
547 631
548 # first we try $^X, but the path must be absolute (always on win32), and end in sth. 632 # first we try $^X, but the path must be absolute (always on win32), and end in sth.
549 # that looks like perl. this obviously only works for posix and win32 633 # that looks like perl. this obviously only works for posix and win32
550 unless ( 634 unless (
551 ($^O eq "MSWin32" || $perl =~ m%^/%) 635 ($^O eq "MSWin32" || $perl =~ m%^/%)
552 && $perl =~ m%[/\\]perl(?:[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)+)?(\.exe)?$%i 636 && $perl =~ m%[/\\]perl(?:[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)+)?(\.exe)?$%i
553 ) { 637 ) {
554 # if it doesn't look perlish enough, try Config 638 # if it doesn't look perlish enough, try Config
555 require Config; 639 require Config;
556 $perl = $Config::Config{perlpath}; 640 $perl = $Config::Config{perlpath};
557 $perl =~ s/(?:\Q$Config::Config{_exe}\E)?$/$Config::Config{_exe}/; 641 $perl =~ s/(?:\Q$Config::Config{_exe}\E)?$/$Config::Config{_exe}/;
642 }
643
644 $PERL = $perl;
558 } 645 }
559 646
560 require Proc::FastSpawn; 647 require Proc::FastSpawn;
561 648
562 my ($fh, $slave) = AnyEvent::Util::portable_socketpair; 649 my ($fh, $slave) = AnyEvent::Util::portable_socketpair;
570 #local $ENV{PERL5LIB} = join ":", grep !ref, @INC; 657 #local $ENV{PERL5LIB} = join ":", grep !ref, @INC;
571 my %env = %ENV; 658 my %env = %ENV;
572 $env{PERL5LIB} = join +($^O eq "MSWin32" ? ";" : ":"), grep !ref, @INC; 659 $env{PERL5LIB} = join +($^O eq "MSWin32" ? ";" : ":"), grep !ref, @INC;
573 660
574 my $pid = Proc::FastSpawn::spawn ( 661 my $pid = Proc::FastSpawn::spawn (
575 $perl, 662 $PERL,
576 ["perl", "-MAnyEvent::Fork::Serve", "-e", "AnyEvent::Fork::Serve::me", fileno $slave, $$], 663 ["perl", "-MAnyEvent::Fork::Serve", "-e", "AnyEvent::Fork::Serve::me", fileno $slave, $$],
577 [map "$_=$env{$_}", keys %env], 664 [map "$_=$env{$_}", keys %env],
578 ) or die "unable to spawn AnyEvent::Fork server: $!"; 665 ) or die "unable to spawn AnyEvent::Fork server: $!";
579 666
580 $self->_new ($fh, $pid) 667 $self->_new ($fh, $pid)
598 $_[0][PID] 685 $_[0][PID]
599} 686}
600 687
601=item $proc = $proc->eval ($perlcode, @args) 688=item $proc = $proc->eval ($perlcode, @args)
602 689
603Evaluates the given C<$perlcode> as ... perl code, while setting C<@_> to 690Evaluates the given C<$perlcode> as ... Perl code, while setting C<@_> to
604the strings specified by C<@args>, in the "main" package. 691the strings specified by C<@args>, in the "main" package.
605 692
606This 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
607(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
608to completely take over the process, use C<run> for that. 695to completely take over the process, use C<run> for that.
772 $self->_cmd (r => $func); 859 $self->_cmd (r => $func);
773} 860}
774 861
775=back 862=back
776 863
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)
912}
913
914=back
915
777=head1 PERFORMANCE 916=head1 PERFORMANCE
778 917
779Now for some unscientific benchmark numbers (all done on an amd64 918Now for some unscientific benchmark numbers (all done on an amd64
780GNU/Linux box). These are intended to give you an idea of the relative 919GNU/Linux box). These are intended to give you an idea of the relative
781performance you can expect, they are not meant to be absolute performance 920performance you can expect, they are not meant to be absolute performance
787 926
788 2079 new processes per second, using manual socketpair + fork 927 2079 new processes per second, using manual socketpair + fork
789 928
790Then 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
791AnyEvent::Fork->new->run ("CORE::exit") and then again waited for the 930AnyEvent::Fork->new->run ("CORE::exit") and then again waited for the
792socket 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
793socket pair + fork, except that what is forked is the template process 932socket pair + fork, except that what is forked is the template process
794(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
795of the socket first. 934of the socket first.
796 935
797 2307 new processes per second, using AnyEvent::Fork->new 936 2307 new processes per second, using AnyEvent::Fork->new
804So 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
805though it uses the same operations, but adds a lot of overhead? 944though it uses the same operations, but adds a lot of overhead?
806 945
807The difference is simply the process size: forking the 5MB process takes 946The difference is simply the process size: forking the 5MB process takes
808so much longer than forking the 2.5MB template process that the extra 947so much longer than forking the 2.5MB template process that the extra
809overhead introduced is canceled out. 948overhead is canceled out.
810 949
811If the benchmark process grows, the normal fork becomes even slower: 950If the benchmark process grows, the normal fork becomes even slower:
812 951
813 1340 new processes, manual fork of a 20MB process 952 1340 new processes, manual fork of a 20MB process
814 731 new processes, manual fork of a 200MB process 953 731 new processes, manual fork of a 200MB process
874initialising them, for example, by calling C<init Gtk2> manually. 1013initialising them, for example, by calling C<init Gtk2> manually.
875 1014
876=item exiting calls object destructors 1015=item exiting calls object destructors
877 1016
878This only applies to users of L<AnyEvent::Fork:Early> and 1017This only applies to users of L<AnyEvent::Fork:Early> and
879L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template>, or when initialiasing code creates objects 1018L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template>, or when initialising code creates objects
880that reference external resources. 1019that reference external resources.
881 1020
882When a process created by AnyEvent::Fork exits, it might do so by calling 1021When a process created by AnyEvent::Fork exits, it might do so by calling
883exit, or simply letting perl reach the end of the program. At which point 1022exit, or simply letting perl reach the end of the program. At which point
884Perl runs all destructors. 1023Perl runs all destructors.
904to 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
905care 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
906useful that you can do with it without running into memory corruption 1045useful that you can do with it without running into memory corruption
907issues or other braindamage. Hrrrr. 1046issues or other braindamage. Hrrrr.
908 1047
1048Since fork is endlessly broken on win32 perls (it doesn't even remotely
1049work within it's documented limits) and quite obviously it's not getting
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
909Cygwin perl is not supported at the moment due to some hilarious 1053Cygwin perl is not supported at the moment due to some hilarious
910shortcomings of its API - see L<IO::FDPoll> for more details. 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.
911 1057
912=head1 SEE ALSO 1058=head1 SEE ALSO
913 1059
914L<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
915L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template> (to create a process by forking the main 1063L<AnyEvent::Fork::Template>, to create a process by forking the main
916program at a convenient time). 1064program at a convenient time (part of this distribution).
917 1065
918=head1 AUTHOR 1066L<AnyEvent::Fork::RPC>, for simple RPC to child processes (on CPAN).
1067
1068L<AnyEvent::Fork::Pool>, for simple worker process pool (on CPAN).
1069
1070=head1 AUTHOR AND CONTACT INFORMATION
919 1071
920 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 1072 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
921 http://home.schmorp.de/ 1073 http://software.schmorp.de/pkg/AnyEvent-Fork
922 1074
923=cut 1075=cut
924 1076
9251 10771
926 1078

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