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Revision 1.2 by root, Fri Jul 31 20:55:46 2009 UTC vs.
Revision 1.52 by root, Fri Aug 14 15:13:20 2009 UTC

4 4
5=head1 SYNOPSIS 5=head1 SYNOPSIS
6 6
7 use AnyEvent::MP; 7 use AnyEvent::MP;
8 8
9 NODE # returns this node identifier
10 $NODE # contains this node identifier 9 $NODE # contains this node's noderef
10 NODE # returns this node's noderef
11 NODE $port # returns the noderef of the port
11 12
13 $SELF # receiving/own port id in rcv callbacks
14
15 # initialise the node so it can send/receive messages
16 initialise_node; # -OR-
17 initialise_node "localhost:4040"; # -OR-
18 initialise_node "slave/", "localhost:4040"
19
20 # ports are message endpoints
21
22 # sending messages
12 snd $port, type => data...; 23 snd $port, type => data...;
24 snd $port, @msg;
25 snd @msg_with_first_element_being_a_port;
13 26
14 rcv $port, smartmatch => $cb->($port, @msg); 27 # creating/using ports, the simple way
28 my $somple_port = port { my @msg = @_; 0 };
15 29
16 # examples: 30 # creating/using ports, tagged message matching
31 my $port = port;
17 rcv $port2, ping => sub { snd $_[0], "pong"; 0 }; 32 rcv $port, ping => sub { snd $_[0], "pong"; 0 };
18 rcv $port1, pong => sub { warn "pong received\n" }; 33 rcv $port, pong => sub { warn "pong received\n"; 0 };
19 snd $port2, ping => $port1;
20 34
21 # more, smarter, matches (_any_ is exported by this module) 35 # create a port on another node
22 rcv $port, [child_died => $pid] => sub { ... 36 my $port = spawn $node, $initfunc, @initdata;
23 rcv $port, [_any_, _any_, 3] => sub { .. $_[2] is 3 37
38 # monitoring
39 mon $port, $cb->(@msg) # callback is invoked on death
40 mon $port, $otherport # kill otherport on abnormal death
41 mon $port, $otherport, @msg # send message on death
42
43=head1 CURRENT STATUS
44
45 AnyEvent::MP - stable API, should work
46 AnyEvent::MP::Intro - outdated
47 AnyEvent::MP::Kernel - WIP
48 AnyEvent::MP::Transport - mostly stable
49
50 stay tuned.
24 51
25=head1 DESCRIPTION 52=head1 DESCRIPTION
26 53
27This module (-family) implements a simple message passing framework. 54This module (-family) implements a simple message passing framework.
28 55
29Despite its simplicity, you can securely message other processes running 56Despite its simplicity, you can securely message other processes running
30on the same or other hosts. 57on the same or other hosts.
31 58
59For an introduction to this module family, see the L<AnyEvent::MP::Intro>
60manual page.
61
62At the moment, this module family is severly broken and underdocumented,
63so do not use. This was uploaded mainly to reserve the CPAN namespace -
64stay tuned!
65
32=head1 CONCEPTS 66=head1 CONCEPTS
33 67
34=over 4 68=over 4
35 69
36=item port 70=item port
37 71
38A port is something you can send messages to with the C<snd> function, and 72A port is something you can send messages to (with the C<snd> function).
39you can register C<rcv> handlers with. All C<rcv> handlers will receive
40messages they match, messages will not be queued.
41 73
74Some ports allow you to register C<rcv> handlers that can match specific
75messages. All C<rcv> handlers will receive messages they match, messages
76will not be queued.
77
42=item port id - C<pid@host#portname> 78=item port id - C<noderef#portname>
43 79
44A port id is always the node id, a hash-mark (C<#>) as separator, followed 80A port id is normaly the concatenation of a noderef, a hash-mark (C<#>) as
45by a port name. 81separator, and a port name (a printable string of unspecified format). An
46 82exception is the the node port, whose ID is identical to its node
47A port name can be a well known port (basically an identifier/bareword), 83reference.
48or a generated name, consisting of node id, a dot (C<.>), and an
49identifier.
50 84
51=item node 85=item node
52 86
53A node is a single process containing at least one port - the node 87A node is a single process containing at least one port - the node
54port. You can send messages to node ports to let them create new ports, 88port. You can send messages to node ports to find existing ports or to
55among other things. 89create new ports, among other things.
56 90
57Initially, nodes are either private (single-process only) or hidden 91Nodes are either private (single-process only), slaves (connected to a
58(connected to a father node only). Only when they epxlicitly "go public" 92master node only) or public nodes (connectable from unrelated nodes).
59can you send them messages form unrelated other nodes.
60 93
61Public nodes automatically connect to all other public nodes in a network 94=item noderef - C<host:port,host:port...>, C<id@noderef>, C<id>
62when they connect, creating a full mesh.
63 95
64=item node id - C<host:port>, C<id@host>, C<id>
65
66A node ID is a string that either uniquely identifies a given node (For 96A node reference is a string that either simply identifies the node (for
67private and hidden nodes), or contains a recipe on how to reach a given 97private and slave nodes), or contains a recipe on how to reach a given
68node (for public nodes). 98node (for public nodes).
69 99
100This recipe is simply a comma-separated list of C<address:port> pairs (for
101TCP/IP, other protocols might look different).
102
103Node references come in two flavours: resolved (containing only numerical
104addresses) or unresolved (where hostnames are used instead of addresses).
105
106Before using an unresolved node reference in a message you first have to
107resolve it.
108
70=back 109=back
71 110
72=head1 FUNCTIONS 111=head1 VARIABLES/FUNCTIONS
73 112
74=over 4 113=over 4
75 114
76=cut 115=cut
77 116
78package AnyEvent::MP; 117package AnyEvent::MP;
79 118
80use AnyEvent::MP::Util ();
81use AnyEvent::MP::Node; 119use AnyEvent::MP::Kernel;
82use AnyEvent::MP::Transport;
83 120
84use utf8;
85use common::sense; 121use common::sense;
86 122
87use Carp (); 123use Carp ();
88 124
89use AE (); 125use AE ();
90 126
91use base "Exporter"; 127use base "Exporter";
92 128
93our $VERSION = '0.0'; 129our $VERSION = $AnyEvent::MP::Kernel::VERSION;
94our @EXPORT = qw(NODE $NODE $PORT snd rcv _any_);
95 130
96our $DEFAULT_SECRET; 131our @EXPORT = qw(
97our $DEFAULT_PORT = "4040"; 132 NODE $NODE *SELF node_of _any_
133 resolve_node initialise_node
134 snd rcv mon kil reg psub spawn
135 port
136);
98 137
99our $CONNECT_INTERVAL = 5; # new connect every 5s, at least 138our $SELF;
100our $CONNECT_TIMEOUT = 30; # includes handshake
101 139
102sub default_secret { 140sub _self_die() {
103 unless (defined $DEFAULT_SECRET) { 141 my $msg = $@;
104 if (open my $fh, "<$ENV{HOME}/.aemp-secret") { 142 $msg =~ s/\n+$// unless ref $msg;
105 sysread $fh, $DEFAULT_SECRET, -s $fh; 143 kil $SELF, die => $msg;
106 } else {
107 $DEFAULT_SECRET = AnyEvent::MP::Util::nonce 32;
108 }
109 }
110
111 $DEFAULT_SECRET
112} 144}
113 145
114our $UNIQ = sprintf "%x.%x", $$, time; # per-process/node unique cookie 146=item $thisnode = NODE / $NODE
115our $PUBLIC = 0;
116our $NODE;
117our $PORT;
118 147
119our %NODE; # node id to transport mapping, or "undef", for local node 148The C<NODE> function returns, and the C<$NODE> variable contains the
120our %PORT; # local ports 149noderef of the local node. The value is initialised by a call to
121our %LISTENER; # local transports 150C<initialise_node>.
122 151
123sub NODE() { $NODE } 152=item $noderef = node_of $port
124 153
125{ 154Extracts and returns the noderef from a port ID or a noderef.
126 use POSIX (); 155
127 my $nodename = (POSIX::uname)[1]; 156=item initialise_node $noderef, $seednode, $seednode...
128 $NODE = "$$\@$nodename"; 157
158=item initialise_node "slave/", $master, $master...
159
160Before a node can talk to other nodes on the network it has to initialise
161itself - the minimum a node needs to know is it's own name, and optionally
162it should know the noderefs of some other nodes in the network.
163
164This function initialises a node - it must be called exactly once (or
165never) before calling other AnyEvent::MP functions.
166
167All arguments (optionally except for the first) are noderefs, which can be
168either resolved or unresolved.
169
170The first argument will be looked up in the configuration database first
171(if it is C<undef> then the current nodename will be used instead) to find
172the relevant configuration profile (see L<aemp>). If none is found then
173the default configuration is used. The configuration supplies additional
174seed/master nodes and can override the actual noderef.
175
176There are two types of networked nodes, public nodes and slave nodes:
177
178=over 4
179
180=item public nodes
181
182For public nodes, C<$noderef> (supplied either directly to
183C<initialise_node> or indirectly via a profile or the nodename) must be a
184noderef (possibly unresolved, in which case it will be resolved).
185
186After resolving, the node will bind itself on all endpoints and try to
187connect to all additional C<$seednodes> that are specified. Seednodes are
188optional and can be used to quickly bootstrap the node into an existing
189network.
190
191=item slave nodes
192
193When the C<$noderef> (either as given or overriden by the config file)
194is the special string C<slave/>, then the node will become a slave
195node. Slave nodes cannot be contacted from outside and will route most of
196their traffic to the master node that they attach to.
197
198At least one additional noderef is required (either by specifying it
199directly or because it is part of the configuration profile): The node
200will try to connect to all of them and will become a slave attached to the
201first node it can successfully connect to.
202
203=back
204
205This function will block until all nodes have been resolved and, for slave
206nodes, until it has successfully established a connection to a master
207server.
208
209Example: become a public node listening on the guessed noderef, or the one
210specified via C<aemp> for the current node. This should be the most common
211form of invocation for "daemon"-type nodes.
212
213 initialise_node;
214
215Example: become a slave node to any of the the seednodes specified via
216C<aemp>. This form is often used for commandline clients.
217
218 initialise_node "slave/";
219
220Example: become a slave node to any of the specified master servers. This
221form is also often used for commandline clients.
222
223 initialise_node "slave/", "master1", "192.168.13.17", "mp.example.net";
224
225Example: become a public node, and try to contact some well-known master
226servers to become part of the network.
227
228 initialise_node undef, "master1", "master2";
229
230Example: become a public node listening on port C<4041>.
231
232 initialise_node 4041;
233
234Example: become a public node, only visible on localhost port 4044.
235
236 initialise_node "localhost:4044";
237
238=item $cv = resolve_node $noderef
239
240Takes an unresolved node reference that may contain hostnames and
241abbreviated IDs, resolves all of them and returns a resolved node
242reference.
243
244In addition to C<address:port> pairs allowed in resolved noderefs, the
245following forms are supported:
246
247=over 4
248
249=item the empty string
250
251An empty-string component gets resolved as if the default port (4040) was
252specified.
253
254=item naked port numbers (e.g. C<1234>)
255
256These are resolved by prepending the local nodename and a colon, to be
257further resolved.
258
259=item hostnames (e.g. C<localhost:1234>, C<localhost>)
260
261These are resolved by using AnyEvent::DNS to resolve them, optionally
262looking up SRV records for the C<aemp=4040> port, if no port was
263specified.
264
265=back
266
267=item $SELF
268
269Contains the current port id while executing C<rcv> callbacks or C<psub>
270blocks.
271
272=item SELF, %SELF, @SELF...
273
274Due to some quirks in how perl exports variables, it is impossible to
275just export C<$SELF>, all the symbols called C<SELF> are exported by this
276module, but only C<$SELF> is currently used.
277
278=item snd $port, type => @data
279
280=item snd $port, @msg
281
282Send the given message to the given port ID, which can identify either
283a local or a remote port, and must be a port ID.
284
285While the message can be about anything, it is highly recommended to use a
286string as first element (a port ID, or some word that indicates a request
287type etc.).
288
289The message data effectively becomes read-only after a call to this
290function: modifying any argument is not allowed and can cause many
291problems.
292
293The type of data you can transfer depends on the transport protocol: when
294JSON is used, then only strings, numbers and arrays and hashes consisting
295of those are allowed (no objects). When Storable is used, then anything
296that Storable can serialise and deserialise is allowed, and for the local
297node, anything can be passed.
298
299=item $local_port = port
300
301Create a new local port object and returns its port ID. Initially it has
302no callbacks set and will throw an error when it receives messages.
303
304=item $local_port = port { my @msg = @_ }
305
306Creates a new local port, and returns its ID. Semantically the same as
307creating a port and calling C<rcv $port, $callback> on it.
308
309The block will be called for every message received on the port, with the
310global variable C<$SELF> set to the port ID. Runtime errors will cause the
311port to be C<kil>ed. The message will be passed as-is, no extra argument
312(i.e. no port ID) will be passed to the callback.
313
314If you want to stop/destroy the port, simply C<kil> it:
315
316 my $port = port {
317 my @msg = @_;
318 ...
319 kil $SELF;
320 };
321
322=cut
323
324sub rcv($@);
325
326sub _kilme {
327 die "received message on port without callback";
129} 328}
130 329
131sub _ANY_() { 1 } 330sub port(;&) {
132sub _any_() { \&_ANY_ } 331 my $id = "$UNIQ." . $ID++;
332 my $port = "$NODE#$id";
133 333
134sub add_node { 334 rcv $port, shift || \&_kilme;
135 my ($noderef) = @_;
136 335
137 return $NODE{$noderef} 336 $port
138 if exists $NODE{$noderef};
139
140 for (split /,/, $noderef) {
141 return $NODE{$noderef} = $NODE{$_}
142 if exists $NODE{$_};
143 }
144
145 # for indirect sends, use a different class
146 my $node = new AnyEvent::MP::Node::Direct $noderef;
147
148 $NODE{$_} = $node
149 for $noderef, split /,/, $noderef;
150
151 $node
152} 337}
153 338
339=item rcv $local_port, $callback->(@msg)
340
341Replaces the default callback on the specified port. There is no way to
342remove the default callback: use C<sub { }> to disable it, or better
343C<kil> the port when it is no longer needed.
344
345The global C<$SELF> (exported by this module) contains C<$port> while
346executing the callback. Runtime errors during callback execution will
347result in the port being C<kil>ed.
348
349The default callback received all messages not matched by a more specific
350C<tag> match.
351
352=item rcv $local_port, tag => $callback->(@msg_without_tag), ...
353
354Register callbacks to be called on messages starting with the given tag on
355the given port (and return the port), or unregister it (when C<$callback>
356is C<$undef>).
357
358The original message will be passed to the callback, after the first
359element (the tag) has been removed. The callback will use the same
360environment as the default callback (see above).
361
362Example: create a port and bind receivers on it in one go.
363
364 my $port = rcv port,
365 msg1 => sub { ... },
366 msg2 => sub { ... },
367 ;
368
369Example: create a port, bind receivers and send it in a message elsewhere
370in one go:
371
372 snd $otherport, reply =>
373 rcv port,
374 msg1 => sub { ... },
375 ...
376 ;
377
378=cut
379
154sub snd($@) { 380sub rcv($@) {
381 my $port = shift;
155 my ($noderef, $port) = split /#/, shift, 2; 382 my ($noderef, $portid) = split /#/, $port, 2;
156 383
157 add_node $noderef 384 ($NODE{$noderef} || add_node $noderef) == $NODE{""}
158 unless exists $NODE{$noderef}; 385 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on local ports, caught";
159 386
160 $NODE{$noderef}->send ([$port, [@_]]); 387 while (@_) {
161} 388 if (ref $_[0]) {
389 if (my $self = $PORT_DATA{$portid}) {
390 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
391 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
162 392
163sub _inject { 393 $self->[2] = shift;
164 my ($port, $msg) = @{+shift}; 394 } else {
165 395 my $cb = shift;
166 $port = $PORT{$port} 396 $PORT{$portid} = sub {
167 or return; 397 local $SELF = $port;
168 398 eval { &$cb }; _self_die if $@;
169 use Data::Dumper;
170 warn Dumper $msg;
171}
172
173sub normalise_noderef($) {
174 my ($noderef) = @_;
175
176 my $cv = AE::cv;
177 my @res;
178
179 $cv->begin (sub {
180 my %seen;
181 my @refs;
182 for (sort { $a->[0] <=> $b->[0] } @res) {
183 push @refs, $_->[1] unless $seen{$_->[1]}++
184 }
185 shift->send (join ",", @refs);
186 });
187
188 $noderef = $DEFAULT_PORT unless length $noderef;
189
190 my $idx;
191 for my $t (split /,/, $noderef) {
192 my $pri = ++$idx;
193
194 #TODO: this should be outside normalise_noderef and in become_public
195 if ($t =~ /^\d*$/) {
196 my $nodename = (POSIX::uname)[1];
197
198 $cv->begin;
199 AnyEvent::Socket::resolve_sockaddr $nodename, $t || "aemp=$DEFAULT_PORT", "tcp", 0, undef, sub {
200 for (@_) {
201 my ($service, $host) = AnyEvent::Socket::unpack_sockaddr $_->[3];
202 push @res, [
203 $pri += 1e-5,
204 AnyEvent::Socket::format_hostport AnyEvent::Socket::format_address $host, $service
205 ];
206 } 399 };
207 $cv->end; 400 }
401 } elsif (defined $_[0]) {
402 my $self = $PORT_DATA{$portid} ||= do {
403 my $self = bless [$PORT{$port} || sub { }, { }, $port], "AnyEvent::MP::Port";
404
405 $PORT{$portid} = sub {
406 local $SELF = $port;
407
408 if (my $cb = $self->[1]{$_[0]}) {
409 shift;
410 eval { &$cb }; _self_die if $@;
411 } else {
412 &{ $self->[0] };
413 }
414 };
415
416 $self
208 }; 417 };
209 418
210# my (undef, undef, undef, undef, @ipv4) = gethostbyname $nodename; 419 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
211# 420 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
212# for (@ipv4) { 421
213# push @res, [ 422 my ($tag, $cb) = splice @_, 0, 2;
214# $pri, 423
215# AnyEvent::Socket::format_hostport AnyEvent::Socket::format_address $_, $t || $DEFAULT_PORT, 424 if (defined $cb) {
216# ]; 425 $self->[1]{$tag} = $cb;
217# }
218 } else { 426 } else {
219 my ($host, $port) = AnyEvent::Socket::parse_hostport $t, "aemp=$DEFAULT_PORT" 427 delete $self->[1]{$tag};
220 or Carp::croak "$t: unparsable transport descriptor";
221
222 $cv->begin;
223 AnyEvent::Socket::resolve_sockaddr $host, $port, "tcp", 0, undef, sub {
224 for (@_) {
225 my ($service, $host) = AnyEvent::Socket::unpack_sockaddr $_->[3];
226 push @res, [
227 $pri += 1e-5,
228 AnyEvent::Socket::format_hostport AnyEvent::Socket::format_address $host, $service
229 ];
230 }
231 $cv->end;
232 } 428 }
233 } 429 }
234 } 430 }
235 431
236 $cv->end; 432 $port
237
238 $cv
239} 433}
240 434
241sub become_public { 435=item $closure = psub { BLOCK }
242 return if $PUBLIC;
243 436
244 my $noderef = join ",", ref $_[0] ? @{+shift} : shift; 437Remembers C<$SELF> and creates a closure out of the BLOCK. When the
245 my @args = @_; 438closure is executed, sets up the environment in the same way as in C<rcv>
439callbacks, i.e. runtime errors will cause the port to get C<kil>ed.
246 440
247 $NODE = (normalise_noderef $noderef)->recv; 441This is useful when you register callbacks from C<rcv> callbacks:
248 442
249 my $self = new AnyEvent::MP::Node::Self noderef => $NODE; 443 rcv delayed_reply => sub {
250 444 my ($delay, @reply) = @_;
251 $NODE{""} = $self; # empty string == local node 445 my $timer = AE::timer $delay, 0, psub {
252 446 snd @reply, $SELF;
253 for my $t (split /,/, $NODE) {
254 $NODE{$t} = $self;
255
256 my ($host, $port) = AnyEvent::Socket::parse_hostport $t;
257
258 $LISTENER{$t} = AnyEvent::MP::Transport::mp_server $host, $port,
259 @args,
260 on_error => sub {
261 die "on_error<@_>\n";#d#
262 },
263 on_connect => sub {
264 my ($tp) = @_;
265
266 $NODE{$tp->{remote_id}} = $_[0];
267 },
268 sub {
269 my ($tp) = @_;
270
271 $NODE{"$tp->{peerhost}:$tp->{peerport}"} = $tp;
272 },
273 ; 447 };
448 };
449
450=cut
451
452sub psub(&) {
453 my $cb = shift;
454
455 my $port = $SELF
456 or Carp::croak "psub can only be called from within rcv or psub callbacks, not";
457
458 sub {
459 local $SELF = $port;
460
461 if (wantarray) {
462 my @res = eval { &$cb };
463 _self_die if $@;
464 @res
465 } else {
466 my $res = eval { &$cb };
467 _self_die if $@;
468 $res
469 }
274 } 470 }
275
276 $PUBLIC = 1;
277} 471}
472
473=item $guard = mon $port, $cb->(@reason)
474
475=item $guard = mon $port, $rcvport
476
477=item $guard = mon $port
478
479=item $guard = mon $port, $rcvport, @msg
480
481Monitor the given port and do something when the port is killed or
482messages to it were lost, and optionally return a guard that can be used
483to stop monitoring again.
484
485C<mon> effectively guarantees that, in the absence of hardware failures,
486that after starting the monitor, either all messages sent to the port
487will arrive, or the monitoring action will be invoked after possible
488message loss has been detected. No messages will be lost "in between"
489(after the first lost message no further messages will be received by the
490port). After the monitoring action was invoked, further messages might get
491delivered again.
492
493In the first form (callback), the callback is simply called with any
494number of C<@reason> elements (no @reason means that the port was deleted
495"normally"). Note also that I<< the callback B<must> never die >>, so use
496C<eval> if unsure.
497
498In the second form (another port given), the other port (C<$rcvport>)
499will be C<kil>'ed with C<@reason>, iff a @reason was specified, i.e. on
500"normal" kils nothing happens, while under all other conditions, the other
501port is killed with the same reason.
502
503The third form (kill self) is the same as the second form, except that
504C<$rvport> defaults to C<$SELF>.
505
506In the last form (message), a message of the form C<@msg, @reason> will be
507C<snd>.
508
509As a rule of thumb, monitoring requests should always monitor a port from
510a local port (or callback). The reason is that kill messages might get
511lost, just like any other message. Another less obvious reason is that
512even monitoring requests can get lost (for exmaple, when the connection
513to the other node goes down permanently). When monitoring a port locally
514these problems do not exist.
515
516Example: call a given callback when C<$port> is killed.
517
518 mon $port, sub { warn "port died because of <@_>\n" };
519
520Example: kill ourselves when C<$port> is killed abnormally.
521
522 mon $port;
523
524Example: send us a restart message when another C<$port> is killed.
525
526 mon $port, $self => "restart";
527
528=cut
529
530sub mon {
531 my ($noderef, $port) = split /#/, shift, 2;
532
533 my $node = $NODE{$noderef} || add_node $noderef;
534
535 my $cb = @_ ? shift : $SELF || Carp::croak 'mon: called with one argument only, but $SELF not set,';
536
537 unless (ref $cb) {
538 if (@_) {
539 # send a kill info message
540 my (@msg) = ($cb, @_);
541 $cb = sub { snd @msg, @_ };
542 } else {
543 # simply kill other port
544 my $port = $cb;
545 $cb = sub { kil $port, @_ if @_ };
546 }
547 }
548
549 $node->monitor ($port, $cb);
550
551 defined wantarray
552 and AnyEvent::Util::guard { $node->unmonitor ($port, $cb) }
553}
554
555=item $guard = mon_guard $port, $ref, $ref...
556
557Monitors the given C<$port> and keeps the passed references. When the port
558is killed, the references will be freed.
559
560Optionally returns a guard that will stop the monitoring.
561
562This function is useful when you create e.g. timers or other watchers and
563want to free them when the port gets killed:
564
565 $port->rcv (start => sub {
566 my $timer; $timer = mon_guard $port, AE::timer 1, 1, sub {
567 undef $timer if 0.9 < rand;
568 });
569 });
570
571=cut
572
573sub mon_guard {
574 my ($port, @refs) = @_;
575
576 #TODO: mon-less form?
577
578 mon $port, sub { 0 && @refs }
579}
580
581=item kil $port[, @reason]
582
583Kill the specified port with the given C<@reason>.
584
585If no C<@reason> is specified, then the port is killed "normally" (linked
586ports will not be kileld, or even notified).
587
588Otherwise, linked ports get killed with the same reason (second form of
589C<mon>, see below).
590
591Runtime errors while evaluating C<rcv> callbacks or inside C<psub> blocks
592will be reported as reason C<< die => $@ >>.
593
594Transport/communication errors are reported as C<< transport_error =>
595$message >>.
596
597=cut
598
599=item $port = spawn $node, $initfunc[, @initdata]
600
601Creates a port on the node C<$node> (which can also be a port ID, in which
602case it's the node where that port resides).
603
604The port ID of the newly created port is return immediately, and it is
605permissible to immediately start sending messages or monitor the port.
606
607After the port has been created, the init function is
608called. This function must be a fully-qualified function name
609(e.g. C<MyApp::Chat::Server::init>). To specify a function in the main
610program, use C<::name>.
611
612If the function doesn't exist, then the node tries to C<require>
613the package, then the package above the package and so on (e.g.
614C<MyApp::Chat::Server>, C<MyApp::Chat>, C<MyApp>) until the function
615exists or it runs out of package names.
616
617The init function is then called with the newly-created port as context
618object (C<$SELF>) and the C<@initdata> values as arguments.
619
620A common idiom is to pass your own port, monitor the spawned port, and
621in the init function, monitor the original port. This two-way monitoring
622ensures that both ports get cleaned up when there is a problem.
623
624Example: spawn a chat server port on C<$othernode>.
625
626 # this node, executed from within a port context:
627 my $server = spawn $othernode, "MyApp::Chat::Server::connect", $SELF;
628 mon $server;
629
630 # init function on C<$othernode>
631 sub connect {
632 my ($srcport) = @_;
633
634 mon $srcport;
635
636 rcv $SELF, sub {
637 ...
638 };
639 }
640
641=cut
642
643sub _spawn {
644 my $port = shift;
645 my $init = shift;
646
647 local $SELF = "$NODE#$port";
648 eval {
649 &{ load_func $init }
650 };
651 _self_die if $@;
652}
653
654sub spawn(@) {
655 my ($noderef, undef) = split /#/, shift, 2;
656
657 my $id = "$RUNIQ." . $ID++;
658
659 $_[0] =~ /::/
660 or Carp::croak "spawn init function must be a fully-qualified name, caught";
661
662 ($NODE{$noderef} || add_node $noderef)
663 ->send (["", "AnyEvent::MP::_spawn" => $id, @_]);
664
665 "$noderef#$id"
666}
667
668=back
669
670=head1 NODE MESSAGES
671
672Nodes understand the following messages sent to them. Many of them take
673arguments called C<@reply>, which will simply be used to compose a reply
674message - C<$reply[0]> is the port to reply to, C<$reply[1]> the type and
675the remaining arguments are simply the message data.
676
677While other messages exist, they are not public and subject to change.
678
679=over 4
680
681=cut
682
683=item lookup => $name, @reply
684
685Replies with the port ID of the specified well-known port, or C<undef>.
686
687=item devnull => ...
688
689Generic data sink/CPU heat conversion.
690
691=item relay => $port, @msg
692
693Simply forwards the message to the given port.
694
695=item eval => $string[ @reply]
696
697Evaluates the given string. If C<@reply> is given, then a message of the
698form C<@reply, $@, @evalres> is sent.
699
700Example: crash another node.
701
702 snd $othernode, eval => "exit";
703
704=item time => @reply
705
706Replies the the current node time to C<@reply>.
707
708Example: tell the current node to send the current time to C<$myport> in a
709C<timereply> message.
710
711 snd $NODE, time => $myport, timereply => 1, 2;
712 # => snd $myport, timereply => 1, 2, <time>
713
714=back
715
716=head1 AnyEvent::MP vs. Distributed Erlang
717
718AnyEvent::MP got lots of its ideas from distributed Erlang (Erlang node
719== aemp node, Erlang process == aemp port), so many of the documents and
720programming techniques employed by Erlang apply to AnyEvent::MP. Here is a
721sample:
722
723 http://www.Erlang.se/doc/programming_rules.shtml
724 http://Erlang.org/doc/getting_started/part_frame.html # chapters 3 and 4
725 http://Erlang.org/download/Erlang-book-part1.pdf # chapters 5 and 6
726 http://Erlang.org/download/armstrong_thesis_2003.pdf # chapters 4 and 5
727
728Despite the similarities, there are also some important differences:
729
730=over 4
731
732=item * Node references contain the recipe on how to contact them.
733
734Erlang relies on special naming and DNS to work everywhere in the
735same way. AEMP relies on each node knowing it's own address(es), with
736convenience functionality.
737
738This means that AEMP requires a less tightly controlled environment at the
739cost of longer node references and a slightly higher management overhead.
740
741=item Erlang has a "remote ports are like local ports" philosophy, AEMP
742uses "local ports are like remote ports".
743
744The failure modes for local ports are quite different (runtime errors
745only) then for remote ports - when a local port dies, you I<know> it dies,
746when a connection to another node dies, you know nothing about the other
747port.
748
749Erlang pretends remote ports are as reliable as local ports, even when
750they are not.
751
752AEMP encourages a "treat remote ports differently" philosophy, with local
753ports being the special case/exception, where transport errors cannot
754occur.
755
756=item * Erlang uses processes and a mailbox, AEMP does not queue.
757
758Erlang uses processes that selectively receive messages, and therefore
759needs a queue. AEMP is event based, queuing messages would serve no
760useful purpose. For the same reason the pattern-matching abilities of
761AnyEvent::MP are more limited, as there is little need to be able to
762filter messages without dequeing them.
763
764(But see L<Coro::MP> for a more Erlang-like process model on top of AEMP).
765
766=item * Erlang sends are synchronous, AEMP sends are asynchronous.
767
768Sending messages in Erlang is synchronous and blocks the process (and
769so does not need a queue that can overflow). AEMP sends are immediate,
770connection establishment is handled in the background.
771
772=item * Erlang suffers from silent message loss, AEMP does not.
773
774Erlang makes few guarantees on messages delivery - messages can get lost
775without any of the processes realising it (i.e. you send messages a, b,
776and c, and the other side only receives messages a and c).
777
778AEMP guarantees correct ordering, and the guarantee that there are no
779holes in the message sequence.
780
781=item * In Erlang, processes can be declared dead and later be found to be
782alive.
783
784In Erlang it can happen that a monitored process is declared dead and
785linked processes get killed, but later it turns out that the process is
786still alive - and can receive messages.
787
788In AEMP, when port monitoring detects a port as dead, then that port will
789eventually be killed - it cannot happen that a node detects a port as dead
790and then later sends messages to it, finding it is still alive.
791
792=item * Erlang can send messages to the wrong port, AEMP does not.
793
794In Erlang it is quite likely that a node that restarts reuses a process ID
795known to other nodes for a completely different process, causing messages
796destined for that process to end up in an unrelated process.
797
798AEMP never reuses port IDs, so old messages or old port IDs floating
799around in the network will not be sent to an unrelated port.
800
801=item * Erlang uses unprotected connections, AEMP uses secure
802authentication and can use TLS.
803
804AEMP can use a proven protocol - SSL/TLS - to protect connections and
805securely authenticate nodes.
806
807=item * The AEMP protocol is optimised for both text-based and binary
808communications.
809
810The AEMP protocol, unlike the Erlang protocol, supports both
811language-independent text-only protocols (good for debugging) and binary,
812language-specific serialisers (e.g. Storable).
813
814It has also been carefully designed to be implementable in other languages
815with a minimum of work while gracefully degrading fucntionality to make the
816protocol simple.
817
818=item * AEMP has more flexible monitoring options than Erlang.
819
820In Erlang, you can chose to receive I<all> exit signals as messages
821or I<none>, there is no in-between, so monitoring single processes is
822difficult to implement. Monitoring in AEMP is more flexible than in
823Erlang, as one can choose between automatic kill, exit message or callback
824on a per-process basis.
825
826=item * Erlang tries to hide remote/local connections, AEMP does not.
827
828Monitoring in Erlang is not an indicator of process death/crashes,
829as linking is (except linking is unreliable in Erlang).
830
831In AEMP, you don't "look up" registered port names or send to named ports
832that might or might not be persistent. Instead, you normally spawn a port
833on the remote node. The init function monitors the you, and you monitor
834the remote port. Since both monitors are local to the node, they are much
835more reliable.
836
837This also saves round-trips and avoids sending messages to the wrong port
838(hard to do in Erlang).
839
840=back
841
842=head1 RATIONALE
843
844=over 4
845
846=item Why strings for ports and noderefs, why not objects?
847
848We considered "objects", but found that the actual number of methods
849thatc an be called are very low. Since port IDs and noderefs travel over
850the network frequently, the serialising/deserialising would add lots of
851overhead, as well as having to keep a proxy object.
852
853Strings can easily be printed, easily serialised etc. and need no special
854procedures to be "valid".
855
856And a a miniport consists of a single closure stored in a global hash - it
857can't become much cheaper.
858
859=item Why favour JSON, why not real serialising format such as Storable?
860
861In fact, any AnyEvent::MP node will happily accept Storable as framing
862format, but currently there is no way to make a node use Storable by
863default.
864
865The default framing protocol is JSON because a) JSON::XS is many times
866faster for small messages and b) most importantly, after years of
867experience we found that object serialisation is causing more problems
868than it gains: Just like function calls, objects simply do not travel
869easily over the network, mostly because they will always be a copy, so you
870always have to re-think your design.
871
872Keeping your messages simple, concentrating on data structures rather than
873objects, will keep your messages clean, tidy and efficient.
278 874
279=back 875=back
280 876
281=head1 SEE ALSO 877=head1 SEE ALSO
282 878

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