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Revision 1.7 by root, Sat Aug 1 15:04:30 2009 UTC vs.
Revision 1.69 by root, Sun Aug 30 18:51:49 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;
17
18 # ports are message endpoints
19
20 # sending messages
12 snd $port, type => data...; 21 snd $port, type => data...;
22 snd $port, @msg;
23 snd @msg_with_first_element_being_a_port;
13 24
14 rcv $port, smartmatch => $cb->($port, @msg); 25 # creating/using ports, the simple way
26 my $simple_port = port { my @msg = @_; 0 };
15 27
16 # examples: 28 # creating/using ports, tagged message matching
29 my $port = port;
17 rcv $port2, ping => sub { snd $_[0], "pong"; 0 }; 30 rcv $port, ping => sub { snd $_[0], "pong"; 0 };
18 rcv $port1, pong => sub { warn "pong received\n" }; 31 rcv $port, pong => sub { warn "pong received\n"; 0 };
19 snd $port2, ping => $port1;
20 32
21 # more, smarter, matches (_any_ is exported by this module) 33 # create a port on another node
22 rcv $port, [child_died => $pid] => sub { ... 34 my $port = spawn $node, $initfunc, @initdata;
23 rcv $port, [_any_, _any_, 3] => sub { .. $_[2] is 3 35
36 # monitoring
37 mon $port, $cb->(@msg) # callback is invoked on death
38 mon $port, $otherport # kill otherport on abnormal death
39 mon $port, $otherport, @msg # send message on death
40
41=head1 CURRENT STATUS
42
43 AnyEvent::MP - stable API, should work
44 AnyEvent::MP::Intro - outdated
45 AnyEvent::MP::Kernel - mostly stable
46 AnyEvent::MP::Global - mostly stable
47 AnyEvent::MP::Node - mostly stable, but internal anyways
48 AnyEvent::MP::Transport - mostly stable, but internal anyways
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, and you can supervise entities remotely.
31 58
59For an introduction to this module family, see the L<AnyEvent::MP::Intro>
60manual page and the examples under F<eg/>.
61
32At the moment, this module family is severly brokena nd underdocumented, 62At the moment, this module family is a bit underdocumented.
33so do not use. This was uploaded mainly to resreve the CPAN namespace -
34stay tuned!
35 63
36=head1 CONCEPTS 64=head1 CONCEPTS
37 65
38=over 4 66=over 4
39 67
40=item port 68=item port
41 69
42A port is something you can send messages to with the C<snd> function, and 70A port is something you can send messages to (with the C<snd> function).
43you can register C<rcv> handlers with. All C<rcv> handlers will receive
44messages they match, messages will not be queued.
45 71
72Ports allow you to register C<rcv> handlers that can match all or just
73some messages. Messages send to ports will not be queued, regardless of
74anything was listening for them or not.
75
46=item port id - C<noderef#portname> 76=item port ID - C<nodeid#portname>
47 77
48A port id is always the noderef, a hash-mark (C<#>) as separator, followed 78A port ID is the concatenation of a node ID, a hash-mark (C<#>) as
49by a port name (a printable string of unspecified format). 79separator, and a port name (a printable string of unspecified format).
50 80
51=item node 81=item node
52 82
53A node is a single process containing at least one port - the node 83A node is a single process containing at least one port - the node port,
54port. You can send messages to node ports to let them create new ports, 84which enables nodes to manage each other remotely, and to create new
55among other things. 85ports.
56 86
57Initially, nodes are either private (single-process only) or hidden 87Nodes are either public (have one or more listening ports) or private
58(connected to a master node only). Only when they epxlicitly "become 88(no listening ports). Private nodes cannot talk to other private nodes
59public" can you send them messages from unrelated other nodes. 89currently.
60 90
61=item noderef - C<host:port,host:port...>, C<id@noderef>, C<id> 91=item node ID - C<[a-za-Z0-9_\-.:]+>
62 92
63A noderef is a string that either uniquely identifies a given node (for 93A node ID is a string that uniquely identifies the node within a
64private and hidden nodes), or contains a recipe on how to reach a given 94network. Depending on the configuration used, node IDs can look like a
65node (for public nodes). 95hostname, a hostname and a port, or a random string. AnyEvent::MP itself
96doesn't interpret node IDs in any way.
97
98=item binds - C<ip:port>
99
100Nodes can only talk to each other by creating some kind of connection to
101each other. To do this, nodes should listen on one or more local transport
102endpoints - binds. Currently, only standard C<ip:port> specifications can
103be used, which specify TCP ports to listen on.
104
105=item seeds - C<host:port>
106
107When a node starts, it knows nothing about the network. To teach the node
108about the network it first has to contact some other node within the
109network. This node is called a seed.
110
111Seeds are transport endpoint(s) of as many nodes as one wants. Those nodes
112are expected to be long-running, and at least one of those should always
113be available. When nodes run out of connections (e.g. due to a network
114error), they try to re-establish connections to some seednodes again to
115join the network.
116
117Apart from being sued for seeding, seednodes are not special in any way -
118every public node can be a seednode.
66 119
67=back 120=back
68 121
69=head1 VARIABLES/FUNCTIONS 122=head1 VARIABLES/FUNCTIONS
70 123
72 125
73=cut 126=cut
74 127
75package AnyEvent::MP; 128package AnyEvent::MP;
76 129
77use AnyEvent::MP::Util ();
78use AnyEvent::MP::Node; 130use AnyEvent::MP::Kernel;
79use AnyEvent::MP::Transport;
80 131
81use utf8;
82use common::sense; 132use common::sense;
83 133
84use Carp (); 134use Carp ();
85 135
86use AE (); 136use AE ();
87 137
88use base "Exporter"; 138use base "Exporter";
89 139
90our $VERSION = '0.01'; 140our $VERSION = $AnyEvent::MP::Kernel::VERSION;
91our @EXPORT = qw(NODE $NODE $PORT snd rcv _any_);
92 141
93our $DEFAULT_SECRET; 142our @EXPORT = qw(
94our $DEFAULT_PORT = "4040"; 143 NODE $NODE *SELF node_of after
144 initialise_node
145 snd rcv mon mon_guard kil reg psub spawn
146 port
147);
95 148
96our $CONNECT_INTERVAL = 5; # new connect every 5s, at least 149our $SELF;
97our $CONNECT_TIMEOUT = 30; # includes handshake
98 150
99sub default_secret { 151sub _self_die() {
100 unless (defined $DEFAULT_SECRET) { 152 my $msg = $@;
101 if (open my $fh, "<$ENV{HOME}/.aemp-secret") { 153 $msg =~ s/\n+$// unless ref $msg;
102 sysread $fh, $DEFAULT_SECRET, -s $fh; 154 kil $SELF, die => $msg;
103 } else {
104 $DEFAULT_SECRET = AnyEvent::MP::Util::nonce 32;
105 }
106 }
107
108 $DEFAULT_SECRET
109} 155}
110 156
111=item NODE / $NODE 157=item $thisnode = NODE / $NODE
112 158
113The C<NODE ()> function and the C<$NODE> variable contain the noderef of 159The C<NODE> function returns, and the C<$NODE> variable contains, the node
114the local node. The value is initialised by a call to C<become_public> or 160ID of the node running in the current process. This value is initialised by
115C<become_slave>, after which all local port identifiers become invalid. 161a call to C<initialise_node>.
116 162
117=cut 163=item $nodeid = node_of $port
118 164
119our $UNIQ = sprintf "%x.%x", $$, time; # per-process/node unique cookie 165Extracts and returns the node ID from a port ID or a node ID.
120our $ID = "a0";
121our $PUBLIC = 0;
122our $NODE;
123our $PORT;
124 166
125our %NODE; # node id to transport mapping, or "undef", for local node 167=item initialise_node $profile_name, key => value...
126our %PORT; # local ports
127our %LISTENER; # local transports
128 168
129sub NODE() { $NODE } 169Before a node can talk to other nodes on the network (i.e. enter
170"distributed mode") it has to initialise itself - the minimum a node needs
171to know is its own name, and optionally it should know the addresses of
172some other nodes in the network to discover other nodes.
130 173
131{ 174This function initialises a node - it must be called exactly once (or
132 use POSIX (); 175never) before calling other AnyEvent::MP functions.
133 my $nodename = (POSIX::uname)[1];
134 $NODE = "$$\@$nodename";
135}
136 176
137sub _ANY_() { 1 } 177The first argument is a profile name. If it is C<undef> or missing, then
138sub _any_() { \&_ANY_ } 178the current nodename will be used instead (i.e. F<uname -n>).
139 179
140sub add_node { 180The function first looks up the profile in the aemp configuration (see the
141 my ($noderef) = @_; 181L<aemp> commandline utility). the profile is calculated as follows:
142 182
143 return $NODE{$noderef} 183First, all remaining key => value pairs will be used. Then they will be
144 if exists $NODE{$noderef}; 184overwritten by any values specified in the global default configuration
185(see the F<aemp> utility), then the chain of profiles selected, if
186any. That means that the values specified in the profile have highest
187priority and the values specified via C<initialise_node> have lowest
188priority.
145 189
146 for (split /,/, $noderef) { 190If the profile specifies a node ID, then this will become the node ID of
147 return $NODE{$noderef} = $NODE{$_} 191this process. If not, then the profile name will be used as node ID. The
148 if exists $NODE{$_}; 192special node ID of C<anon/> will be replaced by a random node ID.
149 }
150 193
151 # for indirect sends, use a different class 194The next step is to look up the binds in the profile, followed by binding
152 my $node = new AnyEvent::MP::Node::Direct $noderef; 195aemp protocol listeners on all binds specified (it is possible and valid
196to have no binds, meaning that the node cannot be contacted form the
197outside. This means the node cannot talk to other nodes that also have no
198binds, but it can still talk to all "normal" nodes).
153 199
154 $NODE{$_} = $node 200If the profile does not specify a binds list, then the node ID will be
155 for $noderef, split /,/, $noderef; 201treated as if it were of the form C<host:port>, which will be resolved and
202used as binds list.
156 203
157 $node 204Lastly, the seeds list from the profile is passed to the
158} 205L<AnyEvent::MP::Global> module, which will then use it to keep
206connectivity with at least on of those seed nodes at any point in time.
159 207
208Example: become a distributed node listening on the guessed noderef, or
209the one specified via C<aemp> for the current node. This should be the
210most common form of invocation for "daemon"-type nodes.
211
212 initialise_node;
213
214Example: become an anonymous node. This form is often used for commandline
215clients.
216
217 initialise_node "anon/";
218
219Example: become a distributed node. If there is no profile of the given
220name, or no binds list was specified, resolve C<localhost:4044> and bind
221on the resulting addresses.
222
223 initialise_node "localhost:4044";
224
225=item $SELF
226
227Contains the current port id while executing C<rcv> callbacks or C<psub>
228blocks.
229
230=item *SELF, SELF, %SELF, @SELF...
231
232Due to some quirks in how perl exports variables, it is impossible to
233just export C<$SELF>, all the symbols named C<SELF> are exported by this
234module, but only C<$SELF> is currently used.
235
160=item snd $portid, type => @data 236=item snd $port, type => @data
161 237
162=item snd $portid, @msg 238=item snd $port, @msg
163 239
164Send the given message to the given port ID, which can identify either a 240Send the given message to the given port, which can identify either a
165local or a remote port. 241local or a remote port, and must be a port ID.
166 242
167While the message can be about anything, it is highly recommended to use 243While the message can be almost anything, it is highly recommended to
168a constant string as first element. 244use a string as first element (a port ID, or some word that indicates a
245request type etc.) and to consist if only simple perl values (scalars,
246arrays, hashes) - if you think you need to pass an object, think again.
169 247
170The message data effectively becomes read-only after a call to this 248The message data logically becomes read-only after a call to this
171function: modifying any argument is not allowed and can cause many 249function: modifying any argument (or values referenced by them) is
172problems. 250forbidden, as there can be considerable time between the call to C<snd>
251and the time the message is actually being serialised - in fact, it might
252never be copied as within the same process it is simply handed to the
253receiving port.
173 254
174The type of data you can transfer depends on the transport protocol: when 255The type of data you can transfer depends on the transport protocol: when
175JSON is used, then only strings, numbers and arrays and hashes consisting 256JSON is used, then only strings, numbers and arrays and hashes consisting
176of those are allowed (no objects). When Storable is used, then anything 257of those are allowed (no objects). When Storable is used, then anything
177that Storable can serialise and deserialise is allowed, and for the local 258that Storable can serialise and deserialise is allowed, and for the local
178node, anything can be passed. 259node, anything can be passed. Best rely only on the common denominator of
260these.
179 261
180=cut 262=item $local_port = port
181 263
182sub snd(@) { 264Create a new local port object and returns its port ID. Initially it has
183 my ($noderef, $port) = split /#/, shift, 2; 265no callbacks set and will throw an error when it receives messages.
184 266
185 add_node $noderef 267=item $local_port = port { my @msg = @_ }
186 unless exists $NODE{$noderef};
187 268
188 $NODE{$noderef}->send (["$port", [@_]]); 269Creates a new local port, and returns its ID. Semantically the same as
189} 270creating a port and calling C<rcv $port, $callback> on it.
190 271
272The block will be called for every message received on the port, with the
273global variable C<$SELF> set to the port ID. Runtime errors will cause the
274port to be C<kil>ed. The message will be passed as-is, no extra argument
275(i.e. no port ID) will be passed to the callback.
276
277If you want to stop/destroy the port, simply C<kil> it:
278
279 my $port = port {
280 my @msg = @_;
281 ...
282 kil $SELF;
283 };
284
285=cut
286
287sub rcv($@);
288
289sub _kilme {
290 die "received message on port without callback";
291}
292
293sub port(;&) {
294 my $id = "$UNIQ." . $ID++;
295 my $port = "$NODE#$id";
296
297 rcv $port, shift || \&_kilme;
298
299 $port
300}
301
191=item rcv $portid, type => $callback->(@msg) 302=item rcv $local_port, $callback->(@msg)
192 303
193=item rcv $portid, $smartmatch => $callback->(@msg) 304Replaces the default callback on the specified port. There is no way to
305remove the default callback: use C<sub { }> to disable it, or better
306C<kil> the port when it is no longer needed.
194 307
195=item rcv $portid, [$smartmatch...] => $callback->(@msg) 308The global C<$SELF> (exported by this module) contains C<$port> while
309executing the callback. Runtime errors during callback execution will
310result in the port being C<kil>ed.
196 311
197Register a callback on the port identified by C<$portid>, which I<must> be 312The default callback received all messages not matched by a more specific
198a local port. 313C<tag> match.
199 314
200The callback has to return a true value when its work is done, after 315=item rcv $local_port, tag => $callback->(@msg_without_tag), ...
201which is will be removed, or a false value in which case it will stay
202registered.
203 316
204If the match is an array reference, then it will be matched against the 317Register (or replace) callbacks to be called on messages starting with the
205first elements of the message, otherwise only the first element is being 318given tag on the given port (and return the port), or unregister it (when
206matched. 319C<$callback> is C<$undef> or missing). There can only be one callback
320registered for each tag.
207 321
208Any element in the match that is specified as C<_any_> (a function 322The original message will be passed to the callback, after the first
209exported by this module) matches any single element of the message. 323element (the tag) has been removed. The callback will use the same
324environment as the default callback (see above).
210 325
211While not required, it is highly recommended that the first matching 326Example: create a port and bind receivers on it in one go.
212element is a string identifying the message. The one-string-only match is 327
213also the most efficient match (by far). 328 my $port = rcv port,
329 msg1 => sub { ... },
330 msg2 => sub { ... },
331 ;
332
333Example: create a port, bind receivers and send it in a message elsewhere
334in one go:
335
336 snd $otherport, reply =>
337 rcv port,
338 msg1 => sub { ... },
339 ...
340 ;
341
342Example: temporarily register a rcv callback for a tag matching some port
343(e.g. for a rpc reply) and unregister it after a message was received.
344
345 rcv $port, $otherport => sub {
346 my @reply = @_;
347
348 rcv $SELF, $otherport;
349 };
214 350
215=cut 351=cut
216 352
217sub rcv($@) { 353sub rcv($@) {
218 my ($port, $match, $cb) = @_; 354 my $port = shift;
219
220 my $port = $PORT{$port}
221 or do {
222 my ($noderef, $lport) = split /#/, $port; 355 my ($noderef, $portid) = split /#/, $port, 2;
223 "AnyEvent::MP::Node::Self" eq ref $NODE{$noderef} 356
357 $NODE{$noderef} == $NODE{""}
224 or Carp::croak "$port: can only rcv on local ports"; 358 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on local ports, caught";
225 359
226 $PORT{$lport} 360 while (@_) {
227 or Carp::croak "$port: port does not exist"; 361 if (ref $_[0]) {
228 362 if (my $self = $PORT_DATA{$portid}) {
229 $PORT{$port} = $PORT{$lport} # also return 363 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
230 }; 364 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
231 365
232 if (!ref $match) { 366 $self->[2] = shift;
233 push @{ $port->{rc0}{$match} }, [$cb];
234 } elsif (("ARRAY" eq ref $match && !ref $match->[0])) {
235 my ($type, @match) = @$match;
236 @match
237 ? push @{ $port->{rcv}{$match->[0]} }, [$cb, \@match]
238 : push @{ $port->{rc0}{$match->[0]} }, [$cb];
239 } else { 367 } else {
240 push @{ $port->{any} }, [$cb, $match]; 368 my $cb = shift;
241 } 369 $PORT{$portid} = sub {
242} 370 local $SELF = $port;
243 371 eval { &$cb }; _self_die if $@;
244sub _inject {
245 my ($port, $msg) = @{+shift};
246
247 $port = $PORT{$port}
248 or return;
249
250 @_ = @$msg;
251
252 for (@{ $port->{rc0}{$msg->[0]} }) {
253 $_ && &{$_->[0]}
254 && undef $_;
255 }
256
257 for (@{ $port->{rcv}{$msg->[0]} }) {
258 $_ && [@_[1..$#{$_->[1]}]] ~~ $_->[1]
259 && &{$_->[0]}
260 && undef $_;
261 }
262
263 for (@{ $port->{any} }) {
264 $_ && [@_[0..$#{$_->[1]}]] ~~ $_->[1]
265 && &{$_->[0]}
266 && undef $_;
267 }
268}
269
270sub normalise_noderef($) {
271 my ($noderef) = @_;
272
273 my $cv = AE::cv;
274 my @res;
275
276 $cv->begin (sub {
277 my %seen;
278 my @refs;
279 for (sort { $a->[0] <=> $b->[0] } @res) {
280 push @refs, $_->[1] unless $seen{$_->[1]}++
281 }
282 shift->send (join ",", @refs);
283 });
284
285 $noderef = $DEFAULT_PORT unless length $noderef;
286
287 my $idx;
288 for my $t (split /,/, $noderef) {
289 my $pri = ++$idx;
290
291 #TODO: this should be outside normalise_noderef and in become_public
292 if ($t =~ /^\d*$/) {
293 my $nodename = (POSIX::uname)[1];
294
295 $cv->begin;
296 AnyEvent::Socket::resolve_sockaddr $nodename, $t || "aemp=$DEFAULT_PORT", "tcp", 0, undef, sub {
297 for (@_) {
298 my ($service, $host) = AnyEvent::Socket::unpack_sockaddr $_->[3];
299 push @res, [
300 $pri += 1e-5,
301 AnyEvent::Socket::format_hostport AnyEvent::Socket::format_address $host, $service
302 ];
303 } 372 };
304 $cv->end; 373 }
374 } elsif (defined $_[0]) {
375 my $self = $PORT_DATA{$portid} ||= do {
376 my $self = bless [$PORT{$port} || sub { }, { }, $port], "AnyEvent::MP::Port";
377
378 $PORT{$portid} = sub {
379 local $SELF = $port;
380
381 if (my $cb = $self->[1]{$_[0]}) {
382 shift;
383 eval { &$cb }; _self_die if $@;
384 } else {
385 &{ $self->[0] };
386 }
387 };
388
389 $self
305 }; 390 };
306 391
307# my (undef, undef, undef, undef, @ipv4) = gethostbyname $nodename; 392 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
308# 393 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
309# for (@ipv4) { 394
310# push @res, [ 395 my ($tag, $cb) = splice @_, 0, 2;
311# $pri, 396
312# AnyEvent::Socket::format_hostport AnyEvent::Socket::format_address $_, $t || $DEFAULT_PORT, 397 if (defined $cb) {
313# ]; 398 $self->[1]{$tag} = $cb;
314# }
315 } else { 399 } else {
316 my ($host, $port) = AnyEvent::Socket::parse_hostport $t, "aemp=$DEFAULT_PORT" 400 delete $self->[1]{$tag};
317 or Carp::croak "$t: unparsable transport descriptor";
318
319 $cv->begin;
320 AnyEvent::Socket::resolve_sockaddr $host, $port, "tcp", 0, undef, sub {
321 for (@_) {
322 my ($service, $host) = AnyEvent::Socket::unpack_sockaddr $_->[3];
323 push @res, [
324 $pri += 1e-5,
325 AnyEvent::Socket::format_hostport AnyEvent::Socket::format_address $host, $service
326 ];
327 }
328 $cv->end;
329 } 401 }
330 } 402 }
331 } 403 }
332 404
333 $cv->end; 405 $port
334
335 $cv
336} 406}
337 407
338sub become_public { 408=item $closure = psub { BLOCK }
339 return if $PUBLIC;
340 409
341 my $noderef = join ",", ref $_[0] ? @{+shift} : shift; 410Remembers C<$SELF> and creates a closure out of the BLOCK. When the
342 my @args = @_; 411closure is executed, sets up the environment in the same way as in C<rcv>
412callbacks, i.e. runtime errors will cause the port to get C<kil>ed.
343 413
344 $NODE = (normalise_noderef $noderef)->recv; 414This is useful when you register callbacks from C<rcv> callbacks:
345 415
346 for my $t (split /,/, $NODE) { 416 rcv delayed_reply => sub {
347 $NODE{$t} = $NODE{""}; 417 my ($delay, @reply) = @_;
348 418 my $timer = AE::timer $delay, 0, psub {
349 my ($host, $port) = AnyEvent::Socket::parse_hostport $t; 419 snd @reply, $SELF;
350
351 $LISTENER{$t} = AnyEvent::MP::Transport::mp_server $host, $port,
352 @args,
353 on_error => sub {
354 die "on_error<@_>\n";#d#
355 },
356 on_connect => sub {
357 my ($tp) = @_;
358
359 $NODE{$tp->{remote_id}} = $_[0];
360 },
361 sub {
362 my ($tp) = @_;
363
364 $NODE{"$tp->{peerhost}:$tp->{peerport}"} = $tp;
365 },
366 ; 420 };
421 };
422
423=cut
424
425sub psub(&) {
426 my $cb = shift;
427
428 my $port = $SELF
429 or Carp::croak "psub can only be called from within rcv or psub callbacks, not";
430
431 sub {
432 local $SELF = $port;
433
434 if (wantarray) {
435 my @res = eval { &$cb };
436 _self_die if $@;
437 @res
438 } else {
439 my $res = eval { &$cb };
440 _self_die if $@;
441 $res
442 }
367 } 443 }
444}
368 445
369 $PUBLIC = 1; 446=item $guard = mon $port, $cb->(@reason) # call $cb when $port dies
447
448=item $guard = mon $port, $rcvport # kill $rcvport when $port dies
449
450=item $guard = mon $port # kill $SELF when $port dies
451
452=item $guard = mon $port, $rcvport, @msg # send a message when $port dies
453
454Monitor the given port and do something when the port is killed or
455messages to it were lost, and optionally return a guard that can be used
456to stop monitoring again.
457
458C<mon> effectively guarantees that, in the absence of hardware failures,
459after starting the monitor, either all messages sent to the port will
460arrive, or the monitoring action will be invoked after possible message
461loss has been detected. No messages will be lost "in between" (after
462the first lost message no further messages will be received by the
463port). After the monitoring action was invoked, further messages might get
464delivered again.
465
466Note that monitoring-actions are one-shot: once messages are lost (and a
467monitoring alert was raised), they are removed and will not trigger again.
468
469In the first form (callback), the callback is simply called with any
470number of C<@reason> elements (no @reason means that the port was deleted
471"normally"). Note also that I<< the callback B<must> never die >>, so use
472C<eval> if unsure.
473
474In the second form (another port given), the other port (C<$rcvport>)
475will be C<kil>'ed with C<@reason>, iff a @reason was specified, i.e. on
476"normal" kils nothing happens, while under all other conditions, the other
477port is killed with the same reason.
478
479The third form (kill self) is the same as the second form, except that
480C<$rvport> defaults to C<$SELF>.
481
482In the last form (message), a message of the form C<@msg, @reason> will be
483C<snd>.
484
485As a rule of thumb, monitoring requests should always monitor a port from
486a local port (or callback). The reason is that kill messages might get
487lost, just like any other message. Another less obvious reason is that
488even monitoring requests can get lost (for exmaple, when the connection
489to the other node goes down permanently). When monitoring a port locally
490these problems do not exist.
491
492Example: call a given callback when C<$port> is killed.
493
494 mon $port, sub { warn "port died because of <@_>\n" };
495
496Example: kill ourselves when C<$port> is killed abnormally.
497
498 mon $port;
499
500Example: send us a restart message when another C<$port> is killed.
501
502 mon $port, $self => "restart";
503
504=cut
505
506sub mon {
507 my ($noderef, $port) = split /#/, shift, 2;
508
509 my $node = $NODE{$noderef} || add_node $noderef;
510
511 my $cb = @_ ? shift : $SELF || Carp::croak 'mon: called with one argument only, but $SELF not set,';
512
513 unless (ref $cb) {
514 if (@_) {
515 # send a kill info message
516 my (@msg) = ($cb, @_);
517 $cb = sub { snd @msg, @_ };
518 } else {
519 # simply kill other port
520 my $port = $cb;
521 $cb = sub { kil $port, @_ if @_ };
522 }
523 }
524
525 $node->monitor ($port, $cb);
526
527 defined wantarray
528 and AnyEvent::Util::guard { $node->unmonitor ($port, $cb) }
529}
530
531=item $guard = mon_guard $port, $ref, $ref...
532
533Monitors the given C<$port> and keeps the passed references. When the port
534is killed, the references will be freed.
535
536Optionally returns a guard that will stop the monitoring.
537
538This function is useful when you create e.g. timers or other watchers and
539want to free them when the port gets killed (note the use of C<psub>):
540
541 $port->rcv (start => sub {
542 my $timer; $timer = mon_guard $port, AE::timer 1, 1, psub {
543 undef $timer if 0.9 < rand;
544 });
545 });
546
547=cut
548
549sub mon_guard {
550 my ($port, @refs) = @_;
551
552 #TODO: mon-less form?
553
554 mon $port, sub { 0 && @refs }
555}
556
557=item kil $port[, @reason]
558
559Kill the specified port with the given C<@reason>.
560
561If no C<@reason> is specified, then the port is killed "normally" (ports
562monitoring other ports will not necessarily die because a port dies
563"normally").
564
565Otherwise, linked ports get killed with the same reason (second form of
566C<mon>, see above).
567
568Runtime errors while evaluating C<rcv> callbacks or inside C<psub> blocks
569will be reported as reason C<< die => $@ >>.
570
571Transport/communication errors are reported as C<< transport_error =>
572$message >>.
573
574=cut
575
576=item $port = spawn $node, $initfunc[, @initdata]
577
578Creates a port on the node C<$node> (which can also be a port ID, in which
579case it's the node where that port resides).
580
581The port ID of the newly created port is returned immediately, and it is
582possible to immediately start sending messages or to monitor the port.
583
584After the port has been created, the init function is called on the remote
585node, in the same context as a C<rcv> callback. This function must be a
586fully-qualified function name (e.g. C<MyApp::Chat::Server::init>). To
587specify a function in the main program, use C<::name>.
588
589If the function doesn't exist, then the node tries to C<require>
590the package, then the package above the package and so on (e.g.
591C<MyApp::Chat::Server>, C<MyApp::Chat>, C<MyApp>) until the function
592exists or it runs out of package names.
593
594The init function is then called with the newly-created port as context
595object (C<$SELF>) and the C<@initdata> values as arguments.
596
597A common idiom is to pass a local port, immediately monitor the spawned
598port, and in the remote init function, immediately monitor the passed
599local port. This two-way monitoring ensures that both ports get cleaned up
600when there is a problem.
601
602Example: spawn a chat server port on C<$othernode>.
603
604 # this node, executed from within a port context:
605 my $server = spawn $othernode, "MyApp::Chat::Server::connect", $SELF;
606 mon $server;
607
608 # init function on C<$othernode>
609 sub connect {
610 my ($srcport) = @_;
611
612 mon $srcport;
613
614 rcv $SELF, sub {
615 ...
616 };
617 }
618
619=cut
620
621sub _spawn {
622 my $port = shift;
623 my $init = shift;
624
625 local $SELF = "$NODE#$port";
626 eval {
627 &{ load_func $init }
628 };
629 _self_die if $@;
630}
631
632sub spawn(@) {
633 my ($noderef, undef) = split /#/, shift, 2;
634
635 my $id = "$RUNIQ." . $ID++;
636
637 $_[0] =~ /::/
638 or Carp::croak "spawn init function must be a fully-qualified name, caught";
639
640 snd_to_func $noderef, "AnyEvent::MP::_spawn" => $id, @_;
641
642 "$noderef#$id"
643}
644
645=item after $timeout, @msg
646
647=item after $timeout, $callback
648
649Either sends the given message, or call the given callback, after the
650specified number of seconds.
651
652This is simply a utility function that comes in handy at times - the
653AnyEvent::MP author is not convinced of the wisdom of having it, though,
654so it may go away in the future.
655
656=cut
657
658sub after($@) {
659 my ($timeout, @action) = @_;
660
661 my $t; $t = AE::timer $timeout, 0, sub {
662 undef $t;
663 ref $action[0]
664 ? $action[0]()
665 : snd @action;
666 };
370} 667}
371 668
372=back 669=back
373 670
374=head1 NODE MESSAGES 671=head1 AnyEvent::MP vs. Distributed Erlang
375 672
376Nodes understand the following messages sent to them. Many of them take 673AnyEvent::MP got lots of its ideas from distributed Erlang (Erlang node
377arguments called C<@reply>, which will simply be used to compose a reply 674== aemp node, Erlang process == aemp port), so many of the documents and
378message - C<$reply[0]> is the port to reply to, C<$reply[1]> the type and 675programming techniques employed by Erlang apply to AnyEvent::MP. Here is a
379the remaining arguments are simply the message data. 676sample:
677
678 http://www.Erlang.se/doc/programming_rules.shtml
679 http://Erlang.org/doc/getting_started/part_frame.html # chapters 3 and 4
680 http://Erlang.org/download/Erlang-book-part1.pdf # chapters 5 and 6
681 http://Erlang.org/download/armstrong_thesis_2003.pdf # chapters 4 and 5
682
683Despite the similarities, there are also some important differences:
380 684
381=over 4 685=over 4
382 686
383=cut 687=item * Node IDs are arbitrary strings in AEMP.
384 688
385############################################################################# 689Erlang relies on special naming and DNS to work everywhere in the same
386# self node code 690way. AEMP relies on each node somehow knowing its own address(es) (e.g. by
691configuraiton or DNS), but will otherwise discover other odes itself.
387 692
388sub _new_port($) { 693=item * Erlang has a "remote ports are like local ports" philosophy, AEMP
389 my ($name) = @_; 694uses "local ports are like remote ports".
390 695
391 my ($noderef, $portname) = split /#/, $name; 696The failure modes for local ports are quite different (runtime errors
697only) then for remote ports - when a local port dies, you I<know> it dies,
698when a connection to another node dies, you know nothing about the other
699port.
392 700
393 $PORT{$name} = 701Erlang pretends remote ports are as reliable as local ports, even when
394 $PORT{$portname} = { 702they are not.
395 names => [$name, $portname],
396 };
397}
398 703
399$NODE{""} = new AnyEvent::MP::Node::Self noderef => $NODE; 704AEMP encourages a "treat remote ports differently" philosophy, with local
400_new_port ""; 705ports being the special case/exception, where transport errors cannot
706occur.
401 707
402=item devnull => ... 708=item * Erlang uses processes and a mailbox, AEMP does not queue.
403 709
404Generic data sink/CPU heat conversion. 710Erlang uses processes that selectively receive messages, and therefore
711needs a queue. AEMP is event based, queuing messages would serve no
712useful purpose. For the same reason the pattern-matching abilities of
713AnyEvent::MP are more limited, as there is little need to be able to
714filter messages without dequeing them.
405 715
406=cut 716(But see L<Coro::MP> for a more Erlang-like process model on top of AEMP).
407 717
408rcv "", devnull => sub { () }; 718=item * Erlang sends are synchronous, AEMP sends are asynchronous.
409 719
410=item relay => $port, @msg 720Sending messages in Erlang is synchronous and blocks the process (and
721so does not need a queue that can overflow). AEMP sends are immediate,
722connection establishment is handled in the background.
411 723
412Simply forwards the message to the given port. 724=item * Erlang suffers from silent message loss, AEMP does not.
413 725
414=cut 726Erlang makes few guarantees on messages delivery - messages can get lost
727without any of the processes realising it (i.e. you send messages a, b,
728and c, and the other side only receives messages a and c).
415 729
416rcv "", relay => sub { \&snd; () }; 730AEMP guarantees correct ordering, and the guarantee that after one message
731is lost, all following ones sent to the same port are lost as well, until
732monitoring raises an error, so there are no silent "holes" in the message
733sequence.
417 734
418=item eval => $string[ @reply] 735=item * Erlang can send messages to the wrong port, AEMP does not.
419 736
420Evaluates the given string. If C<@reply> is given, then a message of the 737In Erlang it is quite likely that a node that restarts reuses a process ID
421form C<@reply, $@, @evalres> is sent. 738known to other nodes for a completely different process, causing messages
739destined for that process to end up in an unrelated process.
422 740
423Example: crash another node. 741AEMP never reuses port IDs, so old messages or old port IDs floating
742around in the network will not be sent to an unrelated port.
424 743
425 snd $othernode, eval => "exit"; 744=item * Erlang uses unprotected connections, AEMP uses secure
745authentication and can use TLS.
426 746
427=cut 747AEMP can use a proven protocol - TLS - to protect connections and
748securely authenticate nodes.
428 749
429rcv "", eval => sub { 750=item * The AEMP protocol is optimised for both text-based and binary
430 my (undef, $string, @reply) = @_; 751communications.
431 my @res = eval $string;
432 snd @reply, "$@", @res if @reply;
433 ()
434};
435 752
436=item time => @reply 753The AEMP protocol, unlike the Erlang protocol, supports both programming
754language independent text-only protocols (good for debugging) and binary,
755language-specific serialisers (e.g. Storable). By default, unless TLS is
756used, the protocol is actually completely text-based.
437 757
438Replies the the current node time to C<@reply>. 758It has also been carefully designed to be implementable in other languages
759with a minimum of work while gracefully degrading functionality to make the
760protocol simple.
439 761
440Example: tell the current node to send the current time to C<$myport> in a 762=item * AEMP has more flexible monitoring options than Erlang.
441C<timereply> message.
442 763
443 snd $NODE, time => $myport, timereply => 1, 2; 764In Erlang, you can chose to receive I<all> exit signals as messages
444 # => snd $myport, timereply => 1, 2, <time> 765or I<none>, there is no in-between, so monitoring single processes is
766difficult to implement. Monitoring in AEMP is more flexible than in
767Erlang, as one can choose between automatic kill, exit message or callback
768on a per-process basis.
445 769
446=cut 770=item * Erlang tries to hide remote/local connections, AEMP does not.
447 771
448rcv "", time => sub { shift; snd @_, AE::time; () }; 772Monitoring in Erlang is not an indicator of process death/crashes, in the
773same way as linking is (except linking is unreliable in Erlang).
774
775In AEMP, you don't "look up" registered port names or send to named ports
776that might or might not be persistent. Instead, you normally spawn a port
777on the remote node. The init function monitors you, and you monitor the
778remote port. Since both monitors are local to the node, they are much more
779reliable (no need for C<spawn_link>).
780
781This also saves round-trips and avoids sending messages to the wrong port
782(hard to do in Erlang).
449 783
450=back 784=back
451 785
786=head1 RATIONALE
787
788=over 4
789
790=item Why strings for port and node IDs, why not objects?
791
792We considered "objects", but found that the actual number of methods
793that can be called are quite low. Since port and node IDs travel over
794the network frequently, the serialising/deserialising would add lots of
795overhead, as well as having to keep a proxy object everywhere.
796
797Strings can easily be printed, easily serialised etc. and need no special
798procedures to be "valid".
799
800And as a result, a miniport consists of a single closure stored in a
801global hash - it can't become much cheaper.
802
803=item Why favour JSON, why not a real serialising format such as Storable?
804
805In fact, any AnyEvent::MP node will happily accept Storable as framing
806format, but currently there is no way to make a node use Storable by
807default (although all nodes will accept it).
808
809The default framing protocol is JSON because a) JSON::XS is many times
810faster for small messages and b) most importantly, after years of
811experience we found that object serialisation is causing more problems
812than it solves: Just like function calls, objects simply do not travel
813easily over the network, mostly because they will always be a copy, so you
814always have to re-think your design.
815
816Keeping your messages simple, concentrating on data structures rather than
817objects, will keep your messages clean, tidy and efficient.
818
819=back
820
452=head1 SEE ALSO 821=head1 SEE ALSO
822
823L<AnyEvent::MP::Intro> - a gentle introduction.
824
825L<AnyEvent::MP::Kernel> - more, lower-level, stuff.
826
827L<AnyEvent::MP::Global> - network maintainance and port groups, to find
828your applications.
453 829
454L<AnyEvent>. 830L<AnyEvent>.
455 831
456=head1 AUTHOR 832=head1 AUTHOR
457 833

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