ViewVC Help
View File | Revision Log | Show Annotations | Download File
/cvs/AnyEvent-MP/MP.pm
(Generate patch)

Comparing AnyEvent-MP/MP.pm (file contents):
Revision 1.14 by root, Sun Aug 2 18:26:00 2009 UTC vs.
Revision 1.122 by root, Wed Feb 29 18:44:59 2012 UTC

1=head1 NAME 1=head1 NAME
2 2
3AnyEvent::MP - multi-processing/message-passing framework 3AnyEvent::MP - erlang-style multi-processing/message-passing framework
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 node ID
10 NODE # returns this node's node ID
11 11
12 $SELF # receiving/own port id in rcv callbacks
13
14 # initialise the node so it can send/receive messages
15 configure;
16
17 # ports are message destinations
18
19 # sending messages
12 snd $port, type => data...; 20 snd $port, type => data...;
21 snd $port, @msg;
22 snd @msg_with_first_element_being_a_port;
13 23
14 rcv $port, smartmatch => $cb->($port, @msg); 24 # creating/using ports, the simple way
25 my $simple_port = port { my @msg = @_ };
15 26
16 # examples: 27 # creating/using ports, tagged message matching
28 my $port = port;
17 rcv $port2, ping => sub { snd $_[0], "pong"; 0 }; 29 rcv $port, ping => sub { snd $_[0], "pong" };
18 rcv $port1, pong => sub { warn "pong received\n" }; 30 rcv $port, pong => sub { warn "pong received\n" };
19 snd $port2, ping => $port1;
20 31
21 # more, smarter, matches (_any_ is exported by this module) 32 # create a port on another node
22 rcv $port, [child_died => $pid] => sub { ... 33 my $port = spawn $node, $initfunc, @initdata;
23 rcv $port, [_any_, _any_, 3] => sub { .. $_[2] is 3 34
35 # destroy a port again
36 kil $port; # "normal" kill
37 kil $port, my_error => "everything is broken"; # error kill
38
39 # monitoring
40 mon $localport, $cb->(@msg) # callback is invoked on death
41 mon $localport, $otherport # kill otherport on abnormal death
42 mon $localport, $otherport, @msg # send message on death
43
44 # temporarily execute code in port context
45 peval $port, sub { die "kill the port!" };
46
47 # execute callbacks in $SELF port context
48 my $timer = AE::timer 1, 0, psub {
49 die "kill the port, delayed";
50 };
51
52=head1 CURRENT STATUS
53
54 bin/aemp - stable.
55 AnyEvent::MP - stable API, should work.
56 AnyEvent::MP::Intro - explains most concepts.
57 AnyEvent::MP::Kernel - mostly stable API.
58 AnyEvent::MP::Global - stable API.
24 59
25=head1 DESCRIPTION 60=head1 DESCRIPTION
26 61
27This module (-family) implements a simple message passing framework. 62This module (-family) implements a simple message passing framework.
28 63
29Despite its simplicity, you can securely message other processes running 64Despite its simplicity, you can securely message other processes running
30on the same or other hosts. 65on the same or other hosts, and you can supervise entities remotely.
31 66
32At the moment, this module family is severly brokena nd underdocumented, 67For an introduction to this module family, see the L<AnyEvent::MP::Intro>
33so do not use. This was uploaded mainly to resreve the CPAN namespace - 68manual page and the examples under F<eg/>.
34stay tuned!
35 69
36=head1 CONCEPTS 70=head1 CONCEPTS
37 71
38=over 4 72=over 4
39 73
40=item port 74=item port
41 75
42A port is something you can send messages to with the C<snd> function, and 76Not to be confused with a TCP port, a "port" is something you can send
43you can register C<rcv> handlers with. All C<rcv> handlers will receive 77messages to (with the C<snd> function).
44messages they match, messages will not be queued.
45 78
79Ports allow you to register C<rcv> handlers that can match all or just
80some messages. Messages send to ports will not be queued, regardless of
81anything was listening for them or not.
82
83Ports are represented by (printable) strings called "port IDs".
84
46=item port id - C<noderef#portname> 85=item port ID - C<nodeid#portname>
47 86
48A port id is always the noderef, a hash-mark (C<#>) as separator, followed 87A port ID is the concatenation of a node ID, a hash-mark (C<#>) as
49by a port name (a printable string of unspecified format). 88separator, and a port name (a printable string of unspecified format).
50 89
51=item node 90=item node
52 91
53A node is a single process containing at least one port - the node 92A 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, 93which enables nodes to manage each other remotely, and to create new
55among other things. 94ports.
56 95
57Initially, nodes are either private (single-process only) or hidden 96Nodes are either public (have one or more listening ports) or private
58(connected to a master node only). Only when they epxlicitly "become 97(no listening ports). Private nodes cannot talk to other private nodes
59public" can you send them messages from unrelated other nodes. 98currently, but all nodes can talk to public nodes.
60 99
61=item noderef - C<host:port,host:port...>, C<id@noderef>, C<id> 100Nodes is represented by (printable) strings called "node IDs".
62 101
102=item node ID - C<[A-Za-z0-9_\-.:]*>
103
63A noderef is a string that either uniquely identifies a given node (for 104A 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 105network. Depending on the configuration used, node IDs can look like a
65node (for public nodes). 106hostname, a hostname and a port, or a random string. AnyEvent::MP itself
107doesn't interpret node IDs in any way except to uniquely identify a node.
108
109=item binds - C<ip:port>
110
111Nodes can only talk to each other by creating some kind of connection to
112each other. To do this, nodes should listen on one or more local transport
113endpoints - binds.
114
115Currently, only standard C<ip:port> specifications can be used, which
116specify TCP ports to listen on. So a bind is basically just a tcp socket
117in listening mode thta accepts conenctions form other nodes.
118
119=item seed nodes
120
121When a node starts, it knows nothing about the network it is in - it
122needs to connect to at least one other node that is already in the
123network. These other nodes are called "seed nodes".
124
125Seed nodes themselves are not special - they are seed nodes only because
126some other node I<uses> them as such, but any node can be used as seed
127node for other nodes, and eahc node cna use a different set of seed nodes.
128
129In addition to discovering the network, seed nodes are also used to
130maintain the network - all nodes using the same seed node form are part of
131the same network. If a network is split into multiple subnets because e.g.
132the network link between the parts goes down, then using the same seed
133nodes for all nodes ensures that eventually the subnets get merged again.
134
135Seed nodes are expected to be long-running, and at least one seed node
136should always be available. They should also be relatively responsive - a
137seed node that blocks for long periods will slow down everybody else.
138
139For small networks, it's best if every node uses the same set of seed
140nodes. For large networks, it can be useful to specify "regional" seed
141nodes for most nodes in an area, and use all seed nodes as seed nodes for
142each other. What's important is that all seed nodes connections form a
143complete graph, so that the network cannot split into separate subnets
144forever.
145
146Seed nodes are represented by seed IDs.
147
148=item seed IDs - C<host:port>
149
150Seed IDs are transport endpoint(s) (usually a hostname/IP address and a
151TCP port) of nodes that should be used as seed nodes.
152
153=item global nodes
154
155An AEMP network needs a discovery service - nodes need to know how to
156connect to other nodes they only know by name. In addition, AEMP offers a
157distributed "group database", which maps group names to a list of strings
158- for example, to register worker ports.
159
160A network needs at least one global node to work, and allows every node to
161be a global node.
162
163Any node that loads the L<AnyEvent::MP::Global> module becomes a global
164node and tries to keep connections to all other nodes. So while it can
165make sense to make every node "global" in small networks, it usually makes
166sense to only make seed nodes into global nodes in large networks (nodes
167keep connections to seed nodes and global nodes, so makign them the same
168reduces overhead).
66 169
67=back 170=back
68 171
69=head1 VARIABLES/FUNCTIONS 172=head1 VARIABLES/FUNCTIONS
70 173
72 175
73=cut 176=cut
74 177
75package AnyEvent::MP; 178package AnyEvent::MP;
76 179
180use AnyEvent::MP::Config ();
77use AnyEvent::MP::Base; 181use AnyEvent::MP::Kernel;
182use AnyEvent::MP::Kernel qw(%NODE %PORT %PORT_DATA $UNIQ $RUNIQ $ID);
78 183
79use common::sense; 184use common::sense;
80 185
81use Carp (); 186use Carp ();
82 187
83use AE (); 188use AE ();
84 189
85use base "Exporter"; 190use base "Exporter";
86 191
87our $VERSION = '0.02'; 192our $VERSION = $AnyEvent::MP::Config::VERSION;
193
88our @EXPORT = qw( 194our @EXPORT = qw(
89 NODE $NODE $PORT snd rcv _any_ 195 NODE $NODE *SELF node_of after
90 create_port create_port_on 196 configure
91 create_miniport 197 snd rcv mon mon_guard kil psub peval spawn cal
92 become_slave become_public 198 port
93); 199);
94 200
201our $SELF;
202
203sub _self_die() {
204 my $msg = $@;
205 $msg =~ s/\n+$// unless ref $msg;
206 kil $SELF, die => $msg;
207}
208
95=item NODE / $NODE 209=item $thisnode = NODE / $NODE
96 210
97The C<NODE ()> function and the C<$NODE> variable contain the noderef of 211The C<NODE> function returns, and the C<$NODE> variable contains, the node
98the local node. The value is initialised by a call to C<become_public> or 212ID of the node running in the current process. This value is initialised by
99C<become_slave>, after which all local port identifiers become invalid. 213a call to C<configure>.
100 214
215=item $nodeid = node_of $port
216
217Extracts and returns the node ID from a port ID or a node ID.
218
219=item configure $profile, key => value...
220
221=item configure key => value...
222
223Before a node can talk to other nodes on the network (i.e. enter
224"distributed mode") it has to configure itself - the minimum a node needs
225to know is its own name, and optionally it should know the addresses of
226some other nodes in the network to discover other nodes.
227
228This function configures a node - it must be called exactly once (or
229never) before calling other AnyEvent::MP functions.
230
231The key/value pairs are basically the same ones as documented for the
232F<aemp> command line utility (sans the set/del prefix), with two additions:
233
234=over 4
235
236=item norc => $boolean (default false)
237
238If true, then the rc file (e.g. F<~/.perl-anyevent-mp>) will I<not>
239be consulted - all configuraiton options must be specified in the
240C<configure> call.
241
242=item force => $boolean (default false)
243
244IF true, then the values specified in the C<configure> will take
245precedence over any values configured via the rc file. The default is for
246the rc file to override any options specified in the program.
247
248=back
249
250=over 4
251
252=item step 1, gathering configuration from profiles
253
254The function first looks up a profile in the aemp configuration (see the
255L<aemp> commandline utility). The profile name can be specified via the
256named C<profile> parameter or can simply be the first parameter). If it is
257missing, then the nodename (F<uname -n>) will be used as profile name.
258
259The profile data is then gathered as follows:
260
261First, all remaining key => value pairs (all of which are conveniently
262undocumented at the moment) will be interpreted as configuration
263data. Then they will be overwritten by any values specified in the global
264default configuration (see the F<aemp> utility), then the chain of
265profiles chosen by the profile name (and any C<parent> attributes).
266
267That means that the values specified in the profile have highest priority
268and the values specified directly via C<configure> have lowest priority,
269and can only be used to specify defaults.
270
271If the profile specifies a node ID, then this will become the node ID of
272this process. If not, then the profile name will be used as node ID, with
273a slash (C</>) attached.
274
275If the node ID (or profile name) ends with a slash (C</>), then a random
276string is appended to make it unique.
277
278=item step 2, bind listener sockets
279
280The next step is to look up the binds in the profile, followed by binding
281aemp protocol listeners on all binds specified (it is possible and valid
282to have no binds, meaning that the node cannot be contacted form the
283outside. This means the node cannot talk to other nodes that also have no
284binds, but it can still talk to all "normal" nodes).
285
286If the profile does not specify a binds list, then a default of C<*> is
287used, meaning the node will bind on a dynamically-assigned port on every
288local IP address it finds.
289
290=item step 3, connect to seed nodes
291
292As the last step, the seed ID list from the profile is passed to the
293L<AnyEvent::MP::Global> module, which will then use it to keep
294connectivity with at least one node at any point in time.
295
296=back
297
298Example: become a distributed node using the local node name as profile.
299This should be the most common form of invocation for "daemon"-type nodes.
300
301 configure
302
303Example: become an anonymous node. This form is often used for commandline
304clients.
305
306 configure nodeid => "anon/";
307
308Example: configure a node using a profile called seed, which is suitable
309for a seed node as it binds on all local addresses on a fixed port (4040,
310customary for aemp).
311
312 # use the aemp commandline utility
313 # aemp profile seed binds '*:4040'
314
315 # then use it
316 configure profile => "seed";
317
318 # or simply use aemp from the shell again:
319 # aemp run profile seed
320
321 # or provide a nicer-to-remember nodeid
322 # aemp run profile seed nodeid "$(hostname)"
323
324=item $SELF
325
326Contains the current port id while executing C<rcv> callbacks or C<psub>
327blocks.
328
329=item *SELF, SELF, %SELF, @SELF...
330
331Due to some quirks in how perl exports variables, it is impossible to
332just export C<$SELF>, all the symbols named C<SELF> are exported by this
333module, but only C<$SELF> is currently used.
334
101=item snd $portid, type => @data 335=item snd $port, type => @data
102 336
103=item snd $portid, @msg 337=item snd $port, @msg
104 338
105Send the given message to the given port ID, which can identify either 339Send the given message to the given port, which can identify either a
106a local or a remote port, and can be either a string or soemthignt hat 340local or a remote port, and must be a port ID.
107stringifies a sa port ID (such as a port object :).
108 341
109While the message can be about anything, it is highly recommended to use a 342While the message can be almost anything, it is highly recommended to
110string as first element (a portid, or some word that indicates a request 343use a string as first element (a port ID, or some word that indicates a
111type etc.). 344request type etc.) and to consist if only simple perl values (scalars,
345arrays, hashes) - if you think you need to pass an object, think again.
112 346
113The message data effectively becomes read-only after a call to this 347The message data logically becomes read-only after a call to this
114function: modifying any argument is not allowed and can cause many 348function: modifying any argument (or values referenced by them) is
115problems. 349forbidden, as there can be considerable time between the call to C<snd>
350and the time the message is actually being serialised - in fact, it might
351never be copied as within the same process it is simply handed to the
352receiving port.
116 353
117The type of data you can transfer depends on the transport protocol: when 354The type of data you can transfer depends on the transport protocol: when
118JSON is used, then only strings, numbers and arrays and hashes consisting 355JSON is used, then only strings, numbers and arrays and hashes consisting
119of those are allowed (no objects). When Storable is used, then anything 356of those are allowed (no objects). When Storable is used, then anything
120that Storable can serialise and deserialise is allowed, and for the local 357that Storable can serialise and deserialise is allowed, and for the local
121node, anything can be passed. 358node, anything can be passed. Best rely only on the common denominator of
359these.
122 360
123=item $local_port = create_port 361=item $local_port = port
124 362
125Create a new local port object. See the next section for allowed methods. 363Create a new local port object and returns its port ID. Initially it has
364no callbacks set and will throw an error when it receives messages.
126 365
127=cut 366=item $local_port = port { my @msg = @_ }
128 367
129sub create_port { 368Creates a new local port, and returns its ID. Semantically the same as
130 my $id = "$AnyEvent::MP::Base::UNIQ." . ++$AnyEvent::MP::Base::ID; 369creating a port and calling C<rcv $port, $callback> on it.
131 370
132 my $self = bless { 371The block will be called for every message received on the port, with the
133 id => "$NODE#$id", 372global variable C<$SELF> set to the port ID. Runtime errors will cause the
134 names => [$id], 373port to be C<kil>ed. The message will be passed as-is, no extra argument
135 }, "AnyEvent::MP::Port"; 374(i.e. no port ID) will be passed to the callback.
136 375
137 $AnyEvent::MP::Base::PORT{$id} = sub { 376If you want to stop/destroy the port, simply C<kil> it:
138 unshift @_, $self;
139 377
140 for (@{ $self->{rc0}{$_[1]} }) { 378 my $port = port {
141 $_ && &{$_->[0]} 379 my @msg = @_;
142 && undef $_; 380 ...
381 kil $SELF;
382 };
383
384=cut
385
386sub rcv($@);
387
388sub _kilme {
389 die "received message on port without callback";
390}
391
392sub port(;&) {
393 my $id = "$UNIQ." . ++$ID;
394 my $port = "$NODE#$id";
395
396 rcv $port, shift || \&_kilme;
397
398 $port
399}
400
401=item rcv $local_port, $callback->(@msg)
402
403Replaces the default callback on the specified port. There is no way to
404remove the default callback: use C<sub { }> to disable it, or better
405C<kil> the port when it is no longer needed.
406
407The global C<$SELF> (exported by this module) contains C<$port> while
408executing the callback. Runtime errors during callback execution will
409result in the port being C<kil>ed.
410
411The default callback received all messages not matched by a more specific
412C<tag> match.
413
414=item rcv $local_port, tag => $callback->(@msg_without_tag), ...
415
416Register (or replace) callbacks to be called on messages starting with the
417given tag on the given port (and return the port), or unregister it (when
418C<$callback> is C<$undef> or missing). There can only be one callback
419registered for each tag.
420
421The original message will be passed to the callback, after the first
422element (the tag) has been removed. The callback will use the same
423environment as the default callback (see above).
424
425Example: create a port and bind receivers on it in one go.
426
427 my $port = rcv port,
428 msg1 => sub { ... },
429 msg2 => sub { ... },
430 ;
431
432Example: create a port, bind receivers and send it in a message elsewhere
433in one go:
434
435 snd $otherport, reply =>
436 rcv port,
437 msg1 => sub { ... },
438 ...
439 ;
440
441Example: temporarily register a rcv callback for a tag matching some port
442(e.g. for an rpc reply) and unregister it after a message was received.
443
444 rcv $port, $otherport => sub {
445 my @reply = @_;
446
447 rcv $SELF, $otherport;
448 };
449
450=cut
451
452sub rcv($@) {
453 my $port = shift;
454 my ($nodeid, $portid) = split /#/, $port, 2;
455
456 $NODE{$nodeid} == $NODE{""}
457 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on local ports, caught";
458
459 while (@_) {
460 if (ref $_[0]) {
461 if (my $self = $PORT_DATA{$portid}) {
462 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
463 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
464
465 $self->[0] = shift;
466 } else {
467 my $cb = shift;
468 $PORT{$portid} = sub {
469 local $SELF = $port;
470 eval { &$cb }; _self_die if $@;
471 };
472 }
473 } elsif (defined $_[0]) {
474 my $self = $PORT_DATA{$portid} ||= do {
475 my $self = bless [$PORT{$portid} || sub { }, { }, $port], "AnyEvent::MP::Port";
476
477 $PORT{$portid} = sub {
478 local $SELF = $port;
479
480 if (my $cb = $self->[1]{$_[0]}) {
481 shift;
482 eval { &$cb }; _self_die if $@;
483 } else {
484 &{ $self->[0] };
485 }
486 };
487
488 $self
489 };
490
491 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
492 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
493
494 my ($tag, $cb) = splice @_, 0, 2;
495
496 if (defined $cb) {
497 $self->[1]{$tag} = $cb;
498 } else {
499 delete $self->[1]{$tag};
500 }
143 } 501 }
502 }
144 503
145 for (@{ $self->{rcv}{$_[1]} }) { 504 $port
146 $_ && [@_[1 .. @{$_->[1]}]] ~~ $_->[1] 505}
147 && &{$_->[0]} 506
148 && undef $_; 507=item peval $port, $coderef[, @args]
508
509Evaluates the given C<$codref> within the contetx of C<$port>, that is,
510when the code throews an exception the C<$port> will be killed.
511
512Any remaining args will be passed to the callback. Any return values will
513be returned to the caller.
514
515This is useful when you temporarily want to execute code in the context of
516a port.
517
518Example: create a port and run some initialisation code in it's context.
519
520 my $port = port { ... };
521
522 peval $port, sub {
523 init
524 or die "unable to init";
525 };
526
527=cut
528
529sub peval($$) {
530 local $SELF = shift;
531 my $cb = shift;
532
533 if (wantarray) {
534 my @res = eval { &$cb };
535 _self_die if $@;
536 @res
537 } else {
538 my $res = eval { &$cb };
539 _self_die if $@;
540 $res
541 }
542}
543
544=item $closure = psub { BLOCK }
545
546Remembers C<$SELF> and creates a closure out of the BLOCK. When the
547closure is executed, sets up the environment in the same way as in C<rcv>
548callbacks, i.e. runtime errors will cause the port to get C<kil>ed.
549
550The effect is basically as if it returned C<< sub { peval $SELF, sub {
551BLOCK }, @_ } >>.
552
553This is useful when you register callbacks from C<rcv> callbacks:
554
555 rcv delayed_reply => sub {
556 my ($delay, @reply) = @_;
557 my $timer = AE::timer $delay, 0, psub {
558 snd @reply, $SELF;
559 };
560 };
561
562=cut
563
564sub psub(&) {
565 my $cb = shift;
566
567 my $port = $SELF
568 or Carp::croak "psub can only be called from within rcv or psub callbacks, not";
569
570 sub {
571 local $SELF = $port;
572
573 if (wantarray) {
574 my @res = eval { &$cb };
575 _self_die if $@;
576 @res
577 } else {
578 my $res = eval { &$cb };
579 _self_die if $@;
580 $res
149 } 581 }
582 }
583}
150 584
151 for (@{ $self->{any} }) { 585=item $guard = mon $port, $cb->(@reason) # call $cb when $port dies
152 $_ && [@_[0 .. $#{$_->[1]}]] ~~ $_->[1] 586
153 && &{$_->[0]} 587=item $guard = mon $port, $rcvport # kill $rcvport when $port dies
154 && undef $_; 588
589=item $guard = mon $port # kill $SELF when $port dies
590
591=item $guard = mon $port, $rcvport, @msg # send a message when $port dies
592
593Monitor the given port and do something when the port is killed or
594messages to it were lost, and optionally return a guard that can be used
595to stop monitoring again.
596
597In the first form (callback), the callback is simply called with any
598number of C<@reason> elements (no @reason means that the port was deleted
599"normally"). Note also that I<< the callback B<must> never die >>, so use
600C<eval> if unsure.
601
602In the second form (another port given), the other port (C<$rcvport>)
603will be C<kil>'ed with C<@reason>, if a @reason was specified, i.e. on
604"normal" kils nothing happens, while under all other conditions, the other
605port is killed with the same reason.
606
607The third form (kill self) is the same as the second form, except that
608C<$rvport> defaults to C<$SELF>.
609
610In the last form (message), a message of the form C<@msg, @reason> will be
611C<snd>.
612
613Monitoring-actions are one-shot: once messages are lost (and a monitoring
614alert was raised), they are removed and will not trigger again.
615
616As a rule of thumb, monitoring requests should always monitor a port from
617a local port (or callback). The reason is that kill messages might get
618lost, just like any other message. Another less obvious reason is that
619even monitoring requests can get lost (for example, when the connection
620to the other node goes down permanently). When monitoring a port locally
621these problems do not exist.
622
623C<mon> effectively guarantees that, in the absence of hardware failures,
624after starting the monitor, either all messages sent to the port will
625arrive, or the monitoring action will be invoked after possible message
626loss has been detected. No messages will be lost "in between" (after
627the first lost message no further messages will be received by the
628port). After the monitoring action was invoked, further messages might get
629delivered again.
630
631Inter-host-connection timeouts and monitoring depend on the transport
632used. The only transport currently implemented is TCP, and AnyEvent::MP
633relies on TCP to detect node-downs (this can take 10-15 minutes on a
634non-idle connection, and usually around two hours for idle connections).
635
636This means that monitoring is good for program errors and cleaning up
637stuff eventually, but they are no replacement for a timeout when you need
638to ensure some maximum latency.
639
640Example: call a given callback when C<$port> is killed.
641
642 mon $port, sub { warn "port died because of <@_>\n" };
643
644Example: kill ourselves when C<$port> is killed abnormally.
645
646 mon $port;
647
648Example: send us a restart message when another C<$port> is killed.
649
650 mon $port, $self => "restart";
651
652=cut
653
654sub mon {
655 my ($nodeid, $port) = split /#/, shift, 2;
656
657 my $node = $NODE{$nodeid} || add_node $nodeid;
658
659 my $cb = @_ ? shift : $SELF || Carp::croak 'mon: called with one argument only, but $SELF not set,';
660
661 unless (ref $cb) {
662 if (@_) {
663 # send a kill info message
664 my (@msg) = ($cb, @_);
665 $cb = sub { snd @msg, @_ };
666 } else {
667 # simply kill other port
668 my $port = $cb;
669 $cb = sub { kil $port, @_ if @_ };
155 } 670 }
671 }
672
673 $node->monitor ($port, $cb);
674
675 defined wantarray
676 and ($cb += 0, AnyEvent::Util::guard { $node->unmonitor ($port, $cb) })
677}
678
679=item $guard = mon_guard $port, $ref, $ref...
680
681Monitors the given C<$port> and keeps the passed references. When the port
682is killed, the references will be freed.
683
684Optionally returns a guard that will stop the monitoring.
685
686This function is useful when you create e.g. timers or other watchers and
687want to free them when the port gets killed (note the use of C<psub>):
688
689 $port->rcv (start => sub {
690 my $timer; $timer = mon_guard $port, AE::timer 1, 1, psub {
691 undef $timer if 0.9 < rand;
692 });
693 });
694
695=cut
696
697sub mon_guard {
698 my ($port, @refs) = @_;
699
700 #TODO: mon-less form?
701
702 mon $port, sub { 0 && @refs }
703}
704
705=item kil $port[, @reason]
706
707Kill the specified port with the given C<@reason>.
708
709If no C<@reason> is specified, then the port is killed "normally" -
710monitor callback will be invoked, but the kil will not cause linked ports
711(C<mon $mport, $lport> form) to get killed.
712
713If a C<@reason> is specified, then linked ports (C<mon $mport, $lport>
714form) get killed with the same reason.
715
716Runtime errors while evaluating C<rcv> callbacks or inside C<psub> blocks
717will be reported as reason C<< die => $@ >>.
718
719Transport/communication errors are reported as C<< transport_error =>
720$message >>.
721
722=cut
723
724=item $port = spawn $node, $initfunc[, @initdata]
725
726Creates a port on the node C<$node> (which can also be a port ID, in which
727case it's the node where that port resides).
728
729The port ID of the newly created port is returned immediately, and it is
730possible to immediately start sending messages or to monitor the port.
731
732After the port has been created, the init function is called on the remote
733node, in the same context as a C<rcv> callback. This function must be a
734fully-qualified function name (e.g. C<MyApp::Chat::Server::init>). To
735specify a function in the main program, use C<::name>.
736
737If the function doesn't exist, then the node tries to C<require>
738the package, then the package above the package and so on (e.g.
739C<MyApp::Chat::Server>, C<MyApp::Chat>, C<MyApp>) until the function
740exists or it runs out of package names.
741
742The init function is then called with the newly-created port as context
743object (C<$SELF>) and the C<@initdata> values as arguments. It I<must>
744call one of the C<rcv> functions to set callbacks on C<$SELF>, otherwise
745the port might not get created.
746
747A common idiom is to pass a local port, immediately monitor the spawned
748port, and in the remote init function, immediately monitor the passed
749local port. This two-way monitoring ensures that both ports get cleaned up
750when there is a problem.
751
752C<spawn> guarantees that the C<$initfunc> has no visible effects on the
753caller before C<spawn> returns (by delaying invocation when spawn is
754called for the local node).
755
756Example: spawn a chat server port on C<$othernode>.
757
758 # this node, executed from within a port context:
759 my $server = spawn $othernode, "MyApp::Chat::Server::connect", $SELF;
760 mon $server;
761
762 # init function on C<$othernode>
763 sub connect {
764 my ($srcport) = @_;
765
766 mon $srcport;
767
768 rcv $SELF, sub {
769 ...
770 };
771 }
772
773=cut
774
775sub _spawn {
776 my $port = shift;
777 my $init = shift;
778
779 # rcv will create the actual port
780 local $SELF = "$NODE#$port";
781 eval {
782 &{ load_func $init }
156 }; 783 };
157 784 _self_die if $@;
158 $self
159} 785}
160 786
161=item $portid = create_miniport { } 787sub spawn(@) {
788 my ($nodeid, undef) = split /#/, shift, 2;
162 789
163Creates a "mini port", that is, a port without much #TODO 790 my $id = "$RUNIQ." . ++$ID;
164 791
165=cut 792 $_[0] =~ /::/
793 or Carp::croak "spawn init function must be a fully-qualified name, caught";
166 794
167sub create_miniport(&) { 795 snd_to_func $nodeid, "AnyEvent::MP::_spawn" => $id, @_;
168 my $cb = shift;
169 my $id = "$AnyEvent::MP::Base::UNIQ." . ++$AnyEvent::MP::Base::ID;
170 796
171 $AnyEvent::MP::Base::PORT{$id} = sub { 797 "$nodeid#$id"
172# unshift @_, "$NODE#$id"; 798}
173 &$cb 799
174 and delete $AnyEvent::MP::Base::PORT{$id}; 800
801=item after $timeout, @msg
802
803=item after $timeout, $callback
804
805Either sends the given message, or call the given callback, after the
806specified number of seconds.
807
808This is simply a utility function that comes in handy at times - the
809AnyEvent::MP author is not convinced of the wisdom of having it, though,
810so it may go away in the future.
811
812=cut
813
814sub after($@) {
815 my ($timeout, @action) = @_;
816
817 my $t; $t = AE::timer $timeout, 0, sub {
818 undef $t;
819 ref $action[0]
820 ? $action[0]()
821 : snd @action;
175 }; 822 };
176
177 "$NODE#$id"
178} 823}
179 824
180package AnyEvent::MP::Port; 825=item cal $port, @msg, $callback[, $timeout]
826
827A simple form of RPC - sends a message to the given C<$port> with the
828given contents (C<@msg>), but adds a reply port to the message.
829
830The reply port is created temporarily just for the purpose of receiving
831the reply, and will be C<kil>ed when no longer needed.
832
833A reply message sent to the port is passed to the C<$callback> as-is.
834
835If an optional time-out (in seconds) is given and it is not C<undef>,
836then the callback will be called without any arguments after the time-out
837elapsed and the port is C<kil>ed.
838
839If no time-out is given (or it is C<undef>), then the local port will
840monitor the remote port instead, so it eventually gets cleaned-up.
841
842Currently this function returns the temporary port, but this "feature"
843might go in future versions unless you can make a convincing case that
844this is indeed useful for something.
845
846=cut
847
848sub cal(@) {
849 my $timeout = ref $_[-1] ? undef : pop;
850 my $cb = pop;
851
852 my $port = port {
853 undef $timeout;
854 kil $SELF;
855 &$cb;
856 };
857
858 if (defined $timeout) {
859 $timeout = AE::timer $timeout, 0, sub {
860 undef $timeout;
861 kil $port;
862 $cb->();
863 };
864 } else {
865 mon $_[0], sub {
866 kil $port;
867 $cb->();
868 };
869 }
870
871 push @_, $port;
872 &snd;
873
874 $port
875}
181 876
182=back 877=back
183 878
184=head1 METHODS FOR PORT OBJECTS 879=head1 AnyEvent::MP vs. Distributed Erlang
880
881AnyEvent::MP got lots of its ideas from distributed Erlang (Erlang node
882== aemp node, Erlang process == aemp port), so many of the documents and
883programming techniques employed by Erlang apply to AnyEvent::MP. Here is a
884sample:
885
886 http://www.erlang.se/doc/programming_rules.shtml
887 http://erlang.org/doc/getting_started/part_frame.html # chapters 3 and 4
888 http://erlang.org/download/erlang-book-part1.pdf # chapters 5 and 6
889 http://erlang.org/download/armstrong_thesis_2003.pdf # chapters 4 and 5
890
891Despite the similarities, there are also some important differences:
185 892
186=over 4 893=over 4
187 894
188=item "$port" 895=item * Node IDs are arbitrary strings in AEMP.
189 896
190A port object stringifies to its port ID, so can be used directly for 897Erlang relies on special naming and DNS to work everywhere in the same
191C<snd> operations. 898way. AEMP relies on each node somehow knowing its own address(es) (e.g. by
899configuration or DNS), and possibly the addresses of some seed nodes, but
900will otherwise discover other nodes (and their IDs) itself.
192 901
193=cut 902=item * Erlang has a "remote ports are like local ports" philosophy, AEMP
903uses "local ports are like remote ports".
194 904
195use overload 905The failure modes for local ports are quite different (runtime errors
196 '""' => sub { $_[0]{id} }, 906only) then for remote ports - when a local port dies, you I<know> it dies,
197 fallback => 1; 907when a connection to another node dies, you know nothing about the other
908port.
198 909
199=item $port->rcv (type => $callback->($port, @msg)) 910Erlang pretends remote ports are as reliable as local ports, even when
911they are not.
200 912
201=item $port->rcv ($smartmatch => $callback->($port, @msg)) 913AEMP encourages a "treat remote ports differently" philosophy, with local
914ports being the special case/exception, where transport errors cannot
915occur.
202 916
203=item $port->rcv ([$smartmatch...] => $callback->($port, @msg)) 917=item * Erlang uses processes and a mailbox, AEMP does not queue.
204 918
205Register a callback on the given port. 919Erlang uses processes that selectively receive messages out of order, and
920therefore needs a queue. AEMP is event based, queuing messages would serve
921no useful purpose. For the same reason the pattern-matching abilities
922of AnyEvent::MP are more limited, as there is little need to be able to
923filter messages without dequeuing them.
206 924
207The callback has to return a true value when its work is done, after 925This is not a philosophical difference, but simply stems from AnyEvent::MP
208which is will be removed, or a false value in which case it will stay 926being event-based, while Erlang is process-based.
209registered.
210 927
211If the match is an array reference, then it will be matched against the 928You cna have a look at L<Coro::MP> for a more Erlang-like process model on
212first elements of the message, otherwise only the first element is being 929top of AEMP and Coro threads.
213matched.
214 930
215Any element in the match that is specified as C<_any_> (a function 931=item * Erlang sends are synchronous, AEMP sends are asynchronous.
216exported by this module) matches any single element of the message.
217 932
218While not required, it is highly recommended that the first matching 933Sending messages in Erlang is synchronous and blocks the process until
219element is a string identifying the message. The one-string-only match is 934a conenction has been established and the message sent (and so does not
220also the most efficient match (by far). 935need a queue that can overflow). AEMP sends return immediately, connection
936establishment is handled in the background.
221 937
222=cut 938=item * Erlang suffers from silent message loss, AEMP does not.
223 939
224sub rcv($@) { 940Erlang implements few guarantees on messages delivery - messages can get
225 my ($self, $match, $cb) = @_; 941lost without any of the processes realising it (i.e. you send messages a,
942b, and c, and the other side only receives messages a and c).
226 943
227 if (!ref $match) { 944AEMP guarantees (modulo hardware errors) correct ordering, and the
228 push @{ $self->{rc0}{$match} }, [$cb]; 945guarantee that after one message is lost, all following ones sent to the
229 } elsif (("ARRAY" eq ref $match && !ref $match->[0])) { 946same port are lost as well, until monitoring raises an error, so there are
230 my ($type, @match) = @$match; 947no silent "holes" in the message sequence.
231 @match
232 ? push @{ $self->{rcv}{$match->[0]} }, [$cb, \@match]
233 : push @{ $self->{rc0}{$match->[0]} }, [$cb];
234 } else {
235 push @{ $self->{any} }, [$cb, $match];
236 }
237}
238 948
239=item $port->register ($name) 949If you want your software to be very reliable, you have to cope with
950corrupted and even out-of-order messages in both Erlang and AEMP. AEMP
951simply tries to work better in common error cases, such as when a network
952link goes down.
240 953
241Registers the given port under the well known name C<$name>. If the name 954=item * Erlang can send messages to the wrong port, AEMP does not.
242already exists it is replaced.
243 955
244A port can only be registered under one well known name. 956In Erlang it is quite likely that a node that restarts reuses an Erlang
957process ID known to other nodes for a completely different process,
958causing messages destined for that process to end up in an unrelated
959process.
245 960
246=cut 961AEMP does not reuse port IDs, so old messages or old port IDs floating
962around in the network will not be sent to an unrelated port.
247 963
248sub register { 964=item * Erlang uses unprotected connections, AEMP uses secure
249 my ($self, $name) = @_; 965authentication and can use TLS.
250 966
251 $self->{wkname} = $name; 967AEMP can use a proven protocol - TLS - to protect connections and
252 $AnyEvent::MP::Base::WKP{$name} = "$self"; 968securely authenticate nodes.
253}
254 969
255=item $port->destroy 970=item * The AEMP protocol is optimised for both text-based and binary
971communications.
256 972
257Explicitly destroy/remove/nuke/vaporise the port. 973The AEMP protocol, unlike the Erlang protocol, supports both programming
974language independent text-only protocols (good for debugging), and binary,
975language-specific serialisers (e.g. Storable). By default, unless TLS is
976used, the protocol is actually completely text-based.
258 977
259Ports are normally kept alive by there mere existance alone, and need to 978It has also been carefully designed to be implementable in other languages
260be destroyed explicitly. 979with a minimum of work while gracefully degrading functionality to make the
980protocol simple.
261 981
262=cut 982=item * AEMP has more flexible monitoring options than Erlang.
263 983
264sub destroy { 984In Erlang, you can chose to receive I<all> exit signals as messages or
265 my ($self) = @_; 985I<none>, there is no in-between, so monitoring single Erlang processes is
986difficult to implement.
266 987
267 delete $AnyEvent::MP::Base::WKP{ $self->{wkname} }; 988Monitoring in AEMP is more flexible than in Erlang, as one can choose
989between automatic kill, exit message or callback on a per-port basis.
268 990
269 delete $AnyEvent::MP::Base::PORT{$_} 991=item * Erlang tries to hide remote/local connections, AEMP does not.
270 for @{ $self->{names} }; 992
271} 993Monitoring in Erlang is not an indicator of process death/crashes, in the
994same way as linking is (except linking is unreliable in Erlang).
995
996In AEMP, you don't "look up" registered port names or send to named ports
997that might or might not be persistent. Instead, you normally spawn a port
998on the remote node. The init function monitors you, and you monitor the
999remote port. Since both monitors are local to the node, they are much more
1000reliable (no need for C<spawn_link>).
1001
1002This also saves round-trips and avoids sending messages to the wrong port
1003(hard to do in Erlang).
272 1004
273=back 1005=back
274 1006
275=head1 FUNCTIONS FOR NODES 1007=head1 RATIONALE
276 1008
277=over 4 1009=over 4
278 1010
279=item mon $noderef, $callback->($noderef, $status, $) 1011=item Why strings for port and node IDs, why not objects?
280 1012
281Monitors the given noderef. 1013We considered "objects", but found that the actual number of methods
1014that can be called are quite low. Since port and node IDs travel over
1015the network frequently, the serialising/deserialising would add lots of
1016overhead, as well as having to keep a proxy object everywhere.
282 1017
283=item become_public endpoint... 1018Strings can easily be printed, easily serialised etc. and need no special
1019procedures to be "valid".
284 1020
285Tells the node to become a public node, i.e. reachable from other nodes. 1021And as a result, a port with just a default receiver consists of a single
1022code reference stored in a global hash - it can't become much cheaper.
286 1023
287If no arguments are given, or the first argument is C<undef>, then 1024=item Why favour JSON, why not a real serialising format such as Storable?
288AnyEvent::MP tries to bind on port C<4040> on all IP addresses that the
289local nodename resolves to.
290 1025
291Otherwise the first argument must be an array-reference with transport 1026In fact, any AnyEvent::MP node will happily accept Storable as framing
292endpoints ("ip:port", "hostname:port") or port numbers (in which case the 1027format, but currently there is no way to make a node use Storable by
293local nodename is used as hostname). The endpoints are all resolved and 1028default (although all nodes will accept it).
294will become the node reference.
295 1029
296=cut 1030The default framing protocol is JSON because a) JSON::XS is many times
1031faster for small messages and b) most importantly, after years of
1032experience we found that object serialisation is causing more problems
1033than it solves: Just like function calls, objects simply do not travel
1034easily over the network, mostly because they will always be a copy, so you
1035always have to re-think your design.
1036
1037Keeping your messages simple, concentrating on data structures rather than
1038objects, will keep your messages clean, tidy and efficient.
297 1039
298=back 1040=back
299 1041
300=head1 NODE MESSAGES
301
302Nodes understand the following messages sent to them. Many of them take
303arguments called C<@reply>, which will simply be used to compose a reply
304message - C<$reply[0]> is the port to reply to, C<$reply[1]> the type and
305the remaining arguments are simply the message data.
306
307=over 4
308
309=cut
310
311=item wkp => $name, @reply
312
313Replies with the port ID of the specified well-known port, or C<undef>.
314
315=item devnull => ...
316
317Generic data sink/CPU heat conversion.
318
319=item relay => $port, @msg
320
321Simply forwards the message to the given port.
322
323=item eval => $string[ @reply]
324
325Evaluates the given string. If C<@reply> is given, then a message of the
326form C<@reply, $@, @evalres> is sent.
327
328Example: crash another node.
329
330 snd $othernode, eval => "exit";
331
332=item time => @reply
333
334Replies the the current node time to C<@reply>.
335
336Example: tell the current node to send the current time to C<$myport> in a
337C<timereply> message.
338
339 snd $NODE, time => $myport, timereply => 1, 2;
340 # => snd $myport, timereply => 1, 2, <time>
341
342=back
343
344=head1 SEE ALSO 1042=head1 SEE ALSO
1043
1044L<AnyEvent::MP::Intro> - a gentle introduction.
1045
1046L<AnyEvent::MP::Kernel> - more, lower-level, stuff.
1047
1048L<AnyEvent::MP::Global> - network maintenance and port groups, to find
1049your applications.
1050
1051L<AnyEvent::MP::DataConn> - establish data connections between nodes.
1052
1053L<AnyEvent::MP::LogCatcher> - simple service to display log messages from
1054all nodes.
345 1055
346L<AnyEvent>. 1056L<AnyEvent>.
347 1057
348=head1 AUTHOR 1058=head1 AUTHOR
349 1059

Diff Legend

Removed lines
+ Added lines
< Changed lines
> Changed lines