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Revision 1.66 by root, Fri Aug 28 01:07:24 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44 AnyEvent::MP::Intro - outdated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 - WIP
46 AnyEvent::MP::Transport - mostly stable
47
48 stay tuned.
24 49
25=head1 DESCRIPTION 50=head1 DESCRIPTION
26 51
27This module (-family) implements a simple message passing framework. 52This module (-family) implements a simple message passing framework.
28 53
29Despite its simplicity, you can securely message other processes running 54Despite its simplicity, you can securely message other processes running
30on the same or other hosts. 55on the same or other hosts.
31 56
57For an introduction to this module family, see the L<AnyEvent::MP::Intro>
58manual page.
59
32At the moment, this module family is severly brokena nd underdocumented, 60At the moment, this module family is severly broken and underdocumented,
33so do not use. This was uploaded mainly to resreve the CPAN namespace - 61so do not use. This was uploaded mainly to reserve the CPAN namespace -
34stay tuned! 62stay 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<noderef#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 noderef, 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). An
80exception is the the node port, whose ID is identical to its node
81reference.
50 82
51=item node 83=item node
52 84
53A node is a single process containing at least one port - the node 85A 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, 86which provides nodes to manage each other remotely, and to create new
55among other things. 87ports.
56 88
57Initially, nodes are either private (single-process only) or hidden 89Nodes are either private (single-process only), slaves (can only talk to
58(connected to a master node only). Only when they epxlicitly "become 90public nodes, but do not need an open port) or public nodes (connectable
59public" can you send them messages from unrelated other nodes. 91from any other node).
60 92
61=item noderef - C<host:port,host:port...>, C<id@noderef>, C<id> 93=item node ID - C<[a-za-Z0-9_\-.:]+>
62 94
63A noderef is a string that either uniquely identifies a given node (for 95A 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 96network. Depending on the configuration used, node IDs can look like a
65node (for public nodes). 97hostname, a hostname and a port, or a random string. AnyEvent::MP itself
98doesn't interpret node IDs in any way.
99
100=item binds - C<ip:port>
101
102Nodes can only talk to each other by creating some kind of connection to
103each other. To do this, nodes should listen on one or more local transport
104endpoints - binds. Currently, only standard C<ip:port> specifications can
105be used, which specify TCP ports to listen on.
106
107=item seeds - C<host:port>
108
109When a node starts, it knows nothing about the network. To teach the node
110about the network it first has to contact some other node within the
111network. This node is called a seed.
112
113Seeds are transport endpoint(s) of as many nodes as one wants. Those nodes
114are expected to be long-running, and at least one of those should always
115be available. When nodes run out of connections (e.g. due to a network
116error), they try to re-establish connections to some seednodes again to
117join the network.
66 118
67=back 119=back
68 120
69=head1 VARIABLES/FUNCTIONS 121=head1 VARIABLES/FUNCTIONS
70 122
72 124
73=cut 125=cut
74 126
75package AnyEvent::MP; 127package AnyEvent::MP;
76 128
77use AnyEvent::MP::Base; 129use AnyEvent::MP::Kernel;
78 130
79use common::sense; 131use common::sense;
80 132
81use Carp (); 133use Carp ();
82 134
83use AE (); 135use AE ();
84 136
85use base "Exporter"; 137use base "Exporter";
86 138
87our $VERSION = '0.02'; 139our $VERSION = $AnyEvent::MP::Kernel::VERSION;
140
88our @EXPORT = qw( 141our @EXPORT = qw(
89 NODE $NODE $PORT snd rcv mon del _any_ 142 NODE $NODE *SELF node_of after
90 create_port create_port_on 143 resolve_node initialise_node
91 create_miniport 144 snd rcv mon mon_guard kil reg psub spawn
92 become_slave become_public 145 port
93); 146);
94 147
148our $SELF;
149
150sub _self_die() {
151 my $msg = $@;
152 $msg =~ s/\n+$// unless ref $msg;
153 kil $SELF, die => $msg;
154}
155
95=item NODE / $NODE 156=item $thisnode = NODE / $NODE
96 157
97The C<NODE ()> function and the C<$NODE> variable contain the noderef of 158The 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 159ID of the node running in the current process. This value is initialised by
99C<become_slave>, after which all local port identifiers become invalid. 160a call to C<initialise_node>.
100 161
162=item $nodeid = node_of $port
163
164Extracts and returns the node ID part from a port ID or a node ID.
165
166=item initialise_node $profile_name
167
168Before a node can talk to other nodes on the network (i.e. enter
169"distributed mode") it has to initialise itself - the minimum a node needs
170to know is its own name, and optionally it should know the addresses of
171some other nodes in the network to discover other nodes.
172
173This function initialises a node - it must be called exactly once (or
174never) before calling other AnyEvent::MP functions.
175
176The first argument is a profile name. If it is C<undef> or missing, then
177the current nodename will be used instead (i.e. F<uname -n>).
178
179The function then looks up the profile in the aemp configuration (see the
180L<aemp> commandline utility).
181
182If the profile specifies a node ID, then this will become the node ID of
183this process. If not, then the profile name will be used as node ID. The
184special node ID of C<anon/> will be replaced by a random node ID.
185
186The next step is to look up the binds in the profile, followed by binding
187aemp protocol listeners on all binds specified (it is possible and valid
188to have no binds, meaning that the node cannot be contacted form the
189outside. This means the node cannot talk to other nodes that also have no
190binds, but it can still talk to all "normal" nodes).
191
192If the profile does not specify a binds list, then the node ID will be
193treated as if it were of the form C<host:port>, which will be resolved and
194used as binds list.
195
196Lastly, the seeds list from the profile is passed to the
197L<AnyEvent::MP::Global> module, which will then use it to keep
198connectivity with at least on of those seed nodes at any point in time.
199
200Example: become a distributed node listening on the guessed noderef, or
201the one specified via C<aemp> for the current node. This should be the
202most common form of invocation for "daemon"-type nodes.
203
204 initialise_node;
205
206Example: become an anonymous node. This form is often used for commandline
207clients.
208
209 initialise_node "anon/";
210
211Example: become a distributed node. If there is no profile of the given
212name, or no binds list was specified, resolve C<localhost:4044> and bind
213on the resulting addresses.
214
215 initialise_node "localhost:4044";
216
217=item $SELF
218
219Contains the current port id while executing C<rcv> callbacks or C<psub>
220blocks.
221
222=item SELF, %SELF, @SELF...
223
224Due to some quirks in how perl exports variables, it is impossible to
225just export C<$SELF>, all the symbols called C<SELF> are exported by this
226module, but only C<$SELF> is currently used.
227
101=item snd $portid, type => @data 228=item snd $port, type => @data
102 229
103=item snd $portid, @msg 230=item snd $port, @msg
104 231
105Send the given message to the given port ID, which can identify either 232Send the given message to the given port ID, which can identify either
106a local or a remote port, and can be either a string or soemthignt hat 233a local or a remote port, and must be a port ID.
107stringifies a sa port ID (such as a port object :).
108 234
109While the message can be about anything, it is highly recommended to use a 235While the message can be about anything, it is highly recommended to use a
110string as first element (a portid, or some word that indicates a request 236string as first element (a port ID, or some word that indicates a request
111type etc.). 237type etc.).
112 238
113The message data effectively becomes read-only after a call to this 239The message data effectively becomes read-only after a call to this
114function: modifying any argument is not allowed and can cause many 240function: modifying any argument is not allowed and can cause many
115problems. 241problems.
118JSON is used, then only strings, numbers and arrays and hashes consisting 244JSON is used, then only strings, numbers and arrays and hashes consisting
119of those are allowed (no objects). When Storable is used, then anything 245of those are allowed (no objects). When Storable is used, then anything
120that Storable can serialise and deserialise is allowed, and for the local 246that Storable can serialise and deserialise is allowed, and for the local
121node, anything can be passed. 247node, anything can be passed.
122 248
123=item mon $portid, sub { } 249=item $local_port = port
124 250
125#TODO monitor the given port 251Create a new local port object and returns its port ID. Initially it has
252no callbacks set and will throw an error when it receives messages.
253
254=item $local_port = port { my @msg = @_ }
255
256Creates a new local port, and returns its ID. Semantically the same as
257creating a port and calling C<rcv $port, $callback> on it.
258
259The block will be called for every message received on the port, with the
260global variable C<$SELF> set to the port ID. Runtime errors will cause the
261port to be C<kil>ed. The message will be passed as-is, no extra argument
262(i.e. no port ID) will be passed to the callback.
263
264If you want to stop/destroy the port, simply C<kil> it:
265
266 my $port = port {
267 my @msg = @_;
268 ...
269 kil $SELF;
270 };
271
272=cut
273
274sub rcv($@);
275
276sub _kilme {
277 die "received message on port without callback";
278}
279
280sub port(;&) {
281 my $id = "$UNIQ." . $ID++;
282 my $port = "$NODE#$id";
283
284 rcv $port, shift || \&_kilme;
285
286 $port
287}
288
289=item rcv $local_port, $callback->(@msg)
290
291Replaces the default callback on the specified port. There is no way to
292remove the default callback: use C<sub { }> to disable it, or better
293C<kil> the port when it is no longer needed.
294
295The global C<$SELF> (exported by this module) contains C<$port> while
296executing the callback. Runtime errors during callback execution will
297result in the port being C<kil>ed.
298
299The default callback received all messages not matched by a more specific
300C<tag> match.
301
302=item rcv $local_port, tag => $callback->(@msg_without_tag), ...
303
304Register (or replace) callbacks to be called on messages starting with the
305given tag on the given port (and return the port), or unregister it (when
306C<$callback> is C<$undef> or missing). There can only be one callback
307registered for each tag.
308
309The original message will be passed to the callback, after the first
310element (the tag) has been removed. The callback will use the same
311environment as the default callback (see above).
312
313Example: create a port and bind receivers on it in one go.
314
315 my $port = rcv port,
316 msg1 => sub { ... },
317 msg2 => sub { ... },
318 ;
319
320Example: create a port, bind receivers and send it in a message elsewhere
321in one go:
322
323 snd $otherport, reply =>
324 rcv port,
325 msg1 => sub { ... },
326 ...
327 ;
328
329Example: temporarily register a rcv callback for a tag matching some port
330(e.g. for a rpc reply) and unregister it after a message was received.
331
332 rcv $port, $otherport => sub {
333 my @reply = @_;
334
335 rcv $SELF, $otherport;
336 };
337
338=cut
339
340sub rcv($@) {
341 my $port = shift;
342 my ($noderef, $portid) = split /#/, $port, 2;
343
344 $NODE{$noderef} == $NODE{""}
345 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on local ports, caught";
346
347 while (@_) {
348 if (ref $_[0]) {
349 if (my $self = $PORT_DATA{$portid}) {
350 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
351 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
352
353 $self->[2] = shift;
354 } else {
355 my $cb = shift;
356 $PORT{$portid} = sub {
357 local $SELF = $port;
358 eval { &$cb }; _self_die if $@;
359 };
360 }
361 } elsif (defined $_[0]) {
362 my $self = $PORT_DATA{$portid} ||= do {
363 my $self = bless [$PORT{$port} || sub { }, { }, $port], "AnyEvent::MP::Port";
364
365 $PORT{$portid} = sub {
366 local $SELF = $port;
367
368 if (my $cb = $self->[1]{$_[0]}) {
369 shift;
370 eval { &$cb }; _self_die if $@;
371 } else {
372 &{ $self->[0] };
373 }
374 };
375
376 $self
377 };
378
379 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
380 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
381
382 my ($tag, $cb) = splice @_, 0, 2;
383
384 if (defined $cb) {
385 $self->[1]{$tag} = $cb;
386 } else {
387 delete $self->[1]{$tag};
388 }
389 }
390 }
391
392 $port
393}
394
395=item $closure = psub { BLOCK }
396
397Remembers C<$SELF> and creates a closure out of the BLOCK. When the
398closure is executed, sets up the environment in the same way as in C<rcv>
399callbacks, i.e. runtime errors will cause the port to get C<kil>ed.
400
401This is useful when you register callbacks from C<rcv> callbacks:
402
403 rcv delayed_reply => sub {
404 my ($delay, @reply) = @_;
405 my $timer = AE::timer $delay, 0, psub {
406 snd @reply, $SELF;
407 };
408 };
409
410=cut
411
412sub psub(&) {
413 my $cb = shift;
414
415 my $port = $SELF
416 or Carp::croak "psub can only be called from within rcv or psub callbacks, not";
417
418 sub {
419 local $SELF = $port;
420
421 if (wantarray) {
422 my @res = eval { &$cb };
423 _self_die if $@;
424 @res
425 } else {
426 my $res = eval { &$cb };
427 _self_die if $@;
428 $res
429 }
430 }
431}
432
433=item $guard = mon $port, $cb->(@reason)
434
435=item $guard = mon $port, $rcvport
436
437=item $guard = mon $port
438
439=item $guard = mon $port, $rcvport, @msg
440
441Monitor the given port and do something when the port is killed or
442messages to it were lost, and optionally return a guard that can be used
443to stop monitoring again.
444
445C<mon> effectively guarantees that, in the absence of hardware failures,
446that after starting the monitor, either all messages sent to the port
447will arrive, or the monitoring action will be invoked after possible
448message loss has been detected. No messages will be lost "in between"
449(after the first lost message no further messages will be received by the
450port). After the monitoring action was invoked, further messages might get
451delivered again.
452
453Note that monitoring-actions are one-shot: once released, they are removed
454and will not trigger again.
455
456In the first form (callback), the callback is simply called with any
457number of C<@reason> elements (no @reason means that the port was deleted
458"normally"). Note also that I<< the callback B<must> never die >>, so use
459C<eval> if unsure.
460
461In the second form (another port given), the other port (C<$rcvport>)
462will be C<kil>'ed with C<@reason>, iff a @reason was specified, i.e. on
463"normal" kils nothing happens, while under all other conditions, the other
464port is killed with the same reason.
465
466The third form (kill self) is the same as the second form, except that
467C<$rvport> defaults to C<$SELF>.
468
469In the last form (message), a message of the form C<@msg, @reason> will be
470C<snd>.
471
472As a rule of thumb, monitoring requests should always monitor a port from
473a local port (or callback). The reason is that kill messages might get
474lost, just like any other message. Another less obvious reason is that
475even monitoring requests can get lost (for exmaple, when the connection
476to the other node goes down permanently). When monitoring a port locally
477these problems do not exist.
478
479Example: call a given callback when C<$port> is killed.
480
481 mon $port, sub { warn "port died because of <@_>\n" };
482
483Example: kill ourselves when C<$port> is killed abnormally.
484
485 mon $port;
486
487Example: send us a restart message when another C<$port> is killed.
488
489 mon $port, $self => "restart";
126 490
127=cut 491=cut
128 492
129sub mon { 493sub mon {
130 my ($noderef, $port) = split /#/, shift, 2; 494 my ($noderef, $port) = split /#/, shift, 2;
131 495
132 my $node = AnyEvent::MP::Base::add_node $noderef; 496 my $node = $NODE{$noderef} || add_node $noderef;
133 497
134 my $cb = shift; 498 my $cb = @_ ? shift : $SELF || Carp::croak 'mon: called with one argument only, but $SELF not set,';
499
500 unless (ref $cb) {
501 if (@_) {
502 # send a kill info message
503 my (@msg) = ($cb, @_);
504 $cb = sub { snd @msg, @_ };
505 } else {
506 # simply kill other port
507 my $port = $cb;
508 $cb = sub { kil $port, @_ if @_ };
509 }
510 }
135 511
136 $node->monitor ($port, $cb); 512 $node->monitor ($port, $cb);
137 513
138 defined wantarray 514 defined wantarray
139 and AnyEvent::Util::guard { $node->unmonitor ($port, $cb) } 515 and AnyEvent::Util::guard { $node->unmonitor ($port, $cb) }
140} 516}
141 517
142=item $local_port = create_port 518=item $guard = mon_guard $port, $ref, $ref...
143 519
144Create a new local port object. See the next section for allowed methods. 520Monitors the given C<$port> and keeps the passed references. When the port
521is killed, the references will be freed.
145 522
146=cut 523Optionally returns a guard that will stop the monitoring.
147 524
148sub create_port { 525This function is useful when you create e.g. timers or other watchers and
149 my $id = "$AnyEvent::MP::Base::UNIQ." . $AnyEvent::MP::Base::ID++; 526want to free them when the port gets killed:
150 527
151 my $self = bless { 528 $port->rcv (start => sub {
152 id => "$NODE#$id", 529 my $timer; $timer = mon_guard $port, AE::timer 1, 1, sub {
153 names => [$id], 530 undef $timer if 0.9 < rand;
154 }, "AnyEvent::MP::Port"; 531 });
532 });
155 533
156 $AnyEvent::MP::Base::PORT{$id} = sub { 534=cut
157 unshift @_, $self;
158 535
159 for (@{ $self->{rc0}{$_[1]} }) { 536sub mon_guard {
160 $_ && &{$_->[0]} 537 my ($port, @refs) = @_;
161 && undef $_; 538
539 #TODO: mon-less form?
540
541 mon $port, sub { 0 && @refs }
542}
543
544=item kil $port[, @reason]
545
546Kill the specified port with the given C<@reason>.
547
548If no C<@reason> is specified, then the port is killed "normally" (linked
549ports will not be kileld, or even notified).
550
551Otherwise, linked ports get killed with the same reason (second form of
552C<mon>, see below).
553
554Runtime errors while evaluating C<rcv> callbacks or inside C<psub> blocks
555will be reported as reason C<< die => $@ >>.
556
557Transport/communication errors are reported as C<< transport_error =>
558$message >>.
559
560=cut
561
562=item $port = spawn $node, $initfunc[, @initdata]
563
564Creates a port on the node C<$node> (which can also be a port ID, in which
565case it's the node where that port resides).
566
567The port ID of the newly created port is return immediately, and it is
568permissible to immediately start sending messages or monitor the port.
569
570After the port has been created, the init function is
571called. This function must be a fully-qualified function name
572(e.g. C<MyApp::Chat::Server::init>). To specify a function in the main
573program, use C<::name>.
574
575If the function doesn't exist, then the node tries to C<require>
576the package, then the package above the package and so on (e.g.
577C<MyApp::Chat::Server>, C<MyApp::Chat>, C<MyApp>) until the function
578exists or it runs out of package names.
579
580The init function is then called with the newly-created port as context
581object (C<$SELF>) and the C<@initdata> values as arguments.
582
583A common idiom is to pass your own port, monitor the spawned port, and
584in the init function, monitor the original port. This two-way monitoring
585ensures that both ports get cleaned up when there is a problem.
586
587Example: spawn a chat server port on C<$othernode>.
588
589 # this node, executed from within a port context:
590 my $server = spawn $othernode, "MyApp::Chat::Server::connect", $SELF;
591 mon $server;
592
593 # init function on C<$othernode>
594 sub connect {
595 my ($srcport) = @_;
596
597 mon $srcport;
598
599 rcv $SELF, sub {
600 ...
162 } 601 };
602 }
163 603
164 for (@{ $self->{rcv}{$_[1]} }) { 604=cut
165 $_ && [@_[1 .. @{$_->[1]}]] ~~ $_->[1]
166 && &{$_->[0]}
167 && undef $_;
168 }
169 605
170 for (@{ $self->{any} }) { 606sub _spawn {
171 $_ && [@_[0 .. $#{$_->[1]}]] ~~ $_->[1] 607 my $port = shift;
172 && &{$_->[0]} 608 my $init = shift;
173 && undef $_; 609
174 } 610 local $SELF = "$NODE#$port";
611 eval {
612 &{ load_func $init }
175 }; 613 };
176 614 _self_die if $@;
177 $self
178} 615}
179 616
180=item $portid = miniport { my @msg = @_; $finished } 617sub spawn(@) {
618 my ($noderef, undef) = split /#/, shift, 2;
181 619
182Creates a "mini port", that is, a very lightweight port without any 620 my $id = "$RUNIQ." . $ID++;
183pattern matching behind it, and returns its ID.
184 621
185The block will be called for every message received on the port. When the 622 $_[0] =~ /::/
186callback returns a true value its job is considered "done" and the port 623 or Carp::croak "spawn init function must be a fully-qualified name, caught";
187will be destroyed. Otherwise it will stay alive.
188 624
189The message will be passed as-is, no extra argument (i.e. no port id) will 625 snd_to_func $noderef, "AnyEvent::MP::_spawn" => $id, @_;
190be passed to the callback.
191 626
192If you need the local port id in the callback, this works nicely: 627 "$noderef#$id"
628}
193 629
194 my $port; $port = miniport { 630=item after $timeout, @msg
195 snd $otherport, reply => $port; 631
632=item after $timeout, $callback
633
634Either sends the given message, or call the given callback, after the
635specified number of seconds.
636
637This is simply a utility function that come sin handy at times.
638
639=cut
640
641sub after($@) {
642 my ($timeout, @action) = @_;
643
644 my $t; $t = AE::timer $timeout, 0, sub {
645 undef $t;
646 ref $action[0]
647 ? $action[0]()
648 : snd @action;
196 }; 649 };
197
198=cut
199
200sub miniport(&) {
201 my $cb = shift;
202 my $id = "$AnyEvent::MP::Base::UNIQ." . $AnyEvent::MP::Base::ID++;
203
204 $AnyEvent::MP::Base::PORT{$id} = sub {
205 &$cb
206 and delete $AnyEvent::MP::Base::PORT{$id};
207 };
208
209 "$NODE#$id"
210} 650}
211
212package AnyEvent::MP::Port;
213 651
214=back 652=back
215 653
216=head1 METHODS FOR PORT OBJECTS 654=head1 AnyEvent::MP vs. Distributed Erlang
655
656AnyEvent::MP got lots of its ideas from distributed Erlang (Erlang node
657== aemp node, Erlang process == aemp port), so many of the documents and
658programming techniques employed by Erlang apply to AnyEvent::MP. Here is a
659sample:
660
661 http://www.Erlang.se/doc/programming_rules.shtml
662 http://Erlang.org/doc/getting_started/part_frame.html # chapters 3 and 4
663 http://Erlang.org/download/Erlang-book-part1.pdf # chapters 5 and 6
664 http://Erlang.org/download/armstrong_thesis_2003.pdf # chapters 4 and 5
665
666Despite the similarities, there are also some important differences:
217 667
218=over 4 668=over 4
219 669
220=item "$port" 670=item * Node IDs are arbitrary strings in AEMP.
221 671
222A port object stringifies to its port ID, so can be used directly for 672Erlang relies on special naming and DNS to work everywhere in the same
223C<snd> operations. 673way. AEMP relies on each node somehow knowing its own address(es) (e.g. by
674configuraiton or DNS), but will otherwise discover other odes itself.
224 675
225=cut 676=item * Erlang has a "remote ports are like local ports" philosophy, AEMP
677uses "local ports are like remote ports".
226 678
227use overload 679The failure modes for local ports are quite different (runtime errors
228 '""' => sub { $_[0]{id} }, 680only) then for remote ports - when a local port dies, you I<know> it dies,
229 fallback => 1; 681when a connection to another node dies, you know nothing about the other
682port.
230 683
231sub TO_JSON { $_[0]{id} } 684Erlang pretends remote ports are as reliable as local ports, even when
685they are not.
232 686
233=item $port->rcv (type => $callback->($port, @msg)) 687AEMP encourages a "treat remote ports differently" philosophy, with local
688ports being the special case/exception, where transport errors cannot
689occur.
234 690
235=item $port->rcv ($smartmatch => $callback->($port, @msg)) 691=item * Erlang uses processes and a mailbox, AEMP does not queue.
236 692
237=item $port->rcv ([$smartmatch...] => $callback->($port, @msg)) 693Erlang uses processes that selectively receive messages, and therefore
694needs a queue. AEMP is event based, queuing messages would serve no
695useful purpose. For the same reason the pattern-matching abilities of
696AnyEvent::MP are more limited, as there is little need to be able to
697filter messages without dequeing them.
238 698
239Register a callback on the given port. 699(But see L<Coro::MP> for a more Erlang-like process model on top of AEMP).
240 700
241The callback has to return a true value when its work is done, after 701=item * Erlang sends are synchronous, AEMP sends are asynchronous.
242which is will be removed, or a false value in which case it will stay
243registered.
244 702
245If the match is an array reference, then it will be matched against the 703Sending messages in Erlang is synchronous and blocks the process (and
246first elements of the message, otherwise only the first element is being 704so does not need a queue that can overflow). AEMP sends are immediate,
247matched. 705connection establishment is handled in the background.
248 706
249Any element in the match that is specified as C<_any_> (a function 707=item * Erlang suffers from silent message loss, AEMP does not.
250exported by this module) matches any single element of the message.
251 708
252While not required, it is highly recommended that the first matching 709Erlang makes few guarantees on messages delivery - messages can get lost
253element is a string identifying the message. The one-string-only match is 710without any of the processes realising it (i.e. you send messages a, b,
254also the most efficient match (by far). 711and c, and the other side only receives messages a and c).
255 712
256=cut 713AEMP guarantees correct ordering, and the guarantee that after one message
714is lost, all following ones sent to the same port are lost as well, until
715monitoring raises an error, so there are no silent "holes" in the message
716sequence.
257 717
258sub rcv($@) { 718=item * Erlang can send messages to the wrong port, AEMP does not.
259 my ($self, $match, $cb) = @_;
260 719
261 if (!ref $match) { 720In Erlang it is quite likely that a node that restarts reuses a process ID
262 push @{ $self->{rc0}{$match} }, [$cb]; 721known to other nodes for a completely different process, causing messages
263 } elsif (("ARRAY" eq ref $match && !ref $match->[0])) { 722destined for that process to end up in an unrelated process.
264 my ($type, @match) = @$match;
265 @match
266 ? push @{ $self->{rcv}{$match->[0]} }, [$cb, \@match]
267 : push @{ $self->{rc0}{$match->[0]} }, [$cb];
268 } else {
269 push @{ $self->{any} }, [$cb, $match];
270 }
271}
272 723
273=item $port->register ($name) 724AEMP never reuses port IDs, so old messages or old port IDs floating
725around in the network will not be sent to an unrelated port.
274 726
275Registers the given port under the well known name C<$name>. If the name 727=item * Erlang uses unprotected connections, AEMP uses secure
276already exists it is replaced. 728authentication and can use TLS.
277 729
278A port can only be registered under one well known name. 730AEMP can use a proven protocol - TLS - to protect connections and
731securely authenticate nodes.
279 732
280=cut 733=item * The AEMP protocol is optimised for both text-based and binary
734communications.
281 735
282sub register { 736The AEMP protocol, unlike the Erlang protocol, supports both programming
283 my ($self, $name) = @_; 737language independent text-only protocols (good for debugging) and binary,
738language-specific serialisers (e.g. Storable).
284 739
285 $self->{wkname} = $name; 740It has also been carefully designed to be implementable in other languages
286 $AnyEvent::MP::Base::WKP{$name} = "$self"; 741with a minimum of work while gracefully degrading functionality to make the
287} 742protocol simple.
288 743
289=item $port->destroy 744=item * AEMP has more flexible monitoring options than Erlang.
290 745
291Explicitly destroy/remove/nuke/vaporise the port. 746In Erlang, you can chose to receive I<all> exit signals as messages
747or I<none>, there is no in-between, so monitoring single processes is
748difficult to implement. Monitoring in AEMP is more flexible than in
749Erlang, as one can choose between automatic kill, exit message or callback
750on a per-process basis.
292 751
293Ports are normally kept alive by there mere existance alone, and need to 752=item * Erlang tries to hide remote/local connections, AEMP does not.
294be destroyed explicitly.
295 753
296=cut 754Monitoring in Erlang is not an indicator of process death/crashes,
755as linking is (except linking is unreliable in Erlang).
297 756
298sub destroy { 757In AEMP, you don't "look up" registered port names or send to named ports
299 my ($self) = @_; 758that might or might not be persistent. Instead, you normally spawn a port
759on the remote node. The init function monitors the you, and you monitor
760the remote port. Since both monitors are local to the node, they are much
761more reliable.
300 762
301 AnyEvent::MP::Base::del $self->{id}; 763This also saves round-trips and avoids sending messages to the wrong port
302 764(hard to do in Erlang).
303 delete $AnyEvent::MP::Base::WKP{ $self->{wkname} };
304
305 delete $AnyEvent::MP::Base::PORT{$_}
306 for @{ $self->{names} };
307}
308 765
309=back 766=back
310 767
311=head1 FUNCTIONS FOR NODES 768=head1 RATIONALE
312 769
313=over 4 770=over 4
314 771
315=item mon $noderef, $callback->($noderef, $status, $) 772=item Why strings for ports and noderefs, why not objects?
316 773
317Monitors the given noderef. 774We considered "objects", but found that the actual number of methods
775thatc an be called are very low. Since port IDs and noderefs travel over
776the network frequently, the serialising/deserialising would add lots of
777overhead, as well as having to keep a proxy object.
318 778
319=item become_public endpoint... 779Strings can easily be printed, easily serialised etc. and need no special
780procedures to be "valid".
320 781
321Tells the node to become a public node, i.e. reachable from other nodes. 782And a a miniport consists of a single closure stored in a global hash - it
783can't become much cheaper.
322 784
323If no arguments are given, or the first argument is C<undef>, then 785=item Why favour JSON, why not real serialising format such as Storable?
324AnyEvent::MP tries to bind on port C<4040> on all IP addresses that the
325local nodename resolves to.
326 786
327Otherwise the first argument must be an array-reference with transport 787In fact, any AnyEvent::MP node will happily accept Storable as framing
328endpoints ("ip:port", "hostname:port") or port numbers (in which case the 788format, but currently there is no way to make a node use Storable by
329local nodename is used as hostname). The endpoints are all resolved and 789default.
330will become the node reference.
331 790
332=cut 791The default framing protocol is JSON because a) JSON::XS is many times
792faster for small messages and b) most importantly, after years of
793experience we found that object serialisation is causing more problems
794than it gains: Just like function calls, objects simply do not travel
795easily over the network, mostly because they will always be a copy, so you
796always have to re-think your design.
333 797
334=back 798Keeping your messages simple, concentrating on data structures rather than
335 799objects, will keep your messages clean, tidy and efficient.
336=head1 NODE MESSAGES
337
338Nodes understand the following messages sent to them. Many of them take
339arguments called C<@reply>, which will simply be used to compose a reply
340message - C<$reply[0]> is the port to reply to, C<$reply[1]> the type and
341the remaining arguments are simply the message data.
342
343=over 4
344
345=cut
346
347=item wkp => $name, @reply
348
349Replies with the port ID of the specified well-known port, or C<undef>.
350
351=item devnull => ...
352
353Generic data sink/CPU heat conversion.
354
355=item relay => $port, @msg
356
357Simply forwards the message to the given port.
358
359=item eval => $string[ @reply]
360
361Evaluates the given string. If C<@reply> is given, then a message of the
362form C<@reply, $@, @evalres> is sent.
363
364Example: crash another node.
365
366 snd $othernode, eval => "exit";
367
368=item time => @reply
369
370Replies the the current node time to C<@reply>.
371
372Example: tell the current node to send the current time to C<$myport> in a
373C<timereply> message.
374
375 snd $NODE, time => $myport, timereply => 1, 2;
376 # => snd $myport, timereply => 1, 2, <time>
377 800
378=back 801=back
379 802
380=head1 SEE ALSO 803=head1 SEE ALSO
381 804

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