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Revision 1.64 by root, Fri Aug 28 00:58:44 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44 AnyEvent::MP::Intro - outdated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
249=item $local_port = port
250
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
123=item $guard = mon $portid, $cb->() 433=item $guard = mon $port, $cb->(@reason)
124 434
125Monitor the given port and call the given callback when the port is 435=item $guard = mon $port, $rcvport
126destroyed or connection to it's node is lost.
127 436
128#TODO 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, $self => "restart";
129 490
130=cut 491=cut
131 492
132sub mon { 493sub mon {
133 my ($noderef, $port) = split /#/, shift, 2; 494 my ($noderef, $port) = split /#/, shift, 2;
134 495
135 my $node = AnyEvent::MP::Base::add_node $noderef; 496 my $node = $NODE{$noderef} || add_node $noderef;
136 497
137 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 }
138 511
139 $node->monitor ($port, $cb); 512 $node->monitor ($port, $cb);
140 513
141 defined wantarray 514 defined wantarray
142 and AnyEvent::Util::guard { $node->unmonitor ($port, $cb) } 515 and AnyEvent::Util::guard { $node->unmonitor ($port, $cb) }
143} 516}
144 517
145=item $local_port = create_port 518=item $guard = mon_guard $port, $ref, $ref...
146 519
147Create a new local port object. See the next section for allowed methods. 520Monitors the given C<$port> and keeps the passed references. When the port
521is killed, the references will be freed.
148 522
149=cut 523Optionally returns a guard that will stop the monitoring.
150 524
151sub create_port { 525This function is useful when you create e.g. timers or other watchers and
152 my $id = "$AnyEvent::MP::Base::UNIQ." . $AnyEvent::MP::Base::ID++; 526want to free them when the port gets killed:
153 527
154 my $self = bless { 528 $port->rcv (start => sub {
155 id => "$NODE#$id", 529 my $timer; $timer = mon_guard $port, AE::timer 1, 1, sub {
156 names => [$id], 530 undef $timer if 0.9 < rand;
157 }, "AnyEvent::MP::Port"; 531 });
532 });
158 533
159 $AnyEvent::MP::Base::PORT{$id} = sub { 534=cut
160 unshift @_, $self;
161 535
162 for (@{ $self->{rc0}{$_[1]} }) { 536sub mon_guard {
163 $_ && &{$_->[0]} 537 my ($port, @refs) = @_;
164 && 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 ...
165 } 601 };
602 }
166 603
167 for (@{ $self->{rcv}{$_[1]} }) { 604=cut
168 $_ && [@_[1 .. @{$_->[1]}]] ~~ $_->[1]
169 && &{$_->[0]}
170 && undef $_;
171 }
172 605
173 for (@{ $self->{any} }) { 606sub _spawn {
174 $_ && [@_[0 .. $#{$_->[1]}]] ~~ $_->[1] 607 my $port = shift;
175 && &{$_->[0]} 608 my $init = shift;
176 && undef $_; 609
177 } 610 local $SELF = "$NODE#$port";
611 eval {
612 &{ load_func $init }
178 }; 613 };
179 614 _self_die if $@;
180 $self
181} 615}
182 616
183=item $portid = miniport { my @msg = @_; $finished } 617sub spawn(@) {
618 my ($noderef, undef) = split /#/, shift, 2;
184 619
185Creates a "mini port", that is, a very lightweight port without any 620 my $id = "$RUNIQ." . $ID++;
186pattern matching behind it, and returns its ID.
187 621
188The block will be called for every message received on the port. When the 622 $_[0] =~ /::/
189callback 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";
190will be destroyed. Otherwise it will stay alive.
191 624
192The message will be passed as-is, no extra argument (i.e. no port id) will 625 snd_to_func $noderef, "AnyEvent::MP::_spawn" => $id, @_;
193be passed to the callback.
194 626
195If you need the local port id in the callback, this works nicely: 627 "$noderef#$id"
628}
196 629
197 my $port; $port = miniport { 630=item after $timeout, @msg
198 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;
199 }; 649 };
200
201=cut
202
203sub miniport(&) {
204 my $cb = shift;
205 my $id = "$AnyEvent::MP::Base::UNIQ." . $AnyEvent::MP::Base::ID++;
206
207 $AnyEvent::MP::Base::PORT{$id} = sub {
208 &$cb
209 and del $id;
210 };
211
212 "$NODE#$id"
213} 650}
214
215package AnyEvent::MP::Port;
216 651
217=back 652=back
218 653
219=head1 METHODS FOR PORT OBJECTS 654=head1 AnyEvent::MP vs. Distributed Erlang
655
656AnyEvent::MP got lots of its ideas from distributed Erlang (Erlang node
657== aemp node, Erlang process == aemp port), so many of the documents and
658programming techniques employed by Erlang apply to AnyEvent::MP. Here is a
659sample:
660
661 http://www.Erlang.se/doc/programming_rules.shtml
662 http://Erlang.org/doc/getting_started/part_frame.html # chapters 3 and 4
663 http://Erlang.org/download/Erlang-book-part1.pdf # chapters 5 and 6
664 http://Erlang.org/download/armstrong_thesis_2003.pdf # chapters 4 and 5
665
666Despite the similarities, there are also some important differences:
220 667
221=over 4 668=over 4
222 669
223=item "$port" 670=item * Node references contain the recipe on how to contact them.
224 671
225A 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
226C<snd> operations. 673same way. AEMP relies on each node knowing it's own address(es), with
674convenience functionality.
227 675
228=cut 676This means that AEMP requires a less tightly controlled environment at the
677cost of longer node references and a slightly higher management overhead.
229 678
230use overload 679=item * Erlang has a "remote ports are like local ports" philosophy, AEMP
231 '""' => sub { $_[0]{id} }, 680uses "local ports are like remote ports".
232 fallback => 1;
233 681
234sub TO_JSON { $_[0]{id} } 682The failure modes for local ports are quite different (runtime errors
683only) then for remote ports - when a local port dies, you I<know> it dies,
684when a connection to another node dies, you know nothing about the other
685port.
235 686
236=item $port->rcv (type => $callback->($port, @msg)) 687Erlang pretends remote ports are as reliable as local ports, even when
688they are not.
237 689
238=item $port->rcv ($smartmatch => $callback->($port, @msg)) 690AEMP encourages a "treat remote ports differently" philosophy, with local
691ports being the special case/exception, where transport errors cannot
692occur.
239 693
240=item $port->rcv ([$smartmatch...] => $callback->($port, @msg)) 694=item * Erlang uses processes and a mailbox, AEMP does not queue.
241 695
242Register a callback on the given port. 696Erlang uses processes that selectively receive messages, and therefore
697needs a queue. AEMP is event based, queuing messages would serve no
698useful purpose. For the same reason the pattern-matching abilities of
699AnyEvent::MP are more limited, as there is little need to be able to
700filter messages without dequeing them.
243 701
244The callback has to return a true value when its work is done, after 702(But see L<Coro::MP> for a more Erlang-like process model on top of AEMP).
245which is will be removed, or a false value in which case it will stay
246registered.
247 703
248If the match is an array reference, then it will be matched against the 704=item * Erlang sends are synchronous, AEMP sends are asynchronous.
249first elements of the message, otherwise only the first element is being
250matched.
251 705
252Any element in the match that is specified as C<_any_> (a function 706Sending messages in Erlang is synchronous and blocks the process (and
253exported by this module) matches any single element of the message. 707so does not need a queue that can overflow). AEMP sends are immediate,
708connection establishment is handled in the background.
254 709
255While not required, it is highly recommended that the first matching 710=item * Erlang suffers from silent message loss, AEMP does not.
256element is a string identifying the message. The one-string-only match is
257also the most efficient match (by far).
258 711
259=cut 712Erlang makes few guarantees on messages delivery - messages can get lost
713without any of the processes realising it (i.e. you send messages a, b,
714and c, and the other side only receives messages a and c).
260 715
261sub rcv($@) { 716AEMP guarantees correct ordering, and the guarantee that there are no
262 my ($self, $match, $cb) = @_; 717holes in the message sequence.
263 718
264 if (!ref $match) { 719=item * In Erlang, processes can be declared dead and later be found to be
265 push @{ $self->{rc0}{$match} }, [$cb]; 720alive.
266 } elsif (("ARRAY" eq ref $match && !ref $match->[0])) {
267 my ($type, @match) = @$match;
268 @match
269 ? push @{ $self->{rcv}{$match->[0]} }, [$cb, \@match]
270 : push @{ $self->{rc0}{$match->[0]} }, [$cb];
271 } else {
272 push @{ $self->{any} }, [$cb, $match];
273 }
274}
275 721
276=item $port->register ($name) 722In Erlang it can happen that a monitored process is declared dead and
723linked processes get killed, but later it turns out that the process is
724still alive - and can receive messages.
277 725
278Registers the given port under the well known name C<$name>. If the name 726In AEMP, when port monitoring detects a port as dead, then that port will
279already exists it is replaced. 727eventually be killed - it cannot happen that a node detects a port as dead
728and then later sends messages to it, finding it is still alive.
280 729
281A port can only be registered under one well known name. 730=item * Erlang can send messages to the wrong port, AEMP does not.
282 731
283=cut 732In Erlang it is quite likely that a node that restarts reuses a process ID
733known to other nodes for a completely different process, causing messages
734destined for that process to end up in an unrelated process.
284 735
285sub register { 736AEMP never reuses port IDs, so old messages or old port IDs floating
286 my ($self, $name) = @_; 737around in the network will not be sent to an unrelated port.
287 738
288 $self->{wkname} = $name; 739=item * Erlang uses unprotected connections, AEMP uses secure
289 $AnyEvent::MP::Base::WKP{$name} = "$self"; 740authentication and can use TLS.
290}
291 741
292=item $port->destroy 742AEMP can use a proven protocol - SSL/TLS - to protect connections and
743securely authenticate nodes.
293 744
294Explicitly destroy/remove/nuke/vaporise the port. 745=item * The AEMP protocol is optimised for both text-based and binary
746communications.
295 747
296Ports are normally kept alive by there mere existance alone, and need to 748The AEMP protocol, unlike the Erlang protocol, supports both
297be destroyed explicitly. 749language-independent text-only protocols (good for debugging) and binary,
750language-specific serialisers (e.g. Storable).
298 751
299=cut 752It has also been carefully designed to be implementable in other languages
753with a minimum of work while gracefully degrading fucntionality to make the
754protocol simple.
300 755
301sub destroy { 756=item * AEMP has more flexible monitoring options than Erlang.
302 my ($self) = @_;
303 757
304 AnyEvent::MP::Base::del $self->{id}; 758In Erlang, you can chose to receive I<all> exit signals as messages
759or I<none>, there is no in-between, so monitoring single processes is
760difficult to implement. Monitoring in AEMP is more flexible than in
761Erlang, as one can choose between automatic kill, exit message or callback
762on a per-process basis.
305 763
306 delete $AnyEvent::MP::Base::WKP{ $self->{wkname} }; 764=item * Erlang tries to hide remote/local connections, AEMP does not.
307 765
308 delete $AnyEvent::MP::Base::PORT{$_} 766Monitoring in Erlang is not an indicator of process death/crashes,
309 for @{ $self->{names} }; 767as linking is (except linking is unreliable in Erlang).
310} 768
769In AEMP, you don't "look up" registered port names or send to named ports
770that might or might not be persistent. Instead, you normally spawn a port
771on the remote node. The init function monitors the you, and you monitor
772the remote port. Since both monitors are local to the node, they are much
773more reliable.
774
775This also saves round-trips and avoids sending messages to the wrong port
776(hard to do in Erlang).
311 777
312=back 778=back
313 779
314=head1 FUNCTIONS FOR NODES 780=head1 RATIONALE
315 781
316=over 4 782=over 4
317 783
318=item mon $noderef, $callback->($noderef, $status, $) 784=item Why strings for ports and noderefs, why not objects?
319 785
320Monitors the given noderef. 786We considered "objects", but found that the actual number of methods
787thatc an be called are very low. Since port IDs and noderefs travel over
788the network frequently, the serialising/deserialising would add lots of
789overhead, as well as having to keep a proxy object.
321 790
322=item become_public endpoint... 791Strings can easily be printed, easily serialised etc. and need no special
792procedures to be "valid".
323 793
324Tells the node to become a public node, i.e. reachable from other nodes. 794And a a miniport consists of a single closure stored in a global hash - it
795can't become much cheaper.
325 796
326If no arguments are given, or the first argument is C<undef>, then 797=item Why favour JSON, why not real serialising format such as Storable?
327AnyEvent::MP tries to bind on port C<4040> on all IP addresses that the
328local nodename resolves to.
329 798
330Otherwise the first argument must be an array-reference with transport 799In fact, any AnyEvent::MP node will happily accept Storable as framing
331endpoints ("ip:port", "hostname:port") or port numbers (in which case the 800format, but currently there is no way to make a node use Storable by
332local nodename is used as hostname). The endpoints are all resolved and 801default.
333will become the node reference.
334 802
335=cut 803The default framing protocol is JSON because a) JSON::XS is many times
804faster for small messages and b) most importantly, after years of
805experience we found that object serialisation is causing more problems
806than it gains: Just like function calls, objects simply do not travel
807easily over the network, mostly because they will always be a copy, so you
808always have to re-think your design.
336 809
337=back 810Keeping your messages simple, concentrating on data structures rather than
338 811objects, will keep your messages clean, tidy and efficient.
339=head1 NODE MESSAGES
340
341Nodes understand the following messages sent to them. Many of them take
342arguments called C<@reply>, which will simply be used to compose a reply
343message - C<$reply[0]> is the port to reply to, C<$reply[1]> the type and
344the remaining arguments are simply the message data.
345
346=over 4
347
348=cut
349
350=item wkp => $name, @reply
351
352Replies with the port ID of the specified well-known port, or C<undef>.
353
354=item devnull => ...
355
356Generic data sink/CPU heat conversion.
357
358=item relay => $port, @msg
359
360Simply forwards the message to the given port.
361
362=item eval => $string[ @reply]
363
364Evaluates the given string. If C<@reply> is given, then a message of the
365form C<@reply, $@, @evalres> is sent.
366
367Example: crash another node.
368
369 snd $othernode, eval => "exit";
370
371=item time => @reply
372
373Replies the the current node time to C<@reply>.
374
375Example: tell the current node to send the current time to C<$myport> in a
376C<timereply> message.
377
378 snd $NODE, time => $myport, timereply => 1, 2;
379 # => snd $myport, timereply => 1, 2, <time>
380 812
381=back 813=back
382 814
383=head1 SEE ALSO 815=head1 SEE ALSO
384 816

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