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 1.22 by root, Tue Aug 4 18:33:30 2009 UTC vs.
Revision 1.68 by root, Fri Aug 28 23:06:33 2009 UTC

8 8
9 $NODE # contains this node's noderef 9 $NODE # contains this node's noderef
10 NODE # returns this node's noderef 10 NODE # returns this node's noderef
11 NODE $port # returns the noderef of the port 11 NODE $port # returns the noderef of the port
12 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
13 snd $port, type => data...; 21 snd $port, type => data...;
22 snd $port, @msg;
23 snd @msg_with_first_element_being_a_port;
14 24
15 $SELF # receiving/own port id in rcv callbacks 25 # creating/using ports, the simple way
26 my $simple_port = port { my @msg = @_; 0 };
16 27
17 rcv $port, smartmatch => $cb->($port, @msg); 28 # creating/using ports, tagged message matching
18 29 my $port = port;
19 # examples:
20 rcv $port2, ping => sub { snd $_[0], "pong"; 0 }; 30 rcv $port, ping => sub { snd $_[0], "pong"; 0 };
21 rcv $port1, pong => sub { warn "pong received\n" }; 31 rcv $port, pong => sub { warn "pong received\n"; 0 };
22 snd $port2, ping => $port1;
23 32
24 # more, smarter, matches (_any_ is exported by this module) 33 # create a port on another node
25 rcv $port, [child_died => $pid] => sub { ... 34 my $port = spawn $node, $initfunc, @initdata;
26 rcv $port, [_any_, _any_, 3] => sub { .. $_[2] is 3 35
36 # monitoring
37 mon $port, $cb->(@msg) # callback is invoked on death
38 mon $port, $otherport # kill otherport on abnormal death
39 mon $port, $otherport, @msg # send message on death
40
41=head1 CURRENT STATUS
42
43 AnyEvent::MP - stable API, should work
44 AnyEvent::MP::Intro - outdated
45 AnyEvent::MP::Kernel - mostly stable
46 AnyEvent::MP::Global - mostly stable
47 AnyEvent::MP::Node - mostly stable, but internal anyways
48 AnyEvent::MP::Transport - mostly stable, but internal anyways
49
50 stay tuned.
27 51
28=head1 DESCRIPTION 52=head1 DESCRIPTION
29 53
30This module (-family) implements a simple message passing framework. 54This module (-family) implements a simple message passing framework.
31 55
32Despite its simplicity, you can securely message other processes running 56Despite its simplicity, you can securely message other processes running
33on the same or other hosts. 57on the same or other hosts, and you can supervise entities remotely.
34 58
59For an introduction to this module family, see the L<AnyEvent::MP::Intro>
60manual page and the examples under F<eg/>.
61
35At the moment, this module family is severly brokena nd underdocumented, 62At the moment, this module family is a bit underdocumented.
36so do not use. This was uploaded mainly to reserve the CPAN namespace -
37stay tuned!
38 63
39=head1 CONCEPTS 64=head1 CONCEPTS
40 65
41=over 4 66=over 4
42 67
43=item port 68=item port
44 69
45A 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).
46you can register C<rcv> handlers with. All C<rcv> handlers will receive
47messages they match, messages will not be queued.
48 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
49=item port id - C<noderef#portname> 76=item port ID - C<nodeid#portname>
50 77
51A port id is always the noderef, a hash-mark (C<#>) as separator, followed 78A port ID is the concatenation of a node ID, a hash-mark (C<#>) as
52by a port name (a printable string of unspecified format). 79separator, and a port name (a printable string of unspecified format).
53 80
54=item node 81=item node
55 82
56A node is a single process containing at least one port - the node 83A node is a single process containing at least one port - the node port,
57port. You can send messages to node ports to let them create new ports, 84which enables nodes to manage each other remotely, and to create new
58among other things. 85ports.
59 86
60Initially, nodes are either private (single-process only) or hidden 87Nodes are either public (have one or more listening ports) or private
61(connected to a master node only). Only when they epxlicitly "become 88(no listening ports). Private nodes cannot talk to other private nodes
62public" can you send them messages from unrelated other nodes. 89currently.
63 90
64=item noderef - C<host:port,host:port...>, C<id@noderef>, C<id> 91=item node ID - C<[a-za-Z0-9_\-.:]+>
65 92
66A noderef is a string that either uniquely identifies a given node (for 93A node ID is a string that uniquely identifies the node within a
67private and hidden nodes), or contains a recipe on how to reach a given 94network. Depending on the configuration used, node IDs can look like a
68node (for public nodes). 95hostname, a hostname and a port, or a random string. AnyEvent::MP itself
96doesn't interpret node IDs in any way.
97
98=item binds - C<ip:port>
99
100Nodes can only talk to each other by creating some kind of connection to
101each other. To do this, nodes should listen on one or more local transport
102endpoints - binds. Currently, only standard C<ip:port> specifications can
103be used, which specify TCP ports to listen on.
104
105=item seeds - C<host:port>
106
107When a node starts, it knows nothing about the network. To teach the node
108about the network it first has to contact some other node within the
109network. This node is called a seed.
110
111Seeds are transport endpoint(s) of as many nodes as one wants. Those nodes
112are expected to be long-running, and at least one of those should always
113be available. When nodes run out of connections (e.g. due to a network
114error), they try to re-establish connections to some seednodes again to
115join the network.
116
117Apart from being sued for seeding, seednodes are not special in any way -
118every public node can be a seednode.
69 119
70=back 120=back
71 121
72=head1 VARIABLES/FUNCTIONS 122=head1 VARIABLES/FUNCTIONS
73 123
75 125
76=cut 126=cut
77 127
78package AnyEvent::MP; 128package AnyEvent::MP;
79 129
80use AnyEvent::MP::Base; 130use AnyEvent::MP::Kernel;
81 131
82use common::sense; 132use common::sense;
83 133
84use Carp (); 134use Carp ();
85 135
86use AE (); 136use AE ();
87 137
88use base "Exporter"; 138use base "Exporter";
89 139
90our $VERSION = '0.02'; 140our $VERSION = $AnyEvent::MP::Kernel::VERSION;
141
91our @EXPORT = qw( 142our @EXPORT = qw(
92 NODE $NODE *SELF node_of _any_ 143 NODE $NODE *SELF node_of after
93 become_slave become_public 144 initialise_node
94 snd rcv mon kil reg psub 145 snd rcv mon mon_guard kil reg psub spawn
95 port 146 port
96); 147);
97 148
98our $SELF; 149our $SELF;
99 150
103 kil $SELF, die => $msg; 154 kil $SELF, die => $msg;
104} 155}
105 156
106=item $thisnode = NODE / $NODE 157=item $thisnode = NODE / $NODE
107 158
108The C<NODE> function returns, and the C<$NODE> variable contains 159The C<NODE> function returns, and the C<$NODE> variable contains, the node
109the noderef of the local node. The value is initialised by a call 160ID of the node running in the current process. This value is initialised by
110to C<become_public> or C<become_slave>, after which all local port 161a call to C<initialise_node>.
111identifiers become invalid.
112 162
113=item $noderef = node_of $portid 163=item $nodeid = node_of $port
114 164
115Extracts and returns the noderef from a portid or a noderef. 165Extracts and returns the node ID from a port ID or a node ID.
166
167=item initialise_node $profile_name
168
169Before a node can talk to other nodes on the network (i.e. enter
170"distributed mode") it has to initialise itself - the minimum a node needs
171to know is its own name, and optionally it should know the addresses of
172some other nodes in the network to discover other nodes.
173
174This function initialises a node - it must be called exactly once (or
175never) before calling other AnyEvent::MP functions.
176
177The first argument is a profile name. If it is C<undef> or missing, then
178the current nodename will be used instead (i.e. F<uname -n>).
179
180The function then looks up the profile in the aemp configuration (see the
181L<aemp> commandline utility).
182
183If the profile specifies a node ID, then this will become the node ID of
184this process. If not, then the profile name will be used as node ID. The
185special node ID of C<anon/> will be replaced by a random node ID.
186
187The next step is to look up the binds in the profile, followed by binding
188aemp protocol listeners on all binds specified (it is possible and valid
189to have no binds, meaning that the node cannot be contacted form the
190outside. This means the node cannot talk to other nodes that also have no
191binds, but it can still talk to all "normal" nodes).
192
193If the profile does not specify a binds list, then the node ID will be
194treated as if it were of the form C<host:port>, which will be resolved and
195used as binds list.
196
197Lastly, the seeds list from the profile is passed to the
198L<AnyEvent::MP::Global> module, which will then use it to keep
199connectivity with at least on of those seed nodes at any point in time.
200
201Example: become a distributed node listening on the guessed noderef, or
202the one specified via C<aemp> for the current node. This should be the
203most common form of invocation for "daemon"-type nodes.
204
205 initialise_node;
206
207Example: become an anonymous node. This form is often used for commandline
208clients.
209
210 initialise_node "anon/";
211
212Example: become a distributed node. If there is no profile of the given
213name, or no binds list was specified, resolve C<localhost:4044> and bind
214on the resulting addresses.
215
216 initialise_node "localhost:4044";
116 217
117=item $SELF 218=item $SELF
118 219
119Contains the current port id while executing C<rcv> callbacks or C<psub> 220Contains the current port id while executing C<rcv> callbacks or C<psub>
120blocks. 221blocks.
121 222
122=item SELF, %SELF, @SELF... 223=item *SELF, SELF, %SELF, @SELF...
123 224
124Due to some quirks in how perl exports variables, it is impossible to 225Due to some quirks in how perl exports variables, it is impossible to
125just export C<$SELF>, all the symbols called C<SELF> are exported by this 226just export C<$SELF>, all the symbols named C<SELF> are exported by this
126module, but only C<$SELF> is currently used. 227module, but only C<$SELF> is currently used.
127 228
128=item snd $portid, type => @data 229=item snd $port, type => @data
129 230
130=item snd $portid, @msg 231=item snd $port, @msg
131 232
132Send the given message to the given port ID, which can identify either 233Send the given message to the given port, which can identify either a
133a local or a remote port, and can be either a string or soemthignt hat 234local or a remote port, and must be a port ID.
134stringifies a sa port ID (such as a port object :).
135 235
136While the message can be about anything, it is highly recommended to use a 236While the message can be almost anything, it is highly recommended to
137string as first element (a portid, or some word that indicates a request 237use a string as first element (a port ID, or some word that indicates a
138type etc.). 238request type etc.) and to consist if only simple perl values (scalars,
239arrays, hashes) - if you think you need to pass an object, think again.
139 240
140The message data effectively becomes read-only after a call to this 241The message data logically becomes read-only after a call to this
141function: modifying any argument is not allowed and can cause many 242function: modifying any argument (or values referenced by them) is
142problems. 243forbidden, as there can be considerable time between the call to C<snd>
244and the time the message is actually being serialised - in fact, it might
245never be copied as within the same process it is simply handed to the
246receiving port.
143 247
144The type of data you can transfer depends on the transport protocol: when 248The type of data you can transfer depends on the transport protocol: when
145JSON is used, then only strings, numbers and arrays and hashes consisting 249JSON is used, then only strings, numbers and arrays and hashes consisting
146of those are allowed (no objects). When Storable is used, then anything 250of those are allowed (no objects). When Storable is used, then anything
147that Storable can serialise and deserialise is allowed, and for the local 251that Storable can serialise and deserialise is allowed, and for the local
148node, anything can be passed. 252node, anything can be passed. Best rely only on the common denominator of
253these.
149 254
150=item kil $portid[, @reason] 255=item $local_port = port
151 256
152Kill the specified port with the given C<@reason>. 257Create a new local port object and returns its port ID. Initially it has
258no callbacks set and will throw an error when it receives messages.
153 259
154If no C<@reason> is specified, then the port is killed "normally" (linked 260=item $local_port = port { my @msg = @_ }
155ports will not be kileld, or even notified).
156 261
157Otherwise, linked ports get killed with the same reason (second form of 262Creates a new local port, and returns its ID. Semantically the same as
158C<mon>, see below). 263creating a port and calling C<rcv $port, $callback> on it.
159 264
160Runtime errors while evaluating C<rcv> callbacks or inside C<psub> blocks 265The block will be called for every message received on the port, with the
161will be reported as reason C<< die => $@ >>. 266global variable C<$SELF> set to the port ID. Runtime errors will cause the
267port to be C<kil>ed. The message will be passed as-is, no extra argument
268(i.e. no port ID) will be passed to the callback.
162 269
163Transport/communication errors are reported as C<< transport_error => 270If you want to stop/destroy the port, simply C<kil> it:
164$message >>.
165 271
166=item $guard = mon $portid, $cb->(@reason) 272 my $port = port {
273 my @msg = @_;
274 ...
275 kil $SELF;
276 };
167 277
168=item $guard = mon $portid, $otherport 278=cut
169 279
170=item $guard = mon $portid, $otherport, @msg 280sub rcv($@);
171 281
282sub _kilme {
283 die "received message on port without callback";
284}
285
286sub port(;&) {
287 my $id = "$UNIQ." . $ID++;
288 my $port = "$NODE#$id";
289
290 rcv $port, shift || \&_kilme;
291
292 $port
293}
294
295=item rcv $local_port, $callback->(@msg)
296
297Replaces the default callback on the specified port. There is no way to
298remove the default callback: use C<sub { }> to disable it, or better
299C<kil> the port when it is no longer needed.
300
301The global C<$SELF> (exported by this module) contains C<$port> while
302executing the callback. Runtime errors during callback execution will
303result in the port being C<kil>ed.
304
305The default callback received all messages not matched by a more specific
306C<tag> match.
307
308=item rcv $local_port, tag => $callback->(@msg_without_tag), ...
309
310Register (or replace) callbacks to be called on messages starting with the
311given tag on the given port (and return the port), or unregister it (when
312C<$callback> is C<$undef> or missing). There can only be one callback
313registered for each tag.
314
315The original message will be passed to the callback, after the first
316element (the tag) has been removed. The callback will use the same
317environment as the default callback (see above).
318
319Example: create a port and bind receivers on it in one go.
320
321 my $port = rcv port,
322 msg1 => sub { ... },
323 msg2 => sub { ... },
324 ;
325
326Example: create a port, bind receivers and send it in a message elsewhere
327in one go:
328
329 snd $otherport, reply =>
330 rcv port,
331 msg1 => sub { ... },
332 ...
333 ;
334
335Example: temporarily register a rcv callback for a tag matching some port
336(e.g. for a rpc reply) and unregister it after a message was received.
337
338 rcv $port, $otherport => sub {
339 my @reply = @_;
340
341 rcv $SELF, $otherport;
342 };
343
344=cut
345
346sub rcv($@) {
347 my $port = shift;
348 my ($noderef, $portid) = split /#/, $port, 2;
349
350 $NODE{$noderef} == $NODE{""}
351 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on local ports, caught";
352
353 while (@_) {
354 if (ref $_[0]) {
355 if (my $self = $PORT_DATA{$portid}) {
356 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
357 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
358
359 $self->[2] = shift;
360 } else {
361 my $cb = shift;
362 $PORT{$portid} = sub {
363 local $SELF = $port;
364 eval { &$cb }; _self_die if $@;
365 };
366 }
367 } elsif (defined $_[0]) {
368 my $self = $PORT_DATA{$portid} ||= do {
369 my $self = bless [$PORT{$port} || sub { }, { }, $port], "AnyEvent::MP::Port";
370
371 $PORT{$portid} = sub {
372 local $SELF = $port;
373
374 if (my $cb = $self->[1]{$_[0]}) {
375 shift;
376 eval { &$cb }; _self_die if $@;
377 } else {
378 &{ $self->[0] };
379 }
380 };
381
382 $self
383 };
384
385 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
386 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
387
388 my ($tag, $cb) = splice @_, 0, 2;
389
390 if (defined $cb) {
391 $self->[1]{$tag} = $cb;
392 } else {
393 delete $self->[1]{$tag};
394 }
395 }
396 }
397
398 $port
399}
400
401=item $closure = psub { BLOCK }
402
403Remembers C<$SELF> and creates a closure out of the BLOCK. When the
404closure is executed, sets up the environment in the same way as in C<rcv>
405callbacks, i.e. runtime errors will cause the port to get C<kil>ed.
406
407This is useful when you register callbacks from C<rcv> callbacks:
408
409 rcv delayed_reply => sub {
410 my ($delay, @reply) = @_;
411 my $timer = AE::timer $delay, 0, psub {
412 snd @reply, $SELF;
413 };
414 };
415
416=cut
417
418sub psub(&) {
419 my $cb = shift;
420
421 my $port = $SELF
422 or Carp::croak "psub can only be called from within rcv or psub callbacks, not";
423
424 sub {
425 local $SELF = $port;
426
427 if (wantarray) {
428 my @res = eval { &$cb };
429 _self_die if $@;
430 @res
431 } else {
432 my $res = eval { &$cb };
433 _self_die if $@;
434 $res
435 }
436 }
437}
438
439=item $guard = mon $port, $cb->(@reason) # call $cb when $port dies
440
441=item $guard = mon $port, $rcvport # kill $rcvport when $port dies
442
443=item $guard = mon $port # kill $SELF when $port dies
444
445=item $guard = mon $port, $rcvport, @msg # send a message when $port dies
446
172Monitor the given port and do something when the port is killed. 447Monitor the given port and do something when the port is killed or
448messages to it were lost, and optionally return a guard that can be used
449to stop monitoring again.
173 450
451C<mon> effectively guarantees that, in the absence of hardware failures,
452after starting the monitor, either all messages sent to the port will
453arrive, or the monitoring action will be invoked after possible message
454loss has been detected. No messages will be lost "in between" (after
455the first lost message no further messages will be received by the
456port). After the monitoring action was invoked, further messages might get
457delivered again.
458
459Note that monitoring-actions are one-shot: once messages are lost (and a
460monitoring alert was raised), they are removed and will not trigger again.
461
174In the first form, the callback is simply called with any number 462In the first form (callback), the callback is simply called with any
175of C<@reason> elements (no @reason means that the port was deleted 463number of C<@reason> elements (no @reason means that the port was deleted
176"normally"). Note also that I<< the callback B<must> never die >>, so use 464"normally"). Note also that I<< the callback B<must> never die >>, so use
177C<eval> if unsure. 465C<eval> if unsure.
178 466
179In the second form, the other port will be C<kil>'ed with C<@reason>, iff 467In the second form (another port given), the other port (C<$rcvport>)
180a @reason was specified, i.e. on "normal" kils nothing happens, while 468will be C<kil>'ed with C<@reason>, iff a @reason was specified, i.e. on
181under all other conditions, the other port is killed with the same reason. 469"normal" kils nothing happens, while under all other conditions, the other
470port is killed with the same reason.
182 471
472The third form (kill self) is the same as the second form, except that
473C<$rvport> defaults to C<$SELF>.
474
183In the last form, a message of the form C<@msg, @reason> will be C<snd>. 475In the last form (message), a message of the form C<@msg, @reason> will be
476C<snd>.
477
478As a rule of thumb, monitoring requests should always monitor a port from
479a local port (or callback). The reason is that kill messages might get
480lost, just like any other message. Another less obvious reason is that
481even monitoring requests can get lost (for exmaple, when the connection
482to the other node goes down permanently). When monitoring a port locally
483these problems do not exist.
184 484
185Example: call a given callback when C<$port> is killed. 485Example: call a given callback when C<$port> is killed.
186 486
187 mon $port, sub { warn "port died because of <@_>\n" }; 487 mon $port, sub { warn "port died because of <@_>\n" };
188 488
189Example: kill ourselves when C<$port> is killed abnormally. 489Example: kill ourselves when C<$port> is killed abnormally.
190 490
191 mon $port, $self; 491 mon $port;
192 492
193Example: send us a restart message another C<$port> is killed. 493Example: send us a restart message when another C<$port> is killed.
194 494
195 mon $port, $self => "restart"; 495 mon $port, $self => "restart";
196 496
197=cut 497=cut
198 498
199sub mon { 499sub mon {
200 my ($noderef, $port, $cb) = ((split /#/, shift, 2), shift); 500 my ($noderef, $port) = split /#/, shift, 2;
201 501
202 my $node = $NODE{$noderef} || add_node $noderef; 502 my $node = $NODE{$noderef} || add_node $noderef;
203 503
204 #TODO: ports must not be references 504 my $cb = @_ ? shift : $SELF || Carp::croak 'mon: called with one argument only, but $SELF not set,';
205 if (!ref $cb or "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $cb) { 505
506 unless (ref $cb) {
206 if (@_) { 507 if (@_) {
207 # send a kill info message 508 # send a kill info message
208 my (@msg) = ($cb, @_); 509 my (@msg) = ($cb, @_);
209 $cb = sub { snd @msg, @_ }; 510 $cb = sub { snd @msg, @_ };
210 } else { 511 } else {
226is killed, the references will be freed. 527is killed, the references will be freed.
227 528
228Optionally returns a guard that will stop the monitoring. 529Optionally returns a guard that will stop the monitoring.
229 530
230This function is useful when you create e.g. timers or other watchers and 531This function is useful when you create e.g. timers or other watchers and
231want to free them when the port gets killed: 532want to free them when the port gets killed (note the use of C<psub>):
232 533
233 $port->rcv (start => sub { 534 $port->rcv (start => sub {
234 my $timer; $timer = mon_guard $port, AE::timer 1, 1, sub { 535 my $timer; $timer = mon_guard $port, AE::timer 1, 1, psub {
235 undef $timer if 0.9 < rand; 536 undef $timer if 0.9 < rand;
236 }); 537 });
237 }); 538 });
238 539
239=cut 540=cut
240 541
241sub mon_guard { 542sub mon_guard {
242 my ($port, @refs) = @_; 543 my ($port, @refs) = @_;
243 544
545 #TODO: mon-less form?
546
244 mon $port, sub { 0 && @refs } 547 mon $port, sub { 0 && @refs }
245} 548}
246 549
247=item $local_port = port 550=item kil $port[, @reason]
248 551
249Create a new local port object that supports message matching. 552Kill the specified port with the given C<@reason>.
250 553
251=item $portid = port { my @msg = @_; $finished } 554If no C<@reason> is specified, then the port is killed "normally" (ports
555monitoring other ports will not necessarily die because a port dies
556"normally").
252 557
253Creates a "mini port", that is, a very lightweight port without any 558Otherwise, linked ports get killed with the same reason (second form of
254pattern matching behind it, and returns its ID. 559C<mon>, see above).
255 560
256The block will be called for every message received on the port. When the 561Runtime errors while evaluating C<rcv> callbacks or inside C<psub> blocks
257callback returns a true value its job is considered "done" and the port 562will be reported as reason C<< die => $@ >>.
258will be destroyed. Otherwise it will stay alive.
259 563
260The message will be passed as-is, no extra argument (i.e. no port id) will 564Transport/communication errors are reported as C<< transport_error =>
261be passed to the callback. 565$message >>.
262 566
263If you need the local port id in the callback, this works nicely:
264
265 my $port; $port = miniport {
266 snd $otherport, reply => $port;
267 };
268
269=cut 567=cut
270 568
271sub port(;&) { 569=item $port = spawn $node, $initfunc[, @initdata]
272 my $id = "$UNIQ." . $ID++;
273 my $port = "$NODE#$id";
274 570
275 if (@_) { 571Creates a port on the node C<$node> (which can also be a port ID, in which
276 my $cb = shift; 572case it's the node where that port resides).
277 $PORT{$id} = sub { 573
278 local $SELF = $port; 574The port ID of the newly created port is returned immediately, and it is
279 eval { 575possible to immediately start sending messages or to monitor the port.
280 &$cb 576
281 and kil $id; 577After the port has been created, the init function is called on the remote
578node, in the same context as a C<rcv> callback. This function must be a
579fully-qualified function name (e.g. C<MyApp::Chat::Server::init>). To
580specify a function in the main program, use C<::name>.
581
582If the function doesn't exist, then the node tries to C<require>
583the package, then the package above the package and so on (e.g.
584C<MyApp::Chat::Server>, C<MyApp::Chat>, C<MyApp>) until the function
585exists or it runs out of package names.
586
587The init function is then called with the newly-created port as context
588object (C<$SELF>) and the C<@initdata> values as arguments.
589
590A common idiom is to pass a local port, immediately monitor the spawned
591port, and in the remote init function, immediately monitor the passed
592local port. This two-way monitoring ensures that both ports get cleaned up
593when there is a problem.
594
595Example: spawn a chat server port on C<$othernode>.
596
597 # this node, executed from within a port context:
598 my $server = spawn $othernode, "MyApp::Chat::Server::connect", $SELF;
599 mon $server;
600
601 # init function on C<$othernode>
602 sub connect {
603 my ($srcport) = @_;
604
605 mon $srcport;
606
607 rcv $SELF, sub {
282 }; 608 ...
283 _self_die if $@;
284 };
285 } else {
286 my $self = bless {
287 id => "$NODE#$id",
288 }, "AnyEvent::MP::Port";
289
290 $PORT_DATA{$id} = $self;
291 $PORT{$id} = sub {
292 local $SELF = $port;
293
294 eval {
295 for (@{ $self->{rc0}{$_[0]} }) {
296 $_ && &{$_->[0]}
297 && undef $_;
298 }
299
300 for (@{ $self->{rcv}{$_[0]} }) {
301 $_ && [@_[1 .. @{$_->[1]}]] ~~ $_->[1]
302 && &{$_->[0]}
303 && undef $_;
304 }
305
306 for (@{ $self->{any} }) {
307 $_ && [@_[0 .. $#{$_->[1]}]] ~~ $_->[1]
308 && &{$_->[0]}
309 && undef $_;
310 }
311 };
312 _self_die if $@;
313 }; 609 };
314 } 610 }
315 611
316 $port
317}
318
319=item reg $portid, $name
320
321Registers the given port under the name C<$name>. If the name already
322exists it is replaced.
323
324A port can only be registered under one well known name.
325
326A port automatically becomes unregistered when it is killed.
327
328=cut 612=cut
329 613
330sub reg(@) { 614sub _spawn {
331 my ($portid, $name) = @_; 615 my $port = shift;
616 my $init = shift;
332 617
333 $REG{$name} = $portid; 618 local $SELF = "$NODE#$port";
334} 619 eval {
335 620 &{ load_func $init }
336=item rcv $portid, tagstring => $callback->(@msg), ...
337
338=item rcv $portid, $smartmatch => $callback->(@msg), ...
339
340=item rcv $portid, [$smartmatch...] => $callback->(@msg), ...
341
342Register callbacks to be called on matching messages on the given port.
343
344The callback has to return a true value when its work is done, after
345which is will be removed, or a false value in which case it will stay
346registered.
347
348The global C<$SELF> (exported by this module) contains C<$portid> while
349executing the callback.
350
351Runtime errors wdurign callback execution will result in the port being
352C<kil>ed.
353
354If the match is an array reference, then it will be matched against the
355first elements of the message, otherwise only the first element is being
356matched.
357
358Any element in the match that is specified as C<_any_> (a function
359exported by this module) matches any single element of the message.
360
361While not required, it is highly recommended that the first matching
362element is a string identifying the message. The one-string-only match is
363also the most efficient match (by far).
364
365=cut
366
367sub rcv($@) {
368 my ($noderef, $port) = split /#/, shift, 2;
369
370 ($NODE{$noderef} || add_node $noderef) == $NODE{""}
371 or Carp::croak "$noderef#$port: rcv can only be called on local ports, caught";
372
373 my $self = $PORT_DATA{$port}
374 or Carp::croak "$noderef#$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
375
376 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
377 or Carp::croak "$noderef#$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
378
379 while (@_) {
380 my ($match, $cb) = splice @_, 0, 2;
381
382 if (!ref $match) {
383 push @{ $self->{rc0}{$match} }, [$cb];
384 } elsif (("ARRAY" eq ref $match && !ref $match->[0])) {
385 my ($type, @match) = @$match;
386 @match
387 ? push @{ $self->{rcv}{$match->[0]} }, [$cb, \@match]
388 : push @{ $self->{rc0}{$match->[0]} }, [$cb];
389 } else {
390 push @{ $self->{any} }, [$cb, $match];
391 }
392 }
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 }; 621 };
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 $@; 622 _self_die if $@;
424 @res 623}
425 } else { 624
426 my $res = eval { &$cb }; 625sub spawn(@) {
427 _self_die if $@; 626 my ($noderef, undef) = split /#/, shift, 2;
428 $res 627
429 } 628 my $id = "$RUNIQ." . $ID++;
629
630 $_[0] =~ /::/
631 or Carp::croak "spawn init function must be a fully-qualified name, caught";
632
633 snd_to_func $noderef, "AnyEvent::MP::_spawn" => $id, @_;
634
635 "$noderef#$id"
636}
637
638=item after $timeout, @msg
639
640=item after $timeout, $callback
641
642Either sends the given message, or call the given callback, after the
643specified number of seconds.
644
645This is simply a utility function that comes in handy at times - the
646AnyEvent::MP author is not convinced of the wisdom of having it, though,
647so it may go away in the future.
648
649=cut
650
651sub after($@) {
652 my ($timeout, @action) = @_;
653
654 my $t; $t = AE::timer $timeout, 0, sub {
655 undef $t;
656 ref $action[0]
657 ? $action[0]()
658 : snd @action;
430 } 659 };
431} 660}
432 661
433=back 662=back
434 663
435=head1 FUNCTIONS FOR NODES 664=head1 AnyEvent::MP vs. Distributed Erlang
665
666AnyEvent::MP got lots of its ideas from distributed Erlang (Erlang node
667== aemp node, Erlang process == aemp port), so many of the documents and
668programming techniques employed by Erlang apply to AnyEvent::MP. Here is a
669sample:
670
671 http://www.Erlang.se/doc/programming_rules.shtml
672 http://Erlang.org/doc/getting_started/part_frame.html # chapters 3 and 4
673 http://Erlang.org/download/Erlang-book-part1.pdf # chapters 5 and 6
674 http://Erlang.org/download/armstrong_thesis_2003.pdf # chapters 4 and 5
675
676Despite the similarities, there are also some important differences:
436 677
437=over 4 678=over 4
438 679
439=item become_public endpoint... 680=item * Node IDs are arbitrary strings in AEMP.
440 681
441Tells the node to become a public node, i.e. reachable from other nodes. 682Erlang relies on special naming and DNS to work everywhere in the same
683way. AEMP relies on each node somehow knowing its own address(es) (e.g. by
684configuraiton or DNS), but will otherwise discover other odes itself.
442 685
443If no arguments are given, or the first argument is C<undef>, then 686=item * Erlang has a "remote ports are like local ports" philosophy, AEMP
444AnyEvent::MP tries to bind on port C<4040> on all IP addresses that the 687uses "local ports are like remote ports".
445local nodename resolves to.
446 688
447Otherwise the first argument must be an array-reference with transport 689The failure modes for local ports are quite different (runtime errors
448endpoints ("ip:port", "hostname:port") or port numbers (in which case the 690only) then for remote ports - when a local port dies, you I<know> it dies,
449local nodename is used as hostname). The endpoints are all resolved and 691when a connection to another node dies, you know nothing about the other
450will become the node reference. 692port.
451 693
452=cut 694Erlang pretends remote ports are as reliable as local ports, even when
695they are not.
696
697AEMP encourages a "treat remote ports differently" philosophy, with local
698ports being the special case/exception, where transport errors cannot
699occur.
700
701=item * Erlang uses processes and a mailbox, AEMP does not queue.
702
703Erlang uses processes that selectively receive messages, and therefore
704needs a queue. AEMP is event based, queuing messages would serve no
705useful purpose. For the same reason the pattern-matching abilities of
706AnyEvent::MP are more limited, as there is little need to be able to
707filter messages without dequeing them.
708
709(But see L<Coro::MP> for a more Erlang-like process model on top of AEMP).
710
711=item * Erlang sends are synchronous, AEMP sends are asynchronous.
712
713Sending messages in Erlang is synchronous and blocks the process (and
714so does not need a queue that can overflow). AEMP sends are immediate,
715connection establishment is handled in the background.
716
717=item * Erlang suffers from silent message loss, AEMP does not.
718
719Erlang makes few guarantees on messages delivery - messages can get lost
720without any of the processes realising it (i.e. you send messages a, b,
721and c, and the other side only receives messages a and c).
722
723AEMP guarantees correct ordering, and the guarantee that after one message
724is lost, all following ones sent to the same port are lost as well, until
725monitoring raises an error, so there are no silent "holes" in the message
726sequence.
727
728=item * Erlang can send messages to the wrong port, AEMP does not.
729
730In Erlang it is quite likely that a node that restarts reuses a process ID
731known to other nodes for a completely different process, causing messages
732destined for that process to end up in an unrelated process.
733
734AEMP never reuses port IDs, so old messages or old port IDs floating
735around in the network will not be sent to an unrelated port.
736
737=item * Erlang uses unprotected connections, AEMP uses secure
738authentication and can use TLS.
739
740AEMP can use a proven protocol - TLS - to protect connections and
741securely authenticate nodes.
742
743=item * The AEMP protocol is optimised for both text-based and binary
744communications.
745
746The AEMP protocol, unlike the Erlang protocol, supports both programming
747language independent text-only protocols (good for debugging) and binary,
748language-specific serialisers (e.g. Storable). By default, unless TLS is
749used, the protocol is actually completely text-based.
750
751It has also been carefully designed to be implementable in other languages
752with a minimum of work while gracefully degrading functionality to make the
753protocol simple.
754
755=item * AEMP has more flexible monitoring options than Erlang.
756
757In Erlang, you can chose to receive I<all> exit signals as messages
758or I<none>, there is no in-between, so monitoring single processes is
759difficult to implement. Monitoring in AEMP is more flexible than in
760Erlang, as one can choose between automatic kill, exit message or callback
761on a per-process basis.
762
763=item * Erlang tries to hide remote/local connections, AEMP does not.
764
765Monitoring in Erlang is not an indicator of process death/crashes, in the
766same way as linking is (except linking is unreliable in Erlang).
767
768In AEMP, you don't "look up" registered port names or send to named ports
769that might or might not be persistent. Instead, you normally spawn a port
770on the remote node. The init function monitors you, and you monitor the
771remote port. Since both monitors are local to the node, they are much more
772reliable (no need for C<spawn_link>).
773
774This also saves round-trips and avoids sending messages to the wrong port
775(hard to do in Erlang).
453 776
454=back 777=back
455 778
456=head1 NODE MESSAGES 779=head1 RATIONALE
457
458Nodes understand the following messages sent to them. Many of them take
459arguments called C<@reply>, which will simply be used to compose a reply
460message - C<$reply[0]> is the port to reply to, C<$reply[1]> the type and
461the remaining arguments are simply the message data.
462 780
463=over 4 781=over 4
464 782
465=cut 783=item Why strings for port and node IDs, why not objects?
466 784
467=item lookup => $name, @reply 785We considered "objects", but found that the actual number of methods
786that can be called are quite low. Since port and node IDs travel over
787the network frequently, the serialising/deserialising would add lots of
788overhead, as well as having to keep a proxy object everywhere.
468 789
469Replies with the port ID of the specified well-known port, or C<undef>. 790Strings can easily be printed, easily serialised etc. and need no special
791procedures to be "valid".
470 792
471=item devnull => ... 793And as a result, a miniport consists of a single closure stored in a
794global hash - it can't become much cheaper.
472 795
473Generic data sink/CPU heat conversion. 796=item Why favour JSON, why not a real serialising format such as Storable?
474 797
475=item relay => $port, @msg 798In fact, any AnyEvent::MP node will happily accept Storable as framing
799format, but currently there is no way to make a node use Storable by
800default (although all nodes will accept it).
476 801
477Simply forwards the message to the given port. 802The default framing protocol is JSON because a) JSON::XS is many times
803faster for small messages and b) most importantly, after years of
804experience we found that object serialisation is causing more problems
805than it solves: Just like function calls, objects simply do not travel
806easily over the network, mostly because they will always be a copy, so you
807always have to re-think your design.
478 808
479=item eval => $string[ @reply] 809Keeping your messages simple, concentrating on data structures rather than
480 810objects, will keep your messages clean, tidy and efficient.
481Evaluates the given string. If C<@reply> is given, then a message of the
482form C<@reply, $@, @evalres> is sent.
483
484Example: crash another node.
485
486 snd $othernode, eval => "exit";
487
488=item time => @reply
489
490Replies the the current node time to C<@reply>.
491
492Example: tell the current node to send the current time to C<$myport> in a
493C<timereply> message.
494
495 snd $NODE, time => $myport, timereply => 1, 2;
496 # => snd $myport, timereply => 1, 2, <time>
497 811
498=back 812=back
499 813
500=head1 SEE ALSO 814=head1 SEE ALSO
815
816L<AnyEvent::MP::Intro> - a gentle introduction.
817
818L<AnyEvent::MP::Kernel> - more, lower-level, stuff.
819
820L<AnyEvent::MP::Global> - network maintainance and port groups, to find
821your applications.
501 822
502L<AnyEvent>. 823L<AnyEvent>.
503 824
504=head1 AUTHOR 825=head1 AUTHOR
505 826

Diff Legend

Removed lines
+ Added lines
< Changed lines
> Changed lines