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Revision 1.139 by root, Thu Mar 22 20:07:31 2012 UTC

1=head1 NAME 1=head1 NAME
2 2
3AnyEvent::MP - multi-processing/message-passing framework 3AnyEvent::MP - erlang-style multi-processing/message-passing framework
4 4
5=head1 SYNOPSIS 5=head1 SYNOPSIS
6 6
7 use AnyEvent::MP; 7 use AnyEvent::MP;
8 8
9 $NODE # contains this node's noderef 9 $NODE # contains this node's node ID
10 NODE # returns this node's noderef 10 NODE # returns this node's node ID
11 NODE $port # returns the noderef of the port
12 11
12 $SELF # receiving/own port id in rcv callbacks
13
14 # initialise the node so it can send/receive messages
15 configure;
16
17 # ports are message destinations
18
19 # sending messages
13 snd $port, type => data...; 20 snd $port, type => data...;
21 snd $port, @msg;
22 snd @msg_with_first_element_being_a_port;
14 23
15 $SELF # receiving/own port id in rcv callbacks 24 # creating/using ports, the simple way
25 my $simple_port = port { my @msg = @_ };
16 26
17 rcv $port, smartmatch => $cb->($port, @msg); 27 # creating/using ports, tagged message matching
18 28 my $port = port;
19 # examples:
20 rcv $port2, ping => sub { snd $_[0], "pong"; 0 }; 29 rcv $port, ping => sub { snd $_[0], "pong" };
21 rcv $port1, pong => sub { warn "pong received\n" }; 30 rcv $port, pong => sub { warn "pong received\n" };
22 snd $port2, ping => $port1;
23 31
24 # more, smarter, matches (_any_ is exported by this module) 32 # create a port on another node
25 rcv $port, [child_died => $pid] => sub { ... 33 my $port = spawn $node, $initfunc, @initdata;
26 rcv $port, [_any_, _any_, 3] => sub { .. $_[2] is 3 34
35 # destroy a port again
36 kil $port; # "normal" kill
37 kil $port, my_error => "everything is broken"; # error kill
38
39 # monitoring
40 mon $port, $cb->(@msg) # callback is invoked on death
41 mon $port, $localport # kill localport on abnormal death
42 mon $port, $localport, @msg # send message on death
43
44 # temporarily execute code in port context
45 peval $port, sub { die "kill the port!" };
46
47 # execute callbacks in $SELF port context
48 my $timer = AE::timer 1, 0, psub {
49 die "kill the port, delayed";
50 };
51
52=head1 CURRENT STATUS
53
54 bin/aemp - stable.
55 AnyEvent::MP - stable API, should work.
56 AnyEvent::MP::Intro - explains most concepts.
57 AnyEvent::MP::Kernel - mostly stable API.
58 AnyEvent::MP::Global - stable API.
27 59
28=head1 DESCRIPTION 60=head1 DESCRIPTION
29 61
30This module (-family) implements a simple message passing framework. 62This module (-family) implements a simple message passing framework.
31 63
32Despite its simplicity, you can securely message other processes running 64Despite its simplicity, you can securely message other processes running
33on the same or other hosts. 65on the same or other hosts, and you can supervise entities remotely.
34 66
35For an introduction to this module family, see the L<AnyEvent::MP::Intro> 67For an introduction to this module family, see the L<AnyEvent::MP::Intro>
36manual page. 68manual page and the examples under F<eg/>.
37
38At the moment, this module family is severly broken and underdocumented,
39so do not use. This was uploaded mainly to reserve the CPAN namespace -
40stay tuned! The basic API should be finished, however.
41 69
42=head1 CONCEPTS 70=head1 CONCEPTS
43 71
44=over 4 72=over 4
45 73
46=item port 74=item port
47 75
48A port is something you can send messages to (with the C<snd> function). 76Not to be confused with a TCP port, a "port" is something you can send
77messages to (with the C<snd> function).
49 78
50Some ports allow you to register C<rcv> handlers that can match specific 79Ports allow you to register C<rcv> handlers that can match all or just
51messages. All C<rcv> handlers will receive messages they match, messages 80some messages. Messages send to ports will not be queued, regardless of
52will not be queued. 81anything was listening for them or not.
53 82
83Ports are represented by (printable) strings called "port IDs".
84
54=item port id - C<noderef#portname> 85=item port ID - C<nodeid#portname>
55 86
56A port id is normaly the concatenation of a noderef, a hash-mark (C<#>) as 87A port ID is the concatenation of a node ID, a hash-mark (C<#>)
57separator, and a port name (a printable string of unspecified format). An 88as separator, and a port name (a printable string of unspecified
58exception is the the node port, whose ID is identical to its node 89format created by AnyEvent::MP).
59reference.
60 90
61=item node 91=item node
62 92
63A node is a single process containing at least one port - the node 93A node is a single process containing at least one port - the node port,
64port. You can send messages to node ports to find existing ports or to 94which enables nodes to manage each other remotely, and to create new
65create new ports, among other things. 95ports.
66 96
67Nodes are either private (single-process only), slaves (connected to a 97Nodes are either public (have one or more listening ports) or private
68master node only) or public nodes (connectable from unrelated nodes). 98(no listening ports). Private nodes cannot talk to other private nodes
99currently, but all nodes can talk to public nodes.
69 100
70=item noderef - C<host:port,host:port...>, C<id@noderef>, C<id> 101Nodes is represented by (printable) strings called "node IDs".
71 102
72A node reference is a string that either simply identifies the node (for 103=item node ID - C<[A-Za-z0-9_\-.:]*>
73private and slave nodes), or contains a recipe on how to reach a given
74node (for public nodes).
75 104
76This recipe is simply a comma-separated list of C<address:port> pairs (for 105A node ID is a string that uniquely identifies the node within a
77TCP/IP, other protocols might look different). 106network. Depending on the configuration used, node IDs can look like a
107hostname, a hostname and a port, or a random string. AnyEvent::MP itself
108doesn't interpret node IDs in any way except to uniquely identify a node.
78 109
79Node references come in two flavours: resolved (containing only numerical 110=item binds - C<ip:port>
80addresses) or unresolved (where hostnames are used instead of addresses).
81 111
82Before using an unresolved node reference in a message you first have to 112Nodes can only talk to each other by creating some kind of connection to
83resolve it. 113each other. To do this, nodes should listen on one or more local transport
114endpoints - binds.
115
116Currently, only standard C<ip:port> specifications can be used, which
117specify TCP ports to listen on. So a bind is basically just a tcp socket
118in listening mode thta accepts conenctions form other nodes.
119
120=item seed nodes
121
122When a node starts, it knows nothing about the network it is in - it
123needs to connect to at least one other node that is already in the
124network. These other nodes are called "seed nodes".
125
126Seed nodes themselves are not special - they are seed nodes only because
127some other node I<uses> them as such, but any node can be used as seed
128node for other nodes, and eahc node cna use a different set of seed nodes.
129
130In addition to discovering the network, seed nodes are also used to
131maintain the network - all nodes using the same seed node form are part of
132the same network. If a network is split into multiple subnets because e.g.
133the network link between the parts goes down, then using the same seed
134nodes for all nodes ensures that eventually the subnets get merged again.
135
136Seed nodes are expected to be long-running, and at least one seed node
137should always be available. They should also be relatively responsive - a
138seed node that blocks for long periods will slow down everybody else.
139
140For small networks, it's best if every node uses the same set of seed
141nodes. For large networks, it can be useful to specify "regional" seed
142nodes for most nodes in an area, and use all seed nodes as seed nodes for
143each other. What's important is that all seed nodes connections form a
144complete graph, so that the network cannot split into separate subnets
145forever.
146
147Seed nodes are represented by seed IDs.
148
149=item seed IDs - C<host:port>
150
151Seed IDs are transport endpoint(s) (usually a hostname/IP address and a
152TCP port) of nodes that should be used as seed nodes.
153
154=item global nodes
155
156An AEMP network needs a discovery service - nodes need to know how to
157connect to other nodes they only know by name. In addition, AEMP offers a
158distributed "group database", which maps group names to a list of strings
159- for example, to register worker ports.
160
161A network needs at least one global node to work, and allows every node to
162be a global node.
163
164Any node that loads the L<AnyEvent::MP::Global> module becomes a global
165node and tries to keep connections to all other nodes. So while it can
166make sense to make every node "global" in small networks, it usually makes
167sense to only make seed nodes into global nodes in large networks (nodes
168keep connections to seed nodes and global nodes, so makign them the same
169reduces overhead).
84 170
85=back 171=back
86 172
87=head1 VARIABLES/FUNCTIONS 173=head1 VARIABLES/FUNCTIONS
88 174
90 176
91=cut 177=cut
92 178
93package AnyEvent::MP; 179package AnyEvent::MP;
94 180
181use AnyEvent::MP::Config ();
95use AnyEvent::MP::Base; 182use AnyEvent::MP::Kernel;
183use AnyEvent::MP::Kernel qw(%NODE %PORT %PORT_DATA $UNIQ $RUNIQ $ID);
96 184
97use common::sense; 185use common::sense;
98 186
99use Carp (); 187use Carp ();
100 188
101use AE (); 189use AE ();
190use Guard ();
102 191
103use base "Exporter"; 192use base "Exporter";
104 193
105our $VERSION = '0.1'; 194our $VERSION = $AnyEvent::MP::Config::VERSION;
195
106our @EXPORT = qw( 196our @EXPORT = qw(
107 NODE $NODE *SELF node_of _any_ 197 NODE $NODE *SELF node_of after
108 resolve_node initialise_node 198 configure
109 snd rcv mon kil reg psub 199 snd rcv mon mon_guard kil psub peval spawn cal
110 port 200 port
201 db_set db_del db_reg
202 db_mon db_family db_keys db_values
111); 203);
112 204
113our $SELF; 205our $SELF;
114 206
115sub _self_die() { 207sub _self_die() {
118 kil $SELF, die => $msg; 210 kil $SELF, die => $msg;
119} 211}
120 212
121=item $thisnode = NODE / $NODE 213=item $thisnode = NODE / $NODE
122 214
123The C<NODE> function returns, and the C<$NODE> variable contains 215The C<NODE> function returns, and the C<$NODE> variable contains, the node
124the noderef of the local node. The value is initialised by a call 216ID of the node running in the current process. This value is initialised by
125to C<become_public> or C<become_slave>, after which all local port 217a call to C<configure>.
126identifiers become invalid.
127 218
128=item $noderef = node_of $port 219=item $nodeid = node_of $port
129 220
130Extracts and returns the noderef from a portid or a noderef. 221Extracts and returns the node ID from a port ID or a node ID.
131 222
132=item initialise_node $noderef, $seednode, $seednode... 223=item configure $profile, key => value...
133 224
134=item initialise_node "slave/", $master, $master... 225=item configure key => value...
135 226
136Before a node can talk to other nodes on the network it has to initialise 227Before a node can talk to other nodes on the network (i.e. enter
137itself - the minimum a node needs to know is it's own name, and optionally 228"distributed mode") it has to configure itself - the minimum a node needs
138it should know the noderefs of some other nodes in the network. 229to know is its own name, and optionally it should know the addresses of
230some other nodes in the network to discover other nodes.
139 231
140This function initialises a node - it must be called exactly once (or 232This function configures a node - it must be called exactly once (or
141never) before calling other AnyEvent::MP functions. 233never) before calling other AnyEvent::MP functions.
142 234
143All arguments are noderefs, which can be either resolved or unresolved. 235The key/value pairs are basically the same ones as documented for the
144 236F<aemp> command line utility (sans the set/del prefix), with these additions:
145There are two types of networked nodes, public nodes and slave nodes:
146 237
147=over 4 238=over 4
148 239
149=item public nodes 240=item norc => $boolean (default false)
150 241
151For public nodes, C<$noderef> must either be a (possibly unresolved) 242If true, then the rc file (e.g. F<~/.perl-anyevent-mp>) will I<not>
152noderef, in which case it will be resolved, or C<undef> (or missing), in 243be consulted - all configuraiton options must be specified in the
153which case the noderef will be guessed. 244C<configure> call.
154 245
155Afterwards, the node will bind itself on all endpoints and try to connect 246=item force => $boolean (default false)
156to all additional C<$seednodes> that are specified. Seednodes are optional
157and can be used to quickly bootstrap the node into an existing network.
158 247
159=item slave nodes 248IF true, then the values specified in the C<configure> will take
249precedence over any values configured via the rc file. The default is for
250the rc file to override any options specified in the program.
160 251
161When the C<$noderef> is the special string C<slave/>, then the node will 252=item secure => $pass->(@msg)
162become a slave node. Slave nodes cannot be contacted from outside and will
163route most of their traffic to the master node that they attach to.
164 253
165At least one additional noderef is required: The node will try to connect 254In addition to specifying a boolean, you can specify a code reference that
166to all of them and will become a slave attached to the first node it can 255is called for every code execution attempt - the execution request is
167successfully connect to. 256granted iff the callback returns a true value.
257
258Most of the time the callback should look only at
259C<$AnyEvent::MP::Kernel::SRCNODE> to make a decision, and not at the
260actual message (which can be about anything, and is mostly provided for
261diagnostic purposes).
262
263See F<semp setsecure> for more info.
168 264
169=back 265=back
170 266
171This function will block until all nodes have been resolved and, for slave
172nodes, until it has successfully established a connection to a master
173server.
174
175Example: become a public node listening on the default node.
176
177 initialise_node;
178
179Example: become a public node, and try to contact some well-known master
180servers to become part of the network.
181
182 initialise_node undef, "master1", "master2";
183
184Example: become a public node listening on port C<4041>.
185
186 initialise_node 4041;
187
188Example: become a public node, only visible on localhost port 4044.
189
190 initialise_node "locahost:4044";
191
192Example: become a slave node to any of the specified master servers.
193
194 initialise_node "slave/", "master1", "192.168.13.17", "mp.example.net";
195
196=item $cv = resolve_node $noderef
197
198Takes an unresolved node reference that may contain hostnames and
199abbreviated IDs, resolves all of them and returns a resolved node
200reference.
201
202In addition to C<address:port> pairs allowed in resolved noderefs, the
203following forms are supported:
204
205=over 4 267=over 4
206 268
207=item the empty string 269=item step 1, gathering configuration from profiles
208 270
209An empty-string component gets resolved as if the default port (4040) was 271The function first looks up a profile in the aemp configuration (see the
210specified. 272L<aemp> commandline utility). The profile name can be specified via the
273named C<profile> parameter or can simply be the first parameter). If it is
274missing, then the nodename (F<uname -n>) will be used as profile name.
211 275
212=item naked port numbers (e.g. C<1234>) 276The profile data is then gathered as follows:
213 277
214These are resolved by prepending the local nodename and a colon, to be 278First, all remaining key => value pairs (all of which are conveniently
215further resolved. 279undocumented at the moment) will be interpreted as configuration
280data. Then they will be overwritten by any values specified in the global
281default configuration (see the F<aemp> utility), then the chain of
282profiles chosen by the profile name (and any C<parent> attributes).
216 283
217=item hostnames (e.g. C<localhost:1234>, C<localhost>) 284That means that the values specified in the profile have highest priority
285and the values specified directly via C<configure> have lowest priority,
286and can only be used to specify defaults.
218 287
219These are resolved by using AnyEvent::DNS to resolve them, optionally 288If the profile specifies a node ID, then this will become the node ID of
220looking up SRV records for the C<aemp=4040> port, if no port was 289this process. If not, then the profile name will be used as node ID, with
221specified. 290a unique randoms tring (C</%u>) appended.
291
292The node ID can contain some C<%> sequences that are expanded: C<%n>
293is expanded to the local nodename, C<%u> is replaced by a random
294strign to make the node unique. For example, the F<aemp> commandline
295utility uses C<aemp/%n/%u> as nodename, which might expand to
296C<aemp/cerebro/ZQDGSIkRhEZQDGSIkRhE>.
297
298=item step 2, bind listener sockets
299
300The next step is to look up the binds in the profile, followed by binding
301aemp protocol listeners on all binds specified (it is possible and valid
302to have no binds, meaning that the node cannot be contacted form the
303outside. This means the node cannot talk to other nodes that also have no
304binds, but it can still talk to all "normal" nodes).
305
306If the profile does not specify a binds list, then a default of C<*> is
307used, meaning the node will bind on a dynamically-assigned port on every
308local IP address it finds.
309
310=item step 3, connect to seed nodes
311
312As the last step, the seed ID list from the profile is passed to the
313L<AnyEvent::MP::Global> module, which will then use it to keep
314connectivity with at least one node at any point in time.
222 315
223=back 316=back
317
318Example: become a distributed node using the local node name as profile.
319This should be the most common form of invocation for "daemon"-type nodes.
320
321 configure
322
323Example: become a semi-anonymous node. This form is often used for
324commandline clients.
325
326 configure nodeid => "myscript/%n/%u";
327
328Example: configure a node using a profile called seed, which is suitable
329for a seed node as it binds on all local addresses on a fixed port (4040,
330customary for aemp).
331
332 # use the aemp commandline utility
333 # aemp profile seed binds '*:4040'
334
335 # then use it
336 configure profile => "seed";
337
338 # or simply use aemp from the shell again:
339 # aemp run profile seed
340
341 # or provide a nicer-to-remember nodeid
342 # aemp run profile seed nodeid "$(hostname)"
224 343
225=item $SELF 344=item $SELF
226 345
227Contains the current port id while executing C<rcv> callbacks or C<psub> 346Contains the current port id while executing C<rcv> callbacks or C<psub>
228blocks. 347blocks.
229 348
230=item SELF, %SELF, @SELF... 349=item *SELF, SELF, %SELF, @SELF...
231 350
232Due to some quirks in how perl exports variables, it is impossible to 351Due to some quirks in how perl exports variables, it is impossible to
233just export C<$SELF>, all the symbols called C<SELF> are exported by this 352just export C<$SELF>, all the symbols named C<SELF> are exported by this
234module, but only C<$SELF> is currently used. 353module, but only C<$SELF> is currently used.
235 354
236=item snd $port, type => @data 355=item snd $port, type => @data
237 356
238=item snd $port, @msg 357=item snd $port, @msg
239 358
240Send the given message to the given port ID, which can identify either 359Send the given message to the given port, which can identify either a
241a local or a remote port, and can be either a string or soemthignt hat 360local or a remote port, and must be a port ID.
242stringifies a sa port ID (such as a port object :).
243 361
244While the message can be about anything, it is highly recommended to use a 362While the message can be almost anything, it is highly recommended to
245string as first element (a portid, or some word that indicates a request 363use a string as first element (a port ID, or some word that indicates a
246type etc.). 364request type etc.) and to consist if only simple perl values (scalars,
365arrays, hashes) - if you think you need to pass an object, think again.
247 366
248The message data effectively becomes read-only after a call to this 367The message data logically becomes read-only after a call to this
249function: modifying any argument is not allowed and can cause many 368function: modifying any argument (or values referenced by them) is
250problems. 369forbidden, as there can be considerable time between the call to C<snd>
370and the time the message is actually being serialised - in fact, it might
371never be copied as within the same process it is simply handed to the
372receiving port.
251 373
252The type of data you can transfer depends on the transport protocol: when 374The type of data you can transfer depends on the transport protocol: when
253JSON is used, then only strings, numbers and arrays and hashes consisting 375JSON is used, then only strings, numbers and arrays and hashes consisting
254of those are allowed (no objects). When Storable is used, then anything 376of those are allowed (no objects). When Storable is used, then anything
255that Storable can serialise and deserialise is allowed, and for the local 377that Storable can serialise and deserialise is allowed, and for the local
256node, anything can be passed. 378node, anything can be passed. Best rely only on the common denominator of
379these.
257 380
258=item $local_port = port 381=item $local_port = port
259 382
260Create a new local port object that can be used either as a pattern 383Create a new local port object and returns its port ID. Initially it has
261matching port ("full port") or a single-callback port ("miniport"), 384no callbacks set and will throw an error when it receives messages.
262depending on how C<rcv> callbacks are bound to the object.
263 385
264=item $port = port { my @msg = @_; $finished } 386=item $local_port = port { my @msg = @_ }
265 387
266Creates a "miniport", that is, a very lightweight port without any pattern 388Creates a new local port, and returns its ID. Semantically the same as
267matching behind it, and returns its ID. Semantically the same as creating
268a port and calling C<rcv $port, $callback> on it. 389creating a port and calling C<rcv $port, $callback> on it.
269 390
270The block will be called for every message received on the port. When the 391The block will be called for every message received on the port, with the
271callback returns a true value its job is considered "done" and the port 392global variable C<$SELF> set to the port ID. Runtime errors will cause the
272will be destroyed. Otherwise it will stay alive. 393port to be C<kil>ed. The message will be passed as-is, no extra argument
394(i.e. no port ID) will be passed to the callback.
273 395
274The message will be passed as-is, no extra argument (i.e. no port id) will 396If you want to stop/destroy the port, simply C<kil> it:
275be passed to the callback.
276 397
277If you need the local port id in the callback, this works nicely: 398 my $port = port {
278 399 my @msg = @_;
279 my $port; $port = port { 400 ...
280 snd $otherport, reply => $port; 401 kil $SELF;
281 }; 402 };
282 403
283=cut 404=cut
284 405
285sub rcv($@); 406sub rcv($@);
286 407
408my $KILME = sub {
409 (my $tag = substr $_[0], 0, 30) =~ s/([\x20-\x7e])/./g;
410 kil $SELF, unhandled_message => "no callback found for message '$tag'";
411};
412
287sub port(;&) { 413sub port(;&) {
288 my $id = "$UNIQ." . $ID++; 414 my $id = $UNIQ . ++$ID;
289 my $port = "$NODE#$id"; 415 my $port = "$NODE#$id";
290 416
291 if (@_) {
292 rcv $port, shift; 417 rcv $port, shift || $KILME;
293 } else {
294 $PORT{$id} = sub { }; # nop
295 }
296 418
297 $port 419 $port
298} 420}
299 421
300=item reg $port, $name
301
302Registers the given port under the name C<$name>. If the name already
303exists it is replaced.
304
305A port can only be registered under one well known name.
306
307A port automatically becomes unregistered when it is killed.
308
309=cut
310
311sub reg(@) {
312 my ($port, $name) = @_;
313
314 $REG{$name} = $port;
315}
316
317=item rcv $port, $callback->(@msg) 422=item rcv $local_port, $callback->(@msg)
318 423
319Replaces the callback on the specified miniport (after converting it to 424Replaces the default callback on the specified port. There is no way to
320one if required). 425remove the default callback: use C<sub { }> to disable it, or better
321 426C<kil> the port when it is no longer needed.
322=item rcv $port, tagstring => $callback->(@msg), ...
323
324=item rcv $port, $smartmatch => $callback->(@msg), ...
325
326=item rcv $port, [$smartmatch...] => $callback->(@msg), ...
327
328Register callbacks to be called on matching messages on the given full
329port (after converting it to one if required).
330
331The callback has to return a true value when its work is done, after
332which is will be removed, or a false value in which case it will stay
333registered.
334 427
335The global C<$SELF> (exported by this module) contains C<$port> while 428The global C<$SELF> (exported by this module) contains C<$port> while
336executing the callback. 429executing the callback. Runtime errors during callback execution will
430result in the port being C<kil>ed.
337 431
338Runtime errors wdurign callback execution will result in the port being 432The default callback receives all messages not matched by a more specific
339C<kil>ed. 433C<tag> match.
340 434
341If the match is an array reference, then it will be matched against the 435=item rcv $local_port, tag => $callback->(@msg_without_tag), ...
342first elements of the message, otherwise only the first element is being
343matched.
344 436
345Any element in the match that is specified as C<_any_> (a function 437Register (or replace) callbacks to be called on messages starting with the
346exported by this module) matches any single element of the message. 438given tag on the given port (and return the port), or unregister it (when
439C<$callback> is C<$undef> or missing). There can only be one callback
440registered for each tag.
347 441
348While not required, it is highly recommended that the first matching 442The original message will be passed to the callback, after the first
349element is a string identifying the message. The one-string-only match is 443element (the tag) has been removed. The callback will use the same
350also the most efficient match (by far). 444environment as the default callback (see above).
445
446Example: create a port and bind receivers on it in one go.
447
448 my $port = rcv port,
449 msg1 => sub { ... },
450 msg2 => sub { ... },
451 ;
452
453Example: create a port, bind receivers and send it in a message elsewhere
454in one go:
455
456 snd $otherport, reply =>
457 rcv port,
458 msg1 => sub { ... },
459 ...
460 ;
461
462Example: temporarily register a rcv callback for a tag matching some port
463(e.g. for an rpc reply) and unregister it after a message was received.
464
465 rcv $port, $otherport => sub {
466 my @reply = @_;
467
468 rcv $SELF, $otherport;
469 };
351 470
352=cut 471=cut
353 472
354sub rcv($@) { 473sub rcv($@) {
355 my $port = shift; 474 my $port = shift;
356 my ($noderef, $portid) = split /#/, $port, 2; 475 my ($nodeid, $portid) = split /#/, $port, 2;
357 476
358 ($NODE{$noderef} || add_node $noderef) == $NODE{""} 477 $NODE{$nodeid} == $NODE{""}
359 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on local ports, caught"; 478 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on local ports, caught";
360 479
361 if (@_ == 1) { 480 while (@_) {
481 if (ref $_[0]) {
482 if (my $self = $PORT_DATA{$portid}) {
483 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
484 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
485
486 $self->[0] = shift;
487 } else {
362 my $cb = shift; 488 my $cb = shift;
363 delete $PORT_DATA{$portid};
364 $PORT{$portid} = sub { 489 $PORT{$portid} = sub {
365 local $SELF = $port; 490 local $SELF = $port;
366 eval { 491 eval { &$cb }; _self_die if $@;
367 &$cb 492 };
368 and kil $port;
369 }; 493 }
370 _self_die if $@; 494 } elsif (defined $_[0]) {
371 };
372 } else {
373 my $self = $PORT_DATA{$portid} ||= do { 495 my $self = $PORT_DATA{$portid} ||= do {
374 my $self = bless { 496 my $self = bless [$PORT{$portid} || sub { }, { }, $port], "AnyEvent::MP::Port";
375 id => $port,
376 }, "AnyEvent::MP::Port";
377 497
378 $PORT{$portid} = sub { 498 $PORT{$portid} = sub {
379 local $SELF = $port; 499 local $SELF = $port;
380 500
381 eval {
382 for (@{ $self->{rc0}{$_[0]} }) { 501 if (my $cb = $self->[1]{$_[0]}) {
383 $_ && &{$_->[0]} 502 shift;
384 && undef $_; 503 eval { &$cb }; _self_die if $@;
385 } 504 } else {
386
387 for (@{ $self->{rcv}{$_[0]} }) {
388 $_ && [@_[1 .. @{$_->[1]}]] ~~ $_->[1]
389 && &{$_->[0]} 505 &{ $self->[0] };
390 && undef $_;
391 }
392
393 for (@{ $self->{any} }) {
394 $_ && [@_[0 .. $#{$_->[1]}]] ~~ $_->[1]
395 && &{$_->[0]}
396 && undef $_;
397 } 506 }
398 }; 507 };
399 _self_die if $@; 508
509 $self
400 }; 510 };
401 511
402 $self
403 };
404
405 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self 512 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
406 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught"; 513 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
407 514
408 while (@_) {
409 my ($match, $cb) = splice @_, 0, 2; 515 my ($tag, $cb) = splice @_, 0, 2;
410 516
411 if (!ref $match) { 517 if (defined $cb) {
412 push @{ $self->{rc0}{$match} }, [$cb]; 518 $self->[1]{$tag} = $cb;
413 } elsif (("ARRAY" eq ref $match && !ref $match->[0])) {
414 my ($type, @match) = @$match;
415 @match
416 ? push @{ $self->{rcv}{$match->[0]} }, [$cb, \@match]
417 : push @{ $self->{rc0}{$match->[0]} }, [$cb];
418 } else { 519 } else {
419 push @{ $self->{any} }, [$cb, $match]; 520 delete $self->[1]{$tag};
420 } 521 }
421 } 522 }
422 } 523 }
423 524
424 $port 525 $port
425} 526}
426 527
528=item peval $port, $coderef[, @args]
529
530Evaluates the given C<$codref> within the contetx of C<$port>, that is,
531when the code throews an exception the C<$port> will be killed.
532
533Any remaining args will be passed to the callback. Any return values will
534be returned to the caller.
535
536This is useful when you temporarily want to execute code in the context of
537a port.
538
539Example: create a port and run some initialisation code in it's context.
540
541 my $port = port { ... };
542
543 peval $port, sub {
544 init
545 or die "unable to init";
546 };
547
548=cut
549
550sub peval($$) {
551 local $SELF = shift;
552 my $cb = shift;
553
554 if (wantarray) {
555 my @res = eval { &$cb };
556 _self_die if $@;
557 @res
558 } else {
559 my $res = eval { &$cb };
560 _self_die if $@;
561 $res
562 }
563}
564
427=item $closure = psub { BLOCK } 565=item $closure = psub { BLOCK }
428 566
429Remembers C<$SELF> and creates a closure out of the BLOCK. When the 567Remembers C<$SELF> and creates a closure out of the BLOCK. When the
430closure is executed, sets up the environment in the same way as in C<rcv> 568closure is executed, sets up the environment in the same way as in C<rcv>
431callbacks, i.e. runtime errors will cause the port to get C<kil>ed. 569callbacks, i.e. runtime errors will cause the port to get C<kil>ed.
570
571The effect is basically as if it returned C<< sub { peval $SELF, sub {
572BLOCK }, @_ } >>.
432 573
433This is useful when you register callbacks from C<rcv> callbacks: 574This is useful when you register callbacks from C<rcv> callbacks:
434 575
435 rcv delayed_reply => sub { 576 rcv delayed_reply => sub {
436 my ($delay, @reply) = @_; 577 my ($delay, @reply) = @_;
460 $res 601 $res
461 } 602 }
462 } 603 }
463} 604}
464 605
465=item $guard = mon $port, $cb->(@reason) 606=item $guard = mon $port, $rcvport # kill $rcvport when $port dies
466 607
467=item $guard = mon $port, $otherport 608=item $guard = mon $port # kill $SELF when $port dies
468 609
469=item $guard = mon $port, $otherport, @msg 610=item $guard = mon $port, $cb->(@reason) # call $cb when $port dies
470 611
612=item $guard = mon $port, $rcvport, @msg # send a message when $port dies
613
471Monitor the given port and do something when the port is killed. 614Monitor the given port and do something when the port is killed or
615messages to it were lost, and optionally return a guard that can be used
616to stop monitoring again.
472 617
473In the first form, the callback is simply called with any number 618The first two forms distinguish between "normal" and "abnormal" kil's:
619
620In the first form (another port given), if the C<$port> is C<kil>'ed with
621a non-empty reason, the other port (C<$rcvport>) will be kil'ed with the
622same reason. That is, on "normal" kil's nothing happens, while under all
623other conditions, the other port is killed with the same reason.
624
625The second form (kill self) is the same as the first form, except that
626C<$rvport> defaults to C<$SELF>.
627
628The remaining forms don't distinguish between "normal" and "abnormal" kil's
629- it's up to the callback or receiver to check whether the C<@reason> is
630empty and act accordingly.
631
632In the third form (callback), the callback is simply called with any
474of C<@reason> elements (no @reason means that the port was deleted 633number of C<@reason> elements (empty @reason means that the port was deleted
475"normally"). Note also that I<< the callback B<must> never die >>, so use 634"normally"). Note also that I<< the callback B<must> never die >>, so use
476C<eval> if unsure. 635C<eval> if unsure.
477 636
478In the second form, the other port will be C<kil>'ed with C<@reason>, iff 637In the last form (message), a message of the form C<$rcvport, @msg,
479a @reason was specified, i.e. on "normal" kils nothing happens, while 638@reason> will be C<snd>.
480under all other conditions, the other port is killed with the same reason.
481 639
482In the last form, a message of the form C<@msg, @reason> will be C<snd>. 640Monitoring-actions are one-shot: once messages are lost (and a monitoring
641alert was raised), they are removed and will not trigger again, even if it
642turns out that the port is still alive.
643
644As a rule of thumb, monitoring requests should always monitor a remote
645port locally (using a local C<$rcvport> or a callback). The reason is that
646kill messages might get lost, just like any other message. Another less
647obvious reason is that even monitoring requests can get lost (for example,
648when the connection to the other node goes down permanently). When
649monitoring a port locally these problems do not exist.
650
651C<mon> effectively guarantees that, in the absence of hardware failures,
652after starting the monitor, either all messages sent to the port will
653arrive, or the monitoring action will be invoked after possible message
654loss has been detected. No messages will be lost "in between" (after
655the first lost message no further messages will be received by the
656port). After the monitoring action was invoked, further messages might get
657delivered again.
658
659Inter-host-connection timeouts and monitoring depend on the transport
660used. The only transport currently implemented is TCP, and AnyEvent::MP
661relies on TCP to detect node-downs (this can take 10-15 minutes on a
662non-idle connection, and usually around two hours for idle connections).
663
664This means that monitoring is good for program errors and cleaning up
665stuff eventually, but they are no replacement for a timeout when you need
666to ensure some maximum latency.
483 667
484Example: call a given callback when C<$port> is killed. 668Example: call a given callback when C<$port> is killed.
485 669
486 mon $port, sub { warn "port died because of <@_>\n" }; 670 mon $port, sub { warn "port died because of <@_>\n" };
487 671
488Example: kill ourselves when C<$port> is killed abnormally. 672Example: kill ourselves when C<$port> is killed abnormally.
489 673
490 mon $port, $self; 674 mon $port;
491 675
492Example: send us a restart message another C<$port> is killed. 676Example: send us a restart message when another C<$port> is killed.
493 677
494 mon $port, $self => "restart"; 678 mon $port, $self => "restart";
495 679
496=cut 680=cut
497 681
498sub mon { 682sub mon {
499 my ($noderef, $port) = split /#/, shift, 2; 683 my ($nodeid, $port) = split /#/, shift, 2;
500 684
501 my $node = $NODE{$noderef} || add_node $noderef; 685 my $node = $NODE{$nodeid} || add_node $nodeid;
502 686
503 my $cb = shift; 687 my $cb = @_ ? shift : $SELF || Carp::croak 'mon: called with one argument only, but $SELF not set,';
504 688
505 unless (ref $cb) { 689 unless (ref $cb) {
506 if (@_) { 690 if (@_) {
507 # send a kill info message 691 # send a kill info message
508 my (@msg) = ($cb, @_); 692 my (@msg) = ($cb, @_);
515 } 699 }
516 700
517 $node->monitor ($port, $cb); 701 $node->monitor ($port, $cb);
518 702
519 defined wantarray 703 defined wantarray
520 and AnyEvent::Util::guard { $node->unmonitor ($port, $cb) } 704 and ($cb += 0, Guard::guard { $node->unmonitor ($port, $cb) })
521} 705}
522 706
523=item $guard = mon_guard $port, $ref, $ref... 707=item $guard = mon_guard $port, $ref, $ref...
524 708
525Monitors the given C<$port> and keeps the passed references. When the port 709Monitors the given C<$port> and keeps the passed references. When the port
526is killed, the references will be freed. 710is killed, the references will be freed.
527 711
528Optionally returns a guard that will stop the monitoring. 712Optionally returns a guard that will stop the monitoring.
529 713
530This function is useful when you create e.g. timers or other watchers and 714This function is useful when you create e.g. timers or other watchers and
531want to free them when the port gets killed: 715want to free them when the port gets killed (note the use of C<psub>):
532 716
533 $port->rcv (start => sub { 717 $port->rcv (start => sub {
534 my $timer; $timer = mon_guard $port, AE::timer 1, 1, sub { 718 my $timer; $timer = mon_guard $port, AE::timer 1, 1, psub {
535 undef $timer if 0.9 < rand; 719 undef $timer if 0.9 < rand;
536 }); 720 });
537 }); 721 });
538 722
539=cut 723=cut
540 724
541sub mon_guard { 725sub mon_guard {
542 my ($port, @refs) = @_; 726 my ($port, @refs) = @_;
543 727
728 #TODO: mon-less form?
729
544 mon $port, sub { 0 && @refs } 730 mon $port, sub { 0 && @refs }
545} 731}
546 732
547=item lnk $port1, $port2
548
549Link two ports. This is simply a shorthand for:
550
551 mon $port1, $port2;
552 mon $port2, $port1;
553
554It means that if either one is killed abnormally, the other one gets
555killed as well.
556
557=item kil $port[, @reason] 733=item kil $port[, @reason]
558 734
559Kill the specified port with the given C<@reason>. 735Kill the specified port with the given C<@reason>.
560 736
561If no C<@reason> is specified, then the port is killed "normally" (linked 737If no C<@reason> is specified, then the port is killed "normally" -
562ports will not be kileld, or even notified). 738monitor callback will be invoked, but the kil will not cause linked ports
739(C<mon $mport, $lport> form) to get killed.
563 740
564Otherwise, linked ports get killed with the same reason (second form of 741If a C<@reason> is specified, then linked ports (C<mon $mport, $lport>
565C<mon>, see below). 742form) get killed with the same reason.
566 743
567Runtime errors while evaluating C<rcv> callbacks or inside C<psub> blocks 744Runtime errors while evaluating C<rcv> callbacks or inside C<psub> blocks
568will be reported as reason C<< die => $@ >>. 745will be reported as reason C<< die => $@ >>.
569 746
570Transport/communication errors are reported as C<< transport_error => 747Transport/communication errors are reported as C<< transport_error =>
571$message >>. 748$message >>.
572 749
750Common idioms:
751
752 # silently remove yourself, do not kill linked ports
753 kil $SELF;
754
755 # report a failure in some detail
756 kil $SELF, failure_mode_1 => "it failed with too high temperature";
757
758 # do not waste much time with killing, just die when something goes wrong
759 open my $fh, "<file"
760 or die "file: $!";
761
762=item $port = spawn $node, $initfunc[, @initdata]
763
764Creates a port on the node C<$node> (which can also be a port ID, in which
765case it's the node where that port resides).
766
767The port ID of the newly created port is returned immediately, and it is
768possible to immediately start sending messages or to monitor the port.
769
770After the port has been created, the init function is called on the remote
771node, in the same context as a C<rcv> callback. This function must be a
772fully-qualified function name (e.g. C<MyApp::Chat::Server::init>). To
773specify a function in the main program, use C<::name>.
774
775If the function doesn't exist, then the node tries to C<require>
776the package, then the package above the package and so on (e.g.
777C<MyApp::Chat::Server>, C<MyApp::Chat>, C<MyApp>) until the function
778exists or it runs out of package names.
779
780The init function is then called with the newly-created port as context
781object (C<$SELF>) and the C<@initdata> values as arguments. It I<must>
782call one of the C<rcv> functions to set callbacks on C<$SELF>, otherwise
783the port might not get created.
784
785A common idiom is to pass a local port, immediately monitor the spawned
786port, and in the remote init function, immediately monitor the passed
787local port. This two-way monitoring ensures that both ports get cleaned up
788when there is a problem.
789
790C<spawn> guarantees that the C<$initfunc> has no visible effects on the
791caller before C<spawn> returns (by delaying invocation when spawn is
792called for the local node).
793
794Example: spawn a chat server port on C<$othernode>.
795
796 # this node, executed from within a port context:
797 my $server = spawn $othernode, "MyApp::Chat::Server::connect", $SELF;
798 mon $server;
799
800 # init function on C<$othernode>
801 sub connect {
802 my ($srcport) = @_;
803
804 mon $srcport;
805
806 rcv $SELF, sub {
807 ...
808 };
809 }
810
811=cut
812
813sub _spawn {
814 my $port = shift;
815 my $init = shift;
816
817 # rcv will create the actual port
818 local $SELF = "$NODE#$port";
819 eval {
820 &{ load_func $init }
821 };
822 _self_die if $@;
823}
824
825sub spawn(@) {
826 my ($nodeid, undef) = split /#/, shift, 2;
827
828 my $id = $RUNIQ . ++$ID;
829
830 $_[0] =~ /::/
831 or Carp::croak "spawn init function must be a fully-qualified name, caught";
832
833 snd_to_func $nodeid, "AnyEvent::MP::_spawn" => $id, @_;
834
835 "$nodeid#$id"
836}
837
838
839=item after $timeout, @msg
840
841=item after $timeout, $callback
842
843Either sends the given message, or call the given callback, after the
844specified number of seconds.
845
846This is simply a utility function that comes in handy at times - the
847AnyEvent::MP author is not convinced of the wisdom of having it, though,
848so it may go away in the future.
849
850=cut
851
852sub after($@) {
853 my ($timeout, @action) = @_;
854
855 my $t; $t = AE::timer $timeout, 0, sub {
856 undef $t;
857 ref $action[0]
858 ? $action[0]()
859 : snd @action;
860 };
861}
862
863#=item $cb2 = timeout $seconds, $cb[, @args]
864
865=item cal $port, @msg, $callback[, $timeout]
866
867A simple form of RPC - sends a message to the given C<$port> with the
868given contents (C<@msg>), but adds a reply port to the message.
869
870The reply port is created temporarily just for the purpose of receiving
871the reply, and will be C<kil>ed when no longer needed.
872
873A reply message sent to the port is passed to the C<$callback> as-is.
874
875If an optional time-out (in seconds) is given and it is not C<undef>,
876then the callback will be called without any arguments after the time-out
877elapsed and the port is C<kil>ed.
878
879If no time-out is given (or it is C<undef>), then the local port will
880monitor the remote port instead, so it eventually gets cleaned-up.
881
882Currently this function returns the temporary port, but this "feature"
883might go in future versions unless you can make a convincing case that
884this is indeed useful for something.
885
886=cut
887
888sub cal(@) {
889 my $timeout = ref $_[-1] ? undef : pop;
890 my $cb = pop;
891
892 my $port = port {
893 undef $timeout;
894 kil $SELF;
895 &$cb;
896 };
897
898 if (defined $timeout) {
899 $timeout = AE::timer $timeout, 0, sub {
900 undef $timeout;
901 kil $port;
902 $cb->();
903 };
904 } else {
905 mon $_[0], sub {
906 kil $port;
907 $cb->();
908 };
909 }
910
911 push @_, $port;
912 &snd;
913
914 $port
915}
916
573=back 917=back
574 918
575=head1 NODE MESSAGES 919=head1 DISTRIBUTED DATABASE
576 920
577Nodes understand the following messages sent to them. Many of them take 921AnyEvent::MP comes with a simple distributed database. The database will
578arguments called C<@reply>, which will simply be used to compose a reply 922be mirrored asynchronously on all global nodes. Other nodes bind to one
579message - C<$reply[0]> is the port to reply to, C<$reply[1]> the type and 923of the global nodes for their needs. Every node has a "local database"
580the remaining arguments are simply the message data. 924which contains all the values that are set locally. All local databases
925are merged together to form the global database, which can be queried.
581 926
582While other messages exist, they are not public and subject to change. 927The database structure is that of a two-level hash - the database hash
928contains hashes which contain values, similarly to a perl hash of hashes,
929i.e.:
583 930
931 $DATABASE{$family}{$subkey} = $value
932
933The top level hash key is called "family", and the second-level hash key
934is called "subkey" or simply "key".
935
936The family must be alphanumeric, i.e. start with a letter and consist
937of letters, digits, underscores and colons (C<[A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9_:]*>,
938pretty much like Perl module names.
939
940As the family namespace is global, it is recommended to prefix family names
941with the name of the application or module using it.
942
943The subkeys must be non-empty strings, with no further restrictions.
944
945The values should preferably be strings, but other perl scalars should
946work as well (such as C<undef>, arrays and hashes).
947
948Every database entry is owned by one node - adding the same family/subkey
949combination on multiple nodes will not cause discomfort for AnyEvent::MP,
950but the result might be nondeterministic, i.e. the key might have
951different values on different nodes.
952
953Different subkeys in the same family can be owned by different nodes
954without problems, and in fact, this is the common method to create worker
955pools. For example, a worker port for image scaling might do this:
956
957 db_set my_image_scalers => $port;
958
959And clients looking for an image scaler will want to get the
960C<my_image_scalers> keys from time to time:
961
962 db_keys my_image_scalers => sub {
963 @ports = @{ $_[0] };
964 };
965
966Or better yet, they want to monitor the database family, so they always
967have a reasonable up-to-date copy:
968
969 db_mon my_image_scalers => sub {
970 @ports = keys %{ $_[0] };
971 };
972
973In general, you can set or delete single subkeys, but query and monitor
974whole families only.
975
976If you feel the need to monitor or query a single subkey, try giving it
977it's own family.
978
584=over 4 979=over
980
981=item $guard = db_set $family => $subkey [=> $value]
982
983Sets (or replaces) a key to the database - if C<$value> is omitted,
984C<undef> is used instead.
985
986When called in non-void context, C<db_set> returns a guard that
987automatically calls C<db_del> when it is destroyed.
988
989=item db_del $family => $subkey...
990
991Deletes one or more subkeys from the database family.
992
993=item $guard = db_reg $family => $port => $value
994
995=item $guard = db_reg $family => $port
996
997=item $guard = db_reg $family
998
999Registers a port in the given family and optionally returns a guard to
1000remove it.
1001
1002This function basically does the same as:
1003
1004 db_set $family => $port => $value
1005
1006Except that the port is monitored and automatically removed from the
1007database family when it is kil'ed.
1008
1009If C<$value> is missing, C<undef> is used. If C<$port> is missing, then
1010C<$SELF> is used.
1011
1012This function is most useful to register a port in some port group (which
1013is just another name for a database family), and have it removed when the
1014port is gone. This works best when the port is a local port.
585 1015
586=cut 1016=cut
587 1017
588=item lookup => $name, @reply 1018sub db_reg($$;$) {
1019 my $family = shift;
1020 my $port = @_ ? shift : $SELF;
589 1021
590Replies with the port ID of the specified well-known port, or C<undef>. 1022 my $clr = sub { db_del $family => $port };
1023 mon $port, $clr;
591 1024
592=item devnull => ... 1025 db_set $family => $port => $_[0];
593 1026
594Generic data sink/CPU heat conversion. 1027 defined wantarray
1028 and &Guard::guard ($clr)
1029}
595 1030
596=item relay => $port, @msg 1031=item db_family $family => $cb->(\%familyhash)
597 1032
598Simply forwards the message to the given port. 1033Queries the named database C<$family> and call the callback with the
1034family represented as a hash. You can keep and freely modify the hash.
599 1035
600=item eval => $string[ @reply] 1036=item db_keys $family => $cb->(\@keys)
601 1037
602Evaluates the given string. If C<@reply> is given, then a message of the 1038Same as C<db_family>, except it only queries the family I<subkeys> and passes
603form C<@reply, $@, @evalres> is sent. 1039them as array reference to the callback.
604 1040
605Example: crash another node. 1041=item db_values $family => $cb->(\@values)
606 1042
607 snd $othernode, eval => "exit"; 1043Same as C<db_family>, except it only queries the family I<values> and passes them
1044as array reference to the callback.
608 1045
609=item time => @reply 1046=item $guard = db_mon $family => $cb->($familyhash, \@added, \@changed, \@deleted)
610 1047
611Replies the the current node time to C<@reply>. 1048Creates a monitor on the given database family. Each time a key is set
1049or or is deleted the callback is called with a hash containing the
1050database family and three lists of added, changed and deleted subkeys,
1051respectively. If no keys have changed then the array reference might be
1052C<undef> or even missing.
612 1053
613Example: tell the current node to send the current time to C<$myport> in a 1054If not called in void context, a guard object is returned that, when
614C<timereply> message. 1055destroyed, stops the monitor.
615 1056
616 snd $NODE, time => $myport, timereply => 1, 2; 1057The family hash reference and the key arrays belong to AnyEvent::MP and
617 # => snd $myport, timereply => 1, 2, <time> 1058B<must not be modified or stored> by the callback. When in doubt, make a
1059copy.
1060
1061As soon as possible after the monitoring starts, the callback will be
1062called with the intiial contents of the family, even if it is empty,
1063i.e. there will always be a timely call to the callback with the current
1064contents.
1065
1066It is possible that the callback is called with a change event even though
1067the subkey is already present and the value has not changed.
1068
1069The monitoring stops when the guard object is destroyed.
1070
1071Example: on every change to the family "mygroup", print out all keys.
1072
1073 my $guard = db_mon mygroup => sub {
1074 my ($family, $a, $c, $d) = @_;
1075 print "mygroup members: ", (join " ", keys %$family), "\n";
1076 };
1077
1078Exmaple: wait until the family "My::Module::workers" is non-empty.
1079
1080 my $guard; $guard = db_mon My::Module::workers => sub {
1081 my ($family, $a, $c, $d) = @_;
1082 return unless %$family;
1083 undef $guard;
1084 print "My::Module::workers now nonempty\n";
1085 };
1086
1087Example: print all changes to the family "AnyRvent::Fantasy::Module".
1088
1089 my $guard = db_mon AnyRvent::Fantasy::Module => sub {
1090 my ($family, $a, $c, $d) = @_;
1091
1092 print "+$_=$family->{$_}\n" for @$a;
1093 print "*$_=$family->{$_}\n" for @$c;
1094 print "-$_=$family->{$_}\n" for @$d;
1095 };
1096
1097=cut
618 1098
619=back 1099=back
620 1100
621=head1 AnyEvent::MP vs. Distributed Erlang 1101=head1 AnyEvent::MP vs. Distributed Erlang
622 1102
623AnyEvent::MP got lots of its ideas from distributed erlang (erlang node 1103AnyEvent::MP got lots of its ideas from distributed Erlang (Erlang node
624== aemp node, erlang process == aemp port), so many of the documents and 1104== aemp node, Erlang process == aemp port), so many of the documents and
625programming techniques employed by erlang apply to AnyEvent::MP. Here is a 1105programming techniques employed by Erlang apply to AnyEvent::MP. Here is a
626sample: 1106sample:
627 1107
628 http://www.erlang.se/doc/programming_rules.shtml 1108 http://www.erlang.se/doc/programming_rules.shtml
629 http://erlang.org/doc/getting_started/part_frame.html # chapters 3 and 4 1109 http://erlang.org/doc/getting_started/part_frame.html # chapters 3 and 4
630 http://erlang.org/download/erlang-book-part1.pdf # chapters 5 and 6 1110 http://erlang.org/download/erlang-book-part1.pdf # chapters 5 and 6
632 1112
633Despite the similarities, there are also some important differences: 1113Despite the similarities, there are also some important differences:
634 1114
635=over 4 1115=over 4
636 1116
637=item * Node references contain the recipe on how to contact them. 1117=item * Node IDs are arbitrary strings in AEMP.
638 1118
639Erlang relies on special naming and DNS to work everywhere in the 1119Erlang relies on special naming and DNS to work everywhere in the same
640same way. AEMP relies on each node knowing it's own address(es), with 1120way. AEMP relies on each node somehow knowing its own address(es) (e.g. by
641convenience functionality. 1121configuration or DNS), and possibly the addresses of some seed nodes, but
1122will otherwise discover other nodes (and their IDs) itself.
642 1123
643This means that AEMP requires a less tightly controlled environment at the 1124=item * Erlang has a "remote ports are like local ports" philosophy, AEMP
644cost of longer node references and a slightly higher management overhead. 1125uses "local ports are like remote ports".
1126
1127The failure modes for local ports are quite different (runtime errors
1128only) then for remote ports - when a local port dies, you I<know> it dies,
1129when a connection to another node dies, you know nothing about the other
1130port.
1131
1132Erlang pretends remote ports are as reliable as local ports, even when
1133they are not.
1134
1135AEMP encourages a "treat remote ports differently" philosophy, with local
1136ports being the special case/exception, where transport errors cannot
1137occur.
645 1138
646=item * Erlang uses processes and a mailbox, AEMP does not queue. 1139=item * Erlang uses processes and a mailbox, AEMP does not queue.
647 1140
648Erlang uses processes that selctively receive messages, and therefore 1141Erlang uses processes that selectively receive messages out of order, and
649needs a queue. AEMP is event based, queuing messages would serve no useful 1142therefore needs a queue. AEMP is event based, queuing messages would serve
650purpose. 1143no useful purpose. For the same reason the pattern-matching abilities
1144of AnyEvent::MP are more limited, as there is little need to be able to
1145filter messages without dequeuing them.
651 1146
652(But see L<Coro::MP> for a more erlang-like process model on top of AEMP). 1147This is not a philosophical difference, but simply stems from AnyEvent::MP
1148being event-based, while Erlang is process-based.
1149
1150You cna have a look at L<Coro::MP> for a more Erlang-like process model on
1151top of AEMP and Coro threads.
653 1152
654=item * Erlang sends are synchronous, AEMP sends are asynchronous. 1153=item * Erlang sends are synchronous, AEMP sends are asynchronous.
655 1154
656Sending messages in erlang is synchronous and blocks the process. AEMP 1155Sending messages in Erlang is synchronous and blocks the process until
657sends are immediate, connection establishment is handled in the 1156a conenction has been established and the message sent (and so does not
658background. 1157need a queue that can overflow). AEMP sends return immediately, connection
1158establishment is handled in the background.
659 1159
660=item * Erlang can silently lose messages, AEMP cannot. 1160=item * Erlang suffers from silent message loss, AEMP does not.
661 1161
662Erlang makes few guarantees on messages delivery - messages can get lost 1162Erlang implements few guarantees on messages delivery - messages can get
663without any of the processes realising it (i.e. you send messages a, b, 1163lost without any of the processes realising it (i.e. you send messages a,
664and c, and the other side only receives messages a and c). 1164b, and c, and the other side only receives messages a and c).
665 1165
666AEMP guarantees correct ordering, and the guarantee that there are no 1166AEMP guarantees (modulo hardware errors) correct ordering, and the
1167guarantee that after one message is lost, all following ones sent to the
1168same port are lost as well, until monitoring raises an error, so there are
667holes in the message sequence. 1169no silent "holes" in the message sequence.
668 1170
669=item * In erlang, processes can be declared dead and later be found to be 1171If you want your software to be very reliable, you have to cope with
670alive. 1172corrupted and even out-of-order messages in both Erlang and AEMP. AEMP
671 1173simply tries to work better in common error cases, such as when a network
672In erlang it can happen that a monitored process is declared dead and 1174link goes down.
673linked processes get killed, but later it turns out that the process is
674still alive - and can receive messages.
675
676In AEMP, when port monitoring detects a port as dead, then that port will
677eventually be killed - it cannot happen that a node detects a port as dead
678and then later sends messages to it, finding it is still alive.
679 1175
680=item * Erlang can send messages to the wrong port, AEMP does not. 1176=item * Erlang can send messages to the wrong port, AEMP does not.
681 1177
682In erlang it is quite possible that a node that restarts reuses a process 1178In Erlang it is quite likely that a node that restarts reuses an Erlang
683ID known to other nodes for a completely different process, causing 1179process ID known to other nodes for a completely different process,
684messages destined for that process to end up in an unrelated process. 1180causing messages destined for that process to end up in an unrelated
1181process.
685 1182
686AEMP never reuses port IDs, so old messages or old port IDs floating 1183AEMP does not reuse port IDs, so old messages or old port IDs floating
687around in the network will not be sent to an unrelated port. 1184around in the network will not be sent to an unrelated port.
688 1185
689=item * Erlang uses unprotected connections, AEMP uses secure 1186=item * Erlang uses unprotected connections, AEMP uses secure
690authentication and can use TLS. 1187authentication and can use TLS.
691 1188
692AEMP can use a proven protocol - SSL/TLS - to protect connections and 1189AEMP can use a proven protocol - TLS - to protect connections and
693securely authenticate nodes. 1190securely authenticate nodes.
694 1191
695=item * The AEMP protocol is optimised for both text-based and binary 1192=item * The AEMP protocol is optimised for both text-based and binary
696communications. 1193communications.
697 1194
698The AEMP protocol, unlike the erlang protocol, supports both 1195The AEMP protocol, unlike the Erlang protocol, supports both programming
699language-independent text-only protocols (good for debugging) and binary, 1196language independent text-only protocols (good for debugging), and binary,
700language-specific serialisers (e.g. Storable). 1197language-specific serialisers (e.g. Storable). By default, unless TLS is
1198used, the protocol is actually completely text-based.
701 1199
702It has also been carefully designed to be implementable in other languages 1200It has also been carefully designed to be implementable in other languages
703with a minimum of work while gracefully degrading fucntionality to make the 1201with a minimum of work while gracefully degrading functionality to make the
704protocol simple. 1202protocol simple.
705 1203
1204=item * AEMP has more flexible monitoring options than Erlang.
1205
1206In Erlang, you can chose to receive I<all> exit signals as messages or
1207I<none>, there is no in-between, so monitoring single Erlang processes is
1208difficult to implement.
1209
1210Monitoring in AEMP is more flexible than in Erlang, as one can choose
1211between automatic kill, exit message or callback on a per-port basis.
1212
1213=item * Erlang tries to hide remote/local connections, AEMP does not.
1214
1215Monitoring in Erlang is not an indicator of process death/crashes, in the
1216same way as linking is (except linking is unreliable in Erlang).
1217
1218In AEMP, you don't "look up" registered port names or send to named ports
1219that might or might not be persistent. Instead, you normally spawn a port
1220on the remote node. The init function monitors you, and you monitor the
1221remote port. Since both monitors are local to the node, they are much more
1222reliable (no need for C<spawn_link>).
1223
1224This also saves round-trips and avoids sending messages to the wrong port
1225(hard to do in Erlang).
1226
706=back 1227=back
707 1228
1229=head1 RATIONALE
1230
1231=over 4
1232
1233=item Why strings for port and node IDs, why not objects?
1234
1235We considered "objects", but found that the actual number of methods
1236that can be called are quite low. Since port and node IDs travel over
1237the network frequently, the serialising/deserialising would add lots of
1238overhead, as well as having to keep a proxy object everywhere.
1239
1240Strings can easily be printed, easily serialised etc. and need no special
1241procedures to be "valid".
1242
1243And as a result, a port with just a default receiver consists of a single
1244code reference stored in a global hash - it can't become much cheaper.
1245
1246=item Why favour JSON, why not a real serialising format such as Storable?
1247
1248In fact, any AnyEvent::MP node will happily accept Storable as framing
1249format, but currently there is no way to make a node use Storable by
1250default (although all nodes will accept it).
1251
1252The default framing protocol is JSON because a) JSON::XS is many times
1253faster for small messages and b) most importantly, after years of
1254experience we found that object serialisation is causing more problems
1255than it solves: Just like function calls, objects simply do not travel
1256easily over the network, mostly because they will always be a copy, so you
1257always have to re-think your design.
1258
1259Keeping your messages simple, concentrating on data structures rather than
1260objects, will keep your messages clean, tidy and efficient.
1261
1262=back
1263
1264=head1 PORTING FROM AnyEvent::MP VERSION 1.X
1265
1266AEMP version 2 has a few major incompatible changes compared to version 1:
1267
1268=over 4
1269
1270=item AnyEvent::MP::Global no longer has group management functions.
1271
1272AnyEvent::MP now comes with a distributed database that is more
1273powerful. Its database families map closely to port groups, but the API
1274has changed (the functions are also now exported by AnyEvent::MP). Here is
1275a rough porting guide:
1276
1277 grp_reg $group, $port # old
1278 db_reg $group, $port # new
1279
1280 $list = grp_get $group # old
1281 db_keys $group, sub { my $list = shift } # new
1282
1283 grp_mon $group, $cb->(\@ports, $add, $del) # old
1284 db_mon $group, $cb->(\%ports, $add, $change, $del) # new
1285
1286C<grp_reg> is a no-brainer (just replace by C<db_reg>), but C<grp_get> is
1287no longer instant, because the local node might not have a copy of the
1288group. You can either modify your code to allow for a callback, or use
1289C<db_mon> to keep an updated copy of the group:
1290
1291 my $local_group_copy;
1292 db_mon $group => sub { $local_group_copy = $_[0] };
1293
1294 # now "keys %$local_group_copy" always returns the most up-to-date
1295 # list of ports in the group.
1296
1297C<grp_mon> can be replaced by C<db_mon> with minor changes - C<db_mon>
1298passes a hash as first argument, and an extra C<$chg> argument that can be
1299ignored:
1300
1301 db_mon $group => sub {
1302 my ($ports, $add, $chg, $lde) = @_;
1303 $ports = [keys %$ports];
1304
1305 # now $ports, $add and $del are the same as
1306 # were originally passed by grp_mon.
1307 ...
1308 };
1309
1310=item Nodes not longer connect to all other nodes.
1311
1312In AEMP 1.x, every node automatically loads the L<AnyEvent::MP::Global>
1313module, which in turn would create connections to all other nodes in the
1314network (helped by the seed nodes).
1315
1316In version 2.x, global nodes still connect to all other global nodes, but
1317other nodes don't - now every node either is a global node itself, or
1318attaches itself to another global node.
1319
1320If a node isn't a global node itself, then it attaches itself to one
1321of its seed nodes. If that seed node isn't a global node yet, it will
1322automatically be upgraded to a global node.
1323
1324So in many cases, nothing needs to be changed - one just has to make sure
1325that all seed nodes are meshed together with the other seed nodes (as with
1326AEMP 1.x), and other nodes specify them as seed nodes. This is most easily
1327achieved by specifying the same set of seed nodes for all nodes in the
1328network.
1329
1330Not opening a connection to every other node is usually an advantage,
1331except when you need the lower latency of an already established
1332connection. To ensure a node establishes a connection to another node,
1333you can monitor the node port (C<mon $node, ...>), which will attempt to
1334create the connection (and notify you when the connection fails).
1335
1336=item Listener-less nodes (nodes without binds) are gone.
1337
1338And are not coming back, at least not in their old form. If no C<binds>
1339are specified for a node, AnyEvent::MP assumes a default of C<*:*>.
1340
1341There are vague plans to implement some form of routing domains, which
1342might or might not bring back listener-less nodes, but don't count on it.
1343
1344The fact that most connections are now optional somewhat mitigates this,
1345as a node can be effectively unreachable from the outside without any
1346problems, as long as it isn't a global node and only reaches out to other
1347nodes (as opposed to being contacted from other nodes).
1348
1349=item $AnyEvent::MP::Kernel::WARN has gone.
1350
1351AnyEvent has acquired a logging framework (L<AnyEvent::Log>), and AEMP now
1352uses this, and so should your programs.
1353
1354Every module now documents what kinds of messages it generates, with
1355AnyEvent::MP acting as a catch all.
1356
1357On the positive side, this means that instead of setting
1358C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MP_WARNLEVEL>, you can get away by setting C<AE_VERBOSE> -
1359much less to type.
1360
1361=back
1362
1363=head1 LOGGING
1364
1365AnyEvent::MP does not normally log anything by itself, but sinc eit is the
1366root of the contetx hierarchy for AnyEvent::MP modules, it will receive
1367all log messages by submodules.
1368
708=head1 SEE ALSO 1369=head1 SEE ALSO
1370
1371L<AnyEvent::MP::Intro> - a gentle introduction.
1372
1373L<AnyEvent::MP::Kernel> - more, lower-level, stuff.
1374
1375L<AnyEvent::MP::Global> - network maintenance and port groups, to find
1376your applications.
1377
1378L<AnyEvent::MP::DataConn> - establish data connections between nodes.
1379
1380L<AnyEvent::MP::LogCatcher> - simple service to display log messages from
1381all nodes.
709 1382
710L<AnyEvent>. 1383L<AnyEvent>.
711 1384
712=head1 AUTHOR 1385=head1 AUTHOR
713 1386

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