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Revision 1.4 by root, Sat Aug 1 07:36:30 2009 UTC vs.
Revision 1.65 by root, Fri Aug 28 01:00:34 2009 UTC

4 4
5=head1 SYNOPSIS 5=head1 SYNOPSIS
6 6
7 use AnyEvent::MP; 7 use AnyEvent::MP;
8 8
9 NODE # returns this node identifier
10 $NODE # contains this node identifier 9 $NODE # contains this node's noderef
10 NODE # returns this node's noderef
11 NODE $port # returns the noderef of the port
11 12
13 $SELF # receiving/own port id in rcv callbacks
14
15 # initialise the node so it can send/receive messages
16 initialise_node;
17
18 # ports are message endpoints
19
20 # sending messages
12 snd $port, type => data...; 21 snd $port, type => data...;
22 snd $port, @msg;
23 snd @msg_with_first_element_being_a_port;
13 24
14 rcv $port, smartmatch => $cb->($port, @msg); 25 # creating/using ports, the simple way
26 my $simple_port = port { my @msg = @_; 0 };
15 27
16 # examples: 28 # creating/using ports, tagged message matching
29 my $port = port;
17 rcv $port2, ping => sub { snd $_[0], "pong"; 0 }; 30 rcv $port, ping => sub { snd $_[0], "pong"; 0 };
18 rcv $port1, pong => sub { warn "pong received\n" }; 31 rcv $port, pong => sub { warn "pong received\n"; 0 };
19 snd $port2, ping => $port1;
20 32
21 # more, smarter, matches (_any_ is exported by this module) 33 # create a port on another node
22 rcv $port, [child_died => $pid] => sub { ... 34 my $port = spawn $node, $initfunc, @initdata;
23 rcv $port, [_any_, _any_, 3] => sub { .. $_[2] is 3 35
36 # monitoring
37 mon $port, $cb->(@msg) # callback is invoked on death
38 mon $port, $otherport # kill otherport on abnormal death
39 mon $port, $otherport, @msg # send message on death
40
41=head1 CURRENT STATUS
42
43 AnyEvent::MP - stable API, should work
44 AnyEvent::MP::Intro - outdated
45 AnyEvent::MP::Kernel - WIP
46 AnyEvent::MP::Transport - mostly stable
47
48 stay tuned.
24 49
25=head1 DESCRIPTION 50=head1 DESCRIPTION
26 51
27This module (-family) implements a simple message passing framework. 52This module (-family) implements a simple message passing framework.
28 53
29Despite its simplicity, you can securely message other processes running 54Despite its simplicity, you can securely message other processes running
30on the same or other hosts. 55on the same or other hosts.
31 56
57For an introduction to this module family, see the L<AnyEvent::MP::Intro>
58manual page.
59
60At the moment, this module family is severly broken and underdocumented,
61so do not use. This was uploaded mainly to reserve the CPAN namespace -
62stay tuned!
63
32=head1 CONCEPTS 64=head1 CONCEPTS
33 65
34=over 4 66=over 4
35 67
36=item port 68=item port
37 69
38A 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).
39you can register C<rcv> handlers with. All C<rcv> handlers will receive
40messages they match, messages will not be queued.
41 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
42=item port id - C<noderef#portname> 76=item port ID - C<noderef#portname>
43 77
44A port id is always the noderef, a hash-mark (C<#>) as separator, followed 78A port ID is the concatenation of a noderef, a hash-mark (C<#>) as
45by a port name (a printable string of unspecified format). 79separator, and a port name (a printable string of unspecified format). An
80exception is the the node port, whose ID is identical to its node
81reference.
46 82
47=item node 83=item node
48 84
49A node is a single process containing at least one port - the node 85A node is a single process containing at least one port - the node port,
50port. You can send messages to node ports to let them create new ports, 86which provides nodes to manage each other remotely, and to create new
51among other things. 87ports.
52 88
53Initially, nodes are either private (single-process only) or hidden 89Nodes are either private (single-process only), slaves (can only talk to
54(connected to a master node only). Only when they epxlicitly "become 90public nodes, but do not need an open port) or public nodes (connectable
55public" can you send them messages from unrelated other nodes. 91from any other node).
56 92
57=item noderef - C<host:port,host:port...>, C<id@noderef, C<id> 93=item node ID - C<[a-za-Z0-9_\-.:]+>
58 94
59A noderef is a string that either uniquely identifies a given node (for 95A node ID is a string that uniquely identifies the node within a
60private and hidden nodes), or contains a recipe on how to reach a given 96network. Depending on the configuration used, node IDs can look like a
61node (for public nodes). 97hostname, a hostname and a port, or a random string. AnyEvent::MP itself
98doesn't interpret node IDs in any way.
99
100=item binds - C<ip:port>
101
102Nodes can only talk to each other by creating some kind of connection to
103each other. To do this, nodes should listen on one or more local transport
104endpoints - binds. Currently, only standard C<ip:port> specifications can
105be used, which specify TCP ports to listen on.
106
107=item seeds - C<host:port>
108
109When a node starts, it knows nothing about the network. To teach the node
110about the network it first has to contact some other node within the
111network. This node is called a seed.
112
113Seeds are transport endpoint(s) of as many nodes as one wants. Those nodes
114are expected to be long-running, and at least one of those should always
115be available. When nodes run out of connections (e.g. due to a network
116error), they try to re-establish connections to some seednodes again to
117join the network.
62 118
63=back 119=back
64 120
65=head1 VARIABLES/FUNCTIONS 121=head1 VARIABLES/FUNCTIONS
66 122
68 124
69=cut 125=cut
70 126
71package AnyEvent::MP; 127package AnyEvent::MP;
72 128
73use AnyEvent::MP::Util ();
74use AnyEvent::MP::Node; 129use AnyEvent::MP::Kernel;
75use AnyEvent::MP::Transport;
76 130
77use utf8;
78use common::sense; 131use common::sense;
79 132
80use Carp (); 133use Carp ();
81 134
82use AE (); 135use AE ();
83 136
84use base "Exporter"; 137use base "Exporter";
85 138
86our $VERSION = '0.0'; 139our $VERSION = $AnyEvent::MP::Kernel::VERSION;
87our @EXPORT = qw(NODE $NODE $PORT snd rcv _any_);
88 140
89our $DEFAULT_SECRET; 141our @EXPORT = qw(
90our $DEFAULT_PORT = "4040"; 142 NODE $NODE *SELF node_of after
143 resolve_node initialise_node
144 snd rcv mon mon_guard kil reg psub spawn
145 port
146);
91 147
92our $CONNECT_INTERVAL = 5; # new connect every 5s, at least 148our $SELF;
93our $CONNECT_TIMEOUT = 30; # includes handshake
94 149
95sub default_secret { 150sub _self_die() {
96 unless (defined $DEFAULT_SECRET) { 151 my $msg = $@;
97 if (open my $fh, "<$ENV{HOME}/.aemp-secret") { 152 $msg =~ s/\n+$// unless ref $msg;
98 sysread $fh, $DEFAULT_SECRET, -s $fh; 153 kil $SELF, die => $msg;
99 } else {
100 $DEFAULT_SECRET = AnyEvent::MP::Util::nonce 32;
101 }
102 }
103
104 $DEFAULT_SECRET
105} 154}
106 155
107=item NODE / $NODE 156=item $thisnode = NODE / $NODE
108 157
109The C<NODE ()> function and the C<$NODE> variable contain the noderef of 158The C<NODE> function returns, and the C<$NODE> variable contains the node
110the local node. The value is initialised by a call to C<become_public> or 159ID of the node running in the current process. This value is initialised by
111C<become_slave>, after which all local port identifiers become invalid. 160a call to C<initialise_node>.
112 161
113=cut 162=item $nodeid = node_of $port
114 163
115our $UNIQ = sprintf "%x.%x", $$, time; # per-process/node unique cookie 164Extracts and returns the node ID part from a port ID or a node ID.
116our $PUBLIC = 0;
117our $NODE;
118our $PORT;
119 165
120our %NODE; # node id to transport mapping, or "undef", for local node 166=item initialise_node $profile_name
121our %PORT; # local ports
122our %LISTENER; # local transports
123 167
124sub NODE() { $NODE } 168Before a node can talk to other nodes on the network (i.e. enter
169"distributed mode") it has to initialise itself - the minimum a node needs
170to know is its own name, and optionally it should know the addresses of
171some other nodes in the network to discover other nodes.
125 172
126{ 173This function initialises a node - it must be called exactly once (or
127 use POSIX (); 174never) before calling other AnyEvent::MP functions.
128 my $nodename = (POSIX::uname)[1];
129 $NODE = "$$\@$nodename";
130}
131 175
132sub _ANY_() { 1 } 176The first argument is a profile name. If it is C<undef> or missing, then
133sub _any_() { \&_ANY_ } 177the current nodename will be used instead (i.e. F<uname -n>).
134 178
135sub add_node { 179The function then looks up the profile in the aemp configuration (see the
136 my ($noderef) = @_; 180L<aemp> commandline utility).
137 181
138 return $NODE{$noderef} 182If the profile specifies a node ID, then this will become the node ID of
139 if exists $NODE{$noderef}; 183this process. If not, then the profile name will be used as node ID. The
184special node ID of C<anon/> will be replaced by a random node ID.
140 185
141 for (split /,/, $noderef) { 186The next step is to look up the binds in the profile, followed by binding
142 return $NODE{$noderef} = $NODE{$_} 187aemp protocol listeners on all binds specified (it is possible and valid
143 if exists $NODE{$_}; 188to have no binds, meaning that the node cannot be contacted form the
144 } 189outside. This means the node cannot talk to other nodes that also have no
190binds, but it can still talk to all "normal" nodes).
145 191
146 # for indirect sends, use a different class 192If the profile does not specify a binds list, then the node ID will be
147 my $node = new AnyEvent::MP::Node::Direct $noderef; 193treated as if it were of the form C<host:port>, which will be resolved and
194used as binds list.
148 195
149 $NODE{$_} = $node 196Lastly, the seeds list from the profile is passed to the
150 for $noderef, split /,/, $noderef; 197L<AnyEvent::MP::Global> module, which will then use it to keep
198connectivity with at least on of those seed nodes at any point in time.
151 199
152 $node 200Example: become a distributed node listening on the guessed noderef, or
153} 201the one specified via C<aemp> for the current node. This should be the
202most common form of invocation for "daemon"-type nodes.
154 203
204 initialise_node;
205
206Example: become an anonymous node. This form is often used for commandline
207clients.
208
209 initialise_node "anon/";
210
211Example: become a distributed node. If there is no profile of the given
212name, or no binds list was specified, resolve C<localhost:4044> and bind
213on the resulting addresses.
214
215 initialise_node "localhost:4044";
216
217=item $SELF
218
219Contains the current port id while executing C<rcv> callbacks or C<psub>
220blocks.
221
222=item SELF, %SELF, @SELF...
223
224Due to some quirks in how perl exports variables, it is impossible to
225just export C<$SELF>, all the symbols called C<SELF> are exported by this
226module, but only C<$SELF> is currently used.
227
155=item snd $portid, type => @data 228=item snd $port, type => @data
156 229
157=item snd $portid, @msg 230=item snd $port, @msg
158 231
159Send the given message to the given port ID, which can identify either a 232Send the given message to the given port ID, which can identify either
160local or a remote port. 233a local or a remote port, and must be a port ID.
161 234
162While the message can be about anything, it is highly recommended to use 235While the message can be about anything, it is highly recommended to use a
163a constant string as first element. 236string as first element (a port ID, or some word that indicates a request
237type etc.).
164 238
165The message data effectively becomes read-only after a call to this 239The message data effectively becomes read-only after a call to this
166function: modifying any argument is not allowed and can cause many 240function: modifying any argument is not allowed and can cause many
167problems. 241problems.
168 242
170JSON is used, then only strings, numbers and arrays and hashes consisting 244JSON is used, then only strings, numbers and arrays and hashes consisting
171of those are allowed (no objects). When Storable is used, then anything 245of those are allowed (no objects). When Storable is used, then anything
172that Storable can serialise and deserialise is allowed, and for the local 246that Storable can serialise and deserialise is allowed, and for the local
173node, anything can be passed. 247node, anything can be passed.
174 248
175=cut 249=item $local_port = port
176 250
177sub snd(@) { 251Create a new local port object and returns its port ID. Initially it has
178 my ($noderef, $port) = split /#/, shift, 2; 252no callbacks set and will throw an error when it receives messages.
179 253
180 add_node $noderef 254=item $local_port = port { my @msg = @_ }
181 unless exists $NODE{$noderef};
182 255
183 $NODE{$noderef}->send (["$port", [@_]]); 256Creates a new local port, and returns its ID. Semantically the same as
184} 257creating a port and calling C<rcv $port, $callback> on it.
185 258
259The block will be called for every message received on the port, with the
260global variable C<$SELF> set to the port ID. Runtime errors will cause the
261port to be C<kil>ed. The message will be passed as-is, no extra argument
262(i.e. no port ID) will be passed to the callback.
263
264If you want to stop/destroy the port, simply C<kil> it:
265
266 my $port = port {
267 my @msg = @_;
268 ...
269 kil $SELF;
270 };
271
272=cut
273
274sub rcv($@);
275
276sub _kilme {
277 die "received message on port without callback";
278}
279
280sub port(;&) {
281 my $id = "$UNIQ." . $ID++;
282 my $port = "$NODE#$id";
283
284 rcv $port, shift || \&_kilme;
285
286 $port
287}
288
186=item rcv $portid, type => $callback->(@msg) 289=item rcv $local_port, $callback->(@msg)
187 290
188=item rcv $portid, $smartmatch => $callback->(@msg) 291Replaces the default callback on the specified port. There is no way to
292remove the default callback: use C<sub { }> to disable it, or better
293C<kil> the port when it is no longer needed.
189 294
190=item rcv $portid, [$smartmatch...] => $callback->(@msg) 295The global C<$SELF> (exported by this module) contains C<$port> while
296executing the callback. Runtime errors during callback execution will
297result in the port being C<kil>ed.
191 298
192Register a callback on the port identified by C<$portid>, which I<must> be 299The default callback received all messages not matched by a more specific
193a local port. 300C<tag> match.
194 301
195The callback has to return a true value when its work is done, after 302=item rcv $local_port, tag => $callback->(@msg_without_tag), ...
196which is will be removed, or a false value in which case it will stay
197registered.
198 303
199If the match is an array reference, then it will be matched against the 304Register (or replace) callbacks to be called on messages starting with the
200first elements of the message, otherwise only the first element is being 305given tag on the given port (and return the port), or unregister it (when
201matched. 306C<$callback> is C<$undef> or missing). There can only be one callback
307registered for each tag.
202 308
203Any element in the match that is specified as C<_any_> (a function 309The original message will be passed to the callback, after the first
204exported by this module) matches any single element of the message. 310element (the tag) has been removed. The callback will use the same
311environment as the default callback (see above).
205 312
206While not required, it is highly recommended that the first matching 313Example: create a port and bind receivers on it in one go.
207element is a string identifying the message. The one-string-only match is 314
208also the most efficient match (by far). 315 my $port = rcv port,
316 msg1 => sub { ... },
317 msg2 => sub { ... },
318 ;
319
320Example: create a port, bind receivers and send it in a message elsewhere
321in one go:
322
323 snd $otherport, reply =>
324 rcv port,
325 msg1 => sub { ... },
326 ...
327 ;
328
329Example: temporarily register a rcv callback for a tag matching some port
330(e.g. for a rpc reply) and unregister it after a message was received.
331
332 rcv $port, $otherport => sub {
333 my @reply = @_;
334
335 rcv $SELF, $otherport;
336 };
209 337
210=cut 338=cut
211 339
212sub rcv($@) { 340sub rcv($@) {
213 my ($port, $match, $cb) = @_; 341 my $port = shift;
214
215 my $port = $PORT{$port}
216 or do {
217 my ($noderef, $lport) = split /#/, $port; 342 my ($noderef, $portid) = split /#/, $port, 2;
218 "AnyEvent::MP::Node::Self" eq ref $NODE{$noderef} 343
344 $NODE{$noderef} == $NODE{""}
219 or Carp::croak "$port: can only rcv on local ports"; 345 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on local ports, caught";
220 346
221 $PORT{$lport} 347 while (@_) {
222 or Carp::croak "$port: port does not exist"; 348 if (ref $_[0]) {
223 349 if (my $self = $PORT_DATA{$portid}) {
224 $PORT{$port} = $PORT{$lport} # also return 350 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
225 }; 351 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
226 352
227 if (!ref $match) { 353 $self->[2] = shift;
228 push @{ $port->{rc0}{$match} }, [$cb];
229 } elsif (("ARRAY" eq ref $match && !ref $match->[0])) {
230 my ($type, @match) = @$match;
231 @match
232 ? push @{ $port->{rcv}{$match->[0]} }, [$cb, \@match]
233 : push @{ $port->{rc0}{$match->[0]} }, [$cb];
234 } else { 354 } else {
235 push @{ $port->{any} }, [$cb, $match]; 355 my $cb = shift;
236 } 356 $PORT{$portid} = sub {
237} 357 local $SELF = $port;
238 358 eval { &$cb }; _self_die if $@;
239sub _inject {
240 my ($port, $msg) = @{+shift};
241
242 $port = $PORT{$port}
243 or return;
244
245 @_ = @$msg;
246
247 for (@{ $port->{rc0}{$msg->[0]} }) {
248 $_ && &{$_->[0]}
249 && undef $_;
250 }
251
252 for (@{ $port->{rcv}{$msg->[0]} }) {
253 $_ && [@_[1..$#{$_->[1]}]] ~~ $_->[1]
254 && &{$_->[0]}
255 && undef $_;
256 }
257
258 for (@{ $port->{any} }) {
259 $_ && [@_[0..$#{$_->[1]}]] ~~ $_->[1]
260 && &{$_->[0]}
261 && undef $_;
262 }
263}
264
265sub normalise_noderef($) {
266 my ($noderef) = @_;
267
268 my $cv = AE::cv;
269 my @res;
270
271 $cv->begin (sub {
272 my %seen;
273 my @refs;
274 for (sort { $a->[0] <=> $b->[0] } @res) {
275 push @refs, $_->[1] unless $seen{$_->[1]}++
276 }
277 shift->send (join ",", @refs);
278 });
279
280 $noderef = $DEFAULT_PORT unless length $noderef;
281
282 my $idx;
283 for my $t (split /,/, $noderef) {
284 my $pri = ++$idx;
285
286 #TODO: this should be outside normalise_noderef and in become_public
287 if ($t =~ /^\d*$/) {
288 my $nodename = (POSIX::uname)[1];
289
290 $cv->begin;
291 AnyEvent::Socket::resolve_sockaddr $nodename, $t || "aemp=$DEFAULT_PORT", "tcp", 0, undef, sub {
292 for (@_) {
293 my ($service, $host) = AnyEvent::Socket::unpack_sockaddr $_->[3];
294 push @res, [
295 $pri += 1e-5,
296 AnyEvent::Socket::format_hostport AnyEvent::Socket::format_address $host, $service
297 ];
298 } 359 };
299 $cv->end; 360 }
361 } elsif (defined $_[0]) {
362 my $self = $PORT_DATA{$portid} ||= do {
363 my $self = bless [$PORT{$port} || sub { }, { }, $port], "AnyEvent::MP::Port";
364
365 $PORT{$portid} = sub {
366 local $SELF = $port;
367
368 if (my $cb = $self->[1]{$_[0]}) {
369 shift;
370 eval { &$cb }; _self_die if $@;
371 } else {
372 &{ $self->[0] };
373 }
374 };
375
376 $self
300 }; 377 };
301 378
302# my (undef, undef, undef, undef, @ipv4) = gethostbyname $nodename; 379 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
303# 380 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
304# for (@ipv4) { 381
305# push @res, [ 382 my ($tag, $cb) = splice @_, 0, 2;
306# $pri, 383
307# AnyEvent::Socket::format_hostport AnyEvent::Socket::format_address $_, $t || $DEFAULT_PORT, 384 if (defined $cb) {
308# ]; 385 $self->[1]{$tag} = $cb;
309# }
310 } else { 386 } else {
311 my ($host, $port) = AnyEvent::Socket::parse_hostport $t, "aemp=$DEFAULT_PORT" 387 delete $self->[1]{$tag};
312 or Carp::croak "$t: unparsable transport descriptor";
313
314 $cv->begin;
315 AnyEvent::Socket::resolve_sockaddr $host, $port, "tcp", 0, undef, sub {
316 for (@_) {
317 my ($service, $host) = AnyEvent::Socket::unpack_sockaddr $_->[3];
318 push @res, [
319 $pri += 1e-5,
320 AnyEvent::Socket::format_hostport AnyEvent::Socket::format_address $host, $service
321 ];
322 }
323 $cv->end;
324 } 388 }
325 } 389 }
326 } 390 }
327 391
328 $cv->end; 392 $port
329
330 $cv
331} 393}
332 394
333sub become_public { 395=item $closure = psub { BLOCK }
334 return if $PUBLIC;
335 396
336 my $noderef = join ",", ref $_[0] ? @{+shift} : shift; 397Remembers C<$SELF> and creates a closure out of the BLOCK. When the
337 my @args = @_; 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.
338 400
339 $NODE = (normalise_noderef $noderef)->recv; 401This is useful when you register callbacks from C<rcv> callbacks:
340 402
341 for my $t (split /,/, $NODE) { 403 rcv delayed_reply => sub {
342 $NODE{$t} = $NODE{""}; 404 my ($delay, @reply) = @_;
343 405 my $timer = AE::timer $delay, 0, psub {
344 my ($host, $port) = AnyEvent::Socket::parse_hostport $t; 406 snd @reply, $SELF;
345
346 $LISTENER{$t} = AnyEvent::MP::Transport::mp_server $host, $port,
347 @args,
348 on_error => sub {
349 die "on_error<@_>\n";#d#
350 },
351 on_connect => sub {
352 my ($tp) = @_;
353
354 $NODE{$tp->{remote_id}} = $_[0];
355 },
356 sub {
357 my ($tp) = @_;
358
359 $NODE{"$tp->{peerhost}:$tp->{peerport}"} = $tp;
360 },
361 ; 407 };
408 };
409
410=cut
411
412sub psub(&) {
413 my $cb = shift;
414
415 my $port = $SELF
416 or Carp::croak "psub can only be called from within rcv or psub callbacks, not";
417
418 sub {
419 local $SELF = $port;
420
421 if (wantarray) {
422 my @res = eval { &$cb };
423 _self_die if $@;
424 @res
425 } else {
426 my $res = eval { &$cb };
427 _self_die if $@;
428 $res
429 }
362 } 430 }
431}
363 432
364 $PUBLIC = 1; 433=item $guard = mon $port, $cb->(@reason)
434
435=item $guard = mon $port, $rcvport
436
437=item $guard = mon $port
438
439=item $guard = mon $port, $rcvport, @msg
440
441Monitor the given port and do something when the port is killed or
442messages to it were lost, and optionally return a guard that can be used
443to stop monitoring again.
444
445C<mon> effectively guarantees that, in the absence of hardware failures,
446that after starting the monitor, either all messages sent to the port
447will arrive, or the monitoring action will be invoked after possible
448message loss has been detected. No messages will be lost "in between"
449(after the first lost message no further messages will be received by the
450port). After the monitoring action was invoked, further messages might get
451delivered again.
452
453Note that monitoring-actions are one-shot: once released, they are removed
454and will not trigger again.
455
456In the first form (callback), the callback is simply called with any
457number of C<@reason> elements (no @reason means that the port was deleted
458"normally"). Note also that I<< the callback B<must> never die >>, so use
459C<eval> if unsure.
460
461In the second form (another port given), the other port (C<$rcvport>)
462will be C<kil>'ed with C<@reason>, iff a @reason was specified, i.e. on
463"normal" kils nothing happens, while under all other conditions, the other
464port is killed with the same reason.
465
466The third form (kill self) is the same as the second form, except that
467C<$rvport> defaults to C<$SELF>.
468
469In the last form (message), a message of the form C<@msg, @reason> will be
470C<snd>.
471
472As a rule of thumb, monitoring requests should always monitor a port from
473a local port (or callback). The reason is that kill messages might get
474lost, just like any other message. Another less obvious reason is that
475even monitoring requests can get lost (for exmaple, when the connection
476to the other node goes down permanently). When monitoring a port locally
477these problems do not exist.
478
479Example: call a given callback when C<$port> is killed.
480
481 mon $port, sub { warn "port died because of <@_>\n" };
482
483Example: kill ourselves when C<$port> is killed abnormally.
484
485 mon $port;
486
487Example: send us a restart message when another C<$port> is killed.
488
489 mon $port, $self => "restart";
490
491=cut
492
493sub mon {
494 my ($noderef, $port) = split /#/, shift, 2;
495
496 my $node = $NODE{$noderef} || add_node $noderef;
497
498 my $cb = @_ ? shift : $SELF || Carp::croak 'mon: called with one argument only, but $SELF not set,';
499
500 unless (ref $cb) {
501 if (@_) {
502 # send a kill info message
503 my (@msg) = ($cb, @_);
504 $cb = sub { snd @msg, @_ };
505 } else {
506 # simply kill other port
507 my $port = $cb;
508 $cb = sub { kil $port, @_ if @_ };
509 }
510 }
511
512 $node->monitor ($port, $cb);
513
514 defined wantarray
515 and AnyEvent::Util::guard { $node->unmonitor ($port, $cb) }
516}
517
518=item $guard = mon_guard $port, $ref, $ref...
519
520Monitors the given C<$port> and keeps the passed references. When the port
521is killed, the references will be freed.
522
523Optionally returns a guard that will stop the monitoring.
524
525This function is useful when you create e.g. timers or other watchers and
526want to free them when the port gets killed:
527
528 $port->rcv (start => sub {
529 my $timer; $timer = mon_guard $port, AE::timer 1, 1, sub {
530 undef $timer if 0.9 < rand;
531 });
532 });
533
534=cut
535
536sub mon_guard {
537 my ($port, @refs) = @_;
538
539 #TODO: mon-less form?
540
541 mon $port, sub { 0 && @refs }
542}
543
544=item kil $port[, @reason]
545
546Kill the specified port with the given C<@reason>.
547
548If no C<@reason> is specified, then the port is killed "normally" (linked
549ports will not be kileld, or even notified).
550
551Otherwise, linked ports get killed with the same reason (second form of
552C<mon>, see below).
553
554Runtime errors while evaluating C<rcv> callbacks or inside C<psub> blocks
555will be reported as reason C<< die => $@ >>.
556
557Transport/communication errors are reported as C<< transport_error =>
558$message >>.
559
560=cut
561
562=item $port = spawn $node, $initfunc[, @initdata]
563
564Creates a port on the node C<$node> (which can also be a port ID, in which
565case it's the node where that port resides).
566
567The port ID of the newly created port is return immediately, and it is
568permissible to immediately start sending messages or monitor the port.
569
570After the port has been created, the init function is
571called. This function must be a fully-qualified function name
572(e.g. C<MyApp::Chat::Server::init>). To specify a function in the main
573program, use C<::name>.
574
575If the function doesn't exist, then the node tries to C<require>
576the package, then the package above the package and so on (e.g.
577C<MyApp::Chat::Server>, C<MyApp::Chat>, C<MyApp>) until the function
578exists or it runs out of package names.
579
580The init function is then called with the newly-created port as context
581object (C<$SELF>) and the C<@initdata> values as arguments.
582
583A common idiom is to pass your own port, monitor the spawned port, and
584in the init function, monitor the original port. This two-way monitoring
585ensures that both ports get cleaned up when there is a problem.
586
587Example: spawn a chat server port on C<$othernode>.
588
589 # this node, executed from within a port context:
590 my $server = spawn $othernode, "MyApp::Chat::Server::connect", $SELF;
591 mon $server;
592
593 # init function on C<$othernode>
594 sub connect {
595 my ($srcport) = @_;
596
597 mon $srcport;
598
599 rcv $SELF, sub {
600 ...
601 };
602 }
603
604=cut
605
606sub _spawn {
607 my $port = shift;
608 my $init = shift;
609
610 local $SELF = "$NODE#$port";
611 eval {
612 &{ load_func $init }
613 };
614 _self_die if $@;
615}
616
617sub spawn(@) {
618 my ($noderef, undef) = split /#/, shift, 2;
619
620 my $id = "$RUNIQ." . $ID++;
621
622 $_[0] =~ /::/
623 or Carp::croak "spawn init function must be a fully-qualified name, caught";
624
625 snd_to_func $noderef, "AnyEvent::MP::_spawn" => $id, @_;
626
627 "$noderef#$id"
628}
629
630=item after $timeout, @msg
631
632=item after $timeout, $callback
633
634Either sends the given message, or call the given callback, after the
635specified number of seconds.
636
637This is simply a utility function that come sin handy at times.
638
639=cut
640
641sub after($@) {
642 my ($timeout, @action) = @_;
643
644 my $t; $t = AE::timer $timeout, 0, sub {
645 undef $t;
646 ref $action[0]
647 ? $action[0]()
648 : snd @action;
649 };
365} 650}
366 651
367=back 652=back
368 653
369=head1 NODE MESSAGES 654=head1 AnyEvent::MP vs. Distributed Erlang
370 655
371Nodes understand the following messages sent to them: 656AnyEvent::MP got lots of its ideas from distributed Erlang (Erlang node
657== aemp node, Erlang process == aemp port), so many of the documents and
658programming techniques employed by Erlang apply to AnyEvent::MP. Here is a
659sample:
660
661 http://www.Erlang.se/doc/programming_rules.shtml
662 http://Erlang.org/doc/getting_started/part_frame.html # chapters 3 and 4
663 http://Erlang.org/download/Erlang-book-part1.pdf # chapters 5 and 6
664 http://Erlang.org/download/armstrong_thesis_2003.pdf # chapters 4 and 5
665
666Despite the similarities, there are also some important differences:
372 667
373=over 4 668=over 4
374 669
375=cut 670=item * Node IDs are arbitrary strings in AEMP.
376 671
377############################################################################# 672Erlang relies on special naming and DNS to work everywhere in the same
378# self node code 673way. AEMP relies on each node somehow knowing its own address(es) (e.g. by
674configuraiton or DNS), but will otherwise discover other odes itself.
379 675
380sub _new_port($) { 676=item * Erlang has a "remote ports are like local ports" philosophy, AEMP
381 my ($name) = @_; 677uses "local ports are like remote ports".
382 678
383 my ($noderef, $portname) = split /#/, $name; 679The failure modes for local ports are quite different (runtime errors
680only) then for remote ports - when a local port dies, you I<know> it dies,
681when a connection to another node dies, you know nothing about the other
682port.
384 683
385 $PORT{$name} = 684Erlang pretends remote ports are as reliable as local ports, even when
386 $PORT{$portname} = { 685they are not.
387 names => [$name, $portname],
388 };
389}
390 686
391$NODE{""} = new AnyEvent::MP::Node::Self noderef => $NODE; 687AEMP encourages a "treat remote ports differently" philosophy, with local
392_new_port ""; 688ports being the special case/exception, where transport errors cannot
689occur.
393 690
394=item relay => $port, @msg 691=item * Erlang uses processes and a mailbox, AEMP does not queue.
395 692
396Simply forwards the message to the given port. 693Erlang uses processes that selectively receive messages, and therefore
694needs a queue. AEMP is event based, queuing messages would serve no
695useful purpose. For the same reason the pattern-matching abilities of
696AnyEvent::MP are more limited, as there is little need to be able to
697filter messages without dequeing them.
397 698
398=cut 699(But see L<Coro::MP> for a more Erlang-like process model on top of AEMP).
399 700
400rcv "", relay => \&snd; 701=item * Erlang sends are synchronous, AEMP sends are asynchronous.
401 702
402=item eval => $string[ @reply] 703Sending messages in Erlang is synchronous and blocks the process (and
704so does not need a queue that can overflow). AEMP sends are immediate,
705connection establishment is handled in the background.
403 706
404Evaluates the given string. If C<@reply> is given, then a message of the 707=item * Erlang suffers from silent message loss, AEMP does not.
405form C<@reply, $@, @evalres> is sent (C<$reply[0]> is the port to reply to).
406 708
407=cut 709Erlang makes few guarantees on messages delivery - messages can get lost
710without any of the processes realising it (i.e. you send messages a, b,
711and c, and the other side only receives messages a and c).
408 712
409rcv "", eval => sub { 713AEMP guarantees correct ordering, and the guarantee that there are no
410 my (undef, $string, @reply) = @_; 714holes in the message sequence.
411 my @res = eval $string;
412 snd @reply, "$@", @res if @reply;
413};
414 715
415=item time => @reply 716=item * In Erlang, processes can be declared dead and later be found to be
717alive.
416 718
417Replies the the current node time to C<@reply>. 719In Erlang it can happen that a monitored process is declared dead and
720linked processes get killed, but later it turns out that the process is
721still alive - and can receive messages.
418 722
419=cut 723In AEMP, when port monitoring detects a port as dead, then that port will
724eventually be killed - it cannot happen that a node detects a port as dead
725and then later sends messages to it, finding it is still alive.
420 726
421rcv "", time => sub { shift; snd @_, AE::time }; 727=item * Erlang can send messages to the wrong port, AEMP does not.
728
729In Erlang it is quite likely that a node that restarts reuses a process ID
730known to other nodes for a completely different process, causing messages
731destined for that process to end up in an unrelated process.
732
733AEMP never reuses port IDs, so old messages or old port IDs floating
734around in the network will not be sent to an unrelated port.
735
736=item * Erlang uses unprotected connections, AEMP uses secure
737authentication and can use TLS.
738
739AEMP can use a proven protocol - SSL/TLS - to protect connections and
740securely authenticate nodes.
741
742=item * The AEMP protocol is optimised for both text-based and binary
743communications.
744
745The AEMP protocol, unlike the Erlang protocol, supports both
746language-independent text-only protocols (good for debugging) and binary,
747language-specific serialisers (e.g. Storable).
748
749It has also been carefully designed to be implementable in other languages
750with a minimum of work while gracefully degrading fucntionality to make the
751protocol simple.
752
753=item * AEMP has more flexible monitoring options than Erlang.
754
755In Erlang, you can chose to receive I<all> exit signals as messages
756or I<none>, there is no in-between, so monitoring single processes is
757difficult to implement. Monitoring in AEMP is more flexible than in
758Erlang, as one can choose between automatic kill, exit message or callback
759on a per-process basis.
760
761=item * Erlang tries to hide remote/local connections, AEMP does not.
762
763Monitoring in Erlang is not an indicator of process death/crashes,
764as linking is (except linking is unreliable in Erlang).
765
766In AEMP, you don't "look up" registered port names or send to named ports
767that might or might not be persistent. Instead, you normally spawn a port
768on the remote node. The init function monitors the you, and you monitor
769the remote port. Since both monitors are local to the node, they are much
770more reliable.
771
772This also saves round-trips and avoids sending messages to the wrong port
773(hard to do in Erlang).
774
775=back
776
777=head1 RATIONALE
778
779=over 4
780
781=item Why strings for ports and noderefs, why not objects?
782
783We considered "objects", but found that the actual number of methods
784thatc an be called are very low. Since port IDs and noderefs travel over
785the network frequently, the serialising/deserialising would add lots of
786overhead, as well as having to keep a proxy object.
787
788Strings can easily be printed, easily serialised etc. and need no special
789procedures to be "valid".
790
791And a a miniport consists of a single closure stored in a global hash - it
792can't become much cheaper.
793
794=item Why favour JSON, why not real serialising format such as Storable?
795
796In fact, any AnyEvent::MP node will happily accept Storable as framing
797format, but currently there is no way to make a node use Storable by
798default.
799
800The default framing protocol is JSON because a) JSON::XS is many times
801faster for small messages and b) most importantly, after years of
802experience we found that object serialisation is causing more problems
803than it gains: Just like function calls, objects simply do not travel
804easily over the network, mostly because they will always be a copy, so you
805always have to re-think your design.
806
807Keeping your messages simple, concentrating on data structures rather than
808objects, will keep your messages clean, tidy and efficient.
422 809
423=back 810=back
424 811
425=head1 SEE ALSO 812=head1 SEE ALSO
426 813

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