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Revision 1.58 by root, Sun Aug 16 02:55:16 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; # -OR-
17 initialise_node "localhost:4040"; # -OR-
18 initialise_node "slave/", "localhost:4040"
19
20 # ports are message endpoints
21
22 # sending messages
12 snd $port, type => data...; 23 snd $port, type => data...;
24 snd $port, @msg;
25 snd @msg_with_first_element_being_a_port;
13 26
14 rcv $port, smartmatch => $cb->($port, @msg); 27 # creating/using ports, the simple way
28 my $simple_port = port { my @msg = @_; 0 };
15 29
16 # examples: 30 # creating/using ports, tagged message matching
31 my $port = port;
17 rcv $port2, ping => sub { snd $_[0], "pong"; 0 }; 32 rcv $port, ping => sub { snd $_[0], "pong"; 0 };
18 rcv $port1, pong => sub { warn "pong received\n" }; 33 rcv $port, pong => sub { warn "pong received\n"; 0 };
19 snd $port2, ping => $port1;
20 34
21 # more, smarter, matches (_any_ is exported by this module) 35 # create a port on another node
22 rcv $port, [child_died => $pid] => sub { ... 36 my $port = spawn $node, $initfunc, @initdata;
23 rcv $port, [_any_, _any_, 3] => sub { .. $_[2] is 3 37
38 # monitoring
39 mon $port, $cb->(@msg) # callback is invoked on death
40 mon $port, $otherport # kill otherport on abnormal death
41 mon $port, $otherport, @msg # send message on death
42
43=head1 CURRENT STATUS
44
45 AnyEvent::MP - stable API, should work
46 AnyEvent::MP::Intro - outdated
47 AnyEvent::MP::Kernel - WIP
48 AnyEvent::MP::Transport - mostly stable
49
50 stay tuned.
24 51
25=head1 DESCRIPTION 52=head1 DESCRIPTION
26 53
27This module (-family) implements a simple message passing framework. 54This module (-family) implements a simple message passing framework.
28 55
29Despite its simplicity, you can securely message other processes running 56Despite its simplicity, you can securely message other processes running
30on the same or other hosts. 57on the same or other hosts.
31 58
59For an introduction to this module family, see the L<AnyEvent::MP::Intro>
60manual page.
61
62At the moment, this module family is severly broken and underdocumented,
63so do not use. This was uploaded mainly to reserve the CPAN namespace -
64stay tuned!
65
32=head1 CONCEPTS 66=head1 CONCEPTS
33 67
34=over 4 68=over 4
35 69
36=item port 70=item port
37 71
38A port is something you can send messages to with the C<snd> function, and 72A 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 73
74Ports allow you to register C<rcv> handlers that can match all or just
40messages they match, messages will not be queued. 75some messages. Messages will not be queued.
41 76
42=item port id - C<pid@host#portname> 77=item port id - C<noderef#portname>
43 78
44A port id is always the node id, a hash-mark (C<#>) as separator, followed 79A port ID is the concatenation of a noderef, a hash-mark (C<#>) as
45by a port name. 80separator, and a port name (a printable string of unspecified format). An
46 81exception is the the node port, whose ID is identical to its node
47A port name can be a well known port (basically an identifier/bareword), 82reference.
48or a generated name, consisting of node id, a dot (C<.>), and an
49identifier.
50 83
51=item node 84=item node
52 85
53A node is a single process containing at least one port - the node 86A node is a single process containing at least one port - the node port,
54port. You can send messages to node ports to let them create new ports, 87which provides nodes to manage each other remotely, and to create new
55among other things. 88ports.
56 89
57Initially, nodes are either private (single-process only) or hidden 90Nodes are either private (single-process only), slaves (connected to a
58(connected to a father node only). Only when they epxlicitly "go public" 91master node only) or public nodes (connectable from unrelated nodes).
59can you send them messages form unrelated other nodes.
60 92
61Public nodes automatically connect to all other public nodes in a network 93=item noderef - C<host:port,host:port...>, C<id@noderef>, C<id>
62when they connect, creating a full mesh.
63 94
64=item node id - C<host:port>, C<id@host>, C<id>
65
66A node ID is a string that either uniquely identifies a given node (For 95A node reference is a string that either simply identifies the node (for
67private and hidden nodes), or contains a recipe on how to reach a given 96private and slave nodes), or contains a recipe on how to reach a given
68node (for public nodes). 97node (for public nodes).
69 98
99This recipe is simply a comma-separated list of C<address:port> pairs (for
100TCP/IP, other protocols might look different).
101
102Node references come in two flavours: resolved (containing only numerical
103addresses) or unresolved (where hostnames are used instead of addresses).
104
105Before using an unresolved node reference in a message you first have to
106resolve it.
107
70=back 108=back
71 109
72=head1 FUNCTIONS 110=head1 VARIABLES/FUNCTIONS
73 111
74=over 4 112=over 4
75 113
76=cut 114=cut
77 115
78package AnyEvent::MP; 116package AnyEvent::MP;
79 117
80use AnyEvent::MP::Util ();
81use AnyEvent::MP::Node; 118use AnyEvent::MP::Kernel;
82use AnyEvent::MP::Transport;
83 119
84use utf8;
85use common::sense; 120use common::sense;
86 121
87use Carp (); 122use Carp ();
88 123
89use AE (); 124use AE ();
90 125
91use base "Exporter"; 126use base "Exporter";
92 127
93our $VERSION = '0.0'; 128our $VERSION = $AnyEvent::MP::Kernel::VERSION;
94our @EXPORT = qw(NODE $NODE $PORT snd rcv _any_);
95 129
96our $DEFAULT_SECRET; 130our @EXPORT = qw(
97our $DEFAULT_PORT = "4040"; 131 NODE $NODE *SELF node_of _any_
132 resolve_node initialise_node
133 snd rcv mon kil reg psub spawn
134 port
135);
98 136
99our $CONNECT_INTERVAL = 5; # new connect every 5s, at least 137our $SELF;
100our $CONNECT_TIMEOUT = 30; # includes handshake
101 138
102sub default_secret { 139sub _self_die() {
103 unless (defined $DEFAULT_SECRET) { 140 my $msg = $@;
104 if (open my $fh, "<$ENV{HOME}/.aemp-secret") { 141 $msg =~ s/\n+$// unless ref $msg;
105 sysread $fh, $DEFAULT_SECRET, -s $fh; 142 kil $SELF, die => $msg;
106 } else {
107 $DEFAULT_SECRET = AnyEvent::MP::Util::nonce 32;
108 }
109 }
110
111 $DEFAULT_SECRET
112} 143}
113 144
114our $UNIQ = sprintf "%x.%x", $$, time; # per-process/node unique cookie 145=item $thisnode = NODE / $NODE
115our $PUBLIC = 0;
116our $NODE;
117our $PORT;
118 146
119our %NODE; # node id to transport mapping, or "undef", for local node 147The C<NODE> function returns, and the C<$NODE> variable contains the
120our %PORT; # local ports 148noderef of the local node. The value is initialised by a call to
121our %LISTENER; # local transports 149C<initialise_node>.
122 150
123sub NODE() { $NODE } 151=item $noderef = node_of $port
124 152
125{ 153Extracts and returns the noderef from a port ID or a noderef.
126 use POSIX (); 154
127 my $nodename = (POSIX::uname)[1]; 155=item initialise_node $noderef, $seednode, $seednode...
128 $NODE = "$$\@$nodename"; 156
157=item initialise_node "slave/", $master, $master...
158
159Before a node can talk to other nodes on the network it has to initialise
160itself - the minimum a node needs to know is it's own name, and optionally
161it should know the noderefs of some other nodes in the network.
162
163This function initialises a node - it must be called exactly once (or
164never) before calling other AnyEvent::MP functions.
165
166All arguments (optionally except for the first) are noderefs, which can be
167either resolved or unresolved.
168
169The first argument will be looked up in the configuration database first
170(if it is C<undef> then the current nodename will be used instead) to find
171the relevant configuration profile (see L<aemp>). If none is found then
172the default configuration is used. The configuration supplies additional
173seed/master nodes and can override the actual noderef.
174
175There are two types of networked nodes, public nodes and slave nodes:
176
177=over 4
178
179=item public nodes
180
181For public nodes, C<$noderef> (supplied either directly to
182C<initialise_node> or indirectly via a profile or the nodename) must be a
183noderef (possibly unresolved, in which case it will be resolved).
184
185After resolving, the node will bind itself on all endpoints and try to
186connect to all additional C<$seednodes> that are specified. Seednodes are
187optional and can be used to quickly bootstrap the node into an existing
188network.
189
190=item slave nodes
191
192When the C<$noderef> (either as given or overriden by the config file)
193is the special string C<slave/>, then the node will become a slave
194node. Slave nodes cannot be contacted from outside and will route most of
195their traffic to the master node that they attach to.
196
197At least one additional noderef is required (either by specifying it
198directly or because it is part of the configuration profile): The node
199will try to connect to all of them and will become a slave attached to the
200first node it can successfully connect to.
201
202Note that slave nodes cannot change their name, and consequently, their
203master, so if the master goes down, the slave node will not function well
204anymore until it can re-establish conenciton to its master. This makes
205slave nodes unsuitable for long-term nodes or fault-tolerant networks.
206
207=back
208
209This function will block until all nodes have been resolved and, for slave
210nodes, until it has successfully established a connection to a master
211server.
212
213All the seednodes will also be specially marked to automatically retry
214connecting to them infinitely.
215
216Example: become a public node listening on the guessed noderef, or the one
217specified via C<aemp> for the current node. This should be the most common
218form of invocation for "daemon"-type nodes.
219
220 initialise_node;
221
222Example: become a slave node to any of the the seednodes specified via
223C<aemp>. This form is often used for commandline clients.
224
225 initialise_node "slave/";
226
227Example: become a slave node to any of the specified master servers. This
228form is also often used for commandline clients.
229
230 initialise_node "slave/", "master1", "192.168.13.17", "mp.example.net";
231
232Example: become a public node, and try to contact some well-known master
233servers to become part of the network.
234
235 initialise_node undef, "master1", "master2";
236
237Example: become a public node listening on port C<4041>.
238
239 initialise_node 4041;
240
241Example: become a public node, only visible on localhost port 4044.
242
243 initialise_node "localhost:4044";
244
245=item $cv = resolve_node $noderef
246
247Takes an unresolved node reference that may contain hostnames and
248abbreviated IDs, resolves all of them and returns a resolved node
249reference.
250
251In addition to C<address:port> pairs allowed in resolved noderefs, the
252following forms are supported:
253
254=over 4
255
256=item the empty string
257
258An empty-string component gets resolved as if the default port (4040) was
259specified.
260
261=item naked port numbers (e.g. C<1234>)
262
263These are resolved by prepending the local nodename and a colon, to be
264further resolved.
265
266=item hostnames (e.g. C<localhost:1234>, C<localhost>)
267
268These are resolved by using AnyEvent::DNS to resolve them, optionally
269looking up SRV records for the C<aemp=4040> port, if no port was
270specified.
271
272=back
273
274=item $SELF
275
276Contains the current port id while executing C<rcv> callbacks or C<psub>
277blocks.
278
279=item SELF, %SELF, @SELF...
280
281Due to some quirks in how perl exports variables, it is impossible to
282just export C<$SELF>, all the symbols called C<SELF> are exported by this
283module, but only C<$SELF> is currently used.
284
285=item snd $port, type => @data
286
287=item snd $port, @msg
288
289Send the given message to the given port ID, which can identify either
290a local or a remote port, and must be a port ID.
291
292While the message can be about anything, it is highly recommended to use a
293string as first element (a port ID, or some word that indicates a request
294type etc.).
295
296The message data effectively becomes read-only after a call to this
297function: modifying any argument is not allowed and can cause many
298problems.
299
300The type of data you can transfer depends on the transport protocol: when
301JSON is used, then only strings, numbers and arrays and hashes consisting
302of those are allowed (no objects). When Storable is used, then anything
303that Storable can serialise and deserialise is allowed, and for the local
304node, anything can be passed.
305
306=item $local_port = port
307
308Create a new local port object and returns its port ID. Initially it has
309no callbacks set and will throw an error when it receives messages.
310
311=item $local_port = port { my @msg = @_ }
312
313Creates a new local port, and returns its ID. Semantically the same as
314creating a port and calling C<rcv $port, $callback> on it.
315
316The block will be called for every message received on the port, with the
317global variable C<$SELF> set to the port ID. Runtime errors will cause the
318port to be C<kil>ed. The message will be passed as-is, no extra argument
319(i.e. no port ID) will be passed to the callback.
320
321If you want to stop/destroy the port, simply C<kil> it:
322
323 my $port = port {
324 my @msg = @_;
325 ...
326 kil $SELF;
327 };
328
329=cut
330
331sub rcv($@);
332
333sub _kilme {
334 die "received message on port without callback";
129} 335}
130 336
131sub _ANY_() { 1 } 337sub port(;&) {
132sub _any_() { \&_ANY_ } 338 my $id = "$UNIQ." . $ID++;
339 my $port = "$NODE#$id";
133 340
134sub add_node { 341 rcv $port, shift || \&_kilme;
135 my ($noderef) = @_;
136 342
137 return $NODE{$noderef} 343 $port
138 if exists $NODE{$noderef};
139
140 for (split /,/, $noderef) {
141 return $NODE{$noderef} = $NODE{$_}
142 if exists $NODE{$_};
143 }
144
145 # for indirect sends, use a different class
146 my $node = new AnyEvent::MP::Node::Direct $noderef;
147
148 $NODE{$_} = $node
149 for $noderef, split /,/, $noderef;
150
151 $node
152} 344}
153 345
154sub snd($@) { 346=item rcv $local_port, $callback->(@msg)
155 my ($noderef, $port) = split /#/, shift, 2;
156 347
157 add_node $noderef 348Replaces the default callback on the specified port. There is no way to
158 unless exists $NODE{$noderef}; 349remove the default callback: use C<sub { }> to disable it, or better
350C<kil> the port when it is no longer needed.
159 351
160 $NODE{$noderef}->send ([$port, [@_]]); 352The global C<$SELF> (exported by this module) contains C<$port> while
161} 353executing the callback. Runtime errors during callback execution will
354result in the port being C<kil>ed.
162 355
163sub _inject { 356The default callback received all messages not matched by a more specific
164 my ($port, $msg) = @{+shift}; 357C<tag> match.
165 358
166 $port = $PORT{$port} 359=item rcv $local_port, tag => $callback->(@msg_without_tag), ...
167 or return;
168 360
169 use Data::Dumper; 361Register (or replace) callbacks to be called on messages starting with the
170 warn Dumper $msg; 362given tag on the given port (and return the port), or unregister it (when
171} 363C<$callback> is C<$undef> or missing). There can only be one callback
364registered for each tag.
172 365
173sub normalise_noderef($) { 366The original message will be passed to the callback, after the first
174 my ($noderef) = @_; 367element (the tag) has been removed. The callback will use the same
368environment as the default callback (see above).
175 369
176 my $cv = AE::cv; 370Example: create a port and bind receivers on it in one go.
177 my @res;
178 371
179 $cv->begin (sub { 372 my $port = rcv port,
180 my %seen; 373 msg1 => sub { ... },
181 my @refs; 374 msg2 => sub { ... },
182 for (sort { $a->[0] <=> $b->[0] } @res) { 375 ;
183 push @refs, $_->[1] unless $seen{$_->[1]}++ 376
184 } 377Example: create a port, bind receivers and send it in a message elsewhere
185 shift->send (join ",", @refs); 378in one go:
379
380 snd $otherport, reply =>
381 rcv port,
382 msg1 => sub { ... },
383 ...
384 ;
385
386Example: temporarily register a rcv callback for a tag matching some port
387(e.g. for a rpc reply) and unregister it after a message was received.
388
389 rcv $port, $otherport => sub {
390 my @reply = @_;
391
392 rcv $SELF, $otherport;
186 }); 393 };
187 394
188 $noderef = $DEFAULT_PORT unless length $noderef; 395=cut
189 396
190 my $idx; 397sub rcv($@) {
191 for my $t (split /,/, $noderef) { 398 my $port = shift;
192 my $pri = ++$idx; 399 my ($noderef, $portid) = split /#/, $port, 2;
193
194 #TODO: this should be outside normalise_noderef and in become_public
195 if ($t =~ /^\d*$/) {
196 my $nodename = (POSIX::uname)[1];
197 400
198 $cv->begin; 401 $NODE{$noderef} == $NODE{""}
199 AnyEvent::Socket::resolve_sockaddr $nodename, $t || "aemp=$DEFAULT_PORT", "tcp", 0, undef, sub { 402 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on local ports, caught";
200 for (@_) { 403
201 my ($service, $host) = AnyEvent::Socket::unpack_sockaddr $_->[3]; 404 while (@_) {
202 push @res, [ 405 if (ref $_[0]) {
203 $pri += 1e-5, 406 if (my $self = $PORT_DATA{$portid}) {
204 AnyEvent::Socket::format_hostport AnyEvent::Socket::format_address $host, $service 407 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
205 ]; 408 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
409
410 $self->[2] = shift;
411 } else {
412 my $cb = shift;
413 $PORT{$portid} = sub {
414 local $SELF = $port;
415 eval { &$cb }; _self_die if $@;
206 } 416 };
207 $cv->end; 417 }
418 } elsif (defined $_[0]) {
419 my $self = $PORT_DATA{$portid} ||= do {
420 my $self = bless [$PORT{$port} || sub { }, { }, $port], "AnyEvent::MP::Port";
421
422 $PORT{$portid} = sub {
423 local $SELF = $port;
424
425 if (my $cb = $self->[1]{$_[0]}) {
426 shift;
427 eval { &$cb }; _self_die if $@;
428 } else {
429 &{ $self->[0] };
430 }
431 };
432
433 $self
208 }; 434 };
209 435
210# my (undef, undef, undef, undef, @ipv4) = gethostbyname $nodename; 436 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
211# 437 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
212# for (@ipv4) { 438
213# push @res, [ 439 my ($tag, $cb) = splice @_, 0, 2;
214# $pri, 440
215# AnyEvent::Socket::format_hostport AnyEvent::Socket::format_address $_, $t || $DEFAULT_PORT, 441 if (defined $cb) {
216# ]; 442 $self->[1]{$tag} = $cb;
217# }
218 } else { 443 } else {
219 my ($host, $port) = AnyEvent::Socket::parse_hostport $t, "aemp=$DEFAULT_PORT" 444 delete $self->[1]{$tag};
220 or Carp::croak "$t: unparsable transport descriptor";
221
222 $cv->begin;
223 AnyEvent::Socket::resolve_sockaddr $host, $port, "tcp", 0, undef, sub {
224 for (@_) {
225 my ($service, $host) = AnyEvent::Socket::unpack_sockaddr $_->[3];
226 push @res, [
227 $pri += 1e-5,
228 AnyEvent::Socket::format_hostport AnyEvent::Socket::format_address $host, $service
229 ];
230 }
231 $cv->end;
232 } 445 }
233 } 446 }
234 } 447 }
235 448
236 $cv->end; 449 $port
237
238 $cv
239} 450}
240 451
241sub become_public { 452=item $closure = psub { BLOCK }
242 return if $PUBLIC;
243 453
244 my $noderef = join ",", ref $_[0] ? @{+shift} : shift; 454Remembers C<$SELF> and creates a closure out of the BLOCK. When the
245 my @args = @_; 455closure is executed, sets up the environment in the same way as in C<rcv>
456callbacks, i.e. runtime errors will cause the port to get C<kil>ed.
246 457
247 $NODE = (normalise_noderef $noderef)->recv; 458This is useful when you register callbacks from C<rcv> callbacks:
248 459
249 my $self = new AnyEvent::MP::Node::Self noderef => $NODE; 460 rcv delayed_reply => sub {
250 461 my ($delay, @reply) = @_;
251 $NODE{""} = $self; # empty string == local node 462 my $timer = AE::timer $delay, 0, psub {
252 463 snd @reply, $SELF;
253 for my $t (split /,/, $NODE) {
254 $NODE{$t} = $self;
255
256 my ($host, $port) = AnyEvent::Socket::parse_hostport $t;
257
258 $LISTENER{$t} = AnyEvent::MP::Transport::mp_server $host, $port,
259 @args,
260 on_error => sub {
261 die "on_error<@_>\n";#d#
262 },
263 on_connect => sub {
264 my ($tp) = @_;
265
266 $NODE{$tp->{remote_id}} = $_[0];
267 },
268 sub {
269 my ($tp) = @_;
270
271 $NODE{"$tp->{peerhost}:$tp->{peerport}"} = $tp;
272 },
273 ; 464 };
465 };
466
467=cut
468
469sub psub(&) {
470 my $cb = shift;
471
472 my $port = $SELF
473 or Carp::croak "psub can only be called from within rcv or psub callbacks, not";
474
475 sub {
476 local $SELF = $port;
477
478 if (wantarray) {
479 my @res = eval { &$cb };
480 _self_die if $@;
481 @res
482 } else {
483 my $res = eval { &$cb };
484 _self_die if $@;
485 $res
486 }
274 } 487 }
275
276 $PUBLIC = 1;
277} 488}
489
490=item $guard = mon $port, $cb->(@reason)
491
492=item $guard = mon $port, $rcvport
493
494=item $guard = mon $port
495
496=item $guard = mon $port, $rcvport, @msg
497
498Monitor the given port and do something when the port is killed or
499messages to it were lost, and optionally return a guard that can be used
500to stop monitoring again.
501
502C<mon> effectively guarantees that, in the absence of hardware failures,
503that after starting the monitor, either all messages sent to the port
504will arrive, or the monitoring action will be invoked after possible
505message loss has been detected. No messages will be lost "in between"
506(after the first lost message no further messages will be received by the
507port). After the monitoring action was invoked, further messages might get
508delivered again.
509
510Note that monitoring-actions are one-shot: once released, they are removed
511and will not trigger again.
512
513In the first form (callback), the callback is simply called with any
514number of C<@reason> elements (no @reason means that the port was deleted
515"normally"). Note also that I<< the callback B<must> never die >>, so use
516C<eval> if unsure.
517
518In the second form (another port given), the other port (C<$rcvport>)
519will be C<kil>'ed with C<@reason>, iff a @reason was specified, i.e. on
520"normal" kils nothing happens, while under all other conditions, the other
521port is killed with the same reason.
522
523The third form (kill self) is the same as the second form, except that
524C<$rvport> defaults to C<$SELF>.
525
526In the last form (message), a message of the form C<@msg, @reason> will be
527C<snd>.
528
529As a rule of thumb, monitoring requests should always monitor a port from
530a local port (or callback). The reason is that kill messages might get
531lost, just like any other message. Another less obvious reason is that
532even monitoring requests can get lost (for exmaple, when the connection
533to the other node goes down permanently). When monitoring a port locally
534these problems do not exist.
535
536Example: call a given callback when C<$port> is killed.
537
538 mon $port, sub { warn "port died because of <@_>\n" };
539
540Example: kill ourselves when C<$port> is killed abnormally.
541
542 mon $port;
543
544Example: send us a restart message when another C<$port> is killed.
545
546 mon $port, $self => "restart";
547
548=cut
549
550sub mon {
551 my ($noderef, $port) = split /#/, shift, 2;
552
553 my $node = $NODE{$noderef} || add_node $noderef;
554
555 my $cb = @_ ? shift : $SELF || Carp::croak 'mon: called with one argument only, but $SELF not set,';
556
557 unless (ref $cb) {
558 if (@_) {
559 # send a kill info message
560 my (@msg) = ($cb, @_);
561 $cb = sub { snd @msg, @_ };
562 } else {
563 # simply kill other port
564 my $port = $cb;
565 $cb = sub { kil $port, @_ if @_ };
566 }
567 }
568
569 $node->monitor ($port, $cb);
570
571 defined wantarray
572 and AnyEvent::Util::guard { $node->unmonitor ($port, $cb) }
573}
574
575=item $guard = mon_guard $port, $ref, $ref...
576
577Monitors the given C<$port> and keeps the passed references. When the port
578is killed, the references will be freed.
579
580Optionally returns a guard that will stop the monitoring.
581
582This function is useful when you create e.g. timers or other watchers and
583want to free them when the port gets killed:
584
585 $port->rcv (start => sub {
586 my $timer; $timer = mon_guard $port, AE::timer 1, 1, sub {
587 undef $timer if 0.9 < rand;
588 });
589 });
590
591=cut
592
593sub mon_guard {
594 my ($port, @refs) = @_;
595
596 #TODO: mon-less form?
597
598 mon $port, sub { 0 && @refs }
599}
600
601=item kil $port[, @reason]
602
603Kill the specified port with the given C<@reason>.
604
605If no C<@reason> is specified, then the port is killed "normally" (linked
606ports will not be kileld, or even notified).
607
608Otherwise, linked ports get killed with the same reason (second form of
609C<mon>, see below).
610
611Runtime errors while evaluating C<rcv> callbacks or inside C<psub> blocks
612will be reported as reason C<< die => $@ >>.
613
614Transport/communication errors are reported as C<< transport_error =>
615$message >>.
616
617=cut
618
619=item $port = spawn $node, $initfunc[, @initdata]
620
621Creates a port on the node C<$node> (which can also be a port ID, in which
622case it's the node where that port resides).
623
624The port ID of the newly created port is return immediately, and it is
625permissible to immediately start sending messages or monitor the port.
626
627After the port has been created, the init function is
628called. This function must be a fully-qualified function name
629(e.g. C<MyApp::Chat::Server::init>). To specify a function in the main
630program, use C<::name>.
631
632If the function doesn't exist, then the node tries to C<require>
633the package, then the package above the package and so on (e.g.
634C<MyApp::Chat::Server>, C<MyApp::Chat>, C<MyApp>) until the function
635exists or it runs out of package names.
636
637The init function is then called with the newly-created port as context
638object (C<$SELF>) and the C<@initdata> values as arguments.
639
640A common idiom is to pass your own port, monitor the spawned port, and
641in the init function, monitor the original port. This two-way monitoring
642ensures that both ports get cleaned up when there is a problem.
643
644Example: spawn a chat server port on C<$othernode>.
645
646 # this node, executed from within a port context:
647 my $server = spawn $othernode, "MyApp::Chat::Server::connect", $SELF;
648 mon $server;
649
650 # init function on C<$othernode>
651 sub connect {
652 my ($srcport) = @_;
653
654 mon $srcport;
655
656 rcv $SELF, sub {
657 ...
658 };
659 }
660
661=cut
662
663sub _spawn {
664 my $port = shift;
665 my $init = shift;
666
667 local $SELF = "$NODE#$port";
668 eval {
669 &{ load_func $init }
670 };
671 _self_die if $@;
672}
673
674sub spawn(@) {
675 my ($noderef, undef) = split /#/, shift, 2;
676
677 my $id = "$RUNIQ." . $ID++;
678
679 $_[0] =~ /::/
680 or Carp::croak "spawn init function must be a fully-qualified name, caught";
681
682 snd_to_func $noderef, "AnyEvent::MP::_spawn" => $id, @_;
683
684 "$noderef#$id"
685}
686
687=back
688
689=head1 AnyEvent::MP vs. Distributed Erlang
690
691AnyEvent::MP got lots of its ideas from distributed Erlang (Erlang node
692== aemp node, Erlang process == aemp port), so many of the documents and
693programming techniques employed by Erlang apply to AnyEvent::MP. Here is a
694sample:
695
696 http://www.Erlang.se/doc/programming_rules.shtml
697 http://Erlang.org/doc/getting_started/part_frame.html # chapters 3 and 4
698 http://Erlang.org/download/Erlang-book-part1.pdf # chapters 5 and 6
699 http://Erlang.org/download/armstrong_thesis_2003.pdf # chapters 4 and 5
700
701Despite the similarities, there are also some important differences:
702
703=over 4
704
705=item * Node references contain the recipe on how to contact them.
706
707Erlang relies on special naming and DNS to work everywhere in the
708same way. AEMP relies on each node knowing it's own address(es), with
709convenience functionality.
710
711This means that AEMP requires a less tightly controlled environment at the
712cost of longer node references and a slightly higher management overhead.
713
714=item * Erlang has a "remote ports are like local ports" philosophy, AEMP
715uses "local ports are like remote ports".
716
717The failure modes for local ports are quite different (runtime errors
718only) then for remote ports - when a local port dies, you I<know> it dies,
719when a connection to another node dies, you know nothing about the other
720port.
721
722Erlang pretends remote ports are as reliable as local ports, even when
723they are not.
724
725AEMP encourages a "treat remote ports differently" philosophy, with local
726ports being the special case/exception, where transport errors cannot
727occur.
728
729=item * Erlang uses processes and a mailbox, AEMP does not queue.
730
731Erlang uses processes that selectively receive messages, and therefore
732needs a queue. AEMP is event based, queuing messages would serve no
733useful purpose. For the same reason the pattern-matching abilities of
734AnyEvent::MP are more limited, as there is little need to be able to
735filter messages without dequeing them.
736
737(But see L<Coro::MP> for a more Erlang-like process model on top of AEMP).
738
739=item * Erlang sends are synchronous, AEMP sends are asynchronous.
740
741Sending messages in Erlang is synchronous and blocks the process (and
742so does not need a queue that can overflow). AEMP sends are immediate,
743connection establishment is handled in the background.
744
745=item * Erlang suffers from silent message loss, AEMP does not.
746
747Erlang makes few guarantees on messages delivery - messages can get lost
748without any of the processes realising it (i.e. you send messages a, b,
749and c, and the other side only receives messages a and c).
750
751AEMP guarantees correct ordering, and the guarantee that there are no
752holes in the message sequence.
753
754=item * In Erlang, processes can be declared dead and later be found to be
755alive.
756
757In Erlang it can happen that a monitored process is declared dead and
758linked processes get killed, but later it turns out that the process is
759still alive - and can receive messages.
760
761In AEMP, when port monitoring detects a port as dead, then that port will
762eventually be killed - it cannot happen that a node detects a port as dead
763and then later sends messages to it, finding it is still alive.
764
765=item * Erlang can send messages to the wrong port, AEMP does not.
766
767In Erlang it is quite likely that a node that restarts reuses a process ID
768known to other nodes for a completely different process, causing messages
769destined for that process to end up in an unrelated process.
770
771AEMP never reuses port IDs, so old messages or old port IDs floating
772around in the network will not be sent to an unrelated port.
773
774=item * Erlang uses unprotected connections, AEMP uses secure
775authentication and can use TLS.
776
777AEMP can use a proven protocol - SSL/TLS - to protect connections and
778securely authenticate nodes.
779
780=item * The AEMP protocol is optimised for both text-based and binary
781communications.
782
783The AEMP protocol, unlike the Erlang protocol, supports both
784language-independent text-only protocols (good for debugging) and binary,
785language-specific serialisers (e.g. Storable).
786
787It has also been carefully designed to be implementable in other languages
788with a minimum of work while gracefully degrading fucntionality to make the
789protocol simple.
790
791=item * AEMP has more flexible monitoring options than Erlang.
792
793In Erlang, you can chose to receive I<all> exit signals as messages
794or I<none>, there is no in-between, so monitoring single processes is
795difficult to implement. Monitoring in AEMP is more flexible than in
796Erlang, as one can choose between automatic kill, exit message or callback
797on a per-process basis.
798
799=item * Erlang tries to hide remote/local connections, AEMP does not.
800
801Monitoring in Erlang is not an indicator of process death/crashes,
802as linking is (except linking is unreliable in Erlang).
803
804In AEMP, you don't "look up" registered port names or send to named ports
805that might or might not be persistent. Instead, you normally spawn a port
806on the remote node. The init function monitors the you, and you monitor
807the remote port. Since both monitors are local to the node, they are much
808more reliable.
809
810This also saves round-trips and avoids sending messages to the wrong port
811(hard to do in Erlang).
812
813=back
814
815=head1 RATIONALE
816
817=over 4
818
819=item Why strings for ports and noderefs, why not objects?
820
821We considered "objects", but found that the actual number of methods
822thatc an be called are very low. Since port IDs and noderefs travel over
823the network frequently, the serialising/deserialising would add lots of
824overhead, as well as having to keep a proxy object.
825
826Strings can easily be printed, easily serialised etc. and need no special
827procedures to be "valid".
828
829And a a miniport consists of a single closure stored in a global hash - it
830can't become much cheaper.
831
832=item Why favour JSON, why not real serialising format such as Storable?
833
834In fact, any AnyEvent::MP node will happily accept Storable as framing
835format, but currently there is no way to make a node use Storable by
836default.
837
838The default framing protocol is JSON because a) JSON::XS is many times
839faster for small messages and b) most importantly, after years of
840experience we found that object serialisation is causing more problems
841than it gains: Just like function calls, objects simply do not travel
842easily over the network, mostly because they will always be a copy, so you
843always have to re-think your design.
844
845Keeping your messages simple, concentrating on data structures rather than
846objects, will keep your messages clean, tidy and efficient.
278 847
279=back 848=back
280 849
281=head1 SEE ALSO 850=head1 SEE ALSO
282 851

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