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Revision 1.71 by root, Sun Aug 30 19:52:56 2009 UTC

8 8
9 $NODE # contains this node's noderef 9 $NODE # contains this node's noderef
10 NODE # returns this node's noderef 10 NODE # returns this node's noderef
11 NODE $port # returns the noderef of the port 11 NODE $port # returns the noderef of the port
12 12
13 $SELF # receiving/own port id in rcv callbacks
14
15 # initialise the node so it can send/receive messages
16 initialise_node;
17
18 # ports are message endpoints
19
20 # sending messages
13 snd $port, type => data...; 21 snd $port, type => data...;
22 snd $port, @msg;
23 snd @msg_with_first_element_being_a_port;
14 24
15 $SELF # receiving/own port id in rcv callbacks 25 # creating/using ports, the simple way
26 my $simple_port = port { my @msg = @_; 0 };
16 27
17 rcv $port, smartmatch => $cb->($port, @msg); 28 # creating/using ports, tagged message matching
18 29 my $port = port;
19 # examples:
20 rcv $port2, ping => sub { snd $_[0], "pong"; 0 }; 30 rcv $port, ping => sub { snd $_[0], "pong"; 0 };
21 rcv $port1, pong => sub { warn "pong received\n" }; 31 rcv $port, pong => sub { warn "pong received\n"; 0 };
22 snd $port2, ping => $port1;
23 32
24 # more, smarter, matches (_any_ is exported by this module) 33 # create a port on another node
25 rcv $port, [child_died => $pid] => sub { ... 34 my $port = spawn $node, $initfunc, @initdata;
26 rcv $port, [_any_, _any_, 3] => sub { .. $_[2] is 3 35
36 # monitoring
37 mon $port, $cb->(@msg) # callback is invoked on death
38 mon $port, $otherport # kill otherport on abnormal death
39 mon $port, $otherport, @msg # send message on death
40
41=head1 CURRENT STATUS
42
43 bin/aemp - stable.
44 AnyEvent::MP - stable API, should work.
45 AnyEvent::MP::Intro - uptodate, but incomplete.
46 AnyEvent::MP::Kernel - mostly stable.
47 AnyEvent::MP::Global - stable API, protocol not yet final.
48
49 stay tuned.
27 50
28=head1 DESCRIPTION 51=head1 DESCRIPTION
29 52
30This module (-family) implements a simple message passing framework. 53This module (-family) implements a simple message passing framework.
31 54
32Despite its simplicity, you can securely message other processes running 55Despite its simplicity, you can securely message other processes running
33on the same or other hosts. 56on the same or other hosts, and you can supervise entities remotely.
34 57
35For an introduction to this module family, see the L<AnyEvent::MP::Intro> 58For an introduction to this module family, see the L<AnyEvent::MP::Intro>
36manual page. 59manual page and the examples under F<eg/>.
37 60
38At the moment, this module family is severly broken and underdocumented, 61At the moment, this module family is a bit underdocumented.
39so do not use. This was uploaded mainly to reserve the CPAN namespace -
40stay tuned! The basic API should be finished, however.
41 62
42=head1 CONCEPTS 63=head1 CONCEPTS
43 64
44=over 4 65=over 4
45 66
46=item port 67=item port
47 68
48A port is something you can send messages to with the C<snd> function, and 69A port is something you can send messages to (with the C<snd> function).
49you can register C<rcv> handlers with. All C<rcv> handlers will receive
50messages they match, messages will not be queued.
51 70
71Ports allow you to register C<rcv> handlers that can match all or just
72some messages. Messages send to ports will not be queued, regardless of
73anything was listening for them or not.
74
52=item port id - C<noderef#portname> 75=item port ID - C<nodeid#portname>
53 76
54A port id is always the noderef, a hash-mark (C<#>) as separator, followed 77A port ID is the concatenation of a node ID, a hash-mark (C<#>) as
55by a port name (a printable string of unspecified format). 78separator, and a port name (a printable string of unspecified format).
56 79
57=item node 80=item node
58 81
59A node is a single process containing at least one port - the node 82A node is a single process containing at least one port - the node port,
60port. You can send messages to node ports to let them create new ports, 83which enables nodes to manage each other remotely, and to create new
61among other things. 84ports.
62 85
63Initially, nodes are either private (single-process only) or hidden 86Nodes are either public (have one or more listening ports) or private
64(connected to a master node only). Only when they epxlicitly "become 87(no listening ports). Private nodes cannot talk to other private nodes
65public" can you send them messages from unrelated other nodes. 88currently.
66 89
67=item noderef - C<host:port,host:port...>, C<id@noderef>, C<id> 90=item node ID - C<[a-za-Z0-9_\-.:]+>
68 91
69A noderef is a string that either uniquely identifies a given node (for 92A node ID is a string that uniquely identifies the node within a
70private and hidden nodes), or contains a recipe on how to reach a given 93network. Depending on the configuration used, node IDs can look like a
71node (for public nodes). 94hostname, a hostname and a port, or a random string. AnyEvent::MP itself
95doesn't interpret node IDs in any way.
96
97=item binds - C<ip:port>
98
99Nodes can only talk to each other by creating some kind of connection to
100each other. To do this, nodes should listen on one or more local transport
101endpoints - binds. Currently, only standard C<ip:port> specifications can
102be used, which specify TCP ports to listen on.
103
104=item seeds - C<host:port>
105
106When a node starts, it knows nothing about the network. To teach the node
107about the network it first has to contact some other node within the
108network. This node is called a seed.
109
110Seeds are transport endpoint(s) of as many nodes as one wants. Those nodes
111are expected to be long-running, and at least one of those should always
112be available. When nodes run out of connections (e.g. due to a network
113error), they try to re-establish connections to some seednodes again to
114join the network.
115
116Apart from being sued for seeding, seednodes are not special in any way -
117every public node can be a seednode.
72 118
73=back 119=back
74 120
75=head1 VARIABLES/FUNCTIONS 121=head1 VARIABLES/FUNCTIONS
76 122
78 124
79=cut 125=cut
80 126
81package AnyEvent::MP; 127package AnyEvent::MP;
82 128
83use AnyEvent::MP::Base; 129use AnyEvent::MP::Kernel;
84 130
85use common::sense; 131use common::sense;
86 132
87use Carp (); 133use Carp ();
88 134
89use AE (); 135use AE ();
90 136
91use base "Exporter"; 137use base "Exporter";
92 138
93our $VERSION = '0.02'; 139our $VERSION = $AnyEvent::MP::Kernel::VERSION;
140
94our @EXPORT = qw( 141our @EXPORT = qw(
95 NODE $NODE *SELF node_of _any_ 142 NODE $NODE *SELF node_of after
96 become_slave become_public 143 initialise_node
97 snd rcv mon kil reg psub 144 snd rcv mon mon_guard kil reg psub spawn
98 port 145 port
99); 146);
100 147
101our $SELF; 148our $SELF;
102 149
106 kil $SELF, die => $msg; 153 kil $SELF, die => $msg;
107} 154}
108 155
109=item $thisnode = NODE / $NODE 156=item $thisnode = NODE / $NODE
110 157
111The C<NODE> function returns, and the C<$NODE> variable contains 158The C<NODE> function returns, and the C<$NODE> variable contains, the node
112the noderef of the local node. The value is initialised by a call 159ID of the node running in the current process. This value is initialised by
113to C<become_public> or C<become_slave>, after which all local port 160a call to C<initialise_node>.
114identifiers become invalid.
115 161
116=item $noderef = node_of $portid 162=item $nodeid = node_of $port
117 163
118Extracts and returns the noderef from a portid or a noderef. 164Extracts and returns the node ID from a port ID or a node ID.
165
166=item initialise_node $profile_name, key => value...
167
168Before a node can talk to other nodes on the network (i.e. enter
169"distributed mode") it has to initialise itself - the minimum a node needs
170to know is its own name, and optionally it should know the addresses of
171some other nodes in the network to discover other nodes.
172
173This function initialises a node - it must be called exactly once (or
174never) before calling other AnyEvent::MP functions.
175
176The first argument is a profile name. If it is C<undef> or missing, then
177the current nodename will be used instead (i.e. F<uname -n>).
178
179The function first looks up the profile in the aemp configuration (see the
180L<aemp> commandline utility). the profile is calculated as follows:
181
182First, all remaining key => value pairs (all of which are conviniently
183undocumented at the moment) will be used. Then they will be overwritten by
184any values specified in the global default configuration (see the F<aemp>
185utility), then the chain of profiles selected, if any. That means that
186the values specified in the profile have highest priority and the values
187specified via C<initialise_node> have lowest priority.
188
189If the profile specifies a node ID, then this will become the node ID of
190this process. If not, then the profile name will be used as node ID. The
191special node ID of C<anon/> will be replaced by a random node ID.
192
193The next step is to look up the binds in the profile, followed by binding
194aemp protocol listeners on all binds specified (it is possible and valid
195to have no binds, meaning that the node cannot be contacted form the
196outside. This means the node cannot talk to other nodes that also have no
197binds, but it can still talk to all "normal" nodes).
198
199If the profile does not specify a binds list, then a default of C<*> is
200used.
201
202Lastly, the seeds list from the profile is passed to the
203L<AnyEvent::MP::Global> module, which will then use it to keep
204connectivity with at least on of those seed nodes at any point in time.
205
206Example: become a distributed node listening on the guessed noderef, or
207the one specified via C<aemp> for the current node. This should be the
208most common form of invocation for "daemon"-type nodes.
209
210 initialise_node;
211
212Example: become an anonymous node. This form is often used for commandline
213clients.
214
215 initialise_node "anon/";
216
217Example: become a distributed node. If there is no profile of the given
218name, or no binds list was specified, resolve C<localhost:4044> and bind
219on the resulting addresses.
220
221 initialise_node "localhost:4044";
119 222
120=item $SELF 223=item $SELF
121 224
122Contains the current port id while executing C<rcv> callbacks or C<psub> 225Contains the current port id while executing C<rcv> callbacks or C<psub>
123blocks. 226blocks.
124 227
125=item SELF, %SELF, @SELF... 228=item *SELF, SELF, %SELF, @SELF...
126 229
127Due to some quirks in how perl exports variables, it is impossible to 230Due to some quirks in how perl exports variables, it is impossible to
128just export C<$SELF>, all the symbols called C<SELF> are exported by this 231just export C<$SELF>, all the symbols named C<SELF> are exported by this
129module, but only C<$SELF> is currently used. 232module, but only C<$SELF> is currently used.
130 233
131=item snd $portid, type => @data 234=item snd $port, type => @data
132 235
133=item snd $portid, @msg 236=item snd $port, @msg
134 237
135Send the given message to the given port ID, which can identify either 238Send the given message to the given port, which can identify either a
136a local or a remote port, and can be either a string or soemthignt hat 239local or a remote port, and must be a port ID.
137stringifies a sa port ID (such as a port object :).
138 240
139While the message can be about anything, it is highly recommended to use a 241While the message can be almost anything, it is highly recommended to
140string as first element (a portid, or some word that indicates a request 242use a string as first element (a port ID, or some word that indicates a
141type etc.). 243request type etc.) and to consist if only simple perl values (scalars,
244arrays, hashes) - if you think you need to pass an object, think again.
142 245
143The message data effectively becomes read-only after a call to this 246The message data logically becomes read-only after a call to this
144function: modifying any argument is not allowed and can cause many 247function: modifying any argument (or values referenced by them) is
145problems. 248forbidden, as there can be considerable time between the call to C<snd>
249and the time the message is actually being serialised - in fact, it might
250never be copied as within the same process it is simply handed to the
251receiving port.
146 252
147The type of data you can transfer depends on the transport protocol: when 253The type of data you can transfer depends on the transport protocol: when
148JSON is used, then only strings, numbers and arrays and hashes consisting 254JSON is used, then only strings, numbers and arrays and hashes consisting
149of those are allowed (no objects). When Storable is used, then anything 255of those are allowed (no objects). When Storable is used, then anything
150that Storable can serialise and deserialise is allowed, and for the local 256that Storable can serialise and deserialise is allowed, and for the local
151node, anything can be passed. 257node, anything can be passed. Best rely only on the common denominator of
258these.
152 259
153=item kil $portid[, @reason] 260=item $local_port = port
154 261
155Kill the specified port with the given C<@reason>. 262Create a new local port object and returns its port ID. Initially it has
263no callbacks set and will throw an error when it receives messages.
156 264
157If no C<@reason> is specified, then the port is killed "normally" (linked 265=item $local_port = port { my @msg = @_ }
158ports will not be kileld, or even notified).
159 266
160Otherwise, linked ports get killed with the same reason (second form of 267Creates a new local port, and returns its ID. Semantically the same as
161C<mon>, see below). 268creating a port and calling C<rcv $port, $callback> on it.
162 269
163Runtime errors while evaluating C<rcv> callbacks or inside C<psub> blocks 270The block will be called for every message received on the port, with the
164will be reported as reason C<< die => $@ >>. 271global variable C<$SELF> set to the port ID. Runtime errors will cause the
272port to be C<kil>ed. The message will be passed as-is, no extra argument
273(i.e. no port ID) will be passed to the callback.
165 274
166Transport/communication errors are reported as C<< transport_error => 275If you want to stop/destroy the port, simply C<kil> it:
167$message >>.
168 276
169=item $guard = mon $portid, $cb->(@reason) 277 my $port = port {
278 my @msg = @_;
279 ...
280 kil $SELF;
281 };
170 282
171=item $guard = mon $portid, $otherport 283=cut
172 284
173=item $guard = mon $portid, $otherport, @msg 285sub rcv($@);
174 286
287sub _kilme {
288 die "received message on port without callback";
289}
290
291sub port(;&) {
292 my $id = "$UNIQ." . $ID++;
293 my $port = "$NODE#$id";
294
295 rcv $port, shift || \&_kilme;
296
297 $port
298}
299
300=item rcv $local_port, $callback->(@msg)
301
302Replaces the default callback on the specified port. There is no way to
303remove the default callback: use C<sub { }> to disable it, or better
304C<kil> the port when it is no longer needed.
305
306The global C<$SELF> (exported by this module) contains C<$port> while
307executing the callback. Runtime errors during callback execution will
308result in the port being C<kil>ed.
309
310The default callback received all messages not matched by a more specific
311C<tag> match.
312
313=item rcv $local_port, tag => $callback->(@msg_without_tag), ...
314
315Register (or replace) callbacks to be called on messages starting with the
316given tag on the given port (and return the port), or unregister it (when
317C<$callback> is C<$undef> or missing). There can only be one callback
318registered for each tag.
319
320The original message will be passed to the callback, after the first
321element (the tag) has been removed. The callback will use the same
322environment as the default callback (see above).
323
324Example: create a port and bind receivers on it in one go.
325
326 my $port = rcv port,
327 msg1 => sub { ... },
328 msg2 => sub { ... },
329 ;
330
331Example: create a port, bind receivers and send it in a message elsewhere
332in one go:
333
334 snd $otherport, reply =>
335 rcv port,
336 msg1 => sub { ... },
337 ...
338 ;
339
340Example: temporarily register a rcv callback for a tag matching some port
341(e.g. for a rpc reply) and unregister it after a message was received.
342
343 rcv $port, $otherport => sub {
344 my @reply = @_;
345
346 rcv $SELF, $otherport;
347 };
348
349=cut
350
351sub rcv($@) {
352 my $port = shift;
353 my ($noderef, $portid) = split /#/, $port, 2;
354
355 $NODE{$noderef} == $NODE{""}
356 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on local ports, caught";
357
358 while (@_) {
359 if (ref $_[0]) {
360 if (my $self = $PORT_DATA{$portid}) {
361 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
362 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
363
364 $self->[2] = shift;
365 } else {
366 my $cb = shift;
367 $PORT{$portid} = sub {
368 local $SELF = $port;
369 eval { &$cb }; _self_die if $@;
370 };
371 }
372 } elsif (defined $_[0]) {
373 my $self = $PORT_DATA{$portid} ||= do {
374 my $self = bless [$PORT{$port} || sub { }, { }, $port], "AnyEvent::MP::Port";
375
376 $PORT{$portid} = sub {
377 local $SELF = $port;
378
379 if (my $cb = $self->[1]{$_[0]}) {
380 shift;
381 eval { &$cb }; _self_die if $@;
382 } else {
383 &{ $self->[0] };
384 }
385 };
386
387 $self
388 };
389
390 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
391 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
392
393 my ($tag, $cb) = splice @_, 0, 2;
394
395 if (defined $cb) {
396 $self->[1]{$tag} = $cb;
397 } else {
398 delete $self->[1]{$tag};
399 }
400 }
401 }
402
403 $port
404}
405
406=item $closure = psub { BLOCK }
407
408Remembers C<$SELF> and creates a closure out of the BLOCK. When the
409closure is executed, sets up the environment in the same way as in C<rcv>
410callbacks, i.e. runtime errors will cause the port to get C<kil>ed.
411
412This is useful when you register callbacks from C<rcv> callbacks:
413
414 rcv delayed_reply => sub {
415 my ($delay, @reply) = @_;
416 my $timer = AE::timer $delay, 0, psub {
417 snd @reply, $SELF;
418 };
419 };
420
421=cut
422
423sub psub(&) {
424 my $cb = shift;
425
426 my $port = $SELF
427 or Carp::croak "psub can only be called from within rcv or psub callbacks, not";
428
429 sub {
430 local $SELF = $port;
431
432 if (wantarray) {
433 my @res = eval { &$cb };
434 _self_die if $@;
435 @res
436 } else {
437 my $res = eval { &$cb };
438 _self_die if $@;
439 $res
440 }
441 }
442}
443
444=item $guard = mon $port, $cb->(@reason) # call $cb when $port dies
445
446=item $guard = mon $port, $rcvport # kill $rcvport when $port dies
447
448=item $guard = mon $port # kill $SELF when $port dies
449
450=item $guard = mon $port, $rcvport, @msg # send a message when $port dies
451
175Monitor the given port and do something when the port is killed. 452Monitor the given port and do something when the port is killed or
453messages to it were lost, and optionally return a guard that can be used
454to stop monitoring again.
176 455
456C<mon> effectively guarantees that, in the absence of hardware failures,
457after starting the monitor, either all messages sent to the port will
458arrive, or the monitoring action will be invoked after possible message
459loss has been detected. No messages will be lost "in between" (after
460the first lost message no further messages will be received by the
461port). After the monitoring action was invoked, further messages might get
462delivered again.
463
464Note that monitoring-actions are one-shot: once messages are lost (and a
465monitoring alert was raised), they are removed and will not trigger again.
466
177In the first form, the callback is simply called with any number 467In the first form (callback), the callback is simply called with any
178of C<@reason> elements (no @reason means that the port was deleted 468number of C<@reason> elements (no @reason means that the port was deleted
179"normally"). Note also that I<< the callback B<must> never die >>, so use 469"normally"). Note also that I<< the callback B<must> never die >>, so use
180C<eval> if unsure. 470C<eval> if unsure.
181 471
182In the second form, the other port will be C<kil>'ed with C<@reason>, iff 472In the second form (another port given), the other port (C<$rcvport>)
183a @reason was specified, i.e. on "normal" kils nothing happens, while 473will be C<kil>'ed with C<@reason>, iff a @reason was specified, i.e. on
184under all other conditions, the other port is killed with the same reason. 474"normal" kils nothing happens, while under all other conditions, the other
475port is killed with the same reason.
185 476
477The third form (kill self) is the same as the second form, except that
478C<$rvport> defaults to C<$SELF>.
479
186In the last form, a message of the form C<@msg, @reason> will be C<snd>. 480In the last form (message), a message of the form C<@msg, @reason> will be
481C<snd>.
482
483As a rule of thumb, monitoring requests should always monitor a port from
484a local port (or callback). The reason is that kill messages might get
485lost, just like any other message. Another less obvious reason is that
486even monitoring requests can get lost (for exmaple, when the connection
487to the other node goes down permanently). When monitoring a port locally
488these problems do not exist.
187 489
188Example: call a given callback when C<$port> is killed. 490Example: call a given callback when C<$port> is killed.
189 491
190 mon $port, sub { warn "port died because of <@_>\n" }; 492 mon $port, sub { warn "port died because of <@_>\n" };
191 493
192Example: kill ourselves when C<$port> is killed abnormally. 494Example: kill ourselves when C<$port> is killed abnormally.
193 495
194 mon $port, $self; 496 mon $port;
195 497
196Example: send us a restart message another C<$port> is killed. 498Example: send us a restart message when another C<$port> is killed.
197 499
198 mon $port, $self => "restart"; 500 mon $port, $self => "restart";
199 501
200=cut 502=cut
201 503
202sub mon { 504sub mon {
203 my ($noderef, $port, $cb) = ((split /#/, shift, 2), shift); 505 my ($noderef, $port) = split /#/, shift, 2;
204 506
205 my $node = $NODE{$noderef} || add_node $noderef; 507 my $node = $NODE{$noderef} || add_node $noderef;
206 508
207 #TODO: ports must not be references 509 my $cb = @_ ? shift : $SELF || Carp::croak 'mon: called with one argument only, but $SELF not set,';
208 if (!ref $cb or "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $cb) { 510
511 unless (ref $cb) {
209 if (@_) { 512 if (@_) {
210 # send a kill info message 513 # send a kill info message
211 my (@msg) = ($cb, @_); 514 my (@msg) = ($cb, @_);
212 $cb = sub { snd @msg, @_ }; 515 $cb = sub { snd @msg, @_ };
213 } else { 516 } else {
229is killed, the references will be freed. 532is killed, the references will be freed.
230 533
231Optionally returns a guard that will stop the monitoring. 534Optionally returns a guard that will stop the monitoring.
232 535
233This function is useful when you create e.g. timers or other watchers and 536This function is useful when you create e.g. timers or other watchers and
234want to free them when the port gets killed: 537want to free them when the port gets killed (note the use of C<psub>):
235 538
236 $port->rcv (start => sub { 539 $port->rcv (start => sub {
237 my $timer; $timer = mon_guard $port, AE::timer 1, 1, sub { 540 my $timer; $timer = mon_guard $port, AE::timer 1, 1, psub {
238 undef $timer if 0.9 < rand; 541 undef $timer if 0.9 < rand;
239 }); 542 });
240 }); 543 });
241 544
242=cut 545=cut
243 546
244sub mon_guard { 547sub mon_guard {
245 my ($port, @refs) = @_; 548 my ($port, @refs) = @_;
246 549
550 #TODO: mon-less form?
551
247 mon $port, sub { 0 && @refs } 552 mon $port, sub { 0 && @refs }
248} 553}
249 554
250=item lnk $port1, $port2 555=item kil $port[, @reason]
251 556
252Link two ports. This is simply a shorthand for: 557Kill the specified port with the given C<@reason>.
253 558
254 mon $port1, $port2; 559If no C<@reason> is specified, then the port is killed "normally" (ports
255 mon $port2, $port1; 560monitoring other ports will not necessarily die because a port dies
561"normally").
256 562
257It means that if either one is killed abnormally, the other one gets 563Otherwise, linked ports get killed with the same reason (second form of
258killed as well. 564C<mon>, see above).
259 565
260=item $local_port = port 566Runtime errors while evaluating C<rcv> callbacks or inside C<psub> blocks
567will be reported as reason C<< die => $@ >>.
261 568
262Create a new local port object that supports message matching. 569Transport/communication errors are reported as C<< transport_error =>
570$message >>.
263 571
264=item $portid = port { my @msg = @_; $finished }
265
266Creates a "mini port", that is, a very lightweight port without any
267pattern matching behind it, and returns its ID.
268
269The block will be called for every message received on the port. When the
270callback returns a true value its job is considered "done" and the port
271will be destroyed. Otherwise it will stay alive.
272
273The message will be passed as-is, no extra argument (i.e. no port id) will
274be passed to the callback.
275
276If you need the local port id in the callback, this works nicely:
277
278 my $port; $port = miniport {
279 snd $otherport, reply => $port;
280 };
281
282=cut 572=cut
283 573
284sub port(;&) { 574=item $port = spawn $node, $initfunc[, @initdata]
285 my $id = "$UNIQ." . $ID++;
286 my $port = "$NODE#$id";
287 575
288 if (@_) { 576Creates a port on the node C<$node> (which can also be a port ID, in which
289 my $cb = shift; 577case it's the node where that port resides).
290 $PORT{$id} = sub { 578
291 local $SELF = $port; 579The port ID of the newly created port is returned immediately, and it is
292 eval { 580possible to immediately start sending messages or to monitor the port.
293 &$cb 581
294 and kil $id; 582After the port has been created, the init function is called on the remote
583node, in the same context as a C<rcv> callback. This function must be a
584fully-qualified function name (e.g. C<MyApp::Chat::Server::init>). To
585specify a function in the main program, use C<::name>.
586
587If the function doesn't exist, then the node tries to C<require>
588the package, then the package above the package and so on (e.g.
589C<MyApp::Chat::Server>, C<MyApp::Chat>, C<MyApp>) until the function
590exists or it runs out of package names.
591
592The init function is then called with the newly-created port as context
593object (C<$SELF>) and the C<@initdata> values as arguments.
594
595A common idiom is to pass a local port, immediately monitor the spawned
596port, and in the remote init function, immediately monitor the passed
597local port. This two-way monitoring ensures that both ports get cleaned up
598when there is a problem.
599
600Example: spawn a chat server port on C<$othernode>.
601
602 # this node, executed from within a port context:
603 my $server = spawn $othernode, "MyApp::Chat::Server::connect", $SELF;
604 mon $server;
605
606 # init function on C<$othernode>
607 sub connect {
608 my ($srcport) = @_;
609
610 mon $srcport;
611
612 rcv $SELF, sub {
295 }; 613 ...
296 _self_die if $@;
297 };
298 } else {
299 my $self = bless {
300 id => "$NODE#$id",
301 }, "AnyEvent::MP::Port";
302
303 $PORT_DATA{$id} = $self;
304 $PORT{$id} = sub {
305 local $SELF = $port;
306
307 eval {
308 for (@{ $self->{rc0}{$_[0]} }) {
309 $_ && &{$_->[0]}
310 && undef $_;
311 }
312
313 for (@{ $self->{rcv}{$_[0]} }) {
314 $_ && [@_[1 .. @{$_->[1]}]] ~~ $_->[1]
315 && &{$_->[0]}
316 && undef $_;
317 }
318
319 for (@{ $self->{any} }) {
320 $_ && [@_[0 .. $#{$_->[1]}]] ~~ $_->[1]
321 && &{$_->[0]}
322 && undef $_;
323 }
324 };
325 _self_die if $@;
326 }; 614 };
327 } 615 }
328 616
329 $port
330}
331
332=item reg $portid, $name
333
334Registers the given port under the name C<$name>. If the name already
335exists it is replaced.
336
337A port can only be registered under one well known name.
338
339A port automatically becomes unregistered when it is killed.
340
341=cut 617=cut
342 618
343sub reg(@) { 619sub _spawn {
344 my ($portid, $name) = @_; 620 my $port = shift;
621 my $init = shift;
345 622
346 $REG{$name} = $portid; 623 local $SELF = "$NODE#$port";
347} 624 eval {
348 625 &{ load_func $init }
349=item rcv $portid, tagstring => $callback->(@msg), ...
350
351=item rcv $portid, $smartmatch => $callback->(@msg), ...
352
353=item rcv $portid, [$smartmatch...] => $callback->(@msg), ...
354
355Register callbacks to be called on matching messages on the given port.
356
357The callback has to return a true value when its work is done, after
358which is will be removed, or a false value in which case it will stay
359registered.
360
361The global C<$SELF> (exported by this module) contains C<$portid> while
362executing the callback.
363
364Runtime errors wdurign callback execution will result in the port being
365C<kil>ed.
366
367If the match is an array reference, then it will be matched against the
368first elements of the message, otherwise only the first element is being
369matched.
370
371Any element in the match that is specified as C<_any_> (a function
372exported by this module) matches any single element of the message.
373
374While not required, it is highly recommended that the first matching
375element is a string identifying the message. The one-string-only match is
376also the most efficient match (by far).
377
378=cut
379
380sub rcv($@) {
381 my ($noderef, $port) = split /#/, shift, 2;
382
383 ($NODE{$noderef} || add_node $noderef) == $NODE{""}
384 or Carp::croak "$noderef#$port: rcv can only be called on local ports, caught";
385
386 my $self = $PORT_DATA{$port}
387 or Carp::croak "$noderef#$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
388
389 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
390 or Carp::croak "$noderef#$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
391
392 while (@_) {
393 my ($match, $cb) = splice @_, 0, 2;
394
395 if (!ref $match) {
396 push @{ $self->{rc0}{$match} }, [$cb];
397 } elsif (("ARRAY" eq ref $match && !ref $match->[0])) {
398 my ($type, @match) = @$match;
399 @match
400 ? push @{ $self->{rcv}{$match->[0]} }, [$cb, \@match]
401 : push @{ $self->{rc0}{$match->[0]} }, [$cb];
402 } else {
403 push @{ $self->{any} }, [$cb, $match];
404 }
405 }
406}
407
408=item $closure = psub { BLOCK }
409
410Remembers C<$SELF> and creates a closure out of the BLOCK. When the
411closure is executed, sets up the environment in the same way as in C<rcv>
412callbacks, i.e. runtime errors will cause the port to get C<kil>ed.
413
414This is useful when you register callbacks from C<rcv> callbacks:
415
416 rcv delayed_reply => sub {
417 my ($delay, @reply) = @_;
418 my $timer = AE::timer $delay, 0, psub {
419 snd @reply, $SELF;
420 };
421 }; 626 };
422
423=cut
424
425sub psub(&) {
426 my $cb = shift;
427
428 my $port = $SELF
429 or Carp::croak "psub can only be called from within rcv or psub callbacks, not";
430
431 sub {
432 local $SELF = $port;
433
434 if (wantarray) {
435 my @res = eval { &$cb };
436 _self_die if $@; 627 _self_die if $@;
437 @res 628}
438 } else { 629
439 my $res = eval { &$cb }; 630sub spawn(@) {
440 _self_die if $@; 631 my ($noderef, undef) = split /#/, shift, 2;
441 $res 632
442 } 633 my $id = "$RUNIQ." . $ID++;
634
635 $_[0] =~ /::/
636 or Carp::croak "spawn init function must be a fully-qualified name, caught";
637
638 snd_to_func $noderef, "AnyEvent::MP::_spawn" => $id, @_;
639
640 "$noderef#$id"
641}
642
643=item after $timeout, @msg
644
645=item after $timeout, $callback
646
647Either sends the given message, or call the given callback, after the
648specified number of seconds.
649
650This is simply a utility function that comes in handy at times - the
651AnyEvent::MP author is not convinced of the wisdom of having it, though,
652so it may go away in the future.
653
654=cut
655
656sub after($@) {
657 my ($timeout, @action) = @_;
658
659 my $t; $t = AE::timer $timeout, 0, sub {
660 undef $t;
661 ref $action[0]
662 ? $action[0]()
663 : snd @action;
443 } 664 };
444} 665}
445 666
446=back 667=back
447 668
448=head1 FUNCTIONS FOR NODES 669=head1 AnyEvent::MP vs. Distributed Erlang
670
671AnyEvent::MP got lots of its ideas from distributed Erlang (Erlang node
672== aemp node, Erlang process == aemp port), so many of the documents and
673programming techniques employed by Erlang apply to AnyEvent::MP. Here is a
674sample:
675
676 http://www.Erlang.se/doc/programming_rules.shtml
677 http://Erlang.org/doc/getting_started/part_frame.html # chapters 3 and 4
678 http://Erlang.org/download/Erlang-book-part1.pdf # chapters 5 and 6
679 http://Erlang.org/download/armstrong_thesis_2003.pdf # chapters 4 and 5
680
681Despite the similarities, there are also some important differences:
449 682
450=over 4 683=over 4
451 684
452=item become_public endpoint... 685=item * Node IDs are arbitrary strings in AEMP.
453 686
454Tells the node to become a public node, i.e. reachable from other nodes. 687Erlang relies on special naming and DNS to work everywhere in the same
688way. AEMP relies on each node somehow knowing its own address(es) (e.g. by
689configuraiton or DNS), but will otherwise discover other odes itself.
455 690
456If no arguments are given, or the first argument is C<undef>, then 691=item * Erlang has a "remote ports are like local ports" philosophy, AEMP
457AnyEvent::MP tries to bind on port C<4040> on all IP addresses that the 692uses "local ports are like remote ports".
458local nodename resolves to.
459 693
460Otherwise the first argument must be an array-reference with transport 694The failure modes for local ports are quite different (runtime errors
461endpoints ("ip:port", "hostname:port") or port numbers (in which case the 695only) then for remote ports - when a local port dies, you I<know> it dies,
462local nodename is used as hostname). The endpoints are all resolved and 696when a connection to another node dies, you know nothing about the other
463will become the node reference. 697port.
464 698
465=cut 699Erlang pretends remote ports are as reliable as local ports, even when
700they are not.
701
702AEMP encourages a "treat remote ports differently" philosophy, with local
703ports being the special case/exception, where transport errors cannot
704occur.
705
706=item * Erlang uses processes and a mailbox, AEMP does not queue.
707
708Erlang uses processes that selectively receive messages, and therefore
709needs a queue. AEMP is event based, queuing messages would serve no
710useful purpose. For the same reason the pattern-matching abilities of
711AnyEvent::MP are more limited, as there is little need to be able to
712filter messages without dequeing them.
713
714(But see L<Coro::MP> for a more Erlang-like process model on top of AEMP).
715
716=item * Erlang sends are synchronous, AEMP sends are asynchronous.
717
718Sending messages in Erlang is synchronous and blocks the process (and
719so does not need a queue that can overflow). AEMP sends are immediate,
720connection establishment is handled in the background.
721
722=item * Erlang suffers from silent message loss, AEMP does not.
723
724Erlang makes few guarantees on messages delivery - messages can get lost
725without any of the processes realising it (i.e. you send messages a, b,
726and c, and the other side only receives messages a and c).
727
728AEMP guarantees correct ordering, and the guarantee that after one message
729is lost, all following ones sent to the same port are lost as well, until
730monitoring raises an error, so there are no silent "holes" in the message
731sequence.
732
733=item * Erlang can send messages to the wrong port, AEMP does not.
734
735In Erlang it is quite likely that a node that restarts reuses a process ID
736known to other nodes for a completely different process, causing messages
737destined for that process to end up in an unrelated process.
738
739AEMP never reuses port IDs, so old messages or old port IDs floating
740around in the network will not be sent to an unrelated port.
741
742=item * Erlang uses unprotected connections, AEMP uses secure
743authentication and can use TLS.
744
745AEMP can use a proven protocol - TLS - to protect connections and
746securely authenticate nodes.
747
748=item * The AEMP protocol is optimised for both text-based and binary
749communications.
750
751The AEMP protocol, unlike the Erlang protocol, supports both programming
752language independent text-only protocols (good for debugging) and binary,
753language-specific serialisers (e.g. Storable). By default, unless TLS is
754used, the protocol is actually completely text-based.
755
756It has also been carefully designed to be implementable in other languages
757with a minimum of work while gracefully degrading functionality to make the
758protocol simple.
759
760=item * AEMP has more flexible monitoring options than Erlang.
761
762In Erlang, you can chose to receive I<all> exit signals as messages
763or I<none>, there is no in-between, so monitoring single processes is
764difficult to implement. Monitoring in AEMP is more flexible than in
765Erlang, as one can choose between automatic kill, exit message or callback
766on a per-process basis.
767
768=item * Erlang tries to hide remote/local connections, AEMP does not.
769
770Monitoring in Erlang is not an indicator of process death/crashes, in the
771same way as linking is (except linking is unreliable in Erlang).
772
773In AEMP, you don't "look up" registered port names or send to named ports
774that might or might not be persistent. Instead, you normally spawn a port
775on the remote node. The init function monitors you, and you monitor the
776remote port. Since both monitors are local to the node, they are much more
777reliable (no need for C<spawn_link>).
778
779This also saves round-trips and avoids sending messages to the wrong port
780(hard to do in Erlang).
466 781
467=back 782=back
468 783
469=head1 NODE MESSAGES 784=head1 RATIONALE
470
471Nodes understand the following messages sent to them. Many of them take
472arguments called C<@reply>, which will simply be used to compose a reply
473message - C<$reply[0]> is the port to reply to, C<$reply[1]> the type and
474the remaining arguments are simply the message data.
475 785
476=over 4 786=over 4
477 787
478=cut 788=item Why strings for port and node IDs, why not objects?
479 789
480=item lookup => $name, @reply 790We considered "objects", but found that the actual number of methods
791that can be called are quite low. Since port and node IDs travel over
792the network frequently, the serialising/deserialising would add lots of
793overhead, as well as having to keep a proxy object everywhere.
481 794
482Replies with the port ID of the specified well-known port, or C<undef>. 795Strings can easily be printed, easily serialised etc. and need no special
796procedures to be "valid".
483 797
484=item devnull => ... 798And as a result, a miniport consists of a single closure stored in a
799global hash - it can't become much cheaper.
485 800
486Generic data sink/CPU heat conversion. 801=item Why favour JSON, why not a real serialising format such as Storable?
487 802
488=item relay => $port, @msg 803In fact, any AnyEvent::MP node will happily accept Storable as framing
804format, but currently there is no way to make a node use Storable by
805default (although all nodes will accept it).
489 806
490Simply forwards the message to the given port. 807The default framing protocol is JSON because a) JSON::XS is many times
808faster for small messages and b) most importantly, after years of
809experience we found that object serialisation is causing more problems
810than it solves: Just like function calls, objects simply do not travel
811easily over the network, mostly because they will always be a copy, so you
812always have to re-think your design.
491 813
492=item eval => $string[ @reply] 814Keeping your messages simple, concentrating on data structures rather than
493 815objects, will keep your messages clean, tidy and efficient.
494Evaluates the given string. If C<@reply> is given, then a message of the
495form C<@reply, $@, @evalres> is sent.
496
497Example: crash another node.
498
499 snd $othernode, eval => "exit";
500
501=item time => @reply
502
503Replies the the current node time to C<@reply>.
504
505Example: tell the current node to send the current time to C<$myport> in a
506C<timereply> message.
507
508 snd $NODE, time => $myport, timereply => 1, 2;
509 # => snd $myport, timereply => 1, 2, <time>
510 816
511=back 817=back
512 818
513=head1 SEE ALSO 819=head1 SEE ALSO
820
821L<AnyEvent::MP::Intro> - a gentle introduction.
822
823L<AnyEvent::MP::Kernel> - more, lower-level, stuff.
824
825L<AnyEvent::MP::Global> - network maintainance and port groups, to find
826your applications.
514 827
515L<AnyEvent>. 828L<AnyEvent>.
516 829
517=head1 AUTHOR 830=head1 AUTHOR
518 831

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