ViewVC Help
View File | Revision Log | Show Annotations | Download File
/cvs/AnyEvent-MP/MP.pm
(Generate patch)

Comparing AnyEvent-MP/MP.pm (file contents):
Revision 1.5 by root, Sat Aug 1 07:44:02 2009 UTC vs.
Revision 1.79 by root, Fri Sep 4 21:52:09 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 node ID
10 NODE # returns this node's node ID
11 11
12 $SELF # receiving/own port id in rcv callbacks
13
14 # initialise the node so it can send/receive messages
15 configure;
16
17 # ports are message destinations
18
19 # sending messages
12 snd $port, type => data...; 20 snd $port, type => data...;
21 snd $port, @msg;
22 snd @msg_with_first_element_being_a_port;
13 23
14 rcv $port, smartmatch => $cb->($port, @msg); 24 # creating/using ports, the simple way
25 my $simple_port = port { my @msg = @_ };
15 26
16 # examples: 27 # creating/using ports, tagged message matching
28 my $port = port;
17 rcv $port2, ping => sub { snd $_[0], "pong"; 0 }; 29 rcv $port, ping => sub { snd $_[0], "pong" };
18 rcv $port1, pong => sub { warn "pong received\n" }; 30 rcv $port, pong => sub { warn "pong received\n" };
19 snd $port2, ping => $port1;
20 31
21 # more, smarter, matches (_any_ is exported by this module) 32 # create a port on another node
22 rcv $port, [child_died => $pid] => sub { ... 33 my $port = spawn $node, $initfunc, @initdata;
23 rcv $port, [_any_, _any_, 3] => sub { .. $_[2] is 3 34
35 # monitoring
36 mon $port, $cb->(@msg) # callback is invoked on death
37 mon $port, $otherport # kill otherport on abnormal death
38 mon $port, $otherport, @msg # send message on death
39
40=head1 CURRENT STATUS
41
42 bin/aemp - stable.
43 AnyEvent::MP - stable API, should work.
44 AnyEvent::MP::Intro - explains most concepts.
45 AnyEvent::MP::Kernel - mostly stable.
46 AnyEvent::MP::Global - stable but incomplete, protocol not yet final.
47
48stay 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, and you can supervise entities remotely.
56
57For an introduction to this module family, see the L<AnyEvent::MP::Intro>
58manual page and the examples under F<eg/>.
31 59
32=head1 CONCEPTS 60=head1 CONCEPTS
33 61
34=over 4 62=over 4
35 63
36=item port 64=item port
37 65
38A port is something you can send messages to with the C<snd> function, and 66Not to be confused with a TCP port, a "port" is something you can send
39you can register C<rcv> handlers with. All C<rcv> handlers will receive 67messages to (with the C<snd> function).
40messages they match, messages will not be queued.
41 68
69Ports allow you to register C<rcv> handlers that can match all or just
70some messages. Messages send to ports will not be queued, regardless of
71anything was listening for them or not.
72
42=item port id - C<noderef#portname> 73=item port ID - C<nodeid#portname>
43 74
44A port id is always the noderef, a hash-mark (C<#>) as separator, followed 75A port ID is the concatenation of a node ID, a hash-mark (C<#>) as
45by a port name (a printable string of unspecified format). 76separator, and a port name (a printable string of unspecified format).
46 77
47=item node 78=item node
48 79
49A node is a single process containing at least one port - the node 80A 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, 81which enables nodes to manage each other remotely, and to create new
51among other things. 82ports.
52 83
53Initially, nodes are either private (single-process only) or hidden 84Nodes are either public (have one or more listening ports) or private
54(connected to a master node only). Only when they epxlicitly "become 85(no listening ports). Private nodes cannot talk to other private nodes
55public" can you send them messages from unrelated other nodes. 86currently.
56 87
57=item noderef - C<host:port,host:port...>, C<id@noderef>, C<id> 88=item node ID - C<[a-za-Z0-9_\-.:]+>
58 89
59A noderef is a string that either uniquely identifies a given node (for 90A 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 91network. Depending on the configuration used, node IDs can look like a
61node (for public nodes). 92hostname, a hostname and a port, or a random string. AnyEvent::MP itself
93doesn't interpret node IDs in any way.
94
95=item binds - C<ip:port>
96
97Nodes can only talk to each other by creating some kind of connection to
98each other. To do this, nodes should listen on one or more local transport
99endpoints - binds. Currently, only standard C<ip:port> specifications can
100be used, which specify TCP ports to listen on.
101
102=item seeds - C<host:port>
103
104When a node starts, it knows nothing about the network. To teach the node
105about the network it first has to contact some other node within the
106network. This node is called a seed.
107
108Seeds are transport endpoint(s) of as many nodes as one wants. Those nodes
109are expected to be long-running, and at least one of those should always
110be available. When nodes run out of connections (e.g. due to a network
111error), they try to re-establish connections to some seednodes again to
112join the network.
113
114Apart from being sued for seeding, seednodes are not special in any way -
115every public node can be a seednode.
62 116
63=back 117=back
64 118
65=head1 VARIABLES/FUNCTIONS 119=head1 VARIABLES/FUNCTIONS
66 120
68 122
69=cut 123=cut
70 124
71package AnyEvent::MP; 125package AnyEvent::MP;
72 126
73use AnyEvent::MP::Util ();
74use AnyEvent::MP::Node; 127use AnyEvent::MP::Kernel;
75use AnyEvent::MP::Transport;
76 128
77use utf8;
78use common::sense; 129use common::sense;
79 130
80use Carp (); 131use Carp ();
81 132
82use AE (); 133use AE ();
83 134
84use base "Exporter"; 135use base "Exporter";
85 136
86our $VERSION = '0.0'; 137our $VERSION = $AnyEvent::MP::Kernel::VERSION;
87our @EXPORT = qw(NODE $NODE $PORT snd rcv _any_);
88 138
89our $DEFAULT_SECRET; 139our @EXPORT = qw(
90our $DEFAULT_PORT = "4040"; 140 NODE $NODE *SELF node_of after
141 configure
142 snd rcv mon mon_guard kil reg psub spawn
143 port
144);
91 145
92our $CONNECT_INTERVAL = 5; # new connect every 5s, at least 146our $SELF;
93our $CONNECT_TIMEOUT = 30; # includes handshake
94 147
95sub default_secret { 148sub _self_die() {
96 unless (defined $DEFAULT_SECRET) { 149 my $msg = $@;
97 if (open my $fh, "<$ENV{HOME}/.aemp-secret") { 150 $msg =~ s/\n+$// unless ref $msg;
98 sysread $fh, $DEFAULT_SECRET, -s $fh; 151 kil $SELF, die => $msg;
99 } else {
100 $DEFAULT_SECRET = AnyEvent::MP::Util::nonce 32;
101 }
102 }
103
104 $DEFAULT_SECRET
105} 152}
106 153
107=item NODE / $NODE 154=item $thisnode = NODE / $NODE
108 155
109The C<NODE ()> function and the C<$NODE> variable contain the noderef of 156The 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 157ID of the node running in the current process. This value is initialised by
111C<become_slave>, after which all local port identifiers become invalid. 158a call to C<configure>.
112 159
113=cut 160=item $nodeid = node_of $port
114 161
115our $UNIQ = sprintf "%x.%x", $$, time; # per-process/node unique cookie 162Extracts and returns the node ID from a port ID or a node ID.
116our $PUBLIC = 0;
117our $NODE;
118our $PORT;
119 163
120our %NODE; # node id to transport mapping, or "undef", for local node 164=item configure $profile, key => value...
121our %PORT; # local ports
122our %LISTENER; # local transports
123 165
124sub NODE() { $NODE } 166=item configure key => value...
125 167
126{ 168Before a node can talk to other nodes on the network (i.e. enter
127 use POSIX (); 169"distributed mode") it has to configure itself - the minimum a node needs
128 my $nodename = (POSIX::uname)[1]; 170to know is its own name, and optionally it should know the addresses of
129 $NODE = "$$\@$nodename"; 171some other nodes in the network to discover other nodes.
130}
131 172
132sub _ANY_() { 1 } 173This function configures a node - it must be called exactly once (or
133sub _any_() { \&_ANY_ } 174never) before calling other AnyEvent::MP functions.
134 175
135sub add_node { 176=over 4
136 my ($noderef) = @_;
137 177
138 return $NODE{$noderef} 178=item step 1, gathering configuration from profiles
139 if exists $NODE{$noderef};
140 179
141 for (split /,/, $noderef) { 180The function first looks up a profile in the aemp configuration (see the
142 return $NODE{$noderef} = $NODE{$_} 181L<aemp> commandline utility). The profile name can be specified via the
143 if exists $NODE{$_}; 182named C<profile> parameter or can simply be the first parameter). If it is
144 } 183missing, then the nodename (F<uname -n>) will be used as profile name.
145 184
146 # for indirect sends, use a different class 185The profile data is then gathered as follows:
147 my $node = new AnyEvent::MP::Node::Direct $noderef;
148 186
149 $NODE{$_} = $node 187First, all remaining key => value pairs (all of which are conveniently
150 for $noderef, split /,/, $noderef; 188undocumented at the moment) will be interpreted as configuration
189data. Then they will be overwritten by any values specified in the global
190default configuration (see the F<aemp> utility), then the chain of
191profiles chosen by the profile name (and any C<parent> attributes).
151 192
152 $node 193That means that the values specified in the profile have highest priority
153} 194and the values specified directly via C<configure> have lowest priority,
195and can only be used to specify defaults.
154 196
197If the profile specifies a node ID, then this will become the node ID of
198this process. If not, then the profile name will be used as node ID. The
199special node ID of C<anon/> will be replaced by a random node ID.
200
201=item step 2, bind listener sockets
202
203The next step is to look up the binds in the profile, followed by binding
204aemp protocol listeners on all binds specified (it is possible and valid
205to have no binds, meaning that the node cannot be contacted form the
206outside. This means the node cannot talk to other nodes that also have no
207binds, but it can still talk to all "normal" nodes).
208
209If the profile does not specify a binds list, then a default of C<*> is
210used, meaning the node will bind on a dynamically-assigned port on every
211local IP address it finds.
212
213=item step 3, connect to seed nodes
214
215As the last step, the seeds list from the profile is passed to the
216L<AnyEvent::MP::Global> module, which will then use it to keep
217connectivity with at least one node at any point in time.
218
219=back
220
221Example: become a distributed node using the locla node name as profile.
222This should be the most common form of invocation for "daemon"-type nodes.
223
224 configure
225
226Example: become an anonymous node. This form is often used for commandline
227clients.
228
229 configure nodeid => "anon/";
230
231Example: configure a node using a profile called seed, which si suitable
232for a seed node as it binds on all local addresses on a fixed port (4040,
233customary for aemp).
234
235 # use the aemp commandline utility
236 # aemp profile seed nodeid anon/ binds '*:4040'
237
238 # then use it
239 configure profile => "seed";
240
241 # or simply use aemp from the shell again:
242 # aemp run profile seed
243
244 # or provide a nicer-to-remember nodeid
245 # aemp run profile seed nodeid "$(hostname)"
246
247=item $SELF
248
249Contains the current port id while executing C<rcv> callbacks or C<psub>
250blocks.
251
252=item *SELF, SELF, %SELF, @SELF...
253
254Due to some quirks in how perl exports variables, it is impossible to
255just export C<$SELF>, all the symbols named C<SELF> are exported by this
256module, but only C<$SELF> is currently used.
257
155=item snd $portid, type => @data 258=item snd $port, type => @data
156 259
157=item snd $portid, @msg 260=item snd $port, @msg
158 261
159Send the given message to the given port ID, which can identify either a 262Send the given message to the given port, which can identify either a
160local or a remote port. 263local or a remote port, and must be a port ID.
161 264
162While the message can be about anything, it is highly recommended to use 265While the message can be almost anything, it is highly recommended to
163a constant string as first element. 266use a string as first element (a port ID, or some word that indicates a
267request type etc.) and to consist if only simple perl values (scalars,
268arrays, hashes) - if you think you need to pass an object, think again.
164 269
165The message data effectively becomes read-only after a call to this 270The message data logically becomes read-only after a call to this
166function: modifying any argument is not allowed and can cause many 271function: modifying any argument (or values referenced by them) is
167problems. 272forbidden, as there can be considerable time between the call to C<snd>
273and the time the message is actually being serialised - in fact, it might
274never be copied as within the same process it is simply handed to the
275receiving port.
168 276
169The type of data you can transfer depends on the transport protocol: when 277The type of data you can transfer depends on the transport protocol: when
170JSON is used, then only strings, numbers and arrays and hashes consisting 278JSON is used, then only strings, numbers and arrays and hashes consisting
171of those are allowed (no objects). When Storable is used, then anything 279of those are allowed (no objects). When Storable is used, then anything
172that Storable can serialise and deserialise is allowed, and for the local 280that Storable can serialise and deserialise is allowed, and for the local
173node, anything can be passed. 281node, anything can be passed. Best rely only on the common denominator of
282these.
174 283
175=cut 284=item $local_port = port
176 285
177sub snd(@) { 286Create a new local port object and returns its port ID. Initially it has
178 my ($noderef, $port) = split /#/, shift, 2; 287no callbacks set and will throw an error when it receives messages.
179 288
180 add_node $noderef 289=item $local_port = port { my @msg = @_ }
181 unless exists $NODE{$noderef};
182 290
183 $NODE{$noderef}->send (["$port", [@_]]); 291Creates a new local port, and returns its ID. Semantically the same as
184} 292creating a port and calling C<rcv $port, $callback> on it.
185 293
294The block will be called for every message received on the port, with the
295global variable C<$SELF> set to the port ID. Runtime errors will cause the
296port to be C<kil>ed. The message will be passed as-is, no extra argument
297(i.e. no port ID) will be passed to the callback.
298
299If you want to stop/destroy the port, simply C<kil> it:
300
301 my $port = port {
302 my @msg = @_;
303 ...
304 kil $SELF;
305 };
306
307=cut
308
309sub rcv($@);
310
311sub _kilme {
312 die "received message on port without callback";
313}
314
315sub port(;&) {
316 my $id = "$UNIQ." . $ID++;
317 my $port = "$NODE#$id";
318
319 rcv $port, shift || \&_kilme;
320
321 $port
322}
323
186=item rcv $portid, type => $callback->(@msg) 324=item rcv $local_port, $callback->(@msg)
187 325
188=item rcv $portid, $smartmatch => $callback->(@msg) 326Replaces the default callback on the specified port. There is no way to
327remove the default callback: use C<sub { }> to disable it, or better
328C<kil> the port when it is no longer needed.
189 329
190=item rcv $portid, [$smartmatch...] => $callback->(@msg) 330The global C<$SELF> (exported by this module) contains C<$port> while
331executing the callback. Runtime errors during callback execution will
332result in the port being C<kil>ed.
191 333
192Register a callback on the port identified by C<$portid>, which I<must> be 334The default callback received all messages not matched by a more specific
193a local port. 335C<tag> match.
194 336
195The callback has to return a true value when its work is done, after 337=item rcv $local_port, tag => $callback->(@msg_without_tag), ...
196which is will be removed, or a false value in which case it will stay
197registered.
198 338
199If the match is an array reference, then it will be matched against the 339Register (or replace) callbacks to be called on messages starting with the
200first elements of the message, otherwise only the first element is being 340given tag on the given port (and return the port), or unregister it (when
201matched. 341C<$callback> is C<$undef> or missing). There can only be one callback
342registered for each tag.
202 343
203Any element in the match that is specified as C<_any_> (a function 344The original message will be passed to the callback, after the first
204exported by this module) matches any single element of the message. 345element (the tag) has been removed. The callback will use the same
346environment as the default callback (see above).
205 347
206While not required, it is highly recommended that the first matching 348Example: create a port and bind receivers on it in one go.
207element is a string identifying the message. The one-string-only match is 349
208also the most efficient match (by far). 350 my $port = rcv port,
351 msg1 => sub { ... },
352 msg2 => sub { ... },
353 ;
354
355Example: create a port, bind receivers and send it in a message elsewhere
356in one go:
357
358 snd $otherport, reply =>
359 rcv port,
360 msg1 => sub { ... },
361 ...
362 ;
363
364Example: temporarily register a rcv callback for a tag matching some port
365(e.g. for a rpc reply) and unregister it after a message was received.
366
367 rcv $port, $otherport => sub {
368 my @reply = @_;
369
370 rcv $SELF, $otherport;
371 };
209 372
210=cut 373=cut
211 374
212sub rcv($@) { 375sub rcv($@) {
213 my ($port, $match, $cb) = @_; 376 my $port = shift;
214
215 my $port = $PORT{$port}
216 or do {
217 my ($noderef, $lport) = split /#/, $port; 377 my ($nodeid, $portid) = split /#/, $port, 2;
218 "AnyEvent::MP::Node::Self" eq ref $NODE{$noderef} 378
379 $NODE{$nodeid} == $NODE{""}
219 or Carp::croak "$port: can only rcv on local ports"; 380 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on local ports, caught";
220 381
221 $PORT{$lport} 382 while (@_) {
222 or Carp::croak "$port: port does not exist"; 383 if (ref $_[0]) {
223 384 if (my $self = $PORT_DATA{$portid}) {
224 $PORT{$port} = $PORT{$lport} # also return 385 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
225 }; 386 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
226 387
227 if (!ref $match) { 388 $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 { 389 } else {
235 push @{ $port->{any} }, [$cb, $match]; 390 my $cb = shift;
236 } 391 $PORT{$portid} = sub {
237} 392 local $SELF = $port;
238 393 eval { &$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 } 394 };
299 $cv->end; 395 }
396 } elsif (defined $_[0]) {
397 my $self = $PORT_DATA{$portid} ||= do {
398 my $self = bless [$PORT{$port} || sub { }, { }, $port], "AnyEvent::MP::Port";
399
400 $PORT{$portid} = sub {
401 local $SELF = $port;
402
403 if (my $cb = $self->[1]{$_[0]}) {
404 shift;
405 eval { &$cb }; _self_die if $@;
406 } else {
407 &{ $self->[0] };
408 }
409 };
410
411 $self
300 }; 412 };
301 413
302# my (undef, undef, undef, undef, @ipv4) = gethostbyname $nodename; 414 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
303# 415 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
304# for (@ipv4) { 416
305# push @res, [ 417 my ($tag, $cb) = splice @_, 0, 2;
306# $pri, 418
307# AnyEvent::Socket::format_hostport AnyEvent::Socket::format_address $_, $t || $DEFAULT_PORT, 419 if (defined $cb) {
308# ]; 420 $self->[1]{$tag} = $cb;
309# }
310 } else { 421 } else {
311 my ($host, $port) = AnyEvent::Socket::parse_hostport $t, "aemp=$DEFAULT_PORT" 422 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 } 423 }
325 } 424 }
326 } 425 }
327 426
328 $cv->end; 427 $port
329
330 $cv
331} 428}
332 429
333sub become_public { 430=item $closure = psub { BLOCK }
334 return if $PUBLIC;
335 431
336 my $noderef = join ",", ref $_[0] ? @{+shift} : shift; 432Remembers C<$SELF> and creates a closure out of the BLOCK. When the
337 my @args = @_; 433closure is executed, sets up the environment in the same way as in C<rcv>
434callbacks, i.e. runtime errors will cause the port to get C<kil>ed.
338 435
339 $NODE = (normalise_noderef $noderef)->recv; 436This is useful when you register callbacks from C<rcv> callbacks:
340 437
341 for my $t (split /,/, $NODE) { 438 rcv delayed_reply => sub {
342 $NODE{$t} = $NODE{""}; 439 my ($delay, @reply) = @_;
343 440 my $timer = AE::timer $delay, 0, psub {
344 my ($host, $port) = AnyEvent::Socket::parse_hostport $t; 441 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 ; 442 };
443 };
444
445=cut
446
447sub psub(&) {
448 my $cb = shift;
449
450 my $port = $SELF
451 or Carp::croak "psub can only be called from within rcv or psub callbacks, not";
452
453 sub {
454 local $SELF = $port;
455
456 if (wantarray) {
457 my @res = eval { &$cb };
458 _self_die if $@;
459 @res
460 } else {
461 my $res = eval { &$cb };
462 _self_die if $@;
463 $res
464 }
362 } 465 }
466}
363 467
364 $PUBLIC = 1; 468=item $guard = mon $port, $cb->(@reason) # call $cb when $port dies
469
470=item $guard = mon $port, $rcvport # kill $rcvport when $port dies
471
472=item $guard = mon $port # kill $SELF when $port dies
473
474=item $guard = mon $port, $rcvport, @msg # send a message when $port dies
475
476Monitor the given port and do something when the port is killed or
477messages to it were lost, and optionally return a guard that can be used
478to stop monitoring again.
479
480In the first form (callback), the callback is simply called with any
481number of C<@reason> elements (no @reason means that the port was deleted
482"normally"). Note also that I<< the callback B<must> never die >>, so use
483C<eval> if unsure.
484
485In the second form (another port given), the other port (C<$rcvport>)
486will be C<kil>'ed with C<@reason>, if a @reason was specified, i.e. on
487"normal" kils nothing happens, while under all other conditions, the other
488port is killed with the same reason.
489
490The third form (kill self) is the same as the second form, except that
491C<$rvport> defaults to C<$SELF>.
492
493In the last form (message), a message of the form C<@msg, @reason> will be
494C<snd>.
495
496Monitoring-actions are one-shot: once messages are lost (and a monitoring
497alert was raised), they are removed and will not trigger again.
498
499As a rule of thumb, monitoring requests should always monitor a port from
500a local port (or callback). The reason is that kill messages might get
501lost, just like any other message. Another less obvious reason is that
502even monitoring requests can get lost (for example, when the connection
503to the other node goes down permanently). When monitoring a port locally
504these problems do not exist.
505
506C<mon> effectively guarantees that, in the absence of hardware failures,
507after starting the monitor, either all messages sent to the port will
508arrive, or the monitoring action will be invoked after possible message
509loss has been detected. No messages will be lost "in between" (after
510the first lost message no further messages will be received by the
511port). After the monitoring action was invoked, further messages might get
512delivered again.
513
514Inter-host-connection timeouts and monitoring depend on the transport
515used. The only transport currently implemented is TCP, and AnyEvent::MP
516relies on TCP to detect node-downs (this can take 10-15 minutes on a
517non-idle connection, and usually around two hours for idle conenctions).
518
519This means that monitoring is good for program errors and cleaning up
520stuff eventually, but they are no replacement for a timeout when you need
521to ensure some maximum latency.
522
523Example: call a given callback when C<$port> is killed.
524
525 mon $port, sub { warn "port died because of <@_>\n" };
526
527Example: kill ourselves when C<$port> is killed abnormally.
528
529 mon $port;
530
531Example: send us a restart message when another C<$port> is killed.
532
533 mon $port, $self => "restart";
534
535=cut
536
537sub mon {
538 my ($nodeid, $port) = split /#/, shift, 2;
539
540 my $node = $NODE{$nodeid} || add_node $nodeid;
541
542 my $cb = @_ ? shift : $SELF || Carp::croak 'mon: called with one argument only, but $SELF not set,';
543
544 unless (ref $cb) {
545 if (@_) {
546 # send a kill info message
547 my (@msg) = ($cb, @_);
548 $cb = sub { snd @msg, @_ };
549 } else {
550 # simply kill other port
551 my $port = $cb;
552 $cb = sub { kil $port, @_ if @_ };
553 }
554 }
555
556 $node->monitor ($port, $cb);
557
558 defined wantarray
559 and AnyEvent::Util::guard { $node->unmonitor ($port, $cb) }
560}
561
562=item $guard = mon_guard $port, $ref, $ref...
563
564Monitors the given C<$port> and keeps the passed references. When the port
565is killed, the references will be freed.
566
567Optionally returns a guard that will stop the monitoring.
568
569This function is useful when you create e.g. timers or other watchers and
570want to free them when the port gets killed (note the use of C<psub>):
571
572 $port->rcv (start => sub {
573 my $timer; $timer = mon_guard $port, AE::timer 1, 1, psub {
574 undef $timer if 0.9 < rand;
575 });
576 });
577
578=cut
579
580sub mon_guard {
581 my ($port, @refs) = @_;
582
583 #TODO: mon-less form?
584
585 mon $port, sub { 0 && @refs }
586}
587
588=item kil $port[, @reason]
589
590Kill the specified port with the given C<@reason>.
591
592If no C<@reason> is specified, then the port is killed "normally" (ports
593monitoring other ports will not necessarily die because a port dies
594"normally").
595
596Otherwise, linked ports get killed with the same reason (second form of
597C<mon>, see above).
598
599Runtime errors while evaluating C<rcv> callbacks or inside C<psub> blocks
600will be reported as reason C<< die => $@ >>.
601
602Transport/communication errors are reported as C<< transport_error =>
603$message >>.
604
605=cut
606
607=item $port = spawn $node, $initfunc[, @initdata]
608
609Creates a port on the node C<$node> (which can also be a port ID, in which
610case it's the node where that port resides).
611
612The port ID of the newly created port is returned immediately, and it is
613possible to immediately start sending messages or to monitor the port.
614
615After the port has been created, the init function is called on the remote
616node, in the same context as a C<rcv> callback. This function must be a
617fully-qualified function name (e.g. C<MyApp::Chat::Server::init>). To
618specify a function in the main program, use C<::name>.
619
620If the function doesn't exist, then the node tries to C<require>
621the package, then the package above the package and so on (e.g.
622C<MyApp::Chat::Server>, C<MyApp::Chat>, C<MyApp>) until the function
623exists or it runs out of package names.
624
625The init function is then called with the newly-created port as context
626object (C<$SELF>) and the C<@initdata> values as arguments.
627
628A common idiom is to pass a local port, immediately monitor the spawned
629port, and in the remote init function, immediately monitor the passed
630local port. This two-way monitoring ensures that both ports get cleaned up
631when there is a problem.
632
633Example: spawn a chat server port on C<$othernode>.
634
635 # this node, executed from within a port context:
636 my $server = spawn $othernode, "MyApp::Chat::Server::connect", $SELF;
637 mon $server;
638
639 # init function on C<$othernode>
640 sub connect {
641 my ($srcport) = @_;
642
643 mon $srcport;
644
645 rcv $SELF, sub {
646 ...
647 };
648 }
649
650=cut
651
652sub _spawn {
653 my $port = shift;
654 my $init = shift;
655
656 local $SELF = "$NODE#$port";
657 eval {
658 &{ load_func $init }
659 };
660 _self_die if $@;
661}
662
663sub spawn(@) {
664 my ($nodeid, undef) = split /#/, shift, 2;
665
666 my $id = "$RUNIQ." . $ID++;
667
668 $_[0] =~ /::/
669 or Carp::croak "spawn init function must be a fully-qualified name, caught";
670
671 snd_to_func $nodeid, "AnyEvent::MP::_spawn" => $id, @_;
672
673 "$nodeid#$id"
674}
675
676=item after $timeout, @msg
677
678=item after $timeout, $callback
679
680Either sends the given message, or call the given callback, after the
681specified number of seconds.
682
683This is simply a utility function that comes in handy at times - the
684AnyEvent::MP author is not convinced of the wisdom of having it, though,
685so it may go away in the future.
686
687=cut
688
689sub after($@) {
690 my ($timeout, @action) = @_;
691
692 my $t; $t = AE::timer $timeout, 0, sub {
693 undef $t;
694 ref $action[0]
695 ? $action[0]()
696 : snd @action;
697 };
365} 698}
366 699
367=back 700=back
368 701
369=head1 NODE MESSAGES 702=head1 AnyEvent::MP vs. Distributed Erlang
370 703
371Nodes understand the following messages sent to them. Many of them take 704AnyEvent::MP got lots of its ideas from distributed Erlang (Erlang node
372arguments called C<@reply>, which will simply be used to compose a reply 705== aemp node, Erlang process == aemp port), so many of the documents and
373message - C<$reply[0]> is the port to reply to, C<$reply[1]> the type and 706programming techniques employed by Erlang apply to AnyEvent::MP. Here is a
374the remaining arguments are simply the message data. 707sample:
708
709 http://www.Erlang.se/doc/programming_rules.shtml
710 http://Erlang.org/doc/getting_started/part_frame.html # chapters 3 and 4
711 http://Erlang.org/download/Erlang-book-part1.pdf # chapters 5 and 6
712 http://Erlang.org/download/armstrong_thesis_2003.pdf # chapters 4 and 5
713
714Despite the similarities, there are also some important differences:
375 715
376=over 4 716=over 4
377 717
378=cut 718=item * Node IDs are arbitrary strings in AEMP.
379 719
380############################################################################# 720Erlang relies on special naming and DNS to work everywhere in the same
381# self node code 721way. AEMP relies on each node somehow knowing its own address(es) (e.g. by
722configuration or DNS), but will otherwise discover other odes itself.
382 723
383sub _new_port($) { 724=item * Erlang has a "remote ports are like local ports" philosophy, AEMP
384 my ($name) = @_; 725uses "local ports are like remote ports".
385 726
386 my ($noderef, $portname) = split /#/, $name; 727The failure modes for local ports are quite different (runtime errors
728only) then for remote ports - when a local port dies, you I<know> it dies,
729when a connection to another node dies, you know nothing about the other
730port.
387 731
388 $PORT{$name} = 732Erlang pretends remote ports are as reliable as local ports, even when
389 $PORT{$portname} = { 733they are not.
390 names => [$name, $portname],
391 };
392}
393 734
394$NODE{""} = new AnyEvent::MP::Node::Self noderef => $NODE; 735AEMP encourages a "treat remote ports differently" philosophy, with local
395_new_port ""; 736ports being the special case/exception, where transport errors cannot
737occur.
396 738
397=item relay => $port, @msg 739=item * Erlang uses processes and a mailbox, AEMP does not queue.
398 740
399Simply forwards the message to the given port. 741Erlang uses processes that selectively receive messages, and therefore
742needs a queue. AEMP is event based, queuing messages would serve no
743useful purpose. For the same reason the pattern-matching abilities of
744AnyEvent::MP are more limited, as there is little need to be able to
745filter messages without dequeuing them.
400 746
401=cut 747(But see L<Coro::MP> for a more Erlang-like process model on top of AEMP).
402 748
403rcv "", relay => \&snd; 749=item * Erlang sends are synchronous, AEMP sends are asynchronous.
404 750
405=item eval => $string[ @reply] 751Sending messages in Erlang is synchronous and blocks the process (and
752so does not need a queue that can overflow). AEMP sends are immediate,
753connection establishment is handled in the background.
406 754
407Evaluates the given string. If C<@reply> is given, then a message of the 755=item * Erlang suffers from silent message loss, AEMP does not.
408form C<@reply, $@, @evalres> is sent.
409 756
410Example: crash another node. 757Erlang makes few guarantees on messages delivery - messages can get lost
758without any of the processes realising it (i.e. you send messages a, b,
759and c, and the other side only receives messages a and c).
411 760
412 snd $othernode, eval => "exit"; 761AEMP guarantees correct ordering, and the guarantee that after one message
762is lost, all following ones sent to the same port are lost as well, until
763monitoring raises an error, so there are no silent "holes" in the message
764sequence.
413 765
414=cut 766=item * Erlang can send messages to the wrong port, AEMP does not.
415 767
416rcv "", eval => sub { 768In Erlang it is quite likely that a node that restarts reuses a process ID
417 my (undef, $string, @reply) = @_; 769known to other nodes for a completely different process, causing messages
418 my @res = eval $string; 770destined for that process to end up in an unrelated process.
419 snd @reply, "$@", @res if @reply;
420};
421 771
422=item time => @reply 772AEMP never reuses port IDs, so old messages or old port IDs floating
773around in the network will not be sent to an unrelated port.
423 774
424Replies the the current node time to C<@reply>. 775=item * Erlang uses unprotected connections, AEMP uses secure
776authentication and can use TLS.
425 777
426Example: tell the current node to send the current time to C<$myport> in a 778AEMP can use a proven protocol - TLS - to protect connections and
427C<timereply> message. 779securely authenticate nodes.
428 780
429 snd $NODE, time => $myport, timereply => 1, 2; 781=item * The AEMP protocol is optimised for both text-based and binary
430 # => snd $myport, timereply => 1, 2, <time> 782communications.
431 783
432=cut 784The AEMP protocol, unlike the Erlang protocol, supports both programming
785language independent text-only protocols (good for debugging) and binary,
786language-specific serialisers (e.g. Storable). By default, unless TLS is
787used, the protocol is actually completely text-based.
433 788
434rcv "", time => sub { shift; snd @_, AE::time }; 789It has also been carefully designed to be implementable in other languages
790with a minimum of work while gracefully degrading functionality to make the
791protocol simple.
792
793=item * AEMP has more flexible monitoring options than Erlang.
794
795In Erlang, you can chose to receive I<all> exit signals as messages
796or I<none>, there is no in-between, so monitoring single processes is
797difficult to implement. Monitoring in AEMP is more flexible than in
798Erlang, as one can choose between automatic kill, exit message or callback
799on a per-process basis.
800
801=item * Erlang tries to hide remote/local connections, AEMP does not.
802
803Monitoring in Erlang is not an indicator of process death/crashes, in the
804same way as linking is (except linking is unreliable in Erlang).
805
806In AEMP, you don't "look up" registered port names or send to named ports
807that might or might not be persistent. Instead, you normally spawn a port
808on the remote node. The init function monitors you, and you monitor the
809remote port. Since both monitors are local to the node, they are much more
810reliable (no need for C<spawn_link>).
811
812This also saves round-trips and avoids sending messages to the wrong port
813(hard to do in Erlang).
435 814
436=back 815=back
437 816
817=head1 RATIONALE
818
819=over 4
820
821=item Why strings for port and node IDs, why not objects?
822
823We considered "objects", but found that the actual number of methods
824that can be called are quite low. Since port and node IDs travel over
825the network frequently, the serialising/deserialising would add lots of
826overhead, as well as having to keep a proxy object everywhere.
827
828Strings can easily be printed, easily serialised etc. and need no special
829procedures to be "valid".
830
831And as a result, a miniport consists of a single closure stored in a
832global hash - it can't become much cheaper.
833
834=item Why favour JSON, why not a real serialising format such as Storable?
835
836In fact, any AnyEvent::MP node will happily accept Storable as framing
837format, but currently there is no way to make a node use Storable by
838default (although all nodes will accept it).
839
840The default framing protocol is JSON because a) JSON::XS is many times
841faster for small messages and b) most importantly, after years of
842experience we found that object serialisation is causing more problems
843than it solves: Just like function calls, objects simply do not travel
844easily over the network, mostly because they will always be a copy, so you
845always have to re-think your design.
846
847Keeping your messages simple, concentrating on data structures rather than
848objects, will keep your messages clean, tidy and efficient.
849
850=back
851
438=head1 SEE ALSO 852=head1 SEE ALSO
853
854L<AnyEvent::MP::Intro> - a gentle introduction.
855
856L<AnyEvent::MP::Kernel> - more, lower-level, stuff.
857
858L<AnyEvent::MP::Global> - network maintainance and port groups, to find
859your applications.
439 860
440L<AnyEvent>. 861L<AnyEvent>.
441 862
442=head1 AUTHOR 863=head1 AUTHOR
443 864

Diff Legend

Removed lines
+ Added lines
< Changed lines
> Changed lines