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Revision 1.82 by root, Mon Sep 7 18:42:09 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.
31 56
32At the moment, this module family is severly brokena nd underdocumented, 57For an introduction to this module family, see the L<AnyEvent::MP::Intro>
33so do not use. This was uploaded mainly to resreve the CPAN namespace - 58manual page and the examples under F<eg/>.
34stay tuned!
35 59
36=head1 CONCEPTS 60=head1 CONCEPTS
37 61
38=over 4 62=over 4
39 63
40=item port 64=item port
41 65
42A 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
43you can register C<rcv> handlers with. All C<rcv> handlers will receive 67messages to (with the C<snd> function).
44messages they match, messages will not be queued.
45 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
46=item port id - C<noderef#portname> 73=item port ID - C<nodeid#portname>
47 74
48A 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
49by a port name (a printable string of unspecified format). 76separator, and a port name (a printable string of unspecified format).
50 77
51=item node 78=item node
52 79
53A 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,
54port. 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
55among other things. 82ports.
56 83
57Initially, nodes are either private (single-process only) or hidden 84Nodes are either public (have one or more listening ports) or private
58(connected to a master node only). Only when they epxlicitly "become 85(no listening ports). Private nodes cannot talk to other private nodes
59public" can you send them messages from unrelated other nodes. 86currently.
60 87
61=item noderef - C<host:port,host:port...>, C<id@noderef>, C<id> 88=item node ID - C<[a-za-Z0-9_\-.:]+>
62 89
63A 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
64private 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
65node (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.
66 116
67=back 117=back
68 118
69=head1 VARIABLES/FUNCTIONS 119=head1 VARIABLES/FUNCTIONS
70 120
72 122
73=cut 123=cut
74 124
75package AnyEvent::MP; 125package AnyEvent::MP;
76 126
77use AnyEvent::MP::Base; 127use AnyEvent::MP::Kernel;
78 128
79use common::sense; 129use common::sense;
80 130
81use Carp (); 131use Carp ();
82 132
83use AE (); 133use AE ();
84 134
85use base "Exporter"; 135use base "Exporter";
86 136
87our $VERSION = '0.02'; 137our $VERSION = $AnyEvent::MP::Kernel::VERSION;
138
88our @EXPORT = qw( 139our @EXPORT = qw(
89 NODE $NODE $PORT snd rcv _any_ 140 NODE $NODE *SELF node_of after
90 create_port create_port_on 141 configure
91 create_miniport 142 snd rcv mon mon_guard kil reg psub spawn
92 become_slave become_public 143 port
93); 144);
94 145
146our $SELF;
147
148sub _self_die() {
149 my $msg = $@;
150 $msg =~ s/\n+$// unless ref $msg;
151 kil $SELF, die => $msg;
152}
153
95=item NODE / $NODE 154=item $thisnode = NODE / $NODE
96 155
97The C<NODE ()> function and the C<$NODE> variable contain the noderef of 156The C<NODE> function returns, and the C<$NODE> variable contains, the node
98the 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
99C<become_slave>, after which all local port identifiers become invalid. 158a call to C<configure>.
100 159
160=item $nodeid = node_of $port
161
162Extracts and returns the node ID from a port ID or a node ID.
163
164=item configure $profile, key => value...
165
166=item configure key => value...
167
168Before a node can talk to other nodes on the network (i.e. enter
169"distributed mode") it has to configure 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 configures a node - it must be called exactly once (or
174never) before calling other AnyEvent::MP functions.
175
176=over 4
177
178=item step 1, gathering configuration from profiles
179
180The function first looks up a profile in the aemp configuration (see the
181L<aemp> commandline utility). The profile name can be specified via the
182named C<profile> parameter or can simply be the first parameter). If it is
183missing, then the nodename (F<uname -n>) will be used as profile name.
184
185The profile data is then gathered as follows:
186
187First, all remaining key => value pairs (all of which are conveniently
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).
192
193That means that the values specified in the profile have highest priority
194and the values specified directly via C<configure> have lowest priority,
195and can only be used to specify defaults.
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
101=item snd $portid, type => @data 258=item snd $port, type => @data
102 259
103=item snd $portid, @msg 260=item snd $port, @msg
104 261
105Send the given message to the given port ID, which can identify either 262Send the given message to the given port, which can identify either a
106a local or a remote port, and can be either a string or soemthignt hat 263local or a remote port, and must be a port ID.
107stringifies a sa port ID (such as a port object :).
108 264
109While the message can be about anything, it is highly recommended to use a 265While the message can be almost anything, it is highly recommended to
110string as first element (a portid, or some word that indicates a request 266use a string as first element (a port ID, or some word that indicates a
111type etc.). 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.
112 269
113The message data effectively becomes read-only after a call to this 270The message data logically becomes read-only after a call to this
114function: modifying any argument is not allowed and can cause many 271function: modifying any argument (or values referenced by them) is
115problems. 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.
116 276
117The 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
118JSON is used, then only strings, numbers and arrays and hashes consisting 278JSON is used, then only strings, numbers and arrays and hashes consisting
119of those are allowed (no objects). When Storable is used, then anything 279of those are allowed (no objects). When Storable is used, then anything
120that Storable can serialise and deserialise is allowed, and for the local 280that Storable can serialise and deserialise is allowed, and for the local
121node, anything can be passed. 281node, anything can be passed. Best rely only on the common denominator of
282these.
122 283
123=item $local_port = create_port 284=item $local_port = port
124 285
125Create a new local port object. See the next section for allowed methods. 286Create a new local port object and returns its port ID. Initially it has
287no callbacks set and will throw an error when it receives messages.
126 288
127=cut 289=item $local_port = port { my @msg = @_ }
128 290
129sub create_port { 291Creates a new local port, and returns its ID. Semantically the same as
130 my $id = "$AnyEvent::MP::Base::UNIQ." . ++$AnyEvent::MP::Base::ID; 292creating a port and calling C<rcv $port, $callback> on it.
131 293
132 my $self = bless { 294The block will be called for every message received on the port, with the
133 id => "$NODE#$id", 295global variable C<$SELF> set to the port ID. Runtime errors will cause the
134 names => [$id], 296port to be C<kil>ed. The message will be passed as-is, no extra argument
135 }, "AnyEvent::MP::Port"; 297(i.e. no port ID) will be passed to the callback.
136 298
137 $AnyEvent::MP::Base::PORT{$id} = sub { 299If you want to stop/destroy the port, simply C<kil> it:
138 unshift @_, $self;
139 300
140 for (@{ $self->{rc0}{$_[1]} }) { 301 my $port = port {
141 $_ && &{$_->[0]} 302 my @msg = @_;
142 && undef $_; 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
324=item rcv $local_port, $callback->(@msg)
325
326Replaces the default callback on the specified port. There is no way to
327remove the default callback: use C<sub { }> to disable it, or better
328C<kil> the port when it is no longer needed.
329
330The global C<$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.
333
334The default callback received all messages not matched by a more specific
335C<tag> match.
336
337=item rcv $local_port, tag => $callback->(@msg_without_tag), ...
338
339Register (or replace) callbacks to be called on messages starting with the
340given tag on the given port (and return the port), or unregister it (when
341C<$callback> is C<$undef> or missing). There can only be one callback
342registered for each tag.
343
344The original message will be passed to the callback, after the first
345element (the tag) has been removed. The callback will use the same
346environment as the default callback (see above).
347
348Example: create a port and bind receivers on it in one go.
349
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, $otherport;
371 };
372
373=cut
374
375sub rcv($@) {
376 my $port = shift;
377 my ($nodeid, $portid) = split /#/, $port, 2;
378
379 $NODE{$nodeid} == $NODE{""}
380 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on local ports, caught";
381
382 while (@_) {
383 if (ref $_[0]) {
384 if (my $self = $PORT_DATA{$portid}) {
385 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
386 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
387
388 $self->[2] = shift;
389 } else {
390 my $cb = shift;
391 $PORT{$portid} = sub {
392 local $SELF = $port;
393 eval { &$cb }; _self_die if $@;
394 };
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
412 };
413
414 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
415 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
416
417 my ($tag, $cb) = splice @_, 0, 2;
418
419 if (defined $cb) {
420 $self->[1]{$tag} = $cb;
421 } else {
422 delete $self->[1]{$tag};
423 }
143 } 424 }
425 }
144 426
145 for (@{ $self->{rcv}{$_[1]} }) { 427 $port
146 $_ && [@_[1 .. @{$_->[1]}]] ~~ $_->[1] 428}
147 && &{$_->[0]} 429
148 && undef $_; 430=item $closure = psub { BLOCK }
431
432Remembers C<$SELF> and creates a closure out of the BLOCK. When the
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.
435
436This is useful when you register callbacks from C<rcv> callbacks:
437
438 rcv delayed_reply => sub {
439 my ($delay, @reply) = @_;
440 my $timer = AE::timer $delay, 0, psub {
441 snd @reply, $SELF;
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
149 } 464 }
465 }
466}
150 467
151 for (@{ $self->{any} }) { 468=item $guard = mon $port, $cb->(@reason) # call $cb when $port dies
152 $_ && [@_[0 .. $#{$_->[1]}]] ~~ $_->[1] 469
153 && &{$_->[0]} 470=item $guard = mon $port, $rcvport # kill $rcvport when $port dies
154 && undef $_; 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 @_ };
155 } 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<$SELF>) and the C<@initdata> values as arguments. It I<must>
627call one of the C<rcv> functions to set callbacks on C<$SELF>, otherwise
628the port might not get created.
629
630A common idiom is to pass a local port, immediately monitor the spawned
631port, and in the remote init function, immediately monitor the passed
632local port. This two-way monitoring ensures that both ports get cleaned up
633when there is a problem.
634
635C<spawn> guarantees that the C<$initfunc> has no visible effects on the
636caller before C<spawn> returns (by delaying invocation when spawn is
637called for the local node).
638
639Example: spawn a chat server port on C<$othernode>.
640
641 # this node, executed from within a port context:
642 my $server = spawn $othernode, "MyApp::Chat::Server::connect", $SELF;
643 mon $server;
644
645 # init function on C<$othernode>
646 sub connect {
647 my ($srcport) = @_;
648
649 mon $srcport;
650
651 rcv $SELF, sub {
652 ...
653 };
654 }
655
656=cut
657
658sub _spawn {
659 my $port = shift;
660 my $init = shift;
661
662 # rcv will create the actual port
663 local $SELF = "$NODE#$port";
664 eval {
665 &{ load_func $init }
156 }; 666 };
157 667 _self_die if $@;
158 $self
159} 668}
160 669
161=item $portid = create_miniport { } 670sub spawn(@) {
671 my ($nodeid, undef) = split /#/, shift, 2;
162 672
163Creates a "mini port", that is, a port without much #TODO 673 my $id = "$RUNIQ." . $ID++;
164 674
165=cut 675 $_[0] =~ /::/
676 or Carp::croak "spawn init function must be a fully-qualified name, caught";
166 677
167sub create_miniport(&) { 678 snd_to_func $nodeid, "AnyEvent::MP::_spawn" => $id, @_;
168 my $cb = shift;
169 my $id = "$AnyEvent::MP::Base::UNIQ." . ++$AnyEvent::MP::Base::ID;
170 679
171 $AnyEvent::MP::Base::PORT{$id} = sub { 680 "$nodeid#$id"
172 unshift @_, "$NODE#$id"; 681}
173 &$cb 682
174 and delete $AnyEvent::MP::Base::PORT{$id}; 683=item after $timeout, @msg
684
685=item after $timeout, $callback
686
687Either sends the given message, or call the given callback, after the
688specified number of seconds.
689
690This is simply a utility function that comes in handy at times - the
691AnyEvent::MP author is not convinced of the wisdom of having it, though,
692so it may go away in the future.
693
694=cut
695
696sub after($@) {
697 my ($timeout, @action) = @_;
698
699 my $t; $t = AE::timer $timeout, 0, sub {
700 undef $t;
701 ref $action[0]
702 ? $action[0]()
703 : snd @action;
175 }; 704 };
176
177 "$NODE#$id"
178} 705}
179
180package AnyEvent::MP::Port;
181 706
182=back 707=back
183 708
184=head1 METHODS FOR PORT OBJECTS 709=head1 AnyEvent::MP vs. Distributed Erlang
710
711AnyEvent::MP got lots of its ideas from distributed Erlang (Erlang node
712== aemp node, Erlang process == aemp port), so many of the documents and
713programming techniques employed by Erlang apply to AnyEvent::MP. Here is a
714sample:
715
716 http://www.Erlang.se/doc/programming_rules.shtml
717 http://Erlang.org/doc/getting_started/part_frame.html # chapters 3 and 4
718 http://Erlang.org/download/Erlang-book-part1.pdf # chapters 5 and 6
719 http://Erlang.org/download/armstrong_thesis_2003.pdf # chapters 4 and 5
720
721Despite the similarities, there are also some important differences:
185 722
186=over 4 723=over 4
187 724
188=item "$port" 725=item * Node IDs are arbitrary strings in AEMP.
189 726
190A port object stringifies to its port ID, so can be used directly for 727Erlang relies on special naming and DNS to work everywhere in the same
191C<snd> operations. 728way. AEMP relies on each node somehow knowing its own address(es) (e.g. by
729configuration or DNS), but will otherwise discover other odes itself.
192 730
193=cut 731=item * Erlang has a "remote ports are like local ports" philosophy, AEMP
732uses "local ports are like remote ports".
194 733
195use overload 734The failure modes for local ports are quite different (runtime errors
196 '""' => sub { $_[0]{id} }, 735only) then for remote ports - when a local port dies, you I<know> it dies,
197 fallback => 1; 736when a connection to another node dies, you know nothing about the other
737port.
198 738
199=item $port->rcv (type => $callback->($port, @msg)) 739Erlang pretends remote ports are as reliable as local ports, even when
740they are not.
200 741
201=item $port->rcv ($smartmatch => $callback->($port, @msg)) 742AEMP encourages a "treat remote ports differently" philosophy, with local
743ports being the special case/exception, where transport errors cannot
744occur.
202 745
203=item $port->rcv ([$smartmatch...] => $callback->($port, @msg)) 746=item * Erlang uses processes and a mailbox, AEMP does not queue.
204 747
205Register a callback on the given port. 748Erlang uses processes that selectively receive messages, and therefore
749needs a queue. AEMP is event based, queuing messages would serve no
750useful purpose. For the same reason the pattern-matching abilities of
751AnyEvent::MP are more limited, as there is little need to be able to
752filter messages without dequeuing them.
206 753
207The callback has to return a true value when its work is done, after 754(But see L<Coro::MP> for a more Erlang-like process model on top of AEMP).
208which is will be removed, or a false value in which case it will stay
209registered.
210 755
211If the match is an array reference, then it will be matched against the 756=item * Erlang sends are synchronous, AEMP sends are asynchronous.
212first elements of the message, otherwise only the first element is being
213matched.
214 757
215Any element in the match that is specified as C<_any_> (a function 758Sending messages in Erlang is synchronous and blocks the process (and
216exported by this module) matches any single element of the message. 759so does not need a queue that can overflow). AEMP sends are immediate,
760connection establishment is handled in the background.
217 761
218While not required, it is highly recommended that the first matching 762=item * Erlang suffers from silent message loss, AEMP does not.
219element is a string identifying the message. The one-string-only match is
220also the most efficient match (by far).
221 763
222=cut 764Erlang makes few guarantees on messages delivery - messages can get lost
765without any of the processes realising it (i.e. you send messages a, b,
766and c, and the other side only receives messages a and c).
223 767
224sub rcv($@) { 768AEMP guarantees correct ordering, and the guarantee that after one message
225 my ($self, $match, $cb) = @_; 769is lost, all following ones sent to the same port are lost as well, until
770monitoring raises an error, so there are no silent "holes" in the message
771sequence.
226 772
227 if (!ref $match) { 773=item * Erlang can send messages to the wrong port, AEMP does not.
228 push @{ $self->{rc0}{$match} }, [$cb];
229 } elsif (("ARRAY" eq ref $match && !ref $match->[0])) {
230 my ($type, @match) = @$match;
231 @match
232 ? push @{ $self->{rcv}{$match->[0]} }, [$cb, \@match]
233 : push @{ $self->{rc0}{$match->[0]} }, [$cb];
234 } else {
235 push @{ $self->{any} }, [$cb, $match];
236 }
237}
238 774
239=item $port->register ($name) 775In Erlang it is quite likely that a node that restarts reuses a process ID
776known to other nodes for a completely different process, causing messages
777destined for that process to end up in an unrelated process.
240 778
241Registers the given port under the well known name C<$name>. If the name 779AEMP never reuses port IDs, so old messages or old port IDs floating
242already exists it is replaced. 780around in the network will not be sent to an unrelated port.
243 781
244A port can only be registered under one well known name. 782=item * Erlang uses unprotected connections, AEMP uses secure
783authentication and can use TLS.
245 784
246=cut 785AEMP can use a proven protocol - TLS - to protect connections and
786securely authenticate nodes.
247 787
248sub register { 788=item * The AEMP protocol is optimised for both text-based and binary
249 my ($self, $name) = @_; 789communications.
250 790
251 $self->{wkname} = $name; 791The AEMP protocol, unlike the Erlang protocol, supports both programming
252 $AnyEvent::MP::Base::WKP{$name} = "$self"; 792language independent text-only protocols (good for debugging) and binary,
253} 793language-specific serialisers (e.g. Storable). By default, unless TLS is
794used, the protocol is actually completely text-based.
254 795
255=item $port->destroy 796It has also been carefully designed to be implementable in other languages
797with a minimum of work while gracefully degrading functionality to make the
798protocol simple.
256 799
257Explicitly destroy/remove/nuke/vaporise the port. 800=item * AEMP has more flexible monitoring options than Erlang.
258 801
259Ports are normally kept alive by there mere existance alone, and need to 802In Erlang, you can chose to receive I<all> exit signals as messages
260be destroyed explicitly. 803or I<none>, there is no in-between, so monitoring single processes is
804difficult to implement. Monitoring in AEMP is more flexible than in
805Erlang, as one can choose between automatic kill, exit message or callback
806on a per-process basis.
261 807
262=cut 808=item * Erlang tries to hide remote/local connections, AEMP does not.
263 809
264sub destroy { 810Monitoring in Erlang is not an indicator of process death/crashes, in the
265 my ($self) = @_; 811same way as linking is (except linking is unreliable in Erlang).
266 812
267 delete $AnyEvent::MP::Base::WKP{ $self->{wkname} }; 813In AEMP, you don't "look up" registered port names or send to named ports
814that might or might not be persistent. Instead, you normally spawn a port
815on the remote node. The init function monitors you, and you monitor the
816remote port. Since both monitors are local to the node, they are much more
817reliable (no need for C<spawn_link>).
268 818
269 delete $AnyEvent::MP::Base::PORT{$_} 819This also saves round-trips and avoids sending messages to the wrong port
270 for @{ $self->{names} }; 820(hard to do in Erlang).
271}
272 821
273=back 822=back
274 823
275=head1 FUNCTIONS FOR NODES 824=head1 RATIONALE
276 825
277=over 4 826=over 4
278 827
279=item mon $noderef, $callback->($noderef, $status, $) 828=item Why strings for port and node IDs, why not objects?
280 829
281Monitors the given noderef. 830We considered "objects", but found that the actual number of methods
831that can be called are quite low. Since port and node IDs travel over
832the network frequently, the serialising/deserialising would add lots of
833overhead, as well as having to keep a proxy object everywhere.
282 834
283=item become_public endpoint... 835Strings can easily be printed, easily serialised etc. and need no special
836procedures to be "valid".
284 837
285Tells the node to become a public node, i.e. reachable from other nodes. 838And as a result, a miniport consists of a single closure stored in a
839global hash - it can't become much cheaper.
286 840
287If no arguments are given, or the first argument is C<undef>, then 841=item Why favour JSON, why not a real serialising format such as Storable?
288AnyEvent::MP tries to bind on port C<4040> on all IP addresses that the
289local nodename resolves to.
290 842
291Otherwise the first argument must be an array-reference with transport 843In fact, any AnyEvent::MP node will happily accept Storable as framing
292endpoints ("ip:port", "hostname:port") or port numbers (in which case the 844format, but currently there is no way to make a node use Storable by
293local nodename is used as hostname). The endpoints are all resolved and 845default (although all nodes will accept it).
294will become the node reference.
295 846
296=cut 847The default framing protocol is JSON because a) JSON::XS is many times
848faster for small messages and b) most importantly, after years of
849experience we found that object serialisation is causing more problems
850than it solves: Just like function calls, objects simply do not travel
851easily over the network, mostly because they will always be a copy, so you
852always have to re-think your design.
853
854Keeping your messages simple, concentrating on data structures rather than
855objects, will keep your messages clean, tidy and efficient.
297 856
298=back 857=back
299 858
300=head1 NODE MESSAGES
301
302Nodes understand the following messages sent to them. Many of them take
303arguments called C<@reply>, which will simply be used to compose a reply
304message - C<$reply[0]> is the port to reply to, C<$reply[1]> the type and
305the remaining arguments are simply the message data.
306
307=over 4
308
309=cut
310
311=item wkp => $name, @reply
312
313Replies with the port ID of the specified well-known port, or C<undef>.
314
315=item devnull => ...
316
317Generic data sink/CPU heat conversion.
318
319=item relay => $port, @msg
320
321Simply forwards the message to the given port.
322
323=item eval => $string[ @reply]
324
325Evaluates the given string. If C<@reply> is given, then a message of the
326form C<@reply, $@, @evalres> is sent.
327
328Example: crash another node.
329
330 snd $othernode, eval => "exit";
331
332=item time => @reply
333
334Replies the the current node time to C<@reply>.
335
336Example: tell the current node to send the current time to C<$myport> in a
337C<timereply> message.
338
339 snd $NODE, time => $myport, timereply => 1, 2;
340 # => snd $myport, timereply => 1, 2, <time>
341
342=back
343
344=head1 SEE ALSO 859=head1 SEE ALSO
860
861L<AnyEvent::MP::Intro> - a gentle introduction.
862
863L<AnyEvent::MP::Kernel> - more, lower-level, stuff.
864
865L<AnyEvent::MP::Global> - network maintainance and port groups, to find
866your applications.
867
868L<AnyEvent::MP::LogCatcher> - simple service to display log messages from
869all nodes.
345 870
346L<AnyEvent>. 871L<AnyEvent>.
347 872
348=head1 AUTHOR 873=head1 AUTHOR
349 874

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