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4 4
5=head1 SYNOPSIS 5=head1 SYNOPSIS
6 6
7 use AnyEvent::MP; 7 use AnyEvent::MP;
8 8
9 NODE # returns this node identifier
10 $NODE # contains this node identifier 9 $NODE # contains this node's noderef
10 NODE # returns this node's noderef
11 NODE $port # returns the noderef of the port
11 12
13 $SELF # receiving/own port id in rcv callbacks
14
15 # initialise the node so it can send/receive messages
16 initialise_node;
17
18 # ports are message endpoints
19
20 # sending messages
12 snd $port, type => data...; 21 snd $port, type => data...;
22 snd $port, @msg;
23 snd @msg_with_first_element_being_a_port;
13 24
14 rcv $port, smartmatch => $cb->($port, @msg); 25 # creating/using ports, the simple way
26 my $simple_port = port { my @msg = @_; 0 };
15 27
16 # examples: 28 # creating/using ports, tagged message matching
29 my $port = port;
17 rcv $port2, ping => sub { snd $_[0], "pong"; 0 }; 30 rcv $port, ping => sub { snd $_[0], "pong"; 0 };
18 rcv $port1, pong => sub { warn "pong received\n" }; 31 rcv $port, pong => sub { warn "pong received\n"; 0 };
19 snd $port2, ping => $port1;
20 32
21 # more, smarter, matches (_any_ is exported by this module) 33 # create a port on another node
22 rcv $port, [child_died => $pid] => sub { ... 34 my $port = spawn $node, $initfunc, @initdata;
23 rcv $port, [_any_, _any_, 3] => sub { .. $_[2] is 3 35
36 # monitoring
37 mon $port, $cb->(@msg) # callback is invoked on death
38 mon $port, $otherport # kill otherport on abnormal death
39 mon $port, $otherport, @msg # send message on death
40
41=head1 CURRENT STATUS
42
43 AnyEvent::MP - stable API, should work
44 AnyEvent::MP::Intro - outdated
45 AnyEvent::MP::Kernel - mostly stable
46 AnyEvent::MP::Global - mostly stable
47 AnyEvent::MP::Node - mostly stable, but internal anyways
48 AnyEvent::MP::Transport - mostly stable, but internal anyways
49
50 stay tuned.
24 51
25=head1 DESCRIPTION 52=head1 DESCRIPTION
26 53
27This module (-family) implements a simple message passing framework. 54This module (-family) implements a simple message passing framework.
28 55
29Despite its simplicity, you can securely message other processes running 56Despite its simplicity, you can securely message other processes running
30on the same or other hosts. 57on the same or other hosts, and you can supervise entities remotely.
31 58
59For an introduction to this module family, see the L<AnyEvent::MP::Intro>
60manual page and the examples under F<eg/>.
61
32At the moment, this module family is severly brokena nd underdocumented, 62At the moment, this module family is a bit underdocumented.
33so do not use. This was uploaded mainly to resreve the CPAN namespace -
34stay tuned!
35 63
36=head1 CONCEPTS 64=head1 CONCEPTS
37 65
38=over 4 66=over 4
39 67
40=item port 68=item port
41 69
42A port is something you can send messages to with the C<snd> function, and 70A port is something you can send messages to (with the C<snd> function).
43you can register C<rcv> handlers with. All C<rcv> handlers will receive
44messages they match, messages will not be queued.
45 71
72Ports allow you to register C<rcv> handlers that can match all or just
73some messages. Messages send to ports will not be queued, regardless of
74anything was listening for them or not.
75
46=item port id - C<noderef#portname> 76=item port ID - C<nodeid#portname>
47 77
48A port id is always the noderef, a hash-mark (C<#>) as separator, followed 78A port ID is the concatenation of a node ID, a hash-mark (C<#>) as
49by a port name (a printable string of unspecified format). 79separator, and a port name (a printable string of unspecified format).
50 80
51=item node 81=item node
52 82
53A node is a single process containing at least one port - the node 83A 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, 84which enables nodes to manage each other remotely, and to create new
55among other things. 85ports.
56 86
57Initially, nodes are either private (single-process only) or hidden 87Nodes are either public (have one or more listening ports) or private
58(connected to a master node only). Only when they epxlicitly "become 88(no listening ports). Private nodes cannot talk to other private nodes
59public" can you send them messages from unrelated other nodes. 89currently.
60 90
61=item noderef - C<host:port,host:port...>, C<id@noderef>, C<id> 91=item node ID - C<[a-za-Z0-9_\-.:]+>
62 92
63A noderef is a string that either uniquely identifies a given node (for 93A 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 94network. Depending on the configuration used, node IDs can look like a
65node (for public nodes). 95hostname, a hostname and a port, or a random string. AnyEvent::MP itself
96doesn't interpret node IDs in any way.
97
98=item binds - C<ip:port>
99
100Nodes can only talk to each other by creating some kind of connection to
101each other. To do this, nodes should listen on one or more local transport
102endpoints - binds. Currently, only standard C<ip:port> specifications can
103be used, which specify TCP ports to listen on.
104
105=item seeds - C<host:port>
106
107When a node starts, it knows nothing about the network. To teach the node
108about the network it first has to contact some other node within the
109network. This node is called a seed.
110
111Seeds are transport endpoint(s) of as many nodes as one wants. Those nodes
112are expected to be long-running, and at least one of those should always
113be available. When nodes run out of connections (e.g. due to a network
114error), they try to re-establish connections to some seednodes again to
115join the network.
116
117Apart from being sued for seeding, seednodes are not special in any way -
118every public node can be a seednode.
66 119
67=back 120=back
68 121
69=head1 VARIABLES/FUNCTIONS 122=head1 VARIABLES/FUNCTIONS
70 123
72 125
73=cut 126=cut
74 127
75package AnyEvent::MP; 128package AnyEvent::MP;
76 129
77use AnyEvent::MP::Base; 130use AnyEvent::MP::Kernel;
78 131
79use common::sense; 132use common::sense;
80 133
81use Carp (); 134use Carp ();
82 135
83use AE (); 136use AE ();
84 137
85use base "Exporter"; 138use base "Exporter";
86 139
87our $VERSION = '0.02'; 140our $VERSION = $AnyEvent::MP::Kernel::VERSION;
141
88our @EXPORT = qw( 142our @EXPORT = qw(
89 NODE $NODE $PORT snd rcv _any_ 143 NODE $NODE *SELF node_of after
90 create_port create_port_on 144 initialise_node
91 become_slave become_public 145 snd rcv mon mon_guard kil reg psub spawn
146 port
92); 147);
93 148
149our $SELF;
150
151sub _self_die() {
152 my $msg = $@;
153 $msg =~ s/\n+$// unless ref $msg;
154 kil $SELF, die => $msg;
155}
156
94=item NODE / $NODE 157=item $thisnode = NODE / $NODE
95 158
96The C<NODE ()> function and the C<$NODE> variable contain the noderef of 159The C<NODE> function returns, and the C<$NODE> variable contains, the node
97the local node. The value is initialised by a call to C<become_public> or 160ID of the node running in the current process. This value is initialised by
98C<become_slave>, after which all local port identifiers become invalid. 161a call to C<initialise_node>.
99 162
163=item $nodeid = node_of $port
164
165Extracts and returns the node ID from a port ID or a node ID.
166
167=item initialise_node $profile_name, key => value...
168
169Before a node can talk to other nodes on the network (i.e. enter
170"distributed mode") it has to initialise itself - the minimum a node needs
171to know is its own name, and optionally it should know the addresses of
172some other nodes in the network to discover other nodes.
173
174This function initialises a node - it must be called exactly once (or
175never) before calling other AnyEvent::MP functions.
176
177The first argument is a profile name. If it is C<undef> or missing, then
178the current nodename will be used instead (i.e. F<uname -n>).
179
180The function first looks up the profile in the aemp configuration (see the
181L<aemp> commandline utility). the profile is calculated as follows:
182
183First, all remaining key => value pairs will be used. Then they will be
184overwritten by any values specified in the global default configuration
185(see the F<aemp> utility), then the chain of profiles selected, if
186any. That means that the values specified in the profile have highest
187priority and the values specified via C<initialise_node> have lowest
188priority.
189
190If the profile specifies a node ID, then this will become the node ID of
191this process. If not, then the profile name will be used as node ID. The
192special node ID of C<anon/> will be replaced by a random node ID.
193
194The next step is to look up the binds in the profile, followed by binding
195aemp protocol listeners on all binds specified (it is possible and valid
196to have no binds, meaning that the node cannot be contacted form the
197outside. This means the node cannot talk to other nodes that also have no
198binds, but it can still talk to all "normal" nodes).
199
200If the profile does not specify a binds list, then the node ID will be
201treated as if it were of the form C<host:port>, which will be resolved and
202used as binds list.
203
204Lastly, the seeds list from the profile is passed to the
205L<AnyEvent::MP::Global> module, which will then use it to keep
206connectivity with at least on of those seed nodes at any point in time.
207
208Example: become a distributed node listening on the guessed noderef, or
209the one specified via C<aemp> for the current node. This should be the
210most common form of invocation for "daemon"-type nodes.
211
212 initialise_node;
213
214Example: become an anonymous node. This form is often used for commandline
215clients.
216
217 initialise_node "anon/";
218
219Example: become a distributed node. If there is no profile of the given
220name, or no binds list was specified, resolve C<localhost:4044> and bind
221on the resulting addresses.
222
223 initialise_node "localhost:4044";
224
225=item $SELF
226
227Contains the current port id while executing C<rcv> callbacks or C<psub>
228blocks.
229
230=item *SELF, SELF, %SELF, @SELF...
231
232Due to some quirks in how perl exports variables, it is impossible to
233just export C<$SELF>, all the symbols named C<SELF> are exported by this
234module, but only C<$SELF> is currently used.
235
100=item snd $portid, type => @data 236=item snd $port, type => @data
101 237
102=item snd $portid, @msg 238=item snd $port, @msg
103 239
104Send the given message to the given port ID, which can identify either 240Send the given message to the given port, which can identify either a
105a local or a remote port, and can be either a string or soemthignt hat 241local or a remote port, and must be a port ID.
106stringifies a sa port ID (such as a port object :).
107 242
108While the message can be about anything, it is highly recommended to use a 243While the message can be almost anything, it is highly recommended to
109string as first element (a portid, or some word that indicates a request 244use a string as first element (a port ID, or some word that indicates a
110type etc.). 245request type etc.) and to consist if only simple perl values (scalars,
246arrays, hashes) - if you think you need to pass an object, think again.
111 247
112The message data effectively becomes read-only after a call to this 248The message data logically becomes read-only after a call to this
113function: modifying any argument is not allowed and can cause many 249function: modifying any argument (or values referenced by them) is
114problems. 250forbidden, as there can be considerable time between the call to C<snd>
251and the time the message is actually being serialised - in fact, it might
252never be copied as within the same process it is simply handed to the
253receiving port.
115 254
116The type of data you can transfer depends on the transport protocol: when 255The type of data you can transfer depends on the transport protocol: when
117JSON is used, then only strings, numbers and arrays and hashes consisting 256JSON is used, then only strings, numbers and arrays and hashes consisting
118of those are allowed (no objects). When Storable is used, then anything 257of those are allowed (no objects). When Storable is used, then anything
119that Storable can serialise and deserialise is allowed, and for the local 258that Storable can serialise and deserialise is allowed, and for the local
120node, anything can be passed. 259node, anything can be passed. Best rely only on the common denominator of
260these.
121 261
122=item $local_port = create_port 262=item $local_port = port
123 263
124Create a new local port object. See the next section for allowed methods. 264Create a new local port object and returns its port ID. Initially it has
265no callbacks set and will throw an error when it receives messages.
125 266
126=cut 267=item $local_port = port { my @msg = @_ }
127 268
128sub create_port { 269Creates a new local port, and returns its ID. Semantically the same as
129 my $id = "$AnyEvent::MP::Base::UNIQ." . ++$AnyEvent::MP::Base::ID; 270creating a port and calling C<rcv $port, $callback> on it.
130 271
131 my $self = bless { 272The block will be called for every message received on the port, with the
132 id => "$NODE#$id", 273global variable C<$SELF> set to the port ID. Runtime errors will cause the
133 names => [$id], 274port to be C<kil>ed. The message will be passed as-is, no extra argument
134 }, "AnyEvent::MP::Port"; 275(i.e. no port ID) will be passed to the callback.
135 276
136 $AnyEvent::MP::Base::PORT{$id} = sub { 277If you want to stop/destroy the port, simply C<kil> it:
137 unshift @_, $self;
138 278
139 for (@{ $self->{rc0}{$_[1]} }) { 279 my $port = port {
140 $_ && &{$_->[0]} 280 my @msg = @_;
141 && undef $_; 281 ...
282 kil $SELF;
283 };
284
285=cut
286
287sub rcv($@);
288
289sub _kilme {
290 die "received message on port without callback";
291}
292
293sub port(;&) {
294 my $id = "$UNIQ." . $ID++;
295 my $port = "$NODE#$id";
296
297 rcv $port, shift || \&_kilme;
298
299 $port
300}
301
302=item rcv $local_port, $callback->(@msg)
303
304Replaces the default callback on the specified port. There is no way to
305remove the default callback: use C<sub { }> to disable it, or better
306C<kil> the port when it is no longer needed.
307
308The global C<$SELF> (exported by this module) contains C<$port> while
309executing the callback. Runtime errors during callback execution will
310result in the port being C<kil>ed.
311
312The default callback received all messages not matched by a more specific
313C<tag> match.
314
315=item rcv $local_port, tag => $callback->(@msg_without_tag), ...
316
317Register (or replace) callbacks to be called on messages starting with the
318given tag on the given port (and return the port), or unregister it (when
319C<$callback> is C<$undef> or missing). There can only be one callback
320registered for each tag.
321
322The original message will be passed to the callback, after the first
323element (the tag) has been removed. The callback will use the same
324environment as the default callback (see above).
325
326Example: create a port and bind receivers on it in one go.
327
328 my $port = rcv port,
329 msg1 => sub { ... },
330 msg2 => sub { ... },
331 ;
332
333Example: create a port, bind receivers and send it in a message elsewhere
334in one go:
335
336 snd $otherport, reply =>
337 rcv port,
338 msg1 => sub { ... },
339 ...
340 ;
341
342Example: temporarily register a rcv callback for a tag matching some port
343(e.g. for a rpc reply) and unregister it after a message was received.
344
345 rcv $port, $otherport => sub {
346 my @reply = @_;
347
348 rcv $SELF, $otherport;
349 };
350
351=cut
352
353sub rcv($@) {
354 my $port = shift;
355 my ($noderef, $portid) = split /#/, $port, 2;
356
357 $NODE{$noderef} == $NODE{""}
358 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on local ports, caught";
359
360 while (@_) {
361 if (ref $_[0]) {
362 if (my $self = $PORT_DATA{$portid}) {
363 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
364 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
365
366 $self->[2] = shift;
367 } else {
368 my $cb = shift;
369 $PORT{$portid} = sub {
370 local $SELF = $port;
371 eval { &$cb }; _self_die if $@;
372 };
373 }
374 } elsif (defined $_[0]) {
375 my $self = $PORT_DATA{$portid} ||= do {
376 my $self = bless [$PORT{$port} || sub { }, { }, $port], "AnyEvent::MP::Port";
377
378 $PORT{$portid} = sub {
379 local $SELF = $port;
380
381 if (my $cb = $self->[1]{$_[0]}) {
382 shift;
383 eval { &$cb }; _self_die if $@;
384 } else {
385 &{ $self->[0] };
386 }
387 };
388
389 $self
390 };
391
392 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
393 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
394
395 my ($tag, $cb) = splice @_, 0, 2;
396
397 if (defined $cb) {
398 $self->[1]{$tag} = $cb;
399 } else {
400 delete $self->[1]{$tag};
401 }
142 } 402 }
403 }
143 404
144 for (@{ $self->{rcv}{$_[1]} }) { 405 $port
145 $_ && [@_[1 .. @{$_->[1]}]] ~~ $_->[1] 406}
146 && &{$_->[0]} 407
147 && undef $_; 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 };
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 $@;
437 @res
438 } else {
439 my $res = eval { &$cb };
440 _self_die if $@;
441 $res
148 } 442 }
443 }
444}
149 445
150 for (@{ $self->{any} }) { 446=item $guard = mon $port, $cb->(@reason) # call $cb when $port dies
151 $_ && [@_[0 .. $#{$_->[1]}]] ~~ $_->[1] 447
152 && &{$_->[0]} 448=item $guard = mon $port, $rcvport # kill $rcvport when $port dies
153 && undef $_; 449
450=item $guard = mon $port # kill $SELF when $port dies
451
452=item $guard = mon $port, $rcvport, @msg # send a message when $port dies
453
454Monitor the given port and do something when the port is killed or
455messages to it were lost, and optionally return a guard that can be used
456to stop monitoring again.
457
458C<mon> effectively guarantees that, in the absence of hardware failures,
459after starting the monitor, either all messages sent to the port will
460arrive, or the monitoring action will be invoked after possible message
461loss has been detected. No messages will be lost "in between" (after
462the first lost message no further messages will be received by the
463port). After the monitoring action was invoked, further messages might get
464delivered again.
465
466Note that monitoring-actions are one-shot: once messages are lost (and a
467monitoring alert was raised), they are removed and will not trigger again.
468
469In the first form (callback), the callback is simply called with any
470number of C<@reason> elements (no @reason means that the port was deleted
471"normally"). Note also that I<< the callback B<must> never die >>, so use
472C<eval> if unsure.
473
474In the second form (another port given), the other port (C<$rcvport>)
475will be C<kil>'ed with C<@reason>, iff a @reason was specified, i.e. on
476"normal" kils nothing happens, while under all other conditions, the other
477port is killed with the same reason.
478
479The third form (kill self) is the same as the second form, except that
480C<$rvport> defaults to C<$SELF>.
481
482In the last form (message), a message of the form C<@msg, @reason> will be
483C<snd>.
484
485As a rule of thumb, monitoring requests should always monitor a port from
486a local port (or callback). The reason is that kill messages might get
487lost, just like any other message. Another less obvious reason is that
488even monitoring requests can get lost (for exmaple, when the connection
489to the other node goes down permanently). When monitoring a port locally
490these problems do not exist.
491
492Example: call a given callback when C<$port> is killed.
493
494 mon $port, sub { warn "port died because of <@_>\n" };
495
496Example: kill ourselves when C<$port> is killed abnormally.
497
498 mon $port;
499
500Example: send us a restart message when another C<$port> is killed.
501
502 mon $port, $self => "restart";
503
504=cut
505
506sub mon {
507 my ($noderef, $port) = split /#/, shift, 2;
508
509 my $node = $NODE{$noderef} || add_node $noderef;
510
511 my $cb = @_ ? shift : $SELF || Carp::croak 'mon: called with one argument only, but $SELF not set,';
512
513 unless (ref $cb) {
514 if (@_) {
515 # send a kill info message
516 my (@msg) = ($cb, @_);
517 $cb = sub { snd @msg, @_ };
518 } else {
519 # simply kill other port
520 my $port = $cb;
521 $cb = sub { kil $port, @_ if @_ };
154 } 522 }
523 }
524
525 $node->monitor ($port, $cb);
526
527 defined wantarray
528 and AnyEvent::Util::guard { $node->unmonitor ($port, $cb) }
529}
530
531=item $guard = mon_guard $port, $ref, $ref...
532
533Monitors the given C<$port> and keeps the passed references. When the port
534is killed, the references will be freed.
535
536Optionally returns a guard that will stop the monitoring.
537
538This function is useful when you create e.g. timers or other watchers and
539want to free them when the port gets killed (note the use of C<psub>):
540
541 $port->rcv (start => sub {
542 my $timer; $timer = mon_guard $port, AE::timer 1, 1, psub {
543 undef $timer if 0.9 < rand;
544 });
545 });
546
547=cut
548
549sub mon_guard {
550 my ($port, @refs) = @_;
551
552 #TODO: mon-less form?
553
554 mon $port, sub { 0 && @refs }
555}
556
557=item kil $port[, @reason]
558
559Kill the specified port with the given C<@reason>.
560
561If no C<@reason> is specified, then the port is killed "normally" (ports
562monitoring other ports will not necessarily die because a port dies
563"normally").
564
565Otherwise, linked ports get killed with the same reason (second form of
566C<mon>, see above).
567
568Runtime errors while evaluating C<rcv> callbacks or inside C<psub> blocks
569will be reported as reason C<< die => $@ >>.
570
571Transport/communication errors are reported as C<< transport_error =>
572$message >>.
573
574=cut
575
576=item $port = spawn $node, $initfunc[, @initdata]
577
578Creates a port on the node C<$node> (which can also be a port ID, in which
579case it's the node where that port resides).
580
581The port ID of the newly created port is returned immediately, and it is
582possible to immediately start sending messages or to monitor the port.
583
584After the port has been created, the init function is called on the remote
585node, in the same context as a C<rcv> callback. This function must be a
586fully-qualified function name (e.g. C<MyApp::Chat::Server::init>). To
587specify a function in the main program, use C<::name>.
588
589If the function doesn't exist, then the node tries to C<require>
590the package, then the package above the package and so on (e.g.
591C<MyApp::Chat::Server>, C<MyApp::Chat>, C<MyApp>) until the function
592exists or it runs out of package names.
593
594The init function is then called with the newly-created port as context
595object (C<$SELF>) and the C<@initdata> values as arguments.
596
597A common idiom is to pass a local port, immediately monitor the spawned
598port, and in the remote init function, immediately monitor the passed
599local port. This two-way monitoring ensures that both ports get cleaned up
600when there is a problem.
601
602Example: spawn a chat server port on C<$othernode>.
603
604 # this node, executed from within a port context:
605 my $server = spawn $othernode, "MyApp::Chat::Server::connect", $SELF;
606 mon $server;
607
608 # init function on C<$othernode>
609 sub connect {
610 my ($srcport) = @_;
611
612 mon $srcport;
613
614 rcv $SELF, sub {
615 ...
616 };
617 }
618
619=cut
620
621sub _spawn {
622 my $port = shift;
623 my $init = shift;
624
625 local $SELF = "$NODE#$port";
626 eval {
627 &{ load_func $init }
155 }; 628 };
156 629 _self_die if $@;
157 $self
158} 630}
159 631
160package AnyEvent::MP::Port; 632sub spawn(@) {
633 my ($noderef, undef) = split /#/, shift, 2;
634
635 my $id = "$RUNIQ." . $ID++;
636
637 $_[0] =~ /::/
638 or Carp::croak "spawn init function must be a fully-qualified name, caught";
639
640 snd_to_func $noderef, "AnyEvent::MP::_spawn" => $id, @_;
641
642 "$noderef#$id"
643}
644
645=item after $timeout, @msg
646
647=item after $timeout, $callback
648
649Either sends the given message, or call the given callback, after the
650specified number of seconds.
651
652This is simply a utility function that comes in handy at times - the
653AnyEvent::MP author is not convinced of the wisdom of having it, though,
654so it may go away in the future.
655
656=cut
657
658sub after($@) {
659 my ($timeout, @action) = @_;
660
661 my $t; $t = AE::timer $timeout, 0, sub {
662 undef $t;
663 ref $action[0]
664 ? $action[0]()
665 : snd @action;
666 };
667}
161 668
162=back 669=back
163 670
164=head1 METHODS FOR PORT OBJECTS 671=head1 AnyEvent::MP vs. Distributed Erlang
672
673AnyEvent::MP got lots of its ideas from distributed Erlang (Erlang node
674== aemp node, Erlang process == aemp port), so many of the documents and
675programming techniques employed by Erlang apply to AnyEvent::MP. Here is a
676sample:
677
678 http://www.Erlang.se/doc/programming_rules.shtml
679 http://Erlang.org/doc/getting_started/part_frame.html # chapters 3 and 4
680 http://Erlang.org/download/Erlang-book-part1.pdf # chapters 5 and 6
681 http://Erlang.org/download/armstrong_thesis_2003.pdf # chapters 4 and 5
682
683Despite the similarities, there are also some important differences:
165 684
166=over 4 685=over 4
167 686
168=item "$port" 687=item * Node IDs are arbitrary strings in AEMP.
169 688
170A port object stringifies to its port ID, so can be used directly for 689Erlang relies on special naming and DNS to work everywhere in the same
171C<snd> operations. 690way. AEMP relies on each node somehow knowing its own address(es) (e.g. by
691configuraiton or DNS), but will otherwise discover other odes itself.
172 692
173=cut 693=item * Erlang has a "remote ports are like local ports" philosophy, AEMP
694uses "local ports are like remote ports".
174 695
175use overload 696The failure modes for local ports are quite different (runtime errors
176 '""' => sub { $_[0]{id} }, 697only) then for remote ports - when a local port dies, you I<know> it dies,
177 fallback => 1; 698when a connection to another node dies, you know nothing about the other
699port.
178 700
179=item $port->rcv (type => $callback->($port, @msg)) 701Erlang pretends remote ports are as reliable as local ports, even when
702they are not.
180 703
181=item $port->rcv ($smartmatch => $callback->($port, @msg)) 704AEMP encourages a "treat remote ports differently" philosophy, with local
705ports being the special case/exception, where transport errors cannot
706occur.
182 707
183=item $port->rcv ([$smartmatch...] => $callback->($port, @msg)) 708=item * Erlang uses processes and a mailbox, AEMP does not queue.
184 709
185Register a callback on the given port. 710Erlang uses processes that selectively receive messages, and therefore
711needs a queue. AEMP is event based, queuing messages would serve no
712useful purpose. For the same reason the pattern-matching abilities of
713AnyEvent::MP are more limited, as there is little need to be able to
714filter messages without dequeing them.
186 715
187The callback has to return a true value when its work is done, after 716(But see L<Coro::MP> for a more Erlang-like process model on top of AEMP).
188which is will be removed, or a false value in which case it will stay
189registered.
190 717
191If the match is an array reference, then it will be matched against the 718=item * Erlang sends are synchronous, AEMP sends are asynchronous.
192first elements of the message, otherwise only the first element is being
193matched.
194 719
195Any element in the match that is specified as C<_any_> (a function 720Sending messages in Erlang is synchronous and blocks the process (and
196exported by this module) matches any single element of the message. 721so does not need a queue that can overflow). AEMP sends are immediate,
722connection establishment is handled in the background.
197 723
198While not required, it is highly recommended that the first matching 724=item * Erlang suffers from silent message loss, AEMP does not.
199element is a string identifying the message. The one-string-only match is
200also the most efficient match (by far).
201 725
202=cut 726Erlang makes few guarantees on messages delivery - messages can get lost
727without any of the processes realising it (i.e. you send messages a, b,
728and c, and the other side only receives messages a and c).
203 729
204sub rcv($@) { 730AEMP guarantees correct ordering, and the guarantee that after one message
205 my ($self, $match, $cb) = @_; 731is lost, all following ones sent to the same port are lost as well, until
732monitoring raises an error, so there are no silent "holes" in the message
733sequence.
206 734
207 if (!ref $match) { 735=item * Erlang can send messages to the wrong port, AEMP does not.
208 push @{ $self->{rc0}{$match} }, [$cb];
209 } elsif (("ARRAY" eq ref $match && !ref $match->[0])) {
210 my ($type, @match) = @$match;
211 @match
212 ? push @{ $self->{rcv}{$match->[0]} }, [$cb, \@match]
213 : push @{ $self->{rc0}{$match->[0]} }, [$cb];
214 } else {
215 push @{ $self->{any} }, [$cb, $match];
216 }
217}
218 736
219=item $port->register ($name) 737In Erlang it is quite likely that a node that restarts reuses a process ID
738known to other nodes for a completely different process, causing messages
739destined for that process to end up in an unrelated process.
220 740
221Registers the given port under the well known name C<$name>. If the name 741AEMP never reuses port IDs, so old messages or old port IDs floating
222already exists it is replaced. 742around in the network will not be sent to an unrelated port.
223 743
224A port can only be registered under one well known name. 744=item * Erlang uses unprotected connections, AEMP uses secure
745authentication and can use TLS.
225 746
226=cut 747AEMP can use a proven protocol - TLS - to protect connections and
748securely authenticate nodes.
227 749
228sub register { 750=item * The AEMP protocol is optimised for both text-based and binary
229 my ($self, $name) = @_; 751communications.
230 752
231 $self->{wkname} = $name; 753The AEMP protocol, unlike the Erlang protocol, supports both programming
232 $AnyEvent::MP::Base::WKP{$name} = "$self"; 754language independent text-only protocols (good for debugging) and binary,
233} 755language-specific serialisers (e.g. Storable). By default, unless TLS is
756used, the protocol is actually completely text-based.
234 757
235=item $port->destroy 758It has also been carefully designed to be implementable in other languages
759with a minimum of work while gracefully degrading functionality to make the
760protocol simple.
236 761
237Explicitly destroy/remove/nuke/vaporise the port. 762=item * AEMP has more flexible monitoring options than Erlang.
238 763
239Ports are normally kept alive by there mere existance alone, and need to 764In Erlang, you can chose to receive I<all> exit signals as messages
240be destroyed explicitly. 765or I<none>, there is no in-between, so monitoring single processes is
766difficult to implement. Monitoring in AEMP is more flexible than in
767Erlang, as one can choose between automatic kill, exit message or callback
768on a per-process basis.
241 769
242=cut 770=item * Erlang tries to hide remote/local connections, AEMP does not.
243 771
244sub destroy { 772Monitoring in Erlang is not an indicator of process death/crashes, in the
245 my ($self) = @_; 773same way as linking is (except linking is unreliable in Erlang).
246 774
247 delete $AnyEvent::MP::Base::WKP{ $self->{wkname} }; 775In AEMP, you don't "look up" registered port names or send to named ports
776that might or might not be persistent. Instead, you normally spawn a port
777on the remote node. The init function monitors you, and you monitor the
778remote port. Since both monitors are local to the node, they are much more
779reliable (no need for C<spawn_link>).
248 780
249 delete $AnyEvent::MP::Base::PORT{$_} 781This also saves round-trips and avoids sending messages to the wrong port
250 for @{ $self->{names} }; 782(hard to do in Erlang).
251}
252 783
253=back 784=back
254 785
255=head1 FUNCTIONS FOR NODES 786=head1 RATIONALE
256 787
257=over 4 788=over 4
258 789
259=item mon $noderef, $callback->($noderef, $status, $) 790=item Why strings for port and node IDs, why not objects?
260 791
261Monitors the given noderef. 792We considered "objects", but found that the actual number of methods
793that can be called are quite low. Since port and node IDs travel over
794the network frequently, the serialising/deserialising would add lots of
795overhead, as well as having to keep a proxy object everywhere.
262 796
263=item become_public endpoint... 797Strings can easily be printed, easily serialised etc. and need no special
798procedures to be "valid".
264 799
265Tells the node to become a public node, i.e. reachable from other nodes. 800And as a result, a miniport consists of a single closure stored in a
801global hash - it can't become much cheaper.
266 802
267If no arguments are given, or the first argument is C<undef>, then 803=item Why favour JSON, why not a real serialising format such as Storable?
268AnyEvent::MP tries to bind on port C<4040> on all IP addresses that the
269local nodename resolves to.
270 804
271Otherwise the first argument must be an array-reference with transport 805In fact, any AnyEvent::MP node will happily accept Storable as framing
272endpoints ("ip:port", "hostname:port") or port numbers (in which case the 806format, but currently there is no way to make a node use Storable by
273local nodename is used as hostname). The endpoints are all resolved and 807default (although all nodes will accept it).
274will become the node reference.
275 808
276=cut 809The default framing protocol is JSON because a) JSON::XS is many times
810faster for small messages and b) most importantly, after years of
811experience we found that object serialisation is causing more problems
812than it solves: Just like function calls, objects simply do not travel
813easily over the network, mostly because they will always be a copy, so you
814always have to re-think your design.
815
816Keeping your messages simple, concentrating on data structures rather than
817objects, will keep your messages clean, tidy and efficient.
277 818
278=back 819=back
279 820
280=head1 NODE MESSAGES
281
282Nodes understand the following messages sent to them. Many of them take
283arguments called C<@reply>, which will simply be used to compose a reply
284message - C<$reply[0]> is the port to reply to, C<$reply[1]> the type and
285the remaining arguments are simply the message data.
286
287=over 4
288
289=cut
290
291=item wkp => $name, @reply
292
293Replies with the port ID of the specified well-known port, or C<undef>.
294
295=item devnull => ...
296
297Generic data sink/CPU heat conversion.
298
299=item relay => $port, @msg
300
301Simply forwards the message to the given port.
302
303=item eval => $string[ @reply]
304
305Evaluates the given string. If C<@reply> is given, then a message of the
306form C<@reply, $@, @evalres> is sent.
307
308Example: crash another node.
309
310 snd $othernode, eval => "exit";
311
312=item time => @reply
313
314Replies the the current node time to C<@reply>.
315
316Example: tell the current node to send the current time to C<$myport> in a
317C<timereply> message.
318
319 snd $NODE, time => $myport, timereply => 1, 2;
320 # => snd $myport, timereply => 1, 2, <time>
321
322=back
323
324=head1 SEE ALSO 821=head1 SEE ALSO
822
823L<AnyEvent::MP::Intro> - a gentle introduction.
824
825L<AnyEvent::MP::Kernel> - more, lower-level, stuff.
826
827L<AnyEvent::MP::Global> - network maintainance and port groups, to find
828your applications.
325 829
326L<AnyEvent>. 830L<AnyEvent>.
327 831
328=head1 AUTHOR 832=head1 AUTHOR
329 833

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