--- AnyEvent/README 2008/07/29 10:20:33 1.29 +++ AnyEvent/README 2008/09/29 02:08:57 1.30 @@ -332,11 +332,18 @@ You can also watch on a child process exit and catch its exit status. The child process is specified by the "pid" argument (if set to 0, it - watches for any child process exit). The watcher will trigger as often - as status change for the child are received. This works by installing a - signal handler for "SIGCHLD". The callback will be called with the pid - and exit status (as returned by waitpid), so unlike other watcher types, - you *can* rely on child watcher callback arguments. + watches for any child process exit). The watcher will triggered only + when the child process has finished and an exit status is available, not + on any trace events (stopped/continued). + + The callback will be called with the pid and exit status (as returned by + waitpid), so unlike other watcher types, you *can* rely on child watcher + callback arguments. + + This watcher type works by installing a signal handler for "SIGCHLD", + and since it cannot be shared, nothing else should use SIGCHLD or reap + random child processes (waiting for specific child processes, e.g. + inside "system", is just fine). There is a slight catch to child watchers, however: you usually start them *after* the child process was created, and this means the process @@ -792,51 +799,25 @@ The lambda approach to I/O - don't ask, look there. Can use AnyEvent. -SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE - This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent - in a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want - to provide AnyEvent compatibility. - - If you need to support another event library which isn't directly - supported by AnyEvent, you can supply your own interface to it by - pushing, before the first watcher gets created, the package name of the - event module and the package name of the interface to use onto - @AnyEvent::REGISTRY. You can do that before and even without loading - AnyEvent, so it is reasonably cheap. - - Example: - - push @AnyEvent::REGISTRY, [urxvt => urxvt::anyevent::]; - - This tells AnyEvent to (literally) use the "urxvt::anyevent::" - package/class when it finds the "urxvt" package/module is already - loaded. - - When AnyEvent is loaded and asked to find a suitable event model, it - will first check for the presence of urxvt by trying to "use" the - "urxvt::anyevent" module. - - The class should provide implementations for all watcher types. See - AnyEvent::Impl::EV (source code), AnyEvent::Impl::Glib (Source code) and - so on for actual examples. Use "perldoc -m AnyEvent::Impl::Glib" to see - the sources. - - If you don't provide "signal" and "child" watchers than AnyEvent will - provide suitable (hopefully) replacements. - - The above example isn't fictitious, the *rxvt-unicode* (a.k.a. urxvt) - terminal emulator uses the above line as-is. An interface isn't included - in AnyEvent because it doesn't make sense outside the embedded - interpreter inside *rxvt-unicode*, and it is updated and maintained as - part of the *rxvt-unicode* distribution. - - *rxvt-unicode* also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to - condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will - "die". This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls - must not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense. +ERROR AND EXCEPTION HANDLING + In general, AnyEvent does not do any error handling - it relies on the + caller to do that if required. The AnyEvent::Strict module (see also the + "PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT" environment variable, below) provides strict + checking of all AnyEvent methods, however, which is highly useful during + development. + + As for exception handling (i.e. runtime errors and exceptions thrown + while executing a callback), this is not only highly event-loop + specific, but also not in any way wrapped by this module, as this is the + job of the main program. + + The pure perl event loop simply re-throws the exception (usually within + "condvar->recv"), the Event and EV modules call "$Event/EV::DIED->()", + Glib uses "install_exception_handler" and so on. ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES - The following environment variables are used by this module: + The following environment variables are used by this module or its + submodules: "PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE" By default, AnyEvent will be completely silent except in fatal @@ -859,8 +840,9 @@ In other words, enables "strict" mode. - Unlike "use strict" it is definitely recommended ot keep it off in - production. + Unlike "use strict", it is definitely recommended ot keep it off in + production. Keeping "PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT=1" in your environment + while developing programs can be very useful, however. "PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL" This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, @@ -912,6 +894,49 @@ The maximum number of child processes that "AnyEvent::Util::fork_call" will create in parallel. +SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE + This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent + in a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want + to provide AnyEvent compatibility. + + If you need to support another event library which isn't directly + supported by AnyEvent, you can supply your own interface to it by + pushing, before the first watcher gets created, the package name of the + event module and the package name of the interface to use onto + @AnyEvent::REGISTRY. You can do that before and even without loading + AnyEvent, so it is reasonably cheap. + + Example: + + push @AnyEvent::REGISTRY, [urxvt => urxvt::anyevent::]; + + This tells AnyEvent to (literally) use the "urxvt::anyevent::" + package/class when it finds the "urxvt" package/module is already + loaded. + + When AnyEvent is loaded and asked to find a suitable event model, it + will first check for the presence of urxvt by trying to "use" the + "urxvt::anyevent" module. + + The class should provide implementations for all watcher types. See + AnyEvent::Impl::EV (source code), AnyEvent::Impl::Glib (Source code) and + so on for actual examples. Use "perldoc -m AnyEvent::Impl::Glib" to see + the sources. + + If you don't provide "signal" and "child" watchers than AnyEvent will + provide suitable (hopefully) replacements. + + The above example isn't fictitious, the *rxvt-unicode* (a.k.a. urxvt) + terminal emulator uses the above line as-is. An interface isn't included + in AnyEvent because it doesn't make sense outside the embedded + interpreter inside *rxvt-unicode*, and it is updated and maintained as + part of the *rxvt-unicode* distribution. + + *rxvt-unicode* also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to + condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will + "die". This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls + must not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense. + EXAMPLE PROGRAM The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to