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Revision 1.57 by root, Sat Dec 5 02:52:03 2009 UTC vs.
Revision 1.59 by root, Tue Jan 5 10:45:25 2010 UTC

486 $done->recv; 486 $done->recv;
487 487
488 IDLE WATCHERS 488 IDLE WATCHERS
489 $w = AnyEvent->idle (cb => <callback>); 489 $w = AnyEvent->idle (cb => <callback>);
490 490
491 Sometimes there is a need to do something, but it is not so important to 491 Repeatedly invoke the callback after the process becomes idle, until
492 do it instantly, but only when there is nothing better to do. This 492 either the watcher is destroyed or new events have been detected.
493 "nothing better to do" is usually defined to be "no other events need
494 attention by the event loop".
495 493
496 Idle watchers ideally get invoked when the event loop has nothing better 494 Idle watchers are useful when there is a need to do something, but it is
497 to do, just before it would block the process to wait for new events. 495 not so important (or wise) to do it instantly. The callback will be
498 Instead of blocking, the idle watcher is invoked. 496 invoked only when there is "nothing better to do", which is usually
497 defined as "all outstanding events have been handled and no new events
498 have been detected". That means that idle watchers ideally get invoked
499 when the event loop has just polled for new events but none have been
500 detected. Instead of blocking to wait for more events, the idle watchers
501 will be invoked.
499 502
500 Most event loops unfortunately do not really support idle watchers (only 503 Unfortunately, most event loops do not really support idle watchers
501 EV, Event and Glib do it in a usable fashion) - for the rest, AnyEvent 504 (only EV, Event and Glib do it in a usable fashion) - for the rest,
502 will simply call the callback "from time to time". 505 AnyEvent will simply call the callback "from time to time".
503 506
504 Example: read lines from STDIN, but only process them when the program 507 Example: read lines from STDIN, but only process them when the program
505 is otherwise idle: 508 is otherwise idle:
506 509
507 my @lines; # read data 510 my @lines; # read data
919 You should check $AnyEvent::MODEL before adding to this array, 922 You should check $AnyEvent::MODEL before adding to this array,
920 though: if it is defined then the event loop has already been 923 though: if it is defined then the event loop has already been
921 detected, and the array will be ignored. 924 detected, and the array will be ignored.
922 925
923 Best use "AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }" when your application 926 Best use "AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }" when your application
924 allows it,as it takes care of these details. 927 allows it, as it takes care of these details.
925 928
926 This variable is mainly useful for modules that can do something 929 This variable is mainly useful for modules that can do something
927 useful when AnyEvent is used and thus want to know when it is 930 useful when AnyEvent is used and thus want to know when it is
928 initialised, but do not need to even load it by default. This array 931 initialised, but do not need to even load it by default. This array
929 provides the means to hook into AnyEvent passively, without loading 932 provides the means to hook into AnyEvent passively, without loading
930 it. 933 it.
934
935 Example: To load Coro::AnyEvent whenever Coro and AnyEvent are used
936 together, you could put this into Coro (this is the actual code used
937 by Coro to accomplish this):
938
939 if (defined $AnyEvent::MODEL) {
940 # AnyEvent already initialised, so load Coro::AnyEvent
941 require Coro::AnyEvent;
942 } else {
943 # AnyEvent not yet initialised, so make sure to load Coro::AnyEvent
944 # as soon as it is
945 push @AnyEvent::post_detect, sub { require Coro::AnyEvent };
946 }
931 947
932WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE 948WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE
933 As a module author, you should "use AnyEvent" and call AnyEvent methods 949 As a module author, you should "use AnyEvent" and call AnyEvent methods
934 freely, but you should not load a specific event module or rely on it. 950 freely, but you should not load a specific event module or rely on it.
935 951
1787 additionally use it to try to use a monotonic clock for timing 1803 additionally use it to try to use a monotonic clock for timing
1788 stability. 1804 stability.
1789 1805
1790FORK 1806FORK
1791 Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are 1807 Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are
1792 because they rely on inefficient but fork-safe "select" or "poll" calls. 1808 because they rely on inefficient but fork-safe "select" or "poll" calls
1793 Only EV is fully fork-aware. 1809 - higher performance APIs such as BSD's kqueue or the dreaded Linux
1810 epoll are usually badly thought-out hacks that are incompatible with
1811 fork in one way or another. Only EV is fully fork-aware and ensures that
1812 you continue event-processing in both parent and child (or both, if you
1813 know what you are doing).
1794 1814
1795 This means that, in general, you cannot fork and do event processing in 1815 This means that, in general, you cannot fork and do event processing in
1796 the child if a watcher was created before the fork (which in turn 1816 the child if the event library was initialised before the fork (which
1797 initialises the event library). 1817 usually happens when the first AnyEvent watcher is created, or the
1818 library is loaded).
1798 1819
1799 If you have to fork, you must either do so *before* creating your first 1820 If you have to fork, you must either do so *before* creating your first
1800 watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child OR you must do 1821 watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child OR you must do
1801 something completely out of the scope of AnyEvent. 1822 something completely out of the scope of AnyEvent.
1802 1823
1803 The problem of doing event processing in the parent *and* the child is 1824 The problem of doing event processing in the parent *and* the child is
1804 much more complicated: even for backends that *are* fork-aware or 1825 much more complicated: even for backends that *are* fork-aware or
1805 fork-safe, their behaviour is not usually what you want: fork clones all 1826 fork-safe, their behaviour is not usually what you want: fork clones all
1806 watchers, that means all timers, I/O watchers etc. are active in both 1827 watchers, that means all timers, I/O watchers etc. are active in both
1807 parent and child, which is almost never what you want. 1828 parent and child, which is almost never what you want. USing "exec" to
1829 start worker children from some kind of manage rprocess is usually
1830 preferred, because it is much easier and cleaner, at the expense of
1831 having to have another binary.
1808 1832
1809SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS 1833SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
1810 AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via 1834 AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via
1811 $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}. While this cannot (to my knowledge) be used 1835 $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}. While this cannot (to my knowledge) be used
1812 to execute arbitrary code or directly gain access, it can easily be used 1836 to execute arbitrary code or directly gain access, it can easily be used

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