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

Comparing AnyEvent/lib/AnyEvent.pm (file contents):
Revision 1.56 by root, Thu Apr 24 03:10:03 2008 UTC vs.
Revision 1.143 by root, Wed May 28 23:57:38 2008 UTC

1=head1 NAME 1=head1 => NAME
2 2
3AnyEvent - provide framework for multiple event loops 3AnyEvent - provide framework for multiple event loops
4 4
5EV, Event, Coro::EV, Coro::Event, Glib, Tk, Perl, Event::Lib, Qt - various supported event loops 5EV, Event, Glib, Tk, Perl, Event::Lib, Qt, POE - various supported event loops
6 6
7=head1 SYNOPSIS 7=head1 SYNOPSIS
8 8
9 use AnyEvent; 9 use AnyEvent;
10 10
15 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, cb => sub { 15 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, cb => sub {
16 ... 16 ...
17 }); 17 });
18 18
19 my $w = AnyEvent->condvar; # stores whether a condition was flagged 19 my $w = AnyEvent->condvar; # stores whether a condition was flagged
20 $w->send; # wake up current and all future recv's
20 $w->wait; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->broadcast 21 $w->recv; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->send
21 $w->broadcast; # wake up current and all future wait's
22 22
23=head1 WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS MODULE (OR NOT) 23=head1 WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS MODULE (OR NOT)
24 24
25Glib, POE, IO::Async, Event... CPAN offers event models by the dozen 25Glib, POE, IO::Async, Event... CPAN offers event models by the dozen
26nowadays. So what is different about AnyEvent? 26nowadays. So what is different about AnyEvent?
48isn't itself. What's worse, all the potential users of your module are 48isn't itself. What's worse, all the potential users of your module are
49I<also> forced to use the same event loop you use. 49I<also> forced to use the same event loop you use.
50 50
51AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works 51AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works
52fine. AnyEvent + Tk works fine etc. etc. but none of these work together 52fine. AnyEvent + Tk works fine etc. etc. but none of these work together
53with the rest: POE + IO::Async? no go. Tk + Event? no go. Again: if 53with the rest: POE + IO::Async? No go. Tk + Event? No go. Again: if
54your module uses one of those, every user of your module has to use it, 54your module uses one of those, every user of your module has to use it,
55too. But if your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all 55too. But if your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all
56event models it supports (including stuff like POE and IO::Async, as long 56event models it supports (including stuff like POE and IO::Async, as long
57as those use one of the supported event loops. It is trivial to add new 57as those use one of the supported event loops. It is trivial to add new
58event loops to AnyEvent, too, so it is future-proof). 58event loops to AnyEvent, too, so it is future-proof).
59 59
60In addition to being free of having to use I<the one and only true event 60In addition to being free of having to use I<the one and only true event
61model>, AnyEvent also is free of bloat and policy: with POE or similar 61model>, AnyEvent also is free of bloat and policy: with POE or similar
62modules, you get an enourmous amount of code and strict rules you have to 62modules, you get an enormous amount of code and strict rules you have to
63follow. AnyEvent, on the other hand, is lean and up to the point, by only 63follow. AnyEvent, on the other hand, is lean and up to the point, by only
64offering the functionality that is necessary, in as thin as a wrapper as 64offering the functionality that is necessary, in as thin as a wrapper as
65technically possible. 65technically possible.
66 66
67Of course, AnyEvent comes with a big (and fully optional!) toolbox
68of useful functionality, such as an asynchronous DNS resolver, 100%
69non-blocking connects (even with TLS/SSL, IPv6 and on broken platforms
70such as Windows) and lots of real-world knowledge and workarounds for
71platform bugs and differences.
72
67Of course, if you want lots of policy (this can arguably be somewhat 73Now, if you I<do want> lots of policy (this can arguably be somewhat
68useful) and you want to force your users to use the one and only event 74useful) and you want to force your users to use the one and only event
69model, you should I<not> use this module. 75model, you should I<not> use this module.
70
71 76
72=head1 DESCRIPTION 77=head1 DESCRIPTION
73 78
74L<AnyEvent> provides an identical interface to multiple event loops. This 79L<AnyEvent> provides an identical interface to multiple event loops. This
75allows module authors to utilise an event loop without forcing module 80allows module authors to utilise an event loop without forcing module
79The interface itself is vaguely similar, but not identical to the L<Event> 84The interface itself is vaguely similar, but not identical to the L<Event>
80module. 85module.
81 86
82During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries 87During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries
83to detect the currently loaded event loop by probing whether one of the 88to detect the currently loaded event loop by probing whether one of the
84following modules is already loaded: L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>, L<EV>, 89following modules is already loaded: L<EV>,
85L<Event>, L<Glib>, L<Tk>. The first one found is used. If none are found, 90L<Event>, L<Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>,
86the module tries to load these modules in the stated order. The first one 91L<POE>. The first one found is used. If none are found, the module tries
92to load these modules (excluding Tk, Event::Lib, Qt and POE as the pure perl
93adaptor should always succeed) in the order given. The first one that can
87that can be successfully loaded will be used. If, after this, still none 94be successfully loaded will be used. If, after this, still none could be
88could be found, AnyEvent will fall back to a pure-perl event loop, which 95found, AnyEvent will fall back to a pure-perl event loop, which is not
89is not very efficient, but should work everywhere. 96very efficient, but should work everywhere.
90 97
91Because AnyEvent first checks for modules that are already loaded, loading 98Because AnyEvent first checks for modules that are already loaded, loading
92an event model explicitly before first using AnyEvent will likely make 99an event model explicitly before first using AnyEvent will likely make
93that model the default. For example: 100that model the default. For example:
94 101
101starts using it, all bets are off. Maybe you should tell their authors to 108starts using it, all bets are off. Maybe you should tell their authors to
102use AnyEvent so their modules work together with others seamlessly... 109use AnyEvent so their modules work together with others seamlessly...
103 110
104The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called 111The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called
105C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>. Like other event modules you can load it 112C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>. Like other event modules you can load it
106explicitly. 113explicitly and enjoy the high availability of that event loop :)
107 114
108=head1 WATCHERS 115=head1 WATCHERS
109 116
110AnyEvent has the central concept of a I<watcher>, which is an object that 117AnyEvent has the central concept of a I<watcher>, which is an object that
111stores relevant data for each kind of event you are waiting for, such as 118stores relevant data for each kind of event you are waiting for, such as
112the callback to call, the filehandle to watch, etc. 119the callback to call, the file handle to watch, etc.
113 120
114These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After 121These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After
115creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the 122creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the
116callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model 123callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model
117is in control). 124is in control).
134 141
135Note that C<my $w; $w => combination. This is necessary because in Perl, 142Note that C<my $w; $w => combination. This is necessary because in Perl,
136my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are 143my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are
137declared. 144declared.
138 145
139=head2 IO WATCHERS 146=head2 I/O WATCHERS
140 147
141You can create an I/O watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->io >> method 148You can create an I/O watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->io >> method
142with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments: 149with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments:
143 150
144C<fh> the Perl I<file handle> (I<not> file descriptor) to watch for 151C<fh> the Perl I<file handle> (I<not> file descriptor) to watch
145events. C<poll> must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>, which 152for events. C<poll> must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>,
146creates a watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, 153which creates a watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events,
147respectively. C<cb> is the callback to invoke each time the file handle 154respectively. C<cb> is the callback to invoke each time the file handle
148becomes ready. 155becomes ready.
149 156
150As long as the I/O watcher exists it will keep the file descriptor or a 157Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
151copy of it alive/open. 158presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
159callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks.
152 160
161The I/O watcher might use the underlying file descriptor or a copy of it.
153It is not allowed to close a file handle as long as any watcher is active 162You must not close a file handle as long as any watcher is active on the
154on the underlying file descriptor. 163underlying file descriptor.
155 164
156Some event loops issue spurious readyness notifications, so you should 165Some event loops issue spurious readyness notifications, so you should
157always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file 166always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file
158handles. 167handles.
159 168
170 179
171You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >> 180You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >>
172method with the following mandatory arguments: 181method with the following mandatory arguments:
173 182
174C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are 183C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are
175supported) should the timer activate. C<cb> the callback to invoke in that 184supported) the callback should be invoked. C<cb> is the callback to invoke
176case. 185in that case.
186
187Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
188presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
189callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks.
177 190
178The timer callback will be invoked at most once: if you want a repeating 191The timer callback will be invoked at most once: if you want a repeating
179timer you have to create a new watcher (this is a limitation by both Tk 192timer you have to create a new watcher (this is a limitation by both Tk
180and Glib). 193and Glib).
181 194
206 219
207There are two ways to handle timers: based on real time (relative, "fire 220There are two ways to handle timers: based on real time (relative, "fire
208in 10 seconds") and based on wallclock time (absolute, "fire at 12 221in 10 seconds") and based on wallclock time (absolute, "fire at 12
209o'clock"). 222o'clock").
210 223
211While most event loops expect timers to specified in a relative way, they use 224While most event loops expect timers to specified in a relative way, they
212absolute time internally. This makes a difference when your clock "jumps", 225use absolute time internally. This makes a difference when your clock
213for example, when ntp decides to set your clock backwards from the wrong 2014-01-01 to 226"jumps", for example, when ntp decides to set your clock backwards from
2142008-01-01, a watcher that you created to fire "after" a second might actually take 227the wrong date of 2014-01-01 to 2008-01-01, a watcher that is supposed to
215six years to finally fire. 228fire "after" a second might actually take six years to finally fire.
216 229
217AnyEvent cannot compensate for this. The only event loop that is conscious 230AnyEvent cannot compensate for this. The only event loop that is conscious
218about these issues is L<EV>, which offers both relative (ev_timer) and 231about these issues is L<EV>, which offers both relative (ev_timer, based
219absolute (ev_periodic) timers. 232on true relative time) and absolute (ev_periodic, based on wallclock time)
233timers.
220 234
221AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the 235AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the
222AnyEvent API. 236AnyEvent API.
237
238AnyEvent has two additional methods that return the "current time":
239
240=over 4
241
242=item AnyEvent->time
243
244This returns the "current wallclock time" as a fractional number of
245seconds since the Epoch (the same thing as C<time> or C<Time::HiRes::time>
246return, and the result is guaranteed to be compatible with those).
247
248It progresses independently of any event loop processing.
249
250In almost all cases (in all cases if you don't care), this is the function
251to call when you want to know the current time.
252
253=item AnyEvent->now
254
255This also returns the "current wallclock time", but unlike C<time>, above,
256this value might change only once per event loop iteration, depending on
257the event loop (most return the same time as C<time>, above). This is the
258time that AnyEvent timers get scheduled against.
259
260For a practical example of when these times differ, consider L<Event::Lib>
261and L<EV> and the following set-up:
262
263The event loop is running and has just invoked one of your callback at
264time=500 (assume no other callbacks delay processing). In your callback,
265you wait a second by executing C<sleep 1> (blocking the process for a
266second) and then (at time=501) you create a relative timer that fires
267after three seconds.
268
269With L<Event::Lib>, C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> will
270both return C<501>, because that is the current time, and the timer will
271be scheduled to fire at time=504 (C<501> + C<3>).
272
273With L<EV>m C<< AnyEvent->time >> returns C<501> (as that is the current
274time), but C<< AnyEvent->now >> returns C<500>, as that is the time the
275last event processing phase started. With L<EV>, your timer gets scheduled
276to run at time=503 (C<500> + C<3>).
277
278In one sense, L<Event::Lib> is more exact, as it uses the current time
279regardless of any delays introduced by event processing. However, most
280callbacks do not expect large delays in processing, so this causes a
281higher drift (and a lot more syscalls to get the current time).
282
283In another sense, L<EV> is more exact, as your timer will be scheduled at
284the same time, regardless of how long event processing actually took.
285
286In either case, if you care (and in most cases, you don't), then you
287can get whatever behaviour you want with any event loop, by taking the
288difference between C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> into
289account.
290
291=back
223 292
224=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS 293=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS
225 294
226You can watch for signals using a signal watcher, C<signal> is the signal 295You can watch for signals using a signal watcher, C<signal> is the signal
227I<name> without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl callback to 296I<name> without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl callback to
228be invoked whenever a signal occurs. 297be invoked whenever a signal occurs.
229 298
299Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
300presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
301callbacks cannot use arguments passed to signal watcher callbacks.
302
230Multiple signals occurances can be clumped together into one callback 303Multiple signal occurrences can be clumped together into one callback
231invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. synchronous means 304invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. Synchronous means
232that it might take a while until the signal gets handled by the process, 305that it might take a while until the signal gets handled by the process,
233but it is guarenteed not to interrupt any other callbacks. 306but it is guaranteed not to interrupt any other callbacks.
234 307
235The main advantage of using these watchers is that you can share a signal 308The main advantage of using these watchers is that you can share a signal
236between multiple watchers. 309between multiple watchers.
237 310
238This watcher might use C<%SIG>, so programs overwriting those signals 311This watcher might use C<%SIG>, so programs overwriting those signals
248 321
249The child process is specified by the C<pid> argument (if set to C<0>, it 322The child process is specified by the C<pid> argument (if set to C<0>, it
250watches for any child process exit). The watcher will trigger as often 323watches for any child process exit). The watcher will trigger as often
251as status change for the child are received. This works by installing a 324as status change for the child are received. This works by installing a
252signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>. The callback will be called with the pid 325signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>. The callback will be called with the pid
253and exit status (as returned by waitpid). 326and exit status (as returned by waitpid), so unlike other watcher types,
327you I<can> rely on child watcher callback arguments.
254 328
255Example: wait for pid 1333 329There is a slight catch to child watchers, however: you usually start them
330I<after> the child process was created, and this means the process could
331have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore).
332
333Not all event models handle this correctly (POE doesn't), but even for
334event models that I<do> handle this correctly, they usually need to be
335loaded before the process exits (i.e. before you fork in the first place).
336
337This means you cannot create a child watcher as the very first thing in an
338AnyEvent program, you I<have> to create at least one watcher before you
339C<fork> the child (alternatively, you can call C<AnyEvent::detect>).
340
341Example: fork a process and wait for it
342
343 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
344
345 my $pid = fork or exit 5;
256 346
257 my $w = AnyEvent->child ( 347 my $w = AnyEvent->child (
258 pid => 1333, 348 pid => $pid,
259 cb => sub { 349 cb => sub {
260 my ($pid, $status) = @_; 350 my ($pid, $status) = @_;
261 warn "pid $pid exited with status $status"; 351 warn "pid $pid exited with status $status";
352 $done->send;
262 }, 353 },
263 ); 354 );
264 355
356 # do something else, then wait for process exit
357 $done->recv;
358
265=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES 359=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES
266 360
361If you are familiar with some event loops you will know that all of them
362require you to run some blocking "loop", "run" or similar function that
363will actively watch for new events and call your callbacks.
364
365AnyEvent is different, it expects somebody else to run the event loop and
366will only block when necessary (usually when told by the user).
367
368The instrument to do that is called a "condition variable", so called
369because they represent a condition that must become true.
370
267Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar >> 371Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar
268method without any arguments. 372>> method, usually without arguments. The only argument pair allowed is
373C<cb>, which specifies a callback to be called when the condition variable
374becomes true.
269 375
270A condition variable waits for a condition - precisely that the C<< 376After creation, the condition variable is "false" until it becomes "true"
271->broadcast >> method has been called. 377by calling the C<send> method (or calling the condition variable as if it
378were a callback, read about the caveats in the description for the C<<
379->send >> method).
272 380
273They are very useful to signal that a condition has been fulfilled, for 381Condition variables are similar to callbacks, except that you can
382optionally wait for them. They can also be called merge points - points
383in time where multiple outstanding events have been processed. And yet
384another way to call them is transactions - each condition variable can be
385used to represent a transaction, which finishes at some point and delivers
386a result.
387
388Condition variables are very useful to signal that something has finished,
274example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests, 389for example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests,
275then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the 390then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the
276availability of results. 391availability of results. The user can either act when the callback is
392called or can synchronously C<< ->recv >> for the results.
277 393
278You can also use condition variables to block your main program until 394You can also use them to simulate traditional event loops - for example,
279an event occurs - for example, you could C<< ->wait >> in your main 395you can block your main program until an event occurs - for example, you
280program until the user clicks the Quit button in your app, which would C<< 396could C<< ->recv >> in your main program until the user clicks the Quit
281->broadcast >> the "quit" event. 397button of your app, which would C<< ->send >> the "quit" event.
282 398
283Note that condition variables recurse into the event loop - if you have 399Note that condition variables recurse into the event loop - if you have
284two pirces of code that call C<< ->wait >> in a round-robbin fashion, you 400two pieces of code that call C<< ->recv >> in a round-robin fashion, you
285lose. Therefore, condition variables are good to export to your caller, but 401lose. Therefore, condition variables are good to export to your caller, but
286you should avoid making a blocking wait yourself, at least in callbacks, 402you should avoid making a blocking wait yourself, at least in callbacks,
287as this asks for trouble. 403as this asks for trouble.
288 404
289This object has two methods: 405Condition variables are represented by hash refs in perl, and the keys
406used by AnyEvent itself are all named C<_ae_XXX> to make subclassing
407easy (it is often useful to build your own transaction class on top of
408AnyEvent). To subclass, use C<AnyEvent::CondVar> as base class and call
409it's C<new> method in your own C<new> method.
410
411There are two "sides" to a condition variable - the "producer side" which
412eventually calls C<< -> send >>, and the "consumer side", which waits
413for the send to occur.
414
415Example: wait for a timer.
416
417 # wait till the result is ready
418 my $result_ready = AnyEvent->condvar;
419
420 # do something such as adding a timer
421 # or socket watcher the calls $result_ready->send
422 # when the "result" is ready.
423 # in this case, we simply use a timer:
424 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (
425 after => 1,
426 cb => sub { $result_ready->send },
427 );
428
429 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the callback
430 # calls send
431 $result_ready->recv;
432
433Example: wait for a timer, but take advantage of the fact that
434condition variables are also code references.
435
436 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
437 my $delay = AnyEvent->timer (after => 5, cb => $done);
438 $done->recv;
439
440=head3 METHODS FOR PRODUCERS
441
442These methods should only be used by the producing side, i.e. the
443code/module that eventually sends the signal. Note that it is also
444the producer side which creates the condvar in most cases, but it isn't
445uncommon for the consumer to create it as well.
290 446
291=over 4 447=over 4
292 448
449=item $cv->send (...)
450
451Flag the condition as ready - a running C<< ->recv >> and all further
452calls to C<recv> will (eventually) return after this method has been
453called. If nobody is waiting the send will be remembered.
454
455If a callback has been set on the condition variable, it is called
456immediately from within send.
457
458Any arguments passed to the C<send> call will be returned by all
459future C<< ->recv >> calls.
460
461Condition variables are overloaded so one can call them directly
462(as a code reference). Calling them directly is the same as calling
463C<send>. Note, however, that many C-based event loops do not handle
464overloading, so as tempting as it may be, passing a condition variable
465instead of a callback does not work. Both the pure perl and EV loops
466support overloading, however, as well as all functions that use perl to
467invoke a callback (as in L<AnyEvent::Socket> and L<AnyEvent::DNS> for
468example).
469
470=item $cv->croak ($error)
471
472Similar to send, but causes all call's to C<< ->recv >> to invoke
473C<Carp::croak> with the given error message/object/scalar.
474
475This can be used to signal any errors to the condition variable
476user/consumer.
477
478=item $cv->begin ([group callback])
479
293=item $cv->wait 480=item $cv->end
294 481
295Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->broadcast >> method has been 482These two methods are EXPERIMENTAL and MIGHT CHANGE.
483
484These two methods can be used to combine many transactions/events into
485one. For example, a function that pings many hosts in parallel might want
486to use a condition variable for the whole process.
487
488Every call to C<< ->begin >> will increment a counter, and every call to
489C<< ->end >> will decrement it. If the counter reaches C<0> in C<< ->end
490>>, the (last) callback passed to C<begin> will be executed. That callback
491is I<supposed> to call C<< ->send >>, but that is not required. If no
492callback was set, C<send> will be called without any arguments.
493
494Let's clarify this with the ping example:
495
496 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
497
498 my %result;
499 $cv->begin (sub { $cv->send (\%result) });
500
501 for my $host (@list_of_hosts) {
502 $cv->begin;
503 ping_host_then_call_callback $host, sub {
504 $result{$host} = ...;
505 $cv->end;
506 };
507 }
508
509 $cv->end;
510
511This code fragment supposedly pings a number of hosts and calls
512C<send> after results for all then have have been gathered - in any
513order. To achieve this, the code issues a call to C<begin> when it starts
514each ping request and calls C<end> when it has received some result for
515it. Since C<begin> and C<end> only maintain a counter, the order in which
516results arrive is not relevant.
517
518There is an additional bracketing call to C<begin> and C<end> outside the
519loop, which serves two important purposes: first, it sets the callback
520to be called once the counter reaches C<0>, and second, it ensures that
521C<send> is called even when C<no> hosts are being pinged (the loop
522doesn't execute once).
523
524This is the general pattern when you "fan out" into multiple subrequests:
525use an outer C<begin>/C<end> pair to set the callback and ensure C<end>
526is called at least once, and then, for each subrequest you start, call
527C<begin> and for each subrequest you finish, call C<end>.
528
529=back
530
531=head3 METHODS FOR CONSUMERS
532
533These methods should only be used by the consuming side, i.e. the
534code awaits the condition.
535
536=over 4
537
538=item $cv->recv
539
540Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->send >> or C<< ->croak
296called on c<$cv>, while servicing other watchers normally. 541>> methods have been called on c<$cv>, while servicing other watchers
542normally.
297 543
298You can only wait once on a condition - additional calls will return 544You can only wait once on a condition - additional calls are valid but
299immediately. 545will return immediately.
546
547If an error condition has been set by calling C<< ->croak >>, then this
548function will call C<croak>.
549
550In list context, all parameters passed to C<send> will be returned,
551in scalar context only the first one will be returned.
300 552
301Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case 553Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case
302(programs might want to do that to stay interactive), so I<if you are 554(programs might want to do that to stay interactive), so I<if you are
303using this from a module, never require a blocking wait>, but let the 555using this from a module, never require a blocking wait>, but let the
304caller decide whether the call will block or not (for example, by coupling 556caller decide whether the call will block or not (for example, by coupling
305condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting 557condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting
306callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block, 558callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block,
307while still suppporting blocking waits if the caller so desires). 559while still supporting blocking waits if the caller so desires).
308 560
309Another reason I<never> to C<< ->wait >> in a module is that you cannot 561Another reason I<never> to C<< ->recv >> in a module is that you cannot
310sensibly have two C<< ->wait >>'s in parallel, as that would require 562sensibly have two C<< ->recv >>'s in parallel, as that would require
311multiple interpreters or coroutines/threads, none of which C<AnyEvent> 563multiple interpreters or coroutines/threads, none of which C<AnyEvent>
312can supply (the coroutine-aware backends L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV> and 564can supply.
313L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent> explicitly support concurrent C<< ->wait >>'s
314from different coroutines, however).
315 565
316=item $cv->broadcast 566The L<Coro> module, however, I<can> and I<does> supply coroutines and, in
567fact, L<Coro::AnyEvent> replaces AnyEvent's condvars by coroutine-safe
568versions and also integrates coroutines into AnyEvent, making blocking
569C<< ->recv >> calls perfectly safe as long as they are done from another
570coroutine (one that doesn't run the event loop).
317 571
318Flag the condition as ready - a running C<< ->wait >> and all further 572You can ensure that C<< -recv >> never blocks by setting a callback and
319calls to C<wait> will (eventually) return after this method has been 573only calling C<< ->recv >> from within that callback (or at a later
320called. If nobody is waiting the broadcast will be remembered.. 574time). This will work even when the event loop does not support blocking
575waits otherwise.
576
577=item $bool = $cv->ready
578
579Returns true when the condition is "true", i.e. whether C<send> or
580C<croak> have been called.
581
582=item $cb = $cv->cb ([new callback])
583
584This is a mutator function that returns the callback set and optionally
585replaces it before doing so.
586
587The callback will be called when the condition becomes "true", i.e. when
588C<send> or C<croak> are called. Calling C<recv> inside the callback
589or at any later time is guaranteed not to block.
321 590
322=back 591=back
323
324Example:
325
326 # wait till the result is ready
327 my $result_ready = AnyEvent->condvar;
328
329 # do something such as adding a timer
330 # or socket watcher the calls $result_ready->broadcast
331 # when the "result" is ready.
332 # in this case, we simply use a timer:
333 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (
334 after => 1,
335 cb => sub { $result_ready->broadcast },
336 );
337
338 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the watcher
339 # calls broadcast
340 $result_ready->wait;
341 592
342=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS 593=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS
343 594
344=over 4 595=over 4
345 596
351C<AnyEvent::Impl:xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the case 602C<AnyEvent::Impl:xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the case
352AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode>). 603AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode>).
353 604
354The known classes so far are: 605The known classes so far are:
355 606
356 AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV based on Coro::EV, best choice.
357 AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent based on Coro::Event, second best choice.
358 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (an interface to libev, best choice). 607 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (an interface to libev, best choice).
359 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, second best choice. 608 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, second best choice.
609 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl implementation, fast and portable.
360 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, third-best choice. 610 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, third-best choice.
361 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very bad choice. 611 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very bad choice.
362 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl implementation, inefficient but portable.
363 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt, cannot be autoprobed (see its docs). 612 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt, cannot be autoprobed (see its docs).
364 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse. 613 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
614 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, not generic enough for full support.
615
616There is no support for WxWidgets, as WxWidgets has no support for
617watching file handles. However, you can use WxWidgets through the
618POE Adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply polls 20 times per
619second, which was considered to be too horrible to even consider for
620AnyEvent. Likewise, other POE backends can be used by AnyEvent by using
621it's adaptor.
622
623AnyEvent knows about L<Prima> and L<Wx> and will try to use L<POE> when
624autodetecting them.
365 625
366=item AnyEvent::detect 626=item AnyEvent::detect
367 627
368Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model 628Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model
369if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would 629if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would
370have created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, as late as possible at 630have created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, as late as possible at
371runtime. 631runtime.
372 632
633=item $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }
634
635Arranges for the code block to be executed as soon as the event model is
636autodetected (or immediately if this has already happened).
637
638If called in scalar or list context, then it creates and returns an object
639that automatically removes the callback again when it is destroyed. See
640L<Coro::BDB> for a case where this is useful.
641
642=item @AnyEvent::post_detect
643
644If there are any code references in this array (you can C<push> to it
645before or after loading AnyEvent), then they will called directly after
646the event loop has been chosen.
647
648You should check C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> before adding to this array, though:
649if it contains a true value then the event loop has already been detected,
650and the array will be ignored.
651
652Best use C<AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }> instead.
653
373=back 654=back
374 655
375=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE 656=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE
376 657
377As a module author, you should C<use AnyEvent> and call AnyEvent methods 658As a module author, you should C<use AnyEvent> and call AnyEvent methods
380Be careful when you create watchers in the module body - AnyEvent will 661Be careful when you create watchers in the module body - AnyEvent will
381decide which event module to use as soon as the first method is called, so 662decide which event module to use as soon as the first method is called, so
382by calling AnyEvent in your module body you force the user of your module 663by calling AnyEvent in your module body you force the user of your module
383to load the event module first. 664to load the event module first.
384 665
385Never call C<< ->wait >> on a condition variable unless you I<know> that 666Never call C<< ->recv >> on a condition variable unless you I<know> that
386the C<< ->broadcast >> method has been called on it already. This is 667the C<< ->send >> method has been called on it already. This is
387because it will stall the whole program, and the whole point of using 668because it will stall the whole program, and the whole point of using
388events is to stay interactive. 669events is to stay interactive.
389 670
390It is fine, however, to call C<< ->wait >> when the user of your module 671It is fine, however, to call C<< ->recv >> when the user of your module
391requests it (i.e. if you create a http request object ad have a method 672requests it (i.e. if you create a http request object ad have a method
392called C<results> that returns the results, it should call C<< ->wait >> 673called C<results> that returns the results, it should call C<< ->recv >>
393freely, as the user of your module knows what she is doing. always). 674freely, as the user of your module knows what she is doing. always).
394 675
395=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM 676=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM
396 677
397There will always be a single main program - the only place that should 678There will always be a single main program - the only place that should
399 680
400If it doesn't care, it can just "use AnyEvent" and use it itself, or not 681If it doesn't care, it can just "use AnyEvent" and use it itself, or not
401do anything special (it does not need to be event-based) and let AnyEvent 682do anything special (it does not need to be event-based) and let AnyEvent
402decide which implementation to chose if some module relies on it. 683decide which implementation to chose if some module relies on it.
403 684
404If the main program relies on a specific event model. For example, in 685If the main program relies on a specific event model - for example, in
405Gtk2 programs you have to rely on the Glib module. You should load the 686Gtk2 programs you have to rely on the Glib module - you should load the
406event module before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it: generally 687event module before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it: generally
407speaking, you should load it as early as possible. The reason is that 688speaking, you should load it as early as possible. The reason is that
408modules might create watchers when they are loaded, and AnyEvent will 689modules might create watchers when they are loaded, and AnyEvent will
409decide on the event model to use as soon as it creates watchers, and it 690decide on the event model to use as soon as it creates watchers, and it
410might chose the wrong one unless you load the correct one yourself. 691might chose the wrong one unless you load the correct one yourself.
411 692
412You can chose to use a rather inefficient pure-perl implementation by 693You can chose to use a pure-perl implementation by loading the
413loading the C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl> module, which gives you similar 694C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl> module, which gives you similar behaviour
414behaviour everywhere, but letting AnyEvent chose is generally better. 695everywhere, but letting AnyEvent chose the model is generally better.
696
697=head2 MAINLOOP EMULATION
698
699Sometimes (often for short test scripts, or even standalone programs who
700only want to use AnyEvent), you do not want to run a specific event loop.
701
702In that case, you can use a condition variable like this:
703
704 AnyEvent->condvar->recv;
705
706This has the effect of entering the event loop and looping forever.
707
708Note that usually your program has some exit condition, in which case
709it is better to use the "traditional" approach of storing a condition
710variable somewhere, waiting for it, and sending it when the program should
711exit cleanly.
712
713
714=head1 OTHER MODULES
715
716The following is a non-exhaustive list of additional modules that use
717AnyEvent and can therefore be mixed easily with other AnyEvent modules
718in the same program. Some of the modules come with AnyEvent, some are
719available via CPAN.
720
721=over 4
722
723=item L<AnyEvent::Util>
724
725Contains various utility functions that replace often-used but blocking
726functions such as C<inet_aton> by event-/callback-based versions.
727
728=item L<AnyEvent::Handle>
729
730Provide read and write buffers and manages watchers for reads and writes.
731
732=item L<AnyEvent::Socket>
733
734Provides various utility functions for (internet protocol) sockets,
735addresses and name resolution. Also functions to create non-blocking tcp
736connections or tcp servers, with IPv6 and SRV record support and more.
737
738=item L<AnyEvent::DNS>
739
740Provides rich asynchronous DNS resolver capabilities.
741
742=item L<AnyEvent::HTTPD>
743
744Provides a simple web application server framework.
745
746=item L<AnyEvent::FastPing>
747
748The fastest ping in the west.
749
750=item L<Net::IRC3>
751
752AnyEvent based IRC client module family.
753
754=item L<Net::XMPP2>
755
756AnyEvent based XMPP (Jabber protocol) module family.
757
758=item L<Net::FCP>
759
760AnyEvent-based implementation of the Freenet Client Protocol, birthplace
761of AnyEvent.
762
763=item L<Event::ExecFlow>
764
765High level API for event-based execution flow control.
766
767=item L<Coro>
768
769Has special support for AnyEvent via L<Coro::AnyEvent>.
770
771=item L<AnyEvent::AIO>, L<IO::AIO>
772
773Truly asynchronous I/O, should be in the toolbox of every event
774programmer. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses IO::AIO and AnyEvent
775together.
776
777=item L<AnyEvent::BDB>, L<BDB>
778
779Truly asynchronous Berkeley DB access. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses
780IO::AIO and AnyEvent together.
781
782=item L<IO::Lambda>
783
784The lambda approach to I/O - don't ask, look there. Can use AnyEvent.
785
786=back
415 787
416=cut 788=cut
417 789
418package AnyEvent; 790package AnyEvent;
419 791
420no warnings; 792no warnings;
421use strict; 793use strict;
422 794
423use Carp; 795use Carp;
424 796
425our $VERSION = '3.12'; 797our $VERSION = '4.05';
426our $MODEL; 798our $MODEL;
427 799
428our $AUTOLOAD; 800our $AUTOLOAD;
429our @ISA; 801our @ISA;
430 802
803our @REGISTRY;
804
805our $WIN32;
806
807BEGIN {
808 my $win32 = ! ! ($^O =~ /mswin32/i);
809 eval "sub WIN32(){ $win32 }";
810}
811
431our $verbose = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1; 812our $verbose = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1;
432 813
433our @REGISTRY; 814our %PROTOCOL; # (ipv4|ipv6) => (1|2), higher numbers are preferred
815
816{
817 my $idx;
818 $PROTOCOL{$_} = ++$idx
819 for reverse split /\s*,\s*/,
820 $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS} || "ipv4,ipv6";
821}
434 822
435my @models = ( 823my @models = (
436 [Coro::EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV::],
437 [Coro::Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent::],
438 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV::], 824 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV::],
439 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::], 825 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::],
440 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib::],
441 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::],
442 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl::], 826 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl::],
827 # everything below here will not be autoprobed
828 # as the pureperl backend should work everywhere
829 # and is usually faster
830 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], # crashes with many handles
831 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib::], # becomes extremely slow with many watchers
832 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy
833 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program
834 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza
835 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
836 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
443); 837);
444my @models_detect = (
445 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program
446 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy
447);
448 838
449our %method = map +($_ => 1), qw(io timer signal child condvar broadcast wait one_event DESTROY); 839our %method = map +($_ => 1), qw(io timer time now signal child condvar one_event DESTROY);
840
841our @post_detect;
842
843sub post_detect(&) {
844 my ($cb) = @_;
845
846 if ($MODEL) {
847 $cb->();
848
849 1
850 } else {
851 push @post_detect, $cb;
852
853 defined wantarray
854 ? bless \$cb, "AnyEvent::Util::PostDetect"
855 : ()
856 }
857}
858
859sub AnyEvent::Util::PostDetect::DESTROY {
860 @post_detect = grep $_ != ${$_[0]}, @post_detect;
861}
450 862
451sub detect() { 863sub detect() {
452 unless ($MODEL) { 864 unless ($MODEL) {
453 no strict 'refs'; 865 no strict 'refs';
866 local $SIG{__DIE__};
454 867
455 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z]+)$/) { 868 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z]+)$/) {
456 my $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$1"; 869 my $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$1";
457 if (eval "require $model") { 870 if (eval "require $model") {
458 $MODEL = $model; 871 $MODEL = $model;
459 warn "AnyEvent: loaded model '$model' (forced by \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 872 warn "AnyEvent: loaded model '$model' (forced by \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), using it.\n" if $verbose > 1;
873 } else {
874 warn "AnyEvent: unable to load model '$model' (from \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL):\n$@" if $verbose;
460 } 875 }
461 } 876 }
462 877
463 # check for already loaded models 878 # check for already loaded models
464 unless ($MODEL) { 879 unless ($MODEL) {
465 for (@REGISTRY, @models, @models_detect) { 880 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
466 my ($package, $model) = @$_; 881 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
467 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) { 882 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) {
468 if (eval "require $model") { 883 if (eval "require $model") {
469 $MODEL = $model; 884 $MODEL = $model;
470 warn "AnyEvent: autodetected model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 885 warn "AnyEvent: autodetected model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1;
486 last; 901 last;
487 } 902 }
488 } 903 }
489 904
490 $MODEL 905 $MODEL
491 or die "No event module selected for AnyEvent and autodetect failed. Install any one of these modules: EV (or Coro+EV), Event (or Coro+Event) or Glib."; 906 or die "No event module selected for AnyEvent and autodetect failed. Install any one of these modules: EV, Event or Glib.";
492 } 907 }
493 } 908 }
494 909
495 unshift @ISA, $MODEL; 910 unshift @ISA, $MODEL;
496 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base"; 911 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base";
912
913 (shift @post_detect)->() while @post_detect;
497 } 914 }
498 915
499 $MODEL 916 $MODEL
500} 917}
501 918
511 $class->$func (@_); 928 $class->$func (@_);
512} 929}
513 930
514package AnyEvent::Base; 931package AnyEvent::Base;
515 932
933# default implementation for now and time
934
935use Time::HiRes ();
936
937sub time { Time::HiRes::time }
938sub now { Time::HiRes::time }
939
516# default implementation for ->condvar, ->wait, ->broadcast 940# default implementation for ->condvar
517 941
518sub condvar { 942sub condvar {
519 bless \my $flag, "AnyEvent::Base::CondVar" 943 bless { @_ == 3 ? (_ae_cb => $_[2]) : () }, AnyEvent::CondVar::
520}
521
522sub AnyEvent::Base::CondVar::broadcast {
523 ${$_[0]}++;
524}
525
526sub AnyEvent::Base::CondVar::wait {
527 AnyEvent->one_event while !${$_[0]};
528} 944}
529 945
530# default implementation for ->signal 946# default implementation for ->signal
531 947
532our %SIG_CB; 948our %SIG_CB;
585 or Carp::croak "required option 'pid' is missing"; 1001 or Carp::croak "required option 'pid' is missing";
586 1002
587 $PID_CB{$pid}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb}; 1003 $PID_CB{$pid}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
588 1004
589 unless ($WNOHANG) { 1005 unless ($WNOHANG) {
590 $WNOHANG = eval { require POSIX; &POSIX::WNOHANG } || 1; 1006 $WNOHANG = eval { local $SIG{__DIE__}; require POSIX; &POSIX::WNOHANG } || 1;
591 } 1007 }
592 1008
593 unless ($CHLD_W) { 1009 unless ($CHLD_W) {
594 $CHLD_W = AnyEvent->signal (signal => 'CHLD', cb => \&_sigchld); 1010 $CHLD_W = AnyEvent->signal (signal => 'CHLD', cb => \&_sigchld);
595 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round 1011 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round
605 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb}; 1021 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb};
606 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} }; 1022 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} };
607 1023
608 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB; 1024 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB;
609} 1025}
1026
1027package AnyEvent::CondVar;
1028
1029our @ISA = AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::;
1030
1031package AnyEvent::CondVar::Base;
1032
1033use overload
1034 '&{}' => sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } },
1035 fallback => 1;
1036
1037sub _send {
1038 # nop
1039}
1040
1041sub send {
1042 my $cv = shift;
1043 $cv->{_ae_sent} = [@_];
1044 (delete $cv->{_ae_cb})->($cv) if $cv->{_ae_cb};
1045 $cv->_send;
1046}
1047
1048sub croak {
1049 $_[0]{_ae_croak} = $_[1];
1050 $_[0]->send;
1051}
1052
1053sub ready {
1054 $_[0]{_ae_sent}
1055}
1056
1057sub _wait {
1058 AnyEvent->one_event while !$_[0]{_ae_sent};
1059}
1060
1061sub recv {
1062 $_[0]->_wait;
1063
1064 Carp::croak $_[0]{_ae_croak} if $_[0]{_ae_croak};
1065 wantarray ? @{ $_[0]{_ae_sent} } : $_[0]{_ae_sent}[0]
1066}
1067
1068sub cb {
1069 $_[0]{_ae_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1;
1070 $_[0]{_ae_cb}
1071}
1072
1073sub begin {
1074 ++$_[0]{_ae_counter};
1075 $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1;
1076}
1077
1078sub end {
1079 return if --$_[0]{_ae_counter};
1080 &{ $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} || sub { $_[0]->send } };
1081}
1082
1083# undocumented/compatibility with pre-3.4
1084*broadcast = \&send;
1085*wait = \&_wait;
610 1086
611=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE 1087=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE
612 1088
613This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in 1089This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in
614a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to 1090a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to
657 1133
658=over 4 1134=over 4
659 1135
660=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE> 1136=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
661 1137
1138By default, AnyEvent will be completely silent except in fatal
1139conditions. You can set this environment variable to make AnyEvent more
1140talkative.
1141
1142When set to C<1> or higher, causes AnyEvent to warn about unexpected
1143conditions, such as not being able to load the event model specified by
1144C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>.
1145
662When set to C<2> or higher, cause AnyEvent to report to STDERR which event 1146When set to C<2> or higher, cause AnyEvent to report to STDERR which event
663model it chooses. 1147model it chooses.
664 1148
665=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL> 1149=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
666 1150
667This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before 1151This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
668autodetection and -probing kicks in. It must be a string consisting 1152auto detection and -probing kicks in. It must be a string consisting
669entirely of ASCII letters. The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended 1153entirely of ASCII letters. The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended
670and the resulting module name is loaded and if the load was successful, 1154and the resulting module name is loaded and if the load was successful,
671used as event model. If it fails to load AnyEvent will proceed with 1155used as event model. If it fails to load AnyEvent will proceed with
672autodetection and -probing. 1156auto detection and -probing.
673 1157
674This functionality might change in future versions. 1158This functionality might change in future versions.
675 1159
676For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) you 1160For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) you
677could start your program like this: 1161could start your program like this:
678 1162
679 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ... 1163 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
680 1164
1165=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS>
1166
1167Used by both L<AnyEvent::DNS> and L<AnyEvent::Socket> to determine preferences
1168for IPv4 or IPv6. The default is unspecified (and might change, or be the result
1169of auto probing).
1170
1171Must be set to a comma-separated list of protocols or address families,
1172current supported: C<ipv4> and C<ipv6>. Only protocols mentioned will be
1173used, and preference will be given to protocols mentioned earlier in the
1174list.
1175
1176This variable can effectively be used for denial-of-service attacks
1177against local programs (e.g. when setuid), although the impact is likely
1178small, as the program has to handle connection errors already-
1179
1180Examples: C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4,ipv6> - prefer IPv4 over IPv6,
1181but support both and try to use both. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4>
1182- only support IPv4, never try to resolve or contact IPv6
1183addresses. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv6,ipv4> support either IPv4 or
1184IPv6, but prefer IPv6 over IPv4.
1185
1186=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_EDNS0>
1187
1188Used by L<AnyEvent::DNS> to decide whether to use the EDNS0 extension
1189for DNS. This extension is generally useful to reduce DNS traffic, but
1190some (broken) firewalls drop such DNS packets, which is why it is off by
1191default.
1192
1193Setting this variable to C<1> will cause L<AnyEvent::DNS> to announce
1194EDNS0 in its DNS requests.
1195
1196=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_FORKS>
1197
1198The maximum number of child processes that C<AnyEvent::Util::fork_call>
1199will create in parallel.
1200
681=back 1201=back
682 1202
683=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM 1203=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM
684 1204
685The following program uses an IO watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer 1205The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer
686to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the 1206to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the
687program when the user enters quit: 1207program when the user enters quit:
688 1208
689 use AnyEvent; 1209 use AnyEvent;
690 1210
695 poll => 'r', 1215 poll => 'r',
696 cb => sub { 1216 cb => sub {
697 warn "io event <$_[0]>\n"; # will always output <r> 1217 warn "io event <$_[0]>\n"; # will always output <r>
698 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); # read a line 1218 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); # read a line
699 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read 1219 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read
700 $cv->broadcast if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i 1220 $cv->send if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i
701 }, 1221 },
702 ); 1222 );
703 1223
704 my $time_watcher; # can only be used once 1224 my $time_watcher; # can only be used once
705 1225
710 }); 1230 });
711 } 1231 }
712 1232
713 new_timer; # create first timer 1233 new_timer; # create first timer
714 1234
715 $cv->wait; # wait until user enters /^q/i 1235 $cv->recv; # wait until user enters /^q/i
716 1236
717=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE 1237=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE
718 1238
719Consider the L<Net::FCP> module. It features (among others) the following 1239Consider the L<Net::FCP> module. It features (among others) the following
720API calls, which are to freenet what HTTP GET requests are to http: 1240API calls, which are to freenet what HTTP GET requests are to http:
770 syswrite $txn->{fh}, $txn->{request} 1290 syswrite $txn->{fh}, $txn->{request}
771 or die "connection or write error"; 1291 or die "connection or write error";
772 $txn->{w} = AnyEvent->io (fh => $txn->{fh}, poll => 'r', cb => sub { $txn->fh_ready_r }); 1292 $txn->{w} = AnyEvent->io (fh => $txn->{fh}, poll => 'r', cb => sub { $txn->fh_ready_r });
773 1293
774Again, C<fh_ready_r> waits till all data has arrived, and then stores the 1294Again, C<fh_ready_r> waits till all data has arrived, and then stores the
775result and signals any possible waiters that the request ahs finished: 1295result and signals any possible waiters that the request has finished:
776 1296
777 sysread $txn->{fh}, $txn->{buf}, length $txn->{$buf}; 1297 sysread $txn->{fh}, $txn->{buf}, length $txn->{$buf};
778 1298
779 if (end-of-file or data complete) { 1299 if (end-of-file or data complete) {
780 $txn->{result} = $txn->{buf}; 1300 $txn->{result} = $txn->{buf};
781 $txn->{finished}->broadcast; 1301 $txn->{finished}->send;
782 $txb->{cb}->($txn) of $txn->{cb}; # also call callback 1302 $txb->{cb}->($txn) of $txn->{cb}; # also call callback
783 } 1303 }
784 1304
785The C<result> method, finally, just waits for the finished signal (if the 1305The C<result> method, finally, just waits for the finished signal (if the
786request was already finished, it doesn't wait, of course, and returns the 1306request was already finished, it doesn't wait, of course, and returns the
787data: 1307data:
788 1308
789 $txn->{finished}->wait; 1309 $txn->{finished}->recv;
790 return $txn->{result}; 1310 return $txn->{result};
791 1311
792The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions) 1312The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions)
793that occured during request processing. The C<result> method detects 1313that occurred during request processing. The C<result> method detects
794whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object) 1314whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object)
795and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other 1315and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other
796problems get reported tot he code that tries to use the result, not in a 1316problems get reported tot he code that tries to use the result, not in a
797random callback. 1317random callback.
798 1318
829 1349
830 my $quit = AnyEvent->condvar; 1350 my $quit = AnyEvent->condvar;
831 1351
832 $fcp->txn_client_get ($url)->cb (sub { 1352 $fcp->txn_client_get ($url)->cb (sub {
833 ... 1353 ...
834 $quit->broadcast; 1354 $quit->send;
835 }); 1355 });
836 1356
837 $quit->wait; 1357 $quit->recv;
1358
1359
1360=head1 BENCHMARKS
1361
1362To give you an idea of the performance and overheads that AnyEvent adds
1363over the event loops themselves and to give you an impression of the speed
1364of various event loops I prepared some benchmarks.
1365
1366=head2 BENCHMARKING ANYEVENT OVERHEAD
1367
1368Here is a benchmark of various supported event models used natively and
1369through AnyEvent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero
1370timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable,
1371which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again.
1372
1373Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent
1374distribution.
1375
1376=head3 Explanation of the columns
1377
1378I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since
1379different event models feature vastly different performances, each event
1380loop was given a number of watchers so that overall runtime is acceptable
1381and similar between tested event loop (and keep them from crashing): Glib
1382would probably take thousands of years if asked to process the same number
1383of watchers as EV in this benchmark.
1384
1385I<bytes> is the number of bytes (as measured by the resident set size,
1386RSS) consumed by each watcher. This method of measuring captures both C
1387and Perl-based overheads.
1388
1389I<create> is the time, in microseconds (millionths of seconds), that it
1390takes to create a single watcher. The callback is a closure shared between
1391all watchers, to avoid adding memory overhead. That means closure creation
1392and memory usage is not included in the figures.
1393
1394I<invoke> is the time, in microseconds, used to invoke a simple
1395callback. The callback simply counts down a Perl variable and after it was
1396invoked "watcher" times, it would C<< ->send >> a condvar once to
1397signal the end of this phase.
1398
1399I<destroy> is the time, in microseconds, that it takes to destroy a single
1400watcher.
1401
1402=head3 Results
1403
1404 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment
1405 EV/EV 400000 244 0.56 0.46 0.31 EV native interface
1406 EV/Any 100000 244 2.50 0.46 0.29 EV + AnyEvent watchers
1407 CoroEV/Any 100000 244 2.49 0.44 0.29 coroutines + Coro::Signal
1408 Perl/Any 100000 513 4.92 0.87 1.12 pure perl implementation
1409 Event/Event 16000 516 31.88 31.30 0.85 Event native interface
1410 Event/Any 16000 590 35.75 31.42 1.08 Event + AnyEvent watchers
1411 Glib/Any 16000 1357 98.22 12.41 54.00 quadratic behaviour
1412 Tk/Any 2000 1860 26.97 67.98 14.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers
1413 POE/Event 2000 6644 108.64 736.02 14.73 via POE::Loop::Event
1414 POE/Select 2000 6343 94.13 809.12 565.96 via POE::Loop::Select
1415
1416=head3 Discussion
1417
1418The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very
1419well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one)
1420can never compete with an event loop that uses epoll when the number of
1421file descriptors grows high. In this benchmark, all events become ready at
1422the same time, so select/poll-based implementations get an unnatural speed
1423boost.
1424
1425Also, note that the number of watchers usually has a nonlinear effect on
1426overall speed, that is, creating twice as many watchers doesn't take twice
1427the time - usually it takes longer. This puts event loops tested with a
1428higher number of watchers at a disadvantage.
1429
1430To put the range of results into perspective, consider that on the
1431benchmark machine, handling an event takes roughly 1600 CPU cycles with
1432EV, 3100 CPU cycles with AnyEvent's pure perl loop and almost 3000000 CPU
1433cycles with POE.
1434
1435C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both
1436maximal/minimal, respectively. Even when going through AnyEvent, it uses
1437far less memory than any other event loop and is still faster than Event
1438natively.
1439
1440The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the
1441constant timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl
1442interpreter and the backend itself). Nevertheless this shows that it
1443adds very little overhead in itself. Like any select-based backend its
1444performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of
1445them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark.
1446
1447The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation
1448cost, but overall scores in on the third place.
1449
1450C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a
1451faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as
1452C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of
1453watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four,
1454making it completely unusable when using larger numbers of watchers
1455(note that only a single file descriptor was used in the benchmark, so
1456inefficiencies of C<poll> do not account for this).
1457
1458The C<Tk> adaptor works relatively well. The fact that it crashes with
1459more than 2000 watchers is a big setback, however, as correctness takes
1460precedence over speed. Nevertheless, its performance is surprising, as the
1461file descriptor is dup()ed for each watcher. This shows that the dup()
1462employed by some adaptors is not a big performance issue (it does incur a
1463hidden memory cost inside the kernel which is not reflected in the figures
1464above).
1465
1466C<POE>, regardless of underlying event loop (whether using its pure perl
1467select-based backend or the Event module, the POE-EV backend couldn't
1468be tested because it wasn't working) shows abysmal performance and
1469memory usage with AnyEvent: Watchers use almost 30 times as much memory
1470as EV watchers, and 10 times as much memory as Event (the high memory
1471requirements are caused by requiring a session for each watcher). Watcher
1472invocation speed is almost 900 times slower than with AnyEvent's pure perl
1473implementation.
1474
1475The design of the POE adaptor class in AnyEvent can not really account
1476for the performance issues, though, as session creation overhead is
1477small compared to execution of the state machine, which is coded pretty
1478optimally within L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE> (and while everybody agrees that
1479using multiple sessions is not a good approach, especially regarding
1480memory usage, even the author of POE could not come up with a faster
1481design).
1482
1483=head3 Summary
1484
1485=over 4
1486
1487=item * Using EV through AnyEvent is faster than any other event loop
1488(even when used without AnyEvent), but most event loops have acceptable
1489performance with or without AnyEvent.
1490
1491=item * The overhead AnyEvent adds is usually much smaller than the overhead of
1492the actual event loop, only with extremely fast event loops such as EV
1493adds AnyEvent significant overhead.
1494
1495=item * You should avoid POE like the plague if you want performance or
1496reasonable memory usage.
1497
1498=back
1499
1500=head2 BENCHMARKING THE LARGE SERVER CASE
1501
1502This benchmark actually benchmarks the event loop itself. It works by
1503creating a number of "servers": each server consists of a socket pair, a
1504timeout watcher that gets reset on activity (but never fires), and an I/O
1505watcher waiting for input on one side of the socket. Each time the socket
1506watcher reads a byte it will write that byte to a random other "server".
1507
1508The effect is that there will be a lot of I/O watchers, only part of which
1509are active at any one point (so there is a constant number of active
1510fds for each loop iteration, but which fds these are is random). The
1511timeout is reset each time something is read because that reflects how
1512most timeouts work (and puts extra pressure on the event loops).
1513
1514In this benchmark, we use 10000 socket pairs (20000 sockets), of which 100
1515(1%) are active. This mirrors the activity of large servers with many
1516connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time.
1517
1518Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent
1519distribution.
1520
1521=head3 Explanation of the columns
1522
1523I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as
1524each server has a read and write socket end).
1525
1526I<create> is the time it takes to create a socket pair (which is
1527nontrivial) and two watchers: an I/O watcher and a timeout watcher.
1528
1529I<request>, the most important value, is the time it takes to handle a
1530single "request", that is, reading the token from the pipe and forwarding
1531it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating
1532a new one that moves the timeout into the future.
1533
1534=head3 Results
1535
1536 name sockets create request
1537 EV 20000 69.01 11.16
1538 Perl 20000 73.32 35.87
1539 Event 20000 212.62 257.32
1540 Glib 20000 651.16 1896.30
1541 POE 20000 349.67 12317.24 uses POE::Loop::Event
1542
1543=head3 Discussion
1544
1545This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the
1546particular event loop.
1547
1548EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time
1549is relatively high, though.
1550
1551Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event
1552loops Event and Glib.
1553
1554Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will
1555understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to
1556the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event
1557uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations.
1558
1559Glib is hit hard by its quadratic behaviour w.r.t. many watchers. It
1560clearly fails to perform with many filehandles or in busy servers.
1561
1562POE is still completely out of the picture, taking over 1000 times as long
1563as EV, and over 100 times as long as the Perl implementation, even though
1564it uses a C-based event loop in this case.
1565
1566=head3 Summary
1567
1568=over 4
1569
1570=item * The pure perl implementation performs extremely well.
1571
1572=item * Avoid Glib or POE in large projects where performance matters.
1573
1574=back
1575
1576=head2 BENCHMARKING SMALL SERVERS
1577
1578While event loops should scale (and select-based ones do not...) even to
1579large servers, most programs we (or I :) actually write have only a few
1580I/O watchers.
1581
1582In this benchmark, I use the same benchmark program as in the large server
1583case, but it uses only eight "servers", of which three are active at any
1584one time. This should reflect performance for a small server relatively
1585well.
1586
1587The columns are identical to the previous table.
1588
1589=head3 Results
1590
1591 name sockets create request
1592 EV 16 20.00 6.54
1593 Perl 16 25.75 12.62
1594 Event 16 81.27 35.86
1595 Glib 16 32.63 15.48
1596 POE 16 261.87 276.28 uses POE::Loop::Event
1597
1598=head3 Discussion
1599
1600The benchmark tries to test the performance of a typical small
1601server. While knowing how various event loops perform is interesting, keep
1602in mind that their overhead in this case is usually not as important, due
1603to the small absolute number of watchers (that is, you need efficiency and
1604speed most when you have lots of watchers, not when you only have a few of
1605them).
1606
1607EV is again fastest.
1608
1609Perl again comes second. It is noticeably faster than the C-based event
1610loops Event and Glib, although the difference is too small to really
1611matter.
1612
1613POE also performs much better in this case, but is is still far behind the
1614others.
1615
1616=head3 Summary
1617
1618=over 4
1619
1620=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of
1621watchers, as the management overhead dominates.
1622
1623=back
1624
838 1625
839=head1 FORK 1626=head1 FORK
840 1627
841Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are 1628Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are
842because they are so inefficient. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware. 1629because they rely on inefficient but fork-safe C<select> or C<poll>
1630calls. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware.
843 1631
844If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first 1632If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first
845watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child. 1633watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child.
1634
846 1635
847=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS 1636=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
848 1637
849AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via 1638AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via
850$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}. While this cannot (to my knowledge) be used to 1639$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}. While this cannot (to my knowledge) be used to
858 1647
859 BEGIN { delete $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} } 1648 BEGIN { delete $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} }
860 1649
861 use AnyEvent; 1650 use AnyEvent;
862 1651
1652Similar considerations apply to $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}, as that can
1653be used to probe what backend is used and gain other information (which is
1654probably even less useful to an attacker than PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL).
1655
1656
863=head1 SEE ALSO 1657=head1 SEE ALSO
864 1658
865Event modules: L<Coro::EV>, L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>, L<Glib::EV>, 1659Utility functions: L<AnyEvent::Util>.
866L<Coro::Event>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>, L<Glib>, L<Coro>, L<Tk>,
867L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>.
868 1660
869Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, 1661Event modules: L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>, L<Glib::EV>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>,
870L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, 1662L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>.
871L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, 1663
1664Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>,
1665L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>,
1666L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>,
872L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>. 1667L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>.
873 1668
1669Non-blocking file handles, sockets, TCP clients and
1670servers: L<AnyEvent::Handle>, L<AnyEvent::Socket>.
1671
1672Asynchronous DNS: L<AnyEvent::DNS>.
1673
1674Coroutine support: L<Coro>, L<Coro::AnyEvent>, L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>,
1675
874Nontrivial usage examples: L<Net::FCP>, L<Net::XMPP2>. 1676Nontrivial usage examples: L<Net::FCP>, L<Net::XMPP2>, L<AnyEvent::DNS>.
1677
875 1678
876=head1 AUTHOR 1679=head1 AUTHOR
877 1680
878 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 1681 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
879 http://home.schmorp.de/ 1682 http://home.schmorp.de/

Diff Legend

Removed lines
+ Added lines
< Changed lines
> Changed lines