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Revision 1.31 by root, Fri Nov 2 19:20:36 2007 UTC vs.
Revision 1.83 by root, Fri Apr 25 13:39:08 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
5Event, Coro, Glib, Tk, Perl - various supported event loops 5EV, Event, Coro::EV, Coro::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
14 14
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 wether a condition was flagged 19 my $w = AnyEvent->condvar; # stores whether a condition was flagged
20 $w->wait; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->broadcast 20 $w->wait; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->broadcast
21 $w->broadcast; # wake up current and all future wait's 21 $w->broadcast; # wake up current and all future wait's
22
23=head1 WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS MODULE (OR NOT)
24
25Glib, POE, IO::Async, Event... CPAN offers event models by the dozen
26nowadays. So what is different about AnyEvent?
27
28Executive Summary: AnyEvent is I<compatible>, AnyEvent is I<free of
29policy> and AnyEvent is I<small and efficient>.
30
31First and foremost, I<AnyEvent is not an event model> itself, it only
32interfaces to whatever event model the main program happens to use in a
33pragmatic way. For event models and certain classes of immortals alike,
34the statement "there can only be one" is a bitter reality: In general,
35only one event loop can be active at the same time in a process. AnyEvent
36helps hiding the differences between those event loops.
37
38The goal of AnyEvent is to offer module authors the ability to do event
39programming (waiting for I/O or timer events) without subscribing to a
40religion, a way of living, and most importantly: without forcing your
41module users into the same thing by forcing them to use the same event
42model you use.
43
44For modules like POE or IO::Async (which is a total misnomer as it is
45actually doing all I/O I<synchronously>...), using them in your module is
46like joining a cult: After you joined, you are dependent on them and you
47cannot use anything else, as it is simply incompatible to everything that
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.
50
51AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works
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
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
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
58event loops to AnyEvent, too, so it is future-proof).
59
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
62modules, you get an enourmous amount of code and strict rules you have to
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
65technically possible.
66
67Of course, if you want lots of policy (this can arguably be somewhat
68useful) and you want to force your users to use the one and only event
69model, you should I<not> use this module.
70
22 71
23=head1 DESCRIPTION 72=head1 DESCRIPTION
24 73
25L<AnyEvent> provides an identical interface to multiple event loops. This 74L<AnyEvent> provides an identical interface to multiple event loops. This
26allows module authors to utilise an event loop without forcing module 75allows module authors to utilise an event loop without forcing module
27users to use the same event loop (as only a single event loop can coexist 76users to use the same event loop (as only a single event loop can coexist
28peacefully at any one time). 77peacefully at any one time).
29 78
30The interface itself is vaguely similar but not identical to the Event 79The interface itself is vaguely similar, but not identical to the L<Event>
31module. 80module.
32 81
33On the first call of any method, the module tries to detect the currently 82During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries
34loaded event loop by probing wether any of the following modules is 83to detect the currently loaded event loop by probing whether one of the
35loaded: L<Coro::Event>, L<Event>, L<Glib>, L<Tk>. The first one found is 84following modules is already loaded: L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>, L<EV>,
36used. If none is found, the module tries to load these modules in the 85L<Event>, L<Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>,
37order given. The first one that could be successfully loaded will be 86L<POE>. The first one found is used. If none are found, the module tries
38used. If still none could be found, AnyEvent will fall back to a pure-perl 87to load these modules (excluding Tk, Event::Lib, Qt and POE as the pure perl
39event loop, which is also not very efficient. 88adaptor should always succeed) in the order given. The first one that can
89be successfully loaded will be used. If, after this, still none could be
90found, AnyEvent will fall back to a pure-perl event loop, which is not
91very efficient, but should work everywhere.
40 92
41Because AnyEvent first checks for modules that are already loaded, loading 93Because AnyEvent first checks for modules that are already loaded, loading
42an Event model explicitly before first using AnyEvent will likely make 94an event model explicitly before first using AnyEvent will likely make
43that model the default. For example: 95that model the default. For example:
44 96
45 use Tk; 97 use Tk;
46 use AnyEvent; 98 use AnyEvent;
47 99
48 # .. AnyEvent will likely default to Tk 100 # .. AnyEvent will likely default to Tk
101
102The I<likely> means that, if any module loads another event model and
103starts using it, all bets are off. Maybe you should tell their authors to
104use AnyEvent so their modules work together with others seamlessly...
49 105
50The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called 106The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called
51C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>. Like other event modules you can load it 107C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>. Like other event modules you can load it
52explicitly. 108explicitly.
53 109
56AnyEvent has the central concept of a I<watcher>, which is an object that 112AnyEvent has the central concept of a I<watcher>, which is an object that
57stores relevant data for each kind of event you are waiting for, such as 113stores relevant data for each kind of event you are waiting for, such as
58the callback to call, the filehandle to watch, etc. 114the callback to call, the filehandle to watch, etc.
59 115
60These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After 116These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After
61creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke 117creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the
118callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model
119is in control).
120
62the callback. To disable the watcher you have to destroy it (e.g. by 121To disable the watcher you have to destroy it (e.g. by setting the
63setting the variable that stores it to C<undef> or otherwise deleting all 122variable you store it in to C<undef> or otherwise deleting all references
64references to it). 123to it).
65 124
66All watchers are created by calling a method on the C<AnyEvent> class. 125All watchers are created by calling a method on the C<AnyEvent> class.
67 126
127Many watchers either are used with "recursion" (repeating timers for
128example), or need to refer to their watcher object in other ways.
129
130An any way to achieve that is this pattern:
131
132 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->type (arg => value ..., cb => sub {
133 # you can use $w here, for example to undef it
134 undef $w;
135 });
136
137Note that C<my $w; $w => combination. This is necessary because in Perl,
138my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are
139declared.
140
68=head2 IO WATCHERS 141=head2 I/O WATCHERS
69 142
70You can create I/O watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->io >> method with 143You can create an I/O watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->io >> method
71the following mandatory arguments: 144with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments:
72 145
73C<fh> the Perl I<filehandle> (not filedescriptor) to watch for 146C<fh> the Perl I<file handle> (I<not> file descriptor) to watch for
74events. C<poll> must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>, that creates 147events. C<poll> must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>, which
75a watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events. C<cb> teh callback 148creates a watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events,
76to invoke everytime the filehandle becomes ready. 149respectively. C<cb> is the callback to invoke each time the file handle
150becomes ready.
77 151
78Only one io watcher per C<fh> and C<poll> combination is allowed (i.e. on 152The I/O watcher might use the underlying file descriptor or a copy of it.
79a socket you can have one r + one w, not any more (limitation comes from 153It is not allowed to close a file handle as long as any watcher is active
80Tk - if you are sure you are not using Tk this limitation is gone). 154on the underlying file descriptor.
81 155
82Filehandles will be kept alive, so as long as the watcher exists, the 156Some event loops issue spurious readyness notifications, so you should
83filehandle exists, too. 157always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file
158handles.
84 159
85Example: 160Example:
86 161
87 # wait for readability of STDIN, then read a line and disable the watcher 162 # wait for readability of STDIN, then read a line and disable the watcher
88 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub { 163 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub {
94=head2 TIME WATCHERS 169=head2 TIME WATCHERS
95 170
96You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >> 171You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >>
97method with the following mandatory arguments: 172method with the following mandatory arguments:
98 173
99C<after> after how many seconds (fractions are supported) should the timer 174C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are
100activate. C<cb> the callback to invoke. 175supported) should the timer activate. C<cb> the callback to invoke in that
176case.
101 177
102The timer callback will be invoked at most once: if you want a repeating 178The timer callback will be invoked at most once: if you want a repeating
103timer you have to create a new watcher (this is a limitation by both Tk 179timer you have to create a new watcher (this is a limitation by both Tk
104and Glib). 180and Glib).
105 181
109 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub { 185 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub {
110 warn "timeout\n"; 186 warn "timeout\n";
111 }); 187 });
112 188
113 # to cancel the timer: 189 # to cancel the timer:
114 undef $w 190 undef $w;
115 191
192Example 2:
193
194 # fire an event after 0.5 seconds, then roughly every second
195 my $w;
196
197 my $cb = sub {
198 # cancel the old timer while creating a new one
199 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => $cb);
200 };
201
202 # start the "loop" by creating the first watcher
203 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.5, cb => $cb);
204
205=head3 TIMING ISSUES
206
207There are two ways to handle timers: based on real time (relative, "fire
208in 10 seconds") and based on wallclock time (absolute, "fire at 12
209o'clock").
210
211While most event loops expect timers to specified in a relative way, they
212use absolute time internally. This makes a difference when your clock
213"jumps", for example, when ntp decides to set your clock backwards from
214the wrong date of 2014-01-01 to 2008-01-01, a watcher that is supposed to
215fire "after" a second might actually take six years to finally fire.
216
217AnyEvent cannot compensate for this. The only event loop that is conscious
218about these issues is L<EV>, which offers both relative (ev_timer, based
219on true relative time) and absolute (ev_periodic, based on wallclock time)
220timers.
221
222AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the
223AnyEvent API.
224
225=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS
226
227You can watch for signals using a signal watcher, C<signal> is the signal
228I<name> without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl callback to
229be invoked whenever a signal occurs.
230
231Multiple signal occurances can be clumped together into one callback
232invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. synchronous means
233that it might take a while until the signal gets handled by the process,
234but it is guarenteed not to interrupt any other callbacks.
235
236The main advantage of using these watchers is that you can share a signal
237between multiple watchers.
238
239This watcher might use C<%SIG>, so programs overwriting those signals
240directly will likely not work correctly.
241
242Example: exit on SIGINT
243
244 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 });
245
246=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS
247
248You can also watch on a child process exit and catch its exit status.
249
250The child process is specified by the C<pid> argument (if set to C<0>, it
251watches for any child process exit). The watcher will trigger as often
252as status change for the child are received. This works by installing a
253signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>. The callback will be called with the pid
254and exit status (as returned by waitpid).
255
256There is a slight catch to child watchers, however: you usually start them
257I<after> the child process was created, and this means the process could
258have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore).
259
260Not all event models handle this correctly (POE doesn't), but even for
261event models that I<do> handle this correctly, they usually need to be
262loaded before the process exits (i.e. before you fork in the first place).
263
264This means you cannot create a child watcher as the very first thing in an
265AnyEvent program, you I<have> to create at least one watcher before you
266C<fork> the child (alternatively, you can call C<AnyEvent::detect>).
267
268Example: fork a process and wait for it
269
270 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
271
272 AnyEvent::detect; # force event module to be initialised
273
274 my $pid = fork or exit 5;
275
276 my $w = AnyEvent->child (
277 pid => $pid,
278 cb => sub {
279 my ($pid, $status) = @_;
280 warn "pid $pid exited with status $status";
281 $done->broadcast;
282 },
283 );
284
285 # do something else, then wait for process exit
286 $done->wait;
287
116=head2 CONDITION WATCHERS 288=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES
117 289
118Condition watchers can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar >> 290Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar >>
119method without any arguments. 291method without any arguments.
120 292
121A condition watcher watches for a condition - precisely that the C<< 293A condition variable waits for a condition - precisely that the C<<
122->broadcast >> method has been called. 294->broadcast >> method has been called.
123 295
124The watcher has only two methods: 296They are very useful to signal that a condition has been fulfilled, for
297example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests,
298then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the
299availability of results.
300
301You can also use condition variables to block your main program until
302an event occurs - for example, you could C<< ->wait >> in your main
303program until the user clicks the Quit button in your app, which would C<<
304->broadcast >> the "quit" event.
305
306Note that condition variables recurse into the event loop - if you have
307two pirces of code that call C<< ->wait >> in a round-robbin fashion, you
308lose. Therefore, condition variables are good to export to your caller, but
309you should avoid making a blocking wait yourself, at least in callbacks,
310as this asks for trouble.
311
312This object has two methods:
125 313
126=over 4 314=over 4
127 315
128=item $cv->wait 316=item $cv->wait
129 317
130Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->broadcast >> method has been 318Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->broadcast >> method has been
131called on c<$cv>, while servicing other watchers normally. 319called on c<$cv>, while servicing other watchers normally.
132 320
133Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case, so
134if you are using this from a module, never require a blocking wait, but
135let the caller decide wether the call will block or not (for example,
136by coupling condition variables with some kind of request results and
137supporting callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not
138block, while still suppporting blockign waits if the caller so desires).
139
140You can only wait once on a condition - additional calls will return 321You can only wait once on a condition - additional calls will return
141immediately. 322immediately.
142 323
324Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case
325(programs might want to do that to stay interactive), so I<if you are
326using this from a module, never require a blocking wait>, but let the
327caller decide whether the call will block or not (for example, by coupling
328condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting
329callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block,
330while still suppporting blocking waits if the caller so desires).
331
332Another reason I<never> to C<< ->wait >> in a module is that you cannot
333sensibly have two C<< ->wait >>'s in parallel, as that would require
334multiple interpreters or coroutines/threads, none of which C<AnyEvent>
335can supply (the coroutine-aware backends L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV> and
336L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent> explicitly support concurrent C<< ->wait >>'s
337from different coroutines, however).
338
143=item $cv->broadcast 339=item $cv->broadcast
144 340
145Flag the condition as ready - a running C<< ->wait >> and all further 341Flag the condition as ready - a running C<< ->wait >> and all further
146calls to C<wait> will return after this method has been called. If nobody 342calls to C<wait> will (eventually) return after this method has been
147is waiting the broadcast will be remembered.. 343called. If nobody is waiting the broadcast will be remembered..
344
345=back
148 346
149Example: 347Example:
150 348
151 # wait till the result is ready 349 # wait till the result is ready
152 my $result_ready = AnyEvent->condvar; 350 my $result_ready = AnyEvent->condvar;
153 351
154 # do something such as adding a timer 352 # do something such as adding a timer
155 # or socket watcher the calls $result_ready->broadcast 353 # or socket watcher the calls $result_ready->broadcast
156 # when the "result" is ready. 354 # when the "result" is ready.
355 # in this case, we simply use a timer:
356 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (
357 after => 1,
358 cb => sub { $result_ready->broadcast },
359 );
157 360
361 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the watcher
362 # calls broadcast
158 $result_ready->wait; 363 $result_ready->wait;
159 364
160=back 365=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS
161
162=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS
163
164You can listen for signals using a signal watcher, C<signal> is the signal
165I<name> without any C<SIG> prefix. Multiple signals events can be clumped
166together into one callback invocation, and callback invocation might or
167might not be asynchronous.
168
169These watchers might use C<%SIG>, so programs overwriting those signals
170directly will likely not work correctly.
171
172Example: exit on SIGINT
173
174 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 });
175
176=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS
177
178You can also listen for the status of a child process specified by the
179C<pid> argument (or any child if the pid argument is 0). The watcher will
180trigger as often as status change for the child are received. This works
181by installing a signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>.
182
183Example: wait for pid 1333
184
185 my $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => 1333, cb => sub { warn "exit status $?" });
186
187=head1 GLOBALS
188 366
189=over 4 367=over 4
190 368
191=item $AnyEvent::MODEL 369=item $AnyEvent::MODEL
192 370
196C<AnyEvent::Impl:xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the case 374C<AnyEvent::Impl:xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the case
197AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode>). 375AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode>).
198 376
199The known classes so far are: 377The known classes so far are:
200 378
201 EV::AnyEvent based on EV (an interface to libev, best choice) 379 AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV based on Coro::EV, best choice.
202 AnyEvent::Impl::Coro based on Coro::Event, second best choice. 380 AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent based on Coro::Event, second best choice.
381 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (an interface to libev, best choice).
203 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, also second best choice :) 382 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, second best choice.
204 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, second-best choice. 383 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, third-best choice.
384 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl implementation, inefficient but portable.
205 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very bad choice. 385 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very bad choice.
206 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl implementation, inefficient. 386 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt, cannot be autoprobed (see its docs).
387 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
388 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, not generic enough for full support.
389
390There is no support for WxWidgets, as WxWidgets has no support for
391watching file handles. However, you can use WxWidgets through the
392POE Adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply polls 20 times per
393second, which was considered to be too horrible to even consider for
394AnyEvent. Likewise, other POE backends can be used by AnyEvent by using
395it's adaptor.
396
397AnyEvent knows about L<Prima> and L<Wx> and will try to use L<POE> when
398autodetecting them.
207 399
208=item AnyEvent::detect 400=item AnyEvent::detect
209 401
210Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model if 402Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model
211necessary. You should only call this function right before you would have 403if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would
212created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, very late at runtime. 404have created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, as late as possible at
405runtime.
213 406
214=back 407=back
215 408
216=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE 409=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE
217 410
218As a module author, you should "use AnyEvent" and call AnyEvent methods 411As a module author, you should C<use AnyEvent> and call AnyEvent methods
219freely, but you should not load a specific event module or rely on it. 412freely, but you should not load a specific event module or rely on it.
220 413
221Be careful when you create watchers in the module body - Anyevent will 414Be careful when you create watchers in the module body - AnyEvent will
222decide which event module to use as soon as the first method is called, so 415decide which event module to use as soon as the first method is called, so
223by calling AnyEvent in your module body you force the user of your module 416by calling AnyEvent in your module body you force the user of your module
224to load the event module first. 417to load the event module first.
225 418
419Never call C<< ->wait >> on a condition variable unless you I<know> that
420the C<< ->broadcast >> method has been called on it already. This is
421because it will stall the whole program, and the whole point of using
422events is to stay interactive.
423
424It is fine, however, to call C<< ->wait >> when the user of your module
425requests it (i.e. if you create a http request object ad have a method
426called C<results> that returns the results, it should call C<< ->wait >>
427freely, as the user of your module knows what she is doing. always).
428
226=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM 429=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM
227 430
228There will always be a single main program - the only place that should 431There will always be a single main program - the only place that should
229dictate which event model to use. 432dictate which event model to use.
230 433
231If it doesn't care, it can just "use AnyEvent" and use it itself, or not 434If it doesn't care, it can just "use AnyEvent" and use it itself, or not
232do anything special and let AnyEvent decide which implementation to chose. 435do anything special (it does not need to be event-based) and let AnyEvent
436decide which implementation to chose if some module relies on it.
233 437
234If the main program relies on a specific event model (for example, in Gtk2 438If the main program relies on a specific event model. For example, in
235programs you have to rely on either Glib or Glib::Event), you should load 439Gtk2 programs you have to rely on the Glib module. You should load the
236it before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it, generally, as early 440event module before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it: generally
237as possible. The reason is that modules might create watchers when they 441speaking, you should load it as early as possible. The reason is that
238are loaded, and AnyEvent will decide on the event model to use as soon as 442modules might create watchers when they are loaded, and AnyEvent will
239it creates watchers, and it might chose the wrong one unless you load the 443decide on the event model to use as soon as it creates watchers, and it
240correct one yourself. 444might chose the wrong one unless you load the correct one yourself.
241 445
242You can chose to use a rather inefficient pure-perl implementation by 446You can chose to use a rather inefficient pure-perl implementation by
243loading the C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl> module, but letting AnyEvent chose is 447loading the C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl> module, which gives you similar
244generally better. 448behaviour everywhere, but letting AnyEvent chose is generally better.
245 449
246=cut 450=cut
247 451
248package AnyEvent; 452package AnyEvent;
249 453
250no warnings; 454no warnings;
251use strict; 455use strict;
252 456
253use Carp; 457use Carp;
254 458
255our $VERSION = '2.55'; 459our $VERSION = '3.3';
256our $MODEL; 460our $MODEL;
257 461
258our $AUTOLOAD; 462our $AUTOLOAD;
259our @ISA; 463our @ISA;
260 464
261our $verbose = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1; 465our $verbose = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1;
262 466
263our @REGISTRY; 467our @REGISTRY;
264 468
265my @models = ( 469my @models = (
470 [Coro::EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV::],
266 [Coro::Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Coro::], 471 [Coro::Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent::],
267 [EV:: => EV::AnyEvent::], 472 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV::],
268 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::], 473 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::],
269 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib::], 474 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib::],
270 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], 475 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::],
476 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
477 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
271 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl::], 478 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl::],
479 # everything below here will not be autoprobed as the pureperl backend should work everywhere
480 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy
481 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program
482 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza
272); 483);
273 484
274our %method = map +($_ => 1), qw(io timer condvar broadcast wait signal one_event DESTROY); 485our %method = map +($_ => 1), qw(io timer signal child condvar broadcast wait one_event DESTROY);
275 486
276sub detect() { 487sub detect() {
277 unless ($MODEL) { 488 unless ($MODEL) {
278 no strict 'refs'; 489 no strict 'refs';
279 490
491 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z]+)$/) {
492 my $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$1";
493 if (eval "require $model") {
494 $MODEL = $model;
495 warn "AnyEvent: loaded model '$model' (forced by \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), using it.\n" if $verbose > 1;
496 } else {
497 warn "AnyEvent: unable to load model '$model' (from \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL):\n$@" if $verbose;
498 }
499 }
500
280 # check for already loaded models 501 # check for already loaded models
502 unless ($MODEL) {
281 for (@REGISTRY, @models) { 503 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
282 my ($package, $model) = @$_; 504 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
283 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) { 505 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) {
284 if (eval "require $model") { 506 if (eval "require $model") {
285 $MODEL = $model; 507 $MODEL = $model;
286 warn "AnyEvent: found model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 508 warn "AnyEvent: autodetected model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1;
287 last; 509 last;
510 }
288 } 511 }
289 } 512 }
290 }
291 513
292 unless ($MODEL) { 514 unless ($MODEL) {
293 # try to load a model 515 # try to load a model
294 516
295 for (@REGISTRY, @models) { 517 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
296 my ($package, $model) = @$_; 518 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
297 if (eval "require $package" 519 if (eval "require $package"
298 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0 520 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0
299 and eval "require $model") { 521 and eval "require $model") {
300 $MODEL = $model; 522 $MODEL = $model;
301 warn "AnyEvent: autoprobed and loaded model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 523 warn "AnyEvent: autoprobed model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1;
302 last; 524 last;
525 }
303 } 526 }
527
528 $MODEL
529 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.";
304 } 530 }
305
306 $MODEL
307 or die "No event module selected for AnyEvent and autodetect failed. Install any one of these modules: Event (or Coro+Event), Glib or Tk.";
308 } 531 }
309 532
310 unshift @ISA, $MODEL; 533 unshift @ISA, $MODEL;
311 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base"; 534 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base";
312 } 535 }
370 593
371# default implementation for ->child 594# default implementation for ->child
372 595
373our %PID_CB; 596our %PID_CB;
374our $CHLD_W; 597our $CHLD_W;
598our $CHLD_DELAY_W;
375our $PID_IDLE; 599our $PID_IDLE;
376our $WNOHANG; 600our $WNOHANG;
377 601
378sub _child_wait { 602sub _child_wait {
379 while (0 < (my $pid = waitpid -1, $WNOHANG)) { 603 while (0 < (my $pid = waitpid -1, $WNOHANG)) {
380 $_->() for (values %{ $PID_CB{$pid} || {} }), 604 $_->($pid, $?) for (values %{ $PID_CB{$pid} || {} }),
381 (values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} }); 605 (values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} });
382 } 606 }
383 607
384 undef $PID_IDLE; 608 undef $PID_IDLE;
609}
610
611sub _sigchld {
612 # make sure we deliver these changes "synchronous" with the event loop.
613 $CHLD_DELAY_W ||= AnyEvent->timer (after => 0, cb => sub {
614 undef $CHLD_DELAY_W;
615 &_child_wait;
616 });
385} 617}
386 618
387sub child { 619sub child {
388 my (undef, %arg) = @_; 620 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
389 621
395 unless ($WNOHANG) { 627 unless ($WNOHANG) {
396 $WNOHANG = eval { require POSIX; &POSIX::WNOHANG } || 1; 628 $WNOHANG = eval { require POSIX; &POSIX::WNOHANG } || 1;
397 } 629 }
398 630
399 unless ($CHLD_W) { 631 unless ($CHLD_W) {
400 $CHLD_W = AnyEvent->signal (signal => 'CHLD', cb => \&_child_wait); 632 $CHLD_W = AnyEvent->signal (signal => 'CHLD', cb => \&_sigchld);
401 # child could be a zombie already 633 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round
402 $PID_IDLE ||= AnyEvent->timer (after => 0, cb => \&_child_wait); 634 &_sigchld;
403 } 635 }
404 636
405 bless [$pid, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Child" 637 bless [$pid, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Child"
406} 638}
407 639
413 645
414 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB; 646 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB;
415} 647}
416 648
417=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE 649=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE
650
651This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in
652a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to
653provide AnyEvent compatibility.
418 654
419If you need to support another event library which isn't directly 655If you need to support another event library which isn't directly
420supported by AnyEvent, you can supply your own interface to it by 656supported by AnyEvent, you can supply your own interface to it by
421pushing, before the first watcher gets created, the package name of 657pushing, before the first watcher gets created, the package name of
422the event module and the package name of the interface to use onto 658the event module and the package name of the interface to use onto
423C<@AnyEvent::REGISTRY>. You can do that before and even without loading 659C<@AnyEvent::REGISTRY>. You can do that before and even without loading
424AnyEvent. 660AnyEvent, so it is reasonably cheap.
425 661
426Example: 662Example:
427 663
428 push @AnyEvent::REGISTRY, [urxvt => urxvt::anyevent::]; 664 push @AnyEvent::REGISTRY, [urxvt => urxvt::anyevent::];
429 665
430This tells AnyEvent to (literally) use the C<urxvt::anyevent::> 666This tells AnyEvent to (literally) use the C<urxvt::anyevent::>
431package/class when it finds the C<urxvt> package/module is loaded. When 667package/class when it finds the C<urxvt> package/module is already loaded.
668
432AnyEvent is loaded and asked to find a suitable event model, it will 669When AnyEvent is loaded and asked to find a suitable event model, it
433first check for the presence of urxvt. 670will first check for the presence of urxvt by trying to C<use> the
671C<urxvt::anyevent> module.
434 672
435The class should provide implementations for all watcher types (see 673The class should provide implementations for all watcher types. See
436L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event> (source code), L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib> 674L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV> (source code), L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib> (Source code)
437(Source code) and so on for actual examples, use C<perldoc -m 675and so on for actual examples. Use C<perldoc -m AnyEvent::Impl::Glib> to
438AnyEvent::Impl::Glib> to see the sources). 676see the sources.
439 677
678If you don't provide C<signal> and C<child> watchers than AnyEvent will
679provide suitable (hopefully) replacements.
680
440The above isn't fictitious, the I<rxvt-unicode> (a.k.a. urxvt) 681The above example isn't fictitious, the I<rxvt-unicode> (a.k.a. urxvt)
441uses the above line as-is. An interface isn't included in AnyEvent 682terminal emulator uses the above line as-is. An interface isn't included
442because it doesn't make sense outside the embedded interpreter inside 683in AnyEvent because it doesn't make sense outside the embedded interpreter
443I<rxvt-unicode>, and it is updated and maintained as part of the 684inside I<rxvt-unicode>, and it is updated and maintained as part of the
444I<rxvt-unicode> distribution. 685I<rxvt-unicode> distribution.
445 686
446I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to 687I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to
447condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will 688condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will
448C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must 689C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must
449not be in an interactive application, so it makes sense. 690not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense.
450 691
451=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES 692=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
452 693
453The following environment variables are used by this module: 694The following environment variables are used by this module:
454 695
455C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE> when set to C<2> or higher, reports which event 696=over 4
456model gets used.
457 697
698=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
699
700By default, AnyEvent will be completely silent except in fatal
701conditions. You can set this environment variable to make AnyEvent more
702talkative.
703
704When set to C<1> or higher, causes AnyEvent to warn about unexpected
705conditions, such as not being able to load the event model specified by
706C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>.
707
708When set to C<2> or higher, cause AnyEvent to report to STDERR which event
709model it chooses.
710
711=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
712
713This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
714autodetection and -probing kicks in. It must be a string consisting
715entirely of ASCII letters. The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended
716and the resulting module name is loaded and if the load was successful,
717used as event model. If it fails to load AnyEvent will proceed with
718autodetection and -probing.
719
720This functionality might change in future versions.
721
722For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) you
723could start your program like this:
724
725 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
726
727=back
728
458=head1 EXAMPLE 729=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM
459 730
460The following program uses an io watcher to read data from stdin, a timer 731The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer
461to display a message once per second, and a condvar to exit the program 732to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the
462when the user enters quit: 733program when the user enters quit:
463 734
464 use AnyEvent; 735 use AnyEvent;
465 736
466 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar; 737 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
467 738
468 my $io_watcher = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub { 739 my $io_watcher = AnyEvent->io (
740 fh => \*STDIN,
741 poll => 'r',
742 cb => sub {
469 warn "io event <$_[0]>\n"; # will always output <r> 743 warn "io event <$_[0]>\n"; # will always output <r>
470 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); # read a line 744 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); # read a line
471 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read 745 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read
472 $cv->broadcast if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i 746 $cv->broadcast if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i
747 },
473 }); 748 );
474 749
475 my $time_watcher; # can only be used once 750 my $time_watcher; # can only be used once
476 751
477 sub new_timer { 752 sub new_timer {
478 $timer = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => sub { 753 $timer = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => sub {
560 $txn->{finished}->wait; 835 $txn->{finished}->wait;
561 return $txn->{result}; 836 return $txn->{result};
562 837
563The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions) 838The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions)
564that occured during request processing. The C<result> method detects 839that occured during request processing. The C<result> method detects
565wether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object) 840whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object)
566and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other 841and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other
567problems get reported tot he code that tries to use the result, not in a 842problems get reported tot he code that tries to use the result, not in a
568random callback. 843random callback.
569 844
570All of this enables the following usage styles: 845All of this enables the following usage styles:
571 846
5721. Blocking: 8471. Blocking:
573 848
574 my $data = $fcp->client_get ($url); 849 my $data = $fcp->client_get ($url);
575 850
5762. Blocking, but parallelizing: 8512. Blocking, but running in parallel:
577 852
578 my @datas = map $_->result, 853 my @datas = map $_->result,
579 map $fcp->txn_client_get ($_), 854 map $fcp->txn_client_get ($_),
580 @urls; 855 @urls;
581 856
582Both blocking examples work without the module user having to know 857Both blocking examples work without the module user having to know
583anything about events. 858anything about events.
584 859
5853a. Event-based in a main program, using any support Event module: 8603a. Event-based in a main program, using any supported event module:
586 861
587 use Event; 862 use EV;
588 863
589 $fcp->txn_client_get ($url)->cb (sub { 864 $fcp->txn_client_get ($url)->cb (sub {
590 my $txn = shift; 865 my $txn = shift;
591 my $data = $txn->result; 866 my $data = $txn->result;
592 ... 867 ...
593 }); 868 });
594 869
595 Event::loop; 870 EV::loop;
596 871
5973b. The module user could use AnyEvent, too: 8723b. The module user could use AnyEvent, too:
598 873
599 use AnyEvent; 874 use AnyEvent;
600 875
605 $quit->broadcast; 880 $quit->broadcast;
606 }); 881 });
607 882
608 $quit->wait; 883 $quit->wait;
609 884
885
886=head1 BENCHMARK
887
888To give you an idea of the performance and overheads that AnyEvent adds
889over the event loops themselves (and to give you an impression of the
890speed of various event loops), here is a benchmark of various supported
891event models natively and with anyevent. The benchmark creates a lot of
892timers (with a zero timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to
893become writable, which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys
894them again.
895
896Rewriting the benchmark to use many different sockets instead of using
897the same filehandle for all I/O watchers results in a much longer runtime
898(socket creation is expensive), but qualitatively the same figures, so it
899was not used.
900
901=head2 Explanation of the columns
902
903I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since
904different event models feature vastly different performances, each event
905loop was given a number of watchers so that overall runtime is acceptable
906and similar between tested event loop (and keep them from crashing): Glib
907would probably take thousands of years if asked to process the same number
908of watchers as EV in this benchmark.
909
910I<bytes> is the number of bytes (as measured by the resident set size,
911RSS) consumed by each watcher. This method of measuring captures both C
912and Perl-based overheads.
913
914I<create> is the time, in microseconds (millionths of seconds), that it
915takes to create a single watcher. The callback is a closure shared between
916all watchers, to avoid adding memory overhead. That means closure creation
917and memory usage is not included in the figures.
918
919I<invoke> is the time, in microseconds, used to invoke a simple
920callback. The callback simply counts down a Perl variable and after it was
921invoked "watcher" times, it would C<< ->broadcast >> a condvar once to
922signal the end of this phase.
923
924I<destroy> is the time, in microseconds, that it takes to destroy a single
925watcher.
926
927=head2 Results
928
929 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment
930 EV/EV 400000 244 0.56 0.46 0.31 EV native interface
931 EV/Any 100000 244 2.50 0.46 0.29 EV + AnyEvent watchers
932 CoroEV/Any 100000 244 2.49 0.44 0.29 coroutines + Coro::Signal
933 Perl/Any 100000 513 4.92 0.87 1.12 pure perl implementation
934 Event/Event 16000 516 31.88 31.30 0.85 Event native interface
935 Event/Any 16000 936 39.17 33.63 1.43 Event + AnyEvent watchers
936 Glib/Any 16000 1357 98.22 12.41 54.00 quadratic behaviour
937 Tk/Any 2000 1860 26.97 67.98 14.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers
938 POE/Event 2000 6644 108.64 736.02 14.73 via POE::Loop::Event
939 POE/Select 2000 6343 94.13 809.12 565.96 via POE::Loop::Select
940
941=head2 Discussion
942
943The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very
944well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one)
945can never compete with an event loop that uses epoll when the number of
946file descriptors grows high. In this benchmark, all events become ready at
947the same time, so select/poll-based implementations get an unnatural speed
948boost.
949
950C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both
951maximal/minimal, respectively. Even when going through AnyEvent, there are
952only two event loops that use slightly less memory (the C<Event> module
953natively and the pure perl backend), and no faster event models, not even
954C<Event> natively.
955
956The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the
957zero timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl
958interpreter and the backend itself, and all watchers become ready at the
959same time). Nevertheless this shows that it adds very little overhead in
960itself. Like any select-based backend its performance becomes really bad
961with lots of file descriptors (and few of them active), of course, but
962this was not subject of this benchmark.
963
964The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation cost,
965but overall scores on the third place.
966
967C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit bit higher, but it features a
968faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as
969C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of
970watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four,
971making it completely unusable when using larger numbers of watchers
972(note that only a single file descriptor was used in the benchmark, so
973inefficiencies of C<poll> do not account for this).
974
975The C<Tk> adaptor works relatively well. The fact that it crashes with
976more than 2000 watchers is a big setback, however, as correctness takes
977precedence over speed. Nevertheless, its performance is surprising, as the
978file descriptor is dup()ed for each watcher. This shows that the dup()
979employed by some adaptors is not a big performance issue (it does incur a
980hidden memory cost inside the kernel, though, that is not reflected in the
981figures above).
982
983C<POE>, regardless of underlying event loop (wether using its pure perl
984select-based backend or the Event module) shows abysmal performance and
985memory usage: Watchers use almost 30 times as much memory as EV watchers,
986and 10 times as much memory as both Event or EV via AnyEvent. Watcher
987invocation is almost 900 times slower than with AnyEvent's pure perl
988implementation. The design of the POE adaptor class in AnyEvent can not
989really account for this, as session creation overhead is small compared
990to execution of the state machine, which is coded pretty optimally within
991L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>. POE simply seems to be abysmally slow.
992
993=head2 Summary
994
995Using EV through AnyEvent is faster than any other event loop, but most
996event loops have acceptable performance with or without AnyEvent.
997
998The overhead AnyEvent adds is usually much smaller than the overhead of
999the actual event loop, only with extremely fast event loops such as the EV
1000adds AnyEvent significant overhead.
1001
1002And you should simply avoid POE like the plague if you want performance or
1003reasonable memory usage.
1004
1005
1006=head1 FORK
1007
1008Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are
1009because they are so inefficient. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware.
1010
1011If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first
1012watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child.
1013
1014
1015=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
1016
1017AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via
1018$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}. While this cannot (to my knowledge) be used to
1019execute arbitrary code or directly gain access, it can easily be used to
1020make the program hang or malfunction in subtle ways, as AnyEvent watchers
1021will not be active when the program uses a different event model than
1022specified in the variable.
1023
1024You can make AnyEvent completely ignore this variable by deleting it
1025before the first watcher gets created, e.g. with a C<BEGIN> block:
1026
1027 BEGIN { delete $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} }
1028
1029 use AnyEvent;
1030
1031
610=head1 SEE ALSO 1032=head1 SEE ALSO
611 1033
612Event modules: L<Coro::Event>, L<Coro>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>, L<Glib>. 1034Event modules: L<Coro::EV>, L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>, L<Glib::EV>,
1035L<Coro::Event>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>, L<Glib>, L<Coro>, L<Tk>,
1036L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>.
613 1037
1038Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>,
614Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::Coro>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>. 1039L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>,
1040L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>,
1041L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>.
615 1042
616Nontrivial usage example: L<Net::FCP>. 1043Nontrivial usage examples: L<Net::FCP>, L<Net::XMPP2>.
617 1044
618=head1 1045
1046=head1 AUTHOR
1047
1048 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
1049 http://home.schmorp.de/
619 1050
620=cut 1051=cut
621 1052
6221 10531
623 1054

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