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Revision 1.52 by root, Sat Apr 19 03:47:24 2008 UTC vs.
Revision 1.137 by root, Mon May 26 03:27:52 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 - 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?
29policy> and AnyEvent is I<small and efficient>. 29policy> and AnyEvent is I<small and efficient>.
30 30
31First and foremost, I<AnyEvent is not an event model> itself, it only 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 32interfaces to whatever event model the main program happens to use in a
33pragmatic way. For event models and certain classes of immortals alike, 33pragmatic way. For event models and certain classes of immortals alike,
34the statement "there can only be one" is a bitter reality, and AnyEvent 34the statement "there can only be one" is a bitter reality: In general,
35helps hiding the differences. 35only one event loop can be active at the same time in a process. AnyEvent
36helps hiding the differences between those event loops.
36 37
37The goal of AnyEvent is to offer module authors the ability to do event 38The goal of AnyEvent is to offer module authors the ability to do event
38programming (waiting for I/O or timer events) without subscribing to a 39programming (waiting for I/O or timer events) without subscribing to a
39religion, a way of living, and most importantly: without forcing your 40religion, a way of living, and most importantly: without forcing your
40module users into the same thing by forcing them to use the same event 41module users into the same thing by forcing them to use the same event
41model you use. 42model you use.
42 43
43For modules like POE or IO::Async (which is actually doing all I/O 44For modules like POE or IO::Async (which is a total misnomer as it is
44I<synchronously>...), using them in your module is like joining a 45actually doing all I/O I<synchronously>...), using them in your module is
45cult: After you joined, you are dependent on them and you cannot use 46like joining a cult: After you joined, you are dependent on them and you
46anything else, as it is simply incompatible to everything that isn't 47cannot use anything else, as it is simply incompatible to everything that
47itself. 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.
48 50
49AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works fine. AnyEvent + Tk 51AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works
50works fine etc. etc. but none of these work together with the rest: POE 52fine. AnyEvent + Tk works fine etc. etc. but none of these work together
51+ IO::Async? no go. Tk + Event? no go. If your module uses one of 53with the rest: POE + IO::Async? no go. Tk + Event? no go. Again: if
52those, every user of your module has to use it, too. If your module 54your module uses one of those, every user of your module has to use it,
53uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all event models it supports 55too. But if your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all
54(including stuff like POE and IO::Async). 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).
55 59
56In addition of 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
57model>, 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
58modules, you get an enourmous amount of code and strict rules you have 62modules, you get an enormous amount of code and strict rules you have to
59to follow. AnyEvent, on the other hand, is lean and to the point by only 63follow. AnyEvent, on the other hand, is lean and up to the point, by only
60offering the functionality that is useful, in as thin as a wrapper as 64offering the functionality that is necessary, in as thin as a wrapper as
61technically possible. 65technically possible.
62 66
63Of course, if you want lots of policy (this can arguably be somewhat 67Of course, if you want lots of policy (this can arguably be somewhat
64useful) and you want to force your users to use the one and only event 68useful) and you want to force your users to use the one and only event
65model, you should I<not> use this module. 69model, you should I<not> use this module.
66
67 70
68=head1 DESCRIPTION 71=head1 DESCRIPTION
69 72
70L<AnyEvent> provides an identical interface to multiple event loops. This 73L<AnyEvent> provides an identical interface to multiple event loops. This
71allows module authors to utilise an event loop without forcing module 74allows module authors to utilise an event loop without forcing module
72users to use the same event loop (as only a single event loop can coexist 75users to use the same event loop (as only a single event loop can coexist
73peacefully at any one time). 76peacefully at any one time).
74 77
75The interface itself is vaguely similar but not identical to the Event 78The interface itself is vaguely similar, but not identical to the L<Event>
76module. 79module.
77 80
78On the first call of any method, the module tries to detect the currently 81During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries
79loaded event loop by probing whether any of the following modules is 82to detect the currently loaded event loop by probing whether one of the
80loaded: L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>, L<EV>, L<Event>, L<Glib>, L<Tk>. The 83following modules is already loaded: L<EV>,
84L<Event>, L<Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>,
81first one found is used. If none are found, the module tries to load these 85L<POE>. The first one found is used. If none are found, the module tries
82modules in the order given. The first one that could be successfully 86to load these modules (excluding Tk, Event::Lib, Qt and POE as the pure perl
83loaded will be used. If still none could be found, AnyEvent will fall back 87adaptor should always succeed) in the order given. The first one that can
84to a pure-perl event loop, which is also not very efficient. 88be successfully loaded will be used. If, after this, still none could be
89found, AnyEvent will fall back to a pure-perl event loop, which is not
90very efficient, but should work everywhere.
85 91
86Because AnyEvent first checks for modules that are already loaded, loading 92Because AnyEvent first checks for modules that are already loaded, loading
87an Event model explicitly before first using AnyEvent will likely make 93an event model explicitly before first using AnyEvent will likely make
88that model the default. For example: 94that model the default. For example:
89 95
90 use Tk; 96 use Tk;
91 use AnyEvent; 97 use AnyEvent;
92 98
93 # .. AnyEvent will likely default to Tk 99 # .. AnyEvent will likely default to Tk
100
101The I<likely> means that, if any module loads another event model and
102starts using it, all bets are off. Maybe you should tell their authors to
103use AnyEvent so their modules work together with others seamlessly...
94 104
95The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called 105The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called
96C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>. Like other event modules you can load it 106C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>. Like other event modules you can load it
97explicitly. 107explicitly.
98 108
99=head1 WATCHERS 109=head1 WATCHERS
100 110
101AnyEvent has the central concept of a I<watcher>, which is an object that 111AnyEvent has the central concept of a I<watcher>, which is an object that
102stores relevant data for each kind of event you are waiting for, such as 112stores relevant data for each kind of event you are waiting for, such as
103the callback to call, the filehandle to watch, etc. 113the callback to call, the file handle to watch, etc.
104 114
105These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After 115These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After
106creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke 116creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the
117callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model
118is in control).
119
107the callback. To disable the watcher you have to destroy it (e.g. by 120To disable the watcher you have to destroy it (e.g. by setting the
108setting the variable that stores it to C<undef> or otherwise deleting all 121variable you store it in to C<undef> or otherwise deleting all references
109references to it). 122to it).
110 123
111All watchers are created by calling a method on the C<AnyEvent> class. 124All watchers are created by calling a method on the C<AnyEvent> class.
112 125
126Many watchers either are used with "recursion" (repeating timers for
127example), or need to refer to their watcher object in other ways.
128
129An any way to achieve that is this pattern:
130
131 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->type (arg => value ..., cb => sub {
132 # you can use $w here, for example to undef it
133 undef $w;
134 });
135
136Note that C<my $w; $w => combination. This is necessary because in Perl,
137my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are
138declared.
139
113=head2 IO WATCHERS 140=head2 I/O WATCHERS
114 141
115You can create I/O watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->io >> method with 142You can create an I/O watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->io >> method
116the following mandatory arguments: 143with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments:
117 144
118C<fh> the Perl I<filehandle> (not filedescriptor) to watch for 145C<fh> the Perl I<file handle> (I<not> file descriptor) to watch
119events. C<poll> must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>, that creates 146for events. C<poll> must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>,
120a watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events. C<cb> the callback 147which creates a watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events,
121to invoke everytime the filehandle becomes ready. 148respectively. C<cb> is the callback to invoke each time the file handle
149becomes ready.
122 150
123Filehandles will be kept alive, so as long as the watcher exists, the 151Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
124filehandle exists, too. 152presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
153callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks.
154
155The I/O watcher might use the underlying file descriptor or a copy of it.
156You must not close a file handle as long as any watcher is active on the
157underlying file descriptor.
158
159Some event loops issue spurious readyness notifications, so you should
160always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file
161handles.
125 162
126Example: 163Example:
127 164
128 # wait for readability of STDIN, then read a line and disable the watcher 165 # wait for readability of STDIN, then read a line and disable the watcher
129 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub { 166 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub {
135=head2 TIME WATCHERS 172=head2 TIME WATCHERS
136 173
137You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >> 174You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >>
138method with the following mandatory arguments: 175method with the following mandatory arguments:
139 176
140C<after> after how many seconds (fractions are supported) should the timer 177C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are
141activate. C<cb> the callback to invoke. 178supported) the callback should be invoked. C<cb> is the callback to invoke
179in that case.
180
181Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
182presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
183callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks.
142 184
143The timer callback will be invoked at most once: if you want a repeating 185The timer callback will be invoked at most once: if you want a repeating
144timer you have to create a new watcher (this is a limitation by both Tk 186timer you have to create a new watcher (this is a limitation by both Tk
145and Glib). 187and Glib).
146 188
152 }); 194 });
153 195
154 # to cancel the timer: 196 # to cancel the timer:
155 undef $w; 197 undef $w;
156 198
199Example 2:
200
201 # fire an event after 0.5 seconds, then roughly every second
202 my $w;
203
204 my $cb = sub {
205 # cancel the old timer while creating a new one
206 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => $cb);
207 };
208
209 # start the "loop" by creating the first watcher
210 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.5, cb => $cb);
211
212=head3 TIMING ISSUES
213
214There are two ways to handle timers: based on real time (relative, "fire
215in 10 seconds") and based on wallclock time (absolute, "fire at 12
216o'clock").
217
218While most event loops expect timers to specified in a relative way, they
219use absolute time internally. This makes a difference when your clock
220"jumps", for example, when ntp decides to set your clock backwards from
221the wrong date of 2014-01-01 to 2008-01-01, a watcher that is supposed to
222fire "after" a second might actually take six years to finally fire.
223
224AnyEvent cannot compensate for this. The only event loop that is conscious
225about these issues is L<EV>, which offers both relative (ev_timer, based
226on true relative time) and absolute (ev_periodic, based on wallclock time)
227timers.
228
229AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the
230AnyEvent API.
231
232=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS
233
234You can watch for signals using a signal watcher, C<signal> is the signal
235I<name> without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl callback to
236be invoked whenever a signal occurs.
237
238Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
239presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
240callbacks cannot use arguments passed to signal watcher callbacks.
241
242Multiple signal occurrences can be clumped together into one callback
243invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. Synchronous means
244that it might take a while until the signal gets handled by the process,
245but it is guaranteed not to interrupt any other callbacks.
246
247The main advantage of using these watchers is that you can share a signal
248between multiple watchers.
249
250This watcher might use C<%SIG>, so programs overwriting those signals
251directly will likely not work correctly.
252
253Example: exit on SIGINT
254
255 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 });
256
257=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS
258
259You can also watch on a child process exit and catch its exit status.
260
261The child process is specified by the C<pid> argument (if set to C<0>, it
262watches for any child process exit). The watcher will trigger as often
263as status change for the child are received. This works by installing a
264signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>. The callback will be called with the pid
265and exit status (as returned by waitpid), so unlike other watcher types,
266you I<can> rely on child watcher callback arguments.
267
268There is a slight catch to child watchers, however: you usually start them
269I<after> the child process was created, and this means the process could
270have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore).
271
272Not all event models handle this correctly (POE doesn't), but even for
273event models that I<do> handle this correctly, they usually need to be
274loaded before the process exits (i.e. before you fork in the first place).
275
276This means you cannot create a child watcher as the very first thing in an
277AnyEvent program, you I<have> to create at least one watcher before you
278C<fork> the child (alternatively, you can call C<AnyEvent::detect>).
279
280Example: fork a process and wait for it
281
282 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
283
284 my $pid = fork or exit 5;
285
286 my $w = AnyEvent->child (
287 pid => $pid,
288 cb => sub {
289 my ($pid, $status) = @_;
290 warn "pid $pid exited with status $status";
291 $done->send;
292 },
293 );
294
295 # do something else, then wait for process exit
296 $done->recv;
297
157=head2 CONDITION WATCHERS 298=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES
158 299
300If you are familiar with some event loops you will know that all of them
301require you to run some blocking "loop", "run" or similar function that
302will actively watch for new events and call your callbacks.
303
304AnyEvent is different, it expects somebody else to run the event loop and
305will only block when necessary (usually when told by the user).
306
307The instrument to do that is called a "condition variable", so called
308because they represent a condition that must become true.
309
159Condition watchers can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar >> 310Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar
160method without any arguments. 311>> method, usually without arguments. The only argument pair allowed is
312C<cb>, which specifies a callback to be called when the condition variable
313becomes true.
161 314
162A condition watcher watches for a condition - precisely that the C<< 315After creation, the condition variable is "false" until it becomes "true"
163->broadcast >> method has been called. 316by calling the C<send> method (or calling the condition variable as if it
317were a callback, read about the caveats in the description for the C<<
318->send >> method).
164 319
320Condition variables are similar to callbacks, except that you can
321optionally wait for them. They can also be called merge points - points
322in time where multiple outstanding events have been processed. And yet
323another way to call them is transactions - each condition variable can be
324used to represent a transaction, which finishes at some point and delivers
325a result.
326
327Condition variables are very useful to signal that something has finished,
328for example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests,
329then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the
330availability of results. The user can either act when the callback is
331called or can synchronously C<< ->recv >> for the results.
332
333You can also use them to simulate traditional event loops - for example,
334you can block your main program until an event occurs - for example, you
335could C<< ->recv >> in your main program until the user clicks the Quit
336button of your app, which would C<< ->send >> the "quit" event.
337
165Note that condition watchers recurse into the event loop - if you have 338Note that condition variables recurse into the event loop - if you have
166two watchers that call C<< ->wait >> in a round-robbin fashion, you 339two pieces of code that call C<< ->recv >> in a round-robin fashion, you
167lose. Therefore, condition watchers are good to export to your caller, but 340lose. Therefore, condition variables are good to export to your caller, but
168you should avoid making a blocking wait, at least in callbacks, as this 341you should avoid making a blocking wait yourself, at least in callbacks,
169usually asks for trouble. 342as this asks for trouble.
170 343
171The watcher has only two methods: 344Condition variables are represented by hash refs in perl, and the keys
345used by AnyEvent itself are all named C<_ae_XXX> to make subclassing
346easy (it is often useful to build your own transaction class on top of
347AnyEvent). To subclass, use C<AnyEvent::CondVar> as base class and call
348it's C<new> method in your own C<new> method.
349
350There are two "sides" to a condition variable - the "producer side" which
351eventually calls C<< -> send >>, and the "consumer side", which waits
352for the send to occur.
353
354Example: wait for a timer.
355
356 # wait till the result is ready
357 my $result_ready = AnyEvent->condvar;
358
359 # do something such as adding a timer
360 # or socket watcher the calls $result_ready->send
361 # when the "result" is ready.
362 # in this case, we simply use a timer:
363 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (
364 after => 1,
365 cb => sub { $result_ready->send },
366 );
367
368 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the callback
369 # calls send
370 $result_ready->recv;
371
372Example: wait for a timer, but take advantage of the fact that
373condition variables are also code references.
374
375 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
376 my $delay = AnyEvent->timer (after => 5, cb => $done);
377 $done->recv;
378
379=head3 METHODS FOR PRODUCERS
380
381These methods should only be used by the producing side, i.e. the
382code/module that eventually sends the signal. Note that it is also
383the producer side which creates the condvar in most cases, but it isn't
384uncommon for the consumer to create it as well.
172 385
173=over 4 386=over 4
174 387
388=item $cv->send (...)
389
390Flag the condition as ready - a running C<< ->recv >> and all further
391calls to C<recv> will (eventually) return after this method has been
392called. If nobody is waiting the send will be remembered.
393
394If a callback has been set on the condition variable, it is called
395immediately from within send.
396
397Any arguments passed to the C<send> call will be returned by all
398future C<< ->recv >> calls.
399
400Condition variables are overloaded so one can call them directly
401(as a code reference). Calling them directly is the same as calling
402C<send>. Note, however, that many C-based event loops do not handle
403overloading, so as tempting as it may be, passing a condition variable
404instead of a callback does not work. Both the pure perl and EV loops
405support overloading, however, as well as all functions that use perl to
406invoke a callback (as in L<AnyEvent::Socket> and L<AnyEvent::DNS> for
407example).
408
409=item $cv->croak ($error)
410
411Similar to send, but causes all call's to C<< ->recv >> to invoke
412C<Carp::croak> with the given error message/object/scalar.
413
414This can be used to signal any errors to the condition variable
415user/consumer.
416
417=item $cv->begin ([group callback])
418
175=item $cv->wait 419=item $cv->end
176 420
177Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->broadcast >> method has been 421These two methods are EXPERIMENTAL and MIGHT CHANGE.
422
423These two methods can be used to combine many transactions/events into
424one. For example, a function that pings many hosts in parallel might want
425to use a condition variable for the whole process.
426
427Every call to C<< ->begin >> will increment a counter, and every call to
428C<< ->end >> will decrement it. If the counter reaches C<0> in C<< ->end
429>>, the (last) callback passed to C<begin> will be executed. That callback
430is I<supposed> to call C<< ->send >>, but that is not required. If no
431callback was set, C<send> will be called without any arguments.
432
433Let's clarify this with the ping example:
434
435 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
436
437 my %result;
438 $cv->begin (sub { $cv->send (\%result) });
439
440 for my $host (@list_of_hosts) {
441 $cv->begin;
442 ping_host_then_call_callback $host, sub {
443 $result{$host} = ...;
444 $cv->end;
445 };
446 }
447
448 $cv->end;
449
450This code fragment supposedly pings a number of hosts and calls
451C<send> after results for all then have have been gathered - in any
452order. To achieve this, the code issues a call to C<begin> when it starts
453each ping request and calls C<end> when it has received some result for
454it. Since C<begin> and C<end> only maintain a counter, the order in which
455results arrive is not relevant.
456
457There is an additional bracketing call to C<begin> and C<end> outside the
458loop, which serves two important purposes: first, it sets the callback
459to be called once the counter reaches C<0>, and second, it ensures that
460C<send> is called even when C<no> hosts are being pinged (the loop
461doesn't execute once).
462
463This is the general pattern when you "fan out" into multiple subrequests:
464use an outer C<begin>/C<end> pair to set the callback and ensure C<end>
465is called at least once, and then, for each subrequest you start, call
466C<begin> and for each subrequest you finish, call C<end>.
467
468=back
469
470=head3 METHODS FOR CONSUMERS
471
472These methods should only be used by the consuming side, i.e. the
473code awaits the condition.
474
475=over 4
476
477=item $cv->recv
478
479Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->send >> or C<< ->croak
178called on c<$cv>, while servicing other watchers normally. 480>> methods have been called on c<$cv>, while servicing other watchers
481normally.
179 482
180You can only wait once on a condition - additional calls will return 483You can only wait once on a condition - additional calls are valid but
181immediately. 484will return immediately.
485
486If an error condition has been set by calling C<< ->croak >>, then this
487function will call C<croak>.
488
489In list context, all parameters passed to C<send> will be returned,
490in scalar context only the first one will be returned.
182 491
183Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case 492Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case
184(programs might want to do that so they stay interactive), so I<if you 493(programs might want to do that to stay interactive), so I<if you are
185are using this from a module, never require a blocking wait>, but let the 494using this from a module, never require a blocking wait>, but let the
186caller decide whether the call will block or not (for example, by coupling 495caller decide whether the call will block or not (for example, by coupling
187condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting 496condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting
188callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block, 497callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block,
189while still suppporting blocking waits if the caller so desires). 498while still supporting blocking waits if the caller so desires).
190 499
191Another reason I<never> to C<< ->wait >> in a module is that you cannot 500Another reason I<never> to C<< ->recv >> in a module is that you cannot
192sensibly have two C<< ->wait >>'s in parallel, as that would require 501sensibly have two C<< ->recv >>'s in parallel, as that would require
193multiple interpreters or coroutines/threads, none of which C<AnyEvent> 502multiple interpreters or coroutines/threads, none of which C<AnyEvent>
194can supply (the coroutine-aware backends C<Coro::EV> and C<Coro::Event> 503can supply.
195explicitly support concurrent C<< ->wait >>'s from different coroutines,
196however).
197 504
198=item $cv->broadcast 505The L<Coro> module, however, I<can> and I<does> supply coroutines and, in
506fact, L<Coro::AnyEvent> replaces AnyEvent's condvars by coroutine-safe
507versions and also integrates coroutines into AnyEvent, making blocking
508C<< ->recv >> calls perfectly safe as long as they are done from another
509coroutine (one that doesn't run the event loop).
199 510
200Flag the condition as ready - a running C<< ->wait >> and all further 511You can ensure that C<< -recv >> never blocks by setting a callback and
201calls to C<wait> will return after this method has been called. If nobody 512only calling C<< ->recv >> from within that callback (or at a later
202is waiting the broadcast will be remembered.. 513time). This will work even when the event loop does not support blocking
514waits otherwise.
203 515
204Example: 516=item $bool = $cv->ready
205 517
206 # wait till the result is ready 518Returns true when the condition is "true", i.e. whether C<send> or
207 my $result_ready = AnyEvent->condvar; 519C<croak> have been called.
208 520
209 # do something such as adding a timer 521=item $cb = $cv->cb ([new callback])
210 # or socket watcher the calls $result_ready->broadcast
211 # when the "result" is ready.
212 522
213 $result_ready->wait; 523This is a mutator function that returns the callback set and optionally
524replaces it before doing so.
525
526The callback will be called when the condition becomes "true", i.e. when
527C<send> or C<croak> are called. Calling C<recv> inside the callback
528or at any later time is guaranteed not to block.
214 529
215=back 530=back
216 531
217=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS 532=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS
218
219You can listen for signals using a signal watcher, C<signal> is the signal
220I<name> without any C<SIG> prefix. Multiple signals events can be clumped
221together into one callback invocation, and callback invocation might or
222might not be asynchronous.
223
224These watchers might use C<%SIG>, so programs overwriting those signals
225directly will likely not work correctly.
226
227Example: exit on SIGINT
228
229 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 });
230
231=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS
232
233You can also listen for the status of a child process specified by the
234C<pid> argument (or any child if the pid argument is 0). The watcher will
235trigger as often as status change for the child are received. This works
236by installing a signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>. The callback will be called with
237the pid and exit status (as returned by waitpid).
238
239Example: wait for pid 1333
240
241 my $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => 1333, cb => sub { warn "exit status $?" });
242
243=head1 GLOBALS
244 533
245=over 4 534=over 4
246 535
247=item $AnyEvent::MODEL 536=item $AnyEvent::MODEL
248 537
252C<AnyEvent::Impl:xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the case 541C<AnyEvent::Impl:xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the case
253AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode>). 542AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode>).
254 543
255The known classes so far are: 544The known classes so far are:
256 545
257 AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV based on Coro::EV, best choice.
258 AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent based on Coro::Event, second best choice.
259 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (an interface to libev, also best choice). 546 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (an interface to libev, best choice).
260 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, also second best choice :) 547 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, second best choice.
548 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl implementation, fast and portable.
261 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, third-best choice. 549 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, third-best choice.
262 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very bad choice. 550 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very bad choice.
263 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl implementation, inefficient but portable. 551 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt, cannot be autoprobed (see its docs).
552 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
553 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, not generic enough for full support.
554
555There is no support for WxWidgets, as WxWidgets has no support for
556watching file handles. However, you can use WxWidgets through the
557POE Adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply polls 20 times per
558second, which was considered to be too horrible to even consider for
559AnyEvent. Likewise, other POE backends can be used by AnyEvent by using
560it's adaptor.
561
562AnyEvent knows about L<Prima> and L<Wx> and will try to use L<POE> when
563autodetecting them.
264 564
265=item AnyEvent::detect 565=item AnyEvent::detect
266 566
267Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model if 567Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model
268necessary. You should only call this function right before you would have 568if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would
269created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, very late at runtime. 569have created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, as late as possible at
570runtime.
571
572=item $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }
573
574Arranges for the code block to be executed as soon as the event model is
575autodetected (or immediately if this has already happened).
576
577If called in scalar or list context, then it creates and returns an object
578that automatically removes the callback again when it is destroyed. See
579L<Coro::BDB> for a case where this is useful.
580
581=item @AnyEvent::post_detect
582
583If there are any code references in this array (you can C<push> to it
584before or after loading AnyEvent), then they will called directly after
585the event loop has been chosen.
586
587You should check C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> before adding to this array, though:
588if it contains a true value then the event loop has already been detected,
589and the array will be ignored.
590
591Best use C<AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }> instead.
270 592
271=back 593=back
272 594
273=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE 595=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE
274 596
275As a module author, you should "use AnyEvent" and call AnyEvent methods 597As a module author, you should C<use AnyEvent> and call AnyEvent methods
276freely, but you should not load a specific event module or rely on it. 598freely, but you should not load a specific event module or rely on it.
277 599
278Be careful when you create watchers in the module body - Anyevent will 600Be careful when you create watchers in the module body - AnyEvent will
279decide which event module to use as soon as the first method is called, so 601decide which event module to use as soon as the first method is called, so
280by calling AnyEvent in your module body you force the user of your module 602by calling AnyEvent in your module body you force the user of your module
281to load the event module first. 603to load the event module first.
282 604
605Never call C<< ->recv >> on a condition variable unless you I<know> that
606the C<< ->send >> method has been called on it already. This is
607because it will stall the whole program, and the whole point of using
608events is to stay interactive.
609
610It is fine, however, to call C<< ->recv >> when the user of your module
611requests it (i.e. if you create a http request object ad have a method
612called C<results> that returns the results, it should call C<< ->recv >>
613freely, as the user of your module knows what she is doing. always).
614
283=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM 615=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM
284 616
285There will always be a single main program - the only place that should 617There will always be a single main program - the only place that should
286dictate which event model to use. 618dictate which event model to use.
287 619
288If it doesn't care, it can just "use AnyEvent" and use it itself, or not 620If it doesn't care, it can just "use AnyEvent" and use it itself, or not
289do anything special and let AnyEvent decide which implementation to chose. 621do anything special (it does not need to be event-based) and let AnyEvent
622decide which implementation to chose if some module relies on it.
290 623
291If the main program relies on a specific event model (for example, in Gtk2 624If the main program relies on a specific event model - for example, in
292programs you have to rely on either Glib or Glib::Event), you should load 625Gtk2 programs you have to rely on the Glib module - you should load the
293it before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it, generally, as early 626event module before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it: generally
294as possible. The reason is that modules might create watchers when they 627speaking, you should load it as early as possible. The reason is that
295are loaded, and AnyEvent will decide on the event model to use as soon as 628modules might create watchers when they are loaded, and AnyEvent will
296it creates watchers, and it might chose the wrong one unless you load the 629decide on the event model to use as soon as it creates watchers, and it
297correct one yourself. 630might chose the wrong one unless you load the correct one yourself.
298 631
299You can chose to use a rather inefficient pure-perl implementation by 632You can chose to use a pure-perl implementation by loading the
300loading the C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl> module, but letting AnyEvent chose is 633C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl> module, which gives you similar behaviour
301generally better. 634everywhere, but letting AnyEvent chose the model is generally better.
635
636=head2 MAINLOOP EMULATION
637
638Sometimes (often for short test scripts, or even standalone programs who
639only want to use AnyEvent), you do not want to run a specific event loop.
640
641In that case, you can use a condition variable like this:
642
643 AnyEvent->condvar->recv;
644
645This has the effect of entering the event loop and looping forever.
646
647Note that usually your program has some exit condition, in which case
648it is better to use the "traditional" approach of storing a condition
649variable somewhere, waiting for it, and sending it when the program should
650exit cleanly.
651
652
653=head1 OTHER MODULES
654
655The following is a non-exhaustive list of additional modules that use
656AnyEvent and can therefore be mixed easily with other AnyEvent modules
657in the same program. Some of the modules come with AnyEvent, some are
658available via CPAN.
659
660=over 4
661
662=item L<AnyEvent::Util>
663
664Contains various utility functions that replace often-used but blocking
665functions such as C<inet_aton> by event-/callback-based versions.
666
667=item L<AnyEvent::Handle>
668
669Provide read and write buffers and manages watchers for reads and writes.
670
671=item L<AnyEvent::Socket>
672
673Provides various utility functions for (internet protocol) sockets,
674addresses and name resolution. Also functions to create non-blocking tcp
675connections or tcp servers, with IPv6 and SRV record support and more.
676
677=item L<AnyEvent::DNS>
678
679Provides rich asynchronous DNS resolver capabilities.
680
681=item L<AnyEvent::HTTPD>
682
683Provides a simple web application server framework.
684
685=item L<AnyEvent::FastPing>
686
687The fastest ping in the west.
688
689=item L<Net::IRC3>
690
691AnyEvent based IRC client module family.
692
693=item L<Net::XMPP2>
694
695AnyEvent based XMPP (Jabber protocol) module family.
696
697=item L<Net::FCP>
698
699AnyEvent-based implementation of the Freenet Client Protocol, birthplace
700of AnyEvent.
701
702=item L<Event::ExecFlow>
703
704High level API for event-based execution flow control.
705
706=item L<Coro>
707
708Has special support for AnyEvent via L<Coro::AnyEvent>.
709
710=item L<AnyEvent::AIO>, L<IO::AIO>
711
712Truly asynchronous I/O, should be in the toolbox of every event
713programmer. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses IO::AIO and AnyEvent
714together.
715
716=item L<AnyEvent::BDB>, L<BDB>
717
718Truly asynchronous Berkeley DB access. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses
719IO::AIO and AnyEvent together.
720
721=item L<IO::Lambda>
722
723The lambda approach to I/O - don't ask, look there. Can use AnyEvent.
724
725=back
302 726
303=cut 727=cut
304 728
305package AnyEvent; 729package AnyEvent;
306 730
307no warnings; 731no warnings;
308use strict; 732use strict;
309 733
310use Carp; 734use Carp;
311 735
312our $VERSION = '3.1'; 736our $VERSION = '4.03';
313our $MODEL; 737our $MODEL;
314 738
315our $AUTOLOAD; 739our $AUTOLOAD;
316our @ISA; 740our @ISA;
317 741
742our @REGISTRY;
743
318our $verbose = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1; 744our $verbose = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1;
319 745
320our @REGISTRY; 746our %PROTOCOL; # (ipv4|ipv6) => (1|2), higher numbers are preferred
747
748{
749 my $idx;
750 $PROTOCOL{$_} = ++$idx
751 for reverse split /\s*,\s*/,
752 $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS} || "ipv4,ipv6";
753}
321 754
322my @models = ( 755my @models = (
323 [Coro::EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV::],
324 [Coro::Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent::],
325 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV::], 756 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV::],
326 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::], 757 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::],
327 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib::],
328 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::],
329 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl::], 758 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl::],
759 # everything below here will not be autoprobed
760 # as the pureperl backend should work everywhere
761 # and is usually faster
762 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], # crashes with many handles
763 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib::], # becomes extremely slow with many watchers
764 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy
765 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program
766 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza
767 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
768 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
330); 769);
331 770
332our %method = map +($_ => 1), qw(io timer condvar broadcast wait signal one_event DESTROY); 771our %method = map +($_ => 1), qw(io timer signal child condvar one_event DESTROY);
772
773our @post_detect;
774
775sub post_detect(&) {
776 my ($cb) = @_;
777
778 if ($MODEL) {
779 $cb->();
780
781 1
782 } else {
783 push @post_detect, $cb;
784
785 defined wantarray
786 ? bless \$cb, "AnyEvent::Util::PostDetect"
787 : ()
788 }
789}
790
791sub AnyEvent::Util::PostDetect::DESTROY {
792 @post_detect = grep $_ != ${$_[0]}, @post_detect;
793}
333 794
334sub detect() { 795sub detect() {
335 unless ($MODEL) { 796 unless ($MODEL) {
336 no strict 'refs'; 797 no strict 'refs';
798 local $SIG{__DIE__};
799
800 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z]+)$/) {
801 my $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$1";
802 if (eval "require $model") {
803 $MODEL = $model;
804 warn "AnyEvent: loaded model '$model' (forced by \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), using it.\n" if $verbose > 1;
805 } else {
806 warn "AnyEvent: unable to load model '$model' (from \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL):\n$@" if $verbose;
807 }
808 }
337 809
338 # check for already loaded models 810 # check for already loaded models
811 unless ($MODEL) {
339 for (@REGISTRY, @models) { 812 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
340 my ($package, $model) = @$_; 813 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
341 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) { 814 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) {
342 if (eval "require $model") { 815 if (eval "require $model") {
343 $MODEL = $model; 816 $MODEL = $model;
344 warn "AnyEvent: found model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 817 warn "AnyEvent: autodetected model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1;
345 last; 818 last;
819 }
346 } 820 }
347 } 821 }
348 }
349 822
350 unless ($MODEL) { 823 unless ($MODEL) {
351 # try to load a model 824 # try to load a model
352 825
353 for (@REGISTRY, @models) { 826 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
354 my ($package, $model) = @$_; 827 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
355 if (eval "require $package" 828 if (eval "require $package"
356 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0 829 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0
357 and eval "require $model") { 830 and eval "require $model") {
358 $MODEL = $model; 831 $MODEL = $model;
359 warn "AnyEvent: autoprobed and loaded model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 832 warn "AnyEvent: autoprobed model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1;
360 last; 833 last;
834 }
361 } 835 }
836
837 $MODEL
838 or die "No event module selected for AnyEvent and autodetect failed. Install any one of these modules: EV, Event or Glib.";
362 } 839 }
363
364 $MODEL
365 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), Glib or Tk.";
366 } 840 }
367 841
368 unshift @ISA, $MODEL; 842 unshift @ISA, $MODEL;
369 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base"; 843 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base";
844
845 (shift @post_detect)->() while @post_detect;
370 } 846 }
371 847
372 $MODEL 848 $MODEL
373} 849}
374 850
384 $class->$func (@_); 860 $class->$func (@_);
385} 861}
386 862
387package AnyEvent::Base; 863package AnyEvent::Base;
388 864
389# default implementation for ->condvar, ->wait, ->broadcast 865# default implementation for ->condvar
390 866
391sub condvar { 867sub condvar {
392 bless \my $flag, "AnyEvent::Base::CondVar" 868 bless { @_ == 3 ? (_ae_cb => $_[2]) : () }, AnyEvent::CondVar::
393}
394
395sub AnyEvent::Base::CondVar::broadcast {
396 ${$_[0]}++;
397}
398
399sub AnyEvent::Base::CondVar::wait {
400 AnyEvent->one_event while !${$_[0]};
401} 869}
402 870
403# default implementation for ->signal 871# default implementation for ->signal
404 872
405our %SIG_CB; 873our %SIG_CB;
458 or Carp::croak "required option 'pid' is missing"; 926 or Carp::croak "required option 'pid' is missing";
459 927
460 $PID_CB{$pid}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb}; 928 $PID_CB{$pid}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
461 929
462 unless ($WNOHANG) { 930 unless ($WNOHANG) {
463 $WNOHANG = eval { require POSIX; &POSIX::WNOHANG } || 1; 931 $WNOHANG = eval { local $SIG{__DIE__}; require POSIX; &POSIX::WNOHANG } || 1;
464 } 932 }
465 933
466 unless ($CHLD_W) { 934 unless ($CHLD_W) {
467 $CHLD_W = AnyEvent->signal (signal => 'CHLD', cb => \&_sigchld); 935 $CHLD_W = AnyEvent->signal (signal => 'CHLD', cb => \&_sigchld);
468 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round 936 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round
479 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} }; 947 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} };
480 948
481 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB; 949 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB;
482} 950}
483 951
952package AnyEvent::CondVar;
953
954our @ISA = AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::;
955
956package AnyEvent::CondVar::Base;
957
958use overload
959 '&{}' => sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } },
960 fallback => 1;
961
962sub _send {
963 # nop
964}
965
966sub send {
967 my $cv = shift;
968 $cv->{_ae_sent} = [@_];
969 (delete $cv->{_ae_cb})->($cv) if $cv->{_ae_cb};
970 $cv->_send;
971}
972
973sub croak {
974 $_[0]{_ae_croak} = $_[1];
975 $_[0]->send;
976}
977
978sub ready {
979 $_[0]{_ae_sent}
980}
981
982sub _wait {
983 AnyEvent->one_event while !$_[0]{_ae_sent};
984}
985
986sub recv {
987 $_[0]->_wait;
988
989 Carp::croak $_[0]{_ae_croak} if $_[0]{_ae_croak};
990 wantarray ? @{ $_[0]{_ae_sent} } : $_[0]{_ae_sent}[0]
991}
992
993sub cb {
994 $_[0]{_ae_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1;
995 $_[0]{_ae_cb}
996}
997
998sub begin {
999 ++$_[0]{_ae_counter};
1000 $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1;
1001}
1002
1003sub end {
1004 return if --$_[0]{_ae_counter};
1005 &{ $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} || sub { $_[0]->send } };
1006}
1007
1008# undocumented/compatibility with pre-3.4
1009*broadcast = \&send;
1010*wait = \&_wait;
1011
484=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE 1012=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE
1013
1014This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in
1015a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to
1016provide AnyEvent compatibility.
485 1017
486If you need to support another event library which isn't directly 1018If you need to support another event library which isn't directly
487supported by AnyEvent, you can supply your own interface to it by 1019supported by AnyEvent, you can supply your own interface to it by
488pushing, before the first watcher gets created, the package name of 1020pushing, before the first watcher gets created, the package name of
489the event module and the package name of the interface to use onto 1021the event module and the package name of the interface to use onto
490C<@AnyEvent::REGISTRY>. You can do that before and even without loading 1022C<@AnyEvent::REGISTRY>. You can do that before and even without loading
491AnyEvent. 1023AnyEvent, so it is reasonably cheap.
492 1024
493Example: 1025Example:
494 1026
495 push @AnyEvent::REGISTRY, [urxvt => urxvt::anyevent::]; 1027 push @AnyEvent::REGISTRY, [urxvt => urxvt::anyevent::];
496 1028
497This tells AnyEvent to (literally) use the C<urxvt::anyevent::> 1029This tells AnyEvent to (literally) use the C<urxvt::anyevent::>
498package/class when it finds the C<urxvt> package/module is loaded. When 1030package/class when it finds the C<urxvt> package/module is already loaded.
1031
499AnyEvent is loaded and asked to find a suitable event model, it will 1032When AnyEvent is loaded and asked to find a suitable event model, it
500first check for the presence of urxvt. 1033will first check for the presence of urxvt by trying to C<use> the
1034C<urxvt::anyevent> module.
501 1035
502The class should provide implementations for all watcher types (see 1036The class should provide implementations for all watcher types. See
503L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event> (source code), L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib> 1037L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV> (source code), L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib> (Source code)
504(Source code) and so on for actual examples, use C<perldoc -m 1038and so on for actual examples. Use C<perldoc -m AnyEvent::Impl::Glib> to
505AnyEvent::Impl::Glib> to see the sources). 1039see the sources.
506 1040
1041If you don't provide C<signal> and C<child> watchers than AnyEvent will
1042provide suitable (hopefully) replacements.
1043
507The above isn't fictitious, the I<rxvt-unicode> (a.k.a. urxvt) 1044The above example isn't fictitious, the I<rxvt-unicode> (a.k.a. urxvt)
508uses the above line as-is. An interface isn't included in AnyEvent 1045terminal emulator uses the above line as-is. An interface isn't included
509because it doesn't make sense outside the embedded interpreter inside 1046in AnyEvent because it doesn't make sense outside the embedded interpreter
510I<rxvt-unicode>, and it is updated and maintained as part of the 1047inside I<rxvt-unicode>, and it is updated and maintained as part of the
511I<rxvt-unicode> distribution. 1048I<rxvt-unicode> distribution.
512 1049
513I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to 1050I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to
514condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will 1051condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will
515C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must 1052C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must
516not be in an interactive application, so it makes sense. 1053not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense.
517 1054
518=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES 1055=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
519 1056
520The following environment variables are used by this module: 1057The following environment variables are used by this module:
521 1058
522C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE> when set to C<2> or higher, reports which event 1059=over 4
523model gets used.
524 1060
1061=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
1062
1063By default, AnyEvent will be completely silent except in fatal
1064conditions. You can set this environment variable to make AnyEvent more
1065talkative.
1066
1067When set to C<1> or higher, causes AnyEvent to warn about unexpected
1068conditions, such as not being able to load the event model specified by
1069C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>.
1070
1071When set to C<2> or higher, cause AnyEvent to report to STDERR which event
1072model it chooses.
1073
1074=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
1075
1076This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
1077auto detection and -probing kicks in. It must be a string consisting
1078entirely of ASCII letters. The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended
1079and the resulting module name is loaded and if the load was successful,
1080used as event model. If it fails to load AnyEvent will proceed with
1081auto detection and -probing.
1082
1083This functionality might change in future versions.
1084
1085For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) you
1086could start your program like this:
1087
1088 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
1089
1090=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS>
1091
1092Used by both L<AnyEvent::DNS> and L<AnyEvent::Socket> to determine preferences
1093for IPv4 or IPv6. The default is unspecified (and might change, or be the result
1094of auto probing).
1095
1096Must be set to a comma-separated list of protocols or address families,
1097current supported: C<ipv4> and C<ipv6>. Only protocols mentioned will be
1098used, and preference will be given to protocols mentioned earlier in the
1099list.
1100
1101This variable can effectively be used for denial-of-service attacks
1102against local programs (e.g. when setuid), although the impact is likely
1103small, as the program has to handle connection errors already-
1104
1105Examples: C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4,ipv6> - prefer IPv4 over IPv6,
1106but support both and try to use both. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4>
1107- only support IPv4, never try to resolve or contact IPv6
1108addresses. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv6,ipv4> support either IPv4 or
1109IPv6, but prefer IPv6 over IPv4.
1110
1111=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_EDNS0>
1112
1113Used by L<AnyEvent::DNS> to decide whether to use the EDNS0 extension
1114for DNS. This extension is generally useful to reduce DNS traffic, but
1115some (broken) firewalls drop such DNS packets, which is why it is off by
1116default.
1117
1118Setting this variable to C<1> will cause L<AnyEvent::DNS> to announce
1119EDNS0 in its DNS requests.
1120
1121=back
1122
525=head1 EXAMPLE 1123=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM
526 1124
527The following program uses an io watcher to read data from stdin, a timer 1125The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer
528to display a message once per second, and a condvar to exit the program 1126to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the
529when the user enters quit: 1127program when the user enters quit:
530 1128
531 use AnyEvent; 1129 use AnyEvent;
532 1130
533 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar; 1131 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
534 1132
535 my $io_watcher = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub { 1133 my $io_watcher = AnyEvent->io (
1134 fh => \*STDIN,
1135 poll => 'r',
1136 cb => sub {
536 warn "io event <$_[0]>\n"; # will always output <r> 1137 warn "io event <$_[0]>\n"; # will always output <r>
537 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); # read a line 1138 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); # read a line
538 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read 1139 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read
539 $cv->broadcast if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i 1140 $cv->send if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i
1141 },
540 }); 1142 );
541 1143
542 my $time_watcher; # can only be used once 1144 my $time_watcher; # can only be used once
543 1145
544 sub new_timer { 1146 sub new_timer {
545 $timer = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => sub { 1147 $timer = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => sub {
548 }); 1150 });
549 } 1151 }
550 1152
551 new_timer; # create first timer 1153 new_timer; # create first timer
552 1154
553 $cv->wait; # wait until user enters /^q/i 1155 $cv->recv; # wait until user enters /^q/i
554 1156
555=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE 1157=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE
556 1158
557Consider the L<Net::FCP> module. It features (among others) the following 1159Consider the L<Net::FCP> module. It features (among others) the following
558API calls, which are to freenet what HTTP GET requests are to http: 1160API calls, which are to freenet what HTTP GET requests are to http:
608 syswrite $txn->{fh}, $txn->{request} 1210 syswrite $txn->{fh}, $txn->{request}
609 or die "connection or write error"; 1211 or die "connection or write error";
610 $txn->{w} = AnyEvent->io (fh => $txn->{fh}, poll => 'r', cb => sub { $txn->fh_ready_r }); 1212 $txn->{w} = AnyEvent->io (fh => $txn->{fh}, poll => 'r', cb => sub { $txn->fh_ready_r });
611 1213
612Again, C<fh_ready_r> waits till all data has arrived, and then stores the 1214Again, C<fh_ready_r> waits till all data has arrived, and then stores the
613result and signals any possible waiters that the request ahs finished: 1215result and signals any possible waiters that the request has finished:
614 1216
615 sysread $txn->{fh}, $txn->{buf}, length $txn->{$buf}; 1217 sysread $txn->{fh}, $txn->{buf}, length $txn->{$buf};
616 1218
617 if (end-of-file or data complete) { 1219 if (end-of-file or data complete) {
618 $txn->{result} = $txn->{buf}; 1220 $txn->{result} = $txn->{buf};
619 $txn->{finished}->broadcast; 1221 $txn->{finished}->send;
620 $txb->{cb}->($txn) of $txn->{cb}; # also call callback 1222 $txb->{cb}->($txn) of $txn->{cb}; # also call callback
621 } 1223 }
622 1224
623The C<result> method, finally, just waits for the finished signal (if the 1225The C<result> method, finally, just waits for the finished signal (if the
624request was already finished, it doesn't wait, of course, and returns the 1226request was already finished, it doesn't wait, of course, and returns the
625data: 1227data:
626 1228
627 $txn->{finished}->wait; 1229 $txn->{finished}->recv;
628 return $txn->{result}; 1230 return $txn->{result};
629 1231
630The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions) 1232The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions)
631that occured during request processing. The C<result> method detects 1233that occurred during request processing. The C<result> method detects
632whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object) 1234whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object)
633and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other 1235and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other
634problems get reported tot he code that tries to use the result, not in a 1236problems get reported tot he code that tries to use the result, not in a
635random callback. 1237random callback.
636 1238
667 1269
668 my $quit = AnyEvent->condvar; 1270 my $quit = AnyEvent->condvar;
669 1271
670 $fcp->txn_client_get ($url)->cb (sub { 1272 $fcp->txn_client_get ($url)->cb (sub {
671 ... 1273 ...
672 $quit->broadcast; 1274 $quit->send;
673 }); 1275 });
674 1276
675 $quit->wait; 1277 $quit->recv;
1278
1279
1280=head1 BENCHMARKS
1281
1282To give you an idea of the performance and overheads that AnyEvent adds
1283over the event loops themselves and to give you an impression of the speed
1284of various event loops I prepared some benchmarks.
1285
1286=head2 BENCHMARKING ANYEVENT OVERHEAD
1287
1288Here is a benchmark of various supported event models used natively and
1289through AnyEvent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero
1290timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable,
1291which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again.
1292
1293Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent
1294distribution.
1295
1296=head3 Explanation of the columns
1297
1298I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since
1299different event models feature vastly different performances, each event
1300loop was given a number of watchers so that overall runtime is acceptable
1301and similar between tested event loop (and keep them from crashing): Glib
1302would probably take thousands of years if asked to process the same number
1303of watchers as EV in this benchmark.
1304
1305I<bytes> is the number of bytes (as measured by the resident set size,
1306RSS) consumed by each watcher. This method of measuring captures both C
1307and Perl-based overheads.
1308
1309I<create> is the time, in microseconds (millionths of seconds), that it
1310takes to create a single watcher. The callback is a closure shared between
1311all watchers, to avoid adding memory overhead. That means closure creation
1312and memory usage is not included in the figures.
1313
1314I<invoke> is the time, in microseconds, used to invoke a simple
1315callback. The callback simply counts down a Perl variable and after it was
1316invoked "watcher" times, it would C<< ->send >> a condvar once to
1317signal the end of this phase.
1318
1319I<destroy> is the time, in microseconds, that it takes to destroy a single
1320watcher.
1321
1322=head3 Results
1323
1324 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment
1325 EV/EV 400000 244 0.56 0.46 0.31 EV native interface
1326 EV/Any 100000 244 2.50 0.46 0.29 EV + AnyEvent watchers
1327 CoroEV/Any 100000 244 2.49 0.44 0.29 coroutines + Coro::Signal
1328 Perl/Any 100000 513 4.92 0.87 1.12 pure perl implementation
1329 Event/Event 16000 516 31.88 31.30 0.85 Event native interface
1330 Event/Any 16000 590 35.75 31.42 1.08 Event + AnyEvent watchers
1331 Glib/Any 16000 1357 98.22 12.41 54.00 quadratic behaviour
1332 Tk/Any 2000 1860 26.97 67.98 14.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers
1333 POE/Event 2000 6644 108.64 736.02 14.73 via POE::Loop::Event
1334 POE/Select 2000 6343 94.13 809.12 565.96 via POE::Loop::Select
1335
1336=head3 Discussion
1337
1338The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very
1339well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one)
1340can never compete with an event loop that uses epoll when the number of
1341file descriptors grows high. In this benchmark, all events become ready at
1342the same time, so select/poll-based implementations get an unnatural speed
1343boost.
1344
1345Also, note that the number of watchers usually has a nonlinear effect on
1346overall speed, that is, creating twice as many watchers doesn't take twice
1347the time - usually it takes longer. This puts event loops tested with a
1348higher number of watchers at a disadvantage.
1349
1350To put the range of results into perspective, consider that on the
1351benchmark machine, handling an event takes roughly 1600 CPU cycles with
1352EV, 3100 CPU cycles with AnyEvent's pure perl loop and almost 3000000 CPU
1353cycles with POE.
1354
1355C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both
1356maximal/minimal, respectively. Even when going through AnyEvent, it uses
1357far less memory than any other event loop and is still faster than Event
1358natively.
1359
1360The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the
1361constant timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl
1362interpreter and the backend itself). Nevertheless this shows that it
1363adds very little overhead in itself. Like any select-based backend its
1364performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of
1365them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark.
1366
1367The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation
1368cost, but overall scores in on the third place.
1369
1370C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a
1371faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as
1372C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of
1373watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four,
1374making it completely unusable when using larger numbers of watchers
1375(note that only a single file descriptor was used in the benchmark, so
1376inefficiencies of C<poll> do not account for this).
1377
1378The C<Tk> adaptor works relatively well. The fact that it crashes with
1379more than 2000 watchers is a big setback, however, as correctness takes
1380precedence over speed. Nevertheless, its performance is surprising, as the
1381file descriptor is dup()ed for each watcher. This shows that the dup()
1382employed by some adaptors is not a big performance issue (it does incur a
1383hidden memory cost inside the kernel which is not reflected in the figures
1384above).
1385
1386C<POE>, regardless of underlying event loop (whether using its pure perl
1387select-based backend or the Event module, the POE-EV backend couldn't
1388be tested because it wasn't working) shows abysmal performance and
1389memory usage with AnyEvent: Watchers use almost 30 times as much memory
1390as EV watchers, and 10 times as much memory as Event (the high memory
1391requirements are caused by requiring a session for each watcher). Watcher
1392invocation speed is almost 900 times slower than with AnyEvent's pure perl
1393implementation.
1394
1395The design of the POE adaptor class in AnyEvent can not really account
1396for the performance issues, though, as session creation overhead is
1397small compared to execution of the state machine, which is coded pretty
1398optimally within L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE> (and while everybody agrees that
1399using multiple sessions is not a good approach, especially regarding
1400memory usage, even the author of POE could not come up with a faster
1401design).
1402
1403=head3 Summary
1404
1405=over 4
1406
1407=item * Using EV through AnyEvent is faster than any other event loop
1408(even when used without AnyEvent), but most event loops have acceptable
1409performance with or without AnyEvent.
1410
1411=item * The overhead AnyEvent adds is usually much smaller than the overhead of
1412the actual event loop, only with extremely fast event loops such as EV
1413adds AnyEvent significant overhead.
1414
1415=item * You should avoid POE like the plague if you want performance or
1416reasonable memory usage.
1417
1418=back
1419
1420=head2 BENCHMARKING THE LARGE SERVER CASE
1421
1422This benchmark actually benchmarks the event loop itself. It works by
1423creating a number of "servers": each server consists of a socket pair, a
1424timeout watcher that gets reset on activity (but never fires), and an I/O
1425watcher waiting for input on one side of the socket. Each time the socket
1426watcher reads a byte it will write that byte to a random other "server".
1427
1428The effect is that there will be a lot of I/O watchers, only part of which
1429are active at any one point (so there is a constant number of active
1430fds for each loop iteration, but which fds these are is random). The
1431timeout is reset each time something is read because that reflects how
1432most timeouts work (and puts extra pressure on the event loops).
1433
1434In this benchmark, we use 10000 socket pairs (20000 sockets), of which 100
1435(1%) are active. This mirrors the activity of large servers with many
1436connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time.
1437
1438Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent
1439distribution.
1440
1441=head3 Explanation of the columns
1442
1443I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as
1444each server has a read and write socket end).
1445
1446I<create> is the time it takes to create a socket pair (which is
1447nontrivial) and two watchers: an I/O watcher and a timeout watcher.
1448
1449I<request>, the most important value, is the time it takes to handle a
1450single "request", that is, reading the token from the pipe and forwarding
1451it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating
1452a new one that moves the timeout into the future.
1453
1454=head3 Results
1455
1456 name sockets create request
1457 EV 20000 69.01 11.16
1458 Perl 20000 73.32 35.87
1459 Event 20000 212.62 257.32
1460 Glib 20000 651.16 1896.30
1461 POE 20000 349.67 12317.24 uses POE::Loop::Event
1462
1463=head3 Discussion
1464
1465This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the
1466particular event loop.
1467
1468EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time
1469is relatively high, though.
1470
1471Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event
1472loops Event and Glib.
1473
1474Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will
1475understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to
1476the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event
1477uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations.
1478
1479Glib is hit hard by its quadratic behaviour w.r.t. many watchers. It
1480clearly fails to perform with many filehandles or in busy servers.
1481
1482POE is still completely out of the picture, taking over 1000 times as long
1483as EV, and over 100 times as long as the Perl implementation, even though
1484it uses a C-based event loop in this case.
1485
1486=head3 Summary
1487
1488=over 4
1489
1490=item * The pure perl implementation performs extremely well.
1491
1492=item * Avoid Glib or POE in large projects where performance matters.
1493
1494=back
1495
1496=head2 BENCHMARKING SMALL SERVERS
1497
1498While event loops should scale (and select-based ones do not...) even to
1499large servers, most programs we (or I :) actually write have only a few
1500I/O watchers.
1501
1502In this benchmark, I use the same benchmark program as in the large server
1503case, but it uses only eight "servers", of which three are active at any
1504one time. This should reflect performance for a small server relatively
1505well.
1506
1507The columns are identical to the previous table.
1508
1509=head3 Results
1510
1511 name sockets create request
1512 EV 16 20.00 6.54
1513 Perl 16 25.75 12.62
1514 Event 16 81.27 35.86
1515 Glib 16 32.63 15.48
1516 POE 16 261.87 276.28 uses POE::Loop::Event
1517
1518=head3 Discussion
1519
1520The benchmark tries to test the performance of a typical small
1521server. While knowing how various event loops perform is interesting, keep
1522in mind that their overhead in this case is usually not as important, due
1523to the small absolute number of watchers (that is, you need efficiency and
1524speed most when you have lots of watchers, not when you only have a few of
1525them).
1526
1527EV is again fastest.
1528
1529Perl again comes second. It is noticeably faster than the C-based event
1530loops Event and Glib, although the difference is too small to really
1531matter.
1532
1533POE also performs much better in this case, but is is still far behind the
1534others.
1535
1536=head3 Summary
1537
1538=over 4
1539
1540=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of
1541watchers, as the management overhead dominates.
1542
1543=back
1544
1545
1546=head1 FORK
1547
1548Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are
1549because they rely on inefficient but fork-safe C<select> or C<poll>
1550calls. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware.
1551
1552If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first
1553watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child.
1554
1555
1556=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
1557
1558AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via
1559$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}. While this cannot (to my knowledge) be used to
1560execute arbitrary code or directly gain access, it can easily be used to
1561make the program hang or malfunction in subtle ways, as AnyEvent watchers
1562will not be active when the program uses a different event model than
1563specified in the variable.
1564
1565You can make AnyEvent completely ignore this variable by deleting it
1566before the first watcher gets created, e.g. with a C<BEGIN> block:
1567
1568 BEGIN { delete $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} }
1569
1570 use AnyEvent;
1571
1572Similar considerations apply to $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}, as that can
1573be used to probe what backend is used and gain other information (which is
1574probably even less useful to an attacker than PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL).
1575
676 1576
677=head1 SEE ALSO 1577=head1 SEE ALSO
678 1578
679Event modules: L<Coro::EV>, L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>, L<Glib::EV>, 1579Utility functions: L<AnyEvent::Util>.
680L<Coro::Event>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>, L<Glib>, L<Coro>, L<Tk>.
681 1580
682Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, 1581Event modules: L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>, L<Glib::EV>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>,
1582L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>.
1583
683L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>, 1584Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>,
684L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>. 1585L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>,
1586L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>,
1587L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>.
685 1588
1589Non-blocking file handles, sockets, TCP clients and
1590servers: L<AnyEvent::Handle>, L<AnyEvent::Socket>.
1591
1592Asynchronous DNS: L<AnyEvent::DNS>.
1593
1594Coroutine support: L<Coro>, L<Coro::AnyEvent>, L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>,
1595
686Nontrivial usage examples: L<Net::FCP>, L<Net::XMPP2>. 1596Nontrivial usage examples: L<Net::FCP>, L<Net::XMPP2>, L<AnyEvent::DNS>.
687 1597
688=head1 1598
1599=head1 AUTHOR
1600
1601 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
1602 http://home.schmorp.de/
689 1603
690=cut 1604=cut
691 1605
6921 16061
693 1607

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