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Comparing AnyEvent/lib/AnyEvent.pm (file contents):
Revision 1.301 by root, Tue Dec 1 18:04:21 2009 UTC vs.
Revision 1.309 by root, Sat Dec 26 08:59:35 2009 UTC

503 503
504=head2 IDLE WATCHERS 504=head2 IDLE WATCHERS
505 505
506 $w = AnyEvent->idle (cb => <callback>); 506 $w = AnyEvent->idle (cb => <callback>);
507 507
508Sometimes there is a need to do something, but it is not so important 508Repeatedly invoke the callback after the process becomes idle, until
509to do it instantly, but only when there is nothing better to do. This 509either the watcher is destroyed or new events have been detected.
510"nothing better to do" is usually defined to be "no other events need
511attention by the event loop".
512 510
513Idle watchers ideally get invoked when the event loop has nothing 511Idle watchers are useful when there is a need to do something, but it
514better to do, just before it would block the process to wait for new 512is not so important (or wise) to do it instantly. The callback will be
515events. Instead of blocking, the idle watcher is invoked. 513invoked only when there is "nothing better to do", which is usually
514defined as "all outstanding events have been handled and no new events
515have been detected". That means that idle watchers ideally get invoked
516when the event loop has just polled for new events but none have been
517detected. Instead of blocking to wait for more events, the idle watchers
518will be invoked.
516 519
517Most event loops unfortunately do not really support idle watchers (only 520Unfortunately, most event loops do not really support idle watchers (only
518EV, Event and Glib do it in a usable fashion) - for the rest, AnyEvent 521EV, Event and Glib do it in a usable fashion) - for the rest, AnyEvent
519will simply call the callback "from time to time". 522will simply call the callback "from time to time".
520 523
521Example: read lines from STDIN, but only process them when the 524Example: read lines from STDIN, but only process them when the
522program is otherwise idle: 525program is otherwise idle:
966You should check C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> before adding to this array, though: 969You should check C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> before adding to this array, though:
967if it is defined then the event loop has already been detected, and the 970if it is defined then the event loop has already been detected, and the
968array will be ignored. 971array will be ignored.
969 972
970Best use C<AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }> when your application allows 973Best use C<AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }> when your application allows
971it,as it takes care of these details. 974it, as it takes care of these details.
972 975
973This variable is mainly useful for modules that can do something useful 976This variable is mainly useful for modules that can do something useful
974when AnyEvent is used and thus want to know when it is initialised, but do 977when AnyEvent is used and thus want to know when it is initialised, but do
975not need to even load it by default. This array provides the means to hook 978not need to even load it by default. This array provides the means to hook
976into AnyEvent passively, without loading it. 979into AnyEvent passively, without loading it.
980
981Example: To load Coro::AnyEvent whenever Coro and AnyEvent are used
982together, you could put this into Coro (this is the actual code used by
983Coro to accomplish this):
984
985 if (defined $AnyEvent::MODEL) {
986 # AnyEvent already initialised, so load Coro::AnyEvent
987 require Coro::AnyEvent;
988 } else {
989 # AnyEvent not yet initialised, so make sure to load Coro::AnyEvent
990 # as soon as it is
991 push @AnyEvent::post_detect, sub { require Coro::AnyEvent };
992 }
977 993
978=back 994=back
979 995
980=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE 996=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE
981 997
1131package AnyEvent; 1147package AnyEvent;
1132 1148
1133# basically a tuned-down version of common::sense 1149# basically a tuned-down version of common::sense
1134sub common_sense { 1150sub common_sense {
1135 # from common:.sense 1.0 1151 # from common:.sense 1.0
1136 ${^WARNING_BITS} = "\xfc\x3f\xf3\x00\x0f\xf3\xcf\xc0\xf3\xfc\x33\x03"; 1152 ${^WARNING_BITS} = "\xfc\x3f\x33\x00\x0f\xf3\xcf\xc0\xf3\xfc\x33\x00";
1137 # use strict vars subs 1153 # use strict vars subs - NO UTF-8, as Util.pm doesn't like this atm. (uts46data.pl)
1138 $^H |= 0x00000600; 1154 $^H |= 0x00000600;
1139} 1155}
1140 1156
1141BEGIN { AnyEvent::common_sense } 1157BEGIN { AnyEvent::common_sense }
1142 1158
1143use Carp (); 1159use Carp ();
1144 1160
1145our $VERSION = '5.21'; 1161our $VERSION = '5.23';
1146our $MODEL; 1162our $MODEL;
1147 1163
1148our $AUTOLOAD; 1164our $AUTOLOAD;
1149our @ISA; 1165our @ISA;
1150 1166
2521 2537
2522 2538
2523=head1 FORK 2539=head1 FORK
2524 2540
2525Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are 2541Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are
2526because they rely on inefficient but fork-safe C<select> or C<poll> 2542because they rely on inefficient but fork-safe C<select> or C<poll> calls
2527calls. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware. 2543- higher performance APIs such as BSD's kqueue or the dreaded Linux epoll
2544are usually badly thought-out hacks that are incompatible with fork in
2545one way or another. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware and ensures that you
2546continue event-processing in both parent and child (or both, if you know
2547what you are doing).
2528 2548
2529This means that, in general, you cannot fork and do event processing 2549This means that, in general, you cannot fork and do event processing in
2530in the child if a watcher was created before the fork (which in turn 2550the child if the event library was initialised before the fork (which
2531initialises the event library). 2551usually happens when the first AnyEvent watcher is created, or the library
2552is loaded).
2532 2553
2533If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first 2554If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first
2534watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child OR you must do 2555watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child OR you must do
2535something completely out of the scope of AnyEvent. 2556something completely out of the scope of AnyEvent.
2536 2557
2537The problem of doing event processing in the parent I<and> the child 2558The problem of doing event processing in the parent I<and> the child
2538is much more complicated: even for backends that I<are> fork-aware or 2559is much more complicated: even for backends that I<are> fork-aware or
2539fork-safe, their behaviour is not usually what you want: fork clones all 2560fork-safe, their behaviour is not usually what you want: fork clones all
2540watchers, that means all timers, I/O watchers etc. are active in both 2561watchers, that means all timers, I/O watchers etc. are active in both
2541parent and child, which is almost never what you want. 2562parent and child, which is almost never what you want. USing C<exec>
2563to start worker children from some kind of manage rprocess is usually
2564preferred, because it is much easier and cleaner, at the expense of having
2565to have another binary.
2542 2566
2543 2567
2544=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS 2568=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
2545 2569
2546AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via 2570AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via

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