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Revision 1.100 by elmex, Sun Apr 27 19:15:43 2008 UTC vs.
Revision 1.311 by root, Wed Feb 10 13:33:44 2010 UTC

1=head1 NAME 1=head1 NAME
2 2
3AnyEvent - provide framework for multiple event loops 3AnyEvent - the DBI of event loop programming
4 4
5EV, Event, Coro::EV, Coro::Event, Glib, Tk, Perl, Event::Lib, Qt, POE - various supported event loops 5EV, Event, Glib, Tk, Perl, Event::Lib, Irssi, rxvt-unicode, IO::Async, Qt
6and POE are various supported event loops/environments.
6 7
7=head1 SYNOPSIS 8=head1 SYNOPSIS
8 9
9 use AnyEvent; 10 use AnyEvent;
10 11
12 # file descriptor readable
11 my $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh, poll => "r|w", cb => sub { 13 my $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh, poll => "r", cb => sub { ... });
14
15 # one-shot or repeating timers
16 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, cb => sub { ... });
17 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, interval => $seconds, cb => ...
18
19 print AnyEvent->now; # prints current event loop time
20 print AnyEvent->time; # think Time::HiRes::time or simply CORE::time.
21
22 # POSIX signal
23 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "TERM", cb => sub { ... });
24
25 # child process exit
26 my $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => $pid, cb => sub {
27 my ($pid, $status) = @_;
12 ... 28 ...
13 }); 29 });
14 30
15 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, cb => sub { 31 # called when event loop idle (if applicable)
16 ... 32 my $w = AnyEvent->idle (cb => sub { ... });
17 });
18 33
19 my $w = AnyEvent->condvar; # stores whether a condition was flagged 34 my $w = AnyEvent->condvar; # stores whether a condition was flagged
35 $w->send; # wake up current and all future recv's
20 $w->wait; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->broadcast 36 $w->recv; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->send
21 $w->broadcast; # wake up current and all future wait's 37 # use a condvar in callback mode:
38 $w->cb (sub { $_[0]->recv });
39
40=head1 INTRODUCTION/TUTORIAL
41
42This manpage is mainly a reference manual. If you are interested
43in a tutorial or some gentle introduction, have a look at the
44L<AnyEvent::Intro> manpage.
45
46=head1 SUPPORT
47
48There is a mailinglist for discussing all things AnyEvent, and an IRC
49channel, too.
50
51See the AnyEvent project page at the B<Schmorpforge Ta-Sa Software
52Repository>, at L<http://anyevent.schmorp.de>, for more info.
22 53
23=head1 WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS MODULE (OR NOT) 54=head1 WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS MODULE (OR NOT)
24 55
25Glib, POE, IO::Async, Event... CPAN offers event models by the dozen 56Glib, POE, IO::Async, Event... CPAN offers event models by the dozen
26nowadays. So what is different about AnyEvent? 57nowadays. So what is different about AnyEvent?
27 58
28Executive Summary: AnyEvent is I<compatible>, AnyEvent is I<free of 59Executive Summary: AnyEvent is I<compatible>, AnyEvent is I<free of
29policy> and AnyEvent is I<small and efficient>. 60policy> and AnyEvent is I<small and efficient>.
30 61
31First and foremost, I<AnyEvent is not an event model> itself, it only 62First 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 63interfaces to whatever event model the main program happens to use, in a
33pragmatic way. For event models and certain classes of immortals alike, 64pragmatic way. For event models and certain classes of immortals alike,
34the statement "there can only be one" is a bitter reality: In general, 65the 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 66only one event loop can be active at the same time in a process. AnyEvent
36helps hiding the differences between those event loops. 67cannot change this, but it can hide the differences between those event
68loops.
37 69
38The goal of AnyEvent is to offer module authors the ability to do event 70The 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 71programming (waiting for I/O or timer events) without subscribing to a
40religion, a way of living, and most importantly: without forcing your 72religion, a way of living, and most importantly: without forcing your
41module users into the same thing by forcing them to use the same event 73module users into the same thing by forcing them to use the same event
42model you use. 74model you use.
43 75
44For modules like POE or IO::Async (which is a total misnomer as it is 76For 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 77actually 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 78like 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 79cannot use anything else, as they are simply incompatible to everything
48isn't itself. What's worse, all the potential users of your module are 80that isn't them. What's worse, all the potential users of your
49I<also> forced to use the same event loop you use. 81module are I<also> forced to use the same event loop you use.
50 82
51AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works 83AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works
52fine. AnyEvent + Tk works fine etc. etc. but none of these work together 84fine. 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 85with 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, 86your 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 87too. But if your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all
56event models it supports (including stuff like POE and IO::Async, as long 88event models it supports (including stuff like IO::Async, as long as those
57as those use one of the supported event loops. It is trivial to add new 89use one of the supported event loops. It is trivial to add new event loops
58event loops to AnyEvent, too, so it is future-proof). 90to AnyEvent, too, so it is future-proof).
59 91
60In addition to being free of having to use I<the one and only true event 92In 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 93model>, 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 94modules, you get an enormous amount of code and strict rules you have to
63follow. AnyEvent, on the other hand, is lean and up to the point, by only 95follow. 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 96offering the functionality that is necessary, in as thin as a wrapper as
65technically possible. 97technically possible.
66 98
99Of course, AnyEvent comes with a big (and fully optional!) toolbox
100of useful functionality, such as an asynchronous DNS resolver, 100%
101non-blocking connects (even with TLS/SSL, IPv6 and on broken platforms
102such as Windows) and lots of real-world knowledge and workarounds for
103platform bugs and differences.
104
67Of course, if you want lots of policy (this can arguably be somewhat 105Now, if you I<do want> lots of policy (this can arguably be somewhat
68useful) and you want to force your users to use the one and only event 106useful) and you want to force your users to use the one and only event
69model, you should I<not> use this module. 107model, you should I<not> use this module.
70
71#TODO#
72
73Net::IRC3
74AnyEvent::HTTPD
75AnyEvent::DNS
76IO::AnyEvent
77Net::FPing
78Net::XMPP2
79Coro
80
81AnyEvent::IRC
82AnyEvent::HTTPD
83AnyEvent::DNS
84AnyEvent::Handle
85AnyEvent::Socket
86AnyEvent::FPing
87AnyEvent::XMPP
88AnyEvent::SNMP
89Coro
90 108
91=head1 DESCRIPTION 109=head1 DESCRIPTION
92 110
93L<AnyEvent> provides an identical interface to multiple event loops. This 111L<AnyEvent> provides an identical interface to multiple event loops. This
94allows module authors to utilise an event loop without forcing module 112allows module authors to utilise an event loop without forcing module
98The interface itself is vaguely similar, but not identical to the L<Event> 116The interface itself is vaguely similar, but not identical to the L<Event>
99module. 117module.
100 118
101During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries 119During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries
102to detect the currently loaded event loop by probing whether one of the 120to detect the currently loaded event loop by probing whether one of the
103following modules is already loaded: L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>, L<EV>, 121following modules is already loaded: L<EV>,
104L<Event>, L<Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, 122L<Event>, L<Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>,
105L<POE>. The first one found is used. If none are found, the module tries 123L<POE>. The first one found is used. If none are found, the module tries
106to load these modules (excluding Tk, Event::Lib, Qt and POE as the pure perl 124to load these modules (excluding Tk, Event::Lib, Qt and POE as the pure perl
107adaptor should always succeed) in the order given. The first one that can 125adaptor should always succeed) in the order given. The first one that can
108be successfully loaded will be used. If, after this, still none could be 126be successfully loaded will be used. If, after this, still none could be
122starts using it, all bets are off. Maybe you should tell their authors to 140starts using it, all bets are off. Maybe you should tell their authors to
123use AnyEvent so their modules work together with others seamlessly... 141use AnyEvent so their modules work together with others seamlessly...
124 142
125The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called 143The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called
126C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>. Like other event modules you can load it 144C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>. Like other event modules you can load it
127explicitly. 145explicitly and enjoy the high availability of that event loop :)
128 146
129=head1 WATCHERS 147=head1 WATCHERS
130 148
131AnyEvent has the central concept of a I<watcher>, which is an object that 149AnyEvent has the central concept of a I<watcher>, which is an object that
132stores relevant data for each kind of event you are waiting for, such as 150stores relevant data for each kind of event you are waiting for, such as
133the callback to call, the filehandle to watch, etc. 151the callback to call, the file handle to watch, etc.
134 152
135These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After 153These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After
136creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the 154creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the
137callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model 155callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model
138is in control). 156is in control).
139 157
158Note that B<callbacks must not permanently change global variables>
159potentially in use by the event loop (such as C<$_> or C<$[>) and that B<<
160callbacks must not C<die> >>. The former is good programming practise in
161Perl and the latter stems from the fact that exception handling differs
162widely between event loops.
163
140To disable the watcher you have to destroy it (e.g. by setting the 164To disable the watcher you have to destroy it (e.g. by setting the
141variable you store it in to C<undef> or otherwise deleting all references 165variable you store it in to C<undef> or otherwise deleting all references
142to it). 166to it).
143 167
144All watchers are created by calling a method on the C<AnyEvent> class. 168All watchers are created by calling a method on the C<AnyEvent> class.
146Many watchers either are used with "recursion" (repeating timers for 170Many watchers either are used with "recursion" (repeating timers for
147example), or need to refer to their watcher object in other ways. 171example), or need to refer to their watcher object in other ways.
148 172
149An any way to achieve that is this pattern: 173An any way to achieve that is this pattern:
150 174
151 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->type (arg => value ..., cb => sub { 175 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->type (arg => value ..., cb => sub {
152 # you can use $w here, for example to undef it 176 # you can use $w here, for example to undef it
153 undef $w; 177 undef $w;
154 }); 178 });
155 179
156Note that C<my $w; $w => combination. This is necessary because in Perl, 180Note that C<my $w; $w => combination. This is necessary because in Perl,
157my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are 181my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are
158declared. 182declared.
159 183
160=head2 I/O WATCHERS 184=head2 I/O WATCHERS
161 185
186 $w = AnyEvent->io (
187 fh => <filehandle_or_fileno>,
188 poll => <"r" or "w">,
189 cb => <callback>,
190 );
191
162You can create an I/O watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->io >> method 192You can create an I/O watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->io >> method
163with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments: 193with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments:
164 194
165C<fh> the Perl I<file handle> (I<not> file descriptor) to watch 195C<fh> is the Perl I<file handle> (or a naked file descriptor) to watch
196for events (AnyEvent might or might not keep a reference to this file
197handle). Note that only file handles pointing to things for which
198non-blocking operation makes sense are allowed. This includes sockets,
199most character devices, pipes, fifos and so on, but not for example files
200or block devices.
201
166for events. C<poll> must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>, 202C<poll> must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>, which creates a
167which creates a watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, 203watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, respectively.
204
168respectively. C<cb> is the callback to invoke each time the file handle 205C<cb> is the callback to invoke each time the file handle becomes ready.
169becomes ready.
170 206
171Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 207Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
172presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 208presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
173callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks. 209callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks.
174 210
178 214
179Some event loops issue spurious readyness notifications, so you should 215Some event loops issue spurious readyness notifications, so you should
180always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file 216always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file
181handles. 217handles.
182 218
183Example:
184
185 # wait for readability of STDIN, then read a line and disable the watcher 219Example: wait for readability of STDIN, then read a line and disable the
220watcher.
221
186 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub { 222 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub {
187 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); 223 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>);
188 warn "read: $input\n"; 224 warn "read: $input\n";
189 undef $w; 225 undef $w;
190 }); 226 });
191 227
192=head2 TIME WATCHERS 228=head2 TIME WATCHERS
193 229
230 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => <seconds>, cb => <callback>);
231
232 $w = AnyEvent->timer (
233 after => <fractional_seconds>,
234 interval => <fractional_seconds>,
235 cb => <callback>,
236 );
237
194You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >> 238You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >>
195method with the following mandatory arguments: 239method with the following mandatory arguments:
196 240
197C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are 241C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are
198supported) the callback should be invoked. C<cb> is the callback to invoke 242supported) the callback should be invoked. C<cb> is the callback to invoke
200 244
201Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 245Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
202presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 246presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
203callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks. 247callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks.
204 248
205The timer callback will be invoked at most once: if you want a repeating 249The callback will normally be invoked once only. If you specify another
206timer you have to create a new watcher (this is a limitation by both Tk 250parameter, C<interval>, as a strictly positive number (> 0), then the
207and Glib). 251callback will be invoked regularly at that interval (in fractional
252seconds) after the first invocation. If C<interval> is specified with a
253false value, then it is treated as if it were missing.
208 254
209Example: 255The callback will be rescheduled before invoking the callback, but no
256attempt is done to avoid timer drift in most backends, so the interval is
257only approximate.
210 258
211 # fire an event after 7.7 seconds 259Example: fire an event after 7.7 seconds.
260
212 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub { 261 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub {
213 warn "timeout\n"; 262 warn "timeout\n";
214 }); 263 });
215 264
216 # to cancel the timer: 265 # to cancel the timer:
217 undef $w; 266 undef $w;
218 267
219Example 2:
220
221 # fire an event after 0.5 seconds, then roughly every second 268Example 2: fire an event after 0.5 seconds, then roughly every second.
222 my $w;
223 269
224 my $cb = sub {
225 # cancel the old timer while creating a new one
226 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => $cb); 270 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.5, interval => 1, cb => sub {
271 warn "timeout\n";
227 }; 272 };
228
229 # start the "loop" by creating the first watcher
230 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.5, cb => $cb);
231 273
232=head3 TIMING ISSUES 274=head3 TIMING ISSUES
233 275
234There are two ways to handle timers: based on real time (relative, "fire 276There are two ways to handle timers: based on real time (relative, "fire
235in 10 seconds") and based on wallclock time (absolute, "fire at 12 277in 10 seconds") and based on wallclock time (absolute, "fire at 12
247timers. 289timers.
248 290
249AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the 291AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the
250AnyEvent API. 292AnyEvent API.
251 293
294AnyEvent has two additional methods that return the "current time":
295
296=over 4
297
298=item AnyEvent->time
299
300This returns the "current wallclock time" as a fractional number of
301seconds since the Epoch (the same thing as C<time> or C<Time::HiRes::time>
302return, and the result is guaranteed to be compatible with those).
303
304It progresses independently of any event loop processing, i.e. each call
305will check the system clock, which usually gets updated frequently.
306
307=item AnyEvent->now
308
309This also returns the "current wallclock time", but unlike C<time>, above,
310this value might change only once per event loop iteration, depending on
311the event loop (most return the same time as C<time>, above). This is the
312time that AnyEvent's timers get scheduled against.
313
314I<In almost all cases (in all cases if you don't care), this is the
315function to call when you want to know the current time.>
316
317This function is also often faster then C<< AnyEvent->time >>, and
318thus the preferred method if you want some timestamp (for example,
319L<AnyEvent::Handle> uses this to update it's activity timeouts).
320
321The rest of this section is only of relevance if you try to be very exact
322with your timing, you can skip it without bad conscience.
323
324For a practical example of when these times differ, consider L<Event::Lib>
325and L<EV> and the following set-up:
326
327The event loop is running and has just invoked one of your callback at
328time=500 (assume no other callbacks delay processing). In your callback,
329you wait a second by executing C<sleep 1> (blocking the process for a
330second) and then (at time=501) you create a relative timer that fires
331after three seconds.
332
333With L<Event::Lib>, C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> will
334both return C<501>, because that is the current time, and the timer will
335be scheduled to fire at time=504 (C<501> + C<3>).
336
337With L<EV>, C<< AnyEvent->time >> returns C<501> (as that is the current
338time), but C<< AnyEvent->now >> returns C<500>, as that is the time the
339last event processing phase started. With L<EV>, your timer gets scheduled
340to run at time=503 (C<500> + C<3>).
341
342In one sense, L<Event::Lib> is more exact, as it uses the current time
343regardless of any delays introduced by event processing. However, most
344callbacks do not expect large delays in processing, so this causes a
345higher drift (and a lot more system calls to get the current time).
346
347In another sense, L<EV> is more exact, as your timer will be scheduled at
348the same time, regardless of how long event processing actually took.
349
350In either case, if you care (and in most cases, you don't), then you
351can get whatever behaviour you want with any event loop, by taking the
352difference between C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> into
353account.
354
355=item AnyEvent->now_update
356
357Some event loops (such as L<EV> or L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) cache
358the current time for each loop iteration (see the discussion of L<<
359AnyEvent->now >>, above).
360
361When a callback runs for a long time (or when the process sleeps), then
362this "current" time will differ substantially from the real time, which
363might affect timers and time-outs.
364
365When this is the case, you can call this method, which will update the
366event loop's idea of "current time".
367
368A typical example would be a script in a web server (e.g. C<mod_perl>) -
369when mod_perl executes the script, then the event loop will have the wrong
370idea about the "current time" (being potentially far in the past, when the
371script ran the last time). In that case you should arrange a call to C<<
372AnyEvent->now_update >> each time the web server process wakes up again
373(e.g. at the start of your script, or in a handler).
374
375Note that updating the time I<might> cause some events to be handled.
376
377=back
378
252=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS 379=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS
253 380
381 $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => <uppercase_signal_name>, cb => <callback>);
382
254You can watch for signals using a signal watcher, C<signal> is the signal 383You can watch for signals using a signal watcher, C<signal> is the signal
255I<name> without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl callback to 384I<name> in uppercase and without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl
256be invoked whenever a signal occurs. 385callback to be invoked whenever a signal occurs.
257 386
258Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 387Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
259presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 388presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
260callbacks cannot use arguments passed to signal watcher callbacks. 389callbacks cannot use arguments passed to signal watcher callbacks.
261 390
262Multiple signal occurances can be clumped together into one callback 391Multiple signal occurrences can be clumped together into one callback
263invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. synchronous means 392invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. Synchronous means
264that it might take a while until the signal gets handled by the process, 393that it might take a while until the signal gets handled by the process,
265but it is guarenteed not to interrupt any other callbacks. 394but it is guaranteed not to interrupt any other callbacks.
266 395
267The main advantage of using these watchers is that you can share a signal 396The main advantage of using these watchers is that you can share a signal
268between multiple watchers. 397between multiple watchers, and AnyEvent will ensure that signals will not
398interrupt your program at bad times.
269 399
270This watcher might use C<%SIG>, so programs overwriting those signals 400This watcher might use C<%SIG> (depending on the event loop used),
271directly will likely not work correctly. 401so programs overwriting those signals directly will likely not work
402correctly.
272 403
273Example: exit on SIGINT 404Example: exit on SIGINT
274 405
275 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 }); 406 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 });
276 407
408=head3 Restart Behaviour
409
410While restart behaviour is up to the event loop implementation, most will
411not restart syscalls (that includes L<Async::Interrupt> and AnyEvent's
412pure perl implementation).
413
414=head3 Safe/Unsafe Signals
415
416Perl signals can be either "safe" (synchronous to opcode handling) or
417"unsafe" (asynchronous) - the former might get delayed indefinitely, the
418latter might corrupt your memory.
419
420AnyEvent signal handlers are, in addition, synchronous to the event loop,
421i.e. they will not interrupt your running perl program but will only be
422called as part of the normal event handling (just like timer, I/O etc.
423callbacks, too).
424
425=head3 Signal Races, Delays and Workarounds
426
427Many event loops (e.g. Glib, Tk, Qt, IO::Async) do not support attaching
428callbacks to signals in a generic way, which is a pity, as you cannot
429do race-free signal handling in perl, requiring C libraries for
430this. AnyEvent will try to do it's best, which means in some cases,
431signals will be delayed. The maximum time a signal might be delayed is
432specified in C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY> (default: 10 seconds). This
433variable can be changed only before the first signal watcher is created,
434and should be left alone otherwise. This variable determines how often
435AnyEvent polls for signals (in case a wake-up was missed). Higher values
436will cause fewer spurious wake-ups, which is better for power and CPU
437saving.
438
439All these problems can be avoided by installing the optional
440L<Async::Interrupt> module, which works with most event loops. It will not
441work with inherently broken event loops such as L<Event> or L<Event::Lib>
442(and not with L<POE> currently, as POE does it's own workaround with
443one-second latency). For those, you just have to suffer the delays.
444
277=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS 445=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS
278 446
447 $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => <process id>, cb => <callback>);
448
279You can also watch on a child process exit and catch its exit status. 449You can also watch on a child process exit and catch its exit status.
280 450
281The child process is specified by the C<pid> argument (if set to C<0>, it 451The child process is specified by the C<pid> argument (one some backends,
282watches for any child process exit). The watcher will trigger as often 452using C<0> watches for any child process exit, on others this will
283as status change for the child are received. This works by installing a 453croak). The watcher will be triggered only when the child process has
284signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>. The callback will be called with the pid 454finished and an exit status is available, not on any trace events
285and exit status (as returned by waitpid), so unlike other watcher types, 455(stopped/continued).
286you I<can> rely on child watcher callback arguments. 456
457The callback will be called with the pid and exit status (as returned by
458waitpid), so unlike other watcher types, you I<can> rely on child watcher
459callback arguments.
460
461This watcher type works by installing a signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>,
462and since it cannot be shared, nothing else should use SIGCHLD or reap
463random child processes (waiting for specific child processes, e.g. inside
464C<system>, is just fine).
287 465
288There is a slight catch to child watchers, however: you usually start them 466There is a slight catch to child watchers, however: you usually start them
289I<after> the child process was created, and this means the process could 467I<after> the child process was created, and this means the process could
290have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore). 468have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore).
291 469
292Not all event models handle this correctly (POE doesn't), but even for 470Not all event models handle this correctly (neither POE nor IO::Async do,
471see their AnyEvent::Impl manpages for details), but even for event models
293event models that I<do> handle this correctly, they usually need to be 472that I<do> handle this correctly, they usually need to be loaded before
294loaded before the process exits (i.e. before you fork in the first place). 473the process exits (i.e. before you fork in the first place). AnyEvent's
474pure perl event loop handles all cases correctly regardless of when you
475start the watcher.
295 476
296This means you cannot create a child watcher as the very first thing in an 477This means you cannot create a child watcher as the very first
297AnyEvent program, you I<have> to create at least one watcher before you 478thing in an AnyEvent program, you I<have> to create at least one
298C<fork> the child (alternatively, you can call C<AnyEvent::detect>). 479watcher before you C<fork> the child (alternatively, you can call
480C<AnyEvent::detect>).
481
482As most event loops do not support waiting for child events, they will be
483emulated by AnyEvent in most cases, in which the latency and race problems
484mentioned in the description of signal watchers apply.
299 485
300Example: fork a process and wait for it 486Example: fork a process and wait for it
301 487
302 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar; 488 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
303 489
304 AnyEvent::detect; # force event module to be initialised
305
306 my $pid = fork or exit 5; 490 my $pid = fork or exit 5;
307 491
308 my $w = AnyEvent->child ( 492 my $w = AnyEvent->child (
309 pid => $pid, 493 pid => $pid,
310 cb => sub { 494 cb => sub {
311 my ($pid, $status) = @_; 495 my ($pid, $status) = @_;
312 warn "pid $pid exited with status $status"; 496 warn "pid $pid exited with status $status";
313 $done->broadcast; 497 $done->send;
314 }, 498 },
315 ); 499 );
316 500
317 # do something else, then wait for process exit 501 # do something else, then wait for process exit
318 $done->wait; 502 $done->recv;
503
504=head2 IDLE WATCHERS
505
506 $w = AnyEvent->idle (cb => <callback>);
507
508Repeatedly invoke the callback after the process becomes idle, until
509either the watcher is destroyed or new events have been detected.
510
511Idle watchers are useful when there is a need to do something, but it
512is not so important (or wise) to do it instantly. The callback will be
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.
519
520Unfortunately, most event loops do not really support idle watchers (only
521EV, Event and Glib do it in a usable fashion) - for the rest, AnyEvent
522will simply call the callback "from time to time".
523
524Example: read lines from STDIN, but only process them when the
525program is otherwise idle:
526
527 my @lines; # read data
528 my $idle_w;
529 my $io_w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub {
530 push @lines, scalar <STDIN>;
531
532 # start an idle watcher, if not already done
533 $idle_w ||= AnyEvent->idle (cb => sub {
534 # handle only one line, when there are lines left
535 if (my $line = shift @lines) {
536 print "handled when idle: $line";
537 } else {
538 # otherwise disable the idle watcher again
539 undef $idle_w;
540 }
541 });
542 });
319 543
320=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES 544=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES
321 545
546 $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
547
548 $cv->send (<list>);
549 my @res = $cv->recv;
550
551If you are familiar with some event loops you will know that all of them
552require you to run some blocking "loop", "run" or similar function that
553will actively watch for new events and call your callbacks.
554
555AnyEvent is slightly different: it expects somebody else to run the event
556loop and will only block when necessary (usually when told by the user).
557
558The instrument to do that is called a "condition variable", so called
559because they represent a condition that must become true.
560
561Now is probably a good time to look at the examples further below.
562
322Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar >> 563Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar
323method without any arguments. 564>> method, usually without arguments. The only argument pair allowed is
565C<cb>, which specifies a callback to be called when the condition variable
566becomes true, with the condition variable as the first argument (but not
567the results).
324 568
325A condition variable waits for a condition - precisely that the C<< 569After creation, the condition variable is "false" until it becomes "true"
326->broadcast >> method has been called. 570by calling the C<send> method (or calling the condition variable as if it
571were a callback, read about the caveats in the description for the C<<
572->send >> method).
327 573
328They are very useful to signal that a condition has been fulfilled, for 574Condition variables are similar to callbacks, except that you can
575optionally wait for them. They can also be called merge points - points
576in time where multiple outstanding events have been processed. And yet
577another way to call them is transactions - each condition variable can be
578used to represent a transaction, which finishes at some point and delivers
579a result. And yet some people know them as "futures" - a promise to
580compute/deliver something that you can wait for.
581
582Condition variables are very useful to signal that something has finished,
329example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests, 583for example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests,
330then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the 584then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the
331availability of results. 585availability of results. The user can either act when the callback is
586called or can synchronously C<< ->recv >> for the results.
332 587
333You can also use condition variables to block your main program until 588You can also use them to simulate traditional event loops - for example,
334an event occurs - for example, you could C<< ->wait >> in your main 589you can block your main program until an event occurs - for example, you
335program until the user clicks the Quit button in your app, which would C<< 590could C<< ->recv >> in your main program until the user clicks the Quit
336->broadcast >> the "quit" event. 591button of your app, which would C<< ->send >> the "quit" event.
337 592
338Note that condition variables recurse into the event loop - if you have 593Note that condition variables recurse into the event loop - if you have
339two pirces of code that call C<< ->wait >> in a round-robbin fashion, you 594two pieces of code that call C<< ->recv >> in a round-robin fashion, you
340lose. Therefore, condition variables are good to export to your caller, but 595lose. Therefore, condition variables are good to export to your caller, but
341you should avoid making a blocking wait yourself, at least in callbacks, 596you should avoid making a blocking wait yourself, at least in callbacks,
342as this asks for trouble. 597as this asks for trouble.
343 598
344This object has two methods: 599Condition variables are represented by hash refs in perl, and the keys
600used by AnyEvent itself are all named C<_ae_XXX> to make subclassing
601easy (it is often useful to build your own transaction class on top of
602AnyEvent). To subclass, use C<AnyEvent::CondVar> as base class and call
603it's C<new> method in your own C<new> method.
345 604
346=over 4 605There are two "sides" to a condition variable - the "producer side" which
606eventually calls C<< -> send >>, and the "consumer side", which waits
607for the send to occur.
347 608
348=item $cv->wait 609Example: wait for a timer.
349
350Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->broadcast >> method has been
351called on c<$cv>, while servicing other watchers normally.
352
353You can only wait once on a condition - additional calls will return
354immediately.
355
356Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case
357(programs might want to do that to stay interactive), so I<if you are
358using this from a module, never require a blocking wait>, but let the
359caller decide whether the call will block or not (for example, by coupling
360condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting
361callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block,
362while still suppporting blocking waits if the caller so desires).
363
364Another reason I<never> to C<< ->wait >> in a module is that you cannot
365sensibly have two C<< ->wait >>'s in parallel, as that would require
366multiple interpreters or coroutines/threads, none of which C<AnyEvent>
367can supply (the coroutine-aware backends L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV> and
368L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent> explicitly support concurrent C<< ->wait >>'s
369from different coroutines, however).
370
371=item $cv->broadcast
372
373Flag the condition as ready - a running C<< ->wait >> and all further
374calls to C<wait> will (eventually) return after this method has been
375called. If nobody is waiting the broadcast will be remembered..
376
377=back
378
379Example:
380 610
381 # wait till the result is ready 611 # wait till the result is ready
382 my $result_ready = AnyEvent->condvar; 612 my $result_ready = AnyEvent->condvar;
383 613
384 # do something such as adding a timer 614 # do something such as adding a timer
385 # or socket watcher the calls $result_ready->broadcast 615 # or socket watcher the calls $result_ready->send
386 # when the "result" is ready. 616 # when the "result" is ready.
387 # in this case, we simply use a timer: 617 # in this case, we simply use a timer:
388 my $w = AnyEvent->timer ( 618 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (
389 after => 1, 619 after => 1,
390 cb => sub { $result_ready->broadcast }, 620 cb => sub { $result_ready->send },
391 ); 621 );
392 622
393 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the watcher 623 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the callback
394 # calls broadcast 624 # calls ->send
395 $result_ready->wait; 625 $result_ready->recv;
626
627Example: wait for a timer, but take advantage of the fact that condition
628variables are also callable directly.
629
630 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
631 my $delay = AnyEvent->timer (after => 5, cb => $done);
632 $done->recv;
633
634Example: Imagine an API that returns a condvar and doesn't support
635callbacks. This is how you make a synchronous call, for example from
636the main program:
637
638 use AnyEvent::CouchDB;
639
640 ...
641
642 my @info = $couchdb->info->recv;
643
644And this is how you would just set a callback to be called whenever the
645results are available:
646
647 $couchdb->info->cb (sub {
648 my @info = $_[0]->recv;
649 });
650
651=head3 METHODS FOR PRODUCERS
652
653These methods should only be used by the producing side, i.e. the
654code/module that eventually sends the signal. Note that it is also
655the producer side which creates the condvar in most cases, but it isn't
656uncommon for the consumer to create it as well.
657
658=over 4
659
660=item $cv->send (...)
661
662Flag the condition as ready - a running C<< ->recv >> and all further
663calls to C<recv> will (eventually) return after this method has been
664called. If nobody is waiting the send will be remembered.
665
666If a callback has been set on the condition variable, it is called
667immediately from within send.
668
669Any arguments passed to the C<send> call will be returned by all
670future C<< ->recv >> calls.
671
672Condition variables are overloaded so one can call them directly (as if
673they were a code reference). Calling them directly is the same as calling
674C<send>.
675
676=item $cv->croak ($error)
677
678Similar to send, but causes all call's to C<< ->recv >> to invoke
679C<Carp::croak> with the given error message/object/scalar.
680
681This can be used to signal any errors to the condition variable
682user/consumer. Doing it this way instead of calling C<croak> directly
683delays the error detetcion, but has the overwhelmign advantage that it
684diagnoses the error at the place where the result is expected, and not
685deep in some event clalback without connection to the actual code causing
686the problem.
687
688=item $cv->begin ([group callback])
689
690=item $cv->end
691
692These two methods can be used to combine many transactions/events into
693one. For example, a function that pings many hosts in parallel might want
694to use a condition variable for the whole process.
695
696Every call to C<< ->begin >> will increment a counter, and every call to
697C<< ->end >> will decrement it. If the counter reaches C<0> in C<< ->end
698>>, the (last) callback passed to C<begin> will be executed, passing the
699condvar as first argument. That callback is I<supposed> to call C<< ->send
700>>, but that is not required. If no group callback was set, C<send> will
701be called without any arguments.
702
703You can think of C<< $cv->send >> giving you an OR condition (one call
704sends), while C<< $cv->begin >> and C<< $cv->end >> giving you an AND
705condition (all C<begin> calls must be C<end>'ed before the condvar sends).
706
707Let's start with a simple example: you have two I/O watchers (for example,
708STDOUT and STDERR for a program), and you want to wait for both streams to
709close before activating a condvar:
710
711 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
712
713 $cv->begin; # first watcher
714 my $w1 = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh1, cb => sub {
715 defined sysread $fh1, my $buf, 4096
716 or $cv->end;
717 });
718
719 $cv->begin; # second watcher
720 my $w2 = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh2, cb => sub {
721 defined sysread $fh2, my $buf, 4096
722 or $cv->end;
723 });
724
725 $cv->recv;
726
727This works because for every event source (EOF on file handle), there is
728one call to C<begin>, so the condvar waits for all calls to C<end> before
729sending.
730
731The ping example mentioned above is slightly more complicated, as the
732there are results to be passwd back, and the number of tasks that are
733begung can potentially be zero:
734
735 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
736
737 my %result;
738 $cv->begin (sub { shift->send (\%result) });
739
740 for my $host (@list_of_hosts) {
741 $cv->begin;
742 ping_host_then_call_callback $host, sub {
743 $result{$host} = ...;
744 $cv->end;
745 };
746 }
747
748 $cv->end;
749
750This code fragment supposedly pings a number of hosts and calls
751C<send> after results for all then have have been gathered - in any
752order. To achieve this, the code issues a call to C<begin> when it starts
753each ping request and calls C<end> when it has received some result for
754it. Since C<begin> and C<end> only maintain a counter, the order in which
755results arrive is not relevant.
756
757There is an additional bracketing call to C<begin> and C<end> outside the
758loop, which serves two important purposes: first, it sets the callback
759to be called once the counter reaches C<0>, and second, it ensures that
760C<send> is called even when C<no> hosts are being pinged (the loop
761doesn't execute once).
762
763This is the general pattern when you "fan out" into multiple (but
764potentially none) subrequests: use an outer C<begin>/C<end> pair to set
765the callback and ensure C<end> is called at least once, and then, for each
766subrequest you start, call C<begin> and for each subrequest you finish,
767call C<end>.
768
769=back
770
771=head3 METHODS FOR CONSUMERS
772
773These methods should only be used by the consuming side, i.e. the
774code awaits the condition.
775
776=over 4
777
778=item $cv->recv
779
780Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->send >> or C<< ->croak
781>> methods have been called on c<$cv>, while servicing other watchers
782normally.
783
784You can only wait once on a condition - additional calls are valid but
785will return immediately.
786
787If an error condition has been set by calling C<< ->croak >>, then this
788function will call C<croak>.
789
790In list context, all parameters passed to C<send> will be returned,
791in scalar context only the first one will be returned.
792
793Note that doing a blocking wait in a callback is not supported by any
794event loop, that is, recursive invocation of a blocking C<< ->recv
795>> is not allowed, and the C<recv> call will C<croak> if such a
796condition is detected. This condition can be slightly loosened by using
797L<Coro::AnyEvent>, which allows you to do a blocking C<< ->recv >> from
798any thread that doesn't run the event loop itself.
799
800Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case
801(programs might want to do that to stay interactive), so I<if you are
802using this from a module, never require a blocking wait>. Instead, let the
803caller decide whether the call will block or not (for example, by coupling
804condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting
805callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block,
806while still supporting blocking waits if the caller so desires).
807
808You can ensure that C<< -recv >> never blocks by setting a callback and
809only calling C<< ->recv >> from within that callback (or at a later
810time). This will work even when the event loop does not support blocking
811waits otherwise.
812
813=item $bool = $cv->ready
814
815Returns true when the condition is "true", i.e. whether C<send> or
816C<croak> have been called.
817
818=item $cb = $cv->cb ($cb->($cv))
819
820This is a mutator function that returns the callback set and optionally
821replaces it before doing so.
822
823The callback will be called when the condition becomes (or already was)
824"true", i.e. when C<send> or C<croak> are called (or were called), with
825the only argument being the condition variable itself. Calling C<recv>
826inside the callback or at any later time is guaranteed not to block.
827
828=back
829
830=head1 SUPPORTED EVENT LOOPS/BACKENDS
831
832The available backend classes are (every class has its own manpage):
833
834=over 4
835
836=item Backends that are autoprobed when no other event loop can be found.
837
838EV is the preferred backend when no other event loop seems to be in
839use. If EV is not installed, then AnyEvent will fall back to its own
840pure-perl implementation, which is available everywhere as it comes with
841AnyEvent itself.
842
843 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (interface to libev, best choice).
844 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl implementation, fast and portable.
845
846=item Backends that are transparently being picked up when they are used.
847
848These will be used when they are currently loaded when the first watcher
849is created, in which case it is assumed that the application is using
850them. This means that AnyEvent will automatically pick the right backend
851when the main program loads an event module before anything starts to
852create watchers. Nothing special needs to be done by the main program.
853
854 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, very stable, few glitches.
855 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, slow but very stable.
856 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very broken.
857 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
858 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, very slow, some limitations.
859 AnyEvent::Impl::Irssi used when running within irssi.
860
861=item Backends with special needs.
862
863Qt requires the Qt::Application to be instantiated first, but will
864otherwise be picked up automatically. As long as the main program
865instantiates the application before any AnyEvent watchers are created,
866everything should just work.
867
868 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt.
869
870Support for IO::Async can only be partial, as it is too broken and
871architecturally limited to even support the AnyEvent API. It also
872is the only event loop that needs the loop to be set explicitly, so
873it can only be used by a main program knowing about AnyEvent. See
874L<AnyEvent::Impl::Async> for the gory details.
875
876 AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync based on IO::Async, cannot be autoprobed.
877
878=item Event loops that are indirectly supported via other backends.
879
880Some event loops can be supported via other modules:
881
882There is no direct support for WxWidgets (L<Wx>) or L<Prima>.
883
884B<WxWidgets> has no support for watching file handles. However, you can
885use WxWidgets through the POE adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply
886polls 20 times per second, which was considered to be too horrible to even
887consider for AnyEvent.
888
889B<Prima> is not supported as nobody seems to be using it, but it has a POE
890backend, so it can be supported through POE.
891
892AnyEvent knows about both L<Prima> and L<Wx>, however, and will try to
893load L<POE> when detecting them, in the hope that POE will pick them up,
894in which case everything will be automatic.
895
896=back
396 897
397=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS 898=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS
398 899
900These are not normally required to use AnyEvent, but can be useful to
901write AnyEvent extension modules.
902
399=over 4 903=over 4
400 904
401=item $AnyEvent::MODEL 905=item $AnyEvent::MODEL
402 906
403Contains C<undef> until the first watcher is being created. Then it 907Contains C<undef> until the first watcher is being created, before the
908backend has been autodetected.
909
404contains the event model that is being used, which is the name of the 910Afterwards it contains the event model that is being used, which is the
405Perl class implementing the model. This class is usually one of the 911name of the Perl class implementing the model. This class is usually one
406C<AnyEvent::Impl:xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the case 912of the C<AnyEvent::Impl:xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the
407AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode>). 913case AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode> it
408 914will be C<urxvt::anyevent>).
409The known classes so far are:
410
411 AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV based on Coro::EV, best choice.
412 AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent based on Coro::Event, second best choice.
413 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (an interface to libev, best choice).
414 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, second best choice.
415 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, third-best choice.
416 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl implementation, inefficient but portable.
417 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very bad choice.
418 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt, cannot be autoprobed (see its docs).
419 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
420 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, not generic enough for full support.
421
422There is no support for WxWidgets, as WxWidgets has no support for
423watching file handles. However, you can use WxWidgets through the
424POE Adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply polls 20 times per
425second, which was considered to be too horrible to even consider for
426AnyEvent. Likewise, other POE backends can be used by AnyEvent by using
427it's adaptor.
428
429AnyEvent knows about L<Prima> and L<Wx> and will try to use L<POE> when
430autodetecting them.
431 915
432=item AnyEvent::detect 916=item AnyEvent::detect
433 917
434Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model 918Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model
435if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would 919if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would
436have created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, as late as possible at 920have created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, as late as possible at
437runtime. 921runtime, and not e.g. while initialising of your module.
922
923If you need to do some initialisation before AnyEvent watchers are
924created, use C<post_detect>.
925
926=item $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }
927
928Arranges for the code block to be executed as soon as the event model is
929autodetected (or immediately if this has already happened).
930
931The block will be executed I<after> the actual backend has been detected
932(C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> is set), but I<before> any watchers have been
933created, so it is possible to e.g. patch C<@AnyEvent::ISA> or do
934other initialisations - see the sources of L<AnyEvent::Strict> or
935L<AnyEvent::AIO> to see how this is used.
936
937The most common usage is to create some global watchers, without forcing
938event module detection too early, for example, L<AnyEvent::AIO> creates
939and installs the global L<IO::AIO> watcher in a C<post_detect> block to
940avoid autodetecting the event module at load time.
941
942If called in scalar or list context, then it creates and returns an object
943that automatically removes the callback again when it is destroyed (or
944C<undef> when the hook was immediately executed). See L<AnyEvent::AIO> for
945a case where this is useful.
946
947Example: Create a watcher for the IO::AIO module and store it in
948C<$WATCHER>. Only do so after the event loop is initialised, though.
949
950 our WATCHER;
951
952 my $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect {
953 $WATCHER = AnyEvent->io (fh => IO::AIO::poll_fileno, poll => 'r', cb => \&IO::AIO::poll_cb);
954 };
955
956 # the ||= is important in case post_detect immediately runs the block,
957 # as to not clobber the newly-created watcher. assigning both watcher and
958 # post_detect guard to the same variable has the advantage of users being
959 # able to just C<undef $WATCHER> if the watcher causes them grief.
960
961 $WATCHER ||= $guard;
962
963=item @AnyEvent::post_detect
964
965If there are any code references in this array (you can C<push> to it
966before or after loading AnyEvent), then they will called directly after
967the event loop has been chosen.
968
969You should check C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> before adding to this array, though:
970if it is defined then the event loop has already been detected, and the
971array will be ignored.
972
973Best use C<AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }> when your application allows
974it, as it takes care of these details.
975
976This variable is mainly useful for modules that can do something useful
977when AnyEvent is used and thus want to know when it is initialised, but do
978not need to even load it by default. This array provides the means to hook
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 }
438 993
439=back 994=back
440 995
441=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE 996=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE
442 997
446Be careful when you create watchers in the module body - AnyEvent will 1001Be careful when you create watchers in the module body - AnyEvent will
447decide which event module to use as soon as the first method is called, so 1002decide which event module to use as soon as the first method is called, so
448by calling AnyEvent in your module body you force the user of your module 1003by calling AnyEvent in your module body you force the user of your module
449to load the event module first. 1004to load the event module first.
450 1005
451Never call C<< ->wait >> on a condition variable unless you I<know> that 1006Never call C<< ->recv >> on a condition variable unless you I<know> that
452the C<< ->broadcast >> method has been called on it already. This is 1007the C<< ->send >> method has been called on it already. This is
453because it will stall the whole program, and the whole point of using 1008because it will stall the whole program, and the whole point of using
454events is to stay interactive. 1009events is to stay interactive.
455 1010
456It is fine, however, to call C<< ->wait >> when the user of your module 1011It is fine, however, to call C<< ->recv >> when the user of your module
457requests it (i.e. if you create a http request object ad have a method 1012requests it (i.e. if you create a http request object ad have a method
458called C<results> that returns the results, it should call C<< ->wait >> 1013called C<results> that returns the results, it should call C<< ->recv >>
459freely, as the user of your module knows what she is doing. always). 1014freely, as the user of your module knows what she is doing. always).
460 1015
461=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM 1016=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM
462 1017
463There will always be a single main program - the only place that should 1018There will always be a single main program - the only place that should
465 1020
466If it doesn't care, it can just "use AnyEvent" and use it itself, or not 1021If it doesn't care, it can just "use AnyEvent" and use it itself, or not
467do anything special (it does not need to be event-based) and let AnyEvent 1022do anything special (it does not need to be event-based) and let AnyEvent
468decide which implementation to chose if some module relies on it. 1023decide which implementation to chose if some module relies on it.
469 1024
470If the main program relies on a specific event model. For example, in 1025If the main program relies on a specific event model - for example, in
471Gtk2 programs you have to rely on the Glib module. You should load the 1026Gtk2 programs you have to rely on the Glib module - you should load the
472event module before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it: generally 1027event module before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it: generally
473speaking, you should load it as early as possible. The reason is that 1028speaking, you should load it as early as possible. The reason is that
474modules might create watchers when they are loaded, and AnyEvent will 1029modules might create watchers when they are loaded, and AnyEvent will
475decide on the event model to use as soon as it creates watchers, and it 1030decide on the event model to use as soon as it creates watchers, and it
476might chose the wrong one unless you load the correct one yourself. 1031might chose the wrong one unless you load the correct one yourself.
477 1032
478You can chose to use a rather inefficient pure-perl implementation by 1033You can chose to use a pure-perl implementation by loading the
479loading the C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl> module, which gives you similar 1034C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl> module, which gives you similar behaviour
480behaviour everywhere, but letting AnyEvent chose is generally better. 1035everywhere, but letting AnyEvent chose the model is generally better.
1036
1037=head2 MAINLOOP EMULATION
1038
1039Sometimes (often for short test scripts, or even standalone programs who
1040only want to use AnyEvent), you do not want to run a specific event loop.
1041
1042In that case, you can use a condition variable like this:
1043
1044 AnyEvent->condvar->recv;
1045
1046This has the effect of entering the event loop and looping forever.
1047
1048Note that usually your program has some exit condition, in which case
1049it is better to use the "traditional" approach of storing a condition
1050variable somewhere, waiting for it, and sending it when the program should
1051exit cleanly.
1052
481 1053
482=head1 OTHER MODULES 1054=head1 OTHER MODULES
483 1055
484L<AnyEvent> itself comes with useful utility modules: 1056The following is a non-exhaustive list of additional modules that use
485 1057AnyEvent as a client and can therefore be mixed easily with other AnyEvent
486To make it easier to do non-blocking IO the modules L<AnyEvent::Handle> 1058modules and other event loops in the same program. Some of the modules
487and L<AnyEvent::Socket> are provided. L<AnyEvent::Handle> provides 1059come with AnyEvent, most are available via CPAN.
488read and write buffers and manages watchers for reads and writes.
489L<AnyEvent::Socket> provides means to do non-blocking connects.
490
491Aside from those there are these modules that support AnyEvent (and use it
492for non-blocking IO):
493 1060
494=over 4 1061=over 4
495 1062
1063=item L<AnyEvent::Util>
1064
1065Contains various utility functions that replace often-used but blocking
1066functions such as C<inet_aton> by event-/callback-based versions.
1067
1068=item L<AnyEvent::Socket>
1069
1070Provides various utility functions for (internet protocol) sockets,
1071addresses and name resolution. Also functions to create non-blocking tcp
1072connections or tcp servers, with IPv6 and SRV record support and more.
1073
1074=item L<AnyEvent::Handle>
1075
1076Provide read and write buffers, manages watchers for reads and writes,
1077supports raw and formatted I/O, I/O queued and fully transparent and
1078non-blocking SSL/TLS (via L<AnyEvent::TLS>.
1079
1080=item L<AnyEvent::DNS>
1081
1082Provides rich asynchronous DNS resolver capabilities.
1083
1084=item L<AnyEvent::HTTP>
1085
1086A simple-to-use HTTP library that is capable of making a lot of concurrent
1087HTTP requests.
1088
1089=item L<AnyEvent::HTTPD>
1090
1091Provides a simple web application server framework.
1092
496=item L<AnyEvent::FastPing> 1093=item L<AnyEvent::FastPing>
497 1094
1095The fastest ping in the west.
1096
1097=item L<AnyEvent::DBI>
1098
1099Executes L<DBI> requests asynchronously in a proxy process.
1100
1101=item L<AnyEvent::AIO>
1102
1103Truly asynchronous I/O, should be in the toolbox of every event
1104programmer. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses L<IO::AIO> and AnyEvent
1105together.
1106
1107=item L<AnyEvent::BDB>
1108
1109Truly asynchronous Berkeley DB access. AnyEvent::BDB transparently fuses
1110L<BDB> and AnyEvent together.
1111
1112=item L<AnyEvent::GPSD>
1113
1114A non-blocking interface to gpsd, a daemon delivering GPS information.
1115
1116=item L<AnyEvent::IRC>
1117
1118AnyEvent based IRC client module family (replacing the older Net::IRC3).
1119
1120=item L<AnyEvent::XMPP>
1121
1122AnyEvent based XMPP (Jabber protocol) module family (replacing the older
1123Net::XMPP2>.
1124
1125=item L<AnyEvent::IGS>
1126
1127A non-blocking interface to the Internet Go Server protocol (used by
1128L<App::IGS>).
1129
498=item L<Net::IRC3> 1130=item L<Net::FCP>
499 1131
500=item L<Net::XMPP2> 1132AnyEvent-based implementation of the Freenet Client Protocol, birthplace
1133of AnyEvent.
1134
1135=item L<Event::ExecFlow>
1136
1137High level API for event-based execution flow control.
1138
1139=item L<Coro>
1140
1141Has special support for AnyEvent via L<Coro::AnyEvent>.
501 1142
502=back 1143=back
503 1144
504=cut 1145=cut
505 1146
506package AnyEvent; 1147package AnyEvent;
507 1148
508no warnings; 1149# basically a tuned-down version of common::sense
509use strict; 1150sub common_sense {
1151 # from common:.sense 1.0
1152 ${^WARNING_BITS} = "\xfc\x3f\x33\x00\x0f\xf3\xcf\xc0\xf3\xfc\x33\x00";
1153 # use strict vars subs - NO UTF-8, as Util.pm doesn't like this atm. (uts46data.pl)
1154 $^H |= 0x00000600;
1155}
510 1156
1157BEGIN { AnyEvent::common_sense }
1158
511use Carp; 1159use Carp ();
512 1160
513our $VERSION = '3.3'; 1161our $VERSION = '5.24';
514our $MODEL; 1162our $MODEL;
515 1163
516our $AUTOLOAD; 1164our $AUTOLOAD;
517our @ISA; 1165our @ISA;
518 1166
519our $verbose = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1;
520
521our @REGISTRY; 1167our @REGISTRY;
522 1168
1169our $VERBOSE;
1170
1171BEGIN {
1172 eval "sub CYGWIN(){" . (($^O =~ /cygwin/i) *1) . "}";
1173 eval "sub WIN32 (){" . (($^O =~ /mswin32/i)*1) . "}";
1174 eval "sub TAINT (){" . (${^TAINT} *1) . "}";
1175
1176 delete @ENV{grep /^PERL_ANYEVENT_/, keys %ENV}
1177 if ${^TAINT};
1178
1179 $VERBOSE = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1;
1180
1181}
1182
1183our $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY = 10;
1184
1185our %PROTOCOL; # (ipv4|ipv6) => (1|2), higher numbers are preferred
1186
1187{
1188 my $idx;
1189 $PROTOCOL{$_} = ++$idx
1190 for reverse split /\s*,\s*/,
1191 $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS} || "ipv4,ipv6";
1192}
1193
523my @models = ( 1194my @models = (
524 [Coro::EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV::],
525 [Coro::Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent::],
526 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV::], 1195 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV:: , 1],
1196 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: , 1],
1197 # everything below here will not (normally) be autoprobed
1198 # as the pureperl backend should work everywhere
1199 # and is usually faster
527 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::], 1200 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::, 1],
528 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib::], 1201 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib:: , 1], # becomes extremely slow with many watchers
1202 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy
1203 [Irssi:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Irssi::], # Irssi has a bogus "Event" package
529 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], 1204 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], # crashes with many handles
1205 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program
1206 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza
530 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], 1207 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
531 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], 1208 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
532 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl::], 1209 # IO::Async is just too broken - we would need workarounds for its
533 # everything below here will not be autoprobed as the pureperl backend should work everywhere 1210 # byzantine signal and broken child handling, among others.
534 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy 1211 # IO::Async is rather hard to detect, as it doesn't have any
1212 # obvious default class.
535 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program 1213 [IO::Async:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program
536 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza 1214 [IO::Async::Loop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program
1215 [IO::Async::Notifier:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program
1216 [AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program
537); 1217);
538 1218
539our %method = map +($_ => 1), qw(io timer signal child condvar broadcast wait one_event DESTROY); 1219our %method = map +($_ => 1),
1220 qw(io timer time now now_update signal child idle condvar one_event DESTROY);
1221
1222our @post_detect;
1223
1224sub post_detect(&) {
1225 my ($cb) = @_;
1226
1227 if ($MODEL) {
1228 $cb->();
1229
1230 undef
1231 } else {
1232 push @post_detect, $cb;
1233
1234 defined wantarray
1235 ? bless \$cb, "AnyEvent::Util::postdetect"
1236 : ()
1237 }
1238}
1239
1240sub AnyEvent::Util::postdetect::DESTROY {
1241 @post_detect = grep $_ != ${$_[0]}, @post_detect;
1242}
540 1243
541sub detect() { 1244sub detect() {
542 unless ($MODEL) { 1245 unless ($MODEL) {
543 no strict 'refs'; 1246 local $SIG{__DIE__};
544 1247
545 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z]+)$/) { 1248 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z]+)$/) {
546 my $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$1"; 1249 my $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$1";
547 if (eval "require $model") { 1250 if (eval "require $model") {
548 $MODEL = $model; 1251 $MODEL = $model;
549 warn "AnyEvent: loaded model '$model' (forced by \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1252 warn "AnyEvent: loaded model '$model' (forced by \$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}), using it.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 2;
550 } else { 1253 } else {
551 warn "AnyEvent: unable to load model '$model' (from \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL):\n$@" if $verbose; 1254 warn "AnyEvent: unable to load model '$model' (from \$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}):\n$@" if $VERBOSE;
552 } 1255 }
553 } 1256 }
554 1257
555 # check for already loaded models 1258 # check for already loaded models
556 unless ($MODEL) { 1259 unless ($MODEL) {
557 for (@REGISTRY, @models) { 1260 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
558 my ($package, $model) = @$_; 1261 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
559 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) { 1262 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) {
560 if (eval "require $model") { 1263 if (eval "require $model") {
561 $MODEL = $model; 1264 $MODEL = $model;
562 warn "AnyEvent: autodetected model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1265 warn "AnyEvent: autodetected model '$model', using it.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 2;
563 last; 1266 last;
564 } 1267 }
565 } 1268 }
566 } 1269 }
567 1270
568 unless ($MODEL) { 1271 unless ($MODEL) {
569 # try to load a model 1272 # try to autoload a model
570
571 for (@REGISTRY, @models) { 1273 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
572 my ($package, $model) = @$_; 1274 my ($package, $model, $autoload) = @$_;
1275 if (
1276 $autoload
573 if (eval "require $package" 1277 and eval "require $package"
574 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0 1278 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0
575 and eval "require $model") { 1279 and eval "require $model"
1280 ) {
576 $MODEL = $model; 1281 $MODEL = $model;
577 warn "AnyEvent: autoprobed model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1282 warn "AnyEvent: autoloaded model '$model', using it.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 2;
578 last; 1283 last;
579 } 1284 }
580 } 1285 }
581 1286
582 $MODEL 1287 $MODEL
583 or die "No event module selected for AnyEvent and autodetect failed. Install any one of these modules: EV (or Coro+EV), Event (or Coro+Event) or Glib."; 1288 or die "No event module selected for AnyEvent and autodetect failed. Install any one of these modules: EV, Event or Glib.\n";
584 } 1289 }
585 } 1290 }
586 1291
1292 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base";
1293
587 unshift @ISA, $MODEL; 1294 unshift @ISA, $MODEL;
588 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base"; 1295
1296 require AnyEvent::Strict if $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT};
1297
1298 (shift @post_detect)->() while @post_detect;
589 } 1299 }
590 1300
591 $MODEL 1301 $MODEL
592} 1302}
593 1303
594sub AUTOLOAD { 1304sub AUTOLOAD {
595 (my $func = $AUTOLOAD) =~ s/.*://; 1305 (my $func = $AUTOLOAD) =~ s/.*://;
596 1306
597 $method{$func} 1307 $method{$func}
598 or croak "$func: not a valid method for AnyEvent objects"; 1308 or Carp::croak "$func: not a valid method for AnyEvent objects";
599 1309
600 detect unless $MODEL; 1310 detect unless $MODEL;
601 1311
602 my $class = shift; 1312 my $class = shift;
603 $class->$func (@_); 1313 $class->$func (@_);
604} 1314}
605 1315
1316# utility function to dup a filehandle. this is used by many backends
1317# to support binding more than one watcher per filehandle (they usually
1318# allow only one watcher per fd, so we dup it to get a different one).
1319sub _dupfh($$;$$) {
1320 my ($poll, $fh, $r, $w) = @_;
1321
1322 # cygwin requires the fh mode to be matching, unix doesn't
1323 my ($rw, $mode) = $poll eq "r" ? ($r, "<&") : ($w, ">&");
1324
1325 open my $fh2, $mode, $fh
1326 or die "AnyEvent->io: cannot dup() filehandle in mode '$poll': $!,";
1327
1328 # we assume CLOEXEC is already set by perl in all important cases
1329
1330 ($fh2, $rw)
1331}
1332
1333=head1 SIMPLIFIED AE API
1334
1335Starting with version 5.0, AnyEvent officially supports a second, much
1336simpler, API that is designed to reduce the calling, typing and memory
1337overhead.
1338
1339See the L<AE> manpage for details.
1340
1341=cut
1342
1343package AE;
1344
1345our $VERSION = $AnyEvent::VERSION;
1346
1347sub io($$$) {
1348 AnyEvent->io (fh => $_[0], poll => $_[1] ? "w" : "r", cb => $_[2])
1349}
1350
1351sub timer($$$) {
1352 AnyEvent->timer (after => $_[0], interval => $_[1], cb => $_[2])
1353}
1354
1355sub signal($$) {
1356 AnyEvent->signal (signal => $_[0], cb => $_[1])
1357}
1358
1359sub child($$) {
1360 AnyEvent->child (pid => $_[0], cb => $_[1])
1361}
1362
1363sub idle($) {
1364 AnyEvent->idle (cb => $_[0])
1365}
1366
1367sub cv(;&) {
1368 AnyEvent->condvar (@_ ? (cb => $_[0]) : ())
1369}
1370
1371sub now() {
1372 AnyEvent->now
1373}
1374
1375sub now_update() {
1376 AnyEvent->now_update
1377}
1378
1379sub time() {
1380 AnyEvent->time
1381}
1382
606package AnyEvent::Base; 1383package AnyEvent::Base;
607 1384
1385# default implementations for many methods
1386
1387sub _time() {
1388 # probe for availability of Time::HiRes
1389 if (eval "use Time::HiRes (); Time::HiRes::time (); 1") {
1390 warn "AnyEvent: using Time::HiRes for sub-second timing accuracy.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 8;
1391 *_time = \&Time::HiRes::time;
1392 # if (eval "use POSIX (); (POSIX::times())...
1393 } else {
1394 warn "AnyEvent: using built-in time(), WARNING, no sub-second resolution!\n" if $VERBOSE;
1395 *_time = sub (){ time }; # epic fail
1396 }
1397
1398 &_time
1399}
1400
1401sub time { _time }
1402sub now { _time }
1403sub now_update { }
1404
608# default implementation for ->condvar, ->wait, ->broadcast 1405# default implementation for ->condvar
609 1406
610sub condvar { 1407sub condvar {
611 bless \my $flag, "AnyEvent::Base::CondVar" 1408 bless { @_ == 3 ? (_ae_cb => $_[2]) : () }, "AnyEvent::CondVar"
612}
613
614sub AnyEvent::Base::CondVar::broadcast {
615 ${$_[0]}++;
616}
617
618sub AnyEvent::Base::CondVar::wait {
619 AnyEvent->one_event while !${$_[0]};
620} 1409}
621 1410
622# default implementation for ->signal 1411# default implementation for ->signal
623 1412
624our %SIG_CB; 1413our $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT;
1414
1415sub _have_async_interrupt() {
1416 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT = 1*(!$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_ASYNC_INTERRUPT}
1417 && eval "use Async::Interrupt 1.02 (); 1")
1418 unless defined $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT;
1419
1420 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1421}
1422
1423our ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W, %SIG_CB, %SIG_EV, $SIG_IO);
1424our (%SIG_ASY, %SIG_ASY_W);
1425our ($SIG_COUNT, $SIG_TW);
1426
1427sub _signal_exec {
1428 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1429 ? $SIGPIPE_R->drain
1430 : sysread $SIGPIPE_R, (my $dummy), 9;
1431
1432 while (%SIG_EV) {
1433 for (keys %SIG_EV) {
1434 delete $SIG_EV{$_};
1435 $_->() for values %{ $SIG_CB{$_} || {} };
1436 }
1437 }
1438}
1439
1440# install a dummy wakeup watcher to reduce signal catching latency
1441sub _sig_add() {
1442 unless ($SIG_COUNT++) {
1443 # try to align timer on a full-second boundary, if possible
1444 my $NOW = AE::now;
1445
1446 $SIG_TW = AE::timer
1447 $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY - ($NOW - int $NOW),
1448 $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY,
1449 sub { } # just for the PERL_ASYNC_CHECK
1450 ;
1451 }
1452}
1453
1454sub _sig_del {
1455 undef $SIG_TW
1456 unless --$SIG_COUNT;
1457}
1458
1459our $_sig_name_init; $_sig_name_init = sub {
1460 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading
1461 undef $_sig_name_init;
1462
1463 if (_have_async_interrupt) {
1464 *sig2num = \&Async::Interrupt::sig2num;
1465 *sig2name = \&Async::Interrupt::sig2name;
1466 } else {
1467 require Config;
1468
1469 my %signame2num;
1470 @signame2num{ split ' ', $Config::Config{sig_name} }
1471 = split ' ', $Config::Config{sig_num};
1472
1473 my @signum2name;
1474 @signum2name[values %signame2num] = keys %signame2num;
1475
1476 *sig2num = sub($) {
1477 $_[0] > 0 ? shift : $signame2num{+shift}
1478 };
1479 *sig2name = sub ($) {
1480 $_[0] > 0 ? $signum2name[+shift] : shift
1481 };
1482 }
1483 };
1484 die if $@;
1485};
1486
1487sub sig2num ($) { &$_sig_name_init; &sig2num }
1488sub sig2name($) { &$_sig_name_init; &sig2name }
625 1489
626sub signal { 1490sub signal {
1491 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1492 # probe for availability of Async::Interrupt
1493 if (_have_async_interrupt) {
1494 warn "AnyEvent: using Async::Interrupt for race-free signal handling.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 8;
1495
1496 $SIGPIPE_R = new Async::Interrupt::EventPipe;
1497 $SIG_IO = AE::io $SIGPIPE_R->fileno, 0, \&_signal_exec;
1498
1499 } else {
1500 warn "AnyEvent: using emulated perl signal handling with latency timer.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 8;
1501
1502 require Fcntl;
1503
1504 if (AnyEvent::WIN32) {
1505 require AnyEvent::Util;
1506
1507 ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W) = AnyEvent::Util::portable_pipe ();
1508 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_R, 1) if $SIGPIPE_R;
1509 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_W, 1) if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case
1510 } else {
1511 pipe $SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W;
1512 fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, &Fcntl::F_SETFL, &Fcntl::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_R;
1513 fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, &Fcntl::F_SETFL, &Fcntl::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case
1514
1515 # not strictly required, as $^F is normally 2, but let's make sure...
1516 fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, &Fcntl::F_SETFD, &Fcntl::FD_CLOEXEC;
1517 fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, &Fcntl::F_SETFD, &Fcntl::FD_CLOEXEC;
1518 }
1519
1520 $SIGPIPE_R
1521 or Carp::croak "AnyEvent: unable to create a signal reporting pipe: $!\n";
1522
1523 $SIG_IO = AE::io $SIGPIPE_R, 0, \&_signal_exec;
1524 }
1525
1526 *signal = sub {
627 my (undef, %arg) = @_; 1527 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
628 1528
629 my $signal = uc $arg{signal} 1529 my $signal = uc $arg{signal}
630 or Carp::croak "required option 'signal' is missing"; 1530 or Carp::croak "required option 'signal' is missing";
631 1531
1532 if ($HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT) {
1533 # async::interrupt
1534
1535 $signal = sig2num $signal;
632 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb}; 1536 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1537
1538 $SIG_ASY{$signal} ||= new Async::Interrupt
1539 cb => sub { undef $SIG_EV{$signal} },
1540 signal => $signal,
1541 pipe => [$SIGPIPE_R->filenos],
1542 pipe_autodrain => 0,
1543 ;
1544
1545 } else {
1546 # pure perl
1547
1548 # AE::Util has been loaded in signal
1549 $signal = sig2name $signal;
1550 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1551
633 $SIG{$signal} ||= sub { 1552 $SIG{$signal} ||= sub {
634 $_->() for values %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} || {} }; 1553 local $!;
1554 syswrite $SIGPIPE_W, "\x00", 1 unless %SIG_EV;
1555 undef $SIG_EV{$signal};
1556 };
1557
1558 # can't do signal processing without introducing races in pure perl,
1559 # so limit the signal latency.
1560 _sig_add;
1561 }
1562
1563 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::signal"
1564 };
1565
1566 *AnyEvent::Base::signal::DESTROY = sub {
1567 my ($signal, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
1568
1569 _sig_del;
1570
1571 delete $SIG_CB{$signal}{$cb};
1572
1573 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1574 ? delete $SIG_ASY{$signal}
1575 : # delete doesn't work with older perls - they then
1576 # print weird messages, or just unconditionally exit
1577 # instead of getting the default action.
1578 undef $SIG{$signal}
1579 unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} };
1580 };
635 }; 1581 };
636 1582 die if $@;
637 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Signal" 1583 &signal
638}
639
640sub AnyEvent::Base::Signal::DESTROY {
641 my ($signal, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
642
643 delete $SIG_CB{$signal}{$cb};
644
645 $SIG{$signal} = 'DEFAULT' unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} };
646} 1584}
647 1585
648# default implementation for ->child 1586# default implementation for ->child
649 1587
650our %PID_CB; 1588our %PID_CB;
651our $CHLD_W; 1589our $CHLD_W;
652our $CHLD_DELAY_W; 1590our $CHLD_DELAY_W;
653our $PID_IDLE;
654our $WNOHANG; 1591our $WNOHANG;
655 1592
656sub _child_wait { 1593sub _emit_childstatus($$) {
657 while (0 < (my $pid = waitpid -1, $WNOHANG)) { 1594 my (undef, $rpid, $rstatus) = @_;
1595
1596 $_->($rpid, $rstatus)
658 $_->($pid, $?) for (values %{ $PID_CB{$pid} || {} }), 1597 for values %{ $PID_CB{$rpid} || {} },
659 (values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} }); 1598 values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} };
660 }
661
662 undef $PID_IDLE;
663} 1599}
664 1600
665sub _sigchld { 1601sub _sigchld {
666 # make sure we deliver these changes "synchronous" with the event loop. 1602 my $pid;
667 $CHLD_DELAY_W ||= AnyEvent->timer (after => 0, cb => sub { 1603
668 undef $CHLD_DELAY_W; 1604 AnyEvent->_emit_childstatus ($pid, $?)
669 &_child_wait; 1605 while ($pid = waitpid -1, $WNOHANG) > 0;
670 });
671} 1606}
672 1607
673sub child { 1608sub child {
674 my (undef, %arg) = @_; 1609 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
675 1610
676 defined (my $pid = $arg{pid} + 0) 1611 defined (my $pid = $arg{pid} + 0)
677 or Carp::croak "required option 'pid' is missing"; 1612 or Carp::croak "required option 'pid' is missing";
678 1613
679 $PID_CB{$pid}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb}; 1614 $PID_CB{$pid}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
680 1615
681 unless ($WNOHANG) { 1616 # WNOHANG is almost cetrainly 1 everywhere
682 $WNOHANG = eval { require POSIX; &POSIX::WNOHANG } || 1; 1617 $WNOHANG ||= $^O =~ /^(?:openbsd|netbsd|linux|freebsd|cygwin|MSWin32)$/
683 } 1618 ? 1
1619 : eval { local $SIG{__DIE__}; require POSIX; &POSIX::WNOHANG } || 1;
684 1620
685 unless ($CHLD_W) { 1621 unless ($CHLD_W) {
686 $CHLD_W = AnyEvent->signal (signal => 'CHLD', cb => \&_sigchld); 1622 $CHLD_W = AE::signal CHLD => \&_sigchld;
687 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round 1623 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round
688 &_sigchld; 1624 &_sigchld;
689 } 1625 }
690 1626
691 bless [$pid, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Child" 1627 bless [$pid, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::child"
692} 1628}
693 1629
694sub AnyEvent::Base::Child::DESTROY { 1630sub AnyEvent::Base::child::DESTROY {
695 my ($pid, $cb) = @{$_[0]}; 1631 my ($pid, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
696 1632
697 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb}; 1633 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb};
698 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} }; 1634 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} };
699 1635
700 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB; 1636 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB;
701} 1637}
1638
1639# idle emulation is done by simply using a timer, regardless
1640# of whether the process is idle or not, and not letting
1641# the callback use more than 50% of the time.
1642sub idle {
1643 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1644
1645 my ($cb, $w, $rcb) = $arg{cb};
1646
1647 $rcb = sub {
1648 if ($cb) {
1649 $w = _time;
1650 &$cb;
1651 $w = _time - $w;
1652
1653 # never use more then 50% of the time for the idle watcher,
1654 # within some limits
1655 $w = 0.0001 if $w < 0.0001;
1656 $w = 5 if $w > 5;
1657
1658 $w = AE::timer $w, 0, $rcb;
1659 } else {
1660 # clean up...
1661 undef $w;
1662 undef $rcb;
1663 }
1664 };
1665
1666 $w = AE::timer 0.05, 0, $rcb;
1667
1668 bless \\$cb, "AnyEvent::Base::idle"
1669}
1670
1671sub AnyEvent::Base::idle::DESTROY {
1672 undef $${$_[0]};
1673}
1674
1675package AnyEvent::CondVar;
1676
1677our @ISA = AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::;
1678
1679package AnyEvent::CondVar::Base;
1680
1681#use overload
1682# '&{}' => sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } },
1683# fallback => 1;
1684
1685# save 300+ kilobytes by dirtily hardcoding overloading
1686${"AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::OVERLOAD"}{dummy}++; # Register with magic by touching.
1687*{'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::()'} = sub { }; # "Make it findable via fetchmethod."
1688*{'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::(&{}'} = sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } }; # &{}
1689${'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::()'} = 1; # fallback
1690
1691our $WAITING;
1692
1693sub _send {
1694 # nop
1695}
1696
1697sub send {
1698 my $cv = shift;
1699 $cv->{_ae_sent} = [@_];
1700 (delete $cv->{_ae_cb})->($cv) if $cv->{_ae_cb};
1701 $cv->_send;
1702}
1703
1704sub croak {
1705 $_[0]{_ae_croak} = $_[1];
1706 $_[0]->send;
1707}
1708
1709sub ready {
1710 $_[0]{_ae_sent}
1711}
1712
1713sub _wait {
1714 $WAITING
1715 and !$_[0]{_ae_sent}
1716 and Carp::croak "AnyEvent::CondVar: recursive blocking wait detected";
1717
1718 local $WAITING = 1;
1719 AnyEvent->one_event while !$_[0]{_ae_sent};
1720}
1721
1722sub recv {
1723 $_[0]->_wait;
1724
1725 Carp::croak $_[0]{_ae_croak} if $_[0]{_ae_croak};
1726 wantarray ? @{ $_[0]{_ae_sent} } : $_[0]{_ae_sent}[0]
1727}
1728
1729sub cb {
1730 my $cv = shift;
1731
1732 @_
1733 and $cv->{_ae_cb} = shift
1734 and $cv->{_ae_sent}
1735 and (delete $cv->{_ae_cb})->($cv);
1736
1737 $cv->{_ae_cb}
1738}
1739
1740sub begin {
1741 ++$_[0]{_ae_counter};
1742 $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1;
1743}
1744
1745sub end {
1746 return if --$_[0]{_ae_counter};
1747 &{ $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} || sub { $_[0]->send } };
1748}
1749
1750# undocumented/compatibility with pre-3.4
1751*broadcast = \&send;
1752*wait = \&_wait;
1753
1754=head1 ERROR AND EXCEPTION HANDLING
1755
1756In general, AnyEvent does not do any error handling - it relies on the
1757caller to do that if required. The L<AnyEvent::Strict> module (see also
1758the C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT> environment variable, below) provides strict
1759checking of all AnyEvent methods, however, which is highly useful during
1760development.
1761
1762As for exception handling (i.e. runtime errors and exceptions thrown while
1763executing a callback), this is not only highly event-loop specific, but
1764also not in any way wrapped by this module, as this is the job of the main
1765program.
1766
1767The pure perl event loop simply re-throws the exception (usually
1768within C<< condvar->recv >>), the L<Event> and L<EV> modules call C<<
1769$Event/EV::DIED->() >>, L<Glib> uses C<< install_exception_handler >> and
1770so on.
1771
1772=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
1773
1774The following environment variables are used by this module or its
1775submodules.
1776
1777Note that AnyEvent will remove I<all> environment variables starting with
1778C<PERL_ANYEVENT_> from C<%ENV> when it is loaded while taint mode is
1779enabled.
1780
1781=over 4
1782
1783=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
1784
1785By default, AnyEvent will be completely silent except in fatal
1786conditions. You can set this environment variable to make AnyEvent more
1787talkative.
1788
1789When set to C<1> or higher, causes AnyEvent to warn about unexpected
1790conditions, such as not being able to load the event model specified by
1791C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>.
1792
1793When set to C<2> or higher, cause AnyEvent to report to STDERR which event
1794model it chooses.
1795
1796When set to C<8> or higher, then AnyEvent will report extra information on
1797which optional modules it loads and how it implements certain features.
1798
1799=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT>
1800
1801AnyEvent does not do much argument checking by default, as thorough
1802argument checking is very costly. Setting this variable to a true value
1803will cause AnyEvent to load C<AnyEvent::Strict> and then to thoroughly
1804check the arguments passed to most method calls. If it finds any problems,
1805it will croak.
1806
1807In other words, enables "strict" mode.
1808
1809Unlike C<use strict> (or it's modern cousin, C<< use L<common::sense>
1810>>, it is definitely recommended to keep it off in production. Keeping
1811C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT=1> in your environment while developing programs
1812can be very useful, however.
1813
1814=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
1815
1816This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
1817auto detection and -probing kicks in. It must be a string consisting
1818entirely of ASCII letters. The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended
1819and the resulting module name is loaded and if the load was successful,
1820used as event model. If it fails to load AnyEvent will proceed with
1821auto detection and -probing.
1822
1823This functionality might change in future versions.
1824
1825For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) you
1826could start your program like this:
1827
1828 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
1829
1830=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS>
1831
1832Used by both L<AnyEvent::DNS> and L<AnyEvent::Socket> to determine preferences
1833for IPv4 or IPv6. The default is unspecified (and might change, or be the result
1834of auto probing).
1835
1836Must be set to a comma-separated list of protocols or address families,
1837current supported: C<ipv4> and C<ipv6>. Only protocols mentioned will be
1838used, and preference will be given to protocols mentioned earlier in the
1839list.
1840
1841This variable can effectively be used for denial-of-service attacks
1842against local programs (e.g. when setuid), although the impact is likely
1843small, as the program has to handle conenction and other failures anyways.
1844
1845Examples: C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4,ipv6> - prefer IPv4 over IPv6,
1846but support both and try to use both. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4>
1847- only support IPv4, never try to resolve or contact IPv6
1848addresses. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv6,ipv4> support either IPv4 or
1849IPv6, but prefer IPv6 over IPv4.
1850
1851=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_EDNS0>
1852
1853Used by L<AnyEvent::DNS> to decide whether to use the EDNS0 extension
1854for DNS. This extension is generally useful to reduce DNS traffic, but
1855some (broken) firewalls drop such DNS packets, which is why it is off by
1856default.
1857
1858Setting this variable to C<1> will cause L<AnyEvent::DNS> to announce
1859EDNS0 in its DNS requests.
1860
1861=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_FORKS>
1862
1863The maximum number of child processes that C<AnyEvent::Util::fork_call>
1864will create in parallel.
1865
1866=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_OUTSTANDING_DNS>
1867
1868The default value for the C<max_outstanding> parameter for the default DNS
1869resolver - this is the maximum number of parallel DNS requests that are
1870sent to the DNS server.
1871
1872=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_RESOLV_CONF>
1873
1874The file to use instead of F</etc/resolv.conf> (or OS-specific
1875configuration) in the default resolver. When set to the empty string, no
1876default config will be used.
1877
1878=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_CA_FILE>, C<PERL_ANYEVENT_CA_PATH>.
1879
1880When neither C<ca_file> nor C<ca_path> was specified during
1881L<AnyEvent::TLS> context creation, and either of these environment
1882variables exist, they will be used to specify CA certificate locations
1883instead of a system-dependent default.
1884
1885=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_GUARD> and C<PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_ASYNC_INTERRUPT>
1886
1887When these are set to C<1>, then the respective modules are not
1888loaded. Mostly good for testing AnyEvent itself.
1889
1890=back
702 1891
703=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE 1892=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE
704 1893
705This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in 1894This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in
706a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to 1895a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to
740 1929
741I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to 1930I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to
742condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will 1931condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will
743C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must 1932C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must
744not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense. 1933not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense.
745
746=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
747
748The following environment variables are used by this module:
749
750=over 4
751
752=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
753
754By default, AnyEvent will be completely silent except in fatal
755conditions. You can set this environment variable to make AnyEvent more
756talkative.
757
758When set to C<1> or higher, causes AnyEvent to warn about unexpected
759conditions, such as not being able to load the event model specified by
760C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>.
761
762When set to C<2> or higher, cause AnyEvent to report to STDERR which event
763model it chooses.
764
765=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
766
767This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
768autodetection and -probing kicks in. It must be a string consisting
769entirely of ASCII letters. The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended
770and the resulting module name is loaded and if the load was successful,
771used as event model. If it fails to load AnyEvent will proceed with
772autodetection and -probing.
773
774This functionality might change in future versions.
775
776For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) you
777could start your program like this:
778
779 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
780
781=back
782 1934
783=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM 1935=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM
784 1936
785The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer 1937The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer
786to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the 1938to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the
795 poll => 'r', 1947 poll => 'r',
796 cb => sub { 1948 cb => sub {
797 warn "io event <$_[0]>\n"; # will always output <r> 1949 warn "io event <$_[0]>\n"; # will always output <r>
798 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); # read a line 1950 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); # read a line
799 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read 1951 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read
800 $cv->broadcast if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i 1952 $cv->send if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i
801 }, 1953 },
802 ); 1954 );
803 1955
804 my $time_watcher; # can only be used once
805
806 sub new_timer {
807 $timer = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => sub { 1956 my $time_watcher = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, interval => 1, cb => sub {
808 warn "timeout\n"; # print 'timeout' about every second 1957 warn "timeout\n"; # print 'timeout' at most every second
809 &new_timer; # and restart the time
810 }); 1958 });
811 }
812 1959
813 new_timer; # create first timer
814
815 $cv->wait; # wait until user enters /^q/i 1960 $cv->recv; # wait until user enters /^q/i
816 1961
817=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE 1962=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE
818 1963
819Consider the L<Net::FCP> module. It features (among others) the following 1964Consider the L<Net::FCP> module. It features (among others) the following
820API calls, which are to freenet what HTTP GET requests are to http: 1965API calls, which are to freenet what HTTP GET requests are to http:
870 syswrite $txn->{fh}, $txn->{request} 2015 syswrite $txn->{fh}, $txn->{request}
871 or die "connection or write error"; 2016 or die "connection or write error";
872 $txn->{w} = AnyEvent->io (fh => $txn->{fh}, poll => 'r', cb => sub { $txn->fh_ready_r }); 2017 $txn->{w} = AnyEvent->io (fh => $txn->{fh}, poll => 'r', cb => sub { $txn->fh_ready_r });
873 2018
874Again, C<fh_ready_r> waits till all data has arrived, and then stores the 2019Again, C<fh_ready_r> waits till all data has arrived, and then stores the
875result and signals any possible waiters that the request ahs finished: 2020result and signals any possible waiters that the request has finished:
876 2021
877 sysread $txn->{fh}, $txn->{buf}, length $txn->{$buf}; 2022 sysread $txn->{fh}, $txn->{buf}, length $txn->{$buf};
878 2023
879 if (end-of-file or data complete) { 2024 if (end-of-file or data complete) {
880 $txn->{result} = $txn->{buf}; 2025 $txn->{result} = $txn->{buf};
881 $txn->{finished}->broadcast; 2026 $txn->{finished}->send;
882 $txb->{cb}->($txn) of $txn->{cb}; # also call callback 2027 $txb->{cb}->($txn) of $txn->{cb}; # also call callback
883 } 2028 }
884 2029
885The C<result> method, finally, just waits for the finished signal (if the 2030The C<result> method, finally, just waits for the finished signal (if the
886request was already finished, it doesn't wait, of course, and returns the 2031request was already finished, it doesn't wait, of course, and returns the
887data: 2032data:
888 2033
889 $txn->{finished}->wait; 2034 $txn->{finished}->recv;
890 return $txn->{result}; 2035 return $txn->{result};
891 2036
892The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions) 2037The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions)
893that occured during request processing. The C<result> method detects 2038that occurred during request processing. The C<result> method detects
894whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object) 2039whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object)
895and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other 2040and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other
896problems get reported tot he code that tries to use the result, not in a 2041problems get reported tot he code that tries to use the result, not in a
897random callback. 2042random callback.
898 2043
929 2074
930 my $quit = AnyEvent->condvar; 2075 my $quit = AnyEvent->condvar;
931 2076
932 $fcp->txn_client_get ($url)->cb (sub { 2077 $fcp->txn_client_get ($url)->cb (sub {
933 ... 2078 ...
934 $quit->broadcast; 2079 $quit->send;
935 }); 2080 });
936 2081
937 $quit->wait; 2082 $quit->recv;
938 2083
939 2084
940=head1 BENCHMARKS 2085=head1 BENCHMARKS
941 2086
942To give you an idea of the performance and overheads that AnyEvent adds 2087To give you an idea of the performance and overheads that AnyEvent adds
944of various event loops I prepared some benchmarks. 2089of various event loops I prepared some benchmarks.
945 2090
946=head2 BENCHMARKING ANYEVENT OVERHEAD 2091=head2 BENCHMARKING ANYEVENT OVERHEAD
947 2092
948Here is a benchmark of various supported event models used natively and 2093Here is a benchmark of various supported event models used natively and
949through anyevent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero 2094through AnyEvent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero
950timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable, 2095timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable,
951which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again. 2096which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again.
952 2097
953Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent 2098Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent
954distribution. 2099distribution. It uses the L<AE> interface, which makes a real difference
2100for the EV and Perl backends only.
955 2101
956=head3 Explanation of the columns 2102=head3 Explanation of the columns
957 2103
958I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since 2104I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since
959different event models feature vastly different performances, each event 2105different event models feature vastly different performances, each event
971all watchers, to avoid adding memory overhead. That means closure creation 2117all watchers, to avoid adding memory overhead. That means closure creation
972and memory usage is not included in the figures. 2118and memory usage is not included in the figures.
973 2119
974I<invoke> is the time, in microseconds, used to invoke a simple 2120I<invoke> is the time, in microseconds, used to invoke a simple
975callback. The callback simply counts down a Perl variable and after it was 2121callback. The callback simply counts down a Perl variable and after it was
976invoked "watcher" times, it would C<< ->broadcast >> a condvar once to 2122invoked "watcher" times, it would C<< ->send >> a condvar once to
977signal the end of this phase. 2123signal the end of this phase.
978 2124
979I<destroy> is the time, in microseconds, that it takes to destroy a single 2125I<destroy> is the time, in microseconds, that it takes to destroy a single
980watcher. 2126watcher.
981 2127
982=head3 Results 2128=head3 Results
983 2129
984 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment 2130 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment
985 EV/EV 400000 244 0.56 0.46 0.31 EV native interface 2131 EV/EV 100000 223 0.47 0.43 0.27 EV native interface
986 EV/Any 100000 244 2.50 0.46 0.29 EV + AnyEvent watchers 2132 EV/Any 100000 223 0.48 0.42 0.26 EV + AnyEvent watchers
987 CoroEV/Any 100000 244 2.49 0.44 0.29 coroutines + Coro::Signal 2133 Coro::EV/Any 100000 223 0.47 0.42 0.26 coroutines + Coro::Signal
988 Perl/Any 100000 513 4.92 0.87 1.12 pure perl implementation 2134 Perl/Any 100000 431 2.70 0.74 0.92 pure perl implementation
989 Event/Event 16000 516 31.88 31.30 0.85 Event native interface 2135 Event/Event 16000 516 31.16 31.84 0.82 Event native interface
990 Event/Any 16000 590 35.75 31.42 1.08 Event + AnyEvent watchers 2136 Event/Any 16000 1203 42.61 34.79 1.80 Event + AnyEvent watchers
2137 IOAsync/Any 16000 1911 41.92 27.45 16.81 via IO::Async::Loop::IO_Poll
2138 IOAsync/Any 16000 1726 40.69 26.37 15.25 via IO::Async::Loop::Epoll
991 Glib/Any 16000 1357 98.22 12.41 54.00 quadratic behaviour 2139 Glib/Any 16000 1118 89.00 12.57 51.17 quadratic behaviour
992 Tk/Any 2000 1860 26.97 67.98 14.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers 2140 Tk/Any 2000 1346 20.96 10.75 8.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers
993 POE/Event 2000 6644 108.64 736.02 14.73 via POE::Loop::Event 2141 POE/Any 2000 6951 108.97 795.32 14.24 via POE::Loop::Event
994 POE/Select 2000 6343 94.13 809.12 565.96 via POE::Loop::Select 2142 POE/Any 2000 6648 94.79 774.40 575.51 via POE::Loop::Select
995 2143
996=head3 Discussion 2144=head3 Discussion
997 2145
998The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very 2146The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very
999well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one) 2147well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one)
1011benchmark machine, handling an event takes roughly 1600 CPU cycles with 2159benchmark machine, handling an event takes roughly 1600 CPU cycles with
1012EV, 3100 CPU cycles with AnyEvent's pure perl loop and almost 3000000 CPU 2160EV, 3100 CPU cycles with AnyEvent's pure perl loop and almost 3000000 CPU
1013cycles with POE. 2161cycles with POE.
1014 2162
1015C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both 2163C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both
1016maximal/minimal, respectively. Even when going through AnyEvent, it uses 2164maximal/minimal, respectively. When using the L<AE> API there is zero
2165overhead (when going through the AnyEvent API create is about 5-6 times
2166slower, with other times being equal, so still uses far less memory than
1017far less memory than any other event loop and is still faster than Event 2167any other event loop and is still faster than Event natively).
1018natively.
1019 2168
1020The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the 2169The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the
1021constant timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl 2170constant timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl
1022interpreter and the backend itself). Nevertheless this shows that it 2171interpreter and the backend itself). Nevertheless this shows that it
1023adds very little overhead in itself. Like any select-based backend its 2172adds very little overhead in itself. Like any select-based backend its
1024performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of 2173performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of
1025them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark. 2174them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark.
1026 2175
1027The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation 2176The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation
1028cost, but overall scores in on the third place. 2177cost, but overall scores in on the third place.
2178
2179C<IO::Async> performs admirably well, about on par with C<Event>, even
2180when using its pure perl backend.
1029 2181
1030C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a 2182C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a
1031faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as 2183faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as
1032C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of 2184C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of
1033watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four, 2185watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four,
1041file descriptor is dup()ed for each watcher. This shows that the dup() 2193file descriptor is dup()ed for each watcher. This shows that the dup()
1042employed by some adaptors is not a big performance issue (it does incur a 2194employed by some adaptors is not a big performance issue (it does incur a
1043hidden memory cost inside the kernel which is not reflected in the figures 2195hidden memory cost inside the kernel which is not reflected in the figures
1044above). 2196above).
1045 2197
1046C<POE>, regardless of underlying event loop (whether using its pure 2198C<POE>, regardless of underlying event loop (whether using its pure perl
1047perl select-based backend or the Event module, the POE-EV backend 2199select-based backend or the Event module, the POE-EV backend couldn't
1048couldn't be tested because it wasn't working) shows abysmal performance 2200be tested because it wasn't working) shows abysmal performance and
1049and memory usage: Watchers use almost 30 times as much memory as 2201memory usage with AnyEvent: Watchers use almost 30 times as much memory
1050EV watchers, and 10 times as much memory as Event (the high memory 2202as EV watchers, and 10 times as much memory as Event (the high memory
1051requirements are caused by requiring a session for each watcher). Watcher 2203requirements are caused by requiring a session for each watcher). Watcher
1052invocation speed is almost 900 times slower than with AnyEvent's pure perl 2204invocation speed is almost 900 times slower than with AnyEvent's pure perl
2205implementation.
2206
1053implementation. The design of the POE adaptor class in AnyEvent can not 2207The design of the POE adaptor class in AnyEvent can not really account
1054really account for this, as session creation overhead is small compared 2208for the performance issues, though, as session creation overhead is
1055to execution of the state machine, which is coded pretty optimally within 2209small compared to execution of the state machine, which is coded pretty
1056L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>. POE simply seems to be abysmally slow. 2210optimally within L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE> (and while everybody agrees that
2211using multiple sessions is not a good approach, especially regarding
2212memory usage, even the author of POE could not come up with a faster
2213design).
1057 2214
1058=head3 Summary 2215=head3 Summary
1059 2216
1060=over 4 2217=over 4
1061 2218
1072 2229
1073=back 2230=back
1074 2231
1075=head2 BENCHMARKING THE LARGE SERVER CASE 2232=head2 BENCHMARKING THE LARGE SERVER CASE
1076 2233
1077This benchmark atcually benchmarks the event loop itself. It works by 2234This benchmark actually benchmarks the event loop itself. It works by
1078creating a number of "servers": each server consists of a socketpair, a 2235creating a number of "servers": each server consists of a socket pair, a
1079timeout watcher that gets reset on activity (but never fires), and an I/O 2236timeout watcher that gets reset on activity (but never fires), and an I/O
1080watcher waiting for input on one side of the socket. Each time the socket 2237watcher waiting for input on one side of the socket. Each time the socket
1081watcher reads a byte it will write that byte to a random other "server". 2238watcher reads a byte it will write that byte to a random other "server".
1082 2239
1083The effect is that there will be a lot of I/O watchers, only part of which 2240The effect is that there will be a lot of I/O watchers, only part of which
1084are active at any one point (so there is a constant number of active 2241are active at any one point (so there is a constant number of active
1085fds for each loop iterstaion, but which fds these are is random). The 2242fds for each loop iteration, but which fds these are is random). The
1086timeout is reset each time something is read because that reflects how 2243timeout is reset each time something is read because that reflects how
1087most timeouts work (and puts extra pressure on the event loops). 2244most timeouts work (and puts extra pressure on the event loops).
1088 2245
1089In this benchmark, we use 10000 socketpairs (20000 sockets), of which 100 2246In this benchmark, we use 10000 socket pairs (20000 sockets), of which 100
1090(1%) are active. This mirrors the activity of large servers with many 2247(1%) are active. This mirrors the activity of large servers with many
1091connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time. 2248connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time.
1092 2249
1093Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent 2250Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent
1094distribution. 2251distribution. It uses the L<AE> interface, which makes a real difference
2252for the EV and Perl backends only.
1095 2253
1096=head3 Explanation of the columns 2254=head3 Explanation of the columns
1097 2255
1098I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as 2256I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as
1099each server has a read and write socket end). 2257each server has a read and write socket end).
1100 2258
1101I<create> is the time it takes to create a socketpair (which is 2259I<create> is the time it takes to create a socket pair (which is
1102nontrivial) and two watchers: an I/O watcher and a timeout watcher. 2260nontrivial) and two watchers: an I/O watcher and a timeout watcher.
1103 2261
1104I<request>, the most important value, is the time it takes to handle a 2262I<request>, the most important value, is the time it takes to handle a
1105single "request", that is, reading the token from the pipe and forwarding 2263single "request", that is, reading the token from the pipe and forwarding
1106it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating 2264it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating
1107a new one that moves the timeout into the future. 2265a new one that moves the timeout into the future.
1108 2266
1109=head3 Results 2267=head3 Results
1110 2268
1111 name sockets create request 2269 name sockets create request
1112 EV 20000 69.01 11.16 2270 EV 20000 62.66 7.99
1113 Perl 20000 73.32 35.87 2271 Perl 20000 68.32 32.64
1114 Event 20000 212.62 257.32 2272 IOAsync 20000 174.06 101.15 epoll
1115 Glib 20000 651.16 1896.30 2273 IOAsync 20000 174.67 610.84 poll
2274 Event 20000 202.69 242.91
2275 Glib 20000 557.01 1689.52
1116 POE 20000 349.67 12317.24 uses POE::Loop::Event 2276 POE 20000 341.54 12086.32 uses POE::Loop::Event
1117 2277
1118=head3 Discussion 2278=head3 Discussion
1119 2279
1120This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the 2280This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the
1121particular event loop. 2281particular event loop.
1123EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time 2283EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time
1124is relatively high, though. 2284is relatively high, though.
1125 2285
1126Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event 2286Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event
1127loops Event and Glib. 2287loops Event and Glib.
2288
2289IO::Async performs very well when using its epoll backend, and still quite
2290good compared to Glib when using its pure perl backend.
1128 2291
1129Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will 2292Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will
1130understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to 2293understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to
1131the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event 2294the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event
1132uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations. 2295uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations.
1140 2303
1141=head3 Summary 2304=head3 Summary
1142 2305
1143=over 4 2306=over 4
1144 2307
1145=item * The pure perl implementation performs extremely well, considering 2308=item * The pure perl implementation performs extremely well.
1146that it uses select.
1147 2309
1148=item * Avoid Glib or POE in large projects where performance matters. 2310=item * Avoid Glib or POE in large projects where performance matters.
1149 2311
1150=back 2312=back
1151 2313
1180speed most when you have lots of watchers, not when you only have a few of 2342speed most when you have lots of watchers, not when you only have a few of
1181them). 2343them).
1182 2344
1183EV is again fastest. 2345EV is again fastest.
1184 2346
1185The C-based event loops Event and Glib come in second this time, as the 2347Perl again comes second. It is noticeably faster than the C-based event
1186overhead of running an iteration is much smaller in C than in Perl (little 2348loops Event and Glib, although the difference is too small to really
1187code to execute in the inner loop, and perl's function calling overhead is 2349matter.
1188high, and updating all the data structures is costly).
1189
1190The pure perl event loop is much slower, but still competitive.
1191 2350
1192POE also performs much better in this case, but is is still far behind the 2351POE also performs much better in this case, but is is still far behind the
1193others. 2352others.
1194 2353
1195=head3 Summary 2354=head3 Summary
1199=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of 2358=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of
1200watchers, as the management overhead dominates. 2359watchers, as the management overhead dominates.
1201 2360
1202=back 2361=back
1203 2362
2363=head2 THE IO::Lambda BENCHMARK
2364
2365Recently I was told about the benchmark in the IO::Lambda manpage, which
2366could be misinterpreted to make AnyEvent look bad. In fact, the benchmark
2367simply compares IO::Lambda with POE, and IO::Lambda looks better (which
2368shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody). As such, the benchmark is
2369fine, and mostly shows that the AnyEvent backend from IO::Lambda isn't
2370very optimal. But how would AnyEvent compare when used without the extra
2371baggage? To explore this, I wrote the equivalent benchmark for AnyEvent.
2372
2373The benchmark itself creates an echo-server, and then, for 500 times,
2374connects to the echo server, sends a line, waits for the reply, and then
2375creates the next connection. This is a rather bad benchmark, as it doesn't
2376test the efficiency of the framework or much non-blocking I/O, but it is a
2377benchmark nevertheless.
2378
2379 name runtime
2380 Lambda/select 0.330 sec
2381 + optimized 0.122 sec
2382 Lambda/AnyEvent 0.327 sec
2383 + optimized 0.138 sec
2384 Raw sockets/select 0.077 sec
2385 POE/select, components 0.662 sec
2386 POE/select, raw sockets 0.226 sec
2387 POE/select, optimized 0.404 sec
2388
2389 AnyEvent/select/nb 0.085 sec
2390 AnyEvent/EV/nb 0.068 sec
2391 +state machine 0.134 sec
2392
2393The benchmark is also a bit unfair (my fault): the IO::Lambda/POE
2394benchmarks actually make blocking connects and use 100% blocking I/O,
2395defeating the purpose of an event-based solution. All of the newly
2396written AnyEvent benchmarks use 100% non-blocking connects (using
2397AnyEvent::Socket::tcp_connect and the asynchronous pure perl DNS
2398resolver), so AnyEvent is at a disadvantage here, as non-blocking connects
2399generally require a lot more bookkeeping and event handling than blocking
2400connects (which involve a single syscall only).
2401
2402The last AnyEvent benchmark additionally uses L<AnyEvent::Handle>, which
2403offers similar expressive power as POE and IO::Lambda, using conventional
2404Perl syntax. This means that both the echo server and the client are 100%
2405non-blocking, further placing it at a disadvantage.
2406
2407As you can see, the AnyEvent + EV combination even beats the
2408hand-optimised "raw sockets benchmark", while AnyEvent + its pure perl
2409backend easily beats IO::Lambda and POE.
2410
2411And even the 100% non-blocking version written using the high-level (and
2412slow :) L<AnyEvent::Handle> abstraction beats both POE and IO::Lambda
2413higher level ("unoptimised") abstractions by a large margin, even though
2414it does all of DNS, tcp-connect and socket I/O in a non-blocking way.
2415
2416The two AnyEvent benchmarks programs can be found as F<eg/ae0.pl> and
2417F<eg/ae2.pl> in the AnyEvent distribution, the remaining benchmarks are
2418part of the IO::Lambda distribution and were used without any changes.
2419
2420
2421=head1 SIGNALS
2422
2423AnyEvent currently installs handlers for these signals:
2424
2425=over 4
2426
2427=item SIGCHLD
2428
2429A handler for C<SIGCHLD> is installed by AnyEvent's child watcher
2430emulation for event loops that do not support them natively. Also, some
2431event loops install a similar handler.
2432
2433Additionally, when AnyEvent is loaded and SIGCHLD is set to IGNORE, then
2434AnyEvent will reset it to default, to avoid losing child exit statuses.
2435
2436=item SIGPIPE
2437
2438A no-op handler is installed for C<SIGPIPE> when C<$SIG{PIPE}> is C<undef>
2439when AnyEvent gets loaded.
2440
2441The rationale for this is that AnyEvent users usually do not really depend
2442on SIGPIPE delivery (which is purely an optimisation for shell use, or
2443badly-written programs), but C<SIGPIPE> can cause spurious and rare
2444program exits as a lot of people do not expect C<SIGPIPE> when writing to
2445some random socket.
2446
2447The rationale for installing a no-op handler as opposed to ignoring it is
2448that this way, the handler will be restored to defaults on exec.
2449
2450Feel free to install your own handler, or reset it to defaults.
2451
2452=back
2453
2454=cut
2455
2456undef $SIG{CHLD}
2457 if $SIG{CHLD} eq 'IGNORE';
2458
2459$SIG{PIPE} = sub { }
2460 unless defined $SIG{PIPE};
2461
2462=head1 RECOMMENDED/OPTIONAL MODULES
2463
2464One of AnyEvent's main goals is to be 100% Pure-Perl(tm): only perl (and
2465it's built-in modules) are required to use it.
2466
2467That does not mean that AnyEvent won't take advantage of some additional
2468modules if they are installed.
2469
2470This section explains which additional modules will be used, and how they
2471affect AnyEvent's operation.
2472
2473=over 4
2474
2475=item L<Async::Interrupt>
2476
2477This slightly arcane module is used to implement fast signal handling: To
2478my knowledge, there is no way to do completely race-free and quick
2479signal handling in pure perl. To ensure that signals still get
2480delivered, AnyEvent will start an interval timer to wake up perl (and
2481catch the signals) with some delay (default is 10 seconds, look for
2482C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>).
2483
2484If this module is available, then it will be used to implement signal
2485catching, which means that signals will not be delayed, and the event loop
2486will not be interrupted regularly, which is more efficient (and good for
2487battery life on laptops).
2488
2489This affects not just the pure-perl event loop, but also other event loops
2490that have no signal handling on their own (e.g. Glib, Tk, Qt).
2491
2492Some event loops (POE, Event, Event::Lib) offer signal watchers natively,
2493and either employ their own workarounds (POE) or use AnyEvent's workaround
2494(using C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>). Installing L<Async::Interrupt>
2495does nothing for those backends.
2496
2497=item L<EV>
2498
2499This module isn't really "optional", as it is simply one of the backend
2500event loops that AnyEvent can use. However, it is simply the best event
2501loop available in terms of features, speed and stability: It supports
2502the AnyEvent API optimally, implements all the watcher types in XS, does
2503automatic timer adjustments even when no monotonic clock is available,
2504can take avdantage of advanced kernel interfaces such as C<epoll> and
2505C<kqueue>, and is the fastest backend I<by far>. You can even embed
2506L<Glib>/L<Gtk2> in it (or vice versa, see L<EV::Glib> and L<Glib::EV>).
2507
2508=item L<Guard>
2509
2510The guard module, when used, will be used to implement
2511C<AnyEvent::Util::guard>. This speeds up guards considerably (and uses a
2512lot less memory), but otherwise doesn't affect guard operation much. It is
2513purely used for performance.
2514
2515=item L<JSON> and L<JSON::XS>
2516
2517One of these modules is required when you want to read or write JSON data
2518via L<AnyEvent::Handle>. It is also written in pure-perl, but can take
2519advantage of the ultra-high-speed L<JSON::XS> module when it is installed.
2520
2521In fact, L<AnyEvent::Handle> will use L<JSON::XS> by default if it is
2522installed.
2523
2524=item L<Net::SSLeay>
2525
2526Implementing TLS/SSL in Perl is certainly interesting, but not very
2527worthwhile: If this module is installed, then L<AnyEvent::Handle> (with
2528the help of L<AnyEvent::TLS>), gains the ability to do TLS/SSL.
2529
2530=item L<Time::HiRes>
2531
2532This module is part of perl since release 5.008. It will be used when the
2533chosen event library does not come with a timing source on it's own. The
2534pure-perl event loop (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) will additionally use it to
2535try to use a monotonic clock for timing stability.
2536
2537=back
2538
1204 2539
1205=head1 FORK 2540=head1 FORK
1206 2541
1207Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are 2542Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are
1208because they are so inefficient. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware. 2543because they rely on inefficient but fork-safe C<select> or C<poll> calls
2544- higher performance APIs such as BSD's kqueue or the dreaded Linux epoll
2545are usually badly thought-out hacks that are incompatible with fork in
2546one way or another. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware and ensures that you
2547continue event-processing in both parent and child (or both, if you know
2548what you are doing).
2549
2550This means that, in general, you cannot fork and do event processing in
2551the child if the event library was initialised before the fork (which
2552usually happens when the first AnyEvent watcher is created, or the library
2553is loaded).
1209 2554
1210If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first 2555If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first
1211watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child. 2556watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child OR you must do
2557something completely out of the scope of AnyEvent.
2558
2559The problem of doing event processing in the parent I<and> the child
2560is much more complicated: even for backends that I<are> fork-aware or
2561fork-safe, their behaviour is not usually what you want: fork clones all
2562watchers, that means all timers, I/O watchers etc. are active in both
2563parent and child, which is almost never what you want. USing C<exec>
2564to start worker children from some kind of manage rprocess is usually
2565preferred, because it is much easier and cleaner, at the expense of having
2566to have another binary.
1212 2567
1213 2568
1214=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS 2569=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
1215 2570
1216AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via 2571AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via
1221specified in the variable. 2576specified in the variable.
1222 2577
1223You can make AnyEvent completely ignore this variable by deleting it 2578You can make AnyEvent completely ignore this variable by deleting it
1224before the first watcher gets created, e.g. with a C<BEGIN> block: 2579before the first watcher gets created, e.g. with a C<BEGIN> block:
1225 2580
1226 BEGIN { delete $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} } 2581 BEGIN { delete $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} }
1227 2582
1228 use AnyEvent; 2583 use AnyEvent;
2584
2585Similar considerations apply to $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}, as that can
2586be used to probe what backend is used and gain other information (which is
2587probably even less useful to an attacker than PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), and
2588$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT}.
2589
2590Note that AnyEvent will remove I<all> environment variables starting with
2591C<PERL_ANYEVENT_> from C<%ENV> when it is loaded while taint mode is
2592enabled.
2593
2594
2595=head1 BUGS
2596
2597Perl 5.8 has numerous memleaks that sometimes hit this module and are hard
2598to work around. If you suffer from memleaks, first upgrade to Perl 5.10
2599and check wether the leaks still show up. (Perl 5.10.0 has other annoying
2600memleaks, such as leaking on C<map> and C<grep> but it is usually not as
2601pronounced).
1229 2602
1230 2603
1231=head1 SEE ALSO 2604=head1 SEE ALSO
1232 2605
1233Event modules: L<Coro::EV>, L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>, L<Glib::EV>, 2606Utility functions: L<AnyEvent::Util>.
1234L<Coro::Event>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>, L<Glib>, L<Coro>, L<Tk>, 2607
2608Event modules: L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>, L<Glib::EV>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>,
1235L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>. 2609L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>.
1236 2610
1237Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, 2611Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>,
2612L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>,
2613L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>,
1238L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, 2614L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync>, L<Anyevent::Impl::Irssi>.
1239L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>,
1240L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>.
1241 2615
2616Non-blocking file handles, sockets, TCP clients and
2617servers: L<AnyEvent::Handle>, L<AnyEvent::Socket>, L<AnyEvent::TLS>.
2618
2619Asynchronous DNS: L<AnyEvent::DNS>.
2620
2621Coroutine support: L<Coro>, L<Coro::AnyEvent>, L<Coro::EV>,
2622L<Coro::Event>,
2623
1242Nontrivial usage examples: L<Net::FCP>, L<Net::XMPP2>. 2624Nontrivial usage examples: L<AnyEvent::GPSD>, L<AnyEvent::XMPP>,
2625L<AnyEvent::HTTP>.
1243 2626
1244 2627
1245=head1 AUTHOR 2628=head1 AUTHOR
1246 2629
1247 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 2630 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
1248 http://home.schmorp.de/ 2631 http://home.schmorp.de/
1249 2632
1250=cut 2633=cut
1251 2634
12521 26351
1253 2636

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