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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, 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
20 $w->send; # wake up current and all future recv's 35 $w->send; # wake up current and all future recv's
21 $w->recv; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->send 36 $w->recv; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->send
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 enormous 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.
70 108
71=head1 DESCRIPTION 109=head1 DESCRIPTION
72 110
102starts 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
103use AnyEvent so their modules work together with others seamlessly... 141use AnyEvent so their modules work together with others seamlessly...
104 142
105The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called 143The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called
106C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>. Like other event modules you can load it 144C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>. Like other event modules you can load it
107explicitly. 145explicitly and enjoy the high availability of that event loop :)
108 146
109=head1 WATCHERS 147=head1 WATCHERS
110 148
111AnyEvent 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
112stores 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
115These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After 153These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After
116creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the 154creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the
117callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model 155callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model
118is in control). 156is in control).
119 157
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
120To 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
121variable 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
122to it). 166to it).
123 167
124All 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.
126Many watchers either are used with "recursion" (repeating timers for 170Many watchers either are used with "recursion" (repeating timers for
127example), or need to refer to their watcher object in other ways. 171example), or need to refer to their watcher object in other ways.
128 172
129An any way to achieve that is this pattern: 173An any way to achieve that is this pattern:
130 174
131 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->type (arg => value ..., cb => sub { 175 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->type (arg => value ..., cb => sub {
132 # you can use $w here, for example to undef it 176 # you can use $w here, for example to undef it
133 undef $w; 177 undef $w;
134 }); 178 });
135 179
136Note 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,
137my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are 181my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are
138declared. 182declared.
139 183
140=head2 I/O WATCHERS 184=head2 I/O WATCHERS
141 185
186 $w = AnyEvent->io (
187 fh => <filehandle_or_fileno>,
188 poll => <"r" or "w">,
189 cb => <callback>,
190 );
191
142You 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
143with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments: 193with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments:
144 194
145C<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
146for 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
147which creates a watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, 203watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, respectively.
204
148respectively. 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.
149becomes ready.
150 206
151Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 207Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
152presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 208presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
153callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks. 209callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks.
154 210
158 214
159Some event loops issue spurious readyness notifications, so you should 215Some event loops issue spurious readyness notifications, so you should
160always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file 216always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file
161handles. 217handles.
162 218
163Example:
164
165 # 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
166 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub { 222 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub {
167 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); 223 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>);
168 warn "read: $input\n"; 224 warn "read: $input\n";
169 undef $w; 225 undef $w;
170 }); 226 });
171 227
172=head2 TIME WATCHERS 228=head2 TIME WATCHERS
173 229
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
174You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >> 238You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >>
175method with the following mandatory arguments: 239method with the following mandatory arguments:
176 240
177C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are 241C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are
178supported) 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
180 244
181Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 245Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
182presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 246presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
183callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks. 247callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks.
184 248
185The 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
186timer 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
187and 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.
188 254
189Example: 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.
190 258
191 # fire an event after 7.7 seconds 259Example: fire an event after 7.7 seconds.
260
192 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub { 261 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub {
193 warn "timeout\n"; 262 warn "timeout\n";
194 }); 263 });
195 264
196 # to cancel the timer: 265 # to cancel the timer:
197 undef $w; 266 undef $w;
198 267
199Example 2:
200
201 # fire an event after 0.5 seconds, then roughly every second 268Example 2: fire an event after 0.5 seconds, then roughly every second.
202 my $w;
203 269
204 my $cb = sub {
205 # cancel the old timer while creating a new one
206 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => $cb); 270 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.5, interval => 1, cb => sub {
271 warn "timeout\n";
207 }; 272 };
208
209 # start the "loop" by creating the first watcher
210 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.5, cb => $cb);
211 273
212=head3 TIMING ISSUES 274=head3 TIMING ISSUES
213 275
214There 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
215in 10 seconds") and based on wallclock time (absolute, "fire at 12 277in 10 seconds") and based on wallclock time (absolute, "fire at 12
227timers. 289timers.
228 290
229AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the 291AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the
230AnyEvent API. 292AnyEvent API.
231 293
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
232=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS 379=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS
233 380
381 $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => <uppercase_signal_name>, cb => <callback>);
382
234You 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
235I<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
236be invoked whenever a signal occurs. 385callback to be invoked whenever a signal occurs.
237 386
238Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 387Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
239presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 388presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
240callbacks cannot use arguments passed to signal watcher callbacks. 389callbacks cannot use arguments passed to signal watcher callbacks.
241 390
243invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. Synchronous means 392invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. Synchronous means
244that 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,
245but it is guaranteed not to interrupt any other callbacks. 394but it is guaranteed not to interrupt any other callbacks.
246 395
247The 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
248between multiple watchers. 397between multiple watchers, and AnyEvent will ensure that signals will not
398interrupt your program at bad times.
249 399
250This watcher might use C<%SIG>, so programs overwriting those signals 400This watcher might use C<%SIG> (depending on the event loop used),
251directly will likely not work correctly. 401so programs overwriting those signals directly will likely not work
402correctly.
252 403
253Example: exit on SIGINT 404Example: exit on SIGINT
254 405
255 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 }); 406 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 });
256 407
408=head3 Restart Behaviour
409
410While restart behaviour is up to the event loop implementation, most will
411not restart syscalls (that includes L<Async::Interrupt> and AnyEvent's
412pure perl implementation).
413
414=head3 Safe/Unsafe Signals
415
416Perl signals can be either "safe" (synchronous to opcode handling) or
417"unsafe" (asynchronous) - the former might get delayed indefinitely, the
418latter might corrupt your memory.
419
420AnyEvent signal handlers are, in addition, synchronous to the event loop,
421i.e. they will not interrupt your running perl program but will only be
422called as part of the normal event handling (just like timer, I/O etc.
423callbacks, too).
424
425=head3 Signal Races, Delays and Workarounds
426
427Many event loops (e.g. Glib, Tk, Qt, IO::Async) do not support attaching
428callbacks to signals in a generic way, which is a pity, as you cannot
429do race-free signal handling in perl, requiring C libraries for
430this. AnyEvent will try to do it's best, which means in some cases,
431signals will be delayed. The maximum time a signal might be delayed is
432specified in C<$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
257=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS 445=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS
258 446
447 $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => <process id>, cb => <callback>);
448
259You 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.
260 450
261The 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,
262watches for any child process exit). The watcher will trigger as often 452using C<0> watches for any child process exit, on others this will
263as status change for the child are received. This works by installing a 453croak). The watcher will be triggered only when the child process has
264signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>. The callback will be called with the pid 454finished and an exit status is available, not on any trace events
265and exit status (as returned by waitpid), so unlike other watcher types, 455(stopped/continued).
266you 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).
267 465
268There 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
269I<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
270have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore). 468have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore).
271 469
272Not 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
273event 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
274loaded 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.
275 476
276This 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
277AnyEvent 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
278C<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.
279 485
280Example: fork a process and wait for it 486Example: fork a process and wait for it
281 487
282 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar; 488 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
283 489
284 my $pid = fork or exit 5; 490 my $pid = fork or exit 5;
285 491
286 my $w = AnyEvent->child ( 492 my $w = AnyEvent->child (
287 pid => $pid, 493 pid => $pid,
288 cb => sub { 494 cb => sub {
289 my ($pid, $status) = @_; 495 my ($pid, $status) = @_;
290 warn "pid $pid exited with status $status"; 496 warn "pid $pid exited with status $status";
291 $done->send; 497 $done->send;
292 }, 498 },
293 ); 499 );
294 500
295 # do something else, then wait for process exit 501 # do something else, then wait for process exit
296 $done->recv; 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 });
297 543
298=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES 544=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES
545
546 $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
547
548 $cv->send (<list>);
549 my @res = $cv->recv;
299 550
300If you are familiar with some event loops you will know that all of them 551If you are familiar with some event loops you will know that all of them
301require you to run some blocking "loop", "run" or similar function that 552require you to run some blocking "loop", "run" or similar function that
302will actively watch for new events and call your callbacks. 553will actively watch for new events and call your callbacks.
303 554
304AnyEvent is different, it expects somebody else to run the event loop and 555AnyEvent is slightly different: it expects somebody else to run the event
305will only block when necessary (usually when told by the user). 556loop and will only block when necessary (usually when told by the user).
306 557
307The instrument to do that is called a "condition variable", so called 558The instrument to do that is called a "condition variable", so called
308because they represent a condition that must become true. 559because they represent a condition that must become true.
560
561Now is probably a good time to look at the examples further below.
309 562
310Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar 563Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar
311>> method, usually without arguments. The only argument pair allowed is 564>> method, usually without arguments. The only argument pair allowed is
312C<cb>, which specifies a callback to be called when the condition variable 565C<cb>, which specifies a callback to be called when the condition variable
313becomes true. 566becomes true, with the condition variable as the first argument (but not
567the results).
314 568
315After creation, the condition variable is "false" until it becomes "true" 569After creation, the condition variable is "false" until it becomes "true"
316by calling the C<send> method (or calling the condition variable as if it 570by calling the C<send> method (or calling the condition variable as if it
317were a callback, read about the caveats in the description for the C<< 571were a callback, read about the caveats in the description for the C<<
318->send >> method). 572->send >> method).
320Condition variables are similar to callbacks, except that you can 574Condition variables are similar to callbacks, except that you can
321optionally wait for them. They can also be called merge points - points 575optionally wait for them. They can also be called merge points - points
322in time where multiple outstanding events have been processed. And yet 576in time where multiple outstanding events have been processed. And yet
323another way to call them is transactions - each condition variable can be 577another way to call them is transactions - each condition variable can be
324used to represent a transaction, which finishes at some point and delivers 578used to represent a transaction, which finishes at some point and delivers
325a result. 579a result. And yet some people know them as "futures" - a promise to
580compute/deliver something that you can wait for.
326 581
327Condition variables are very useful to signal that something has finished, 582Condition variables are very useful to signal that something has finished,
328for example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests, 583for example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests,
329then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the 584then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the
330availability of results. The user can either act when the callback is 585availability of results. The user can either act when the callback is
364 after => 1, 619 after => 1,
365 cb => sub { $result_ready->send }, 620 cb => sub { $result_ready->send },
366 ); 621 );
367 622
368 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the callback 623 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the callback
369 # calls send 624 # calls ->send
370 $result_ready->recv; 625 $result_ready->recv;
371 626
372Example: wait for a timer, but take advantage of the fact that 627Example: wait for a timer, but take advantage of the fact that condition
373condition variables are also code references. 628variables are also callable directly.
374 629
375 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar; 630 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
376 my $delay = AnyEvent->timer (after => 5, cb => $done); 631 my $delay = AnyEvent->timer (after => 5, cb => $done);
377 $done->recv; 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 });
378 650
379=head3 METHODS FOR PRODUCERS 651=head3 METHODS FOR PRODUCERS
380 652
381These methods should only be used by the producing side, i.e. the 653These methods should only be used by the producing side, i.e. the
382code/module that eventually sends the signal. Note that it is also 654code/module that eventually sends the signal. Note that it is also
395immediately from within send. 667immediately from within send.
396 668
397Any arguments passed to the C<send> call will be returned by all 669Any arguments passed to the C<send> call will be returned by all
398future C<< ->recv >> calls. 670future C<< ->recv >> calls.
399 671
400Condition variables are overloaded so one can call them directly 672Condition variables are overloaded so one can call them directly (as if
401(as a code reference). Calling them directly is the same as calling 673they were a code reference). Calling them directly is the same as calling
402C<send>. Note, however, that many C-based event loops do not handle 674C<send>.
403overloading, so as tempting as it may be, passing a condition variable
404instead of a callback does not work. Both the pure perl and EV loops
405support overloading, however, as well as all functions that use perl to
406invoke a callback (as in L<AnyEvent::Socket> and L<AnyEvent::DNS> for
407example).
408 675
409=item $cv->croak ($error) 676=item $cv->croak ($error)
410 677
411Similar to send, but causes all call's to C<< ->recv >> to invoke 678Similar to send, but causes all call's to C<< ->recv >> to invoke
412C<Carp::croak> with the given error message/object/scalar. 679C<Carp::croak> with the given error message/object/scalar.
413 680
414This can be used to signal any errors to the condition variable 681This can be used to signal any errors to the condition variable
415user/consumer. 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.
416 687
417=item $cv->begin ([group callback]) 688=item $cv->begin ([group callback])
418 689
419=item $cv->end 690=item $cv->end
420
421These two methods are EXPERIMENTAL and MIGHT CHANGE.
422 691
423These two methods can be used to combine many transactions/events into 692These two methods can be used to combine many transactions/events into
424one. For example, a function that pings many hosts in parallel might want 693one. For example, a function that pings many hosts in parallel might want
425to use a condition variable for the whole process. 694to use a condition variable for the whole process.
426 695
427Every call to C<< ->begin >> will increment a counter, and every call to 696Every call to C<< ->begin >> will increment a counter, and every call to
428C<< ->end >> will decrement it. If the counter reaches C<0> in C<< ->end 697C<< ->end >> will decrement it. If the counter reaches C<0> in C<< ->end
429>>, the (last) callback passed to C<begin> will be executed. That callback 698>>, the (last) callback passed to C<begin> will be executed, passing the
430is I<supposed> to call C<< ->send >>, but that is not required. If no 699condvar as first argument. That callback is I<supposed> to call C<< ->send
431callback was set, C<send> will be called without any arguments. 700>>, but that is not required. If no group callback was set, C<send> will
701be called without any arguments.
432 702
433Let's clarify this with the ping example: 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:
434 710
435 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar; 711 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
436 712
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
437 my %result; 737 my %result;
438 $cv->begin (sub { $cv->send (\%result) }); 738 $cv->begin (sub { shift->send (\%result) });
439 739
440 for my $host (@list_of_hosts) { 740 for my $host (@list_of_hosts) {
441 $cv->begin; 741 $cv->begin;
442 ping_host_then_call_callback $host, sub { 742 ping_host_then_call_callback $host, sub {
443 $result{$host} = ...; 743 $result{$host} = ...;
458loop, which serves two important purposes: first, it sets the callback 758loop, which serves two important purposes: first, it sets the callback
459to be called once the counter reaches C<0>, and second, it ensures that 759to be called once the counter reaches C<0>, and second, it ensures that
460C<send> is called even when C<no> hosts are being pinged (the loop 760C<send> is called even when C<no> hosts are being pinged (the loop
461doesn't execute once). 761doesn't execute once).
462 762
463This is the general pattern when you "fan out" into multiple subrequests: 763This is the general pattern when you "fan out" into multiple (but
464use an outer C<begin>/C<end> pair to set the callback and ensure C<end> 764potentially none) subrequests: use an outer C<begin>/C<end> pair to set
465is called at least once, and then, for each subrequest you start, call 765the callback and ensure C<end> is called at least once, and then, for each
466C<begin> and for each subrequest you finish, call C<end>. 766subrequest you start, call C<begin> and for each subrequest you finish,
767call C<end>.
467 768
468=back 769=back
469 770
470=head3 METHODS FOR CONSUMERS 771=head3 METHODS FOR CONSUMERS
471 772
487function will call C<croak>. 788function will call C<croak>.
488 789
489In list context, all parameters passed to C<send> will be returned, 790In list context, all parameters passed to C<send> will be returned,
490in scalar context only the first one will be returned. 791in scalar context only the first one will be returned.
491 792
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
492Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case 800Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case
493(programs might want to do that to stay interactive), so I<if you are 801(programs might want to do that to stay interactive), so I<if you are
494using this from a module, never require a blocking wait>, but let the 802using this from a module, never require a blocking wait>. Instead, let the
495caller decide whether the call will block or not (for example, by coupling 803caller decide whether the call will block or not (for example, by coupling
496condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting 804condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting
497callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block, 805callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block,
498while still supporting blocking waits if the caller so desires). 806while still supporting blocking waits if the caller so desires).
499 807
500Another reason I<never> to C<< ->recv >> in a module is that you cannot
501sensibly have two C<< ->recv >>'s in parallel, as that would require
502multiple interpreters or coroutines/threads, none of which C<AnyEvent>
503can supply.
504
505The L<Coro> module, however, I<can> and I<does> supply coroutines and, in
506fact, L<Coro::AnyEvent> replaces AnyEvent's condvars by coroutine-safe
507versions and also integrates coroutines into AnyEvent, making blocking
508C<< ->recv >> calls perfectly safe as long as they are done from another
509coroutine (one that doesn't run the event loop).
510
511You can ensure that C<< -recv >> never blocks by setting a callback and 808You can ensure that C<< -recv >> never blocks by setting a callback and
512only calling C<< ->recv >> from within that callback (or at a later 809only calling C<< ->recv >> from within that callback (or at a later
513time). This will work even when the event loop does not support blocking 810time). This will work even when the event loop does not support blocking
514waits otherwise. 811waits otherwise.
515 812
516=item $bool = $cv->ready 813=item $bool = $cv->ready
517 814
518Returns true when the condition is "true", i.e. whether C<send> or 815Returns true when the condition is "true", i.e. whether C<send> or
519C<croak> have been called. 816C<croak> have been called.
520 817
521=item $cb = $cv->cb ([new callback]) 818=item $cb = $cv->cb ($cb->($cv))
522 819
523This is a mutator function that returns the callback set and optionally 820This is a mutator function that returns the callback set and optionally
524replaces it before doing so. 821replaces it before doing so.
525 822
526The callback will be called when the condition becomes "true", i.e. when 823The callback will be called when the condition becomes (or already was)
527C<send> or C<croak> are called. Calling C<recv> inside the callback 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>
528or at any later time is guaranteed not to block. 826inside the callback or at any later time is guaranteed not to block.
529 827
530=back 828=back
531 829
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
897
532=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS 898=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS
533 899
900These are not normally required to use AnyEvent, but can be useful to
901write AnyEvent extension modules.
902
534=over 4 903=over 4
535 904
536=item $AnyEvent::MODEL 905=item $AnyEvent::MODEL
537 906
538Contains C<undef> until the first watcher is being created. Then it 907Contains C<undef> until the first watcher is being created, before the
908backend has been autodetected.
909
539contains the event model that is being used, which is the name of the 910Afterwards it contains the event model that is being used, which is the
540Perl class implementing the model. This class is usually one of the 911name of the Perl class implementing the model. This class is usually one
541C<AnyEvent::Impl:xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the case 912of the C<AnyEvent::Impl:xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the
542AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode>). 913case AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode> it
543 914will be C<urxvt::anyevent>).
544The known classes so far are:
545
546 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (an interface to libev, best choice).
547 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, second best choice.
548 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl implementation, fast and portable.
549 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, third-best choice.
550 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very bad choice.
551 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt, cannot be autoprobed (see its docs).
552 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
553 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, not generic enough for full support.
554
555There is no support for WxWidgets, as WxWidgets has no support for
556watching file handles. However, you can use WxWidgets through the
557POE Adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply polls 20 times per
558second, which was considered to be too horrible to even consider for
559AnyEvent. Likewise, other POE backends can be used by AnyEvent by using
560it's adaptor.
561
562AnyEvent knows about L<Prima> and L<Wx> and will try to use L<POE> when
563autodetecting them.
564 915
565=item AnyEvent::detect 916=item AnyEvent::detect
566 917
567Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model 918Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model
568if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would 919if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would
569have 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
570runtime. 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>.
571 925
572=item $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK } 926=item $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }
573 927
574Arranges for the code block to be executed as soon as the event model is 928Arranges for the code block to be executed as soon as the event model is
575autodetected (or immediately if this has already happened). 929autodetected (or immediately if this has already happened).
576 930
931The block will be executed I<after> the actual backend has been detected
932(C<$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
577If called in scalar or list context, then it creates and returns an object 942If called in scalar or list context, then it creates and returns an object
578that automatically removes the callback again when it is destroyed. See 943that automatically removes the callback again when it is destroyed (or
944C<undef> when the hook was immediately executed). See L<AnyEvent::AIO> for
579L<Coro::BDB> for a case where this is useful. 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 ||= $guard;
580 962
581=item @AnyEvent::post_detect 963=item @AnyEvent::post_detect
582 964
583If there are any code references in this array (you can C<push> to it 965If there are any code references in this array (you can C<push> to it
584before or after loading AnyEvent), then they will called directly after 966before or after loading AnyEvent), then they will called directly after
585the event loop has been chosen. 967the event loop has been chosen.
586 968
587You should check C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> before adding to this array, though: 969You should check C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> before adding to this array, though:
588if it contains a true value then the event loop has already been detected, 970if it is defined then the event loop has already been detected, and the
589and the array will be ignored. 971array will be ignored.
590 972
591Best use C<AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }> instead. 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 }
592 993
593=back 994=back
594 995
595=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE 996=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE
596 997
651 1052
652 1053
653=head1 OTHER MODULES 1054=head1 OTHER MODULES
654 1055
655The following is a non-exhaustive list of additional modules that use 1056The following is a non-exhaustive list of additional modules that use
656AnyEvent and can therefore be mixed easily with other AnyEvent modules 1057AnyEvent as a client and can therefore be mixed easily with other AnyEvent
657in the same program. Some of the modules come with AnyEvent, some are 1058modules and other event loops in the same program. Some of the modules
658available via CPAN. 1059come with AnyEvent, most are available via CPAN.
659 1060
660=over 4 1061=over 4
661 1062
662=item L<AnyEvent::Util> 1063=item L<AnyEvent::Util>
663 1064
664Contains various utility functions that replace often-used but blocking 1065Contains various utility functions that replace often-used but blocking
665functions such as C<inet_aton> by event-/callback-based versions. 1066functions such as C<inet_aton> by event-/callback-based versions.
666
667=item L<AnyEvent::Handle>
668
669Provide read and write buffers and manages watchers for reads and writes.
670 1067
671=item L<AnyEvent::Socket> 1068=item L<AnyEvent::Socket>
672 1069
673Provides various utility functions for (internet protocol) sockets, 1070Provides various utility functions for (internet protocol) sockets,
674addresses and name resolution. Also functions to create non-blocking tcp 1071addresses and name resolution. Also functions to create non-blocking tcp
675connections or tcp servers, with IPv6 and SRV record support and more. 1072connections or tcp servers, with IPv6 and SRV record support and more.
676 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
677=item L<AnyEvent::DNS> 1080=item L<AnyEvent::DNS>
678 1081
679Provides rich asynchronous DNS resolver capabilities. 1082Provides rich asynchronous DNS resolver capabilities.
680 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
681=item L<AnyEvent::HTTPD> 1089=item L<AnyEvent::HTTPD>
682 1090
683Provides a simple web application server framework. 1091Provides a simple web application server framework.
684 1092
685=item L<AnyEvent::FastPing> 1093=item L<AnyEvent::FastPing>
686 1094
687The fastest ping in the west. 1095The fastest ping in the west.
688 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
689=item L<Net::IRC3> 1116=item L<AnyEvent::IRC>
690 1117
691AnyEvent based IRC client module family. 1118AnyEvent based IRC client module family (replacing the older Net::IRC3).
692 1119
693=item L<Net::XMPP2> 1120=item L<AnyEvent::XMPP>
694 1121
695AnyEvent based XMPP (Jabber protocol) module family. 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>).
696 1129
697=item L<Net::FCP> 1130=item L<Net::FCP>
698 1131
699AnyEvent-based implementation of the Freenet Client Protocol, birthplace 1132AnyEvent-based implementation of the Freenet Client Protocol, birthplace
700of AnyEvent. 1133of AnyEvent.
705 1138
706=item L<Coro> 1139=item L<Coro>
707 1140
708Has special support for AnyEvent via L<Coro::AnyEvent>. 1141Has special support for AnyEvent via L<Coro::AnyEvent>.
709 1142
710=item L<AnyEvent::AIO>, L<IO::AIO>
711
712Truly asynchronous I/O, should be in the toolbox of every event
713programmer. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses IO::AIO and AnyEvent
714together.
715
716=item L<AnyEvent::BDB>, L<BDB>
717
718Truly asynchronous Berkeley DB access. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses
719IO::AIO and AnyEvent together.
720
721=item L<IO::Lambda>
722
723The lambda approach to I/O - don't ask, look there. Can use AnyEvent.
724
725=back 1143=back
726 1144
727=cut 1145=cut
728 1146
729package AnyEvent; 1147package AnyEvent;
730 1148
731no warnings; 1149# basically a tuned-down version of common::sense
732use 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}
733 1156
1157BEGIN { AnyEvent::common_sense }
1158
734use Carp; 1159use Carp ();
735 1160
736our $VERSION = '4.03'; 1161our $VERSION = '5.23';
737our $MODEL; 1162our $MODEL;
738 1163
739our $AUTOLOAD; 1164our $AUTOLOAD;
740our @ISA; 1165our @ISA;
741 1166
742our @REGISTRY; 1167our @REGISTRY;
743 1168
1169our $VERBOSE;
1170
1171BEGIN {
1172 eval "sub WIN32(){ " . (($^O =~ /mswin32/i)*1) ." }";
1173 eval "sub TAINT(){ " . (${^TAINT}*1) . " }";
1174
1175 delete @ENV{grep /^PERL_ANYEVENT_/, keys %ENV}
1176 if ${^TAINT};
1177
744our $verbose = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1; 1178 $VERBOSE = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1;
1179
1180}
1181
1182our $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY = 10;
745 1183
746our %PROTOCOL; # (ipv4|ipv6) => (1|2), higher numbers are preferred 1184our %PROTOCOL; # (ipv4|ipv6) => (1|2), higher numbers are preferred
747 1185
748{ 1186{
749 my $idx; 1187 my $idx;
751 for reverse split /\s*,\s*/, 1189 for reverse split /\s*,\s*/,
752 $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS} || "ipv4,ipv6"; 1190 $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS} || "ipv4,ipv6";
753} 1191}
754 1192
755my @models = ( 1193my @models = (
756 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV::], 1194 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV:: , 1],
757 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::],
758 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl::], 1195 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: , 1],
759 # everything below here will not be autoprobed 1196 # everything below here will not (normally) be autoprobed
760 # as the pureperl backend should work everywhere 1197 # as the pureperl backend should work everywhere
761 # and is usually faster 1198 # and is usually faster
1199 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::, 1],
1200 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib:: , 1], # becomes extremely slow with many watchers
1201 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy
1202 [Irssi:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Irssi::], # Irssi has a bogus "Event" package
762 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], # crashes with many handles 1203 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], # crashes with many handles
763 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib::], # becomes extremely slow with many watchers
764 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy
765 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program 1204 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program
766 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza 1205 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza
767 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], 1206 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
768 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], 1207 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
1208 # IO::Async is just too broken - we would need workarounds for its
1209 # byzantine signal and broken child handling, among others.
1210 # IO::Async is rather hard to detect, as it doesn't have any
1211 # obvious default class.
1212 [IO::Async:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program
1213 [IO::Async::Loop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program
1214 [IO::Async::Notifier:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program
1215 [AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program
769); 1216);
770 1217
771our %method = map +($_ => 1), qw(io timer signal child condvar one_event DESTROY); 1218our %method = map +($_ => 1),
1219 qw(io timer time now now_update signal child idle condvar one_event DESTROY);
772 1220
773our @post_detect; 1221our @post_detect;
774 1222
775sub post_detect(&) { 1223sub post_detect(&) {
776 my ($cb) = @_; 1224 my ($cb) = @_;
777 1225
778 if ($MODEL) { 1226 if ($MODEL) {
779 $cb->(); 1227 $cb->();
780 1228
781 1 1229 undef
782 } else { 1230 } else {
783 push @post_detect, $cb; 1231 push @post_detect, $cb;
784 1232
785 defined wantarray 1233 defined wantarray
786 ? bless \$cb, "AnyEvent::Util::PostDetect" 1234 ? bless \$cb, "AnyEvent::Util::postdetect"
787 : () 1235 : ()
788 } 1236 }
789} 1237}
790 1238
791sub AnyEvent::Util::PostDetect::DESTROY { 1239sub AnyEvent::Util::postdetect::DESTROY {
792 @post_detect = grep $_ != ${$_[0]}, @post_detect; 1240 @post_detect = grep $_ != ${$_[0]}, @post_detect;
793} 1241}
794 1242
795sub detect() { 1243sub detect() {
796 unless ($MODEL) { 1244 unless ($MODEL) {
797 no strict 'refs';
798 local $SIG{__DIE__}; 1245 local $SIG{__DIE__};
799 1246
800 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z]+)$/) { 1247 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z]+)$/) {
801 my $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$1"; 1248 my $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$1";
802 if (eval "require $model") { 1249 if (eval "require $model") {
803 $MODEL = $model; 1250 $MODEL = $model;
804 warn "AnyEvent: loaded model '$model' (forced by \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1251 warn "AnyEvent: loaded model '$model' (forced by \$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}), using it.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 2;
805 } else { 1252 } else {
806 warn "AnyEvent: unable to load model '$model' (from \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL):\n$@" if $verbose; 1253 warn "AnyEvent: unable to load model '$model' (from \$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}):\n$@" if $VERBOSE;
807 } 1254 }
808 } 1255 }
809 1256
810 # check for already loaded models 1257 # check for already loaded models
811 unless ($MODEL) { 1258 unless ($MODEL) {
812 for (@REGISTRY, @models) { 1259 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
813 my ($package, $model) = @$_; 1260 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
814 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) { 1261 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) {
815 if (eval "require $model") { 1262 if (eval "require $model") {
816 $MODEL = $model; 1263 $MODEL = $model;
817 warn "AnyEvent: autodetected model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1264 warn "AnyEvent: autodetected model '$model', using it.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 2;
818 last; 1265 last;
819 } 1266 }
820 } 1267 }
821 } 1268 }
822 1269
823 unless ($MODEL) { 1270 unless ($MODEL) {
824 # try to load a model 1271 # try to autoload a model
825
826 for (@REGISTRY, @models) { 1272 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
827 my ($package, $model) = @$_; 1273 my ($package, $model, $autoload) = @$_;
1274 if (
1275 $autoload
828 if (eval "require $package" 1276 and eval "require $package"
829 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0 1277 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0
830 and eval "require $model") { 1278 and eval "require $model"
1279 ) {
831 $MODEL = $model; 1280 $MODEL = $model;
832 warn "AnyEvent: autoprobed model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1281 warn "AnyEvent: autoloaded model '$model', using it.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 2;
833 last; 1282 last;
834 } 1283 }
835 } 1284 }
836 1285
837 $MODEL 1286 $MODEL
838 or die "No event module selected for AnyEvent and autodetect failed. Install any one of these modules: EV, Event or Glib."; 1287 or die "No event module selected for AnyEvent and autodetect failed. Install any one of these modules: EV, Event or Glib.\n";
839 } 1288 }
840 } 1289 }
841 1290
1291 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base";
1292
842 unshift @ISA, $MODEL; 1293 unshift @ISA, $MODEL;
843 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base"; 1294
1295 require AnyEvent::Strict if $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT};
844 1296
845 (shift @post_detect)->() while @post_detect; 1297 (shift @post_detect)->() while @post_detect;
846 } 1298 }
847 1299
848 $MODEL 1300 $MODEL
850 1302
851sub AUTOLOAD { 1303sub AUTOLOAD {
852 (my $func = $AUTOLOAD) =~ s/.*://; 1304 (my $func = $AUTOLOAD) =~ s/.*://;
853 1305
854 $method{$func} 1306 $method{$func}
855 or croak "$func: not a valid method for AnyEvent objects"; 1307 or Carp::croak "$func: not a valid method for AnyEvent objects";
856 1308
857 detect unless $MODEL; 1309 detect unless $MODEL;
858 1310
859 my $class = shift; 1311 my $class = shift;
860 $class->$func (@_); 1312 $class->$func (@_);
861} 1313}
862 1314
1315# utility function to dup a filehandle. this is used by many backends
1316# to support binding more than one watcher per filehandle (they usually
1317# allow only one watcher per fd, so we dup it to get a different one).
1318sub _dupfh($$;$$) {
1319 my ($poll, $fh, $r, $w) = @_;
1320
1321 # cygwin requires the fh mode to be matching, unix doesn't
1322 my ($rw, $mode) = $poll eq "r" ? ($r, "<&") : ($w, ">&");
1323
1324 open my $fh2, $mode, $fh
1325 or die "AnyEvent->io: cannot dup() filehandle in mode '$poll': $!,";
1326
1327 # we assume CLOEXEC is already set by perl in all important cases
1328
1329 ($fh2, $rw)
1330}
1331
1332=head1 SIMPLIFIED AE API
1333
1334Starting with version 5.0, AnyEvent officially supports a second, much
1335simpler, API that is designed to reduce the calling, typing and memory
1336overhead.
1337
1338See the L<AE> manpage for details.
1339
1340=cut
1341
1342package AE;
1343
1344our $VERSION = $AnyEvent::VERSION;
1345
1346sub io($$$) {
1347 AnyEvent->io (fh => $_[0], poll => $_[1] ? "w" : "r", cb => $_[2])
1348}
1349
1350sub timer($$$) {
1351 AnyEvent->timer (after => $_[0], interval => $_[1], cb => $_[2])
1352}
1353
1354sub signal($$) {
1355 AnyEvent->signal (signal => $_[0], cb => $_[1])
1356}
1357
1358sub child($$) {
1359 AnyEvent->child (pid => $_[0], cb => $_[1])
1360}
1361
1362sub idle($) {
1363 AnyEvent->idle (cb => $_[0])
1364}
1365
1366sub cv(;&) {
1367 AnyEvent->condvar (@_ ? (cb => $_[0]) : ())
1368}
1369
1370sub now() {
1371 AnyEvent->now
1372}
1373
1374sub now_update() {
1375 AnyEvent->now_update
1376}
1377
1378sub time() {
1379 AnyEvent->time
1380}
1381
863package AnyEvent::Base; 1382package AnyEvent::Base;
864 1383
1384# default implementations for many methods
1385
1386sub _time() {
1387 # probe for availability of Time::HiRes
1388 if (eval "use Time::HiRes (); Time::HiRes::time (); 1") {
1389 warn "AnyEvent: using Time::HiRes for sub-second timing accuracy.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 8;
1390 *_time = \&Time::HiRes::time;
1391 # if (eval "use POSIX (); (POSIX::times())...
1392 } else {
1393 warn "AnyEvent: using built-in time(), WARNING, no sub-second resolution!\n" if $VERBOSE;
1394 *_time = sub { time }; # epic fail
1395 }
1396
1397 &_time
1398}
1399
1400sub time { _time }
1401sub now { _time }
1402sub now_update { }
1403
865# default implementation for ->condvar 1404# default implementation for ->condvar
866 1405
867sub condvar { 1406sub condvar {
868 bless { @_ == 3 ? (_ae_cb => $_[2]) : () }, AnyEvent::CondVar:: 1407 bless { @_ == 3 ? (_ae_cb => $_[2]) : () }, "AnyEvent::CondVar"
869} 1408}
870 1409
871# default implementation for ->signal 1410# default implementation for ->signal
872 1411
873our %SIG_CB; 1412our $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT;
1413
1414sub _have_async_interrupt() {
1415 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT = 1*(!$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_ASYNC_INTERRUPT}
1416 && eval "use Async::Interrupt 1.02 (); 1")
1417 unless defined $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT;
1418
1419 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1420}
1421
1422our ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W, %SIG_CB, %SIG_EV, $SIG_IO);
1423our (%SIG_ASY, %SIG_ASY_W);
1424our ($SIG_COUNT, $SIG_TW);
1425
1426sub _signal_exec {
1427 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1428 ? $SIGPIPE_R->drain
1429 : sysread $SIGPIPE_R, (my $dummy), 9;
1430
1431 while (%SIG_EV) {
1432 for (keys %SIG_EV) {
1433 delete $SIG_EV{$_};
1434 $_->() for values %{ $SIG_CB{$_} || {} };
1435 }
1436 }
1437}
1438
1439# install a dummy wakeup watcher to reduce signal catching latency
1440sub _sig_add() {
1441 unless ($SIG_COUNT++) {
1442 # try to align timer on a full-second boundary, if possible
1443 my $NOW = AE::now;
1444
1445 $SIG_TW = AE::timer
1446 $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY - ($NOW - int $NOW),
1447 $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY,
1448 sub { } # just for the PERL_ASYNC_CHECK
1449 ;
1450 }
1451}
1452
1453sub _sig_del {
1454 undef $SIG_TW
1455 unless --$SIG_COUNT;
1456}
1457
1458our $_sig_name_init; $_sig_name_init = sub {
1459 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading
1460 undef $_sig_name_init;
1461
1462 if (_have_async_interrupt) {
1463 *sig2num = \&Async::Interrupt::sig2num;
1464 *sig2name = \&Async::Interrupt::sig2name;
1465 } else {
1466 require Config;
1467
1468 my %signame2num;
1469 @signame2num{ split ' ', $Config::Config{sig_name} }
1470 = split ' ', $Config::Config{sig_num};
1471
1472 my @signum2name;
1473 @signum2name[values %signame2num] = keys %signame2num;
1474
1475 *sig2num = sub($) {
1476 $_[0] > 0 ? shift : $signame2num{+shift}
1477 };
1478 *sig2name = sub ($) {
1479 $_[0] > 0 ? $signum2name[+shift] : shift
1480 };
1481 }
1482 };
1483 die if $@;
1484};
1485
1486sub sig2num ($) { &$_sig_name_init; &sig2num }
1487sub sig2name($) { &$_sig_name_init; &sig2name }
874 1488
875sub signal { 1489sub signal {
1490 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1491 # probe for availability of Async::Interrupt
1492 if (_have_async_interrupt) {
1493 warn "AnyEvent: using Async::Interrupt for race-free signal handling.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 8;
1494
1495 $SIGPIPE_R = new Async::Interrupt::EventPipe;
1496 $SIG_IO = AE::io $SIGPIPE_R->fileno, 0, \&_signal_exec;
1497
1498 } else {
1499 warn "AnyEvent: using emulated perl signal handling with latency timer.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 8;
1500
1501 require Fcntl;
1502
1503 if (AnyEvent::WIN32) {
1504 require AnyEvent::Util;
1505
1506 ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W) = AnyEvent::Util::portable_pipe ();
1507 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_R, 1) if $SIGPIPE_R;
1508 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_W, 1) if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case
1509 } else {
1510 pipe $SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W;
1511 fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, &Fcntl::F_SETFL, &Fcntl::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_R;
1512 fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, &Fcntl::F_SETFL, &Fcntl::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case
1513
1514 # not strictly required, as $^F is normally 2, but let's make sure...
1515 fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, &Fcntl::F_SETFD, &Fcntl::FD_CLOEXEC;
1516 fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, &Fcntl::F_SETFD, &Fcntl::FD_CLOEXEC;
1517 }
1518
1519 $SIGPIPE_R
1520 or Carp::croak "AnyEvent: unable to create a signal reporting pipe: $!\n";
1521
1522 $SIG_IO = AE::io $SIGPIPE_R, 0, \&_signal_exec;
1523 }
1524
1525 *signal = sub {
876 my (undef, %arg) = @_; 1526 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
877 1527
878 my $signal = uc $arg{signal} 1528 my $signal = uc $arg{signal}
879 or Carp::croak "required option 'signal' is missing"; 1529 or Carp::croak "required option 'signal' is missing";
880 1530
1531 if ($HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT) {
1532 # async::interrupt
1533
1534 $signal = sig2num $signal;
881 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb}; 1535 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1536
1537 $SIG_ASY{$signal} ||= new Async::Interrupt
1538 cb => sub { undef $SIG_EV{$signal} },
1539 signal => $signal,
1540 pipe => [$SIGPIPE_R->filenos],
1541 pipe_autodrain => 0,
1542 ;
1543
1544 } else {
1545 # pure perl
1546
1547 # AE::Util has been loaded in signal
1548 $signal = sig2name $signal;
1549 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1550
882 $SIG{$signal} ||= sub { 1551 $SIG{$signal} ||= sub {
883 $_->() for values %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} || {} }; 1552 local $!;
1553 syswrite $SIGPIPE_W, "\x00", 1 unless %SIG_EV;
1554 undef $SIG_EV{$signal};
1555 };
1556
1557 # can't do signal processing without introducing races in pure perl,
1558 # so limit the signal latency.
1559 _sig_add;
1560 }
1561
1562 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::signal"
1563 };
1564
1565 *AnyEvent::Base::signal::DESTROY = sub {
1566 my ($signal, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
1567
1568 _sig_del;
1569
1570 delete $SIG_CB{$signal}{$cb};
1571
1572 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1573 ? delete $SIG_ASY{$signal}
1574 : # delete doesn't work with older perls - they then
1575 # print weird messages, or just unconditionally exit
1576 # instead of getting the default action.
1577 undef $SIG{$signal}
1578 unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} };
1579 };
884 }; 1580 };
885 1581 die if $@;
886 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Signal" 1582 &signal
887}
888
889sub AnyEvent::Base::Signal::DESTROY {
890 my ($signal, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
891
892 delete $SIG_CB{$signal}{$cb};
893
894 $SIG{$signal} = 'DEFAULT' unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} };
895} 1583}
896 1584
897# default implementation for ->child 1585# default implementation for ->child
898 1586
899our %PID_CB; 1587our %PID_CB;
900our $CHLD_W; 1588our $CHLD_W;
901our $CHLD_DELAY_W; 1589our $CHLD_DELAY_W;
902our $PID_IDLE;
903our $WNOHANG; 1590our $WNOHANG;
904 1591
905sub _child_wait { 1592sub _emit_childstatus($$) {
906 while (0 < (my $pid = waitpid -1, $WNOHANG)) { 1593 my (undef, $rpid, $rstatus) = @_;
1594
1595 $_->($rpid, $rstatus)
907 $_->($pid, $?) for (values %{ $PID_CB{$pid} || {} }), 1596 for values %{ $PID_CB{$rpid} || {} },
908 (values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} }); 1597 values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} };
909 }
910
911 undef $PID_IDLE;
912} 1598}
913 1599
914sub _sigchld { 1600sub _sigchld {
915 # make sure we deliver these changes "synchronous" with the event loop. 1601 my $pid;
916 $CHLD_DELAY_W ||= AnyEvent->timer (after => 0, cb => sub { 1602
917 undef $CHLD_DELAY_W; 1603 AnyEvent->_emit_childstatus ($pid, $?)
918 &_child_wait; 1604 while ($pid = waitpid -1, $WNOHANG) > 0;
919 });
920} 1605}
921 1606
922sub child { 1607sub child {
923 my (undef, %arg) = @_; 1608 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
924 1609
925 defined (my $pid = $arg{pid} + 0) 1610 defined (my $pid = $arg{pid} + 0)
926 or Carp::croak "required option 'pid' is missing"; 1611 or Carp::croak "required option 'pid' is missing";
927 1612
928 $PID_CB{$pid}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb}; 1613 $PID_CB{$pid}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
929 1614
930 unless ($WNOHANG) { 1615 # WNOHANG is almost cetrainly 1 everywhere
1616 $WNOHANG ||= $^O =~ /^(?:openbsd|netbsd|linux|freebsd|cygwin|MSWin32)$/
1617 ? 1
931 $WNOHANG = eval { local $SIG{__DIE__}; require POSIX; &POSIX::WNOHANG } || 1; 1618 : eval { local $SIG{__DIE__}; require POSIX; &POSIX::WNOHANG } || 1;
932 }
933 1619
934 unless ($CHLD_W) { 1620 unless ($CHLD_W) {
935 $CHLD_W = AnyEvent->signal (signal => 'CHLD', cb => \&_sigchld); 1621 $CHLD_W = AE::signal CHLD => \&_sigchld;
936 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round 1622 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round
937 &_sigchld; 1623 &_sigchld;
938 } 1624 }
939 1625
940 bless [$pid, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Child" 1626 bless [$pid, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::child"
941} 1627}
942 1628
943sub AnyEvent::Base::Child::DESTROY { 1629sub AnyEvent::Base::child::DESTROY {
944 my ($pid, $cb) = @{$_[0]}; 1630 my ($pid, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
945 1631
946 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb}; 1632 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb};
947 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} }; 1633 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} };
948 1634
949 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB; 1635 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB;
950} 1636}
951 1637
1638# idle emulation is done by simply using a timer, regardless
1639# of whether the process is idle or not, and not letting
1640# the callback use more than 50% of the time.
1641sub idle {
1642 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1643
1644 my ($cb, $w, $rcb) = $arg{cb};
1645
1646 $rcb = sub {
1647 if ($cb) {
1648 $w = _time;
1649 &$cb;
1650 $w = _time - $w;
1651
1652 # never use more then 50% of the time for the idle watcher,
1653 # within some limits
1654 $w = 0.0001 if $w < 0.0001;
1655 $w = 5 if $w > 5;
1656
1657 $w = AE::timer $w, 0, $rcb;
1658 } else {
1659 # clean up...
1660 undef $w;
1661 undef $rcb;
1662 }
1663 };
1664
1665 $w = AE::timer 0.05, 0, $rcb;
1666
1667 bless \\$cb, "AnyEvent::Base::idle"
1668}
1669
1670sub AnyEvent::Base::idle::DESTROY {
1671 undef $${$_[0]};
1672}
1673
952package AnyEvent::CondVar; 1674package AnyEvent::CondVar;
953 1675
954our @ISA = AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::; 1676our @ISA = AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::;
955 1677
956package AnyEvent::CondVar::Base; 1678package AnyEvent::CondVar::Base;
957 1679
958use overload 1680#use overload
959 '&{}' => sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } }, 1681# '&{}' => sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } },
960 fallback => 1; 1682# fallback => 1;
1683
1684# save 300+ kilobytes by dirtily hardcoding overloading
1685${"AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::OVERLOAD"}{dummy}++; # Register with magic by touching.
1686*{'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::()'} = sub { }; # "Make it findable via fetchmethod."
1687*{'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::(&{}'} = sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } }; # &{}
1688${'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::()'} = 1; # fallback
1689
1690our $WAITING;
961 1691
962sub _send { 1692sub _send {
963 # nop 1693 # nop
964} 1694}
965 1695
978sub ready { 1708sub ready {
979 $_[0]{_ae_sent} 1709 $_[0]{_ae_sent}
980} 1710}
981 1711
982sub _wait { 1712sub _wait {
1713 $WAITING
1714 and !$_[0]{_ae_sent}
1715 and Carp::croak "AnyEvent::CondVar: recursive blocking wait detected";
1716
1717 local $WAITING = 1;
983 AnyEvent->one_event while !$_[0]{_ae_sent}; 1718 AnyEvent->one_event while !$_[0]{_ae_sent};
984} 1719}
985 1720
986sub recv { 1721sub recv {
987 $_[0]->_wait; 1722 $_[0]->_wait;
989 Carp::croak $_[0]{_ae_croak} if $_[0]{_ae_croak}; 1724 Carp::croak $_[0]{_ae_croak} if $_[0]{_ae_croak};
990 wantarray ? @{ $_[0]{_ae_sent} } : $_[0]{_ae_sent}[0] 1725 wantarray ? @{ $_[0]{_ae_sent} } : $_[0]{_ae_sent}[0]
991} 1726}
992 1727
993sub cb { 1728sub cb {
994 $_[0]{_ae_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1; 1729 my $cv = shift;
1730
1731 @_
1732 and $cv->{_ae_cb} = shift
1733 and $cv->{_ae_sent}
1734 and (delete $cv->{_ae_cb})->($cv);
1735
995 $_[0]{_ae_cb} 1736 $cv->{_ae_cb}
996} 1737}
997 1738
998sub begin { 1739sub begin {
999 ++$_[0]{_ae_counter}; 1740 ++$_[0]{_ae_counter};
1000 $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1; 1741 $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1;
1006} 1747}
1007 1748
1008# undocumented/compatibility with pre-3.4 1749# undocumented/compatibility with pre-3.4
1009*broadcast = \&send; 1750*broadcast = \&send;
1010*wait = \&_wait; 1751*wait = \&_wait;
1752
1753=head1 ERROR AND EXCEPTION HANDLING
1754
1755In general, AnyEvent does not do any error handling - it relies on the
1756caller to do that if required. The L<AnyEvent::Strict> module (see also
1757the C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT> environment variable, below) provides strict
1758checking of all AnyEvent methods, however, which is highly useful during
1759development.
1760
1761As for exception handling (i.e. runtime errors and exceptions thrown while
1762executing a callback), this is not only highly event-loop specific, but
1763also not in any way wrapped by this module, as this is the job of the main
1764program.
1765
1766The pure perl event loop simply re-throws the exception (usually
1767within C<< condvar->recv >>), the L<Event> and L<EV> modules call C<<
1768$Event/EV::DIED->() >>, L<Glib> uses C<< install_exception_handler >> and
1769so on.
1770
1771=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
1772
1773The following environment variables are used by this module or its
1774submodules.
1775
1776Note that AnyEvent will remove I<all> environment variables starting with
1777C<PERL_ANYEVENT_> from C<%ENV> when it is loaded while taint mode is
1778enabled.
1779
1780=over 4
1781
1782=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
1783
1784By default, AnyEvent will be completely silent except in fatal
1785conditions. You can set this environment variable to make AnyEvent more
1786talkative.
1787
1788When set to C<1> or higher, causes AnyEvent to warn about unexpected
1789conditions, such as not being able to load the event model specified by
1790C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>.
1791
1792When set to C<2> or higher, cause AnyEvent to report to STDERR which event
1793model it chooses.
1794
1795When set to C<8> or higher, then AnyEvent will report extra information on
1796which optional modules it loads and how it implements certain features.
1797
1798=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT>
1799
1800AnyEvent does not do much argument checking by default, as thorough
1801argument checking is very costly. Setting this variable to a true value
1802will cause AnyEvent to load C<AnyEvent::Strict> and then to thoroughly
1803check the arguments passed to most method calls. If it finds any problems,
1804it will croak.
1805
1806In other words, enables "strict" mode.
1807
1808Unlike C<use strict> (or it's modern cousin, C<< use L<common::sense>
1809>>, it is definitely recommended to keep it off in production. Keeping
1810C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT=1> in your environment while developing programs
1811can be very useful, however.
1812
1813=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
1814
1815This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
1816auto detection and -probing kicks in. It must be a string consisting
1817entirely of ASCII letters. The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended
1818and the resulting module name is loaded and if the load was successful,
1819used as event model. If it fails to load AnyEvent will proceed with
1820auto detection and -probing.
1821
1822This functionality might change in future versions.
1823
1824For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) you
1825could start your program like this:
1826
1827 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
1828
1829=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS>
1830
1831Used by both L<AnyEvent::DNS> and L<AnyEvent::Socket> to determine preferences
1832for IPv4 or IPv6. The default is unspecified (and might change, or be the result
1833of auto probing).
1834
1835Must be set to a comma-separated list of protocols or address families,
1836current supported: C<ipv4> and C<ipv6>. Only protocols mentioned will be
1837used, and preference will be given to protocols mentioned earlier in the
1838list.
1839
1840This variable can effectively be used for denial-of-service attacks
1841against local programs (e.g. when setuid), although the impact is likely
1842small, as the program has to handle conenction and other failures anyways.
1843
1844Examples: C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4,ipv6> - prefer IPv4 over IPv6,
1845but support both and try to use both. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4>
1846- only support IPv4, never try to resolve or contact IPv6
1847addresses. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv6,ipv4> support either IPv4 or
1848IPv6, but prefer IPv6 over IPv4.
1849
1850=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_EDNS0>
1851
1852Used by L<AnyEvent::DNS> to decide whether to use the EDNS0 extension
1853for DNS. This extension is generally useful to reduce DNS traffic, but
1854some (broken) firewalls drop such DNS packets, which is why it is off by
1855default.
1856
1857Setting this variable to C<1> will cause L<AnyEvent::DNS> to announce
1858EDNS0 in its DNS requests.
1859
1860=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_FORKS>
1861
1862The maximum number of child processes that C<AnyEvent::Util::fork_call>
1863will create in parallel.
1864
1865=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_OUTSTANDING_DNS>
1866
1867The default value for the C<max_outstanding> parameter for the default DNS
1868resolver - this is the maximum number of parallel DNS requests that are
1869sent to the DNS server.
1870
1871=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_RESOLV_CONF>
1872
1873The file to use instead of F</etc/resolv.conf> (or OS-specific
1874configuration) in the default resolver. When set to the empty string, no
1875default config will be used.
1876
1877=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_CA_FILE>, C<PERL_ANYEVENT_CA_PATH>.
1878
1879When neither C<ca_file> nor C<ca_path> was specified during
1880L<AnyEvent::TLS> context creation, and either of these environment
1881variables exist, they will be used to specify CA certificate locations
1882instead of a system-dependent default.
1883
1884=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_GUARD> and C<PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_ASYNC_INTERRUPT>
1885
1886When these are set to C<1>, then the respective modules are not
1887loaded. Mostly good for testing AnyEvent itself.
1888
1889=back
1011 1890
1012=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE 1891=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE
1013 1892
1014This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in 1893This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in
1015a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to 1894a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to
1049 1928
1050I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to 1929I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to
1051condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will 1930condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will
1052C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must 1931C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must
1053not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense. 1932not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense.
1054
1055=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
1056
1057The following environment variables are used by this module:
1058
1059=over 4
1060
1061=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
1062
1063By default, AnyEvent will be completely silent except in fatal
1064conditions. You can set this environment variable to make AnyEvent more
1065talkative.
1066
1067When set to C<1> or higher, causes AnyEvent to warn about unexpected
1068conditions, such as not being able to load the event model specified by
1069C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>.
1070
1071When set to C<2> or higher, cause AnyEvent to report to STDERR which event
1072model it chooses.
1073
1074=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
1075
1076This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
1077auto detection and -probing kicks in. It must be a string consisting
1078entirely of ASCII letters. The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended
1079and the resulting module name is loaded and if the load was successful,
1080used as event model. If it fails to load AnyEvent will proceed with
1081auto detection and -probing.
1082
1083This functionality might change in future versions.
1084
1085For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) you
1086could start your program like this:
1087
1088 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
1089
1090=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS>
1091
1092Used by both L<AnyEvent::DNS> and L<AnyEvent::Socket> to determine preferences
1093for IPv4 or IPv6. The default is unspecified (and might change, or be the result
1094of auto probing).
1095
1096Must be set to a comma-separated list of protocols or address families,
1097current supported: C<ipv4> and C<ipv6>. Only protocols mentioned will be
1098used, and preference will be given to protocols mentioned earlier in the
1099list.
1100
1101This variable can effectively be used for denial-of-service attacks
1102against local programs (e.g. when setuid), although the impact is likely
1103small, as the program has to handle connection errors already-
1104
1105Examples: C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4,ipv6> - prefer IPv4 over IPv6,
1106but support both and try to use both. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4>
1107- only support IPv4, never try to resolve or contact IPv6
1108addresses. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv6,ipv4> support either IPv4 or
1109IPv6, but prefer IPv6 over IPv4.
1110
1111=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_EDNS0>
1112
1113Used by L<AnyEvent::DNS> to decide whether to use the EDNS0 extension
1114for DNS. This extension is generally useful to reduce DNS traffic, but
1115some (broken) firewalls drop such DNS packets, which is why it is off by
1116default.
1117
1118Setting this variable to C<1> will cause L<AnyEvent::DNS> to announce
1119EDNS0 in its DNS requests.
1120
1121=back
1122 1933
1123=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM 1934=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM
1124 1935
1125The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer 1936The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer
1126to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the 1937to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the
1139 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read 1950 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read
1140 $cv->send if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i 1951 $cv->send if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i
1141 }, 1952 },
1142 ); 1953 );
1143 1954
1144 my $time_watcher; # can only be used once
1145
1146 sub new_timer {
1147 $timer = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => sub { 1955 my $time_watcher = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, interval => 1, cb => sub {
1148 warn "timeout\n"; # print 'timeout' about every second 1956 warn "timeout\n"; # print 'timeout' at most every second
1149 &new_timer; # and restart the time
1150 }); 1957 });
1151 }
1152
1153 new_timer; # create first timer
1154 1958
1155 $cv->recv; # wait until user enters /^q/i 1959 $cv->recv; # wait until user enters /^q/i
1156 1960
1157=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE 1961=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE
1158 1962
1289through AnyEvent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero 2093through AnyEvent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero
1290timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable, 2094timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable,
1291which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again. 2095which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again.
1292 2096
1293Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent 2097Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent
1294distribution. 2098distribution. It uses the L<AE> interface, which makes a real difference
2099for the EV and Perl backends only.
1295 2100
1296=head3 Explanation of the columns 2101=head3 Explanation of the columns
1297 2102
1298I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since 2103I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since
1299different event models feature vastly different performances, each event 2104different event models feature vastly different performances, each event
1320watcher. 2125watcher.
1321 2126
1322=head3 Results 2127=head3 Results
1323 2128
1324 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment 2129 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment
1325 EV/EV 400000 244 0.56 0.46 0.31 EV native interface 2130 EV/EV 100000 223 0.47 0.43 0.27 EV native interface
1326 EV/Any 100000 244 2.50 0.46 0.29 EV + AnyEvent watchers 2131 EV/Any 100000 223 0.48 0.42 0.26 EV + AnyEvent watchers
1327 CoroEV/Any 100000 244 2.49 0.44 0.29 coroutines + Coro::Signal 2132 Coro::EV/Any 100000 223 0.47 0.42 0.26 coroutines + Coro::Signal
1328 Perl/Any 100000 513 4.92 0.87 1.12 pure perl implementation 2133 Perl/Any 100000 431 2.70 0.74 0.92 pure perl implementation
1329 Event/Event 16000 516 31.88 31.30 0.85 Event native interface 2134 Event/Event 16000 516 31.16 31.84 0.82 Event native interface
1330 Event/Any 16000 590 35.75 31.42 1.08 Event + AnyEvent watchers 2135 Event/Any 16000 1203 42.61 34.79 1.80 Event + AnyEvent watchers
2136 IOAsync/Any 16000 1911 41.92 27.45 16.81 via IO::Async::Loop::IO_Poll
2137 IOAsync/Any 16000 1726 40.69 26.37 15.25 via IO::Async::Loop::Epoll
1331 Glib/Any 16000 1357 98.22 12.41 54.00 quadratic behaviour 2138 Glib/Any 16000 1118 89.00 12.57 51.17 quadratic behaviour
1332 Tk/Any 2000 1860 26.97 67.98 14.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers 2139 Tk/Any 2000 1346 20.96 10.75 8.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers
1333 POE/Event 2000 6644 108.64 736.02 14.73 via POE::Loop::Event 2140 POE/Any 2000 6951 108.97 795.32 14.24 via POE::Loop::Event
1334 POE/Select 2000 6343 94.13 809.12 565.96 via POE::Loop::Select 2141 POE/Any 2000 6648 94.79 774.40 575.51 via POE::Loop::Select
1335 2142
1336=head3 Discussion 2143=head3 Discussion
1337 2144
1338The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very 2145The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very
1339well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one) 2146well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one)
1351benchmark machine, handling an event takes roughly 1600 CPU cycles with 2158benchmark machine, handling an event takes roughly 1600 CPU cycles with
1352EV, 3100 CPU cycles with AnyEvent's pure perl loop and almost 3000000 CPU 2159EV, 3100 CPU cycles with AnyEvent's pure perl loop and almost 3000000 CPU
1353cycles with POE. 2160cycles with POE.
1354 2161
1355C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both 2162C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both
1356maximal/minimal, respectively. Even when going through AnyEvent, it uses 2163maximal/minimal, respectively. When using the L<AE> API there is zero
2164overhead (when going through the AnyEvent API create is about 5-6 times
2165slower, with other times being equal, so still uses far less memory than
1357far less memory than any other event loop and is still faster than Event 2166any other event loop and is still faster than Event natively).
1358natively.
1359 2167
1360The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the 2168The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the
1361constant timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl 2169constant timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl
1362interpreter and the backend itself). Nevertheless this shows that it 2170interpreter and the backend itself). Nevertheless this shows that it
1363adds very little overhead in itself. Like any select-based backend its 2171adds very little overhead in itself. Like any select-based backend its
1364performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of 2172performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of
1365them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark. 2173them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark.
1366 2174
1367The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation 2175The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation
1368cost, but overall scores in on the third place. 2176cost, but overall scores in on the third place.
2177
2178C<IO::Async> performs admirably well, about on par with C<Event>, even
2179when using its pure perl backend.
1369 2180
1370C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a 2181C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a
1371faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as 2182faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as
1372C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of 2183C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of
1373watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four, 2184watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four,
1434In this benchmark, we use 10000 socket pairs (20000 sockets), of which 100 2245In this benchmark, we use 10000 socket pairs (20000 sockets), of which 100
1435(1%) are active. This mirrors the activity of large servers with many 2246(1%) are active. This mirrors the activity of large servers with many
1436connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time. 2247connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time.
1437 2248
1438Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent 2249Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent
1439distribution. 2250distribution. It uses the L<AE> interface, which makes a real difference
2251for the EV and Perl backends only.
1440 2252
1441=head3 Explanation of the columns 2253=head3 Explanation of the columns
1442 2254
1443I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as 2255I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as
1444each server has a read and write socket end). 2256each server has a read and write socket end).
1451it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating 2263it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating
1452a new one that moves the timeout into the future. 2264a new one that moves the timeout into the future.
1453 2265
1454=head3 Results 2266=head3 Results
1455 2267
1456 name sockets create request 2268 name sockets create request
1457 EV 20000 69.01 11.16 2269 EV 20000 62.66 7.99
1458 Perl 20000 73.32 35.87 2270 Perl 20000 68.32 32.64
1459 Event 20000 212.62 257.32 2271 IOAsync 20000 174.06 101.15 epoll
1460 Glib 20000 651.16 1896.30 2272 IOAsync 20000 174.67 610.84 poll
2273 Event 20000 202.69 242.91
2274 Glib 20000 557.01 1689.52
1461 POE 20000 349.67 12317.24 uses POE::Loop::Event 2275 POE 20000 341.54 12086.32 uses POE::Loop::Event
1462 2276
1463=head3 Discussion 2277=head3 Discussion
1464 2278
1465This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the 2279This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the
1466particular event loop. 2280particular event loop.
1468EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time 2282EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time
1469is relatively high, though. 2283is relatively high, though.
1470 2284
1471Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event 2285Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event
1472loops Event and Glib. 2286loops Event and Glib.
2287
2288IO::Async performs very well when using its epoll backend, and still quite
2289good compared to Glib when using its pure perl backend.
1473 2290
1474Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will 2291Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will
1475understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to 2292understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to
1476the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event 2293the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event
1477uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations. 2294uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations.
1540=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of 2357=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of
1541watchers, as the management overhead dominates. 2358watchers, as the management overhead dominates.
1542 2359
1543=back 2360=back
1544 2361
2362=head2 THE IO::Lambda BENCHMARK
2363
2364Recently I was told about the benchmark in the IO::Lambda manpage, which
2365could be misinterpreted to make AnyEvent look bad. In fact, the benchmark
2366simply compares IO::Lambda with POE, and IO::Lambda looks better (which
2367shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody). As such, the benchmark is
2368fine, and mostly shows that the AnyEvent backend from IO::Lambda isn't
2369very optimal. But how would AnyEvent compare when used without the extra
2370baggage? To explore this, I wrote the equivalent benchmark for AnyEvent.
2371
2372The benchmark itself creates an echo-server, and then, for 500 times,
2373connects to the echo server, sends a line, waits for the reply, and then
2374creates the next connection. This is a rather bad benchmark, as it doesn't
2375test the efficiency of the framework or much non-blocking I/O, but it is a
2376benchmark nevertheless.
2377
2378 name runtime
2379 Lambda/select 0.330 sec
2380 + optimized 0.122 sec
2381 Lambda/AnyEvent 0.327 sec
2382 + optimized 0.138 sec
2383 Raw sockets/select 0.077 sec
2384 POE/select, components 0.662 sec
2385 POE/select, raw sockets 0.226 sec
2386 POE/select, optimized 0.404 sec
2387
2388 AnyEvent/select/nb 0.085 sec
2389 AnyEvent/EV/nb 0.068 sec
2390 +state machine 0.134 sec
2391
2392The benchmark is also a bit unfair (my fault): the IO::Lambda/POE
2393benchmarks actually make blocking connects and use 100% blocking I/O,
2394defeating the purpose of an event-based solution. All of the newly
2395written AnyEvent benchmarks use 100% non-blocking connects (using
2396AnyEvent::Socket::tcp_connect and the asynchronous pure perl DNS
2397resolver), so AnyEvent is at a disadvantage here, as non-blocking connects
2398generally require a lot more bookkeeping and event handling than blocking
2399connects (which involve a single syscall only).
2400
2401The last AnyEvent benchmark additionally uses L<AnyEvent::Handle>, which
2402offers similar expressive power as POE and IO::Lambda, using conventional
2403Perl syntax. This means that both the echo server and the client are 100%
2404non-blocking, further placing it at a disadvantage.
2405
2406As you can see, the AnyEvent + EV combination even beats the
2407hand-optimised "raw sockets benchmark", while AnyEvent + its pure perl
2408backend easily beats IO::Lambda and POE.
2409
2410And even the 100% non-blocking version written using the high-level (and
2411slow :) L<AnyEvent::Handle> abstraction beats both POE and IO::Lambda
2412higher level ("unoptimised") abstractions by a large margin, even though
2413it does all of DNS, tcp-connect and socket I/O in a non-blocking way.
2414
2415The two AnyEvent benchmarks programs can be found as F<eg/ae0.pl> and
2416F<eg/ae2.pl> in the AnyEvent distribution, the remaining benchmarks are
2417part of the IO::Lambda distribution and were used without any changes.
2418
2419
2420=head1 SIGNALS
2421
2422AnyEvent currently installs handlers for these signals:
2423
2424=over 4
2425
2426=item SIGCHLD
2427
2428A handler for C<SIGCHLD> is installed by AnyEvent's child watcher
2429emulation for event loops that do not support them natively. Also, some
2430event loops install a similar handler.
2431
2432Additionally, when AnyEvent is loaded and SIGCHLD is set to IGNORE, then
2433AnyEvent will reset it to default, to avoid losing child exit statuses.
2434
2435=item SIGPIPE
2436
2437A no-op handler is installed for C<SIGPIPE> when C<$SIG{PIPE}> is C<undef>
2438when AnyEvent gets loaded.
2439
2440The rationale for this is that AnyEvent users usually do not really depend
2441on SIGPIPE delivery (which is purely an optimisation for shell use, or
2442badly-written programs), but C<SIGPIPE> can cause spurious and rare
2443program exits as a lot of people do not expect C<SIGPIPE> when writing to
2444some random socket.
2445
2446The rationale for installing a no-op handler as opposed to ignoring it is
2447that this way, the handler will be restored to defaults on exec.
2448
2449Feel free to install your own handler, or reset it to defaults.
2450
2451=back
2452
2453=cut
2454
2455undef $SIG{CHLD}
2456 if $SIG{CHLD} eq 'IGNORE';
2457
2458$SIG{PIPE} = sub { }
2459 unless defined $SIG{PIPE};
2460
2461=head1 RECOMMENDED/OPTIONAL MODULES
2462
2463One of AnyEvent's main goals is to be 100% Pure-Perl(tm): only perl (and
2464it's built-in modules) are required to use it.
2465
2466That does not mean that AnyEvent won't take advantage of some additional
2467modules if they are installed.
2468
2469This section explains which additional modules will be used, and how they
2470affect AnyEvent's operation.
2471
2472=over 4
2473
2474=item L<Async::Interrupt>
2475
2476This slightly arcane module is used to implement fast signal handling: To
2477my knowledge, there is no way to do completely race-free and quick
2478signal handling in pure perl. To ensure that signals still get
2479delivered, AnyEvent will start an interval timer to wake up perl (and
2480catch the signals) with some delay (default is 10 seconds, look for
2481C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>).
2482
2483If this module is available, then it will be used to implement signal
2484catching, which means that signals will not be delayed, and the event loop
2485will not be interrupted regularly, which is more efficient (and good for
2486battery life on laptops).
2487
2488This affects not just the pure-perl event loop, but also other event loops
2489that have no signal handling on their own (e.g. Glib, Tk, Qt).
2490
2491Some event loops (POE, Event, Event::Lib) offer signal watchers natively,
2492and either employ their own workarounds (POE) or use AnyEvent's workaround
2493(using C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>). Installing L<Async::Interrupt>
2494does nothing for those backends.
2495
2496=item L<EV>
2497
2498This module isn't really "optional", as it is simply one of the backend
2499event loops that AnyEvent can use. However, it is simply the best event
2500loop available in terms of features, speed and stability: It supports
2501the AnyEvent API optimally, implements all the watcher types in XS, does
2502automatic timer adjustments even when no monotonic clock is available,
2503can take avdantage of advanced kernel interfaces such as C<epoll> and
2504C<kqueue>, and is the fastest backend I<by far>. You can even embed
2505L<Glib>/L<Gtk2> in it (or vice versa, see L<EV::Glib> and L<Glib::EV>).
2506
2507=item L<Guard>
2508
2509The guard module, when used, will be used to implement
2510C<AnyEvent::Util::guard>. This speeds up guards considerably (and uses a
2511lot less memory), but otherwise doesn't affect guard operation much. It is
2512purely used for performance.
2513
2514=item L<JSON> and L<JSON::XS>
2515
2516One of these modules is required when you want to read or write JSON data
2517via L<AnyEvent::Handle>. It is also written in pure-perl, but can take
2518advantage of the ultra-high-speed L<JSON::XS> module when it is installed.
2519
2520In fact, L<AnyEvent::Handle> will use L<JSON::XS> by default if it is
2521installed.
2522
2523=item L<Net::SSLeay>
2524
2525Implementing TLS/SSL in Perl is certainly interesting, but not very
2526worthwhile: If this module is installed, then L<AnyEvent::Handle> (with
2527the help of L<AnyEvent::TLS>), gains the ability to do TLS/SSL.
2528
2529=item L<Time::HiRes>
2530
2531This module is part of perl since release 5.008. It will be used when the
2532chosen event library does not come with a timing source on it's own. The
2533pure-perl event loop (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) will additionally use it to
2534try to use a monotonic clock for timing stability.
2535
2536=back
2537
1545 2538
1546=head1 FORK 2539=head1 FORK
1547 2540
1548Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are 2541Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are
1549because they rely on inefficient but fork-safe C<select> or C<poll> 2542because they rely on inefficient but fork-safe C<select> or C<poll> calls
1550calls. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware. 2543- higher performance APIs such as BSD's kqueue or the dreaded Linux epoll
2544are usually badly thought-out hacks that are incompatible with fork in
2545one way or another. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware and ensures that you
2546continue event-processing in both parent and child (or both, if you know
2547what you are doing).
2548
2549This means that, in general, you cannot fork and do event processing in
2550the child if the event library was initialised before the fork (which
2551usually happens when the first AnyEvent watcher is created, or the library
2552is loaded).
1551 2553
1552If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first 2554If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first
1553watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child. 2555watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child OR you must do
2556something completely out of the scope of AnyEvent.
2557
2558The problem of doing event processing in the parent I<and> the child
2559is much more complicated: even for backends that I<are> fork-aware or
2560fork-safe, their behaviour is not usually what you want: fork clones all
2561watchers, that means all timers, I/O watchers etc. are active in both
2562parent and child, which is almost never what you want. USing C<exec>
2563to start worker children from some kind of manage rprocess is usually
2564preferred, because it is much easier and cleaner, at the expense of having
2565to have another binary.
1554 2566
1555 2567
1556=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS 2568=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
1557 2569
1558AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via 2570AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via
1563specified in the variable. 2575specified in the variable.
1564 2576
1565You can make AnyEvent completely ignore this variable by deleting it 2577You can make AnyEvent completely ignore this variable by deleting it
1566before the first watcher gets created, e.g. with a C<BEGIN> block: 2578before the first watcher gets created, e.g. with a C<BEGIN> block:
1567 2579
1568 BEGIN { delete $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} } 2580 BEGIN { delete $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} }
1569 2581
1570 use AnyEvent; 2582 use AnyEvent;
1571 2583
1572Similar considerations apply to $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}, as that can 2584Similar considerations apply to $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}, as that can
1573be used to probe what backend is used and gain other information (which is 2585be used to probe what backend is used and gain other information (which is
1574probably even less useful to an attacker than PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL). 2586probably even less useful to an attacker than PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), and
2587$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT}.
2588
2589Note that AnyEvent will remove I<all> environment variables starting with
2590C<PERL_ANYEVENT_> from C<%ENV> when it is loaded while taint mode is
2591enabled.
2592
2593
2594=head1 BUGS
2595
2596Perl 5.8 has numerous memleaks that sometimes hit this module and are hard
2597to work around. If you suffer from memleaks, first upgrade to Perl 5.10
2598and check wether the leaks still show up. (Perl 5.10.0 has other annoying
2599memleaks, such as leaking on C<map> and C<grep> but it is usually not as
2600pronounced).
1575 2601
1576 2602
1577=head1 SEE ALSO 2603=head1 SEE ALSO
1578 2604
1579Utility functions: L<AnyEvent::Util>. 2605Utility functions: L<AnyEvent::Util>.
1582L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>. 2608L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>.
1583 2609
1584Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>, 2610Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>,
1585L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, 2611L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>,
1586L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>, 2612L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>,
1587L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>. 2613L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync>, L<Anyevent::Impl::Irssi>.
1588 2614
1589Non-blocking file handles, sockets, TCP clients and 2615Non-blocking file handles, sockets, TCP clients and
1590servers: L<AnyEvent::Handle>, L<AnyEvent::Socket>. 2616servers: L<AnyEvent::Handle>, L<AnyEvent::Socket>, L<AnyEvent::TLS>.
1591 2617
1592Asynchronous DNS: L<AnyEvent::DNS>. 2618Asynchronous DNS: L<AnyEvent::DNS>.
1593 2619
1594Coroutine support: L<Coro>, L<Coro::AnyEvent>, L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>, 2620Coroutine support: L<Coro>, L<Coro::AnyEvent>, L<Coro::EV>,
2621L<Coro::Event>,
1595 2622
1596Nontrivial usage examples: L<Net::FCP>, L<Net::XMPP2>, L<AnyEvent::DNS>. 2623Nontrivial usage examples: L<AnyEvent::GPSD>, L<AnyEvent::XMPP>,
2624L<AnyEvent::HTTP>.
1597 2625
1598 2626
1599=head1 AUTHOR 2627=head1 AUTHOR
1600 2628
1601 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 2629 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
1602 http://home.schmorp.de/ 2630 http://home.schmorp.de/
1603 2631
1604=cut 2632=cut
1605 2633
16061 26341
1607 2635

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