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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 # if you prefer function calls, look at the AE manpage for
13 # an alternative API.
14
15 # file handle or descriptor readable
11 my $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh, poll => "r|w", cb => sub { 16 my $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh, poll => "r", cb => sub { ... });
17
18 # one-shot or repeating timers
19 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, cb => sub { ... });
20 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, interval => $seconds, cb => ...
21
22 print AnyEvent->now; # prints current event loop time
23 print AnyEvent->time; # think Time::HiRes::time or simply CORE::time.
24
25 # POSIX signal
26 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "TERM", cb => sub { ... });
27
28 # child process exit
29 my $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => $pid, cb => sub {
30 my ($pid, $status) = @_;
12 ... 31 ...
13 }); 32 });
14 33
15 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, cb => sub { 34 # called when event loop idle (if applicable)
16 ... 35 my $w = AnyEvent->idle (cb => sub { ... });
17 });
18 36
19 my $w = AnyEvent->condvar; # stores whether a condition was flagged 37 my $w = AnyEvent->condvar; # stores whether a condition was flagged
20 $w->send; # wake up current and all future recv's 38 $w->send; # wake up current and all future recv's
21 $w->recv; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->send 39 $w->recv; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->send
40 # use a condvar in callback mode:
41 $w->cb (sub { $_[0]->recv });
22 42
23=head1 INTRODUCTION/TUTORIAL 43=head1 INTRODUCTION/TUTORIAL
24 44
25This manpage is mainly a reference manual. If you are interested 45This manpage is mainly a reference manual. If you are interested
26in a tutorial or some gentle introduction, have a look at the 46in a tutorial or some gentle introduction, have a look at the
27L<AnyEvent::Intro> manpage. 47L<AnyEvent::Intro> manpage.
28 48
49=head1 SUPPORT
50
51There is a mailinglist for discussing all things AnyEvent, and an IRC
52channel, too.
53
54See the AnyEvent project page at the B<Schmorpforge Ta-Sa Software
55Repository>, at L<http://anyevent.schmorp.de>, for more info.
56
29=head1 WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS MODULE (OR NOT) 57=head1 WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS MODULE (OR NOT)
30 58
31Glib, POE, IO::Async, Event... CPAN offers event models by the dozen 59Glib, POE, IO::Async, Event... CPAN offers event models by the dozen
32nowadays. So what is different about AnyEvent? 60nowadays. So what is different about AnyEvent?
33 61
34Executive Summary: AnyEvent is I<compatible>, AnyEvent is I<free of 62Executive Summary: AnyEvent is I<compatible>, AnyEvent is I<free of
35policy> and AnyEvent is I<small and efficient>. 63policy> and AnyEvent is I<small and efficient>.
36 64
37First and foremost, I<AnyEvent is not an event model> itself, it only 65First and foremost, I<AnyEvent is not an event model> itself, it only
38interfaces to whatever event model the main program happens to use in a 66interfaces to whatever event model the main program happens to use, in a
39pragmatic way. For event models and certain classes of immortals alike, 67pragmatic way. For event models and certain classes of immortals alike,
40the statement "there can only be one" is a bitter reality: In general, 68the statement "there can only be one" is a bitter reality: In general,
41only one event loop can be active at the same time in a process. AnyEvent 69only one event loop can be active at the same time in a process. AnyEvent
42helps hiding the differences between those event loops. 70cannot change this, but it can hide the differences between those event
71loops.
43 72
44The goal of AnyEvent is to offer module authors the ability to do event 73The goal of AnyEvent is to offer module authors the ability to do event
45programming (waiting for I/O or timer events) without subscribing to a 74programming (waiting for I/O or timer events) without subscribing to a
46religion, a way of living, and most importantly: without forcing your 75religion, a way of living, and most importantly: without forcing your
47module users into the same thing by forcing them to use the same event 76module users into the same thing by forcing them to use the same event
48model you use. 77model you use.
49 78
50For modules like POE or IO::Async (which is a total misnomer as it is 79For modules like POE or IO::Async (which is a total misnomer as it is
51actually doing all I/O I<synchronously>...), using them in your module is 80actually doing all I/O I<synchronously>...), using them in your module is
52like joining a cult: After you joined, you are dependent on them and you 81like joining a cult: After you joined, you are dependent on them and you
53cannot use anything else, as it is simply incompatible to everything that 82cannot use anything else, as they are simply incompatible to everything
54isn't itself. What's worse, all the potential users of your module are 83that isn't them. What's worse, all the potential users of your
55I<also> forced to use the same event loop you use. 84module are I<also> forced to use the same event loop you use.
56 85
57AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works 86AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works
58fine. AnyEvent + Tk works fine etc. etc. but none of these work together 87fine. AnyEvent + Tk works fine etc. etc. but none of these work together
59with the rest: POE + IO::Async? No go. Tk + Event? No go. Again: if 88with the rest: POE + IO::Async? No go. Tk + Event? No go. Again: if
60your module uses one of those, every user of your module has to use it, 89your module uses one of those, every user of your module has to use it,
61too. But if your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all 90too. But if your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all
62event models it supports (including stuff like POE and IO::Async, as long 91event models it supports (including stuff like IO::Async, as long as those
63as those use one of the supported event loops. It is trivial to add new 92use one of the supported event loops. It is trivial to add new event loops
64event loops to AnyEvent, too, so it is future-proof). 93to AnyEvent, too, so it is future-proof).
65 94
66In addition to being free of having to use I<the one and only true event 95In addition to being free of having to use I<the one and only true event
67model>, AnyEvent also is free of bloat and policy: with POE or similar 96model>, AnyEvent also is free of bloat and policy: with POE or similar
68modules, you get an enormous amount of code and strict rules you have to 97modules, you get an enormous amount of code and strict rules you have to
69follow. AnyEvent, on the other hand, is lean and up to the point, by only 98follow. AnyEvent, on the other hand, is lean and up to the point, by only
127These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After 156These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After
128creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the 157creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the
129callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model 158callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model
130is in control). 159is in control).
131 160
161Note that B<callbacks must not permanently change global variables>
162potentially in use by the event loop (such as C<$_> or C<$[>) and that B<<
163callbacks must not C<die> >>. The former is good programming practise in
164Perl and the latter stems from the fact that exception handling differs
165widely between event loops.
166
132To disable the watcher you have to destroy it (e.g. by setting the 167To disable the watcher you have to destroy it (e.g. by setting the
133variable you store it in to C<undef> or otherwise deleting all references 168variable you store it in to C<undef> or otherwise deleting all references
134to it). 169to it).
135 170
136All watchers are created by calling a method on the C<AnyEvent> class. 171All watchers are created by calling a method on the C<AnyEvent> class.
149my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are 184my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are
150declared. 185declared.
151 186
152=head2 I/O WATCHERS 187=head2 I/O WATCHERS
153 188
189 $w = AnyEvent->io (
190 fh => <filehandle_or_fileno>,
191 poll => <"r" or "w">,
192 cb => <callback>,
193 );
194
154You can create an I/O watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->io >> method 195You can create an I/O watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->io >> method
155with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments: 196with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments:
156 197
157C<fh> the Perl I<file handle> (I<not> file descriptor) to watch 198C<fh> is the Perl I<file handle> (or a naked file descriptor) to watch
199for events (AnyEvent might or might not keep a reference to this file
200handle). Note that only file handles pointing to things for which
201non-blocking operation makes sense are allowed. This includes sockets,
202most character devices, pipes, fifos and so on, but not for example files
203or block devices.
204
158for events. C<poll> must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>, 205C<poll> must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>, which creates a
159which creates a watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, 206watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, respectively.
207
160respectively. C<cb> is the callback to invoke each time the file handle 208C<cb> is the callback to invoke each time the file handle becomes ready.
161becomes ready.
162 209
163Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 210Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
164presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 211presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
165callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks. 212callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks.
166 213
170 217
171Some event loops issue spurious readyness notifications, so you should 218Some event loops issue spurious readyness notifications, so you should
172always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file 219always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file
173handles. 220handles.
174 221
175Example:
176
177 # wait for readability of STDIN, then read a line and disable the watcher 222Example: wait for readability of STDIN, then read a line and disable the
223watcher.
224
178 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub { 225 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub {
179 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); 226 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>);
180 warn "read: $input\n"; 227 warn "read: $input\n";
181 undef $w; 228 undef $w;
182 }); 229 });
183 230
184=head2 TIME WATCHERS 231=head2 TIME WATCHERS
185 232
233 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => <seconds>, cb => <callback>);
234
235 $w = AnyEvent->timer (
236 after => <fractional_seconds>,
237 interval => <fractional_seconds>,
238 cb => <callback>,
239 );
240
186You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >> 241You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >>
187method with the following mandatory arguments: 242method with the following mandatory arguments:
188 243
189C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are 244C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are
190supported) the callback should be invoked. C<cb> is the callback to invoke 245supported) the callback should be invoked. C<cb> is the callback to invoke
192 247
193Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 248Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
194presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 249presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
195callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks. 250callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks.
196 251
197The timer callback will be invoked at most once: if you want a repeating 252The callback will normally be invoked once only. If you specify another
198timer you have to create a new watcher (this is a limitation by both Tk 253parameter, C<interval>, as a strictly positive number (> 0), then the
199and Glib). 254callback will be invoked regularly at that interval (in fractional
255seconds) after the first invocation. If C<interval> is specified with a
256false value, then it is treated as if it were missing.
200 257
201Example: 258The callback will be rescheduled before invoking the callback, but no
259attempt is done to avoid timer drift in most backends, so the interval is
260only approximate.
202 261
203 # fire an event after 7.7 seconds 262Example: fire an event after 7.7 seconds.
263
204 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub { 264 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub {
205 warn "timeout\n"; 265 warn "timeout\n";
206 }); 266 });
207 267
208 # to cancel the timer: 268 # to cancel the timer:
209 undef $w; 269 undef $w;
210 270
211Example 2:
212
213 # fire an event after 0.5 seconds, then roughly every second 271Example 2: fire an event after 0.5 seconds, then roughly every second.
214 my $w;
215 272
216 my $cb = sub {
217 # cancel the old timer while creating a new one
218 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => $cb); 273 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.5, interval => 1, cb => sub {
274 warn "timeout\n";
219 }; 275 };
220
221 # start the "loop" by creating the first watcher
222 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.5, cb => $cb);
223 276
224=head3 TIMING ISSUES 277=head3 TIMING ISSUES
225 278
226There are two ways to handle timers: based on real time (relative, "fire 279There are two ways to handle timers: based on real time (relative, "fire
227in 10 seconds") and based on wallclock time (absolute, "fire at 12 280in 10 seconds") and based on wallclock time (absolute, "fire at 12
300In either case, if you care (and in most cases, you don't), then you 353In either case, if you care (and in most cases, you don't), then you
301can get whatever behaviour you want with any event loop, by taking the 354can get whatever behaviour you want with any event loop, by taking the
302difference between C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> into 355difference between C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> into
303account. 356account.
304 357
358=item AnyEvent->now_update
359
360Some event loops (such as L<EV> or L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) cache
361the current time for each loop iteration (see the discussion of L<<
362AnyEvent->now >>, above).
363
364When a callback runs for a long time (or when the process sleeps), then
365this "current" time will differ substantially from the real time, which
366might affect timers and time-outs.
367
368When this is the case, you can call this method, which will update the
369event loop's idea of "current time".
370
371A typical example would be a script in a web server (e.g. C<mod_perl>) -
372when mod_perl executes the script, then the event loop will have the wrong
373idea about the "current time" (being potentially far in the past, when the
374script ran the last time). In that case you should arrange a call to C<<
375AnyEvent->now_update >> each time the web server process wakes up again
376(e.g. at the start of your script, or in a handler).
377
378Note that updating the time I<might> cause some events to be handled.
379
305=back 380=back
306 381
307=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS 382=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS
308 383
384 $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => <uppercase_signal_name>, cb => <callback>);
385
309You can watch for signals using a signal watcher, C<signal> is the signal 386You can watch for signals using a signal watcher, C<signal> is the signal
310I<name> without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl callback to 387I<name> in uppercase and without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl
311be invoked whenever a signal occurs. 388callback to be invoked whenever a signal occurs.
312 389
313Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 390Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
314presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 391presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
315callbacks cannot use arguments passed to signal watcher callbacks. 392callbacks cannot use arguments passed to signal watcher callbacks.
316 393
318invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. Synchronous means 395invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. Synchronous means
319that it might take a while until the signal gets handled by the process, 396that it might take a while until the signal gets handled by the process,
320but it is guaranteed not to interrupt any other callbacks. 397but it is guaranteed not to interrupt any other callbacks.
321 398
322The main advantage of using these watchers is that you can share a signal 399The main advantage of using these watchers is that you can share a signal
323between multiple watchers. 400between multiple watchers, and AnyEvent will ensure that signals will not
401interrupt your program at bad times.
324 402
325This watcher might use C<%SIG>, so programs overwriting those signals 403This watcher might use C<%SIG> (depending on the event loop used),
326directly will likely not work correctly. 404so programs overwriting those signals directly will likely not work
405correctly.
327 406
328Example: exit on SIGINT 407Example: exit on SIGINT
329 408
330 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 }); 409 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 });
331 410
411=head3 Restart Behaviour
412
413While restart behaviour is up to the event loop implementation, most will
414not restart syscalls (that includes L<Async::Interrupt> and AnyEvent's
415pure perl implementation).
416
417=head3 Safe/Unsafe Signals
418
419Perl signals can be either "safe" (synchronous to opcode handling) or
420"unsafe" (asynchronous) - the former might get delayed indefinitely, the
421latter might corrupt your memory.
422
423AnyEvent signal handlers are, in addition, synchronous to the event loop,
424i.e. they will not interrupt your running perl program but will only be
425called as part of the normal event handling (just like timer, I/O etc.
426callbacks, too).
427
428=head3 Signal Races, Delays and Workarounds
429
430Many event loops (e.g. Glib, Tk, Qt, IO::Async) do not support attaching
431callbacks to signals in a generic way, which is a pity, as you cannot
432do race-free signal handling in perl, requiring C libraries for
433this. AnyEvent will try to do it's best, which means in some cases,
434signals will be delayed. The maximum time a signal might be delayed is
435specified in C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY> (default: 10 seconds). This
436variable can be changed only before the first signal watcher is created,
437and should be left alone otherwise. This variable determines how often
438AnyEvent polls for signals (in case a wake-up was missed). Higher values
439will cause fewer spurious wake-ups, which is better for power and CPU
440saving.
441
442All these problems can be avoided by installing the optional
443L<Async::Interrupt> module, which works with most event loops. It will not
444work with inherently broken event loops such as L<Event> or L<Event::Lib>
445(and not with L<POE> currently, as POE does it's own workaround with
446one-second latency). For those, you just have to suffer the delays.
447
332=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS 448=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS
333 449
450 $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => <process id>, cb => <callback>);
451
334You can also watch on a child process exit and catch its exit status. 452You can also watch on a child process exit and catch its exit status.
335 453
336The child process is specified by the C<pid> argument (if set to C<0>, it 454The child process is specified by the C<pid> argument (one some backends,
337watches for any child process exit). The watcher will trigger as often 455using C<0> watches for any child process exit, on others this will
338as status change for the child are received. This works by installing a 456croak). The watcher will be triggered only when the child process has
339signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>. The callback will be called with the pid 457finished and an exit status is available, not on any trace events
340and exit status (as returned by waitpid), so unlike other watcher types, 458(stopped/continued).
341you I<can> rely on child watcher callback arguments. 459
460The callback will be called with the pid and exit status (as returned by
461waitpid), so unlike other watcher types, you I<can> rely on child watcher
462callback arguments.
463
464This watcher type works by installing a signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>,
465and since it cannot be shared, nothing else should use SIGCHLD or reap
466random child processes (waiting for specific child processes, e.g. inside
467C<system>, is just fine).
342 468
343There is a slight catch to child watchers, however: you usually start them 469There is a slight catch to child watchers, however: you usually start them
344I<after> the child process was created, and this means the process could 470I<after> the child process was created, and this means the process could
345have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore). 471have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore).
346 472
347Not all event models handle this correctly (POE doesn't), but even for 473Not all event models handle this correctly (neither POE nor IO::Async do,
474see their AnyEvent::Impl manpages for details), but even for event models
348event models that I<do> handle this correctly, they usually need to be 475that I<do> handle this correctly, they usually need to be loaded before
349loaded before the process exits (i.e. before you fork in the first place). 476the process exits (i.e. before you fork in the first place). AnyEvent's
477pure perl event loop handles all cases correctly regardless of when you
478start the watcher.
350 479
351This means you cannot create a child watcher as the very first thing in an 480This means you cannot create a child watcher as the very first
352AnyEvent program, you I<have> to create at least one watcher before you 481thing in an AnyEvent program, you I<have> to create at least one
353C<fork> the child (alternatively, you can call C<AnyEvent::detect>). 482watcher before you C<fork> the child (alternatively, you can call
483C<AnyEvent::detect>).
484
485As most event loops do not support waiting for child events, they will be
486emulated by AnyEvent in most cases, in which the latency and race problems
487mentioned in the description of signal watchers apply.
354 488
355Example: fork a process and wait for it 489Example: fork a process and wait for it
356 490
357 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar; 491 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
358 492
368 ); 502 );
369 503
370 # do something else, then wait for process exit 504 # do something else, then wait for process exit
371 $done->recv; 505 $done->recv;
372 506
507=head2 IDLE WATCHERS
508
509 $w = AnyEvent->idle (cb => <callback>);
510
511Repeatedly invoke the callback after the process becomes idle, until
512either the watcher is destroyed or new events have been detected.
513
514Idle watchers are useful when there is a need to do something, but it
515is not so important (or wise) to do it instantly. The callback will be
516invoked only when there is "nothing better to do", which is usually
517defined as "all outstanding events have been handled and no new events
518have been detected". That means that idle watchers ideally get invoked
519when the event loop has just polled for new events but none have been
520detected. Instead of blocking to wait for more events, the idle watchers
521will be invoked.
522
523Unfortunately, most event loops do not really support idle watchers (only
524EV, Event and Glib do it in a usable fashion) - for the rest, AnyEvent
525will simply call the callback "from time to time".
526
527Example: read lines from STDIN, but only process them when the
528program is otherwise idle:
529
530 my @lines; # read data
531 my $idle_w;
532 my $io_w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub {
533 push @lines, scalar <STDIN>;
534
535 # start an idle watcher, if not already done
536 $idle_w ||= AnyEvent->idle (cb => sub {
537 # handle only one line, when there are lines left
538 if (my $line = shift @lines) {
539 print "handled when idle: $line";
540 } else {
541 # otherwise disable the idle watcher again
542 undef $idle_w;
543 }
544 });
545 });
546
373=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES 547=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES
548
549 $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
550
551 $cv->send (<list>);
552 my @res = $cv->recv;
374 553
375If you are familiar with some event loops you will know that all of them 554If you are familiar with some event loops you will know that all of them
376require you to run some blocking "loop", "run" or similar function that 555require you to run some blocking "loop", "run" or similar function that
377will actively watch for new events and call your callbacks. 556will actively watch for new events and call your callbacks.
378 557
379AnyEvent is different, it expects somebody else to run the event loop and 558AnyEvent is slightly different: it expects somebody else to run the event
380will only block when necessary (usually when told by the user). 559loop and will only block when necessary (usually when told by the user).
381 560
382The instrument to do that is called a "condition variable", so called 561The tool to do that is called a "condition variable", so called because
383because they represent a condition that must become true. 562they represent a condition that must become true.
563
564Now is probably a good time to look at the examples further below.
384 565
385Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar 566Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar
386>> method, usually without arguments. The only argument pair allowed is 567>> method, usually without arguments. The only argument pair allowed is
387C<cb>, which specifies a callback to be called when the condition variable 568C<cb>, which specifies a callback to be called when the condition variable
388becomes true. 569becomes true, with the condition variable as the first argument (but not
570the results).
389 571
390After creation, the condition variable is "false" until it becomes "true" 572After creation, the condition variable is "false" until it becomes "true"
391by calling the C<send> method (or calling the condition variable as if it 573by calling the C<send> method (or calling the condition variable as if it
392were a callback, read about the caveats in the description for the C<< 574were a callback, read about the caveats in the description for the C<<
393->send >> method). 575->send >> method).
394 576
395Condition variables are similar to callbacks, except that you can 577Since condition variables are the most complex part of the AnyEvent API, here are
396optionally wait for them. They can also be called merge points - points 578some different mental models of what they are - pick the ones you can connect to:
397in time where multiple outstanding events have been processed. And yet 579
398another way to call them is transactions - each condition variable can be 580=over 4
399used to represent a transaction, which finishes at some point and delivers 581
400a result. 582=item * Condition variables are like callbacks - you can call them (and pass them instead
583of callbacks). Unlike callbacks however, you can also wait for them to be called.
584
585=item * Condition variables are signals - one side can emit or send them,
586the other side can wait for them, or install a handler that is called when
587the signal fires.
588
589=item * Condition variables are like "Merge Points" - points in your program
590where you merge multiple independent results/control flows into one.
591
592=item * Condition variables represent a transaction - function that start
593some kind of transaction can return them, leaving the caller the choice
594between waiting in a blocking fashion, or setting a callback.
595
596=item * Condition variables represent future values, or promises to deliver
597some result, long before the result is available.
598
599=back
401 600
402Condition variables are very useful to signal that something has finished, 601Condition variables are very useful to signal that something has finished,
403for example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests, 602for example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests,
404then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the 603then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the
405availability of results. The user can either act when the callback is 604availability of results. The user can either act when the callback is
426eventually calls C<< -> send >>, and the "consumer side", which waits 625eventually calls C<< -> send >>, and the "consumer side", which waits
427for the send to occur. 626for the send to occur.
428 627
429Example: wait for a timer. 628Example: wait for a timer.
430 629
431 # wait till the result is ready 630 # condition: "wait till the timer is fired"
432 my $result_ready = AnyEvent->condvar; 631 my $timer_fired = AnyEvent->condvar;
433 632
434 # do something such as adding a timer 633 # create the timer - we could wait for, say
435 # or socket watcher the calls $result_ready->send 634 # a handle becomign ready, or even an
436 # when the "result" is ready. 635 # AnyEvent::HTTP request to finish, but
437 # in this case, we simply use a timer: 636 # in this case, we simply use a timer:
438 my $w = AnyEvent->timer ( 637 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (
439 after => 1, 638 after => 1,
440 cb => sub { $result_ready->send }, 639 cb => sub { $timer_fired->send },
441 ); 640 );
442 641
443 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the callback 642 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the callback
444 # calls send 643 # calls ->send
445 $result_ready->recv; 644 $timer_fired->recv;
446 645
447Example: wait for a timer, but take advantage of the fact that 646Example: wait for a timer, but take advantage of the fact that condition
448condition variables are also code references. 647variables are also callable directly.
449 648
450 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar; 649 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
451 my $delay = AnyEvent->timer (after => 5, cb => $done); 650 my $delay = AnyEvent->timer (after => 5, cb => $done);
452 $done->recv; 651 $done->recv;
652
653Example: Imagine an API that returns a condvar and doesn't support
654callbacks. This is how you make a synchronous call, for example from
655the main program:
656
657 use AnyEvent::CouchDB;
658
659 ...
660
661 my @info = $couchdb->info->recv;
662
663And this is how you would just set a callback to be called whenever the
664results are available:
665
666 $couchdb->info->cb (sub {
667 my @info = $_[0]->recv;
668 });
453 669
454=head3 METHODS FOR PRODUCERS 670=head3 METHODS FOR PRODUCERS
455 671
456These methods should only be used by the producing side, i.e. the 672These methods should only be used by the producing side, i.e. the
457code/module that eventually sends the signal. Note that it is also 673code/module that eventually sends the signal. Note that it is also
470immediately from within send. 686immediately from within send.
471 687
472Any arguments passed to the C<send> call will be returned by all 688Any arguments passed to the C<send> call will be returned by all
473future C<< ->recv >> calls. 689future C<< ->recv >> calls.
474 690
475Condition variables are overloaded so one can call them directly 691Condition variables are overloaded so one can call them directly (as if
476(as a code reference). Calling them directly is the same as calling 692they were a code reference). Calling them directly is the same as calling
477C<send>. Note, however, that many C-based event loops do not handle 693C<send>.
478overloading, so as tempting as it may be, passing a condition variable
479instead of a callback does not work. Both the pure perl and EV loops
480support overloading, however, as well as all functions that use perl to
481invoke a callback (as in L<AnyEvent::Socket> and L<AnyEvent::DNS> for
482example).
483 694
484=item $cv->croak ($error) 695=item $cv->croak ($error)
485 696
486Similar to send, but causes all call's to C<< ->recv >> to invoke 697Similar to send, but causes all call's to C<< ->recv >> to invoke
487C<Carp::croak> with the given error message/object/scalar. 698C<Carp::croak> with the given error message/object/scalar.
488 699
489This can be used to signal any errors to the condition variable 700This can be used to signal any errors to the condition variable
490user/consumer. 701user/consumer. Doing it this way instead of calling C<croak> directly
702delays the error detetcion, but has the overwhelmign advantage that it
703diagnoses the error at the place where the result is expected, and not
704deep in some event clalback without connection to the actual code causing
705the problem.
491 706
492=item $cv->begin ([group callback]) 707=item $cv->begin ([group callback])
493 708
494=item $cv->end 709=item $cv->end
495
496These two methods are EXPERIMENTAL and MIGHT CHANGE.
497 710
498These two methods can be used to combine many transactions/events into 711These two methods can be used to combine many transactions/events into
499one. For example, a function that pings many hosts in parallel might want 712one. For example, a function that pings many hosts in parallel might want
500to use a condition variable for the whole process. 713to use a condition variable for the whole process.
501 714
502Every call to C<< ->begin >> will increment a counter, and every call to 715Every call to C<< ->begin >> will increment a counter, and every call to
503C<< ->end >> will decrement it. If the counter reaches C<0> in C<< ->end 716C<< ->end >> will decrement it. If the counter reaches C<0> in C<< ->end
504>>, the (last) callback passed to C<begin> will be executed. That callback 717>>, the (last) callback passed to C<begin> will be executed, passing the
505is I<supposed> to call C<< ->send >>, but that is not required. If no 718condvar as first argument. That callback is I<supposed> to call C<< ->send
506callback was set, C<send> will be called without any arguments. 719>>, but that is not required. If no group callback was set, C<send> will
720be called without any arguments.
507 721
508Let's clarify this with the ping example: 722You can think of C<< $cv->send >> giving you an OR condition (one call
723sends), while C<< $cv->begin >> and C<< $cv->end >> giving you an AND
724condition (all C<begin> calls must be C<end>'ed before the condvar sends).
725
726Let's start with a simple example: you have two I/O watchers (for example,
727STDOUT and STDERR for a program), and you want to wait for both streams to
728close before activating a condvar:
509 729
510 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar; 730 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
511 731
732 $cv->begin; # first watcher
733 my $w1 = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh1, cb => sub {
734 defined sysread $fh1, my $buf, 4096
735 or $cv->end;
736 });
737
738 $cv->begin; # second watcher
739 my $w2 = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh2, cb => sub {
740 defined sysread $fh2, my $buf, 4096
741 or $cv->end;
742 });
743
744 $cv->recv;
745
746This works because for every event source (EOF on file handle), there is
747one call to C<begin>, so the condvar waits for all calls to C<end> before
748sending.
749
750The ping example mentioned above is slightly more complicated, as the
751there are results to be passwd back, and the number of tasks that are
752begung can potentially be zero:
753
754 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
755
512 my %result; 756 my %result;
513 $cv->begin (sub { $cv->send (\%result) }); 757 $cv->begin (sub { shift->send (\%result) });
514 758
515 for my $host (@list_of_hosts) { 759 for my $host (@list_of_hosts) {
516 $cv->begin; 760 $cv->begin;
517 ping_host_then_call_callback $host, sub { 761 ping_host_then_call_callback $host, sub {
518 $result{$host} = ...; 762 $result{$host} = ...;
533loop, which serves two important purposes: first, it sets the callback 777loop, which serves two important purposes: first, it sets the callback
534to be called once the counter reaches C<0>, and second, it ensures that 778to be called once the counter reaches C<0>, and second, it ensures that
535C<send> is called even when C<no> hosts are being pinged (the loop 779C<send> is called even when C<no> hosts are being pinged (the loop
536doesn't execute once). 780doesn't execute once).
537 781
538This is the general pattern when you "fan out" into multiple subrequests: 782This is the general pattern when you "fan out" into multiple (but
539use an outer C<begin>/C<end> pair to set the callback and ensure C<end> 783potentially none) subrequests: use an outer C<begin>/C<end> pair to set
540is called at least once, and then, for each subrequest you start, call 784the callback and ensure C<end> is called at least once, and then, for each
541C<begin> and for each subrequest you finish, call C<end>. 785subrequest you start, call C<begin> and for each subrequest you finish,
786call C<end>.
542 787
543=back 788=back
544 789
545=head3 METHODS FOR CONSUMERS 790=head3 METHODS FOR CONSUMERS
546 791
562function will call C<croak>. 807function will call C<croak>.
563 808
564In list context, all parameters passed to C<send> will be returned, 809In list context, all parameters passed to C<send> will be returned,
565in scalar context only the first one will be returned. 810in scalar context only the first one will be returned.
566 811
812Note that doing a blocking wait in a callback is not supported by any
813event loop, that is, recursive invocation of a blocking C<< ->recv
814>> is not allowed, and the C<recv> call will C<croak> if such a
815condition is detected. This condition can be slightly loosened by using
816L<Coro::AnyEvent>, which allows you to do a blocking C<< ->recv >> from
817any thread that doesn't run the event loop itself.
818
567Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case 819Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case
568(programs might want to do that to stay interactive), so I<if you are 820(programs might want to do that to stay interactive), so I<if you are
569using this from a module, never require a blocking wait>, but let the 821using this from a module, never require a blocking wait>. Instead, let the
570caller decide whether the call will block or not (for example, by coupling 822caller decide whether the call will block or not (for example, by coupling
571condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting 823condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting
572callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block, 824callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block,
573while still supporting blocking waits if the caller so desires). 825while still supporting blocking waits if the caller so desires).
574 826
575Another reason I<never> to C<< ->recv >> in a module is that you cannot
576sensibly have two C<< ->recv >>'s in parallel, as that would require
577multiple interpreters or coroutines/threads, none of which C<AnyEvent>
578can supply.
579
580The L<Coro> module, however, I<can> and I<does> supply coroutines and, in
581fact, L<Coro::AnyEvent> replaces AnyEvent's condvars by coroutine-safe
582versions and also integrates coroutines into AnyEvent, making blocking
583C<< ->recv >> calls perfectly safe as long as they are done from another
584coroutine (one that doesn't run the event loop).
585
586You can ensure that C<< -recv >> never blocks by setting a callback and 827You can ensure that C<< -recv >> never blocks by setting a callback and
587only calling C<< ->recv >> from within that callback (or at a later 828only calling C<< ->recv >> from within that callback (or at a later
588time). This will work even when the event loop does not support blocking 829time). This will work even when the event loop does not support blocking
589waits otherwise. 830waits otherwise.
590 831
591=item $bool = $cv->ready 832=item $bool = $cv->ready
592 833
593Returns true when the condition is "true", i.e. whether C<send> or 834Returns true when the condition is "true", i.e. whether C<send> or
594C<croak> have been called. 835C<croak> have been called.
595 836
596=item $cb = $cv->cb ([new callback]) 837=item $cb = $cv->cb ($cb->($cv))
597 838
598This is a mutator function that returns the callback set and optionally 839This is a mutator function that returns the callback set and optionally
599replaces it before doing so. 840replaces it before doing so.
600 841
601The callback will be called when the condition becomes "true", i.e. when 842The callback will be called when the condition becomes (or already was)
602C<send> or C<croak> are called, with the only argument being the condition 843"true", i.e. when C<send> or C<croak> are called (or were called), with
603variable itself. Calling C<recv> inside the callback or at any later time 844the only argument being the condition variable itself. Calling C<recv>
604is guaranteed not to block. 845inside the callback or at any later time is guaranteed not to block.
605 846
606=back 847=back
607 848
849=head1 SUPPORTED EVENT LOOPS/BACKENDS
850
851The available backend classes are (every class has its own manpage):
852
853=over 4
854
855=item Backends that are autoprobed when no other event loop can be found.
856
857EV is the preferred backend when no other event loop seems to be in
858use. If EV is not installed, then AnyEvent will fall back to its own
859pure-perl implementation, which is available everywhere as it comes with
860AnyEvent itself.
861
862 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (interface to libev, best choice).
863 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl implementation, fast and portable.
864
865=item Backends that are transparently being picked up when they are used.
866
867These will be used when they are currently loaded when the first watcher
868is created, in which case it is assumed that the application is using
869them. This means that AnyEvent will automatically pick the right backend
870when the main program loads an event module before anything starts to
871create watchers. Nothing special needs to be done by the main program.
872
873 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, very stable, few glitches.
874 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, slow but very stable.
875 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very broken.
876 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
877 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, very slow, some limitations.
878 AnyEvent::Impl::Irssi used when running within irssi.
879
880=item Backends with special needs.
881
882Qt requires the Qt::Application to be instantiated first, but will
883otherwise be picked up automatically. As long as the main program
884instantiates the application before any AnyEvent watchers are created,
885everything should just work.
886
887 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt.
888
889Support for IO::Async can only be partial, as it is too broken and
890architecturally limited to even support the AnyEvent API. It also
891is the only event loop that needs the loop to be set explicitly, so
892it can only be used by a main program knowing about AnyEvent. See
893L<AnyEvent::Impl::Async> for the gory details.
894
895 AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync based on IO::Async, cannot be autoprobed.
896
897=item Event loops that are indirectly supported via other backends.
898
899Some event loops can be supported via other modules:
900
901There is no direct support for WxWidgets (L<Wx>) or L<Prima>.
902
903B<WxWidgets> has no support for watching file handles. However, you can
904use WxWidgets through the POE adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply
905polls 20 times per second, which was considered to be too horrible to even
906consider for AnyEvent.
907
908B<Prima> is not supported as nobody seems to be using it, but it has a POE
909backend, so it can be supported through POE.
910
911AnyEvent knows about both L<Prima> and L<Wx>, however, and will try to
912load L<POE> when detecting them, in the hope that POE will pick them up,
913in which case everything will be automatic.
914
915=back
916
608=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS 917=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS
609 918
919These are not normally required to use AnyEvent, but can be useful to
920write AnyEvent extension modules.
921
610=over 4 922=over 4
611 923
612=item $AnyEvent::MODEL 924=item $AnyEvent::MODEL
613 925
614Contains C<undef> until the first watcher is being created. Then it 926Contains C<undef> until the first watcher is being created, before the
927backend has been autodetected.
928
615contains the event model that is being used, which is the name of the 929Afterwards it contains the event model that is being used, which is the
616Perl class implementing the model. This class is usually one of the 930name of the Perl class implementing the model. This class is usually one
617C<AnyEvent::Impl:xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the case 931of the C<AnyEvent::Impl:xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the
618AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode>). 932case AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode> it
619 933will be C<urxvt::anyevent>).
620The known classes so far are:
621
622 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (an interface to libev, best choice).
623 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, second best choice.
624 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl implementation, fast and portable.
625 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, third-best choice.
626 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very bad choice.
627 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt, cannot be autoprobed (see its docs).
628 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
629 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, not generic enough for full support.
630
631There is no support for WxWidgets, as WxWidgets has no support for
632watching file handles. However, you can use WxWidgets through the
633POE Adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply polls 20 times per
634second, which was considered to be too horrible to even consider for
635AnyEvent. Likewise, other POE backends can be used by AnyEvent by using
636it's adaptor.
637
638AnyEvent knows about L<Prima> and L<Wx> and will try to use L<POE> when
639autodetecting them.
640 934
641=item AnyEvent::detect 935=item AnyEvent::detect
642 936
643Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model 937Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model
644if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would 938if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would
645have created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, as late as possible at 939have created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, as late as possible at
646runtime. 940runtime, and not e.g. while initialising of your module.
941
942If you need to do some initialisation before AnyEvent watchers are
943created, use C<post_detect>.
647 944
648=item $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK } 945=item $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }
649 946
650Arranges for the code block to be executed as soon as the event model is 947Arranges for the code block to be executed as soon as the event model is
651autodetected (or immediately if this has already happened). 948autodetected (or immediately if this has already happened).
652 949
950The block will be executed I<after> the actual backend has been detected
951(C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> is set), but I<before> any watchers have been
952created, so it is possible to e.g. patch C<@AnyEvent::ISA> or do
953other initialisations - see the sources of L<AnyEvent::Strict> or
954L<AnyEvent::AIO> to see how this is used.
955
956The most common usage is to create some global watchers, without forcing
957event module detection too early, for example, L<AnyEvent::AIO> creates
958and installs the global L<IO::AIO> watcher in a C<post_detect> block to
959avoid autodetecting the event module at load time.
960
653If called in scalar or list context, then it creates and returns an object 961If called in scalar or list context, then it creates and returns an object
654that automatically removes the callback again when it is destroyed. See 962that automatically removes the callback again when it is destroyed (or
963C<undef> when the hook was immediately executed). See L<AnyEvent::AIO> for
655L<Coro::BDB> for a case where this is useful. 964a case where this is useful.
965
966Example: Create a watcher for the IO::AIO module and store it in
967C<$WATCHER>. Only do so after the event loop is initialised, though.
968
969 our WATCHER;
970
971 my $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect {
972 $WATCHER = AnyEvent->io (fh => IO::AIO::poll_fileno, poll => 'r', cb => \&IO::AIO::poll_cb);
973 };
974
975 # the ||= is important in case post_detect immediately runs the block,
976 # as to not clobber the newly-created watcher. assigning both watcher and
977 # post_detect guard to the same variable has the advantage of users being
978 # able to just C<undef $WATCHER> if the watcher causes them grief.
979
980 $WATCHER ||= $guard;
656 981
657=item @AnyEvent::post_detect 982=item @AnyEvent::post_detect
658 983
659If there are any code references in this array (you can C<push> to it 984If there are any code references in this array (you can C<push> to it
660before or after loading AnyEvent), then they will called directly after 985before or after loading AnyEvent), then they will called directly after
661the event loop has been chosen. 986the event loop has been chosen.
662 987
663You should check C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> before adding to this array, though: 988You should check C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> before adding to this array, though:
664if it contains a true value then the event loop has already been detected, 989if it is defined then the event loop has already been detected, and the
665and the array will be ignored. 990array will be ignored.
666 991
667Best use C<AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }> instead. 992Best use C<AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }> when your application allows
993it, as it takes care of these details.
994
995This variable is mainly useful for modules that can do something useful
996when AnyEvent is used and thus want to know when it is initialised, but do
997not need to even load it by default. This array provides the means to hook
998into AnyEvent passively, without loading it.
999
1000Example: To load Coro::AnyEvent whenever Coro and AnyEvent are used
1001together, you could put this into Coro (this is the actual code used by
1002Coro to accomplish this):
1003
1004 if (defined $AnyEvent::MODEL) {
1005 # AnyEvent already initialised, so load Coro::AnyEvent
1006 require Coro::AnyEvent;
1007 } else {
1008 # AnyEvent not yet initialised, so make sure to load Coro::AnyEvent
1009 # as soon as it is
1010 push @AnyEvent::post_detect, sub { require Coro::AnyEvent };
1011 }
668 1012
669=back 1013=back
670 1014
671=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE 1015=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE
672 1016
727 1071
728 1072
729=head1 OTHER MODULES 1073=head1 OTHER MODULES
730 1074
731The following is a non-exhaustive list of additional modules that use 1075The following is a non-exhaustive list of additional modules that use
732AnyEvent and can therefore be mixed easily with other AnyEvent modules 1076AnyEvent as a client and can therefore be mixed easily with other AnyEvent
733in the same program. Some of the modules come with AnyEvent, some are 1077modules and other event loops in the same program. Some of the modules
734available via CPAN. 1078come as part of AnyEvent, the others are available via CPAN.
735 1079
736=over 4 1080=over 4
737 1081
738=item L<AnyEvent::Util> 1082=item L<AnyEvent::Util>
739 1083
740Contains various utility functions that replace often-used but blocking 1084Contains various utility functions that replace often-used but blocking
741functions such as C<inet_aton> by event-/callback-based versions. 1085functions such as C<inet_aton> by event-/callback-based versions.
742
743=item L<AnyEvent::Handle>
744
745Provide read and write buffers and manages watchers for reads and writes.
746 1086
747=item L<AnyEvent::Socket> 1087=item L<AnyEvent::Socket>
748 1088
749Provides various utility functions for (internet protocol) sockets, 1089Provides various utility functions for (internet protocol) sockets,
750addresses and name resolution. Also functions to create non-blocking tcp 1090addresses and name resolution. Also functions to create non-blocking tcp
751connections or tcp servers, with IPv6 and SRV record support and more. 1091connections or tcp servers, with IPv6 and SRV record support and more.
752 1092
1093=item L<AnyEvent::Handle>
1094
1095Provide read and write buffers, manages watchers for reads and writes,
1096supports raw and formatted I/O, I/O queued and fully transparent and
1097non-blocking SSL/TLS (via L<AnyEvent::TLS>.
1098
753=item L<AnyEvent::DNS> 1099=item L<AnyEvent::DNS>
754 1100
755Provides rich asynchronous DNS resolver capabilities. 1101Provides rich asynchronous DNS resolver capabilities.
756 1102
1103=item L<AnyEvent::HTTP>, L<AnyEvent::IRC>, L<AnyEvent::XMPP>, L<AnyEvent::GPSD>, L<AnyEvent::IGS>, L<AnyEvent::FCP>
1104
1105Implement event-based interfaces to the protocols of the same name (for
1106the curious, IGS is the International Go Server and FCP is the Freenet
1107Client Protocol).
1108
1109=item L<AnyEvent::Handle::UDP>
1110
1111Here be danger!
1112
1113As Pauli would put it, "Not only is it not right, it's not even wrong!" -
1114there are so many things wrong with AnyEvent::Handle::UDP, most notably
1115it's use of a stream-based API with a protocol that isn't streamable, that
1116the only way to improve it is to delete it.
1117
1118It features data corruption (but typically only under load) and general
1119confusion. On top, the author is not only clueless about UDP but also
1120fact-resistant - some gems of his understanding: "connect doesn't work
1121with UDP", "UDP packets are not IP packets", "UDP only has datagrams, not
1122packets", "I don't need to implement proper error checking as UDP doesn't
1123support error checking" and so on - he doesn't even understand what's
1124wrong with his module when it is explained to him.
1125
757=item L<AnyEvent::HTTP> 1126=item L<AnyEvent::DBI>
758 1127
759A simple-to-use HTTP library that is capable of making a lot of concurrent 1128Executes L<DBI> requests asynchronously in a proxy process for you,
760HTTP requests. 1129notifying you in an event-bnased way when the operation is finished.
1130
1131=item L<AnyEvent::AIO>
1132
1133Truly asynchronous (as opposed to non-blocking) I/O, should be in the
1134toolbox of every event programmer. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses
1135L<IO::AIO> and AnyEvent together, giving AnyEvent access to event-based
1136file I/O, and much more.
761 1137
762=item L<AnyEvent::HTTPD> 1138=item L<AnyEvent::HTTPD>
763 1139
764Provides a simple web application server framework. 1140A simple embedded webserver.
765 1141
766=item L<AnyEvent::FastPing> 1142=item L<AnyEvent::FastPing>
767 1143
768The fastest ping in the west. 1144The fastest ping in the west.
769 1145
770=item L<Net::IRC3>
771
772AnyEvent based IRC client module family.
773
774=item L<Net::XMPP2>
775
776AnyEvent based XMPP (Jabber protocol) module family.
777
778=item L<Net::FCP>
779
780AnyEvent-based implementation of the Freenet Client Protocol, birthplace
781of AnyEvent.
782
783=item L<Event::ExecFlow>
784
785High level API for event-based execution flow control.
786
787=item L<Coro> 1146=item L<Coro>
788 1147
789Has special support for AnyEvent via L<Coro::AnyEvent>. 1148Has special support for AnyEvent via L<Coro::AnyEvent>.
790 1149
791=item L<AnyEvent::AIO>, L<IO::AIO>
792
793Truly asynchronous I/O, should be in the toolbox of every event
794programmer. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses IO::AIO and AnyEvent
795together.
796
797=item L<AnyEvent::BDB>, L<BDB>
798
799Truly asynchronous Berkeley DB access. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses
800IO::AIO and AnyEvent together.
801
802=item L<IO::Lambda>
803
804The lambda approach to I/O - don't ask, look there. Can use AnyEvent.
805
806=back 1150=back
807 1151
808=cut 1152=cut
809 1153
810package AnyEvent; 1154package AnyEvent;
811 1155
812no warnings; 1156# basically a tuned-down version of common::sense
813use strict; 1157sub common_sense {
1158 # from common:.sense 1.0
1159 ${^WARNING_BITS} = "\xfc\x3f\x33\x00\x0f\xf3\xcf\xc0\xf3\xfc\x33\x00";
1160 # use strict vars subs - NO UTF-8, as Util.pm doesn't like this atm. (uts46data.pl)
1161 $^H |= 0x00000600;
1162}
814 1163
1164BEGIN { AnyEvent::common_sense }
1165
815use Carp; 1166use Carp ();
816 1167
817our $VERSION = 4.14; 1168our $VERSION = '5.271';
818our $MODEL; 1169our $MODEL;
819 1170
820our $AUTOLOAD; 1171our $AUTOLOAD;
821our @ISA; 1172our @ISA;
822 1173
823our @REGISTRY; 1174our @REGISTRY;
824 1175
825our $WIN32; 1176our $VERBOSE;
826 1177
827BEGIN { 1178BEGIN {
828 my $win32 = ! ! ($^O =~ /mswin32/i); 1179 require "AnyEvent/constants.pl";
829 eval "sub WIN32(){ $win32 }";
830}
831 1180
1181 eval "sub TAINT (){" . (${^TAINT}*1) . "}";
1182
1183 delete @ENV{grep /^PERL_ANYEVENT_/, keys %ENV}
1184 if ${^TAINT};
1185
832our $verbose = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1; 1186 $VERBOSE = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1;
1187
1188}
1189
1190our $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY = 10;
833 1191
834our %PROTOCOL; # (ipv4|ipv6) => (1|2), higher numbers are preferred 1192our %PROTOCOL; # (ipv4|ipv6) => (1|2), higher numbers are preferred
835 1193
836{ 1194{
837 my $idx; 1195 my $idx;
839 for reverse split /\s*,\s*/, 1197 for reverse split /\s*,\s*/,
840 $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS} || "ipv4,ipv6"; 1198 $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS} || "ipv4,ipv6";
841} 1199}
842 1200
843my @models = ( 1201my @models = (
844 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV::], 1202 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV:: , 1],
845 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::],
846 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl::], 1203 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: , 1],
847 # everything below here will not be autoprobed 1204 # everything below here will not (normally) be autoprobed
848 # as the pureperl backend should work everywhere 1205 # as the pureperl backend should work everywhere
849 # and is usually faster 1206 # and is usually faster
1207 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::, 1],
1208 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib:: , 1], # becomes extremely slow with many watchers
1209 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy
1210 [Irssi:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Irssi::], # Irssi has a bogus "Event" package
850 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], # crashes with many handles 1211 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], # crashes with many handles
851 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib::], # becomes extremely slow with many watchers
852 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy
853 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program 1212 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program
854 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza 1213 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza
855 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], 1214 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
856 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], 1215 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
1216 # IO::Async is just too broken - we would need workarounds for its
1217 # byzantine signal and broken child handling, among others.
1218 # IO::Async is rather hard to detect, as it doesn't have any
1219 # obvious default class.
1220 [IO::Async:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program
1221 [IO::Async::Loop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program
1222 [IO::Async::Notifier:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program
1223 [AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program
857); 1224);
858 1225
859our %method = map +($_ => 1), qw(io timer time now signal child condvar one_event DESTROY); 1226our %method = map +($_ => 1),
1227 qw(io timer time now now_update signal child idle condvar one_event DESTROY);
860 1228
861our @post_detect; 1229our @post_detect;
862 1230
863sub post_detect(&) { 1231sub post_detect(&) {
864 my ($cb) = @_; 1232 my ($cb) = @_;
865 1233
866 if ($MODEL) {
867 $cb->();
868
869 1
870 } else {
871 push @post_detect, $cb; 1234 push @post_detect, $cb;
872 1235
873 defined wantarray 1236 defined wantarray
874 ? bless \$cb, "AnyEvent::Util::PostDetect" 1237 ? bless \$cb, "AnyEvent::Util::postdetect"
875 : () 1238 : ()
1239}
1240
1241sub AnyEvent::Util::postdetect::DESTROY {
1242 @post_detect = grep $_ != ${$_[0]}, @post_detect;
1243}
1244
1245sub detect() {
1246 # free some memory
1247 *detect = sub () { $MODEL };
1248
1249 local $!; # for good measure
1250 local $SIG{__DIE__};
1251
1252 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z]+)$/) {
1253 my $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$1";
1254 if (eval "require $model") {
1255 $MODEL = $model;
1256 warn "AnyEvent: loaded model '$model' (forced by \$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}), using it.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 2;
1257 } else {
1258 warn "AnyEvent: unable to load model '$model' (from \$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}):\n$@" if $VERBOSE;
1259 }
876 } 1260 }
877}
878 1261
879sub AnyEvent::Util::PostDetect::DESTROY { 1262 # check for already loaded models
880 @post_detect = grep $_ != ${$_[0]}, @post_detect;
881}
882
883sub detect() {
884 unless ($MODEL) { 1263 unless ($MODEL) {
885 no strict 'refs'; 1264 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
886 local $SIG{__DIE__}; 1265 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
887 1266 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) {
888 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z]+)$/) {
889 my $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$1";
890 if (eval "require $model") { 1267 if (eval "require $model") {
891 $MODEL = $model; 1268 $MODEL = $model;
892 warn "AnyEvent: loaded model '$model' (forced by \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1269 warn "AnyEvent: autodetected model '$model', using it.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 2;
893 } else { 1270 last;
894 warn "AnyEvent: unable to load model '$model' (from \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL):\n$@" if $verbose; 1271 }
895 } 1272 }
896 } 1273 }
897 1274
898 # check for already loaded models
899 unless ($MODEL) { 1275 unless ($MODEL) {
1276 # try to autoload a model
900 for (@REGISTRY, @models) { 1277 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
901 my ($package, $model) = @$_; 1278 my ($package, $model, $autoload) = @$_;
1279 if (
1280 $autoload
1281 and eval "require $package"
902 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) { 1282 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0
903 if (eval "require $model") { 1283 and eval "require $model"
1284 ) {
904 $MODEL = $model; 1285 $MODEL = $model;
905 warn "AnyEvent: autodetected model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1286 warn "AnyEvent: autoloaded model '$model', using it.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 2;
906 last; 1287 last;
907 }
908 } 1288 }
909 } 1289 }
910 1290
911 unless ($MODEL) {
912 # try to load a model
913
914 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
915 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
916 if (eval "require $package"
917 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0
918 and eval "require $model") {
919 $MODEL = $model;
920 warn "AnyEvent: autoprobed model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1;
921 last;
922 }
923 }
924
925 $MODEL 1291 $MODEL
926 or die "No event module selected for AnyEvent and autodetect failed. Install any one of these modules: EV, Event or Glib."; 1292 or die "No event module selected for AnyEvent and autodetect failed. Install any one of these modules: EV, Event or Glib.\n";
927 }
928 } 1293 }
929
930 unshift @ISA, $MODEL;
931 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base";
932
933 (shift @post_detect)->() while @post_detect;
934 } 1294 }
1295
1296 @models = (); # free probe data
1297
1298 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base";
1299 unshift @ISA, $MODEL;
1300
1301 # now nuke some methods that are overriden by the backend.
1302 # SUPER is not allowed.
1303 for (qw(time signal child idle)) {
1304 undef &{"AnyEvent::Base::$_"}
1305 if defined &{"$MODEL\::$_"};
1306 }
1307
1308 require AnyEvent::Strict if $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT};
1309
1310 (shift @post_detect)->() while @post_detect;
1311
1312 *post_detect = sub(&) {
1313 shift->();
1314
1315 undef
1316 };
935 1317
936 $MODEL 1318 $MODEL
937} 1319}
938 1320
939sub AUTOLOAD { 1321sub AUTOLOAD {
940 (my $func = $AUTOLOAD) =~ s/.*://; 1322 (my $func = $AUTOLOAD) =~ s/.*://;
941 1323
942 $method{$func} 1324 $method{$func}
943 or croak "$func: not a valid method for AnyEvent objects"; 1325 or Carp::croak "$func: not a valid AnyEvent class method";
944 1326
945 detect unless $MODEL; 1327 detect;
946 1328
947 my $class = shift; 1329 my $class = shift;
948 $class->$func (@_); 1330 $class->$func (@_);
949} 1331}
950 1332
1333# utility function to dup a filehandle. this is used by many backends
1334# to support binding more than one watcher per filehandle (they usually
1335# allow only one watcher per fd, so we dup it to get a different one).
1336sub _dupfh($$;$$) {
1337 my ($poll, $fh, $r, $w) = @_;
1338
1339 # cygwin requires the fh mode to be matching, unix doesn't
1340 my ($rw, $mode) = $poll eq "r" ? ($r, "<&") : ($w, ">&");
1341
1342 open my $fh2, $mode, $fh
1343 or die "AnyEvent->io: cannot dup() filehandle in mode '$poll': $!,";
1344
1345 # we assume CLOEXEC is already set by perl in all important cases
1346
1347 ($fh2, $rw)
1348}
1349
1350=head1 SIMPLIFIED AE API
1351
1352Starting with version 5.0, AnyEvent officially supports a second, much
1353simpler, API that is designed to reduce the calling, typing and memory
1354overhead by using function call syntax and a fixed number of parameters.
1355
1356See the L<AE> manpage for details.
1357
1358=cut
1359
1360package AE;
1361
1362our $VERSION = $AnyEvent::VERSION;
1363
1364# fall back to the main API by default - backends and AnyEvent::Base
1365# implementations can overwrite these.
1366
1367sub io($$$) {
1368 AnyEvent->io (fh => $_[0], poll => $_[1] ? "w" : "r", cb => $_[2])
1369}
1370
1371sub timer($$$) {
1372 AnyEvent->timer (after => $_[0], interval => $_[1], cb => $_[2])
1373}
1374
1375sub signal($$) {
1376 AnyEvent->signal (signal => $_[0], cb => $_[1])
1377}
1378
1379sub child($$) {
1380 AnyEvent->child (pid => $_[0], cb => $_[1])
1381}
1382
1383sub idle($) {
1384 AnyEvent->idle (cb => $_[0])
1385}
1386
1387sub cv(;&) {
1388 AnyEvent->condvar (@_ ? (cb => $_[0]) : ())
1389}
1390
1391sub now() {
1392 AnyEvent->now
1393}
1394
1395sub now_update() {
1396 AnyEvent->now_update
1397}
1398
1399sub time() {
1400 AnyEvent->time
1401}
1402
951package AnyEvent::Base; 1403package AnyEvent::Base;
952 1404
953# default implementation for now and time 1405# default implementations for many methods
954 1406
955use Time::HiRes (); 1407sub time {
1408 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1409 # probe for availability of Time::HiRes
1410 if (eval "use Time::HiRes (); Time::HiRes::time (); 1") {
1411 warn "AnyEvent: using Time::HiRes for sub-second timing accuracy.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 8;
1412 *AE::time = \&Time::HiRes::time;
1413 # if (eval "use POSIX (); (POSIX::times())...
1414 } else {
1415 warn "AnyEvent: using built-in time(), WARNING, no sub-second resolution!\n" if $VERBOSE;
1416 *AE::time = sub (){ time }; # epic fail
1417 }
956 1418
957sub time { Time::HiRes::time } 1419 *time = sub { AE::time }; # different prototypes
958sub now { Time::HiRes::time } 1420 };
1421 die if $@;
1422
1423 &time
1424}
1425
1426*now = \&time;
1427
1428sub now_update { }
959 1429
960# default implementation for ->condvar 1430# default implementation for ->condvar
961 1431
962sub condvar { 1432sub condvar {
1433 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1434 *condvar = sub {
963 bless { @_ == 3 ? (_ae_cb => $_[2]) : () }, AnyEvent::CondVar:: 1435 bless { @_ == 3 ? (_ae_cb => $_[2]) : () }, "AnyEvent::CondVar"
1436 };
1437
1438 *AE::cv = sub (;&) {
1439 bless { @_ ? (_ae_cb => shift) : () }, "AnyEvent::CondVar"
1440 };
1441 };
1442 die if $@;
1443
1444 &condvar
964} 1445}
965 1446
966# default implementation for ->signal 1447# default implementation for ->signal
967 1448
968our %SIG_CB; 1449our $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT;
1450
1451sub _have_async_interrupt() {
1452 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT = 1*(!$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_ASYNC_INTERRUPT}
1453 && eval "use Async::Interrupt 1.02 (); 1")
1454 unless defined $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT;
1455
1456 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1457}
1458
1459our ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W, %SIG_CB, %SIG_EV, $SIG_IO);
1460our (%SIG_ASY, %SIG_ASY_W);
1461our ($SIG_COUNT, $SIG_TW);
1462
1463# install a dummy wakeup watcher to reduce signal catching latency
1464# used by Impls
1465sub _sig_add() {
1466 unless ($SIG_COUNT++) {
1467 # try to align timer on a full-second boundary, if possible
1468 my $NOW = AE::now;
1469
1470 $SIG_TW = AE::timer
1471 $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY - ($NOW - int $NOW),
1472 $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY,
1473 sub { } # just for the PERL_ASYNC_CHECK
1474 ;
1475 }
1476}
1477
1478sub _sig_del {
1479 undef $SIG_TW
1480 unless --$SIG_COUNT;
1481}
1482
1483our $_sig_name_init; $_sig_name_init = sub {
1484 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1485 undef $_sig_name_init;
1486
1487 if (_have_async_interrupt) {
1488 *sig2num = \&Async::Interrupt::sig2num;
1489 *sig2name = \&Async::Interrupt::sig2name;
1490 } else {
1491 require Config;
1492
1493 my %signame2num;
1494 @signame2num{ split ' ', $Config::Config{sig_name} }
1495 = split ' ', $Config::Config{sig_num};
1496
1497 my @signum2name;
1498 @signum2name[values %signame2num] = keys %signame2num;
1499
1500 *sig2num = sub($) {
1501 $_[0] > 0 ? shift : $signame2num{+shift}
1502 };
1503 *sig2name = sub ($) {
1504 $_[0] > 0 ? $signum2name[+shift] : shift
1505 };
1506 }
1507 };
1508 die if $@;
1509};
1510
1511sub sig2num ($) { &$_sig_name_init; &sig2num }
1512sub sig2name($) { &$_sig_name_init; &sig2name }
969 1513
970sub signal { 1514sub signal {
1515 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1516 # probe for availability of Async::Interrupt
1517 if (_have_async_interrupt) {
1518 warn "AnyEvent: using Async::Interrupt for race-free signal handling.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 8;
1519
1520 $SIGPIPE_R = new Async::Interrupt::EventPipe;
1521 $SIG_IO = AE::io $SIGPIPE_R->fileno, 0, \&_signal_exec;
1522
1523 } else {
1524 warn "AnyEvent: using emulated perl signal handling with latency timer.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 8;
1525
1526 if (AnyEvent::WIN32) {
1527 require AnyEvent::Util;
1528
1529 ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W) = AnyEvent::Util::portable_pipe ();
1530 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_R, 1) if $SIGPIPE_R;
1531 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_W, 1) if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case
1532 } else {
1533 pipe $SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W;
1534 fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, AnyEvent::F_SETFL, AnyEvent::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_R;
1535 fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, AnyEvent::F_SETFL, AnyEvent::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case
1536
1537 # not strictly required, as $^F is normally 2, but let's make sure...
1538 fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, AnyEvent::F_SETFD, AnyEvent::FD_CLOEXEC;
1539 fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, AnyEvent::F_SETFD, AnyEvent::FD_CLOEXEC;
1540 }
1541
1542 $SIGPIPE_R
1543 or Carp::croak "AnyEvent: unable to create a signal reporting pipe: $!\n";
1544
1545 $SIG_IO = AE::io $SIGPIPE_R, 0, \&_signal_exec;
1546 }
1547
1548 *signal = $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1549 ? sub {
971 my (undef, %arg) = @_; 1550 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
972 1551
1552 # async::interrupt
973 my $signal = uc $arg{signal} 1553 my $signal = sig2num $arg{signal};
974 or Carp::croak "required option 'signal' is missing";
975
976 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb}; 1554 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1555
1556 $SIG_ASY{$signal} ||= new Async::Interrupt
1557 cb => sub { undef $SIG_EV{$signal} },
1558 signal => $signal,
1559 pipe => [$SIGPIPE_R->filenos],
1560 pipe_autodrain => 0,
1561 ;
1562
1563 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::signal"
1564 }
1565 : sub {
1566 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1567
1568 # pure perl
1569 my $signal = sig2name $arg{signal};
1570 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1571
977 $SIG{$signal} ||= sub { 1572 $SIG{$signal} ||= sub {
1573 local $!;
1574 syswrite $SIGPIPE_W, "\x00", 1 unless %SIG_EV;
1575 undef $SIG_EV{$signal};
1576 };
1577
1578 # can't do signal processing without introducing races in pure perl,
1579 # so limit the signal latency.
1580 _sig_add;
1581
1582 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::signal"
1583 }
1584 ;
1585
1586 *AnyEvent::Base::signal::DESTROY = sub {
1587 my ($signal, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
1588
1589 _sig_del;
1590
1591 delete $SIG_CB{$signal}{$cb};
1592
1593 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1594 ? delete $SIG_ASY{$signal}
1595 : # delete doesn't work with older perls - they then
1596 # print weird messages, or just unconditionally exit
1597 # instead of getting the default action.
1598 undef $SIG{$signal}
1599 unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} };
1600 };
1601
1602 *_signal_exec = sub {
1603 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1604 ? $SIGPIPE_R->drain
1605 : sysread $SIGPIPE_R, (my $dummy), 9;
1606
1607 while (%SIG_EV) {
1608 for (keys %SIG_EV) {
1609 delete $SIG_EV{$_};
978 $_->() for values %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} || {} }; 1610 $_->() for values %{ $SIG_CB{$_} || {} };
1611 }
1612 }
1613 };
979 }; 1614 };
1615 die if $@;
980 1616
981 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Signal" 1617 &signal
982}
983
984sub AnyEvent::Base::Signal::DESTROY {
985 my ($signal, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
986
987 delete $SIG_CB{$signal}{$cb};
988
989 $SIG{$signal} = 'DEFAULT' unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} };
990} 1618}
991 1619
992# default implementation for ->child 1620# default implementation for ->child
993 1621
994our %PID_CB; 1622our %PID_CB;
995our $CHLD_W; 1623our $CHLD_W;
996our $CHLD_DELAY_W; 1624our $CHLD_DELAY_W;
997our $PID_IDLE;
998our $WNOHANG; 1625our $WNOHANG;
999 1626
1000sub _child_wait { 1627# used by many Impl's
1001 while (0 < (my $pid = waitpid -1, $WNOHANG)) { 1628sub _emit_childstatus($$) {
1629 my (undef, $rpid, $rstatus) = @_;
1630
1631 $_->($rpid, $rstatus)
1002 $_->($pid, $?) for (values %{ $PID_CB{$pid} || {} }), 1632 for values %{ $PID_CB{$rpid} || {} },
1003 (values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} }); 1633 values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} };
1004 }
1005
1006 undef $PID_IDLE;
1007}
1008
1009sub _sigchld {
1010 # make sure we deliver these changes "synchronous" with the event loop.
1011 $CHLD_DELAY_W ||= AnyEvent->timer (after => 0, cb => sub {
1012 undef $CHLD_DELAY_W;
1013 &_child_wait;
1014 });
1015} 1634}
1016 1635
1017sub child { 1636sub child {
1637 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1638 *_sigchld = sub {
1639 my $pid;
1640
1641 AnyEvent->_emit_childstatus ($pid, $?)
1642 while ($pid = waitpid -1, $WNOHANG) > 0;
1643 };
1644
1645 *child = sub {
1018 my (undef, %arg) = @_; 1646 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1019 1647
1020 defined (my $pid = $arg{pid} + 0) 1648 defined (my $pid = $arg{pid} + 0)
1021 or Carp::croak "required option 'pid' is missing"; 1649 or Carp::croak "required option 'pid' is missing";
1022 1650
1023 $PID_CB{$pid}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb}; 1651 $PID_CB{$pid}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1024 1652
1025 unless ($WNOHANG) { 1653 # WNOHANG is almost cetrainly 1 everywhere
1654 $WNOHANG ||= $^O =~ /^(?:openbsd|netbsd|linux|freebsd|cygwin|MSWin32)$/
1655 ? 1
1026 $WNOHANG = eval { local $SIG{__DIE__}; require POSIX; &POSIX::WNOHANG } || 1; 1656 : eval { local $SIG{__DIE__}; require POSIX; &POSIX::WNOHANG } || 1;
1027 }
1028 1657
1029 unless ($CHLD_W) { 1658 unless ($CHLD_W) {
1030 $CHLD_W = AnyEvent->signal (signal => 'CHLD', cb => \&_sigchld); 1659 $CHLD_W = AE::signal CHLD => \&_sigchld;
1031 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round 1660 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round
1032 &_sigchld; 1661 &_sigchld;
1033 } 1662 }
1034 1663
1035 bless [$pid, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Child" 1664 bless [$pid, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::child"
1036} 1665 };
1037 1666
1038sub AnyEvent::Base::Child::DESTROY { 1667 *AnyEvent::Base::child::DESTROY = sub {
1039 my ($pid, $cb) = @{$_[0]}; 1668 my ($pid, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
1040 1669
1041 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb}; 1670 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb};
1042 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} }; 1671 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} };
1043 1672
1044 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB; 1673 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB;
1674 };
1675 };
1676 die if $@;
1677
1678 &child
1679}
1680
1681# idle emulation is done by simply using a timer, regardless
1682# of whether the process is idle or not, and not letting
1683# the callback use more than 50% of the time.
1684sub idle {
1685 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1686 *idle = sub {
1687 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1688
1689 my ($cb, $w, $rcb) = $arg{cb};
1690
1691 $rcb = sub {
1692 if ($cb) {
1693 $w = _time;
1694 &$cb;
1695 $w = _time - $w;
1696
1697 # never use more then 50% of the time for the idle watcher,
1698 # within some limits
1699 $w = 0.0001 if $w < 0.0001;
1700 $w = 5 if $w > 5;
1701
1702 $w = AE::timer $w, 0, $rcb;
1703 } else {
1704 # clean up...
1705 undef $w;
1706 undef $rcb;
1707 }
1708 };
1709
1710 $w = AE::timer 0.05, 0, $rcb;
1711
1712 bless \\$cb, "AnyEvent::Base::idle"
1713 };
1714
1715 *AnyEvent::Base::idle::DESTROY = sub {
1716 undef $${$_[0]};
1717 };
1718 };
1719 die if $@;
1720
1721 &idle
1045} 1722}
1046 1723
1047package AnyEvent::CondVar; 1724package AnyEvent::CondVar;
1048 1725
1049our @ISA = AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::; 1726our @ISA = AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::;
1050 1727
1051package AnyEvent::CondVar::Base; 1728package AnyEvent::CondVar::Base;
1052 1729
1053use overload 1730#use overload
1054 '&{}' => sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } }, 1731# '&{}' => sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } },
1055 fallback => 1; 1732# fallback => 1;
1733
1734# save 300+ kilobytes by dirtily hardcoding overloading
1735${"AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::OVERLOAD"}{dummy}++; # Register with magic by touching.
1736*{'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::()'} = sub { }; # "Make it findable via fetchmethod."
1737*{'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::(&{}'} = sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } }; # &{}
1738${'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::()'} = 1; # fallback
1739
1740our $WAITING;
1056 1741
1057sub _send { 1742sub _send {
1058 # nop 1743 # nop
1059} 1744}
1060 1745
1073sub ready { 1758sub ready {
1074 $_[0]{_ae_sent} 1759 $_[0]{_ae_sent}
1075} 1760}
1076 1761
1077sub _wait { 1762sub _wait {
1763 $WAITING
1764 and !$_[0]{_ae_sent}
1765 and Carp::croak "AnyEvent::CondVar: recursive blocking wait detected";
1766
1767 local $WAITING = 1;
1078 AnyEvent->one_event while !$_[0]{_ae_sent}; 1768 AnyEvent->one_event while !$_[0]{_ae_sent};
1079} 1769}
1080 1770
1081sub recv { 1771sub recv {
1082 $_[0]->_wait; 1772 $_[0]->_wait;
1084 Carp::croak $_[0]{_ae_croak} if $_[0]{_ae_croak}; 1774 Carp::croak $_[0]{_ae_croak} if $_[0]{_ae_croak};
1085 wantarray ? @{ $_[0]{_ae_sent} } : $_[0]{_ae_sent}[0] 1775 wantarray ? @{ $_[0]{_ae_sent} } : $_[0]{_ae_sent}[0]
1086} 1776}
1087 1777
1088sub cb { 1778sub cb {
1089 $_[0]{_ae_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1; 1779 my $cv = shift;
1780
1781 @_
1782 and $cv->{_ae_cb} = shift
1783 and $cv->{_ae_sent}
1784 and (delete $cv->{_ae_cb})->($cv);
1785
1090 $_[0]{_ae_cb} 1786 $cv->{_ae_cb}
1091} 1787}
1092 1788
1093sub begin { 1789sub begin {
1094 ++$_[0]{_ae_counter}; 1790 ++$_[0]{_ae_counter};
1095 $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1; 1791 $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1;
1101} 1797}
1102 1798
1103# undocumented/compatibility with pre-3.4 1799# undocumented/compatibility with pre-3.4
1104*broadcast = \&send; 1800*broadcast = \&send;
1105*wait = \&_wait; 1801*wait = \&_wait;
1802
1803=head1 ERROR AND EXCEPTION HANDLING
1804
1805In general, AnyEvent does not do any error handling - it relies on the
1806caller to do that if required. The L<AnyEvent::Strict> module (see also
1807the C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT> environment variable, below) provides strict
1808checking of all AnyEvent methods, however, which is highly useful during
1809development.
1810
1811As for exception handling (i.e. runtime errors and exceptions thrown while
1812executing a callback), this is not only highly event-loop specific, but
1813also not in any way wrapped by this module, as this is the job of the main
1814program.
1815
1816The pure perl event loop simply re-throws the exception (usually
1817within C<< condvar->recv >>), the L<Event> and L<EV> modules call C<<
1818$Event/EV::DIED->() >>, L<Glib> uses C<< install_exception_handler >> and
1819so on.
1820
1821=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
1822
1823The following environment variables are used by this module or its
1824submodules.
1825
1826Note that AnyEvent will remove I<all> environment variables starting with
1827C<PERL_ANYEVENT_> from C<%ENV> when it is loaded while taint mode is
1828enabled.
1829
1830=over 4
1831
1832=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
1833
1834By default, AnyEvent will be completely silent except in fatal
1835conditions. You can set this environment variable to make AnyEvent more
1836talkative.
1837
1838When set to C<1> or higher, causes AnyEvent to warn about unexpected
1839conditions, such as not being able to load the event model specified by
1840C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>.
1841
1842When set to C<2> or higher, cause AnyEvent to report to STDERR which event
1843model it chooses.
1844
1845When set to C<8> or higher, then AnyEvent will report extra information on
1846which optional modules it loads and how it implements certain features.
1847
1848=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT>
1849
1850AnyEvent does not do much argument checking by default, as thorough
1851argument checking is very costly. Setting this variable to a true value
1852will cause AnyEvent to load C<AnyEvent::Strict> and then to thoroughly
1853check the arguments passed to most method calls. If it finds any problems,
1854it will croak.
1855
1856In other words, enables "strict" mode.
1857
1858Unlike C<use strict> (or it's modern cousin, C<< use L<common::sense>
1859>>, it is definitely recommended to keep it off in production. Keeping
1860C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT=1> in your environment while developing programs
1861can be very useful, however.
1862
1863=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
1864
1865This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
1866auto detection and -probing kicks in. It must be a string consisting
1867entirely of ASCII letters. The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended
1868and the resulting module name is loaded and if the load was successful,
1869used as event model. If it fails to load AnyEvent will proceed with
1870auto detection and -probing.
1871
1872This functionality might change in future versions.
1873
1874For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) you
1875could start your program like this:
1876
1877 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
1878
1879=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS>
1880
1881Used by both L<AnyEvent::DNS> and L<AnyEvent::Socket> to determine preferences
1882for IPv4 or IPv6. The default is unspecified (and might change, or be the result
1883of auto probing).
1884
1885Must be set to a comma-separated list of protocols or address families,
1886current supported: C<ipv4> and C<ipv6>. Only protocols mentioned will be
1887used, and preference will be given to protocols mentioned earlier in the
1888list.
1889
1890This variable can effectively be used for denial-of-service attacks
1891against local programs (e.g. when setuid), although the impact is likely
1892small, as the program has to handle conenction and other failures anyways.
1893
1894Examples: C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4,ipv6> - prefer IPv4 over IPv6,
1895but support both and try to use both. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4>
1896- only support IPv4, never try to resolve or contact IPv6
1897addresses. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv6,ipv4> support either IPv4 or
1898IPv6, but prefer IPv6 over IPv4.
1899
1900=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_EDNS0>
1901
1902Used by L<AnyEvent::DNS> to decide whether to use the EDNS0 extension
1903for DNS. This extension is generally useful to reduce DNS traffic, but
1904some (broken) firewalls drop such DNS packets, which is why it is off by
1905default.
1906
1907Setting this variable to C<1> will cause L<AnyEvent::DNS> to announce
1908EDNS0 in its DNS requests.
1909
1910=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_FORKS>
1911
1912The maximum number of child processes that C<AnyEvent::Util::fork_call>
1913will create in parallel.
1914
1915=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_OUTSTANDING_DNS>
1916
1917The default value for the C<max_outstanding> parameter for the default DNS
1918resolver - this is the maximum number of parallel DNS requests that are
1919sent to the DNS server.
1920
1921=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_RESOLV_CONF>
1922
1923The file to use instead of F</etc/resolv.conf> (or OS-specific
1924configuration) in the default resolver. When set to the empty string, no
1925default config will be used.
1926
1927=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_CA_FILE>, C<PERL_ANYEVENT_CA_PATH>.
1928
1929When neither C<ca_file> nor C<ca_path> was specified during
1930L<AnyEvent::TLS> context creation, and either of these environment
1931variables exist, they will be used to specify CA certificate locations
1932instead of a system-dependent default.
1933
1934=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_GUARD> and C<PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_ASYNC_INTERRUPT>
1935
1936When these are set to C<1>, then the respective modules are not
1937loaded. Mostly good for testing AnyEvent itself.
1938
1939=back
1106 1940
1107=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE 1941=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE
1108 1942
1109This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in 1943This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in
1110a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to 1944a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to
1144 1978
1145I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to 1979I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to
1146condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will 1980condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will
1147C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must 1981C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must
1148not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense. 1982not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense.
1149
1150=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
1151
1152The following environment variables are used by this module:
1153
1154=over 4
1155
1156=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
1157
1158By default, AnyEvent will be completely silent except in fatal
1159conditions. You can set this environment variable to make AnyEvent more
1160talkative.
1161
1162When set to C<1> or higher, causes AnyEvent to warn about unexpected
1163conditions, such as not being able to load the event model specified by
1164C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>.
1165
1166When set to C<2> or higher, cause AnyEvent to report to STDERR which event
1167model it chooses.
1168
1169=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
1170
1171This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
1172auto detection and -probing kicks in. It must be a string consisting
1173entirely of ASCII letters. The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended
1174and the resulting module name is loaded and if the load was successful,
1175used as event model. If it fails to load AnyEvent will proceed with
1176auto detection and -probing.
1177
1178This functionality might change in future versions.
1179
1180For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) you
1181could start your program like this:
1182
1183 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
1184
1185=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS>
1186
1187Used by both L<AnyEvent::DNS> and L<AnyEvent::Socket> to determine preferences
1188for IPv4 or IPv6. The default is unspecified (and might change, or be the result
1189of auto probing).
1190
1191Must be set to a comma-separated list of protocols or address families,
1192current supported: C<ipv4> and C<ipv6>. Only protocols mentioned will be
1193used, and preference will be given to protocols mentioned earlier in the
1194list.
1195
1196This variable can effectively be used for denial-of-service attacks
1197against local programs (e.g. when setuid), although the impact is likely
1198small, as the program has to handle connection errors already-
1199
1200Examples: C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4,ipv6> - prefer IPv4 over IPv6,
1201but support both and try to use both. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4>
1202- only support IPv4, never try to resolve or contact IPv6
1203addresses. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv6,ipv4> support either IPv4 or
1204IPv6, but prefer IPv6 over IPv4.
1205
1206=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_EDNS0>
1207
1208Used by L<AnyEvent::DNS> to decide whether to use the EDNS0 extension
1209for DNS. This extension is generally useful to reduce DNS traffic, but
1210some (broken) firewalls drop such DNS packets, which is why it is off by
1211default.
1212
1213Setting this variable to C<1> will cause L<AnyEvent::DNS> to announce
1214EDNS0 in its DNS requests.
1215
1216=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_FORKS>
1217
1218The maximum number of child processes that C<AnyEvent::Util::fork_call>
1219will create in parallel.
1220
1221=back
1222 1983
1223=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM 1984=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM
1224 1985
1225The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer 1986The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer
1226to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the 1987to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the
1239 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read 2000 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read
1240 $cv->send if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i 2001 $cv->send if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i
1241 }, 2002 },
1242 ); 2003 );
1243 2004
1244 my $time_watcher; # can only be used once
1245
1246 sub new_timer {
1247 $timer = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => sub { 2005 my $time_watcher = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, interval => 1, cb => sub {
1248 warn "timeout\n"; # print 'timeout' about every second 2006 warn "timeout\n"; # print 'timeout' at most every second
1249 &new_timer; # and restart the time
1250 }); 2007 });
1251 }
1252
1253 new_timer; # create first timer
1254 2008
1255 $cv->recv; # wait until user enters /^q/i 2009 $cv->recv; # wait until user enters /^q/i
1256 2010
1257=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE 2011=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE
1258 2012
1331 2085
1332The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions) 2086The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions)
1333that occurred during request processing. The C<result> method detects 2087that occurred during request processing. The C<result> method detects
1334whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object) 2088whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object)
1335and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other 2089and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other
1336problems get reported tot he code that tries to use the result, not in a 2090problems get reported to the code that tries to use the result, not in a
1337random callback. 2091random callback.
1338 2092
1339All of this enables the following usage styles: 2093All of this enables the following usage styles:
1340 2094
13411. Blocking: 20951. Blocking:
1389through AnyEvent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero 2143through AnyEvent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero
1390timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable, 2144timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable,
1391which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again. 2145which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again.
1392 2146
1393Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent 2147Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent
1394distribution. 2148distribution. It uses the L<AE> interface, which makes a real difference
2149for the EV and Perl backends only.
1395 2150
1396=head3 Explanation of the columns 2151=head3 Explanation of the columns
1397 2152
1398I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since 2153I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since
1399different event models feature vastly different performances, each event 2154different event models feature vastly different performances, each event
1420watcher. 2175watcher.
1421 2176
1422=head3 Results 2177=head3 Results
1423 2178
1424 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment 2179 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment
1425 EV/EV 400000 244 0.56 0.46 0.31 EV native interface 2180 EV/EV 100000 223 0.47 0.43 0.27 EV native interface
1426 EV/Any 100000 244 2.50 0.46 0.29 EV + AnyEvent watchers 2181 EV/Any 100000 223 0.48 0.42 0.26 EV + AnyEvent watchers
1427 CoroEV/Any 100000 244 2.49 0.44 0.29 coroutines + Coro::Signal 2182 Coro::EV/Any 100000 223 0.47 0.42 0.26 coroutines + Coro::Signal
1428 Perl/Any 100000 513 4.92 0.87 1.12 pure perl implementation 2183 Perl/Any 100000 431 2.70 0.74 0.92 pure perl implementation
1429 Event/Event 16000 516 31.88 31.30 0.85 Event native interface 2184 Event/Event 16000 516 31.16 31.84 0.82 Event native interface
1430 Event/Any 16000 590 35.75 31.42 1.08 Event + AnyEvent watchers 2185 Event/Any 16000 1203 42.61 34.79 1.80 Event + AnyEvent watchers
2186 IOAsync/Any 16000 1911 41.92 27.45 16.81 via IO::Async::Loop::IO_Poll
2187 IOAsync/Any 16000 1726 40.69 26.37 15.25 via IO::Async::Loop::Epoll
1431 Glib/Any 16000 1357 98.22 12.41 54.00 quadratic behaviour 2188 Glib/Any 16000 1118 89.00 12.57 51.17 quadratic behaviour
1432 Tk/Any 2000 1860 26.97 67.98 14.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers 2189 Tk/Any 2000 1346 20.96 10.75 8.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers
1433 POE/Event 2000 6644 108.64 736.02 14.73 via POE::Loop::Event 2190 POE/Any 2000 6951 108.97 795.32 14.24 via POE::Loop::Event
1434 POE/Select 2000 6343 94.13 809.12 565.96 via POE::Loop::Select 2191 POE/Any 2000 6648 94.79 774.40 575.51 via POE::Loop::Select
1435 2192
1436=head3 Discussion 2193=head3 Discussion
1437 2194
1438The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very 2195The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very
1439well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one) 2196well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one)
1451benchmark machine, handling an event takes roughly 1600 CPU cycles with 2208benchmark machine, handling an event takes roughly 1600 CPU cycles with
1452EV, 3100 CPU cycles with AnyEvent's pure perl loop and almost 3000000 CPU 2209EV, 3100 CPU cycles with AnyEvent's pure perl loop and almost 3000000 CPU
1453cycles with POE. 2210cycles with POE.
1454 2211
1455C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both 2212C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both
1456maximal/minimal, respectively. Even when going through AnyEvent, it uses 2213maximal/minimal, respectively. When using the L<AE> API there is zero
2214overhead (when going through the AnyEvent API create is about 5-6 times
2215slower, with other times being equal, so still uses far less memory than
1457far less memory than any other event loop and is still faster than Event 2216any other event loop and is still faster than Event natively).
1458natively.
1459 2217
1460The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the 2218The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the
1461constant timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl 2219constant timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl
1462interpreter and the backend itself). Nevertheless this shows that it 2220interpreter and the backend itself). Nevertheless this shows that it
1463adds very little overhead in itself. Like any select-based backend its 2221adds very little overhead in itself. Like any select-based backend its
1464performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of 2222performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of
1465them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark. 2223them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark.
1466 2224
1467The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation 2225The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation
1468cost, but overall scores in on the third place. 2226cost, but overall scores in on the third place.
2227
2228C<IO::Async> performs admirably well, about on par with C<Event>, even
2229when using its pure perl backend.
1469 2230
1470C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a 2231C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a
1471faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as 2232faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as
1472C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of 2233C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of
1473watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four, 2234watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four,
1534In this benchmark, we use 10000 socket pairs (20000 sockets), of which 100 2295In this benchmark, we use 10000 socket pairs (20000 sockets), of which 100
1535(1%) are active. This mirrors the activity of large servers with many 2296(1%) are active. This mirrors the activity of large servers with many
1536connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time. 2297connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time.
1537 2298
1538Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent 2299Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent
1539distribution. 2300distribution. It uses the L<AE> interface, which makes a real difference
2301for the EV and Perl backends only.
1540 2302
1541=head3 Explanation of the columns 2303=head3 Explanation of the columns
1542 2304
1543I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as 2305I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as
1544each server has a read and write socket end). 2306each server has a read and write socket end).
1551it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating 2313it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating
1552a new one that moves the timeout into the future. 2314a new one that moves the timeout into the future.
1553 2315
1554=head3 Results 2316=head3 Results
1555 2317
1556 name sockets create request 2318 name sockets create request
1557 EV 20000 69.01 11.16 2319 EV 20000 62.66 7.99
1558 Perl 20000 73.32 35.87 2320 Perl 20000 68.32 32.64
1559 Event 20000 212.62 257.32 2321 IOAsync 20000 174.06 101.15 epoll
1560 Glib 20000 651.16 1896.30 2322 IOAsync 20000 174.67 610.84 poll
2323 Event 20000 202.69 242.91
2324 Glib 20000 557.01 1689.52
1561 POE 20000 349.67 12317.24 uses POE::Loop::Event 2325 POE 20000 341.54 12086.32 uses POE::Loop::Event
1562 2326
1563=head3 Discussion 2327=head3 Discussion
1564 2328
1565This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the 2329This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the
1566particular event loop. 2330particular event loop.
1568EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time 2332EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time
1569is relatively high, though. 2333is relatively high, though.
1570 2334
1571Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event 2335Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event
1572loops Event and Glib. 2336loops Event and Glib.
2337
2338IO::Async performs very well when using its epoll backend, and still quite
2339good compared to Glib when using its pure perl backend.
1573 2340
1574Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will 2341Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will
1575understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to 2342understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to
1576the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event 2343the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event
1577uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations. 2344uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations.
1640=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of 2407=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of
1641watchers, as the management overhead dominates. 2408watchers, as the management overhead dominates.
1642 2409
1643=back 2410=back
1644 2411
2412=head2 THE IO::Lambda BENCHMARK
2413
2414Recently I was told about the benchmark in the IO::Lambda manpage, which
2415could be misinterpreted to make AnyEvent look bad. In fact, the benchmark
2416simply compares IO::Lambda with POE, and IO::Lambda looks better (which
2417shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody). As such, the benchmark is
2418fine, and mostly shows that the AnyEvent backend from IO::Lambda isn't
2419very optimal. But how would AnyEvent compare when used without the extra
2420baggage? To explore this, I wrote the equivalent benchmark for AnyEvent.
2421
2422The benchmark itself creates an echo-server, and then, for 500 times,
2423connects to the echo server, sends a line, waits for the reply, and then
2424creates the next connection. This is a rather bad benchmark, as it doesn't
2425test the efficiency of the framework or much non-blocking I/O, but it is a
2426benchmark nevertheless.
2427
2428 name runtime
2429 Lambda/select 0.330 sec
2430 + optimized 0.122 sec
2431 Lambda/AnyEvent 0.327 sec
2432 + optimized 0.138 sec
2433 Raw sockets/select 0.077 sec
2434 POE/select, components 0.662 sec
2435 POE/select, raw sockets 0.226 sec
2436 POE/select, optimized 0.404 sec
2437
2438 AnyEvent/select/nb 0.085 sec
2439 AnyEvent/EV/nb 0.068 sec
2440 +state machine 0.134 sec
2441
2442The benchmark is also a bit unfair (my fault): the IO::Lambda/POE
2443benchmarks actually make blocking connects and use 100% blocking I/O,
2444defeating the purpose of an event-based solution. All of the newly
2445written AnyEvent benchmarks use 100% non-blocking connects (using
2446AnyEvent::Socket::tcp_connect and the asynchronous pure perl DNS
2447resolver), so AnyEvent is at a disadvantage here, as non-blocking connects
2448generally require a lot more bookkeeping and event handling than blocking
2449connects (which involve a single syscall only).
2450
2451The last AnyEvent benchmark additionally uses L<AnyEvent::Handle>, which
2452offers similar expressive power as POE and IO::Lambda, using conventional
2453Perl syntax. This means that both the echo server and the client are 100%
2454non-blocking, further placing it at a disadvantage.
2455
2456As you can see, the AnyEvent + EV combination even beats the
2457hand-optimised "raw sockets benchmark", while AnyEvent + its pure perl
2458backend easily beats IO::Lambda and POE.
2459
2460And even the 100% non-blocking version written using the high-level (and
2461slow :) L<AnyEvent::Handle> abstraction beats both POE and IO::Lambda
2462higher level ("unoptimised") abstractions by a large margin, even though
2463it does all of DNS, tcp-connect and socket I/O in a non-blocking way.
2464
2465The two AnyEvent benchmarks programs can be found as F<eg/ae0.pl> and
2466F<eg/ae2.pl> in the AnyEvent distribution, the remaining benchmarks are
2467part of the IO::Lambda distribution and were used without any changes.
2468
2469
2470=head1 SIGNALS
2471
2472AnyEvent currently installs handlers for these signals:
2473
2474=over 4
2475
2476=item SIGCHLD
2477
2478A handler for C<SIGCHLD> is installed by AnyEvent's child watcher
2479emulation for event loops that do not support them natively. Also, some
2480event loops install a similar handler.
2481
2482Additionally, when AnyEvent is loaded and SIGCHLD is set to IGNORE, then
2483AnyEvent will reset it to default, to avoid losing child exit statuses.
2484
2485=item SIGPIPE
2486
2487A no-op handler is installed for C<SIGPIPE> when C<$SIG{PIPE}> is C<undef>
2488when AnyEvent gets loaded.
2489
2490The rationale for this is that AnyEvent users usually do not really depend
2491on SIGPIPE delivery (which is purely an optimisation for shell use, or
2492badly-written programs), but C<SIGPIPE> can cause spurious and rare
2493program exits as a lot of people do not expect C<SIGPIPE> when writing to
2494some random socket.
2495
2496The rationale for installing a no-op handler as opposed to ignoring it is
2497that this way, the handler will be restored to defaults on exec.
2498
2499Feel free to install your own handler, or reset it to defaults.
2500
2501=back
2502
2503=cut
2504
2505undef $SIG{CHLD}
2506 if $SIG{CHLD} eq 'IGNORE';
2507
2508$SIG{PIPE} = sub { }
2509 unless defined $SIG{PIPE};
2510
2511=head1 RECOMMENDED/OPTIONAL MODULES
2512
2513One of AnyEvent's main goals is to be 100% Pure-Perl(tm): only perl (and
2514it's built-in modules) are required to use it.
2515
2516That does not mean that AnyEvent won't take advantage of some additional
2517modules if they are installed.
2518
2519This section explains which additional modules will be used, and how they
2520affect AnyEvent's operation.
2521
2522=over 4
2523
2524=item L<Async::Interrupt>
2525
2526This slightly arcane module is used to implement fast signal handling: To
2527my knowledge, there is no way to do completely race-free and quick
2528signal handling in pure perl. To ensure that signals still get
2529delivered, AnyEvent will start an interval timer to wake up perl (and
2530catch the signals) with some delay (default is 10 seconds, look for
2531C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>).
2532
2533If this module is available, then it will be used to implement signal
2534catching, which means that signals will not be delayed, and the event loop
2535will not be interrupted regularly, which is more efficient (and good for
2536battery life on laptops).
2537
2538This affects not just the pure-perl event loop, but also other event loops
2539that have no signal handling on their own (e.g. Glib, Tk, Qt).
2540
2541Some event loops (POE, Event, Event::Lib) offer signal watchers natively,
2542and either employ their own workarounds (POE) or use AnyEvent's workaround
2543(using C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>). Installing L<Async::Interrupt>
2544does nothing for those backends.
2545
2546=item L<EV>
2547
2548This module isn't really "optional", as it is simply one of the backend
2549event loops that AnyEvent can use. However, it is simply the best event
2550loop available in terms of features, speed and stability: It supports
2551the AnyEvent API optimally, implements all the watcher types in XS, does
2552automatic timer adjustments even when no monotonic clock is available,
2553can take avdantage of advanced kernel interfaces such as C<epoll> and
2554C<kqueue>, and is the fastest backend I<by far>. You can even embed
2555L<Glib>/L<Gtk2> in it (or vice versa, see L<EV::Glib> and L<Glib::EV>).
2556
2557If you only use backends that rely on another event loop (e.g. C<Tk>),
2558then this module will do nothing for you.
2559
2560=item L<Guard>
2561
2562The guard module, when used, will be used to implement
2563C<AnyEvent::Util::guard>. This speeds up guards considerably (and uses a
2564lot less memory), but otherwise doesn't affect guard operation much. It is
2565purely used for performance.
2566
2567=item L<JSON> and L<JSON::XS>
2568
2569One of these modules is required when you want to read or write JSON data
2570via L<AnyEvent::Handle>. L<JSON> is also written in pure-perl, but can take
2571advantage of the ultra-high-speed L<JSON::XS> module when it is installed.
2572
2573=item L<Net::SSLeay>
2574
2575Implementing TLS/SSL in Perl is certainly interesting, but not very
2576worthwhile: If this module is installed, then L<AnyEvent::Handle> (with
2577the help of L<AnyEvent::TLS>), gains the ability to do TLS/SSL.
2578
2579=item L<Time::HiRes>
2580
2581This module is part of perl since release 5.008. It will be used when the
2582chosen event library does not come with a timing source on it's own. The
2583pure-perl event loop (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) will additionally use it to
2584try to use a monotonic clock for timing stability.
2585
2586=back
2587
1645 2588
1646=head1 FORK 2589=head1 FORK
1647 2590
1648Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are 2591Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are
1649because they rely on inefficient but fork-safe C<select> or C<poll> 2592because they rely on inefficient but fork-safe C<select> or C<poll> calls
1650calls. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware. 2593- higher performance APIs such as BSD's kqueue or the dreaded Linux epoll
2594are usually badly thought-out hacks that are incompatible with fork in
2595one way or another. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware and ensures that you
2596continue event-processing in both parent and child (or both, if you know
2597what you are doing).
2598
2599This means that, in general, you cannot fork and do event processing in
2600the child if the event library was initialised before the fork (which
2601usually happens when the first AnyEvent watcher is created, or the library
2602is loaded).
1651 2603
1652If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first 2604If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first
1653watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child. 2605watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child OR you must do
2606something completely out of the scope of AnyEvent.
2607
2608The problem of doing event processing in the parent I<and> the child
2609is much more complicated: even for backends that I<are> fork-aware or
2610fork-safe, their behaviour is not usually what you want: fork clones all
2611watchers, that means all timers, I/O watchers etc. are active in both
2612parent and child, which is almost never what you want. USing C<exec>
2613to start worker children from some kind of manage rprocess is usually
2614preferred, because it is much easier and cleaner, at the expense of having
2615to have another binary.
1654 2616
1655 2617
1656=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS 2618=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
1657 2619
1658AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via 2620AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via
1669 2631
1670 use AnyEvent; 2632 use AnyEvent;
1671 2633
1672Similar considerations apply to $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}, as that can 2634Similar considerations apply to $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}, as that can
1673be used to probe what backend is used and gain other information (which is 2635be used to probe what backend is used and gain other information (which is
1674probably even less useful to an attacker than PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL). 2636probably even less useful to an attacker than PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), and
2637$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT}.
2638
2639Note that AnyEvent will remove I<all> environment variables starting with
2640C<PERL_ANYEVENT_> from C<%ENV> when it is loaded while taint mode is
2641enabled.
2642
2643
2644=head1 BUGS
2645
2646Perl 5.8 has numerous memleaks that sometimes hit this module and are hard
2647to work around. If you suffer from memleaks, first upgrade to Perl 5.10
2648and check wether the leaks still show up. (Perl 5.10.0 has other annoying
2649memleaks, such as leaking on C<map> and C<grep> but it is usually not as
2650pronounced).
1675 2651
1676 2652
1677=head1 SEE ALSO 2653=head1 SEE ALSO
1678 2654
1679Utility functions: L<AnyEvent::Util>. 2655Utility functions: L<AnyEvent::Util>.
1682L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>. 2658L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>.
1683 2659
1684Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>, 2660Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>,
1685L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, 2661L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>,
1686L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>, 2662L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>,
1687L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>. 2663L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync>, L<Anyevent::Impl::Irssi>.
1688 2664
1689Non-blocking file handles, sockets, TCP clients and 2665Non-blocking file handles, sockets, TCP clients and
1690servers: L<AnyEvent::Handle>, L<AnyEvent::Socket>. 2666servers: L<AnyEvent::Handle>, L<AnyEvent::Socket>, L<AnyEvent::TLS>.
1691 2667
1692Asynchronous DNS: L<AnyEvent::DNS>. 2668Asynchronous DNS: L<AnyEvent::DNS>.
1693 2669
1694Coroutine support: L<Coro>, L<Coro::AnyEvent>, L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>, 2670Coroutine support: L<Coro>, L<Coro::AnyEvent>, L<Coro::EV>,
2671L<Coro::Event>,
1695 2672
1696Nontrivial usage examples: L<Net::FCP>, L<Net::XMPP2>, L<AnyEvent::DNS>. 2673Nontrivial usage examples: L<AnyEvent::GPSD>, L<AnyEvent::XMPP>,
2674L<AnyEvent::HTTP>.
1697 2675
1698 2676
1699=head1 AUTHOR 2677=head1 AUTHOR
1700 2678
1701 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 2679 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>

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