--- AnyEvent/lib/AnyEvent.pm 2008/06/06 11:01:17 1.157 +++ AnyEvent/lib/AnyEvent.pm 2009/06/26 06:33:17 1.221 @@ -1,24 +1,41 @@ =head1 NAME -AnyEvent - provide framework for multiple event loops +AnyEvent - provide framework for multiple event loops -EV, Event, Glib, Tk, Perl, Event::Lib, Qt, POE - various supported event loops +EV, Event, Glib, Tk, Perl, Event::Lib, Qt and POE are various supported +event loops. =head1 SYNOPSIS use AnyEvent; - my $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh, poll => "r|w", cb => sub { - ... - }); + # file descriptor readable + my $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh, poll => "r", cb => sub { ... }); - my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, cb => sub { + # one-shot or repeating timers + my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, cb => sub { ... }); + my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, interval => $seconds, cb => ... + + print AnyEvent->now; # prints current event loop time + print AnyEvent->time; # think Time::HiRes::time or simply CORE::time. + + # POSIX signal + my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "TERM", cb => sub { ... }); + + # child process exit + my $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => $pid, cb => sub { + my ($pid, $status) = @_; ... }); + # called when event loop idle (if applicable) + my $w = AnyEvent->idle (cb => sub { ... }); + my $w = AnyEvent->condvar; # stores whether a condition was flagged $w->send; # wake up current and all future recv's $w->recv; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->send + # use a condvar in callback mode: + $w->cb (sub { $_[0]->recv }); =head1 INTRODUCTION/TUTORIAL @@ -35,11 +52,12 @@ policy> and AnyEvent is I. First and foremost, I itself, it only -interfaces to whatever event model the main program happens to use in a +interfaces to whatever event model the main program happens to use, in a pragmatic way. For event models and certain classes of immortals alike, the statement "there can only be one" is a bitter reality: In general, only one event loop can be active at the same time in a process. AnyEvent -helps hiding the differences between those event loops. +cannot change this, but it can hide the differences between those event +loops. The goal of AnyEvent is to offer module authors the ability to do event programming (waiting for I/O or timer events) without subscribing to a @@ -50,18 +68,18 @@ For modules like POE or IO::Async (which is a total misnomer as it is actually doing all I/O I...), using them in your module is like joining a cult: After you joined, you are dependent on them and you -cannot use anything else, as it is simply incompatible to everything that -isn't itself. What's worse, all the potential users of your module are -I forced to use the same event loop you use. +cannot use anything else, as they are simply incompatible to everything +that isn't them. What's worse, all the potential users of your +module are I forced to use the same event loop you use. AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works fine. AnyEvent + Tk works fine etc. etc. but none of these work together with the rest: POE + IO::Async? No go. Tk + Event? No go. Again: if your module uses one of those, every user of your module has to use it, too. But if your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all -event models it supports (including stuff like POE and IO::Async, as long -as those use one of the supported event loops. It is trivial to add new -event loops to AnyEvent, too, so it is future-proof). +event models it supports (including stuff like IO::Async, as long as those +use one of the supported event loops. It is trivial to add new event loops +to AnyEvent, too, so it is future-proof). In addition to being free of having to use I, AnyEvent also is free of bloat and policy: with POE or similar @@ -129,6 +147,12 @@ callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model is in control). +Note that B +potentially in use by the event loop (such as C<$_> or C<$[>) and that B<< +callbacks must not C >>. The former is good programming practise in +Perl and the latter stems from the fact that exception handling differs +widely between event loops. + To disable the watcher you have to destroy it (e.g. by setting the variable you store it in to C or otherwise deleting all references to it). @@ -154,11 +178,17 @@ You can create an I/O watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->io >> method with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments: -C the Perl I (I file descriptor) to watch -for events. C must be a string that is either C or C, -which creates a watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, -respectively. C is the callback to invoke each time the file handle -becomes ready. +C is the Perl I (I file descriptor) to watch +for events (AnyEvent might or might not keep a reference to this file +handle). Note that only file handles pointing to things for which +non-blocking operation makes sense are allowed. This includes sockets, +most character devices, pipes, fifos and so on, but not for example files +or block devices. + +C must be a string that is either C or C, which creates a +watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, respectively. + +C is the callback to invoke each time the file handle becomes ready. Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent @@ -172,9 +202,9 @@ always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file handles. -Example: +Example: wait for readability of STDIN, then read a line and disable the +watcher. - # wait for readability of STDIN, then read a line and disable the watcher my $w; $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub { chomp (my $input = ); warn "read: $input\n"; @@ -194,13 +224,18 @@ presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks. -The timer callback will be invoked at most once: if you want a repeating -timer you have to create a new watcher (this is a limitation by both Tk -and Glib). +The callback will normally be invoked once only. If you specify another +parameter, C, as a strictly positive number (> 0), then the +callback will be invoked regularly at that interval (in fractional +seconds) after the first invocation. If C is specified with a +false value, then it is treated as if it were missing. + +The callback will be rescheduled before invoking the callback, but no +attempt is done to avoid timer drift in most backends, so the interval is +only approximate. -Example: +Example: fire an event after 7.7 seconds. - # fire an event after 7.7 seconds my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub { warn "timeout\n"; }); @@ -208,19 +243,12 @@ # to cancel the timer: undef $w; -Example 2: +Example 2: fire an event after 0.5 seconds, then roughly every second. - # fire an event after 0.5 seconds, then roughly every second - my $w; - - my $cb = sub { - # cancel the old timer while creating a new one - $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => $cb); + my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.5, interval => 1, cb => sub { + warn "timeout\n"; }; - # start the "loop" by creating the first watcher - $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.5, cb => $cb); - =head3 TIMING ISSUES There are two ways to handle timers: based on real time (relative, "fire @@ -302,13 +330,28 @@ difference between C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> into account. +=item AnyEvent->now_update + +Some event loops (such as L or L) cache +the current time for each loop iteration (see the discussion of L<< +AnyEvent->now >>, above). + +When a callback runs for a long time (or when the process sleeps), then +this "current" time will differ substantially from the real time, which +might affect timers and time-outs. + +When this is the case, you can call this method, which will update the +event loop's idea of "current time". + +Note that updating the time I cause some events to be handled. + =back =head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS You can watch for signals using a signal watcher, C is the signal -I without any C prefix, C is the Perl callback to -be invoked whenever a signal occurs. +I in uppercase and without any C prefix, C is the Perl +callback to be invoked whenever a signal occurs. Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent @@ -334,23 +377,34 @@ You can also watch on a child process exit and catch its exit status. The child process is specified by the C argument (if set to C<0>, it -watches for any child process exit). The watcher will trigger as often -as status change for the child are received. This works by installing a -signal handler for C. The callback will be called with the pid -and exit status (as returned by waitpid), so unlike other watcher types, -you I rely on child watcher callback arguments. +watches for any child process exit). The watcher will triggered only when +the child process has finished and an exit status is available, not on +any trace events (stopped/continued). + +The callback will be called with the pid and exit status (as returned by +waitpid), so unlike other watcher types, you I rely on child watcher +callback arguments. + +This watcher type works by installing a signal handler for C, +and since it cannot be shared, nothing else should use SIGCHLD or reap +random child processes (waiting for specific child processes, e.g. inside +C, is just fine). There is a slight catch to child watchers, however: you usually start them I the child process was created, and this means the process could have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore). -Not all event models handle this correctly (POE doesn't), but even for -event models that I handle this correctly, they usually need to be -loaded before the process exits (i.e. before you fork in the first place). - -This means you cannot create a child watcher as the very first thing in an -AnyEvent program, you I to create at least one watcher before you -C the child (alternatively, you can call C). +Not all event models handle this correctly (neither POE nor IO::Async do, +see their AnyEvent::Impl manpages for details), but even for event models +that I handle this correctly, they usually need to be loaded before +the process exits (i.e. before you fork in the first place). AnyEvent's +pure perl event loop handles all cases correctly regardless of when you +start the watcher. + +This means you cannot create a child watcher as the very first +thing in an AnyEvent program, you I to create at least one +watcher before you C the child (alternatively, you can call +C). Example: fork a process and wait for it @@ -370,6 +424,41 @@ # do something else, then wait for process exit $done->recv; +=head2 IDLE WATCHERS + +Sometimes there is a need to do something, but it is not so important +to do it instantly, but only when there is nothing better to do. This +"nothing better to do" is usually defined to be "no other events need +attention by the event loop". + +Idle watchers ideally get invoked when the event loop has nothing +better to do, just before it would block the process to wait for new +events. Instead of blocking, the idle watcher is invoked. + +Most event loops unfortunately do not really support idle watchers (only +EV, Event and Glib do it in a usable fashion) - for the rest, AnyEvent +will simply call the callback "from time to time". + +Example: read lines from STDIN, but only process them when the +program is otherwise idle: + + my @lines; # read data + my $idle_w; + my $io_w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub { + push @lines, scalar ; + + # start an idle watcher, if not already done + $idle_w ||= AnyEvent->idle (cb => sub { + # handle only one line, when there are lines left + if (my $line = shift @lines) { + print "handled when idle: $line"; + } else { + # otherwise disable the idle watcher again + undef $idle_w; + } + }); + }); + =head2 CONDITION VARIABLES If you are familiar with some event loops you will know that all of them @@ -384,8 +473,10 @@ Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar >> method, usually without arguments. The only argument pair allowed is + C, which specifies a callback to be called when the condition variable -becomes true. +becomes true, with the condition variable as the first argument (but not +the results). After creation, the condition variable is "false" until it becomes "true" by calling the C method (or calling the condition variable as if it @@ -451,6 +542,23 @@ my $delay = AnyEvent->timer (after => 5, cb => $done); $done->recv; +Example: Imagine an API that returns a condvar and doesn't support +callbacks. This is how you make a synchronous call, for example from +the main program: + + use AnyEvent::CouchDB; + + ... + + my @info = $couchdb->info->recv; + +And this is how you would just ste a callback to be called whenever the +results are available: + + $couchdb->info->cb (sub { + my @info = $_[0]->recv; + }); + =head3 METHODS FOR PRODUCERS These methods should only be used by the producing side, i.e. the @@ -593,7 +701,7 @@ Returns true when the condition is "true", i.e. whether C or C have been called. -=item $cb = $cv->cb ([new callback]) +=item $cb = $cv->cb ($cb->($cv)) This is a mutator function that returns the callback set and optionally replaces it before doing so. @@ -628,6 +736,10 @@ AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse. AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, not generic enough for full support. + # warning, support for IO::Async is only partial, as it is too broken + # and limited toe ven support the AnyEvent API. See AnyEvent::Impl::Async. + AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync based on IO::Async, cannot be autoprobed (see its docs). + There is no support for WxWidgets, as WxWidgets has no support for watching file handles. However, you can use WxWidgets through the POE Adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply polls 20 times per @@ -740,16 +852,18 @@ Contains various utility functions that replace often-used but blocking functions such as C by event-/callback-based versions. -=item L - -Provide read and write buffers and manages watchers for reads and writes. - =item L Provides various utility functions for (internet protocol) sockets, addresses and name resolution. Also functions to create non-blocking tcp connections or tcp servers, with IPv6 and SRV record support and more. +=item L + +Provide read and write buffers, manages watchers for reads and writes, +supports raw and formatted I/O, I/O queued and fully transparent and +non-blocking SSL/TLS. + =item L Provides rich asynchronous DNS resolver capabilities. @@ -767,9 +881,33 @@ The fastest ping in the west. -=item L +=item L + +Executes L requests asynchronously in a proxy process. + +=item L -AnyEvent based IRC client module family. +Truly asynchronous I/O, should be in the toolbox of every event +programmer. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses L and AnyEvent +together. + +=item L + +Truly asynchronous Berkeley DB access. AnyEvent::BDB transparently fuses +L and AnyEvent together. + +=item L + +A non-blocking interface to gpsd, a daemon delivering GPS information. + +=item L + +A non-blocking interface to the Internet Go Server protocol (used by +L). + +=item L + +AnyEvent based IRC client module family (replacing the older Net::IRC3). =item L @@ -788,17 +926,6 @@ Has special support for AnyEvent via L. -=item L, L - -Truly asynchronous I/O, should be in the toolbox of every event -programmer. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses IO::AIO and AnyEvent -together. - -=item L, L - -Truly asynchronous Berkeley DB access. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses -IO::AIO and AnyEvent together. - =item L The lambda approach to I/O - don't ask, look there. Can use AnyEvent. @@ -810,11 +937,11 @@ package AnyEvent; no warnings; -use strict; +use strict qw(vars subs); use Carp; -our $VERSION = 4.15; +our $VERSION = 4.42; our $MODEL; our $AUTOLOAD; @@ -825,8 +952,11 @@ our $WIN32; BEGIN { - my $win32 = ! ! ($^O =~ /mswin32/i); - eval "sub WIN32(){ $win32 }"; + eval "sub WIN32(){ " . (($^O =~ /mswin32/i)*1) ." }"; + eval "sub TAINT(){ " . (${^TAINT}*1) . " }"; + + delete @ENV{grep /^PERL_ANYEVENT_/, keys %ENV} + if ${^TAINT}; } our $verbose = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1; @@ -854,9 +984,17 @@ [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], + # IO::Async is just too broken - we would need workaorunds for its + # byzantine signal and broken child handling, among others. + # IO::Async is rather hard to detect, as it doesn't have any + # obvious default class. +# [IO::Async:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program +# [IO::Async::Loop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program +# [IO::Async::Notifier:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program ); -our %method = map +($_ => 1), qw(io timer time now signal child condvar one_event DESTROY); +our %method = map +($_ => 1), + qw(io timer time now now_update signal child idle condvar one_event DESTROY); our @post_detect; @@ -871,12 +1009,12 @@ push @post_detect, $cb; defined wantarray - ? bless \$cb, "AnyEvent::Util::PostDetect" + ? bless \$cb, "AnyEvent::Util::postdetect" : () } } -sub AnyEvent::Util::PostDetect::DESTROY { +sub AnyEvent::Util::postdetect::DESTROY { @post_detect = grep $_ != ${$_[0]}, @post_detect; } @@ -923,13 +1061,16 @@ } $MODEL - or die "No event module selected for AnyEvent and autodetect failed. Install any one of these modules: EV, Event or Glib."; + or die "No event module selected for AnyEvent and autodetect failed. Install any one of these modules: EV, Event or Glib.\n"; } } - unshift @ISA, $MODEL; push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base"; + unshift @ISA, $MODEL; + + require AnyEvent::Strict if $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT}; + (shift @post_detect)->() while @post_detect; } @@ -948,45 +1089,113 @@ $class->$func (@_); } +# utility function to dup a filehandle. this is used by many backends +# to support binding more than one watcher per filehandle (they usually +# allow only one watcher per fd, so we dup it to get a different one). +sub _dupfh($$;$$) { + my ($poll, $fh, $r, $w) = @_; + + # cygwin requires the fh mode to be matching, unix doesn't + my ($rw, $mode) = $poll eq "r" ? ($r, "<") + : $poll eq "w" ? ($w, ">") + : Carp::croak "AnyEvent->io requires poll set to either 'r' or 'w'"; + + open my $fh2, "$mode&" . fileno $fh + or die "cannot dup() filehandle: $!,"; + + # we assume CLOEXEC is already set by perl in all important cases + + ($fh2, $rw) +} + package AnyEvent::Base; -# default implementation for now and time +# default implementations for many methods -use Time::HiRes (); +BEGIN { + if (eval "use Time::HiRes (); Time::HiRes::time (); 1") { + *_time = \&Time::HiRes::time; + # if (eval "use POSIX (); (POSIX::times())... + } else { + *_time = sub { time }; # epic fail + } +} -sub time { Time::HiRes::time } -sub now { Time::HiRes::time } +sub time { _time } +sub now { _time } +sub now_update { } # default implementation for ->condvar sub condvar { - bless { @_ == 3 ? (_ae_cb => $_[2]) : () }, AnyEvent::CondVar:: + bless { @_ == 3 ? (_ae_cb => $_[2]) : () }, "AnyEvent::CondVar" } # default implementation for ->signal -our %SIG_CB; +our ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W, %SIG_CB, %SIG_EV, $SIG_IO); + +sub _signal_exec { + sysread $SIGPIPE_R, my $dummy, 4; + + while (%SIG_EV) { + for (keys %SIG_EV) { + delete $SIG_EV{$_}; + $_->() for values %{ $SIG_CB{$_} || {} }; + } + } +} sub signal { my (undef, %arg) = @_; + unless ($SIGPIPE_R) { + require Fcntl; + + if (AnyEvent::WIN32) { + require AnyEvent::Util; + + ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W) = AnyEvent::Util::portable_pipe (); + AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_R) if $SIGPIPE_R; + AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_W) if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case + } else { + pipe $SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W; + fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, &Fcntl::F_SETFL, &Fcntl::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_R; + fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, &Fcntl::F_SETFL, &Fcntl::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case + + # not strictly required, as $^F is normally 2, but let's make sure... + fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, &Fcntl::F_SETFD, &Fcntl::FD_CLOEXEC; + fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, &Fcntl::F_SETFD, &Fcntl::FD_CLOEXEC; + } + + $SIGPIPE_R + or Carp::croak "AnyEvent: unable to create a signal reporting pipe: $!\n"; + + $SIG_IO = AnyEvent->io (fh => $SIGPIPE_R, poll => "r", cb => \&_signal_exec); + } + my $signal = uc $arg{signal} or Carp::croak "required option 'signal' is missing"; $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb}; $SIG{$signal} ||= sub { - $_->() for values %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} || {} }; + local $!; + syswrite $SIGPIPE_W, "\x00", 1 unless %SIG_EV; + undef $SIG_EV{$signal}; }; - bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Signal" + bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::signal" } -sub AnyEvent::Base::Signal::DESTROY { +sub AnyEvent::Base::signal::DESTROY { my ($signal, $cb) = @{$_[0]}; delete $SIG_CB{$signal}{$cb}; - $SIG{$signal} = 'DEFAULT' unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} }; + # delete doesn't work with older perls - they then + # print weird messages, or just unconditionally exit + # instead of getting the default action. + undef $SIG{$signal} unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} }; } # default implementation for ->child @@ -994,24 +1203,13 @@ our %PID_CB; our $CHLD_W; our $CHLD_DELAY_W; -our $PID_IDLE; our $WNOHANG; -sub _child_wait { +sub _sigchld { while (0 < (my $pid = waitpid -1, $WNOHANG)) { $_->($pid, $?) for (values %{ $PID_CB{$pid} || {} }), (values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} }); } - - undef $PID_IDLE; -} - -sub _sigchld { - # make sure we deliver these changes "synchronous" with the event loop. - $CHLD_DELAY_W ||= AnyEvent->timer (after => 0, cb => sub { - undef $CHLD_DELAY_W; - &_child_wait; - }); } sub child { @@ -1022,9 +1220,7 @@ $PID_CB{$pid}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb}; - unless ($WNOHANG) { - $WNOHANG = eval { local $SIG{__DIE__}; require POSIX; &POSIX::WNOHANG } || 1; - } + $WNOHANG ||= eval { local $SIG{__DIE__}; require POSIX; &POSIX::WNOHANG } || 1; unless ($CHLD_W) { $CHLD_W = AnyEvent->signal (signal => 'CHLD', cb => \&_sigchld); @@ -1032,10 +1228,10 @@ &_sigchld; } - bless [$pid, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Child" + bless [$pid, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::child" } -sub AnyEvent::Base::Child::DESTROY { +sub AnyEvent::Base::child::DESTROY { my ($pid, $cb) = @{$_[0]}; delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb}; @@ -1044,6 +1240,42 @@ undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB; } +# idle emulation is done by simply using a timer, regardless +# of whether the process is idle or not, and not letting +# the callback use more than 50% of the time. +sub idle { + my (undef, %arg) = @_; + + my ($cb, $w, $rcb) = $arg{cb}; + + $rcb = sub { + if ($cb) { + $w = _time; + &$cb; + $w = _time - $w; + + # never use more then 50% of the time for the idle watcher, + # within some limits + $w = 0.0001 if $w < 0.0001; + $w = 5 if $w > 5; + + $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $w, cb => $rcb); + } else { + # clean up... + undef $w; + undef $rcb; + } + }; + + $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.05, cb => $rcb); + + bless \\$cb, "AnyEvent::Base::idle" +} + +sub AnyEvent::Base::idle::DESTROY { + undef $${$_[0]}; +} + package AnyEvent::CondVar; our @ISA = AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::; @@ -1104,52 +1336,32 @@ *broadcast = \&send; *wait = \&_wait; -=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE - -This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in -a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to -provide AnyEvent compatibility. - -If you need to support another event library which isn't directly -supported by AnyEvent, you can supply your own interface to it by -pushing, before the first watcher gets created, the package name of -the event module and the package name of the interface to use onto -C<@AnyEvent::REGISTRY>. You can do that before and even without loading -AnyEvent, so it is reasonably cheap. - -Example: +=head1 ERROR AND EXCEPTION HANDLING - push @AnyEvent::REGISTRY, [urxvt => urxvt::anyevent::]; - -This tells AnyEvent to (literally) use the C -package/class when it finds the C package/module is already loaded. - -When AnyEvent is loaded and asked to find a suitable event model, it -will first check for the presence of urxvt by trying to C the -C module. - -The class should provide implementations for all watcher types. See -L (source code), L (Source code) -and so on for actual examples. Use C to -see the sources. - -If you don't provide C and C watchers than AnyEvent will -provide suitable (hopefully) replacements. - -The above example isn't fictitious, the I (a.k.a. urxvt) -terminal emulator uses the above line as-is. An interface isn't included -in AnyEvent because it doesn't make sense outside the embedded interpreter -inside I, and it is updated and maintained as part of the -I distribution. - -I also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to -condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will -C. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must -not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense. +In general, AnyEvent does not do any error handling - it relies on the +caller to do that if required. The L module (see also +the C environment variable, below) provides strict +checking of all AnyEvent methods, however, which is highly useful during +development. + +As for exception handling (i.e. runtime errors and exceptions thrown while +executing a callback), this is not only highly event-loop specific, but +also not in any way wrapped by this module, as this is the job of the main +program. + +The pure perl event loop simply re-throws the exception (usually +within C<< condvar->recv >>), the L and L modules call C<< +$Event/EV::DIED->() >>, L uses C<< install_exception_handler >> and +so on. =head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES -The following environment variables are used by this module: +The following environment variables are used by this module or its +submodules. + +Note that AnyEvent will remove I environment variables starting with +C from C<%ENV> when it is loaded while taint mode is +enabled. =over 4 @@ -1166,6 +1378,20 @@ When set to C<2> or higher, cause AnyEvent to report to STDERR which event model it chooses. +=item C + +AnyEvent does not do much argument checking by default, as thorough +argument checking is very costly. Setting this variable to a true value +will cause AnyEvent to load C and then to thoroughly +check the arguments passed to most method calls. If it finds any problems, +it will croak. + +In other words, enables "strict" mode. + +Unlike C, it is definitely recommended to keep it off in +production. Keeping C in your environment while +developing programs can be very useful, however. + =item C This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before @@ -1195,7 +1421,7 @@ This variable can effectively be used for denial-of-service attacks against local programs (e.g. when setuid), although the impact is likely -small, as the program has to handle connection errors already- +small, as the program has to handle conenction and other failures anyways. Examples: C - prefer IPv4 over IPv6, but support both and try to use both. C @@ -1220,6 +1446,49 @@ =back +=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE + +This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in +a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to +provide AnyEvent compatibility. + +If you need to support another event library which isn't directly +supported by AnyEvent, you can supply your own interface to it by +pushing, before the first watcher gets created, the package name of +the event module and the package name of the interface to use onto +C<@AnyEvent::REGISTRY>. You can do that before and even without loading +AnyEvent, so it is reasonably cheap. + +Example: + + push @AnyEvent::REGISTRY, [urxvt => urxvt::anyevent::]; + +This tells AnyEvent to (literally) use the C +package/class when it finds the C package/module is already loaded. + +When AnyEvent is loaded and asked to find a suitable event model, it +will first check for the presence of urxvt by trying to C the +C module. + +The class should provide implementations for all watcher types. See +L (source code), L (Source code) +and so on for actual examples. Use C to +see the sources. + +If you don't provide C and C watchers than AnyEvent will +provide suitable (hopefully) replacements. + +The above example isn't fictitious, the I (a.k.a. urxvt) +terminal emulator uses the above line as-is. An interface isn't included +in AnyEvent because it doesn't make sense outside the embedded interpreter +inside I, and it is updated and maintained as part of the +I distribution. + +I also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to +condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will +C. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must +not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense. + =head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer @@ -1422,16 +1691,18 @@ =head3 Results name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment - EV/EV 400000 244 0.56 0.46 0.31 EV native interface - EV/Any 100000 244 2.50 0.46 0.29 EV + AnyEvent watchers - CoroEV/Any 100000 244 2.49 0.44 0.29 coroutines + Coro::Signal - Perl/Any 100000 513 4.92 0.87 1.12 pure perl implementation - Event/Event 16000 516 31.88 31.30 0.85 Event native interface - Event/Any 16000 590 35.75 31.42 1.08 Event + AnyEvent watchers - Glib/Any 16000 1357 98.22 12.41 54.00 quadratic behaviour - Tk/Any 2000 1860 26.97 67.98 14.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers - POE/Event 2000 6644 108.64 736.02 14.73 via POE::Loop::Event - POE/Select 2000 6343 94.13 809.12 565.96 via POE::Loop::Select + EV/EV 400000 224 0.47 0.35 0.27 EV native interface + EV/Any 100000 224 2.88 0.34 0.27 EV + AnyEvent watchers + CoroEV/Any 100000 224 2.85 0.35 0.28 coroutines + Coro::Signal + Perl/Any 100000 452 4.13 0.73 0.95 pure perl implementation + Event/Event 16000 517 32.20 31.80 0.81 Event native interface + Event/Any 16000 590 35.85 31.55 1.06 Event + AnyEvent watchers + IOAsync/Any 16000 989 38.10 32.77 11.13 via IO::Async::Loop::IO_Poll + IOAsync/Any 16000 990 37.59 29.50 10.61 via IO::Async::Loop::Epoll + Glib/Any 16000 1357 102.33 12.31 51.00 quadratic behaviour + Tk/Any 2000 1860 27.20 66.31 14.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers + POE/Event 2000 6328 109.99 751.67 14.02 via POE::Loop::Event + POE/Select 2000 6027 94.54 809.13 579.80 via POE::Loop::Select =head3 Discussion @@ -1467,6 +1738,9 @@ The C module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation cost, but overall scores in on the third place. +C performs admirably well, about on par with C, even +when using its pure perl backend. + C's memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as C. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of @@ -1553,12 +1827,14 @@ =head3 Results - name sockets create request - EV 20000 69.01 11.16 - Perl 20000 73.32 35.87 - Event 20000 212.62 257.32 - Glib 20000 651.16 1896.30 - POE 20000 349.67 12317.24 uses POE::Loop::Event + name sockets create request + EV 20000 69.01 11.16 + Perl 20000 73.32 35.87 + IOAsync 20000 157.00 98.14 epoll + IOAsync 20000 159.31 616.06 poll + Event 20000 212.62 257.32 + Glib 20000 651.16 1896.30 + POE 20000 349.67 12317.24 uses POE::Loop::Event =head3 Discussion @@ -1571,6 +1847,9 @@ Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event loops Event and Glib. +IO::Async performs very well when using its epoll backend, and still quite +good compared to Glib when using its pure perl backend. + Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event @@ -1642,6 +1921,104 @@ =back +=head2 THE IO::Lambda BENCHMARK + +Recently I was told about the benchmark in the IO::Lambda manpage, which +could be misinterpreted to make AnyEvent look bad. In fact, the benchmark +simply compares IO::Lambda with POE, and IO::Lambda looks better (which +shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody). As such, the benchmark is +fine, and mostly shows that the AnyEvent backend from IO::Lambda isn't +very optimal. But how would AnyEvent compare when used without the extra +baggage? To explore this, I wrote the equivalent benchmark for AnyEvent. + +The benchmark itself creates an echo-server, and then, for 500 times, +connects to the echo server, sends a line, waits for the reply, and then +creates the next connection. This is a rather bad benchmark, as it doesn't +test the efficiency of the framework or much non-blocking I/O, but it is a +benchmark nevertheless. + + name runtime + Lambda/select 0.330 sec + + optimized 0.122 sec + Lambda/AnyEvent 0.327 sec + + optimized 0.138 sec + Raw sockets/select 0.077 sec + POE/select, components 0.662 sec + POE/select, raw sockets 0.226 sec + POE/select, optimized 0.404 sec + + AnyEvent/select/nb 0.085 sec + AnyEvent/EV/nb 0.068 sec + +state machine 0.134 sec + +The benchmark is also a bit unfair (my fault): the IO::Lambda/POE +benchmarks actually make blocking connects and use 100% blocking I/O, +defeating the purpose of an event-based solution. All of the newly +written AnyEvent benchmarks use 100% non-blocking connects (using +AnyEvent::Socket::tcp_connect and the asynchronous pure perl DNS +resolver), so AnyEvent is at a disadvantage here, as non-blocking connects +generally require a lot more bookkeeping and event handling than blocking +connects (which involve a single syscall only). + +The last AnyEvent benchmark additionally uses L, which +offers similar expressive power as POE and IO::Lambda, using conventional +Perl syntax. This means that both the echo server and the client are 100% +non-blocking, further placing it at a disadvantage. + +As you can see, the AnyEvent + EV combination even beats the +hand-optimised "raw sockets benchmark", while AnyEvent + its pure perl +backend easily beats IO::Lambda and POE. + +And even the 100% non-blocking version written using the high-level (and +slow :) L abstraction beats both POE and IO::Lambda by a +large margin, even though it does all of DNS, tcp-connect and socket I/O +in a non-blocking way. + +The two AnyEvent benchmarks programs can be found as F and +F in the AnyEvent distribution, the remaining benchmarks are +part of the IO::lambda distribution and were used without any changes. + + +=head1 SIGNALS + +AnyEvent currently installs handlers for these signals: + +=over 4 + +=item SIGCHLD + +A handler for C is installed by AnyEvent's child watcher +emulation for event loops that do not support them natively. Also, some +event loops install a similar handler. + +If, when AnyEvent is loaded, SIGCHLD is set to IGNORE, then AnyEvent will +reset it to default, to avoid losing child exit statuses. + +=item SIGPIPE + +A no-op handler is installed for C when C<$SIG{PIPE}> is C +when AnyEvent gets loaded. + +The rationale for this is that AnyEvent users usually do not really depend +on SIGPIPE delivery (which is purely an optimisation for shell use, or +badly-written programs), but C can cause spurious and rare +program exits as a lot of people do not expect C when writing to +some random socket. + +The rationale for installing a no-op handler as opposed to ignoring it is +that this way, the handler will be restored to defaults on exec. + +Feel free to install your own handler, or reset it to defaults. + +=back + +=cut + +undef $SIG{CHLD} + if $SIG{CHLD} eq 'IGNORE'; + +$SIG{PIPE} = sub { } + unless defined $SIG{PIPE}; =head1 FORK @@ -1671,7 +2048,12 @@ Similar considerations apply to $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}, as that can be used to probe what backend is used and gain other information (which is -probably even less useful to an attacker than PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL). +probably even less useful to an attacker than PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), and +$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT}. + +Note that AnyEvent will remove I environment variables starting with +C from C<%ENV> when it is loaded while taint mode is +enabled. =head1 BUGS @@ -1679,7 +2061,7 @@ Perl 5.8 has numerous memleaks that sometimes hit this module and are hard to work around. If you suffer from memleaks, first upgrade to Perl 5.10 and check wether the leaks still show up. (Perl 5.10.0 has other annoying -mamleaks, such as leaking on C and C but it is usually not as +memleaks, such as leaking on C and C but it is usually not as pronounced).