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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,
6FLTK and 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
51An FAQ document is available as L<AnyEvent::FAQ>.
52
53There also is a mailinglist for discussing all things AnyEvent, and an IRC
54channel, too.
55
56See the AnyEvent project page at the B<Schmorpforge Ta-Sa Software
57Repository>, at L<http://anyevent.schmorp.de>, for more info.
58
29=head1 WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS MODULE (OR NOT) 59=head1 WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS MODULE (OR NOT)
30 60
31Glib, POE, IO::Async, Event... CPAN offers event models by the dozen 61Glib, POE, IO::Async, Event... CPAN offers event models by the dozen
32nowadays. So what is different about AnyEvent? 62nowadays. So what is different about AnyEvent?
33 63
34Executive Summary: AnyEvent is I<compatible>, AnyEvent is I<free of 64Executive Summary: AnyEvent is I<compatible>, AnyEvent is I<free of
35policy> and AnyEvent is I<small and efficient>. 65policy> and AnyEvent is I<small and efficient>.
36 66
37First and foremost, I<AnyEvent is not an event model> itself, it only 67First 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 68interfaces to whatever event model the main program happens to use, in a
39pragmatic way. For event models and certain classes of immortals alike, 69pragmatic way. For event models and certain classes of immortals alike,
40the statement "there can only be one" is a bitter reality: In general, 70the 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 71only one event loop can be active at the same time in a process. AnyEvent
42helps hiding the differences between those event loops. 72cannot change this, but it can hide the differences between those event
73loops.
43 74
44The goal of AnyEvent is to offer module authors the ability to do event 75The 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 76programming (waiting for I/O or timer events) without subscribing to a
46religion, a way of living, and most importantly: without forcing your 77religion, a way of living, and most importantly: without forcing your
47module users into the same thing by forcing them to use the same event 78module users into the same thing by forcing them to use the same event
48model you use. 79model you use.
49 80
50For modules like POE or IO::Async (which is a total misnomer as it is 81For 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 82actually 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 83like joining a cult: After you join, you are dependent on them and you
53cannot use anything else, as it is simply incompatible to everything that 84cannot use anything else, as they are simply incompatible to everything
54isn't itself. What's worse, all the potential users of your module are 85that isn't them. What's worse, all the potential users of your
55I<also> forced to use the same event loop you use. 86module are I<also> forced to use the same event loop you use.
56 87
57AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works 88AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works
58fine. AnyEvent + Tk works fine etc. etc. but none of these work together 89fine. 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 90with the rest: POE + EV? No go. Tk + Event? No go. Again: if your module
60your module uses one of those, every user of your module has to use it, 91uses one of those, every user of your module has to use it, too. But if
61too. But if your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all 92your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all event models it
62event models it supports (including stuff like POE and IO::Async, as long 93supports (including stuff like IO::Async, as long as those use one of the
63as those use one of the supported event loops. It is trivial to add new 94supported event loops. It is easy to add new event loops to AnyEvent, too,
64event loops to AnyEvent, too, so it is future-proof). 95so it is future-proof).
65 96
66In addition to being free of having to use I<the one and only true event 97In 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 98model>, 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 99modules, 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 100follow. AnyEvent, on the other hand, is lean and to the point, by only
70offering the functionality that is necessary, in as thin as a wrapper as 101offering the functionality that is necessary, in as thin as a wrapper as
71technically possible. 102technically possible.
72 103
73Of course, AnyEvent comes with a big (and fully optional!) toolbox 104Of course, AnyEvent comes with a big (and fully optional!) toolbox
74of useful functionality, such as an asynchronous DNS resolver, 100% 105of useful functionality, such as an asynchronous DNS resolver, 100%
80useful) and you want to force your users to use the one and only event 111useful) and you want to force your users to use the one and only event
81model, you should I<not> use this module. 112model, you should I<not> use this module.
82 113
83=head1 DESCRIPTION 114=head1 DESCRIPTION
84 115
85L<AnyEvent> provides an identical interface to multiple event loops. This 116L<AnyEvent> provides a uniform interface to various event loops. This
86allows module authors to utilise an event loop without forcing module 117allows module authors to use event loop functionality without forcing
87users to use the same event loop (as only a single event loop can coexist 118module users to use a specific event loop implementation (since more
88peacefully at any one time). 119than one event loop cannot coexist peacefully).
89 120
90The interface itself is vaguely similar, but not identical to the L<Event> 121The interface itself is vaguely similar, but not identical to the L<Event>
91module. 122module.
92 123
93During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries 124During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries
94to detect the currently loaded event loop by probing whether one of the 125to detect the currently loaded event loop by probing whether one of the
95following modules is already loaded: L<EV>, 126following modules is already loaded: L<EV>, L<AnyEvent::Loop>,
96L<Event>, L<Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, 127L<Event>, L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>. The first one
97L<POE>. The first one found is used. If none are found, the module tries 128found is used. If none are detected, the module tries to load the first
98to load these modules (excluding Tk, Event::Lib, Qt and POE as the pure perl 129four modules in the order given; but note that if L<EV> is not
99adaptor should always succeed) in the order given. The first one that can 130available, the pure-perl L<AnyEvent::Loop> should always work, so
100be successfully loaded will be used. If, after this, still none could be 131the other two are not normally tried.
101found, AnyEvent will fall back to a pure-perl event loop, which is not
102very efficient, but should work everywhere.
103 132
104Because AnyEvent first checks for modules that are already loaded, loading 133Because AnyEvent first checks for modules that are already loaded, loading
105an event model explicitly before first using AnyEvent will likely make 134an event model explicitly before first using AnyEvent will likely make
106that model the default. For example: 135that model the default. For example:
107 136
109 use AnyEvent; 138 use AnyEvent;
110 139
111 # .. AnyEvent will likely default to Tk 140 # .. AnyEvent will likely default to Tk
112 141
113The I<likely> means that, if any module loads another event model and 142The I<likely> means that, if any module loads another event model and
114starts using it, all bets are off. Maybe you should tell their authors to 143starts using it, all bets are off - this case should be very rare though,
115use AnyEvent so their modules work together with others seamlessly... 144as very few modules hardcode event loops without announcing this very
145loudly.
116 146
117The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called 147The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called C<AnyEvent::Loop>. Like
118C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>. Like other event modules you can load it 148other event modules you can load it explicitly and enjoy the high
119explicitly and enjoy the high availability of that event loop :) 149availability of that event loop :)
120 150
121=head1 WATCHERS 151=head1 WATCHERS
122 152
123AnyEvent has the central concept of a I<watcher>, which is an object that 153AnyEvent has the central concept of a I<watcher>, which is an object that
124stores relevant data for each kind of event you are waiting for, such as 154stores relevant data for each kind of event you are waiting for, such as
127These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After 157These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After
128creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the 158creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the
129callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model 159callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model
130is in control). 160is in control).
131 161
162Note that B<callbacks must not permanently change global variables>
163potentially in use by the event loop (such as C<$_> or C<$[>) and that B<<
164callbacks must not C<die> >>. The former is good programming practice in
165Perl and the latter stems from the fact that exception handling differs
166widely between event loops.
167
132To disable the watcher you have to destroy it (e.g. by setting the 168To disable a watcher you have to destroy it (e.g. by setting the
133variable you store it in to C<undef> or otherwise deleting all references 169variable you store it in to C<undef> or otherwise deleting all references
134to it). 170to it).
135 171
136All watchers are created by calling a method on the C<AnyEvent> class. 172All watchers are created by calling a method on the C<AnyEvent> class.
137 173
138Many watchers either are used with "recursion" (repeating timers for 174Many watchers either are used with "recursion" (repeating timers for
139example), or need to refer to their watcher object in other ways. 175example), or need to refer to their watcher object in other ways.
140 176
141An any way to achieve that is this pattern: 177One way to achieve that is this pattern:
142 178
143 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->type (arg => value ..., cb => sub { 179 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->type (arg => value ..., cb => sub {
144 # you can use $w here, for example to undef it 180 # you can use $w here, for example to undef it
145 undef $w; 181 undef $w;
146 }); 182 });
149my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are 185my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are
150declared. 186declared.
151 187
152=head2 I/O WATCHERS 188=head2 I/O WATCHERS
153 189
190 $w = AnyEvent->io (
191 fh => <filehandle_or_fileno>,
192 poll => <"r" or "w">,
193 cb => <callback>,
194 );
195
154You can create an I/O watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->io >> method 196You can create an I/O watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->io >> method
155with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments: 197with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments:
156 198
157C<fh> the Perl I<file handle> (I<not> file descriptor) to watch 199C<fh> is the Perl I<file handle> (or a naked file descriptor) to watch
200for events (AnyEvent might or might not keep a reference to this file
201handle). Note that only file handles pointing to things for which
202non-blocking operation makes sense are allowed. This includes sockets,
203most character devices, pipes, fifos and so on, but not for example files
204or block devices.
205
158for events. C<poll> must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>, 206C<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, 207watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, respectively.
208
160respectively. C<cb> is the callback to invoke each time the file handle 209C<cb> is the callback to invoke each time the file handle becomes ready.
161becomes ready.
162 210
163Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 211Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
164presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 212presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
165callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks. 213callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks.
166 214
167The I/O watcher might use the underlying file descriptor or a copy of it. 215The I/O watcher might use the underlying file descriptor or a copy of it.
168You must not close a file handle as long as any watcher is active on the 216You must not close a file handle as long as any watcher is active on the
169underlying file descriptor. 217underlying file descriptor.
170 218
171Some event loops issue spurious readyness notifications, so you should 219Some event loops issue spurious readiness notifications, so you should
172always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file 220always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file
173handles. 221handles.
174 222
175Example:
176
177 # wait for readability of STDIN, then read a line and disable the watcher 223Example: wait for readability of STDIN, then read a line and disable the
224watcher.
225
178 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub { 226 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub {
179 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); 227 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>);
180 warn "read: $input\n"; 228 warn "read: $input\n";
181 undef $w; 229 undef $w;
182 }); 230 });
183 231
184=head2 TIME WATCHERS 232=head2 TIME WATCHERS
185 233
234 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => <seconds>, cb => <callback>);
235
236 $w = AnyEvent->timer (
237 after => <fractional_seconds>,
238 interval => <fractional_seconds>,
239 cb => <callback>,
240 );
241
186You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >> 242You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >>
187method with the following mandatory arguments: 243method with the following mandatory arguments:
188 244
189C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are 245C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are
190supported) the callback should be invoked. C<cb> is the callback to invoke 246supported) the callback should be invoked. C<cb> is the callback to invoke
192 248
193Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 249Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
194presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 250presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
195callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks. 251callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks.
196 252
197The timer callback will be invoked at most once: if you want a repeating 253The callback will normally be invoked only once. If you specify another
198timer you have to create a new watcher (this is a limitation by both Tk 254parameter, C<interval>, as a strictly positive number (> 0), then the
199and Glib). 255callback will be invoked regularly at that interval (in fractional
256seconds) after the first invocation. If C<interval> is specified with a
257false value, then it is treated as if it were not specified at all.
200 258
201Example: 259The callback will be rescheduled before invoking the callback, but no
260attempt is made to avoid timer drift in most backends, so the interval is
261only approximate.
202 262
203 # fire an event after 7.7 seconds 263Example: fire an event after 7.7 seconds.
264
204 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub { 265 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub {
205 warn "timeout\n"; 266 warn "timeout\n";
206 }); 267 });
207 268
208 # to cancel the timer: 269 # to cancel the timer:
209 undef $w; 270 undef $w;
210 271
211Example 2:
212
213 # fire an event after 0.5 seconds, then roughly every second 272Example 2: fire an event after 0.5 seconds, then roughly every second.
214 my $w;
215 273
216 my $cb = sub {
217 # cancel the old timer while creating a new one
218 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => $cb); 274 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.5, interval => 1, cb => sub {
275 warn "timeout\n";
219 }; 276 };
220
221 # start the "loop" by creating the first watcher
222 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.5, cb => $cb);
223 277
224=head3 TIMING ISSUES 278=head3 TIMING ISSUES
225 279
226There are two ways to handle timers: based on real time (relative, "fire 280There are two ways to handle timers: based on real time (relative, "fire
227in 10 seconds") and based on wallclock time (absolute, "fire at 12 281in 10 seconds") and based on wallclock time (absolute, "fire at 12
229 283
230While most event loops expect timers to specified in a relative way, they 284While most event loops expect timers to specified in a relative way, they
231use absolute time internally. This makes a difference when your clock 285use absolute time internally. This makes a difference when your clock
232"jumps", for example, when ntp decides to set your clock backwards from 286"jumps", for example, when ntp decides to set your clock backwards from
233the wrong date of 2014-01-01 to 2008-01-01, a watcher that is supposed to 287the wrong date of 2014-01-01 to 2008-01-01, a watcher that is supposed to
234fire "after" a second might actually take six years to finally fire. 288fire "after a second" might actually take six years to finally fire.
235 289
236AnyEvent cannot compensate for this. The only event loop that is conscious 290AnyEvent cannot compensate for this. The only event loop that is conscious
237about these issues is L<EV>, which offers both relative (ev_timer, based 291of these issues is L<EV>, which offers both relative (ev_timer, based
238on true relative time) and absolute (ev_periodic, based on wallclock time) 292on true relative time) and absolute (ev_periodic, based on wallclock time)
239timers. 293timers.
240 294
241AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the 295AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the
242AnyEvent API. 296AnyEvent API.
264I<In almost all cases (in all cases if you don't care), this is the 318I<In almost all cases (in all cases if you don't care), this is the
265function to call when you want to know the current time.> 319function to call when you want to know the current time.>
266 320
267This function is also often faster then C<< AnyEvent->time >>, and 321This function is also often faster then C<< AnyEvent->time >>, and
268thus the preferred method if you want some timestamp (for example, 322thus the preferred method if you want some timestamp (for example,
269L<AnyEvent::Handle> uses this to update it's activity timeouts). 323L<AnyEvent::Handle> uses this to update its activity timeouts).
270 324
271The rest of this section is only of relevance if you try to be very exact 325The rest of this section is only of relevance if you try to be very exact
272with your timing, you can skip it without bad conscience. 326with your timing; you can skip it without a bad conscience.
273 327
274For a practical example of when these times differ, consider L<Event::Lib> 328For a practical example of when these times differ, consider L<Event::Lib>
275and L<EV> and the following set-up: 329and L<EV> and the following set-up:
276 330
277The event loop is running and has just invoked one of your callback at 331The event loop is running and has just invoked one of your callbacks at
278time=500 (assume no other callbacks delay processing). In your callback, 332time=500 (assume no other callbacks delay processing). In your callback,
279you wait a second by executing C<sleep 1> (blocking the process for a 333you wait a second by executing C<sleep 1> (blocking the process for a
280second) and then (at time=501) you create a relative timer that fires 334second) and then (at time=501) you create a relative timer that fires
281after three seconds. 335after three seconds.
282 336
300In either case, if you care (and in most cases, you don't), then you 354In 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 355can get whatever behaviour you want with any event loop, by taking the
302difference between C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> into 356difference between C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> into
303account. 357account.
304 358
359=item AnyEvent->now_update
360
361Some event loops (such as L<EV> or L<AnyEvent::Loop>) cache the current
362time for each loop iteration (see the discussion of L<< AnyEvent->now >>,
363above).
364
365When a callback runs for a long time (or when the process sleeps), then
366this "current" time will differ substantially from the real time, which
367might affect timers and time-outs.
368
369When this is the case, you can call this method, which will update the
370event loop's idea of "current time".
371
372A typical example would be a script in a web server (e.g. C<mod_perl>) -
373when mod_perl executes the script, then the event loop will have the wrong
374idea about the "current time" (being potentially far in the past, when the
375script ran the last time). In that case you should arrange a call to C<<
376AnyEvent->now_update >> each time the web server process wakes up again
377(e.g. at the start of your script, or in a handler).
378
379Note that updating the time I<might> cause some events to be handled.
380
305=back 381=back
306 382
307=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS 383=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS
308 384
385 $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => <uppercase_signal_name>, cb => <callback>);
386
309You can watch for signals using a signal watcher, C<signal> is the signal 387You 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 388I<name> in uppercase and without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl
311be invoked whenever a signal occurs. 389callback to be invoked whenever a signal occurs.
312 390
313Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 391Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
314presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 392presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
315callbacks cannot use arguments passed to signal watcher callbacks. 393callbacks cannot use arguments passed to signal watcher callbacks.
316 394
318invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. Synchronous means 396invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. Synchronous means
319that it might take a while until the signal gets handled by the process, 397that it might take a while until the signal gets handled by the process,
320but it is guaranteed not to interrupt any other callbacks. 398but it is guaranteed not to interrupt any other callbacks.
321 399
322The main advantage of using these watchers is that you can share a signal 400The main advantage of using these watchers is that you can share a signal
323between multiple watchers. 401between multiple watchers, and AnyEvent will ensure that signals will not
402interrupt your program at bad times.
324 403
325This watcher might use C<%SIG>, so programs overwriting those signals 404This watcher might use C<%SIG> (depending on the event loop used),
326directly will likely not work correctly. 405so programs overwriting those signals directly will likely not work
406correctly.
327 407
328Example: exit on SIGINT 408Example: exit on SIGINT
329 409
330 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 }); 410 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 });
331 411
412=head3 Restart Behaviour
413
414While restart behaviour is up to the event loop implementation, most will
415not restart syscalls (that includes L<Async::Interrupt> and AnyEvent's
416pure perl implementation).
417
418=head3 Safe/Unsafe Signals
419
420Perl signals can be either "safe" (synchronous to opcode handling) or
421"unsafe" (asynchronous) - the former might get delayed indefinitely, the
422latter might corrupt your memory.
423
424AnyEvent signal handlers are, in addition, synchronous to the event loop,
425i.e. they will not interrupt your running perl program but will only be
426called as part of the normal event handling (just like timer, I/O etc.
427callbacks, too).
428
429=head3 Signal Races, Delays and Workarounds
430
431Many event loops (e.g. Glib, Tk, Qt, IO::Async) do not support attaching
432callbacks to signals in a generic way, which is a pity, as you cannot
433do race-free signal handling in perl, requiring C libraries for
434this. AnyEvent will try to do its best, which means in some cases,
435signals will be delayed. The maximum time a signal might be delayed is
436specified in C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY> (default: 10 seconds). This
437variable can be changed only before the first signal watcher is created,
438and should be left alone otherwise. This variable determines how often
439AnyEvent polls for signals (in case a wake-up was missed). Higher values
440will cause fewer spurious wake-ups, which is better for power and CPU
441saving.
442
443All these problems can be avoided by installing the optional
444L<Async::Interrupt> module, which works with most event loops. It will not
445work with inherently broken event loops such as L<Event> or L<Event::Lib>
446(and not with L<POE> currently, as POE does its own workaround with
447one-second latency). For those, you just have to suffer the delays.
448
332=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS 449=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS
333 450
451 $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => <process id>, cb => <callback>);
452
334You can also watch on a child process exit and catch its exit status. 453You can also watch for a child process exit and catch its exit status.
335 454
336The child process is specified by the C<pid> argument (if set to C<0>, it 455The child process is specified by the C<pid> argument (on some backends,
337watches for any child process exit). The watcher will trigger as often 456using 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 457croak). The watcher will be triggered only when the child process has
339signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>. The callback will be called with the pid 458finished and an exit status is available, not on any trace events
340and exit status (as returned by waitpid), so unlike other watcher types, 459(stopped/continued).
341you I<can> rely on child watcher callback arguments. 460
461The callback will be called with the pid and exit status (as returned by
462waitpid), so unlike other watcher types, you I<can> rely on child watcher
463callback arguments.
464
465This watcher type works by installing a signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>,
466and since it cannot be shared, nothing else should use SIGCHLD or reap
467random child processes (waiting for specific child processes, e.g. inside
468C<system>, is just fine).
342 469
343There is a slight catch to child watchers, however: you usually start them 470There 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 471I<after> the child process was created, and this means the process could
345have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore). 472have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore).
346 473
347Not all event models handle this correctly (POE doesn't), but even for 474Not all event models handle this correctly (neither POE nor IO::Async do,
475see their AnyEvent::Impl manpages for details), but even for event models
348event models that I<do> handle this correctly, they usually need to be 476that 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). 477the process exits (i.e. before you fork in the first place). AnyEvent's
478pure perl event loop handles all cases correctly regardless of when you
479start the watcher.
350 480
351This means you cannot create a child watcher as the very first thing in an 481This means you cannot create a child watcher as the very first
352AnyEvent program, you I<have> to create at least one watcher before you 482thing in an AnyEvent program, you I<have> to create at least one
353C<fork> the child (alternatively, you can call C<AnyEvent::detect>). 483watcher before you C<fork> the child (alternatively, you can call
484C<AnyEvent::detect>).
485
486As most event loops do not support waiting for child events, they will be
487emulated by AnyEvent in most cases, in which case the latency and race
488problems mentioned in the description of signal watchers apply.
354 489
355Example: fork a process and wait for it 490Example: fork a process and wait for it
356 491
357 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar; 492 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
358 493
368 ); 503 );
369 504
370 # do something else, then wait for process exit 505 # do something else, then wait for process exit
371 $done->recv; 506 $done->recv;
372 507
508=head2 IDLE WATCHERS
509
510 $w = AnyEvent->idle (cb => <callback>);
511
512This will repeatedly invoke the callback after the process becomes idle,
513until either the watcher is destroyed or new events have been detected.
514
515Idle watchers are useful when there is a need to do something, but it
516is not so important (or wise) to do it instantly. The callback will be
517invoked only when there is "nothing better to do", which is usually
518defined as "all outstanding events have been handled and no new events
519have been detected". That means that idle watchers ideally get invoked
520when the event loop has just polled for new events but none have been
521detected. Instead of blocking to wait for more events, the idle watchers
522will be invoked.
523
524Unfortunately, most event loops do not really support idle watchers (only
525EV, Event and Glib do it in a usable fashion) - for the rest, AnyEvent
526will simply call the callback "from time to time".
527
528Example: read lines from STDIN, but only process them when the
529program is otherwise idle:
530
531 my @lines; # read data
532 my $idle_w;
533 my $io_w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub {
534 push @lines, scalar <STDIN>;
535
536 # start an idle watcher, if not already done
537 $idle_w ||= AnyEvent->idle (cb => sub {
538 # handle only one line, when there are lines left
539 if (my $line = shift @lines) {
540 print "handled when idle: $line";
541 } else {
542 # otherwise disable the idle watcher again
543 undef $idle_w;
544 }
545 });
546 });
547
373=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES 548=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES
549
550 $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
551
552 $cv->send (<list>);
553 my @res = $cv->recv;
374 554
375If you are familiar with some event loops you will know that all of them 555If 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 556require you to run some blocking "loop", "run" or similar function that
377will actively watch for new events and call your callbacks. 557will actively watch for new events and call your callbacks.
378 558
379AnyEvent is different, it expects somebody else to run the event loop and 559AnyEvent is slightly different: it expects somebody else to run the event
380will only block when necessary (usually when told by the user). 560loop and will only block when necessary (usually when told by the user).
381 561
382The instrument to do that is called a "condition variable", so called 562The tool to do that is called a "condition variable", so called because
383because they represent a condition that must become true. 563they represent a condition that must become true.
564
565Now is probably a good time to look at the examples further below.
384 566
385Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar 567Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar
386>> method, usually without arguments. The only argument pair allowed is 568>> method, usually without arguments. The only argument pair allowed is
387C<cb>, which specifies a callback to be called when the condition variable 569C<cb>, which specifies a callback to be called when the condition variable
388becomes true. 570becomes true, with the condition variable as the first argument (but not
571the results).
389 572
390After creation, the condition variable is "false" until it becomes "true" 573After creation, the condition variable is "false" until it becomes "true"
391by calling the C<send> method (or calling the condition variable as if it 574by 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<< 575were a callback, read about the caveats in the description for the C<<
393->send >> method). 576->send >> method).
394 577
395Condition variables are similar to callbacks, except that you can 578Since 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 579some 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 580
398another way to call them is transactions - each condition variable can be 581=over 4
399used to represent a transaction, which finishes at some point and delivers 582
400a result. 583=item * Condition variables are like callbacks - you can call them (and pass them instead
584of callbacks). Unlike callbacks however, you can also wait for them to be called.
585
586=item * Condition variables are signals - one side can emit or send them,
587the other side can wait for them, or install a handler that is called when
588the signal fires.
589
590=item * Condition variables are like "Merge Points" - points in your program
591where you merge multiple independent results/control flows into one.
592
593=item * Condition variables represent a transaction - functions that start
594some kind of transaction can return them, leaving the caller the choice
595between waiting in a blocking fashion, or setting a callback.
596
597=item * Condition variables represent future values, or promises to deliver
598some result, long before the result is available.
599
600=back
401 601
402Condition variables are very useful to signal that something has finished, 602Condition variables are very useful to signal that something has finished,
403for example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests, 603for example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests,
404then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the 604then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the
405availability of results. The user can either act when the callback is 605availability of results. The user can either act when the callback is
418 618
419Condition variables are represented by hash refs in perl, and the keys 619Condition variables are represented by hash refs in perl, and the keys
420used by AnyEvent itself are all named C<_ae_XXX> to make subclassing 620used by AnyEvent itself are all named C<_ae_XXX> to make subclassing
421easy (it is often useful to build your own transaction class on top of 621easy (it is often useful to build your own transaction class on top of
422AnyEvent). To subclass, use C<AnyEvent::CondVar> as base class and call 622AnyEvent). To subclass, use C<AnyEvent::CondVar> as base class and call
423it's C<new> method in your own C<new> method. 623its C<new> method in your own C<new> method.
424 624
425There are two "sides" to a condition variable - the "producer side" which 625There are two "sides" to a condition variable - the "producer side" which
426eventually calls C<< -> send >>, and the "consumer side", which waits 626eventually calls C<< -> send >>, and the "consumer side", which waits
427for the send to occur. 627for the send to occur.
428 628
429Example: wait for a timer. 629Example: wait for a timer.
430 630
431 # wait till the result is ready 631 # condition: "wait till the timer is fired"
432 my $result_ready = AnyEvent->condvar; 632 my $timer_fired = AnyEvent->condvar;
433 633
434 # do something such as adding a timer 634 # create the timer - we could wait for, say
435 # or socket watcher the calls $result_ready->send 635 # a handle becomign ready, or even an
436 # when the "result" is ready. 636 # AnyEvent::HTTP request to finish, but
437 # in this case, we simply use a timer: 637 # in this case, we simply use a timer:
438 my $w = AnyEvent->timer ( 638 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (
439 after => 1, 639 after => 1,
440 cb => sub { $result_ready->send }, 640 cb => sub { $timer_fired->send },
441 ); 641 );
442 642
443 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the callback 643 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the callback
444 # calls send 644 # calls ->send
445 $result_ready->recv; 645 $timer_fired->recv;
446 646
447Example: wait for a timer, but take advantage of the fact that 647Example: wait for a timer, but take advantage of the fact that condition
448condition variables are also code references. 648variables are also callable directly.
449 649
450 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar; 650 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
451 my $delay = AnyEvent->timer (after => 5, cb => $done); 651 my $delay = AnyEvent->timer (after => 5, cb => $done);
452 $done->recv; 652 $done->recv;
653
654Example: Imagine an API that returns a condvar and doesn't support
655callbacks. This is how you make a synchronous call, for example from
656the main program:
657
658 use AnyEvent::CouchDB;
659
660 ...
661
662 my @info = $couchdb->info->recv;
663
664And this is how you would just set a callback to be called whenever the
665results are available:
666
667 $couchdb->info->cb (sub {
668 my @info = $_[0]->recv;
669 });
453 670
454=head3 METHODS FOR PRODUCERS 671=head3 METHODS FOR PRODUCERS
455 672
456These methods should only be used by the producing side, i.e. the 673These methods should only be used by the producing side, i.e. the
457code/module that eventually sends the signal. Note that it is also 674code/module that eventually sends the signal. Note that it is also
470immediately from within send. 687immediately from within send.
471 688
472Any arguments passed to the C<send> call will be returned by all 689Any arguments passed to the C<send> call will be returned by all
473future C<< ->recv >> calls. 690future C<< ->recv >> calls.
474 691
475Condition variables are overloaded so one can call them directly 692Condition variables are overloaded so one can call them directly (as if
476(as a code reference). Calling them directly is the same as calling 693they 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 694C<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).
483 695
484=item $cv->croak ($error) 696=item $cv->croak ($error)
485 697
486Similar to send, but causes all call's to C<< ->recv >> to invoke 698Similar to send, but causes all calls to C<< ->recv >> to invoke
487C<Carp::croak> with the given error message/object/scalar. 699C<Carp::croak> with the given error message/object/scalar.
488 700
489This can be used to signal any errors to the condition variable 701This can be used to signal any errors to the condition variable
490user/consumer. 702user/consumer. Doing it this way instead of calling C<croak> directly
703delays the error detection, but has the overwhelming advantage that it
704diagnoses the error at the place where the result is expected, and not
705deep in some event callback with no connection to the actual code causing
706the problem.
491 707
492=item $cv->begin ([group callback]) 708=item $cv->begin ([group callback])
493 709
494=item $cv->end 710=item $cv->end
495
496These two methods are EXPERIMENTAL and MIGHT CHANGE.
497 711
498These two methods can be used to combine many transactions/events into 712These two methods can be used to combine many transactions/events into
499one. For example, a function that pings many hosts in parallel might want 713one. For example, a function that pings many hosts in parallel might want
500to use a condition variable for the whole process. 714to use a condition variable for the whole process.
501 715
502Every call to C<< ->begin >> will increment a counter, and every call to 716Every 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 717C<< ->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 718>>, 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 719condvar as first argument. That callback is I<supposed> to call C<< ->send
506callback was set, C<send> will be called without any arguments. 720>>, but that is not required. If no group callback was set, C<send> will
721be called without any arguments.
507 722
508Let's clarify this with the ping example: 723You can think of C<< $cv->send >> giving you an OR condition (one call
724sends), while C<< $cv->begin >> and C<< $cv->end >> giving you an AND
725condition (all C<begin> calls must be C<end>'ed before the condvar sends).
726
727Let's start with a simple example: you have two I/O watchers (for example,
728STDOUT and STDERR for a program), and you want to wait for both streams to
729close before activating a condvar:
509 730
510 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar; 731 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
511 732
733 $cv->begin; # first watcher
734 my $w1 = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh1, cb => sub {
735 defined sysread $fh1, my $buf, 4096
736 or $cv->end;
737 });
738
739 $cv->begin; # second watcher
740 my $w2 = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh2, cb => sub {
741 defined sysread $fh2, my $buf, 4096
742 or $cv->end;
743 });
744
745 $cv->recv;
746
747This works because for every event source (EOF on file handle), there is
748one call to C<begin>, so the condvar waits for all calls to C<end> before
749sending.
750
751The ping example mentioned above is slightly more complicated, as the
752there are results to be passwd back, and the number of tasks that are
753begun can potentially be zero:
754
755 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
756
512 my %result; 757 my %result;
513 $cv->begin (sub { $cv->send (\%result) }); 758 $cv->begin (sub { shift->send (\%result) });
514 759
515 for my $host (@list_of_hosts) { 760 for my $host (@list_of_hosts) {
516 $cv->begin; 761 $cv->begin;
517 ping_host_then_call_callback $host, sub { 762 ping_host_then_call_callback $host, sub {
518 $result{$host} = ...; 763 $result{$host} = ...;
533loop, which serves two important purposes: first, it sets the callback 778loop, which serves two important purposes: first, it sets the callback
534to be called once the counter reaches C<0>, and second, it ensures that 779to 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 780C<send> is called even when C<no> hosts are being pinged (the loop
536doesn't execute once). 781doesn't execute once).
537 782
538This is the general pattern when you "fan out" into multiple subrequests: 783This 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> 784potentially zero) subrequests: use an outer C<begin>/C<end> pair to set
540is called at least once, and then, for each subrequest you start, call 785the 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>. 786subrequest you start, call C<begin> and for each subrequest you finish,
787call C<end>.
542 788
543=back 789=back
544 790
545=head3 METHODS FOR CONSUMERS 791=head3 METHODS FOR CONSUMERS
546 792
550=over 4 796=over 4
551 797
552=item $cv->recv 798=item $cv->recv
553 799
554Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->send >> or C<< ->croak 800Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->send >> or C<< ->croak
555>> methods have been called on c<$cv>, while servicing other watchers 801>> methods have been called on C<$cv>, while servicing other watchers
556normally. 802normally.
557 803
558You can only wait once on a condition - additional calls are valid but 804You can only wait once on a condition - additional calls are valid but
559will return immediately. 805will return immediately.
560 806
562function will call C<croak>. 808function will call C<croak>.
563 809
564In list context, all parameters passed to C<send> will be returned, 810In list context, all parameters passed to C<send> will be returned,
565in scalar context only the first one will be returned. 811in scalar context only the first one will be returned.
566 812
813Note that doing a blocking wait in a callback is not supported by any
814event loop, that is, recursive invocation of a blocking C<< ->recv
815>> is not allowed, and the C<recv> call will C<croak> if such a
816condition is detected. This condition can be slightly loosened by using
817L<Coro::AnyEvent>, which allows you to do a blocking C<< ->recv >> from
818any thread that doesn't run the event loop itself.
819
567Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case 820Not 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 821(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 822using 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 823caller decide whether the call will block or not (for example, by coupling
571condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting 824condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting
572callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block, 825callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block,
573while still supporting blocking waits if the caller so desires). 826while still supporting blocking waits if the caller so desires).
574 827
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 828You can ensure that C<< ->recv >> never blocks by setting a callback and
587only calling C<< ->recv >> from within that callback (or at a later 829only calling C<< ->recv >> from within that callback (or at a later
588time). This will work even when the event loop does not support blocking 830time). This will work even when the event loop does not support blocking
589waits otherwise. 831waits otherwise.
590 832
591=item $bool = $cv->ready 833=item $bool = $cv->ready
592 834
593Returns true when the condition is "true", i.e. whether C<send> or 835Returns true when the condition is "true", i.e. whether C<send> or
594C<croak> have been called. 836C<croak> have been called.
595 837
596=item $cb = $cv->cb ([new callback]) 838=item $cb = $cv->cb ($cb->($cv))
597 839
598This is a mutator function that returns the callback set and optionally 840This is a mutator function that returns the callback set and optionally
599replaces it before doing so. 841replaces it before doing so.
600 842
601The callback will be called when the condition becomes "true", i.e. when 843The callback will be called when the condition becomes "true", i.e. when
602C<send> or C<croak> are called, with the only argument being the condition 844C<send> or C<croak> are called, with the only argument being the
603variable itself. Calling C<recv> inside the callback or at any later time 845condition variable itself. If the condition is already true, the
604is guaranteed not to block. 846callback is called immediately when it is set. Calling C<recv> inside
847the callback or at any later time is guaranteed not to block.
605 848
606=back 849=back
607 850
851=head1 SUPPORTED EVENT LOOPS/BACKENDS
852
853The available backend classes are (every class has its own manpage):
854
855=over 4
856
857=item Backends that are autoprobed when no other event loop can be found.
858
859EV is the preferred backend when no other event loop seems to be in
860use. If EV is not installed, then AnyEvent will fall back to its own
861pure-perl implementation, which is available everywhere as it comes with
862AnyEvent itself.
863
864 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (interface to libev, best choice).
865 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl AnyEvent::Loop, fast and portable.
866
867=item Backends that are transparently being picked up when they are used.
868
869These will be used if they are already loaded when the first watcher
870is created, in which case it is assumed that the application is using
871them. This means that AnyEvent will automatically pick the right backend
872when the main program loads an event module before anything starts to
873create watchers. Nothing special needs to be done by the main program.
874
875 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, very stable, few glitches.
876 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, slow but very stable.
877 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very broken.
878 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
879 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, very slow, some limitations.
880 AnyEvent::Impl::Irssi used when running within irssi.
881 AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync based on IO::Async.
882 AnyEvent::Impl::Cocoa based on Cocoa::EventLoop.
883 AnyEvent::Impl::FLTK based on FLTK (fltk 2 binding).
884
885=item Backends with special needs.
886
887Qt requires the Qt::Application to be instantiated first, but will
888otherwise be picked up automatically. As long as the main program
889instantiates the application before any AnyEvent watchers are created,
890everything should just work.
891
892 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt.
893
894=item Event loops that are indirectly supported via other backends.
895
896Some event loops can be supported via other modules:
897
898There is no direct support for WxWidgets (L<Wx>) or L<Prima>.
899
900B<WxWidgets> has no support for watching file handles. However, you can
901use WxWidgets through the POE adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply
902polls 20 times per second, which was considered to be too horrible to even
903consider for AnyEvent.
904
905B<Prima> is not supported as nobody seems to be using it, but it has a POE
906backend, so it can be supported through POE.
907
908AnyEvent knows about both L<Prima> and L<Wx>, however, and will try to
909load L<POE> when detecting them, in the hope that POE will pick them up,
910in which case everything will be automatic.
911
912=back
913
608=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS 914=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS
609 915
916These are not normally required to use AnyEvent, but can be useful to
917write AnyEvent extension modules.
918
610=over 4 919=over 4
611 920
612=item $AnyEvent::MODEL 921=item $AnyEvent::MODEL
613 922
614Contains C<undef> until the first watcher is being created. Then it 923Contains C<undef> until the first watcher is being created, before the
924backend has been autodetected.
925
615contains the event model that is being used, which is the name of the 926Afterwards it contains the event model that is being used, which is the
616Perl class implementing the model. This class is usually one of the 927name of the Perl class implementing the model. This class is usually one
617C<AnyEvent::Impl:xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the case 928of the C<AnyEvent::Impl::xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the
618AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode>). 929case AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode> it
619 930will be C<urxvt::anyevent>).
620The known classes so far are:
621
622 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (an interface to libev, best choice).
623 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, second best choice.
624 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl implementation, fast and portable.
625 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, third-best choice.
626 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very bad choice.
627 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt, cannot be autoprobed (see its docs).
628 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
629 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, not generic enough for full support.
630
631There is no support for WxWidgets, as WxWidgets has no support for
632watching file handles. However, you can use WxWidgets through the
633POE Adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply polls 20 times per
634second, which was considered to be too horrible to even consider for
635AnyEvent. Likewise, other POE backends can be used by AnyEvent by using
636it's adaptor.
637
638AnyEvent knows about L<Prima> and L<Wx> and will try to use L<POE> when
639autodetecting them.
640 931
641=item AnyEvent::detect 932=item AnyEvent::detect
642 933
643Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model 934Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model
644if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would 935if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would
645have created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, as late as possible at 936have created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, as late as possible at
646runtime. 937runtime, and not e.g. during initialisation of your module.
938
939The effect of calling this function is as if a watcher had been created
940(specifically, actions that happen "when the first watcher is created"
941happen when calling detetc as well).
942
943If you need to do some initialisation before AnyEvent watchers are
944created, use C<post_detect>.
647 945
648=item $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK } 946=item $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }
649 947
650Arranges for the code block to be executed as soon as the event model is 948Arranges for the code block to be executed as soon as the event model is
651autodetected (or immediately if this has already happened). 949autodetected (or immediately if that has already happened).
950
951The block will be executed I<after> the actual backend has been detected
952(C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> is set), but I<before> any watchers have been
953created, so it is possible to e.g. patch C<@AnyEvent::ISA> or do
954other initialisations - see the sources of L<AnyEvent::Strict> or
955L<AnyEvent::AIO> to see how this is used.
956
957The most common usage is to create some global watchers, without forcing
958event module detection too early, for example, L<AnyEvent::AIO> creates
959and installs the global L<IO::AIO> watcher in a C<post_detect> block to
960avoid autodetecting the event module at load time.
652 961
653If called in scalar or list context, then it creates and returns an object 962If called in scalar or list context, then it creates and returns an object
654that automatically removes the callback again when it is destroyed. See 963that automatically removes the callback again when it is destroyed (or
964C<undef> when the hook was immediately executed). See L<AnyEvent::AIO> for
655L<Coro::BDB> for a case where this is useful. 965a case where this is useful.
966
967Example: Create a watcher for the IO::AIO module and store it in
968C<$WATCHER>, but do so only do so after the event loop is initialised.
969
970 our WATCHER;
971
972 my $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect {
973 $WATCHER = AnyEvent->io (fh => IO::AIO::poll_fileno, poll => 'r', cb => \&IO::AIO::poll_cb);
974 };
975
976 # the ||= is important in case post_detect immediately runs the block,
977 # as to not clobber the newly-created watcher. assigning both watcher and
978 # post_detect guard to the same variable has the advantage of users being
979 # able to just C<undef $WATCHER> if the watcher causes them grief.
980
981 $WATCHER ||= $guard;
656 982
657=item @AnyEvent::post_detect 983=item @AnyEvent::post_detect
658 984
659If there are any code references in this array (you can C<push> to it 985If there are any code references in this array (you can C<push> to it
660before or after loading AnyEvent), then they will called directly after 986before or after loading AnyEvent), then they will be called directly
661the event loop has been chosen. 987after the event loop has been chosen.
662 988
663You should check C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> before adding to this array, though: 989You 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, 990if it is defined then the event loop has already been detected, and the
665and the array will be ignored. 991array will be ignored.
666 992
667Best use C<AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }> instead. 993Best use C<AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }> when your application allows
994it, as it takes care of these details.
995
996This variable is mainly useful for modules that can do something useful
997when AnyEvent is used and thus want to know when it is initialised, but do
998not need to even load it by default. This array provides the means to hook
999into AnyEvent passively, without loading it.
1000
1001Example: To load Coro::AnyEvent whenever Coro and AnyEvent are used
1002together, you could put this into Coro (this is the actual code used by
1003Coro to accomplish this):
1004
1005 if (defined $AnyEvent::MODEL) {
1006 # AnyEvent already initialised, so load Coro::AnyEvent
1007 require Coro::AnyEvent;
1008 } else {
1009 # AnyEvent not yet initialised, so make sure to load Coro::AnyEvent
1010 # as soon as it is
1011 push @AnyEvent::post_detect, sub { require Coro::AnyEvent };
1012 }
1013
1014=item AnyEvent::postpone { BLOCK }
1015
1016Arranges for the block to be executed as soon as possible, but not before
1017the call itself returns. In practise, the block will be executed just
1018before the event loop polls for new events, or shortly afterwards.
1019
1020This function never returns anything (to make the C<return postpone { ...
1021}> idiom more useful.
1022
1023To understand the usefulness of this function, consider a function that
1024asynchronously does something for you and returns some transaction
1025object or guard to let you cancel the operation. For example,
1026C<AnyEvent::Socket::tcp_connect>:
1027
1028 # start a conenction attempt unless one is active
1029 $self->{connect_guard} ||= AnyEvent::Socket::tcp_connect "www.example.net", 80, sub {
1030 delete $self->{connect_guard};
1031 ...
1032 };
1033
1034Imagine that this function could instantly call the callback, for
1035example, because it detects an obvious error such as a negative port
1036number. Invoking the callback before the function returns causes problems
1037however: the callback will be called and will try to delete the guard
1038object. But since the function hasn't returned yet, there is nothing to
1039delete. When the function eventually returns it will assign the guard
1040object to C<< $self->{connect_guard} >>, where it will likely never be
1041deleted, so the program thinks it is still trying to connect.
1042
1043This is where C<AnyEvent::postpone> should be used. Instead of calling the
1044callback directly on error:
1045
1046 $cb->(undef), return # signal error to callback, BAD!
1047 if $some_error_condition;
1048
1049It should use C<postpone>:
1050
1051 AnyEvent::postpone { $cb->(undef) }, return # signal error to callback, later
1052 if $some_error_condition;
1053
1054=item AnyEvent::log $level, $msg[, @args]
1055
1056Log the given C<$msg> at the given C<$level>.
1057
1058If L<AnyEvent::Log> is not loaded then this function makes a simple test
1059to see whether the message will be logged. If the test succeeds it will
1060load AnyEvent::Log and call C<AnyEvent::Log::log> - consequently, look at
1061the L<AnyEvent::Log> documentation for details.
1062
1063If the test fails it will simply return. Right now this happens when a
1064numerical loglevel is used and it is larger than the level specified via
1065C<$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}>.
1066
1067If you want to sprinkle loads of logging calls around your code, consider
1068creating a logger callback with the C<AnyEvent::Log::logger> function,
1069which can reduce typing, codesize and can reduce the logging overhead
1070enourmously.
668 1071
669=back 1072=back
670 1073
671=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE 1074=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE
672 1075
683because it will stall the whole program, and the whole point of using 1086because it will stall the whole program, and the whole point of using
684events is to stay interactive. 1087events is to stay interactive.
685 1088
686It is fine, however, to call C<< ->recv >> when the user of your module 1089It is fine, however, to call C<< ->recv >> when the user of your module
687requests it (i.e. if you create a http request object ad have a method 1090requests it (i.e. if you create a http request object ad have a method
688called C<results> that returns the results, it should call C<< ->recv >> 1091called C<results> that returns the results, it may call C<< ->recv >>
689freely, as the user of your module knows what she is doing. always). 1092freely, as the user of your module knows what she is doing. Always).
690 1093
691=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM 1094=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM
692 1095
693There will always be a single main program - the only place that should 1096There will always be a single main program - the only place that should
694dictate which event model to use. 1097dictate which event model to use.
695 1098
696If it doesn't care, it can just "use AnyEvent" and use it itself, or not 1099If the program is not event-based, it need not do anything special, even
697do anything special (it does not need to be event-based) and let AnyEvent 1100when it depends on a module that uses an AnyEvent. If the program itself
698decide which implementation to chose if some module relies on it. 1101uses AnyEvent, but does not care which event loop is used, all it needs
1102to do is C<use AnyEvent>. In either case, AnyEvent will choose the best
1103available loop implementation.
699 1104
700If the main program relies on a specific event model - for example, in 1105If the main program relies on a specific event model - for example, in
701Gtk2 programs you have to rely on the Glib module - you should load the 1106Gtk2 programs you have to rely on the Glib module - you should load the
702event module before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it: generally 1107event module before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it: generally
703speaking, you should load it as early as possible. The reason is that 1108speaking, you should load it as early as possible. The reason is that
704modules might create watchers when they are loaded, and AnyEvent will 1109modules might create watchers when they are loaded, and AnyEvent will
705decide on the event model to use as soon as it creates watchers, and it 1110decide on the event model to use as soon as it creates watchers, and it
706might chose the wrong one unless you load the correct one yourself. 1111might choose the wrong one unless you load the correct one yourself.
707 1112
708You can chose to use a pure-perl implementation by loading the 1113You can chose to use a pure-perl implementation by loading the
709C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl> module, which gives you similar behaviour 1114C<AnyEvent::Loop> module, which gives you similar behaviour
710everywhere, but letting AnyEvent chose the model is generally better. 1115everywhere, but letting AnyEvent chose the model is generally better.
711 1116
712=head2 MAINLOOP EMULATION 1117=head2 MAINLOOP EMULATION
713 1118
714Sometimes (often for short test scripts, or even standalone programs who 1119Sometimes (often for short test scripts, or even standalone programs who
727 1132
728 1133
729=head1 OTHER MODULES 1134=head1 OTHER MODULES
730 1135
731The following is a non-exhaustive list of additional modules that use 1136The following is a non-exhaustive list of additional modules that use
732AnyEvent and can therefore be mixed easily with other AnyEvent modules 1137AnyEvent as a client and can therefore be mixed easily with other
733in the same program. Some of the modules come with AnyEvent, some are 1138AnyEvent modules and other event loops in the same program. Some of the
734available via CPAN. 1139modules come as part of AnyEvent, the others are available via CPAN (see
1140L<http://search.cpan.org/search?m=module&q=anyevent%3A%3A*> for
1141a longer non-exhaustive list), and the list is heavily biased towards
1142modules of the AnyEvent author himself :)
735 1143
736=over 4 1144=over 4
737 1145
738=item L<AnyEvent::Util> 1146=item L<AnyEvent::Util>
739 1147
740Contains various utility functions that replace often-used but blocking 1148Contains various utility functions that replace often-used blocking
741functions such as C<inet_aton> by event-/callback-based versions. 1149functions such as C<inet_aton> with event/callback-based versions.
742
743=item L<AnyEvent::Handle>
744
745Provide read and write buffers and manages watchers for reads and writes.
746 1150
747=item L<AnyEvent::Socket> 1151=item L<AnyEvent::Socket>
748 1152
749Provides various utility functions for (internet protocol) sockets, 1153Provides various utility functions for (internet protocol) sockets,
750addresses and name resolution. Also functions to create non-blocking tcp 1154addresses and name resolution. Also functions to create non-blocking tcp
751connections or tcp servers, with IPv6 and SRV record support and more. 1155connections or tcp servers, with IPv6 and SRV record support and more.
752 1156
1157=item L<AnyEvent::Handle>
1158
1159Provide read and write buffers, manages watchers for reads and writes,
1160supports raw and formatted I/O, I/O queued and fully transparent and
1161non-blocking SSL/TLS (via L<AnyEvent::TLS>).
1162
753=item L<AnyEvent::DNS> 1163=item L<AnyEvent::DNS>
754 1164
755Provides rich asynchronous DNS resolver capabilities. 1165Provides rich asynchronous DNS resolver capabilities.
756 1166
1167=item L<AnyEvent::HTTP>, L<AnyEvent::IRC>, L<AnyEvent::XMPP>, L<AnyEvent::GPSD>, L<AnyEvent::IGS>, L<AnyEvent::FCP>
1168
1169Implement event-based interfaces to the protocols of the same name (for
1170the curious, IGS is the International Go Server and FCP is the Freenet
1171Client Protocol).
1172
757=item L<AnyEvent::HTTP> 1173=item L<AnyEvent::AIO>
758 1174
759A simple-to-use HTTP library that is capable of making a lot of concurrent 1175Truly asynchronous (as opposed to non-blocking) I/O, should be in the
760HTTP requests. 1176toolbox of every event programmer. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses
1177L<IO::AIO> and AnyEvent together, giving AnyEvent access to event-based
1178file I/O, and much more.
1179
1180=item L<AnyEvent::Filesys::Notify>
1181
1182AnyEvent is good for non-blocking stuff, but it can't detect file or
1183path changes (e.g. "watch this directory for new files", "watch this
1184file for changes"). The L<AnyEvent::Filesys::Notify> module promises to
1185do just that in a portbale fashion, supporting inotify on GNU/Linux and
1186some weird, without doubt broken, stuff on OS X to monitor files. It can
1187fall back to blocking scans at regular intervals transparently on other
1188platforms, so it's about as portable as it gets.
1189
1190(I haven't used it myself, but I haven't heard anybody complaining about
1191it yet).
1192
1193=item L<AnyEvent::DBI>
1194
1195Executes L<DBI> requests asynchronously in a proxy process for you,
1196notifying you in an event-based way when the operation is finished.
761 1197
762=item L<AnyEvent::HTTPD> 1198=item L<AnyEvent::HTTPD>
763 1199
764Provides a simple web application server framework. 1200A simple embedded webserver.
765 1201
766=item L<AnyEvent::FastPing> 1202=item L<AnyEvent::FastPing>
767 1203
768The fastest ping in the west. 1204The fastest ping in the west.
769 1205
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> 1206=item L<Coro>
788 1207
789Has special support for AnyEvent via L<Coro::AnyEvent>. 1208Has special support for AnyEvent via L<Coro::AnyEvent>, which allows you
1209to simply invert the flow control - don't call us, we will call you:
790 1210
791=item L<AnyEvent::AIO>, L<IO::AIO> 1211 async {
1212 Coro::AnyEvent::sleep 5; # creates a 5s timer and waits for it
1213 print "5 seconds later!\n";
792 1214
793Truly asynchronous I/O, should be in the toolbox of every event 1215 Coro::AnyEvent::readable *STDIN; # uses an I/O watcher
794programmer. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses IO::AIO and AnyEvent 1216 my $line = <STDIN>; # works for ttys
795together.
796 1217
797=item L<AnyEvent::BDB>, L<BDB> 1218 AnyEvent::HTTP::http_get "url", Coro::rouse_cb;
798 1219 my ($body, $hdr) = Coro::rouse_wait;
799Truly asynchronous Berkeley DB access. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses 1220 };
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 1221
806=back 1222=back
807 1223
808=cut 1224=cut
809 1225
810package AnyEvent; 1226package AnyEvent;
811 1227
812no warnings; 1228# basically a tuned-down version of common::sense
813use strict; 1229sub common_sense {
1230 # from common:.sense 3.4
1231 ${^WARNING_BITS} ^= ${^WARNING_BITS} ^ "\x3c\x3f\x33\x00\x0f\xf0\x0f\xc0\xf0\xfc\x33\x00";
1232 # use strict vars subs - NO UTF-8, as Util.pm doesn't like this atm. (uts46data.pl)
1233 $^H |= 0x00000600;
1234}
814 1235
1236BEGIN { AnyEvent::common_sense }
1237
815use Carp; 1238use Carp ();
816 1239
817our $VERSION = 4.15; 1240our $VERSION = '6.02';
818our $MODEL; 1241our $MODEL;
819
820our $AUTOLOAD;
821our @ISA; 1242our @ISA;
822
823our @REGISTRY; 1243our @REGISTRY;
824 1244our $VERBOSE;
825our $WIN32; 1245our $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY = 10;
1246our %PROTOCOL; # (ipv4|ipv6) => (1|2), higher numbers are preferred
826 1247
827BEGIN { 1248BEGIN {
828 my $win32 = ! ! ($^O =~ /mswin32/i); 1249 require "AnyEvent/constants.pl";
829 eval "sub WIN32(){ $win32 }";
830}
831 1250
832our $verbose = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1; 1251 eval "sub TAINT (){" . (${^TAINT}*1) . "}";
833 1252
834our %PROTOCOL; # (ipv4|ipv6) => (1|2), higher numbers are preferred 1253 delete @ENV{grep /^PERL_ANYEVENT_/, keys %ENV}
1254 if ${^TAINT};
835 1255
836{ 1256 $ENV{"PERL_ANYEVENT_$_"} = $ENV{"AE_$_"}
1257 for grep s/^AE_// && !exists $ENV{"PERL_ANYEVENT_$_"}, keys %ENV;
1258
1259 @ENV{grep /^PERL_ANYEVENT_/, keys %ENV} = ()
1260 if ${^TAINT};
1261
1262 # $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_xxx} now valid
1263
1264 $VERBOSE = length $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE} ? $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1 : 4;
1265
837 my $idx; 1266 my $idx;
838 $PROTOCOL{$_} = ++$idx 1267 $PROTOCOL{$_} = ++$idx
839 for reverse split /\s*,\s*/, 1268 for reverse split /\s*,\s*/,
840 $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS} || "ipv4,ipv6"; 1269 $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS} || "ipv4,ipv6";
841} 1270}
842 1271
1272our @post_detect;
1273
1274sub post_detect(&) {
1275 my ($cb) = @_;
1276
1277 push @post_detect, $cb;
1278
1279 defined wantarray
1280 ? bless \$cb, "AnyEvent::Util::postdetect"
1281 : ()
1282}
1283
1284sub AnyEvent::Util::postdetect::DESTROY {
1285 @post_detect = grep $_ != ${$_[0]}, @post_detect;
1286}
1287
1288our $POSTPONE_W;
1289our @POSTPONE;
1290
1291sub _postpone_exec {
1292 undef $POSTPONE_W;
1293
1294 &{ shift @POSTPONE }
1295 while @POSTPONE;
1296}
1297
1298sub postpone(&) {
1299 push @POSTPONE, shift;
1300
1301 $POSTPONE_W ||= AE::timer (0, 0, \&_postpone_exec);
1302
1303 ()
1304}
1305
1306sub log($$;@) {
1307 # only load the big bloated module when we actually are about to log something
1308 if ($_[0] <= ($VERBOSE || 1)) { # also catches non-numeric levels(!) and fatal
1309 require AnyEvent::Log; # among other things, sets $VERBOSE to 9
1310 # AnyEvent::Log overwrites this function
1311 goto &log;
1312 }
1313
1314 0 # not logged
1315}
1316
1317sub logger($;$) {
1318 package AnyEvent::Log;
1319
1320 my ($level, $renabled) = @_;
1321
1322 $$renabled = $level <= $VERBOSE;
1323
1324 my $pkg = (caller)[0];
1325
1326 my $logger = [$pkg, $level, $renabled];
1327
1328 our %LOGGER;
1329 $LOGGER{$logger+0} = $logger;
1330
1331 require AnyEvent::Util;
1332 my $guard = AnyEvent::Util::guard (sub {
1333 # "clean up"
1334 delete $LOGGER{$logger+0};
1335 });
1336
1337 sub {
1338 return 0 unless $$renabled;
1339
1340 $guard if 0; # keep guard alive, but don't cause runtime overhead
1341 require AnyEvent::Log unless $AnyEvent::Log::VERSION;
1342 package AnyEvent::Log;
1343 _log ($logger->[0], $level, @_) # logger->[0] has been converted at load time
1344 }
1345}
1346
1347if (length $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_LOG}) {
1348 require AnyEvent::Log; # AnyEvent::Log does the thing for us
1349}
1350
843my @models = ( 1351our @models = (
844 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV::], 1352 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV::],
845 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::],
846 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl::], 1353 [AnyEvent::Loop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl::],
847 # everything below here will not be autoprobed 1354 # everything below here will not (normally) be autoprobed
848 # as the pureperl backend should work everywhere 1355 # as the pure perl backend should work everywhere
849 # and is usually faster 1356 # and is usually faster
1357 [Irssi:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Irssi::], # Irssi has a bogus "Event" package, so msut be near the top
1358 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::], # slow, stable
1359 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib::], # becomes extremely slow with many watchers
1360 # everything below here should not be autoloaded
1361 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy
850 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], # crashes with many handles 1362 [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 1363 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program
854 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza 1364 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza
855 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], 1365 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
856 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], 1366 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
1367 [IO::Async::Loop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # a bitch to autodetect
1368 [Cocoa::EventLoop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Cocoa::],
1369 [FLTK:: => AnyEvent::Impl::FLTK::],
857); 1370);
858 1371
859our %method = map +($_ => 1), qw(io timer time now signal child condvar one_event DESTROY); 1372our @isa_hook;
860 1373
861our @post_detect; 1374sub _isa_set {
1375 my @pkg = ("AnyEvent", (map $_->[0], grep defined, @isa_hook), $MODEL);
862 1376
1377 @{"$pkg[$_-1]::ISA"} = $pkg[$_]
1378 for 1 .. $#pkg;
1379
1380 grep $_ && $_->[1], @isa_hook
1381 and AE::_reset ();
1382}
1383
1384# used for hooking AnyEvent::Strict and AnyEvent::Debug::Wrap into the class hierarchy
1385sub _isa_hook($$;$) {
1386 my ($i, $pkg, $reset_ae) = @_;
1387
1388 $isa_hook[$i] = $pkg ? [$pkg, $reset_ae] : undef;
1389
1390 _isa_set;
1391}
1392
1393# all autoloaded methods reserve the complete glob, not just the method slot.
1394# due to bugs in perls method cache implementation.
1395our @methods = qw(io timer time now now_update signal child idle condvar);
1396
863sub post_detect(&) { 1397sub detect() {
864 my ($cb) = @_; 1398 return $MODEL if $MODEL; # some programs keep references to detect
865 1399
866 if ($MODEL) { 1400 # IO::Async::Loop::AnyEvent is extremely evil, refuse to work with it
867 $cb->(); 1401 # the author knows about the problems and what it does to AnyEvent as a whole
1402 # (and the ability of others to use AnyEvent), but simply wants to abuse AnyEvent
1403 # anyway.
1404 AnyEvent::log fatal => "AnyEvent: IO::Async::Loop::AnyEvent detected - this module is broken by design,\n"
1405 . "abuses internals and breaks AnyEvent, will not continue."
1406 if exists $INC{"IO/Async/Loop/AnyEvent.pm"};
868 1407
869 1 1408 local $!; # for good measure
1409 local $SIG{__DIE__}; # we use eval
1410
1411 # free some memory
1412 *detect = sub () { $MODEL };
1413 # undef &func doesn't correctly update the method cache. grmbl.
1414 # so we delete the whole glob. grmbl.
1415 # otoh, perl doesn't let me undef an active usb, but it lets me free
1416 # a glob with an active sub. hrm. i hope it works, but perl is
1417 # usually buggy in this department. sigh.
1418 delete @{"AnyEvent::"}{@methods};
1419 undef @methods;
1420
1421 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z0-9:]+)$/) {
1422 my $model = $1;
1423 $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$model" unless $model =~ s/::$//;
1424 if (eval "require $model") {
1425 AnyEvent::log 7 => "loaded model '$model' (forced by \$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}), using it.";
1426 $MODEL = $model;
870 } else { 1427 } else {
871 push @post_detect, $cb; 1428 AnyEvent::log 4 => "unable to load model '$model' (from \$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}):\n$@";
872 1429 }
873 defined wantarray
874 ? bless \$cb, "AnyEvent::Util::PostDetect"
875 : ()
876 } 1430 }
877}
878 1431
879sub AnyEvent::Util::PostDetect::DESTROY { 1432 # check for already loaded models
880 @post_detect = grep $_ != ${$_[0]}, @post_detect;
881}
882
883sub detect() {
884 unless ($MODEL) { 1433 unless ($MODEL) {
885 no strict 'refs'; 1434 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
886 local $SIG{__DIE__}; 1435 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
887 1436 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) {
888 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z]+)$/) {
889 my $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$1";
890 if (eval "require $model") { 1437 if (eval "require $model") {
1438 AnyEvent::log 7 => "autodetected model '$model', using it.";
891 $MODEL = $model; 1439 $MODEL = $model;
892 warn "AnyEvent: loaded model '$model' (forced by \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1440 last;
893 } else { 1441 }
894 warn "AnyEvent: unable to load model '$model' (from \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL):\n$@" if $verbose;
895 } 1442 }
896 } 1443 }
897 1444
898 # check for already loaded models
899 unless ($MODEL) { 1445 unless ($MODEL) {
1446 # try to autoload a model
900 for (@REGISTRY, @models) { 1447 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
901 my ($package, $model) = @$_; 1448 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
1449 if (
1450 eval "require $package"
902 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) { 1451 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0
903 if (eval "require $model") { 1452 and eval "require $model"
1453 ) {
1454 AnyEvent::log 7 => "autoloaded model '$model', using it.";
904 $MODEL = $model; 1455 $MODEL = $model;
905 warn "AnyEvent: autodetected model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1;
906 last; 1456 last;
907 }
908 } 1457 }
909 } 1458 }
910 1459
911 unless ($MODEL) { 1460 $MODEL
912 # try to load a model 1461 or AnyEvent::log fatal => "AnyEvent: backend autodetection failed - did you properly install AnyEvent?";
1462 }
1463 }
913 1464
914 for (@REGISTRY, @models) { 1465 # free memory only needed for probing
915 my ($package, $model) = @$_; 1466 undef @models;
916 if (eval "require $package" 1467 undef @REGISTRY;
917 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0 1468
918 and eval "require $model") { 1469 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base";
919 $MODEL = $model; 1470
920 warn "AnyEvent: autoprobed model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1471 # now nuke some methods that are overridden by the backend.
1472 # SUPER usage is not allowed in these.
1473 for (qw(time signal child idle)) {
1474 undef &{"AnyEvent::Base::$_"}
1475 if defined &{"$MODEL\::$_"};
1476 }
1477
1478 _isa_set;
1479
1480 # we're officially open!
1481
1482 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT}) {
1483 require AnyEvent::Strict;
1484 }
1485
1486 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_WRAP}) {
1487 require AnyEvent::Debug;
1488 AnyEvent::Debug::wrap ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_WRAP});
1489 }
1490
1491 if (length $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_SHELL}) {
1492 require AnyEvent::Socket;
1493 require AnyEvent::Debug;
1494
1495 my $shell = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_SHELL};
1496 $shell =~ s/\$\$/$$/g;
1497
1498 my ($host, $service) = AnyEvent::Socket::parse_hostport ($shell);
1499 $AnyEvent::Debug::SHELL = AnyEvent::Debug::shell ($host, $service);
1500 }
1501
1502 # now the anyevent environment is set up as the user told us to, so
1503 # call the actual user code - post detects
1504
1505 (shift @post_detect)->() while @post_detect;
1506 undef @post_detect;
1507
1508 *post_detect = sub(&) {
1509 shift->();
1510
1511 undef
1512 };
1513
1514 $MODEL
1515}
1516
1517for my $name (@methods) {
1518 *$name = sub {
1519 detect;
1520 # we use goto because
1521 # a) it makes the thunk more transparent
1522 # b) it allows us to delete the thunk later
1523 goto &{ UNIVERSAL::can AnyEvent => "SUPER::$name" }
1524 };
1525}
1526
1527# utility function to dup a filehandle. this is used by many backends
1528# to support binding more than one watcher per filehandle (they usually
1529# allow only one watcher per fd, so we dup it to get a different one).
1530sub _dupfh($$;$$) {
1531 my ($poll, $fh, $r, $w) = @_;
1532
1533 # cygwin requires the fh mode to be matching, unix doesn't
1534 my ($rw, $mode) = $poll eq "r" ? ($r, "<&") : ($w, ">&");
1535
1536 open my $fh2, $mode, $fh
1537 or die "AnyEvent->io: cannot dup() filehandle in mode '$poll': $!,";
1538
1539 # we assume CLOEXEC is already set by perl in all important cases
1540
1541 ($fh2, $rw)
1542}
1543
1544=head1 SIMPLIFIED AE API
1545
1546Starting with version 5.0, AnyEvent officially supports a second, much
1547simpler, API that is designed to reduce the calling, typing and memory
1548overhead by using function call syntax and a fixed number of parameters.
1549
1550See the L<AE> manpage for details.
1551
1552=cut
1553
1554package AE;
1555
1556our $VERSION = $AnyEvent::VERSION;
1557
1558sub _reset() {
1559 eval q{
1560 # fall back to the main API by default - backends and AnyEvent::Base
1561 # implementations can overwrite these.
1562
1563 sub io($$$) {
1564 AnyEvent->io (fh => $_[0], poll => $_[1] ? "w" : "r", cb => $_[2])
1565 }
1566
1567 sub timer($$$) {
1568 AnyEvent->timer (after => $_[0], interval => $_[1], cb => $_[2])
1569 }
1570
1571 sub signal($$) {
1572 AnyEvent->signal (signal => $_[0], cb => $_[1])
1573 }
1574
1575 sub child($$) {
1576 AnyEvent->child (pid => $_[0], cb => $_[1])
1577 }
1578
1579 sub idle($) {
1580 AnyEvent->idle (cb => $_[0]);
1581 }
1582
1583 sub cv(;&) {
1584 AnyEvent->condvar (@_ ? (cb => $_[0]) : ())
1585 }
1586
1587 sub now() {
1588 AnyEvent->now
1589 }
1590
1591 sub now_update() {
1592 AnyEvent->now_update
1593 }
1594
1595 sub time() {
1596 AnyEvent->time
1597 }
1598
1599 *postpone = \&AnyEvent::postpone;
1600 *log = \&AnyEvent::log;
1601 };
1602 die if $@;
1603}
1604
1605BEGIN { _reset }
1606
1607package AnyEvent::Base;
1608
1609# default implementations for many methods
1610
1611sub time {
1612 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1613 # probe for availability of Time::HiRes
1614 if (eval "use Time::HiRes (); Time::HiRes::time (); 1") {
1615 *time = sub { Time::HiRes::time () };
1616 *AE::time = \& Time::HiRes::time ;
1617 *now = \&time;
1618 AnyEvent::log 8 => "AnyEvent: using Time::HiRes for sub-second timing accuracy.";
1619 # if (eval "use POSIX (); (POSIX::times())...
1620 } else {
1621 *time = sub { CORE::time };
1622 *AE::time = sub (){ CORE::time };
1623 *now = \&time;
1624 AnyEvent::log 3 => "using built-in time(), WARNING, no sub-second resolution!";
1625 }
1626 };
1627 die if $@;
1628
1629 &time
1630}
1631
1632*now = \&time;
1633sub now_update { }
1634
1635sub _poll {
1636 Carp::croak "$AnyEvent::MODEL does not support blocking waits. Caught";
1637}
1638
1639# default implementation for ->condvar
1640# in fact, the default should not be overwritten
1641
1642sub condvar {
1643 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1644 *condvar = sub {
1645 bless { @_ == 3 ? (_ae_cb => $_[2]) : () }, "AnyEvent::CondVar"
1646 };
1647
1648 *AE::cv = sub (;&) {
1649 bless { @_ ? (_ae_cb => shift) : () }, "AnyEvent::CondVar"
1650 };
1651 };
1652 die if $@;
1653
1654 &condvar
1655}
1656
1657# default implementation for ->signal
1658
1659our $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT;
1660
1661sub _have_async_interrupt() {
1662 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT = 1*(!$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_ASYNC_INTERRUPT}
1663 && eval "use Async::Interrupt 1.02 (); 1")
1664 unless defined $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT;
1665
1666 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1667}
1668
1669our ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W, %SIG_CB, %SIG_EV, $SIG_IO);
1670our (%SIG_ASY, %SIG_ASY_W);
1671our ($SIG_COUNT, $SIG_TW);
1672
1673# install a dummy wakeup watcher to reduce signal catching latency
1674# used by Impls
1675sub _sig_add() {
1676 unless ($SIG_COUNT++) {
1677 # try to align timer on a full-second boundary, if possible
1678 my $NOW = AE::now;
1679
1680 $SIG_TW = AE::timer
1681 $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY - ($NOW - int $NOW),
1682 $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY,
1683 sub { } # just for the PERL_ASYNC_CHECK
1684 ;
1685 }
1686}
1687
1688sub _sig_del {
1689 undef $SIG_TW
1690 unless --$SIG_COUNT;
1691}
1692
1693our $_sig_name_init; $_sig_name_init = sub {
1694 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1695 undef $_sig_name_init;
1696
1697 if (_have_async_interrupt) {
1698 *sig2num = \&Async::Interrupt::sig2num;
1699 *sig2name = \&Async::Interrupt::sig2name;
1700 } else {
1701 require Config;
1702
1703 my %signame2num;
1704 @signame2num{ split ' ', $Config::Config{sig_name} }
1705 = split ' ', $Config::Config{sig_num};
1706
1707 my @signum2name;
1708 @signum2name[values %signame2num] = keys %signame2num;
1709
1710 *sig2num = sub($) {
1711 $_[0] > 0 ? shift : $signame2num{+shift}
1712 };
1713 *sig2name = sub ($) {
1714 $_[0] > 0 ? $signum2name[+shift] : shift
1715 };
1716 }
1717 };
1718 die if $@;
1719};
1720
1721sub sig2num ($) { &$_sig_name_init; &sig2num }
1722sub sig2name($) { &$_sig_name_init; &sig2name }
1723
1724sub signal {
1725 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1726 # probe for availability of Async::Interrupt
1727 if (_have_async_interrupt) {
1728 AnyEvent::log 8 => "using Async::Interrupt for race-free signal handling.";
1729
1730 $SIGPIPE_R = new Async::Interrupt::EventPipe;
1731 $SIG_IO = AE::io $SIGPIPE_R->fileno, 0, \&_signal_exec;
1732
1733 } else {
1734 AnyEvent::log 8 => "using emulated perl signal handling with latency timer.";
1735
1736 if (AnyEvent::WIN32) {
1737 require AnyEvent::Util;
1738
1739 ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W) = AnyEvent::Util::portable_pipe ();
1740 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_R, 1) if $SIGPIPE_R;
1741 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_W, 1) if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case
1742 } else {
1743 pipe $SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W;
1744 fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, AnyEvent::F_SETFL, AnyEvent::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_R;
1745 fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, AnyEvent::F_SETFL, AnyEvent::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case
1746
1747 # not strictly required, as $^F is normally 2, but let's make sure...
1748 fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, AnyEvent::F_SETFD, AnyEvent::FD_CLOEXEC;
1749 fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, AnyEvent::F_SETFD, AnyEvent::FD_CLOEXEC;
1750 }
1751
1752 $SIGPIPE_R
1753 or Carp::croak "AnyEvent: unable to create a signal reporting pipe: $!\n";
1754
1755 $SIG_IO = AE::io $SIGPIPE_R, 0, \&_signal_exec;
1756 }
1757
1758 *signal = $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1759 ? sub {
1760 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1761
1762 # async::interrupt
1763 my $signal = sig2num $arg{signal};
1764 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1765
1766 $SIG_ASY{$signal} ||= new Async::Interrupt
1767 cb => sub { undef $SIG_EV{$signal} },
1768 signal => $signal,
1769 pipe => [$SIGPIPE_R->filenos],
1770 pipe_autodrain => 0,
1771 ;
1772
1773 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::signal"
1774 }
1775 : sub {
1776 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1777
1778 # pure perl
1779 my $signal = sig2name $arg{signal};
1780 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1781
1782 $SIG{$signal} ||= sub {
921 last; 1783 local $!;
1784 syswrite $SIGPIPE_W, "\x00", 1 unless %SIG_EV;
1785 undef $SIG_EV{$signal};
922 } 1786 };
1787
1788 # can't do signal processing without introducing races in pure perl,
1789 # so limit the signal latency.
1790 _sig_add;
1791
1792 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::signal"
1793 }
1794 ;
1795
1796 *AnyEvent::Base::signal::DESTROY = sub {
1797 my ($signal, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
1798
1799 _sig_del;
1800
1801 delete $SIG_CB{$signal}{$cb};
1802
1803 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1804 ? delete $SIG_ASY{$signal}
1805 : # delete doesn't work with older perls - they then
1806 # print weird messages, or just unconditionally exit
1807 # instead of getting the default action.
1808 undef $SIG{$signal}
1809 unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} };
1810 };
1811
1812 *_signal_exec = sub {
1813 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1814 ? $SIGPIPE_R->drain
1815 : sysread $SIGPIPE_R, (my $dummy), 9;
1816
1817 while (%SIG_EV) {
1818 for (keys %SIG_EV) {
1819 delete $SIG_EV{$_};
1820 &$_ for values %{ $SIG_CB{$_} || {} };
923 } 1821 }
924
925 $MODEL
926 or die "No event module selected for AnyEvent and autodetect failed. Install any one of these modules: EV, Event or Glib.";
927 } 1822 }
928 } 1823 };
929
930 unshift @ISA, $MODEL;
931 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base";
932
933 (shift @post_detect)->() while @post_detect;
934 }
935
936 $MODEL
937}
938
939sub AUTOLOAD {
940 (my $func = $AUTOLOAD) =~ s/.*://;
941
942 $method{$func}
943 or croak "$func: not a valid method for AnyEvent objects";
944
945 detect unless $MODEL;
946
947 my $class = shift;
948 $class->$func (@_);
949}
950
951package AnyEvent::Base;
952
953# default implementation for now and time
954
955use Time::HiRes ();
956
957sub time { Time::HiRes::time }
958sub now { Time::HiRes::time }
959
960# default implementation for ->condvar
961
962sub condvar {
963 bless { @_ == 3 ? (_ae_cb => $_[2]) : () }, AnyEvent::CondVar::
964}
965
966# default implementation for ->signal
967
968our %SIG_CB;
969
970sub signal {
971 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
972
973 my $signal = uc $arg{signal}
974 or Carp::croak "required option 'signal' is missing";
975
976 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
977 $SIG{$signal} ||= sub {
978 $_->() for values %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} || {} };
979 }; 1824 };
1825 die if $@;
980 1826
981 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Signal" 1827 &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} 1828}
991 1829
992# default implementation for ->child 1830# default implementation for ->child
993 1831
994our %PID_CB; 1832our %PID_CB;
995our $CHLD_W; 1833our $CHLD_W;
996our $CHLD_DELAY_W; 1834our $CHLD_DELAY_W;
997our $PID_IDLE;
998our $WNOHANG;
999 1835
1000sub _child_wait { 1836# used by many Impl's
1001 while (0 < (my $pid = waitpid -1, $WNOHANG)) { 1837sub _emit_childstatus($$) {
1838 my (undef, $rpid, $rstatus) = @_;
1839
1840 $_->($rpid, $rstatus)
1002 $_->($pid, $?) for (values %{ $PID_CB{$pid} || {} }), 1841 for values %{ $PID_CB{$rpid} || {} },
1003 (values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} }); 1842 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} 1843}
1016 1844
1017sub child { 1845sub child {
1846 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1847 *_sigchld = sub {
1848 my $pid;
1849
1850 AnyEvent->_emit_childstatus ($pid, $?)
1851 while ($pid = waitpid -1, WNOHANG) > 0;
1852 };
1853
1854 *child = sub {
1018 my (undef, %arg) = @_; 1855 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1019 1856
1020 defined (my $pid = $arg{pid} + 0) 1857 my $pid = $arg{pid};
1021 or Carp::croak "required option 'pid' is missing"; 1858 my $cb = $arg{cb};
1022 1859
1023 $PID_CB{$pid}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb}; 1860 $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb+0} = $cb;
1024 1861
1025 unless ($WNOHANG) {
1026 $WNOHANG = eval { local $SIG{__DIE__}; require POSIX; &POSIX::WNOHANG } || 1;
1027 }
1028
1029 unless ($CHLD_W) { 1862 unless ($CHLD_W) {
1030 $CHLD_W = AnyEvent->signal (signal => 'CHLD', cb => \&_sigchld); 1863 $CHLD_W = AE::signal CHLD => \&_sigchld;
1031 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round 1864 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round
1032 &_sigchld; 1865 &_sigchld;
1033 } 1866 }
1034 1867
1035 bless [$pid, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Child" 1868 bless [$pid, $cb+0], "AnyEvent::Base::child"
1036} 1869 };
1037 1870
1038sub AnyEvent::Base::Child::DESTROY { 1871 *AnyEvent::Base::child::DESTROY = sub {
1039 my ($pid, $cb) = @{$_[0]}; 1872 my ($pid, $icb) = @{$_[0]};
1040 1873
1041 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb}; 1874 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$icb};
1042 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} }; 1875 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} };
1043 1876
1044 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB; 1877 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB;
1878 };
1879 };
1880 die if $@;
1881
1882 &child
1883}
1884
1885# idle emulation is done by simply using a timer, regardless
1886# of whether the process is idle or not, and not letting
1887# the callback use more than 50% of the time.
1888sub idle {
1889 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1890 *idle = sub {
1891 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1892
1893 my ($cb, $w, $rcb) = $arg{cb};
1894
1895 $rcb = sub {
1896 if ($cb) {
1897 $w = AE::time;
1898 &$cb;
1899 $w = AE::time - $w;
1900
1901 # never use more then 50% of the time for the idle watcher,
1902 # within some limits
1903 $w = 0.0001 if $w < 0.0001;
1904 $w = 5 if $w > 5;
1905
1906 $w = AE::timer $w, 0, $rcb;
1907 } else {
1908 # clean up...
1909 undef $w;
1910 undef $rcb;
1911 }
1912 };
1913
1914 $w = AE::timer 0.05, 0, $rcb;
1915
1916 bless \\$cb, "AnyEvent::Base::idle"
1917 };
1918
1919 *AnyEvent::Base::idle::DESTROY = sub {
1920 undef $${$_[0]};
1921 };
1922 };
1923 die if $@;
1924
1925 &idle
1045} 1926}
1046 1927
1047package AnyEvent::CondVar; 1928package AnyEvent::CondVar;
1048 1929
1049our @ISA = AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::; 1930our @ISA = AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::;
1050 1931
1932# only to be used for subclassing
1933sub new {
1934 my $class = shift;
1935 bless AnyEvent->condvar (@_), $class
1936}
1937
1051package AnyEvent::CondVar::Base; 1938package AnyEvent::CondVar::Base;
1052 1939
1053use overload 1940#use overload
1054 '&{}' => sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } }, 1941# '&{}' => sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } },
1055 fallback => 1; 1942# fallback => 1;
1943
1944# save 300+ kilobytes by dirtily hardcoding overloading
1945${"AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::OVERLOAD"}{dummy}++; # Register with magic by touching.
1946*{'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::()'} = sub { }; # "Make it findable via fetchmethod."
1947*{'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::(&{}'} = sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } }; # &{}
1948${'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::()'} = 1; # fallback
1949
1950our $WAITING;
1056 1951
1057sub _send { 1952sub _send {
1058 # nop 1953 # nop
1954}
1955
1956sub _wait {
1957 AnyEvent->_poll until $_[0]{_ae_sent};
1059} 1958}
1060 1959
1061sub send { 1960sub send {
1062 my $cv = shift; 1961 my $cv = shift;
1063 $cv->{_ae_sent} = [@_]; 1962 $cv->{_ae_sent} = [@_];
1072 1971
1073sub ready { 1972sub ready {
1074 $_[0]{_ae_sent} 1973 $_[0]{_ae_sent}
1075} 1974}
1076 1975
1077sub _wait {
1078 AnyEvent->one_event while !$_[0]{_ae_sent};
1079}
1080
1081sub recv { 1976sub recv {
1977 unless ($_[0]{_ae_sent}) {
1978 $WAITING
1979 and Carp::croak "AnyEvent::CondVar: recursive blocking wait attempted";
1980
1981 local $WAITING = 1;
1082 $_[0]->_wait; 1982 $_[0]->_wait;
1983 }
1083 1984
1084 Carp::croak $_[0]{_ae_croak} if $_[0]{_ae_croak}; 1985 $_[0]{_ae_croak}
1085 wantarray ? @{ $_[0]{_ae_sent} } : $_[0]{_ae_sent}[0] 1986 and Carp::croak $_[0]{_ae_croak};
1987
1988 wantarray
1989 ? @{ $_[0]{_ae_sent} }
1990 : $_[0]{_ae_sent}[0]
1086} 1991}
1087 1992
1088sub cb { 1993sub cb {
1089 $_[0]{_ae_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1; 1994 my $cv = shift;
1995
1996 @_
1997 and $cv->{_ae_cb} = shift
1998 and $cv->{_ae_sent}
1999 and (delete $cv->{_ae_cb})->($cv);
2000
1090 $_[0]{_ae_cb} 2001 $cv->{_ae_cb}
1091} 2002}
1092 2003
1093sub begin { 2004sub begin {
1094 ++$_[0]{_ae_counter}; 2005 ++$_[0]{_ae_counter};
1095 $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1; 2006 $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1;
1100 &{ $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} || sub { $_[0]->send } }; 2011 &{ $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} || sub { $_[0]->send } };
1101} 2012}
1102 2013
1103# undocumented/compatibility with pre-3.4 2014# undocumented/compatibility with pre-3.4
1104*broadcast = \&send; 2015*broadcast = \&send;
1105*wait = \&_wait; 2016*wait = \&recv;
2017
2018=head1 ERROR AND EXCEPTION HANDLING
2019
2020In general, AnyEvent does not do any error handling - it relies on the
2021caller to do that if required. The L<AnyEvent::Strict> module (see also
2022the C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT> environment variable, below) provides strict
2023checking of all AnyEvent methods, however, which is highly useful during
2024development.
2025
2026As for exception handling (i.e. runtime errors and exceptions thrown while
2027executing a callback), this is not only highly event-loop specific, but
2028also not in any way wrapped by this module, as this is the job of the main
2029program.
2030
2031The pure perl event loop simply re-throws the exception (usually
2032within C<< condvar->recv >>), the L<Event> and L<EV> modules call C<<
2033$Event/EV::DIED->() >>, L<Glib> uses C<< install_exception_handler >> and
2034so on.
2035
2036=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
2037
2038AnyEvent supports a number of environment variables that tune the
2039runtime behaviour. They are usually evaluated when AnyEvent is
2040loaded, initialised, or a submodule that uses them is loaded. Many of
2041them also cause AnyEvent to load additional modules - for example,
2042C<PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_WRAP> causes the L<AnyEvent::Debug> module to be
2043loaded.
2044
2045All the environment variables documented here start with
2046C<PERL_ANYEVENT_>, which is what AnyEvent considers its own
2047namespace. Other modules are encouraged (but by no means required) to use
2048C<PERL_ANYEVENT_SUBMODULE> if they have registered the AnyEvent::Submodule
2049namespace on CPAN, for any submodule. For example, L<AnyEvent::HTTP> could
2050be expected to use C<PERL_ANYEVENT_HTTP_PROXY> (it should not access env
2051variables starting with C<AE_>, see below).
2052
2053All variables can also be set via the C<AE_> prefix, that is, instead
2054of setting C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE> you can also set C<AE_VERBOSE>. In
2055case there is a clash btween anyevent and another program that uses
2056C<AE_something> you can set the corresponding C<PERL_ANYEVENT_something>
2057variable to the empty string, as those variables take precedence.
2058
2059When AnyEvent is first loaded, it copies all C<AE_xxx> env variables
2060to their C<PERL_ANYEVENT_xxx> counterpart unless that variable already
2061exists. If taint mode is on, then AnyEvent will remove I<all> environment
2062variables starting with C<PERL_ANYEVENT_> from C<%ENV> (or replace them
2063with C<undef> or the empty string, if the corresaponding C<AE_> variable
2064is set).
2065
2066The exact algorithm is currently:
2067
2068 1. if taint mode enabled, delete all PERL_ANYEVENT_xyz variables from %ENV
2069 2. copy over AE_xyz to PERL_ANYEVENT_xyz unless the latter alraedy exists
2070 3. if taint mode enabled, set all PERL_ANYEVENT_xyz variables to undef.
2071
2072This ensures that child processes will not see the C<AE_> variables.
2073
2074The following environment variables are currently known to AnyEvent:
2075
2076=over 4
2077
2078=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
2079
2080By default, AnyEvent will only log messages with loglevel C<3>
2081(C<critical>) or higher (see L<AnyEvent::Log>). You can set this
2082environment variable to a numerical loglevel to make AnyEvent more (or
2083less) talkative.
2084
2085If you want to do more than just set the global logging level
2086you should have a look at C<PERL_ANYEVENT_LOG>, which allows much more
2087complex specifications.
2088
2089When set to C<0> (C<off>), then no messages whatsoever will be logged with
2090the default logging settings.
2091
2092When set to C<5> or higher (C<warn>), causes AnyEvent to warn about
2093unexpected conditions, such as not being able to load the event model
2094specified by C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>, or a guard callback throwing an
2095exception - this is the minimum recommended level.
2096
2097When set to C<7> or higher (info), cause AnyEvent to report which event model it
2098chooses.
2099
2100When set to C<8> or higher (debug), then AnyEvent will report extra information on
2101which optional modules it loads and how it implements certain features.
2102
2103=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_LOG>
2104
2105Accepts rather complex logging specifications. For example, you could log
2106all C<debug> messages of some module to stderr, warnings and above to
2107stderr, and errors and above to syslog, with:
2108
2109 PERL_ANYEVENT_LOG=Some::Module=debug,+log:filter=warn,+%syslog:%syslog=error,syslog
2110
2111For the rather extensive details, see L<AnyEvent::Log>.
2112
2113This variable is evaluated when AnyEvent (or L<AnyEvent::Log>) is loaded,
2114so will take effect even before AnyEvent has initialised itself.
2115
2116Note that specifying this environment variable causes the L<AnyEvent::Log>
2117module to be loaded, while C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE> does not, so only
2118using the latter saves a few hundred kB of memory until the first message
2119is being logged.
2120
2121=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT>
2122
2123AnyEvent does not do much argument checking by default, as thorough
2124argument checking is very costly. Setting this variable to a true value
2125will cause AnyEvent to load C<AnyEvent::Strict> and then to thoroughly
2126check the arguments passed to most method calls. If it finds any problems,
2127it will croak.
2128
2129In other words, enables "strict" mode.
2130
2131Unlike C<use strict> (or its modern cousin, C<< use L<common::sense>
2132>>, it is definitely recommended to keep it off in production. Keeping
2133C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT=1> in your environment while developing programs
2134can be very useful, however.
2135
2136=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_SHELL>
2137
2138If this env variable is nonempty, then its contents will be interpreted by
2139C<AnyEvent::Socket::parse_hostport> and C<AnyEvent::Debug::shell> (after
2140replacing every occurance of C<$$> by the process pid). The shell object
2141is saved in C<$AnyEvent::Debug::SHELL>.
2142
2143This happens when the first watcher is created.
2144
2145For example, to bind a debug shell on a unix domain socket in
2146F<< /tmp/debug<pid>.sock >>, you could use this:
2147
2148 PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_SHELL=/tmp/debug\$\$.sock perlprog
2149 # connect with e.g.: socat readline /tmp/debug123.sock
2150
2151Or to bind to tcp port 4545 on localhost:
2152
2153 PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_SHELL=127.0.0.1:4545 perlprog
2154 # connect with e.g.: telnet localhost 4545
2155
2156Note that creating sockets in F</tmp> or on localhost is very unsafe on
2157multiuser systems.
2158
2159=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_WRAP>
2160
2161Can be set to C<0>, C<1> or C<2> and enables wrapping of all watchers for
2162debugging purposes. See C<AnyEvent::Debug::wrap> for details.
2163
2164=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
2165
2166This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
2167auto detection and -probing kicks in.
2168
2169It normally is a string consisting entirely of ASCII letters (e.g. C<EV>
2170or C<IOAsync>). The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended and the
2171resulting module name is loaded and - if the load was successful - used as
2172event model backend. If it fails to load then AnyEvent will proceed with
2173auto detection and -probing.
2174
2175If the string ends with C<::> instead (e.g. C<AnyEvent::Impl::EV::>) then
2176nothing gets prepended and the module name is used as-is (hint: C<::> at
2177the end of a string designates a module name and quotes it appropriately).
2178
2179For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Loop::Perl>) you
2180could start your program like this:
2181
2182 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
2183
2184=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS>
2185
2186Used by both L<AnyEvent::DNS> and L<AnyEvent::Socket> to determine preferences
2187for IPv4 or IPv6. The default is unspecified (and might change, or be the result
2188of auto probing).
2189
2190Must be set to a comma-separated list of protocols or address families,
2191current supported: C<ipv4> and C<ipv6>. Only protocols mentioned will be
2192used, and preference will be given to protocols mentioned earlier in the
2193list.
2194
2195This variable can effectively be used for denial-of-service attacks
2196against local programs (e.g. when setuid), although the impact is likely
2197small, as the program has to handle conenction and other failures anyways.
2198
2199Examples: C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4,ipv6> - prefer IPv4 over IPv6,
2200but support both and try to use both. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4>
2201- only support IPv4, never try to resolve or contact IPv6
2202addresses. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv6,ipv4> support either IPv4 or
2203IPv6, but prefer IPv6 over IPv4.
2204
2205=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_HOSTS>
2206
2207This variable, if specified, overrides the F</etc/hosts> file used by
2208L<AnyEvent::Socket>C<::resolve_sockaddr>, i.e. hosts aliases will be read
2209from that file instead.
2210
2211=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_EDNS0>
2212
2213Used by L<AnyEvent::DNS> to decide whether to use the EDNS0 extension for
2214DNS. This extension is generally useful to reduce DNS traffic, especially
2215when DNSSEC is involved, but some (broken) firewalls drop such DNS
2216packets, which is why it is off by default.
2217
2218Setting this variable to C<1> will cause L<AnyEvent::DNS> to announce
2219EDNS0 in its DNS requests.
2220
2221=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_FORKS>
2222
2223The maximum number of child processes that C<AnyEvent::Util::fork_call>
2224will create in parallel.
2225
2226=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_OUTSTANDING_DNS>
2227
2228The default value for the C<max_outstanding> parameter for the default DNS
2229resolver - this is the maximum number of parallel DNS requests that are
2230sent to the DNS server.
2231
2232=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_RESOLV_CONF>
2233
2234The absolute path to a F<resolv.conf>-style file to use instead of
2235F</etc/resolv.conf> (or the OS-specific configuration) in the default
2236resolver, or the empty string to select the default configuration.
2237
2238=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_CA_FILE>, C<PERL_ANYEVENT_CA_PATH>.
2239
2240When neither C<ca_file> nor C<ca_path> was specified during
2241L<AnyEvent::TLS> context creation, and either of these environment
2242variables are nonempty, they will be used to specify CA certificate
2243locations instead of a system-dependent default.
2244
2245=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_GUARD> and C<PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_ASYNC_INTERRUPT>
2246
2247When these are set to C<1>, then the respective modules are not
2248loaded. Mostly good for testing AnyEvent itself.
2249
2250=back
1106 2251
1107=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE 2252=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE
1108 2253
1109This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in 2254This 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 2255a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to
1144 2289
1145I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to 2290I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to
1146condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will 2291condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will
1147C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must 2292C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must
1148not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense. 2293not 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 2294
1223=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM 2295=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM
1224 2296
1225The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer 2297The 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 2298to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the
1239 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read 2311 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read
1240 $cv->send if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i 2312 $cv->send if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i
1241 }, 2313 },
1242 ); 2314 );
1243 2315
1244 my $time_watcher; # can only be used once
1245
1246 sub new_timer {
1247 $timer = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => sub { 2316 my $time_watcher = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, interval => 1, cb => sub {
1248 warn "timeout\n"; # print 'timeout' about every second 2317 warn "timeout\n"; # print 'timeout' at most every second
1249 &new_timer; # and restart the time
1250 }); 2318 });
1251 }
1252
1253 new_timer; # create first timer
1254 2319
1255 $cv->recv; # wait until user enters /^q/i 2320 $cv->recv; # wait until user enters /^q/i
1256 2321
1257=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE 2322=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE
1258 2323
1331 2396
1332The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions) 2397The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions)
1333that occurred during request processing. The C<result> method detects 2398that occurred during request processing. The C<result> method detects
1334whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object) 2399whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object)
1335and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other 2400and 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 2401problems get reported to the code that tries to use the result, not in a
1337random callback. 2402random callback.
1338 2403
1339All of this enables the following usage styles: 2404All of this enables the following usage styles:
1340 2405
13411. Blocking: 24061. Blocking:
1389through AnyEvent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero 2454through AnyEvent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero
1390timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable, 2455timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable,
1391which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again. 2456which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again.
1392 2457
1393Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent 2458Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent
1394distribution. 2459distribution. It uses the L<AE> interface, which makes a real difference
2460for the EV and Perl backends only.
1395 2461
1396=head3 Explanation of the columns 2462=head3 Explanation of the columns
1397 2463
1398I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since 2464I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since
1399different event models feature vastly different performances, each event 2465different event models feature vastly different performances, each event
1420watcher. 2486watcher.
1421 2487
1422=head3 Results 2488=head3 Results
1423 2489
1424 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment 2490 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment
1425 EV/EV 400000 244 0.56 0.46 0.31 EV native interface 2491 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 2492 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 2493 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 2494 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 2495 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 2496 Event/Any 16000 1203 42.61 34.79 1.80 Event + AnyEvent watchers
2497 IOAsync/Any 16000 1911 41.92 27.45 16.81 via IO::Async::Loop::IO_Poll
2498 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 2499 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 2500 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 2501 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 2502 POE/Any 2000 6648 94.79 774.40 575.51 via POE::Loop::Select
1435 2503
1436=head3 Discussion 2504=head3 Discussion
1437 2505
1438The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very 2506The 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) 2507well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one)
1451benchmark machine, handling an event takes roughly 1600 CPU cycles with 2519benchmark machine, handling an event takes roughly 1600 CPU cycles with
1452EV, 3100 CPU cycles with AnyEvent's pure perl loop and almost 3000000 CPU 2520EV, 3100 CPU cycles with AnyEvent's pure perl loop and almost 3000000 CPU
1453cycles with POE. 2521cycles with POE.
1454 2522
1455C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both 2523C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both
1456maximal/minimal, respectively. Even when going through AnyEvent, it uses 2524maximal/minimal, respectively. When using the L<AE> API there is zero
2525overhead (when going through the AnyEvent API create is about 5-6 times
2526slower, 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 2527any other event loop and is still faster than Event natively).
1458natively.
1459 2528
1460The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the 2529The 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 2530constant timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl
1462interpreter and the backend itself). Nevertheless this shows that it 2531interpreter and the backend itself). Nevertheless this shows that it
1463adds very little overhead in itself. Like any select-based backend its 2532adds very little overhead in itself. Like any select-based backend its
1464performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of 2533performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of
1465them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark. 2534them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark.
1466 2535
1467The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation 2536The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation
1468cost, but overall scores in on the third place. 2537cost, but overall scores in on the third place.
2538
2539C<IO::Async> performs admirably well, about on par with C<Event>, even
2540when using its pure perl backend.
1469 2541
1470C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a 2542C<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 2543faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as
1472C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of 2544C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of
1473watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four, 2545watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four,
1508(even when used without AnyEvent), but most event loops have acceptable 2580(even when used without AnyEvent), but most event loops have acceptable
1509performance with or without AnyEvent. 2581performance with or without AnyEvent.
1510 2582
1511=item * The overhead AnyEvent adds is usually much smaller than the overhead of 2583=item * The overhead AnyEvent adds is usually much smaller than the overhead of
1512the actual event loop, only with extremely fast event loops such as EV 2584the actual event loop, only with extremely fast event loops such as EV
1513adds AnyEvent significant overhead. 2585does AnyEvent add significant overhead.
1514 2586
1515=item * You should avoid POE like the plague if you want performance or 2587=item * You should avoid POE like the plague if you want performance or
1516reasonable memory usage. 2588reasonable memory usage.
1517 2589
1518=back 2590=back
1534In this benchmark, we use 10000 socket pairs (20000 sockets), of which 100 2606In 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 2607(1%) are active. This mirrors the activity of large servers with many
1536connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time. 2608connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time.
1537 2609
1538Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent 2610Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent
1539distribution. 2611distribution. It uses the L<AE> interface, which makes a real difference
2612for the EV and Perl backends only.
1540 2613
1541=head3 Explanation of the columns 2614=head3 Explanation of the columns
1542 2615
1543I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as 2616I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as
1544each server has a read and write socket end). 2617each server has a read and write socket end).
1551it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating 2624it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating
1552a new one that moves the timeout into the future. 2625a new one that moves the timeout into the future.
1553 2626
1554=head3 Results 2627=head3 Results
1555 2628
1556 name sockets create request 2629 name sockets create request
1557 EV 20000 69.01 11.16 2630 EV 20000 62.66 7.99
1558 Perl 20000 73.32 35.87 2631 Perl 20000 68.32 32.64
1559 Event 20000 212.62 257.32 2632 IOAsync 20000 174.06 101.15 epoll
1560 Glib 20000 651.16 1896.30 2633 IOAsync 20000 174.67 610.84 poll
2634 Event 20000 202.69 242.91
2635 Glib 20000 557.01 1689.52
1561 POE 20000 349.67 12317.24 uses POE::Loop::Event 2636 POE 20000 341.54 12086.32 uses POE::Loop::Event
1562 2637
1563=head3 Discussion 2638=head3 Discussion
1564 2639
1565This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the 2640This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the
1566particular event loop. 2641particular event loop.
1568EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time 2643EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time
1569is relatively high, though. 2644is relatively high, though.
1570 2645
1571Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event 2646Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event
1572loops Event and Glib. 2647loops Event and Glib.
2648
2649IO::Async performs very well when using its epoll backend, and still quite
2650good compared to Glib when using its pure perl backend.
1573 2651
1574Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will 2652Event 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 2653understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to
1576the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event 2654the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event
1577uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations. 2655uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations.
1640=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of 2718=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of
1641watchers, as the management overhead dominates. 2719watchers, as the management overhead dominates.
1642 2720
1643=back 2721=back
1644 2722
2723=head2 THE IO::Lambda BENCHMARK
2724
2725Recently I was told about the benchmark in the IO::Lambda manpage, which
2726could be misinterpreted to make AnyEvent look bad. In fact, the benchmark
2727simply compares IO::Lambda with POE, and IO::Lambda looks better (which
2728shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody). As such, the benchmark is
2729fine, and mostly shows that the AnyEvent backend from IO::Lambda isn't
2730very optimal. But how would AnyEvent compare when used without the extra
2731baggage? To explore this, I wrote the equivalent benchmark for AnyEvent.
2732
2733The benchmark itself creates an echo-server, and then, for 500 times,
2734connects to the echo server, sends a line, waits for the reply, and then
2735creates the next connection. This is a rather bad benchmark, as it doesn't
2736test the efficiency of the framework or much non-blocking I/O, but it is a
2737benchmark nevertheless.
2738
2739 name runtime
2740 Lambda/select 0.330 sec
2741 + optimized 0.122 sec
2742 Lambda/AnyEvent 0.327 sec
2743 + optimized 0.138 sec
2744 Raw sockets/select 0.077 sec
2745 POE/select, components 0.662 sec
2746 POE/select, raw sockets 0.226 sec
2747 POE/select, optimized 0.404 sec
2748
2749 AnyEvent/select/nb 0.085 sec
2750 AnyEvent/EV/nb 0.068 sec
2751 +state machine 0.134 sec
2752
2753The benchmark is also a bit unfair (my fault): the IO::Lambda/POE
2754benchmarks actually make blocking connects and use 100% blocking I/O,
2755defeating the purpose of an event-based solution. All of the newly
2756written AnyEvent benchmarks use 100% non-blocking connects (using
2757AnyEvent::Socket::tcp_connect and the asynchronous pure perl DNS
2758resolver), so AnyEvent is at a disadvantage here, as non-blocking connects
2759generally require a lot more bookkeeping and event handling than blocking
2760connects (which involve a single syscall only).
2761
2762The last AnyEvent benchmark additionally uses L<AnyEvent::Handle>, which
2763offers similar expressive power as POE and IO::Lambda, using conventional
2764Perl syntax. This means that both the echo server and the client are 100%
2765non-blocking, further placing it at a disadvantage.
2766
2767As you can see, the AnyEvent + EV combination even beats the
2768hand-optimised "raw sockets benchmark", while AnyEvent + its pure perl
2769backend easily beats IO::Lambda and POE.
2770
2771And even the 100% non-blocking version written using the high-level (and
2772slow :) L<AnyEvent::Handle> abstraction beats both POE and IO::Lambda
2773higher level ("unoptimised") abstractions by a large margin, even though
2774it does all of DNS, tcp-connect and socket I/O in a non-blocking way.
2775
2776The two AnyEvent benchmarks programs can be found as F<eg/ae0.pl> and
2777F<eg/ae2.pl> in the AnyEvent distribution, the remaining benchmarks are
2778part of the IO::Lambda distribution and were used without any changes.
2779
2780
2781=head1 SIGNALS
2782
2783AnyEvent currently installs handlers for these signals:
2784
2785=over 4
2786
2787=item SIGCHLD
2788
2789A handler for C<SIGCHLD> is installed by AnyEvent's child watcher
2790emulation for event loops that do not support them natively. Also, some
2791event loops install a similar handler.
2792
2793Additionally, when AnyEvent is loaded and SIGCHLD is set to IGNORE, then
2794AnyEvent will reset it to default, to avoid losing child exit statuses.
2795
2796=item SIGPIPE
2797
2798A no-op handler is installed for C<SIGPIPE> when C<$SIG{PIPE}> is C<undef>
2799when AnyEvent gets loaded.
2800
2801The rationale for this is that AnyEvent users usually do not really depend
2802on SIGPIPE delivery (which is purely an optimisation for shell use, or
2803badly-written programs), but C<SIGPIPE> can cause spurious and rare
2804program exits as a lot of people do not expect C<SIGPIPE> when writing to
2805some random socket.
2806
2807The rationale for installing a no-op handler as opposed to ignoring it is
2808that this way, the handler will be restored to defaults on exec.
2809
2810Feel free to install your own handler, or reset it to defaults.
2811
2812=back
2813
2814=cut
2815
2816undef $SIG{CHLD}
2817 if $SIG{CHLD} eq 'IGNORE';
2818
2819$SIG{PIPE} = sub { }
2820 unless defined $SIG{PIPE};
2821
2822=head1 RECOMMENDED/OPTIONAL MODULES
2823
2824One of AnyEvent's main goals is to be 100% Pure-Perl(tm): only perl (and
2825its built-in modules) are required to use it.
2826
2827That does not mean that AnyEvent won't take advantage of some additional
2828modules if they are installed.
2829
2830This section explains which additional modules will be used, and how they
2831affect AnyEvent's operation.
2832
2833=over 4
2834
2835=item L<Async::Interrupt>
2836
2837This slightly arcane module is used to implement fast signal handling: To
2838my knowledge, there is no way to do completely race-free and quick
2839signal handling in pure perl. To ensure that signals still get
2840delivered, AnyEvent will start an interval timer to wake up perl (and
2841catch the signals) with some delay (default is 10 seconds, look for
2842C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>).
2843
2844If this module is available, then it will be used to implement signal
2845catching, which means that signals will not be delayed, and the event loop
2846will not be interrupted regularly, which is more efficient (and good for
2847battery life on laptops).
2848
2849This affects not just the pure-perl event loop, but also other event loops
2850that have no signal handling on their own (e.g. Glib, Tk, Qt).
2851
2852Some event loops (POE, Event, Event::Lib) offer signal watchers natively,
2853and either employ their own workarounds (POE) or use AnyEvent's workaround
2854(using C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>). Installing L<Async::Interrupt>
2855does nothing for those backends.
2856
2857=item L<EV>
2858
2859This module isn't really "optional", as it is simply one of the backend
2860event loops that AnyEvent can use. However, it is simply the best event
2861loop available in terms of features, speed and stability: It supports
2862the AnyEvent API optimally, implements all the watcher types in XS, does
2863automatic timer adjustments even when no monotonic clock is available,
2864can take avdantage of advanced kernel interfaces such as C<epoll> and
2865C<kqueue>, and is the fastest backend I<by far>. You can even embed
2866L<Glib>/L<Gtk2> in it (or vice versa, see L<EV::Glib> and L<Glib::EV>).
2867
2868If you only use backends that rely on another event loop (e.g. C<Tk>),
2869then this module will do nothing for you.
2870
2871=item L<Guard>
2872
2873The guard module, when used, will be used to implement
2874C<AnyEvent::Util::guard>. This speeds up guards considerably (and uses a
2875lot less memory), but otherwise doesn't affect guard operation much. It is
2876purely used for performance.
2877
2878=item L<JSON> and L<JSON::XS>
2879
2880One of these modules is required when you want to read or write JSON data
2881via L<AnyEvent::Handle>. L<JSON> is also written in pure-perl, but can take
2882advantage of the ultra-high-speed L<JSON::XS> module when it is installed.
2883
2884=item L<Net::SSLeay>
2885
2886Implementing TLS/SSL in Perl is certainly interesting, but not very
2887worthwhile: If this module is installed, then L<AnyEvent::Handle> (with
2888the help of L<AnyEvent::TLS>), gains the ability to do TLS/SSL.
2889
2890=item L<Time::HiRes>
2891
2892This module is part of perl since release 5.008. It will be used when the
2893chosen event library does not come with a timing source of its own. The
2894pure-perl event loop (L<AnyEvent::Loop>) will additionally load it to
2895try to use a monotonic clock for timing stability.
2896
2897=back
2898
1645 2899
1646=head1 FORK 2900=head1 FORK
1647 2901
1648Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are 2902Most 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> 2903because they rely on inefficient but fork-safe C<select> or C<poll> calls
1650calls. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware. 2904- higher performance APIs such as BSD's kqueue or the dreaded Linux epoll
2905are usually badly thought-out hacks that are incompatible with fork in
2906one way or another. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware and ensures that you
2907continue event-processing in both parent and child (or both, if you know
2908what you are doing).
2909
2910This means that, in general, you cannot fork and do event processing in
2911the child if the event library was initialised before the fork (which
2912usually happens when the first AnyEvent watcher is created, or the library
2913is loaded).
1651 2914
1652If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first 2915If 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. 2916watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child OR you must do
2917something completely out of the scope of AnyEvent.
2918
2919The problem of doing event processing in the parent I<and> the child
2920is much more complicated: even for backends that I<are> fork-aware or
2921fork-safe, their behaviour is not usually what you want: fork clones all
2922watchers, that means all timers, I/O watchers etc. are active in both
2923parent and child, which is almost never what you want. USing C<exec>
2924to start worker children from some kind of manage rprocess is usually
2925preferred, because it is much easier and cleaner, at the expense of having
2926to have another binary.
1654 2927
1655 2928
1656=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS 2929=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
1657 2930
1658AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via 2931AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via
1669 2942
1670 use AnyEvent; 2943 use AnyEvent;
1671 2944
1672Similar considerations apply to $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}, as that can 2945Similar considerations apply to $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}, as that can
1673be used to probe what backend is used and gain other information (which is 2946be used to probe what backend is used and gain other information (which is
1674probably even less useful to an attacker than PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL). 2947probably even less useful to an attacker than PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), and
2948$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT}.
2949
2950Note that AnyEvent will remove I<all> environment variables starting with
2951C<PERL_ANYEVENT_> from C<%ENV> when it is loaded while taint mode is
2952enabled.
1675 2953
1676 2954
1677=head1 BUGS 2955=head1 BUGS
1678 2956
1679Perl 5.8 has numerous memleaks that sometimes hit this module and are hard 2957Perl 5.8 has numerous memleaks that sometimes hit this module and are hard
1680to work around. If you suffer from memleaks, first upgrade to Perl 5.10 2958to work around. If you suffer from memleaks, first upgrade to Perl 5.10
1681and check wether the leaks still show up. (Perl 5.10.0 has other annoying 2959and check wether the leaks still show up. (Perl 5.10.0 has other annoying
1682mamleaks, such as leaking on C<map> and C<grep> but it is usually not as 2960memleaks, such as leaking on C<map> and C<grep> but it is usually not as
1683pronounced). 2961pronounced).
1684 2962
1685 2963
1686=head1 SEE ALSO 2964=head1 SEE ALSO
1687 2965
1688Utility functions: L<AnyEvent::Util>. 2966Tutorial/Introduction: L<AnyEvent::Intro>.
1689 2967
1690Event modules: L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>, L<Glib::EV>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>, 2968FAQ: L<AnyEvent::FAQ>.
1691L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>. 2969
2970Utility functions: L<AnyEvent::Util> (misc. grab-bag), L<AnyEvent::Log>
2971(simply logging).
2972
2973Development/Debugging: L<AnyEvent::Strict> (stricter checking),
2974L<AnyEvent::Debug> (interactive shell, watcher tracing).
2975
2976Supported event modules: L<AnyEvent::Loop>, L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>,
2977L<Glib::EV>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>, L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>,
2978L<Qt>, L<POE>, L<FLTK>.
1692 2979
1693Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>, 2980Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>,
1694L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, 2981L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>,
1695L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>, 2982L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>,
2983L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync>, L<Anyevent::Impl::Irssi>,
1696L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>. 2984L<AnyEvent::Impl::FLTK>.
1697 2985
1698Non-blocking file handles, sockets, TCP clients and 2986Non-blocking handles, pipes, stream sockets, TCP clients and
1699servers: L<AnyEvent::Handle>, L<AnyEvent::Socket>. 2987servers: L<AnyEvent::Handle>, L<AnyEvent::Socket>, L<AnyEvent::TLS>.
1700 2988
1701Asynchronous DNS: L<AnyEvent::DNS>. 2989Asynchronous DNS: L<AnyEvent::DNS>.
1702 2990
1703Coroutine support: L<Coro>, L<Coro::AnyEvent>, L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>, 2991Thread support: L<Coro>, L<Coro::AnyEvent>, L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>.
1704 2992
1705Nontrivial usage examples: L<Net::FCP>, L<Net::XMPP2>, L<AnyEvent::DNS>. 2993Nontrivial usage examples: L<AnyEvent::GPSD>, L<AnyEvent::IRC>,
2994L<AnyEvent::HTTP>.
1706 2995
1707 2996
1708=head1 AUTHOR 2997=head1 AUTHOR
1709 2998
1710 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 2999 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>

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