ViewVC Help
View File | Revision Log | Show Annotations | Download File
/cvs/AnyEvent/lib/AnyEvent.pm
(Generate patch)

Comparing AnyEvent/lib/AnyEvent.pm (file contents):
Revision 1.176 by root, Wed Aug 20 12:37:21 2008 UTC vs.
Revision 1.378 by root, Fri Aug 26 18:08:07 2011 UTC

1=head1 NAME 1=head1 NAME
2 2
3AnyEvent - provide framework for multiple event loops 3AnyEvent - the DBI of event loop programming
4 4
5EV, Event, 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 { ... });
12 17
18 # one-shot or repeating timers
13 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, cb => sub { ... }); 19 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, cb => sub { ... });
14 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, interval => $seconds, cb => ... 20 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, interval => $seconds, cb => ...);
15 21
16 print AnyEvent->now; # prints current event loop time 22 print AnyEvent->now; # prints current event loop time
17 print AnyEvent->time; # think Time::HiRes::time or simply CORE::time. 23 print AnyEvent->time; # think Time::HiRes::time or simply CORE::time.
18 24
25 # POSIX signal
19 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "TERM", cb => sub { ... }); 26 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "TERM", cb => sub { ... });
20 27
28 # child process exit
21 my $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => $pid, cb => sub { 29 my $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => $pid, cb => sub {
22 my ($pid, $status) = @_; 30 my ($pid, $status) = @_;
23 ... 31 ...
24 }); 32 });
33
34 # called when event loop idle (if applicable)
35 my $w = AnyEvent->idle (cb => sub { ... });
25 36
26 my $w = AnyEvent->condvar; # stores whether a condition was flagged 37 my $w = AnyEvent->condvar; # stores whether a condition was flagged
27 $w->send; # wake up current and all future recv's 38 $w->send; # wake up current and all future recv's
28 $w->recv; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->send 39 $w->recv; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->send
29 # use a condvar in callback mode: 40 # use a condvar in callback mode:
32=head1 INTRODUCTION/TUTORIAL 43=head1 INTRODUCTION/TUTORIAL
33 44
34This manpage is mainly a reference manual. If you are interested 45This manpage is mainly a reference manual. If you are interested
35in a tutorial or some gentle introduction, have a look at the 46in a tutorial or some gentle introduction, have a look at the
36L<AnyEvent::Intro> manpage. 47L<AnyEvent::Intro> manpage.
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.
37 58
38=head1 WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS MODULE (OR NOT) 59=head1 WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS MODULE (OR NOT)
39 60
40Glib, POE, IO::Async, Event... CPAN offers event models by the dozen 61Glib, POE, IO::Async, Event... CPAN offers event models by the dozen
41nowadays. So what is different about AnyEvent? 62nowadays. So what is different about AnyEvent?
57module 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
58model you use. 79model you use.
59 80
60For 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
61actually 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
62like 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
63cannot use anything else, as they are simply incompatible to everything 84cannot use anything else, as they are simply incompatible to everything
64that isn't them. What's worse, all the potential users of your 85that isn't them. What's worse, all the potential users of your
65module are I<also> forced to use the same event loop you use. 86module are I<also> forced to use the same event loop you use.
66 87
67AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works 88AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works
68fine. 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
69with 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
70your 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
71too. But if your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all 92your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all event models it
72event models it supports (including stuff like IO::Async, as long as those 93supports (including stuff like IO::Async, as long as those use one of the
73use one of the supported event loops. It is trivial to add new event loops 94supported event loops. It is easy to add new event loops to AnyEvent, too,
74to AnyEvent, too, so it is future-proof). 95so it is future-proof).
75 96
76In 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
77model>, 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
78modules, 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
79follow. 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
80offering 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
81technically possible. 102technically possible.
82 103
83Of course, AnyEvent comes with a big (and fully optional!) toolbox 104Of course, AnyEvent comes with a big (and fully optional!) toolbox
84of useful functionality, such as an asynchronous DNS resolver, 100% 105of useful functionality, such as an asynchronous DNS resolver, 100%
90useful) 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
91model, you should I<not> use this module. 112model, you should I<not> use this module.
92 113
93=head1 DESCRIPTION 114=head1 DESCRIPTION
94 115
95L<AnyEvent> provides an identical interface to multiple event loops. This 116L<AnyEvent> provides a uniform interface to various event loops. This
96allows module authors to utilise an event loop without forcing module 117allows module authors to use event loop functionality without forcing
97users 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
98peacefully at any one time). 119than one event loop cannot coexist peacefully).
99 120
100The 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>
101module. 122module.
102 123
103During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries 124During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries
104to 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
105following modules is already loaded: L<EV>, 126following modules is already loaded: L<EV>, L<AnyEvent::Loop>,
106L<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
107L<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
108to 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
109adaptor should always succeed) in the order given. The first one that can 130available, the pure-perl L<AnyEvent::Loop> should always work, so
110be successfully loaded will be used. If, after this, still none could be 131the other two are not normally tried.
111found, AnyEvent will fall back to a pure-perl event loop, which is not
112very efficient, but should work everywhere.
113 132
114Because AnyEvent first checks for modules that are already loaded, loading 133Because AnyEvent first checks for modules that are already loaded, loading
115an event model explicitly before first using AnyEvent will likely make 134an event model explicitly before first using AnyEvent will likely make
116that model the default. For example: 135that model the default. For example:
117 136
119 use AnyEvent; 138 use AnyEvent;
120 139
121 # .. AnyEvent will likely default to Tk 140 # .. AnyEvent will likely default to Tk
122 141
123The 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
124starts 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,
125use AnyEvent so their modules work together with others seamlessly... 144as very few modules hardcode event loops without announcing this very
145loudly.
126 146
127The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called 147The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called C<AnyEvent::Loop>. Like
128C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>. Like other event modules you can load it 148other event modules you can load it explicitly and enjoy the high
129explicitly and enjoy the high availability of that event loop :) 149availability of that event loop :)
130 150
131=head1 WATCHERS 151=head1 WATCHERS
132 152
133AnyEvent 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
134stores 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
137These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After 157These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After
138creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the 158creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the
139callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model 159callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model
140is in control). 160is in control).
141 161
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
142To 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
143variable 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
144to it). 170to it).
145 171
146All 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.
147 173
148Many watchers either are used with "recursion" (repeating timers for 174Many watchers either are used with "recursion" (repeating timers for
149example), or need to refer to their watcher object in other ways. 175example), or need to refer to their watcher object in other ways.
150 176
151An any way to achieve that is this pattern: 177One way to achieve that is this pattern:
152 178
153 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->type (arg => value ..., cb => sub { 179 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->type (arg => value ..., cb => sub {
154 # you can use $w here, for example to undef it 180 # you can use $w here, for example to undef it
155 undef $w; 181 undef $w;
156 }); 182 });
159my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are 185my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are
160declared. 186declared.
161 187
162=head2 I/O WATCHERS 188=head2 I/O WATCHERS
163 189
190 $w = AnyEvent->io (
191 fh => <filehandle_or_fileno>,
192 poll => <"r" or "w">,
193 cb => <callback>,
194 );
195
164You 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
165with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments: 197with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments:
166 198
167C<fh> the Perl I<file handle> (I<not> file descriptor) to watch for events 199C<fh> is the Perl I<file handle> (or a naked file descriptor) to watch
168(AnyEvent might or might not keep a reference to this file handle). C<poll> 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
169must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>, which creates a watcher 206C<poll> must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>, which creates a
170waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, respectively. C<cb> is the 207watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, respectively.
208
171callback to invoke each time the file handle becomes ready. 209C<cb> is the callback to invoke each time the file handle becomes ready.
172 210
173Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 211Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
174presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 212presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
175callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks. 213callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks.
176 214
177The 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.
178You 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
179underlying file descriptor. 217underlying file descriptor.
180 218
181Some event loops issue spurious readyness notifications, so you should 219Some event loops issue spurious readiness notifications, so you should
182always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file 220always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file
183handles. 221handles.
184 222
185Example: wait for readability of STDIN, then read a line and disable the 223Example: wait for readability of STDIN, then read a line and disable the
186watcher. 224watcher.
191 undef $w; 229 undef $w;
192 }); 230 });
193 231
194=head2 TIME WATCHERS 232=head2 TIME WATCHERS
195 233
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
196You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >> 242You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >>
197method with the following mandatory arguments: 243method with the following mandatory arguments:
198 244
199C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are 245C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are
200supported) 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
202 248
203Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 249Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
204presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 250presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
205callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks. 251callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks.
206 252
207The callback will normally be invoked once only. If you specify another 253The callback will normally be invoked only once. If you specify another
208parameter, C<interval>, as a strictly positive number (> 0), then the 254parameter, C<interval>, as a strictly positive number (> 0), then the
209callback will be invoked regularly at that interval (in fractional 255callback will be invoked regularly at that interval (in fractional
210seconds) after the first invocation. If C<interval> is specified with a 256seconds) after the first invocation. If C<interval> is specified with a
211false value, then it is treated as if it were missing. 257false value, then it is treated as if it were not specified at all.
212 258
213The callback will be rescheduled before invoking the callback, but no 259The callback will be rescheduled before invoking the callback, but no
214attempt is done to avoid timer drift in most backends, so the interval is 260attempt is made to avoid timer drift in most backends, so the interval is
215only approximate. 261only approximate.
216 262
217Example: fire an event after 7.7 seconds. 263Example: fire an event after 7.7 seconds.
218 264
219 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub { 265 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub {
237 283
238While 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
239use absolute time internally. This makes a difference when your clock 285use absolute time internally. This makes a difference when your clock
240"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
241the 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
242fire "after" a second might actually take six years to finally fire. 288fire "after a second" might actually take six years to finally fire.
243 289
244AnyEvent cannot compensate for this. The only event loop that is conscious 290AnyEvent cannot compensate for this. The only event loop that is conscious
245about 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
246on true relative time) and absolute (ev_periodic, based on wallclock time) 292on true relative time) and absolute (ev_periodic, based on wallclock time)
247timers. 293timers.
248 294
249AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the 295AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the
250AnyEvent API. 296AnyEvent API.
272I<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
273function to call when you want to know the current time.> 319function to call when you want to know the current time.>
274 320
275This function is also often faster then C<< AnyEvent->time >>, and 321This function is also often faster then C<< AnyEvent->time >>, and
276thus the preferred method if you want some timestamp (for example, 322thus the preferred method if you want some timestamp (for example,
277L<AnyEvent::Handle> uses this to update it's activity timeouts). 323L<AnyEvent::Handle> uses this to update its activity timeouts).
278 324
279The 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
280with your timing, you can skip it without bad conscience. 326with your timing; you can skip it without a bad conscience.
281 327
282For 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>
283and L<EV> and the following set-up: 329and L<EV> and the following set-up:
284 330
285The 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
286time=500 (assume no other callbacks delay processing). In your callback, 332time=500 (assume no other callbacks delay processing). In your callback,
287you 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
288second) 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
289after three seconds. 335after three seconds.
290 336
308In 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
309can 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
310difference between C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> into 356difference between C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> into
311account. 357account.
312 358
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
313=back 381=back
314 382
315=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS 383=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS
384
385 $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => <uppercase_signal_name>, cb => <callback>);
316 386
317You 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
318I<name> in uppercase and without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl 388I<name> in uppercase and without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl
319callback to be invoked whenever a signal occurs. 389callback to be invoked whenever a signal occurs.
320 390
326invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. Synchronous means 396invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. Synchronous means
327that 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,
328but it is guaranteed not to interrupt any other callbacks. 398but it is guaranteed not to interrupt any other callbacks.
329 399
330The 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
331between multiple watchers. 401between multiple watchers, and AnyEvent will ensure that signals will not
402interrupt your program at bad times.
332 403
333This watcher might use C<%SIG>, so programs overwriting those signals 404This watcher might use C<%SIG> (depending on the event loop used),
334directly will likely not work correctly. 405so programs overwriting those signals directly will likely not work
406correctly.
335 407
336Example: exit on SIGINT 408Example: exit on SIGINT
337 409
338 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 }); 410 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 });
339 411
412=head3 Restart Behaviour
413
414While restart behaviour is up to the event loop implementation, most will
415not restart syscalls (that includes L<Async::Interrupt> and AnyEvent's
416pure perl implementation).
417
418=head3 Safe/Unsafe Signals
419
420Perl signals can be either "safe" (synchronous to opcode handling) or
421"unsafe" (asynchronous) - the former might get delayed indefinitely, the
422latter might corrupt your memory.
423
424AnyEvent signal handlers are, in addition, synchronous to the event loop,
425i.e. they will not interrupt your running perl program but will only be
426called as part of the normal event handling (just like timer, I/O etc.
427callbacks, too).
428
429=head3 Signal Races, Delays and Workarounds
430
431Many event loops (e.g. Glib, Tk, Qt, IO::Async) do not support attaching
432callbacks to signals in a generic way, which is a pity, as you cannot
433do race-free signal handling in perl, requiring C libraries for
434this. AnyEvent will try to do its best, which means in some cases,
435signals will be delayed. The maximum time a signal might be delayed is
436specified in C<$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
340=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS 449=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS
341 450
451 $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => <process id>, cb => <callback>);
452
342You 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.
343 454
344The 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,
345watches for any child process exit). The watcher will trigger as often 456using C<0> watches for any child process exit, on others this will
346as status change for the child are received. This works by installing a 457croak). The watcher will be triggered only when the child process has
347signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>. The callback will be called with the pid 458finished and an exit status is available, not on any trace events
348and exit status (as returned by waitpid), so unlike other watcher types, 459(stopped/continued).
349you 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).
350 469
351There 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
352I<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
353have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore). 472have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore).
354 473
355Not 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
356event 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
357loaded 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.
358 480
359This 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
360AnyEvent 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
361C<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.
362 489
363Example: fork a process and wait for it 490Example: fork a process and wait for it
364 491
365 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar; 492 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
366 493
376 ); 503 );
377 504
378 # do something else, then wait for process exit 505 # do something else, then wait for process exit
379 $done->recv; 506 $done->recv;
380 507
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
381=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES 548=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES
549
550 $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
551
552 $cv->send (<list>);
553 my @res = $cv->recv;
382 554
383If 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
384require you to run some blocking "loop", "run" or similar function that 556require you to run some blocking "loop", "run" or similar function that
385will actively watch for new events and call your callbacks. 557will actively watch for new events and call your callbacks.
386 558
387AnyEvent is different, it expects somebody else to run the event loop and 559AnyEvent is slightly different: it expects somebody else to run the event
388will only block when necessary (usually when told by the user). 560loop and will only block when necessary (usually when told by the user).
389 561
390The instrument to do that is called a "condition variable", so called 562The tool to do that is called a "condition variable", so called because
391because 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.
392 566
393Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar 567Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar
394>> method, usually without arguments. The only argument pair allowed is 568>> method, usually without arguments. The only argument pair allowed is
395
396C<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
397becomes true, with the condition variable as the first argument (but not 570becomes true, with the condition variable as the first argument (but not
398the results). 571the results).
399 572
400After creation, the condition variable is "false" until it becomes "true" 573After creation, the condition variable is "false" until it becomes "true"
401by 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
402were 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<<
403->send >> method). 576->send >> method).
404 577
405Condition variables are similar to callbacks, except that you can 578Since condition variables are the most complex part of the AnyEvent API, here are
406optionally 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:
407in time where multiple outstanding events have been processed. And yet 580
408another way to call them is transactions - each condition variable can be 581=over 4
409used to represent a transaction, which finishes at some point and delivers 582
410a 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
411 601
412Condition variables are very useful to signal that something has finished, 602Condition variables are very useful to signal that something has finished,
413for example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests, 603for example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests,
414then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the 604then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the
415availability of results. The user can either act when the callback is 605availability of results. The user can either act when the callback is
428 618
429Condition variables are represented by hash refs in perl, and the keys 619Condition variables are represented by hash refs in perl, and the keys
430used 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
431easy (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
432AnyEvent). To subclass, use C<AnyEvent::CondVar> as base class and call 622AnyEvent). To subclass, use C<AnyEvent::CondVar> as base class and call
433it's C<new> method in your own C<new> method. 623its C<new> method in your own C<new> method.
434 624
435There are two "sides" to a condition variable - the "producer side" which 625There are two "sides" to a condition variable - the "producer side" which
436eventually calls C<< -> send >>, and the "consumer side", which waits 626eventually calls C<< -> send >>, and the "consumer side", which waits
437for the send to occur. 627for the send to occur.
438 628
439Example: wait for a timer. 629Example: wait for a timer.
440 630
441 # wait till the result is ready 631 # condition: "wait till the timer is fired"
442 my $result_ready = AnyEvent->condvar; 632 my $timer_fired = AnyEvent->condvar;
443 633
444 # do something such as adding a timer 634 # create the timer - we could wait for, say
445 # or socket watcher the calls $result_ready->send 635 # a handle becomign ready, or even an
446 # when the "result" is ready. 636 # AnyEvent::HTTP request to finish, but
447 # in this case, we simply use a timer: 637 # in this case, we simply use a timer:
448 my $w = AnyEvent->timer ( 638 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (
449 after => 1, 639 after => 1,
450 cb => sub { $result_ready->send }, 640 cb => sub { $timer_fired->send },
451 ); 641 );
452 642
453 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the callback 643 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the callback
454 # calls send 644 # calls ->send
455 $result_ready->recv; 645 $timer_fired->recv;
456 646
457Example: wait for a timer, but take advantage of the fact that 647Example: wait for a timer, but take advantage of the fact that condition
458condition variables are also code references. 648variables are also callable directly.
459 649
460 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar; 650 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
461 my $delay = AnyEvent->timer (after => 5, cb => $done); 651 my $delay = AnyEvent->timer (after => 5, cb => $done);
462 $done->recv; 652 $done->recv;
463 653
469 659
470 ... 660 ...
471 661
472 my @info = $couchdb->info->recv; 662 my @info = $couchdb->info->recv;
473 663
474And this is how you would just ste a callback to be called whenever the 664And this is how you would just set a callback to be called whenever the
475results are available: 665results are available:
476 666
477 $couchdb->info->cb (sub { 667 $couchdb->info->cb (sub {
478 my @info = $_[0]->recv; 668 my @info = $_[0]->recv;
479 }); 669 });
497immediately from within send. 687immediately from within send.
498 688
499Any 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
500future C<< ->recv >> calls. 690future C<< ->recv >> calls.
501 691
502Condition variables are overloaded so one can call them directly 692Condition variables are overloaded so one can call them directly (as if
503(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
504C<send>. Note, however, that many C-based event loops do not handle 694C<send>.
505overloading, so as tempting as it may be, passing a condition variable
506instead of a callback does not work. Both the pure perl and EV loops
507support overloading, however, as well as all functions that use perl to
508invoke a callback (as in L<AnyEvent::Socket> and L<AnyEvent::DNS> for
509example).
510 695
511=item $cv->croak ($error) 696=item $cv->croak ($error)
512 697
513Similar to send, but causes all call's to C<< ->recv >> to invoke 698Similar to send, but causes all calls to C<< ->recv >> to invoke
514C<Carp::croak> with the given error message/object/scalar. 699C<Carp::croak> with the given error message/object/scalar.
515 700
516This can be used to signal any errors to the condition variable 701This can be used to signal any errors to the condition variable
517user/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.
518 707
519=item $cv->begin ([group callback]) 708=item $cv->begin ([group callback])
520 709
521=item $cv->end 710=item $cv->end
522
523These two methods are EXPERIMENTAL and MIGHT CHANGE.
524 711
525These two methods can be used to combine many transactions/events into 712These two methods can be used to combine many transactions/events into
526one. 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
527to use a condition variable for the whole process. 714to use a condition variable for the whole process.
528 715
529Every 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
530C<< ->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
531>>, 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
532is 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
533callback 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.
534 722
535Let'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:
536 730
537 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar; 731 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
538 732
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
539 my %result; 757 my %result;
540 $cv->begin (sub { $cv->send (\%result) }); 758 $cv->begin (sub { shift->send (\%result) });
541 759
542 for my $host (@list_of_hosts) { 760 for my $host (@list_of_hosts) {
543 $cv->begin; 761 $cv->begin;
544 ping_host_then_call_callback $host, sub { 762 ping_host_then_call_callback $host, sub {
545 $result{$host} = ...; 763 $result{$host} = ...;
560loop, which serves two important purposes: first, it sets the callback 778loop, which serves two important purposes: first, it sets the callback
561to 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
562C<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
563doesn't execute once). 781doesn't execute once).
564 782
565This is the general pattern when you "fan out" into multiple subrequests: 783This is the general pattern when you "fan out" into multiple (but
566use 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
567is 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
568C<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>.
569 788
570=back 789=back
571 790
572=head3 METHODS FOR CONSUMERS 791=head3 METHODS FOR CONSUMERS
573 792
577=over 4 796=over 4
578 797
579=item $cv->recv 798=item $cv->recv
580 799
581Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->send >> or C<< ->croak 800Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->send >> or C<< ->croak
582>> methods have been called on c<$cv>, while servicing other watchers 801>> methods have been called on C<$cv>, while servicing other watchers
583normally. 802normally.
584 803
585You 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
586will return immediately. 805will return immediately.
587 806
589function will call C<croak>. 808function will call C<croak>.
590 809
591In list context, all parameters passed to C<send> will be returned, 810In list context, all parameters passed to C<send> will be returned,
592in scalar context only the first one will be returned. 811in scalar context only the first one will be returned.
593 812
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
594Not 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
595(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
596using 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
597caller 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
598condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting 824condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting
599callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block, 825callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block,
600while still supporting blocking waits if the caller so desires). 826while still supporting blocking waits if the caller so desires).
601 827
602Another reason I<never> to C<< ->recv >> in a module is that you cannot
603sensibly have two C<< ->recv >>'s in parallel, as that would require
604multiple interpreters or coroutines/threads, none of which C<AnyEvent>
605can supply.
606
607The L<Coro> module, however, I<can> and I<does> supply coroutines and, in
608fact, L<Coro::AnyEvent> replaces AnyEvent's condvars by coroutine-safe
609versions and also integrates coroutines into AnyEvent, making blocking
610C<< ->recv >> calls perfectly safe as long as they are done from another
611coroutine (one that doesn't run the event loop).
612
613You 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
614only calling C<< ->recv >> from within that callback (or at a later 829only calling C<< ->recv >> from within that callback (or at a later
615time). 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
616waits otherwise. 831waits otherwise.
617 832
618=item $bool = $cv->ready 833=item $bool = $cv->ready
624 839
625This is a mutator function that returns the callback set and optionally 840This is a mutator function that returns the callback set and optionally
626replaces it before doing so. 841replaces it before doing so.
627 842
628The 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
629C<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
630variable itself. Calling C<recv> inside the callback or at any later time 845condition variable itself. If the condition is already true, the
631is 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.
632 848
633=back 849=back
634 850
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
635=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS 914=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS
636 915
916These are not normally required to use AnyEvent, but can be useful to
917write AnyEvent extension modules.
918
637=over 4 919=over 4
638 920
639=item $AnyEvent::MODEL 921=item $AnyEvent::MODEL
640 922
641Contains C<undef> until the first watcher is being created. Then it 923Contains C<undef> until the first watcher is being created, before the
924backend has been autodetected.
925
642contains the event model that is being used, which is the name of the 926Afterwards it contains the event model that is being used, which is the
643Perl class implementing the model. This class is usually one of the 927name of the Perl class implementing the model. This class is usually one
644C<AnyEvent::Impl:xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the case 928of the C<AnyEvent::Impl::xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the
645AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode>). 929case AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode> it
646 930will be C<urxvt::anyevent>).
647The known classes so far are:
648
649 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (an interface to libev, best choice).
650 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, second best choice.
651 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl implementation, fast and portable.
652 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, third-best choice.
653 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very bad choice.
654 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt, cannot be autoprobed (see its docs).
655 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
656 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, not generic enough for full support.
657
658There is no support for WxWidgets, as WxWidgets has no support for
659watching file handles. However, you can use WxWidgets through the
660POE Adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply polls 20 times per
661second, which was considered to be too horrible to even consider for
662AnyEvent. Likewise, other POE backends can be used by AnyEvent by using
663it's adaptor.
664
665AnyEvent knows about L<Prima> and L<Wx> and will try to use L<POE> when
666autodetecting them.
667 931
668=item AnyEvent::detect 932=item AnyEvent::detect
669 933
670Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model 934Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model
671if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would 935if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would
672have 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
673runtime. 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>.
674 945
675=item $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK } 946=item $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }
676 947
677Arranges for the code block to be executed as soon as the event model is 948Arranges for the code block to be executed as soon as the event model is
678autodetected (or immediately if this has already happened). 949autodetected (or immediately if that has already happened).
950
951The block will be executed I<after> the actual backend has been detected
952(C<$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.
679 961
680If 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
681that 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
682L<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 ||= $guard;
683 982
684=item @AnyEvent::post_detect 983=item @AnyEvent::post_detect
685 984
686If there are any code references in this array (you can C<push> to it 985If there are any code references in this array (you can C<push> to it
687before or after loading AnyEvent), then they will called directly after 986before or after loading AnyEvent), then they will be called directly
688the event loop has been chosen. 987after the event loop has been chosen.
689 988
690You should check C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> before adding to this array, though: 989You should check C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> before adding to this array, though:
691if 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
692and the array will be ignored. 991array will be ignored.
693 992
694Best 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.
1064
1065If you want to sprinkle loads of logging calls around your code, consider
1066creating a logger callback with the C<AnyEvent::Log::logger> function,
1067which can reduce typing, codesize and can reduce the logging overhead
1068enourmously.
695 1069
696=back 1070=back
697 1071
698=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE 1072=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE
699 1073
710because it will stall the whole program, and the whole point of using 1084because it will stall the whole program, and the whole point of using
711events is to stay interactive. 1085events is to stay interactive.
712 1086
713It is fine, however, to call C<< ->recv >> when the user of your module 1087It is fine, however, to call C<< ->recv >> when the user of your module
714requests it (i.e. if you create a http request object ad have a method 1088requests it (i.e. if you create a http request object ad have a method
715called C<results> that returns the results, it should call C<< ->recv >> 1089called C<results> that returns the results, it may call C<< ->recv >>
716freely, as the user of your module knows what she is doing. always). 1090freely, as the user of your module knows what she is doing. Always).
717 1091
718=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM 1092=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM
719 1093
720There will always be a single main program - the only place that should 1094There will always be a single main program - the only place that should
721dictate which event model to use. 1095dictate which event model to use.
722 1096
723If it doesn't care, it can just "use AnyEvent" and use it itself, or not 1097If the program is not event-based, it need not do anything special, even
724do anything special (it does not need to be event-based) and let AnyEvent 1098when it depends on a module that uses an AnyEvent. If the program itself
725decide which implementation to chose if some module relies on it. 1099uses AnyEvent, but does not care which event loop is used, all it needs
1100to do is C<use AnyEvent>. In either case, AnyEvent will choose the best
1101available loop implementation.
726 1102
727If the main program relies on a specific event model - for example, in 1103If the main program relies on a specific event model - for example, in
728Gtk2 programs you have to rely on the Glib module - you should load the 1104Gtk2 programs you have to rely on the Glib module - you should load the
729event module before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it: generally 1105event module before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it: generally
730speaking, you should load it as early as possible. The reason is that 1106speaking, you should load it as early as possible. The reason is that
731modules might create watchers when they are loaded, and AnyEvent will 1107modules might create watchers when they are loaded, and AnyEvent will
732decide on the event model to use as soon as it creates watchers, and it 1108decide on the event model to use as soon as it creates watchers, and it
733might chose the wrong one unless you load the correct one yourself. 1109might choose the wrong one unless you load the correct one yourself.
734 1110
735You can chose to use a pure-perl implementation by loading the 1111You can chose to use a pure-perl implementation by loading the
736C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl> module, which gives you similar behaviour 1112C<AnyEvent::Loop> module, which gives you similar behaviour
737everywhere, but letting AnyEvent chose the model is generally better. 1113everywhere, but letting AnyEvent chose the model is generally better.
738 1114
739=head2 MAINLOOP EMULATION 1115=head2 MAINLOOP EMULATION
740 1116
741Sometimes (often for short test scripts, or even standalone programs who 1117Sometimes (often for short test scripts, or even standalone programs who
754 1130
755 1131
756=head1 OTHER MODULES 1132=head1 OTHER MODULES
757 1133
758The following is a non-exhaustive list of additional modules that use 1134The following is a non-exhaustive list of additional modules that use
759AnyEvent and can therefore be mixed easily with other AnyEvent modules 1135AnyEvent as a client and can therefore be mixed easily with other
760in the same program. Some of the modules come with AnyEvent, some are 1136AnyEvent modules and other event loops in the same program. Some of the
761available via CPAN. 1137modules come as part of AnyEvent, the others are available via CPAN (see
1138L<http://search.cpan.org/search?m=module&q=anyevent%3A%3A*> for
1139a longer non-exhaustive list), and the list is heavily biased towards
1140modules of the AnyEvent author himself :)
762 1141
763=over 4 1142=over 4
764 1143
765=item L<AnyEvent::Util> 1144=item L<AnyEvent::Util>
766 1145
767Contains various utility functions that replace often-used but blocking 1146Contains various utility functions that replace often-used blocking
768functions such as C<inet_aton> by event-/callback-based versions. 1147functions such as C<inet_aton> with event/callback-based versions.
769 1148
770=item L<AnyEvent::Socket> 1149=item L<AnyEvent::Socket>
771 1150
772Provides various utility functions for (internet protocol) sockets, 1151Provides various utility functions for (internet protocol) sockets,
773addresses and name resolution. Also functions to create non-blocking tcp 1152addresses and name resolution. Also functions to create non-blocking tcp
775 1154
776=item L<AnyEvent::Handle> 1155=item L<AnyEvent::Handle>
777 1156
778Provide read and write buffers, manages watchers for reads and writes, 1157Provide read and write buffers, manages watchers for reads and writes,
779supports raw and formatted I/O, I/O queued and fully transparent and 1158supports raw and formatted I/O, I/O queued and fully transparent and
780non-blocking SSL/TLS. 1159non-blocking SSL/TLS (via L<AnyEvent::TLS>).
781 1160
782=item L<AnyEvent::DNS> 1161=item L<AnyEvent::DNS>
783 1162
784Provides rich asynchronous DNS resolver capabilities. 1163Provides rich asynchronous DNS resolver capabilities.
785 1164
1165=item L<AnyEvent::HTTP>, L<AnyEvent::IRC>, L<AnyEvent::XMPP>, L<AnyEvent::GPSD>, L<AnyEvent::IGS>, L<AnyEvent::FCP>
1166
1167Implement event-based interfaces to the protocols of the same name (for
1168the curious, IGS is the International Go Server and FCP is the Freenet
1169Client Protocol).
1170
786=item L<AnyEvent::HTTP> 1171=item L<AnyEvent::AIO>
787 1172
788A simple-to-use HTTP library that is capable of making a lot of concurrent 1173Truly asynchronous (as opposed to non-blocking) I/O, should be in the
789HTTP requests. 1174toolbox of every event programmer. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses
1175L<IO::AIO> and AnyEvent together, giving AnyEvent access to event-based
1176file I/O, and much more.
1177
1178=item L<AnyEvent::Filesys::Notify>
1179
1180AnyEvent is good for non-blocking stuff, but it can't detect file or
1181path changes (e.g. "watch this directory for new files", "watch this
1182file for changes"). The L<AnyEvent::Filesys::Notify> module promises to
1183do just that in a portbale fashion, supporting inotify on GNU/Linux and
1184some weird, without doubt broken, stuff on OS X to monitor files. It can
1185fall back to blocking scans at regular intervals transparently on other
1186platforms, so it's about as portable as it gets.
1187
1188(I haven't used it myself, but I haven't heard anybody complaining about
1189it yet).
1190
1191=item L<AnyEvent::DBI>
1192
1193Executes L<DBI> requests asynchronously in a proxy process for you,
1194notifying you in an event-based way when the operation is finished.
790 1195
791=item L<AnyEvent::HTTPD> 1196=item L<AnyEvent::HTTPD>
792 1197
793Provides a simple web application server framework. 1198A simple embedded webserver.
794 1199
795=item L<AnyEvent::FastPing> 1200=item L<AnyEvent::FastPing>
796 1201
797The fastest ping in the west. 1202The fastest ping in the west.
798 1203
799=item L<AnyEvent::DBI>
800
801Executes L<DBI> requests asynchronously in a proxy process.
802
803=item L<AnyEvent::AIO>
804
805Truly asynchronous I/O, should be in the toolbox of every event
806programmer. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses L<IO::AIO> and AnyEvent
807together.
808
809=item L<AnyEvent::BDB>
810
811Truly asynchronous Berkeley DB access. AnyEvent::BDB transparently fuses
812L<BDB> and AnyEvent together.
813
814=item L<AnyEvent::GPSD>
815
816A non-blocking interface to gpsd, a daemon delivering GPS information.
817
818=item L<AnyEvent::IGS>
819
820A non-blocking interface to the Internet Go Server protocol (used by
821L<App::IGS>).
822
823=item L<Net::IRC3>
824
825AnyEvent based IRC client module family.
826
827=item L<Net::XMPP2>
828
829AnyEvent based XMPP (Jabber protocol) module family.
830
831=item L<Net::FCP>
832
833AnyEvent-based implementation of the Freenet Client Protocol, birthplace
834of AnyEvent.
835
836=item L<Event::ExecFlow>
837
838High level API for event-based execution flow control.
839
840=item L<Coro> 1204=item L<Coro>
841 1205
842Has special support for AnyEvent via L<Coro::AnyEvent>. 1206Has special support for AnyEvent via L<Coro::AnyEvent>, which allows you
1207to simply invert the flow control - don't call us, we will call you:
843 1208
844=item L<IO::Lambda> 1209 async {
1210 Coro::AnyEvent::sleep 5; # creates a 5s timer and waits for it
1211 print "5 seconds later!\n";
845 1212
846The lambda approach to I/O - don't ask, look there. Can use AnyEvent. 1213 Coro::AnyEvent::readable *STDIN; # uses an I/O watcher
1214 my $line = <STDIN>; # works for ttys
1215
1216 AnyEvent::HTTP::http_get "url", Coro::rouse_cb;
1217 my ($body, $hdr) = Coro::rouse_wait;
1218 };
847 1219
848=back 1220=back
849 1221
850=cut 1222=cut
851 1223
852package AnyEvent; 1224package AnyEvent;
853 1225
854no warnings; 1226# basically a tuned-down version of common::sense
855use strict; 1227sub common_sense {
1228 # from common:.sense 3.4
1229 ${^WARNING_BITS} ^= ${^WARNING_BITS} ^ "\x3c\x3f\x33\x00\x0f\xf0\x0f\xc0\xf0\xfc\x33\x00";
1230 # use strict vars subs - NO UTF-8, as Util.pm doesn't like this atm. (uts46data.pl)
1231 $^H |= 0x00000600;
1232}
856 1233
1234BEGIN { AnyEvent::common_sense }
1235
857use Carp; 1236use Carp ();
858 1237
859our $VERSION = 4.231; 1238our $VERSION = '6.01';
860our $MODEL; 1239our $MODEL;
861 1240
862our $AUTOLOAD;
863our @ISA; 1241our @ISA;
864 1242
865our @REGISTRY; 1243our @REGISTRY;
866 1244
867our $WIN32; 1245our $VERBOSE;
868 1246
869BEGIN { 1247BEGIN {
870 my $win32 = ! ! ($^O =~ /mswin32/i); 1248 require "AnyEvent/constants.pl";
871 eval "sub WIN32(){ $win32 }";
872}
873 1249
1250 eval "sub TAINT (){" . (${^TAINT}*1) . "}";
1251
1252 delete @ENV{grep /^PERL_ANYEVENT_/, keys %ENV}
1253 if ${^TAINT};
1254
1255 $ENV{"PERL_ANYEVENT_$_"} = $ENV{"AE_$_"}
1256 for grep s/^AE_// && !exists $ENV{"PERL_ANYEVENT_$_"}, keys %ENV;
1257
1258 @ENV{grep /^PERL_ANYEVENT_/, keys %ENV} = ()
1259 if ${^TAINT};
1260
874our $verbose = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1; 1261 $VERBOSE = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1;
1262}
1263
1264our $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY = 10;
875 1265
876our %PROTOCOL; # (ipv4|ipv6) => (1|2), higher numbers are preferred 1266our %PROTOCOL; # (ipv4|ipv6) => (1|2), higher numbers are preferred
877 1267
878{ 1268{
879 my $idx; 1269 my $idx;
880 $PROTOCOL{$_} = ++$idx 1270 $PROTOCOL{$_} = ++$idx
881 for reverse split /\s*,\s*/, 1271 for reverse split /\s*,\s*/,
882 $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS} || "ipv4,ipv6"; 1272 $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS} || "ipv4,ipv6";
883} 1273}
884 1274
1275our @post_detect;
1276
1277sub post_detect(&) {
1278 my ($cb) = @_;
1279
1280 push @post_detect, $cb;
1281
1282 defined wantarray
1283 ? bless \$cb, "AnyEvent::Util::postdetect"
1284 : ()
1285}
1286
1287sub AnyEvent::Util::postdetect::DESTROY {
1288 @post_detect = grep $_ != ${$_[0]}, @post_detect;
1289}
1290
1291our $POSTPONE_W;
1292our @POSTPONE;
1293
1294sub _postpone_exec {
1295 undef $POSTPONE_W;
1296
1297 &{ shift @POSTPONE }
1298 while @POSTPONE;
1299}
1300
1301sub postpone(&) {
1302 push @POSTPONE, shift;
1303
1304 $POSTPONE_W ||= AE::timer (0, 0, \&_postpone_exec);
1305
1306 ()
1307}
1308
1309sub log($$;@) {
1310 # only load the big bloated module when we actually are about to log something
1311 if ($_[0] <= $VERBOSE) { # also catches non-numeric levels(!)
1312 require AnyEvent::Log;
1313 # AnyEvent::Log overwrites this function
1314 goto &log;
1315 }
1316
1317 0 # not logged
1318}
1319
1320if (length $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_LOG}) {
1321 require AnyEvent::Log; # AnyEvent::Log does the thing for us
1322}
1323
885my @models = ( 1324our @models = (
886 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV::], 1325 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV:: , 1],
887 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::], 1326 [AnyEvent::Loop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: , 1],
888 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl::],
889 # everything below here will not be autoprobed 1327 # everything below here will not (normally) be autoprobed
890 # as the pureperl backend should work everywhere 1328 # as the pure perl backend should work everywhere
891 # and is usually faster 1329 # and is usually faster
1330 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::, 1],
1331 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib:: , 1], # becomes extremely slow with many watchers
1332 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy
1333 [Irssi:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Irssi::], # Irssi has a bogus "Event" package
892 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], # crashes with many handles 1334 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], # crashes with many handles
893 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib::], # becomes extremely slow with many watchers
894 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy
895 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program 1335 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program
896 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza 1336 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza
897 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], 1337 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
898 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], 1338 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
1339 [IO::Async::Loop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # a bitch to autodetect
1340 [Cocoa::EventLoop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Cocoa::],
1341 [FLTK:: => AnyEvent::Impl::FLTK::],
899); 1342);
900 1343
901our %method = map +($_ => 1), qw(io timer time now signal child condvar one_event DESTROY); 1344our @isa_hook;
902 1345
903our @post_detect; 1346sub _isa_set {
1347 my @pkg = ("AnyEvent", (map $_->[0], grep defined, @isa_hook), $MODEL);
904 1348
1349 @{"$pkg[$_-1]::ISA"} = $pkg[$_]
1350 for 1 .. $#pkg;
1351
1352 grep $_ && $_->[1], @isa_hook
1353 and AE::_reset ();
1354}
1355
1356# used for hooking AnyEvent::Strict and AnyEvent::Debug::Wrap into the class hierarchy
1357sub _isa_hook($$;$) {
1358 my ($i, $pkg, $reset_ae) = @_;
1359
1360 $isa_hook[$i] = $pkg ? [$pkg, $reset_ae] : undef;
1361
1362 _isa_set;
1363}
1364
1365# all autoloaded methods reserve the complete glob, not just the method slot.
1366# due to bugs in perls method cache implementation.
1367our @methods = qw(io timer time now now_update signal child idle condvar);
1368
905sub post_detect(&) { 1369sub detect() {
906 my ($cb) = @_; 1370 return $MODEL if $MODEL; # some programs keep references to detect
907 1371
908 if ($MODEL) { 1372 local $!; # for good measure
909 $cb->(); 1373 local $SIG{__DIE__}; # we use eval
910 1374
911 1 1375 # free some memory
1376 *detect = sub () { $MODEL };
1377 # undef &func doesn't correctly update the method cache. grmbl.
1378 # so we delete the whole glob. grmbl.
1379 # otoh, perl doesn't let me undef an active usb, but it lets me free
1380 # a glob with an active sub. hrm. i hope it works, but perl is
1381 # usually buggy in this department. sigh.
1382 delete @{"AnyEvent::"}{@methods};
1383 undef @methods;
1384
1385 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z0-9:]+)$/) {
1386 my $model = $1;
1387 $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$model" unless $model =~ s/::$//;
1388 if (eval "require $model") {
1389 AnyEvent::log 7 => "loaded model '$model' (forced by \$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}), using it.";
1390 $MODEL = $model;
912 } else { 1391 } else {
913 push @post_detect, $cb; 1392 AnyEvent::log 5 => "unable to load model '$model' (from \$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}):\n$@";
914 1393 }
915 defined wantarray
916 ? bless \$cb, "AnyEvent::Util::PostDetect"
917 : ()
918 } 1394 }
919}
920 1395
921sub AnyEvent::Util::PostDetect::DESTROY { 1396 # check for already loaded models
922 @post_detect = grep $_ != ${$_[0]}, @post_detect;
923}
924
925sub detect() {
926 unless ($MODEL) { 1397 unless ($MODEL) {
927 no strict 'refs'; 1398 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
928 local $SIG{__DIE__}; 1399 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
929 1400 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) {
930 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z]+)$/) {
931 my $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$1";
932 if (eval "require $model") { 1401 if (eval "require $model") {
1402 AnyEvent::log 7 => "autodetected model '$model', using it.";
933 $MODEL = $model; 1403 $MODEL = $model;
934 warn "AnyEvent: loaded model '$model' (forced by \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1404 last;
935 } else { 1405 }
936 warn "AnyEvent: unable to load model '$model' (from \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL):\n$@" if $verbose;
937 } 1406 }
938 } 1407 }
939 1408
940 # check for already loaded models
941 unless ($MODEL) { 1409 unless ($MODEL) {
1410 # try to autoload a model
942 for (@REGISTRY, @models) { 1411 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
943 my ($package, $model) = @$_; 1412 my ($package, $model, $autoload) = @$_;
1413 if (
1414 $autoload
1415 and eval "require $package"
944 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) { 1416 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0
945 if (eval "require $model") { 1417 and eval "require $model"
1418 ) {
1419 AnyEvent::log 7 => "autoloaded model '$model', using it.";
946 $MODEL = $model; 1420 $MODEL = $model;
947 warn "AnyEvent: autodetected model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1;
948 last; 1421 last;
949 }
950 } 1422 }
951 } 1423 }
952 1424
953 unless ($MODEL) {
954 # try to load a model
955
956 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
957 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
958 if (eval "require $package"
959 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0
960 and eval "require $model") {
961 $MODEL = $model;
962 warn "AnyEvent: autoprobed model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1;
963 last;
964 }
965 }
966
967 $MODEL 1425 $MODEL
968 or die "No event module selected for AnyEvent and autodetect failed. Install any one of these modules: EV, Event or Glib."; 1426 or die "AnyEvent: backend autodetection failed - did you properly install AnyEvent?";
969 }
970 } 1427 }
971
972 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base";
973
974 unshift @ISA, $MODEL;
975
976 require AnyEvent::Strict if $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT};
977
978 (shift @post_detect)->() while @post_detect;
979 } 1428 }
980 1429
1430 # free memory only needed for probing
1431 undef @models;
1432 undef @REGISTRY;
1433
1434 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base";
1435
1436 # now nuke some methods that are overridden by the backend.
1437 # SUPER usage is not allowed in these.
1438 for (qw(time signal child idle)) {
1439 undef &{"AnyEvent::Base::$_"}
1440 if defined &{"$MODEL\::$_"};
1441 }
1442
1443 _isa_set;
1444
1445 # we're officially open!
1446
1447 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT}) {
1448 require AnyEvent::Strict;
1449 }
1450
1451 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_WRAP}) {
1452 require AnyEvent::Debug;
1453 AnyEvent::Debug::wrap ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_WRAP});
1454 }
1455
1456 if (length $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_SHELL}) {
1457 require AnyEvent::Socket;
1458 require AnyEvent::Debug;
1459
1460 my $shell = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_SHELL};
1461 $shell =~ s/\$\$/$$/g;
1462
1463 my ($host, $service) = AnyEvent::Socket::parse_hostport ($shell);
1464 $AnyEvent::Debug::SHELL = AnyEvent::Debug::shell ($host, $service);
1465 }
1466
1467 # now the anyevent environment is set up as the user told us to, so
1468 # call the actual user code - post detects
1469
1470 (shift @post_detect)->() while @post_detect;
1471 undef @post_detect;
1472
1473 *post_detect = sub(&) {
1474 shift->();
1475
1476 undef
1477 };
1478
981 $MODEL 1479 $MODEL
982} 1480}
983 1481
984sub AUTOLOAD { 1482for my $name (@methods) {
985 (my $func = $AUTOLOAD) =~ s/.*://; 1483 *$name = sub {
986 1484 detect;
987 $method{$func} 1485 # we use goto because
988 or croak "$func: not a valid method for AnyEvent objects"; 1486 # a) it makes the thunk more transparent
989 1487 # b) it allows us to delete the thunk later
990 detect unless $MODEL; 1488 goto &{ UNIVERSAL::can AnyEvent => "SUPER::$name" }
991 1489 };
992 my $class = shift;
993 $class->$func (@_);
994} 1490}
995 1491
996# utility function to dup a filehandle. this is used by many backends 1492# utility function to dup a filehandle. this is used by many backends
997# to support binding more than one watcher per filehandle (they usually 1493# to support binding more than one watcher per filehandle (they usually
998# allow only one watcher per fd, so we dup it to get a different one). 1494# allow only one watcher per fd, so we dup it to get a different one).
999sub _dupfh($$$$) { 1495sub _dupfh($$;$$) {
1000 my ($poll, $fh, $r, $w) = @_; 1496 my ($poll, $fh, $r, $w) = @_;
1001 1497
1002 require Fcntl;
1003
1004 # cygwin requires the fh mode to be matching, unix doesn't 1498 # cygwin requires the fh mode to be matching, unix doesn't
1005 my ($rw, $mode) = $poll eq "r" ? ($r, "<") 1499 my ($rw, $mode) = $poll eq "r" ? ($r, "<&") : ($w, ">&");
1006 : $poll eq "w" ? ($w, ">")
1007 : Carp::croak "AnyEvent->io requires poll set to either 'r' or 'w'";
1008 1500
1009 open my $fh2, "$mode&" . fileno $fh 1501 open my $fh2, $mode, $fh
1010 or die "cannot dup() filehandle: $!"; 1502 or die "AnyEvent->io: cannot dup() filehandle in mode '$poll': $!,";
1011 1503
1012 # we assume CLOEXEC is already set by perl in all important cases 1504 # we assume CLOEXEC is already set by perl in all important cases
1013 1505
1014 ($fh2, $rw) 1506 ($fh2, $rw)
1015} 1507}
1016 1508
1509=head1 SIMPLIFIED AE API
1510
1511Starting with version 5.0, AnyEvent officially supports a second, much
1512simpler, API that is designed to reduce the calling, typing and memory
1513overhead by using function call syntax and a fixed number of parameters.
1514
1515See the L<AE> manpage for details.
1516
1517=cut
1518
1519package AE;
1520
1521our $VERSION = $AnyEvent::VERSION;
1522
1523sub _reset() {
1524 eval q{
1525 # fall back to the main API by default - backends and AnyEvent::Base
1526 # implementations can overwrite these.
1527
1528 sub io($$$) {
1529 AnyEvent->io (fh => $_[0], poll => $_[1] ? "w" : "r", cb => $_[2])
1530 }
1531
1532 sub timer($$$) {
1533 AnyEvent->timer (after => $_[0], interval => $_[1], cb => $_[2])
1534 }
1535
1536 sub signal($$) {
1537 AnyEvent->signal (signal => $_[0], cb => $_[1])
1538 }
1539
1540 sub child($$) {
1541 AnyEvent->child (pid => $_[0], cb => $_[1])
1542 }
1543
1544 sub idle($) {
1545 AnyEvent->idle (cb => $_[0]);
1546 }
1547
1548 sub cv(;&) {
1549 AnyEvent->condvar (@_ ? (cb => $_[0]) : ())
1550 }
1551
1552 sub now() {
1553 AnyEvent->now
1554 }
1555
1556 sub now_update() {
1557 AnyEvent->now_update
1558 }
1559
1560 sub time() {
1561 AnyEvent->time
1562 }
1563
1564 *postpone = \&AnyEvent::postpone;
1565 *log = \&AnyEvent::log;
1566 };
1567 die if $@;
1568}
1569
1570BEGIN { _reset }
1571
1017package AnyEvent::Base; 1572package AnyEvent::Base;
1018 1573
1019# default implementation for now and time 1574# default implementations for many methods
1020 1575
1021use Time::HiRes (); 1576sub time {
1577 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1578 # probe for availability of Time::HiRes
1579 if (eval "use Time::HiRes (); Time::HiRes::time (); 1") {
1580 *time = sub { Time::HiRes::time () };
1581 *AE::time = \& Time::HiRes::time ;
1582 *now = \&time;
1583 AnyEvent::log 8 => "AnyEvent: using Time::HiRes for sub-second timing accuracy.";
1584 # if (eval "use POSIX (); (POSIX::times())...
1585 } else {
1586 *time = sub { CORE::time };
1587 *AE::time = sub (){ CORE::time };
1588 *now = \&time;
1589 AnyEvent::log 3 => "using built-in time(), WARNING, no sub-second resolution!";
1590 }
1591 };
1592 die if $@;
1022 1593
1023sub time { Time::HiRes::time } 1594 &time
1024sub now { Time::HiRes::time } 1595}
1596
1597*now = \&time;
1598sub now_update { }
1599
1600sub _poll {
1601 Carp::croak "$AnyEvent::MODEL does not support blocking waits. Caught";
1602}
1025 1603
1026# default implementation for ->condvar 1604# default implementation for ->condvar
1605# in fact, the default should not be overwritten
1027 1606
1028sub condvar { 1607sub condvar {
1608 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1609 *condvar = sub {
1029 bless { @_ == 3 ? (_ae_cb => $_[2]) : () }, AnyEvent::CondVar:: 1610 bless { @_ == 3 ? (_ae_cb => $_[2]) : () }, "AnyEvent::CondVar"
1611 };
1612
1613 *AE::cv = sub (;&) {
1614 bless { @_ ? (_ae_cb => shift) : () }, "AnyEvent::CondVar"
1615 };
1616 };
1617 die if $@;
1618
1619 &condvar
1030} 1620}
1031 1621
1032# default implementation for ->signal 1622# default implementation for ->signal
1033 1623
1034our %SIG_CB; 1624our $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT;
1625
1626sub _have_async_interrupt() {
1627 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT = 1*(!$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_ASYNC_INTERRUPT}
1628 && eval "use Async::Interrupt 1.02 (); 1")
1629 unless defined $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT;
1630
1631 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1632}
1633
1634our ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W, %SIG_CB, %SIG_EV, $SIG_IO);
1635our (%SIG_ASY, %SIG_ASY_W);
1636our ($SIG_COUNT, $SIG_TW);
1637
1638# install a dummy wakeup watcher to reduce signal catching latency
1639# used by Impls
1640sub _sig_add() {
1641 unless ($SIG_COUNT++) {
1642 # try to align timer on a full-second boundary, if possible
1643 my $NOW = AE::now;
1644
1645 $SIG_TW = AE::timer
1646 $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY - ($NOW - int $NOW),
1647 $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY,
1648 sub { } # just for the PERL_ASYNC_CHECK
1649 ;
1650 }
1651}
1652
1653sub _sig_del {
1654 undef $SIG_TW
1655 unless --$SIG_COUNT;
1656}
1657
1658our $_sig_name_init; $_sig_name_init = sub {
1659 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1660 undef $_sig_name_init;
1661
1662 if (_have_async_interrupt) {
1663 *sig2num = \&Async::Interrupt::sig2num;
1664 *sig2name = \&Async::Interrupt::sig2name;
1665 } else {
1666 require Config;
1667
1668 my %signame2num;
1669 @signame2num{ split ' ', $Config::Config{sig_name} }
1670 = split ' ', $Config::Config{sig_num};
1671
1672 my @signum2name;
1673 @signum2name[values %signame2num] = keys %signame2num;
1674
1675 *sig2num = sub($) {
1676 $_[0] > 0 ? shift : $signame2num{+shift}
1677 };
1678 *sig2name = sub ($) {
1679 $_[0] > 0 ? $signum2name[+shift] : shift
1680 };
1681 }
1682 };
1683 die if $@;
1684};
1685
1686sub sig2num ($) { &$_sig_name_init; &sig2num }
1687sub sig2name($) { &$_sig_name_init; &sig2name }
1035 1688
1036sub signal { 1689sub signal {
1690 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1691 # probe for availability of Async::Interrupt
1692 if (_have_async_interrupt) {
1693 AnyEvent::log 8 => "using Async::Interrupt for race-free signal handling.";
1694
1695 $SIGPIPE_R = new Async::Interrupt::EventPipe;
1696 $SIG_IO = AE::io $SIGPIPE_R->fileno, 0, \&_signal_exec;
1697
1698 } else {
1699 AnyEvent::log 8 => "using emulated perl signal handling with latency timer.";
1700
1701 if (AnyEvent::WIN32) {
1702 require AnyEvent::Util;
1703
1704 ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W) = AnyEvent::Util::portable_pipe ();
1705 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_R, 1) if $SIGPIPE_R;
1706 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_W, 1) if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case
1707 } else {
1708 pipe $SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W;
1709 fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, AnyEvent::F_SETFL, AnyEvent::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_R;
1710 fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, AnyEvent::F_SETFL, AnyEvent::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case
1711
1712 # not strictly required, as $^F is normally 2, but let's make sure...
1713 fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, AnyEvent::F_SETFD, AnyEvent::FD_CLOEXEC;
1714 fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, AnyEvent::F_SETFD, AnyEvent::FD_CLOEXEC;
1715 }
1716
1717 $SIGPIPE_R
1718 or Carp::croak "AnyEvent: unable to create a signal reporting pipe: $!\n";
1719
1720 $SIG_IO = AE::io $SIGPIPE_R, 0, \&_signal_exec;
1721 }
1722
1723 *signal = $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1724 ? sub {
1037 my (undef, %arg) = @_; 1725 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1038 1726
1727 # async::interrupt
1039 my $signal = uc $arg{signal} 1728 my $signal = sig2num $arg{signal};
1040 or Carp::croak "required option 'signal' is missing";
1041
1042 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb}; 1729 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1730
1731 $SIG_ASY{$signal} ||= new Async::Interrupt
1732 cb => sub { undef $SIG_EV{$signal} },
1733 signal => $signal,
1734 pipe => [$SIGPIPE_R->filenos],
1735 pipe_autodrain => 0,
1736 ;
1737
1738 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::signal"
1739 }
1740 : sub {
1741 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1742
1743 # pure perl
1744 my $signal = sig2name $arg{signal};
1745 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1746
1043 $SIG{$signal} ||= sub { 1747 $SIG{$signal} ||= sub {
1748 local $!;
1749 syswrite $SIGPIPE_W, "\x00", 1 unless %SIG_EV;
1750 undef $SIG_EV{$signal};
1751 };
1752
1753 # can't do signal processing without introducing races in pure perl,
1754 # so limit the signal latency.
1755 _sig_add;
1756
1757 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::signal"
1758 }
1759 ;
1760
1761 *AnyEvent::Base::signal::DESTROY = sub {
1762 my ($signal, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
1763
1764 _sig_del;
1765
1766 delete $SIG_CB{$signal}{$cb};
1767
1768 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1769 ? delete $SIG_ASY{$signal}
1770 : # delete doesn't work with older perls - they then
1771 # print weird messages, or just unconditionally exit
1772 # instead of getting the default action.
1773 undef $SIG{$signal}
1774 unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} };
1775 };
1776
1777 *_signal_exec = sub {
1778 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1779 ? $SIGPIPE_R->drain
1780 : sysread $SIGPIPE_R, (my $dummy), 9;
1781
1782 while (%SIG_EV) {
1783 for (keys %SIG_EV) {
1784 delete $SIG_EV{$_};
1044 $_->() for values %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} || {} }; 1785 &$_ for values %{ $SIG_CB{$_} || {} };
1786 }
1787 }
1788 };
1045 }; 1789 };
1790 die if $@;
1046 1791
1047 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Signal" 1792 &signal
1048}
1049
1050sub AnyEvent::Base::Signal::DESTROY {
1051 my ($signal, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
1052
1053 delete $SIG_CB{$signal}{$cb};
1054
1055 delete $SIG{$signal} unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} };
1056} 1793}
1057 1794
1058# default implementation for ->child 1795# default implementation for ->child
1059 1796
1060our %PID_CB; 1797our %PID_CB;
1061our $CHLD_W; 1798our $CHLD_W;
1062our $CHLD_DELAY_W; 1799our $CHLD_DELAY_W;
1063our $PID_IDLE;
1064our $WNOHANG;
1065 1800
1066sub _child_wait { 1801# used by many Impl's
1067 while (0 < (my $pid = waitpid -1, $WNOHANG)) { 1802sub _emit_childstatus($$) {
1803 my (undef, $rpid, $rstatus) = @_;
1804
1805 $_->($rpid, $rstatus)
1068 $_->($pid, $?) for (values %{ $PID_CB{$pid} || {} }), 1806 for values %{ $PID_CB{$rpid} || {} },
1069 (values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} }); 1807 values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} };
1070 }
1071
1072 undef $PID_IDLE;
1073}
1074
1075sub _sigchld {
1076 # make sure we deliver these changes "synchronous" with the event loop.
1077 $CHLD_DELAY_W ||= AnyEvent->timer (after => 0, cb => sub {
1078 undef $CHLD_DELAY_W;
1079 &_child_wait;
1080 });
1081} 1808}
1082 1809
1083sub child { 1810sub child {
1811 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1812 *_sigchld = sub {
1813 my $pid;
1814
1815 AnyEvent->_emit_childstatus ($pid, $?)
1816 while ($pid = waitpid -1, WNOHANG) > 0;
1817 };
1818
1819 *child = sub {
1084 my (undef, %arg) = @_; 1820 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1085 1821
1086 defined (my $pid = $arg{pid} + 0) 1822 my $pid = $arg{pid};
1087 or Carp::croak "required option 'pid' is missing"; 1823 my $cb = $arg{cb};
1088 1824
1089 $PID_CB{$pid}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb}; 1825 $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb+0} = $cb;
1090 1826
1091 unless ($WNOHANG) {
1092 $WNOHANG = eval { local $SIG{__DIE__}; require POSIX; &POSIX::WNOHANG } || 1;
1093 }
1094
1095 unless ($CHLD_W) { 1827 unless ($CHLD_W) {
1096 $CHLD_W = AnyEvent->signal (signal => 'CHLD', cb => \&_sigchld); 1828 $CHLD_W = AE::signal CHLD => \&_sigchld;
1097 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round 1829 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round
1098 &_sigchld; 1830 &_sigchld;
1099 } 1831 }
1100 1832
1101 bless [$pid, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Child" 1833 bless [$pid, $cb+0], "AnyEvent::Base::child"
1102} 1834 };
1103 1835
1104sub AnyEvent::Base::Child::DESTROY { 1836 *AnyEvent::Base::child::DESTROY = sub {
1105 my ($pid, $cb) = @{$_[0]}; 1837 my ($pid, $icb) = @{$_[0]};
1106 1838
1107 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb}; 1839 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$icb};
1108 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} }; 1840 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} };
1109 1841
1110 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB; 1842 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB;
1843 };
1844 };
1845 die if $@;
1846
1847 &child
1848}
1849
1850# idle emulation is done by simply using a timer, regardless
1851# of whether the process is idle or not, and not letting
1852# the callback use more than 50% of the time.
1853sub idle {
1854 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1855 *idle = sub {
1856 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1857
1858 my ($cb, $w, $rcb) = $arg{cb};
1859
1860 $rcb = sub {
1861 if ($cb) {
1862 $w = AE::time;
1863 &$cb;
1864 $w = AE::time - $w;
1865
1866 # never use more then 50% of the time for the idle watcher,
1867 # within some limits
1868 $w = 0.0001 if $w < 0.0001;
1869 $w = 5 if $w > 5;
1870
1871 $w = AE::timer $w, 0, $rcb;
1872 } else {
1873 # clean up...
1874 undef $w;
1875 undef $rcb;
1876 }
1877 };
1878
1879 $w = AE::timer 0.05, 0, $rcb;
1880
1881 bless \\$cb, "AnyEvent::Base::idle"
1882 };
1883
1884 *AnyEvent::Base::idle::DESTROY = sub {
1885 undef $${$_[0]};
1886 };
1887 };
1888 die if $@;
1889
1890 &idle
1111} 1891}
1112 1892
1113package AnyEvent::CondVar; 1893package AnyEvent::CondVar;
1114 1894
1115our @ISA = AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::; 1895our @ISA = AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::;
1116 1896
1897# only to be used for subclassing
1898sub new {
1899 my $class = shift;
1900 bless AnyEvent->condvar (@_), $class
1901}
1902
1117package AnyEvent::CondVar::Base; 1903package AnyEvent::CondVar::Base;
1118 1904
1119use overload 1905#use overload
1120 '&{}' => sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } }, 1906# '&{}' => sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } },
1121 fallback => 1; 1907# fallback => 1;
1908
1909# save 300+ kilobytes by dirtily hardcoding overloading
1910${"AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::OVERLOAD"}{dummy}++; # Register with magic by touching.
1911*{'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::()'} = sub { }; # "Make it findable via fetchmethod."
1912*{'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::(&{}'} = sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } }; # &{}
1913${'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::()'} = 1; # fallback
1914
1915our $WAITING;
1122 1916
1123sub _send { 1917sub _send {
1124 # nop 1918 # nop
1919}
1920
1921sub _wait {
1922 AnyEvent->_poll until $_[0]{_ae_sent};
1125} 1923}
1126 1924
1127sub send { 1925sub send {
1128 my $cv = shift; 1926 my $cv = shift;
1129 $cv->{_ae_sent} = [@_]; 1927 $cv->{_ae_sent} = [@_];
1138 1936
1139sub ready { 1937sub ready {
1140 $_[0]{_ae_sent} 1938 $_[0]{_ae_sent}
1141} 1939}
1142 1940
1143sub _wait {
1144 AnyEvent->one_event while !$_[0]{_ae_sent};
1145}
1146
1147sub recv { 1941sub recv {
1942 unless ($_[0]{_ae_sent}) {
1943 $WAITING
1944 and Carp::croak "AnyEvent::CondVar: recursive blocking wait attempted";
1945
1946 local $WAITING = 1;
1148 $_[0]->_wait; 1947 $_[0]->_wait;
1948 }
1149 1949
1150 Carp::croak $_[0]{_ae_croak} if $_[0]{_ae_croak}; 1950 $_[0]{_ae_croak}
1151 wantarray ? @{ $_[0]{_ae_sent} } : $_[0]{_ae_sent}[0] 1951 and Carp::croak $_[0]{_ae_croak};
1952
1953 wantarray
1954 ? @{ $_[0]{_ae_sent} }
1955 : $_[0]{_ae_sent}[0]
1152} 1956}
1153 1957
1154sub cb { 1958sub cb {
1155 $_[0]{_ae_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1; 1959 my $cv = shift;
1960
1961 @_
1962 and $cv->{_ae_cb} = shift
1963 and $cv->{_ae_sent}
1964 and (delete $cv->{_ae_cb})->($cv);
1965
1156 $_[0]{_ae_cb} 1966 $cv->{_ae_cb}
1157} 1967}
1158 1968
1159sub begin { 1969sub begin {
1160 ++$_[0]{_ae_counter}; 1970 ++$_[0]{_ae_counter};
1161 $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1; 1971 $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1;
1166 &{ $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} || sub { $_[0]->send } }; 1976 &{ $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} || sub { $_[0]->send } };
1167} 1977}
1168 1978
1169# undocumented/compatibility with pre-3.4 1979# undocumented/compatibility with pre-3.4
1170*broadcast = \&send; 1980*broadcast = \&send;
1171*wait = \&_wait; 1981*wait = \&recv;
1982
1983=head1 ERROR AND EXCEPTION HANDLING
1984
1985In general, AnyEvent does not do any error handling - it relies on the
1986caller to do that if required. The L<AnyEvent::Strict> module (see also
1987the C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT> environment variable, below) provides strict
1988checking of all AnyEvent methods, however, which is highly useful during
1989development.
1990
1991As for exception handling (i.e. runtime errors and exceptions thrown while
1992executing a callback), this is not only highly event-loop specific, but
1993also not in any way wrapped by this module, as this is the job of the main
1994program.
1995
1996The pure perl event loop simply re-throws the exception (usually
1997within C<< condvar->recv >>), the L<Event> and L<EV> modules call C<<
1998$Event/EV::DIED->() >>, L<Glib> uses C<< install_exception_handler >> and
1999so on.
2000
2001=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
2002
2003AnyEvent supports a number of environment variables that tune the
2004runtime behaviour. They are usually evaluated when AnyEvent is
2005loaded, initialised, or a submodule that uses them is loaded. Many of
2006them also cause AnyEvent to load additional modules - for example,
2007C<PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_WRAP> causes the L<AnyEvent::Debug> module to be
2008loaded.
2009
2010All the environment variables documented here start with
2011C<PERL_ANYEVENT_>, which is what AnyEvent considers its own
2012namespace. Other modules are encouraged (but by no means required) to use
2013C<PERL_ANYEVENT_SUBMODULE> if they have registered the AnyEvent::Submodule
2014namespace on CPAN, for any submodule. For example, L<AnyEvent::HTTP> could
2015be expected to use C<PERL_ANYEVENT_HTTP_PROXY> (it should not access env
2016variables starting with C<AE_>, see below).
2017
2018All variables can also be set via the C<AE_> prefix, that is, instead
2019of setting C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE> you can also set C<AE_VERBOSE>. In
2020case there is a clash btween anyevent and another program that uses
2021C<AE_something> you can set the corresponding C<PERL_ANYEVENT_something>
2022variable to the empty string, as those variables take precedence.
2023
2024When AnyEvent is first loaded, it copies all C<AE_xxx> env variables
2025to their C<PERL_ANYEVENT_xxx> counterpart unless that variable already
2026exists. If taint mode is on, then AnyEvent will remove I<all> environment
2027variables starting with C<PERL_ANYEVENT_> from C<%ENV> (or replace them
2028with C<undef> or the empty string, if the corresaponding C<AE_> variable
2029is set).
2030
2031The exact algorithm is currently:
2032
2033 1. if taint mode enabled, delete all PERL_ANYEVENT_xyz variables from %ENV
2034 2. copy over AE_xyz to PERL_ANYEVENT_xyz unless the latter alraedy exists
2035 3. if taint mode enabled, set all PERL_ANYEVENT_xyz variables to undef.
2036
2037This ensures that child processes will not see the C<AE_> variables.
2038
2039The following environment variables are currently known to AnyEvent:
2040
2041=over 4
2042
2043=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
2044
2045By default, AnyEvent will be completely silent except in fatal
2046conditions. You can set this environment variable to make AnyEvent more
2047talkative. If you want to do more than just set the global logging level
2048you should have a look at C<PERL_ANYEVENT_LOG>, which allows much more
2049complex specifications.
2050
2051When set to C<5> or higher (warn), causes AnyEvent to warn about unexpected
2052conditions, such as not being able to load the event model specified by
2053C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>, or a guard callback throwing an exception - this
2054is the minimum recommended level.
2055
2056When set to C<7> or higher (info), cause AnyEvent to report which event model it
2057chooses.
2058
2059When set to C<8> or higher (debug), then AnyEvent will report extra information on
2060which optional modules it loads and how it implements certain features.
2061
2062=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_LOG>
2063
2064Accepts rather complex logging specifications. For example, you could log
2065all C<debug> messages of some module to stderr, warnings and above to
2066stderr, and errors and above to syslog, with:
2067
2068 PERL_ANYEVENT_LOG=Some::Module=debug,+log:filter=warn,+%syslog:%syslog=error,syslog
2069
2070For the rather extensive details, see L<AnyEvent::Log>.
2071
2072This variable is evaluated when AnyEvent (or L<AnyEvent::Log>) is loaded,
2073so will take effect even before AnyEvent has initialised itself.
2074
2075Note that specifying this environment variable causes the L<AnyEvent::Log>
2076module to be loaded, while C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE> does not, so only
2077using the latter saves a few hundred kB of memory until the first message
2078is being logged.
2079
2080=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT>
2081
2082AnyEvent does not do much argument checking by default, as thorough
2083argument checking is very costly. Setting this variable to a true value
2084will cause AnyEvent to load C<AnyEvent::Strict> and then to thoroughly
2085check the arguments passed to most method calls. If it finds any problems,
2086it will croak.
2087
2088In other words, enables "strict" mode.
2089
2090Unlike C<use strict> (or its modern cousin, C<< use L<common::sense>
2091>>, it is definitely recommended to keep it off in production. Keeping
2092C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT=1> in your environment while developing programs
2093can be very useful, however.
2094
2095=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_SHELL>
2096
2097If this env variable is set, then its contents will be interpreted by
2098C<AnyEvent::Socket::parse_hostport> (after replacing every occurance of
2099C<$$> by the process pid) and an C<AnyEvent::Debug::shell> is bound on
2100that port. The shell object is saved in C<$AnyEvent::Debug::SHELL>.
2101
2102This happens when the first watcher is created.
2103
2104For example, to bind a debug shell on a unix domain socket in
2105F<< /tmp/debug<pid>.sock >>, you could use this:
2106
2107 PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_SHELL=/tmp/debug\$\$.sock perlprog
2108
2109Note that creating sockets in F</tmp> is very unsafe on multiuser
2110systems.
2111
2112=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_WRAP>
2113
2114Can be set to C<0>, C<1> or C<2> and enables wrapping of all watchers for
2115debugging purposes. See C<AnyEvent::Debug::wrap> for details.
2116
2117=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
2118
2119This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
2120auto detection and -probing kicks in.
2121
2122It normally is a string consisting entirely of ASCII letters (e.g. C<EV>
2123or C<IOAsync>). The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended and the
2124resulting module name is loaded and - if the load was successful - used as
2125event model backend. If it fails to load then AnyEvent will proceed with
2126auto detection and -probing.
2127
2128If the string ends with C<::> instead (e.g. C<AnyEvent::Impl::EV::>) then
2129nothing gets prepended and the module name is used as-is (hint: C<::> at
2130the end of a string designates a module name and quotes it appropriately).
2131
2132For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Loop::Perl>) you
2133could start your program like this:
2134
2135 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
2136
2137=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS>
2138
2139Used by both L<AnyEvent::DNS> and L<AnyEvent::Socket> to determine preferences
2140for IPv4 or IPv6. The default is unspecified (and might change, or be the result
2141of auto probing).
2142
2143Must be set to a comma-separated list of protocols or address families,
2144current supported: C<ipv4> and C<ipv6>. Only protocols mentioned will be
2145used, and preference will be given to protocols mentioned earlier in the
2146list.
2147
2148This variable can effectively be used for denial-of-service attacks
2149against local programs (e.g. when setuid), although the impact is likely
2150small, as the program has to handle conenction and other failures anyways.
2151
2152Examples: C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4,ipv6> - prefer IPv4 over IPv6,
2153but support both and try to use both. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4>
2154- only support IPv4, never try to resolve or contact IPv6
2155addresses. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv6,ipv4> support either IPv4 or
2156IPv6, but prefer IPv6 over IPv4.
2157
2158=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_HOSTS>
2159
2160This variable, if specified, overrides the F</etc/hosts> file used by
2161L<AnyEvent::Socket>C<::resolve_sockaddr>, i.e. hosts aliases will be read
2162from that file instead.
2163
2164=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_EDNS0>
2165
2166Used by L<AnyEvent::DNS> to decide whether to use the EDNS0 extension for
2167DNS. This extension is generally useful to reduce DNS traffic, especially
2168when DNSSEC is involved, but some (broken) firewalls drop such DNS
2169packets, which is why it is off by default.
2170
2171Setting this variable to C<1> will cause L<AnyEvent::DNS> to announce
2172EDNS0 in its DNS requests.
2173
2174=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_FORKS>
2175
2176The maximum number of child processes that C<AnyEvent::Util::fork_call>
2177will create in parallel.
2178
2179=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_OUTSTANDING_DNS>
2180
2181The default value for the C<max_outstanding> parameter for the default DNS
2182resolver - this is the maximum number of parallel DNS requests that are
2183sent to the DNS server.
2184
2185=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_RESOLV_CONF>
2186
2187The absolute path to a F<resolv.conf>-style file to use instead of
2188F</etc/resolv.conf> (or the OS-specific configuration) in the default
2189resolver, or the empty string to select the default configuration.
2190
2191=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_CA_FILE>, C<PERL_ANYEVENT_CA_PATH>.
2192
2193When neither C<ca_file> nor C<ca_path> was specified during
2194L<AnyEvent::TLS> context creation, and either of these environment
2195variables are nonempty, they will be used to specify CA certificate
2196locations instead of a system-dependent default.
2197
2198=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_GUARD> and C<PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_ASYNC_INTERRUPT>
2199
2200When these are set to C<1>, then the respective modules are not
2201loaded. Mostly good for testing AnyEvent itself.
2202
2203=back
1172 2204
1173=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE 2205=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE
1174 2206
1175This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in 2207This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in
1176a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to 2208a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to
1210 2242
1211I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to 2243I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to
1212condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will 2244condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will
1213C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must 2245C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must
1214not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense. 2246not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense.
1215
1216=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
1217
1218The following environment variables are used by this module:
1219
1220=over 4
1221
1222=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
1223
1224By default, AnyEvent will be completely silent except in fatal
1225conditions. You can set this environment variable to make AnyEvent more
1226talkative.
1227
1228When set to C<1> or higher, causes AnyEvent to warn about unexpected
1229conditions, such as not being able to load the event model specified by
1230C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>.
1231
1232When set to C<2> or higher, cause AnyEvent to report to STDERR which event
1233model it chooses.
1234
1235=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT>
1236
1237AnyEvent does not do much argument checking by default, as thorough
1238argument checking is very costly. Setting this variable to a true value
1239will cause AnyEvent to load C<AnyEvent::Strict> and then to thoroughly
1240check the arguments passed to most method calls. If it finds any problems
1241it will croak.
1242
1243In other words, enables "strict" mode.
1244
1245Unlike C<use strict> it is definitely recommended ot keep it off in
1246production.
1247
1248=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
1249
1250This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
1251auto detection and -probing kicks in. It must be a string consisting
1252entirely of ASCII letters. The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended
1253and the resulting module name is loaded and if the load was successful,
1254used as event model. If it fails to load AnyEvent will proceed with
1255auto detection and -probing.
1256
1257This functionality might change in future versions.
1258
1259For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) you
1260could start your program like this:
1261
1262 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
1263
1264=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS>
1265
1266Used by both L<AnyEvent::DNS> and L<AnyEvent::Socket> to determine preferences
1267for IPv4 or IPv6. The default is unspecified (and might change, or be the result
1268of auto probing).
1269
1270Must be set to a comma-separated list of protocols or address families,
1271current supported: C<ipv4> and C<ipv6>. Only protocols mentioned will be
1272used, and preference will be given to protocols mentioned earlier in the
1273list.
1274
1275This variable can effectively be used for denial-of-service attacks
1276against local programs (e.g. when setuid), although the impact is likely
1277small, as the program has to handle connection errors already-
1278
1279Examples: C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4,ipv6> - prefer IPv4 over IPv6,
1280but support both and try to use both. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4>
1281- only support IPv4, never try to resolve or contact IPv6
1282addresses. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv6,ipv4> support either IPv4 or
1283IPv6, but prefer IPv6 over IPv4.
1284
1285=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_EDNS0>
1286
1287Used by L<AnyEvent::DNS> to decide whether to use the EDNS0 extension
1288for DNS. This extension is generally useful to reduce DNS traffic, but
1289some (broken) firewalls drop such DNS packets, which is why it is off by
1290default.
1291
1292Setting this variable to C<1> will cause L<AnyEvent::DNS> to announce
1293EDNS0 in its DNS requests.
1294
1295=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_FORKS>
1296
1297The maximum number of child processes that C<AnyEvent::Util::fork_call>
1298will create in parallel.
1299
1300=back
1301 2247
1302=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM 2248=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM
1303 2249
1304The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer 2250The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer
1305to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the 2251to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the
1318 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read 2264 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read
1319 $cv->send if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i 2265 $cv->send if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i
1320 }, 2266 },
1321 ); 2267 );
1322 2268
1323 my $time_watcher; # can only be used once
1324
1325 sub new_timer {
1326 $timer = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => sub { 2269 my $time_watcher = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, interval => 1, cb => sub {
1327 warn "timeout\n"; # print 'timeout' about every second 2270 warn "timeout\n"; # print 'timeout' at most every second
1328 &new_timer; # and restart the time
1329 }); 2271 });
1330 }
1331
1332 new_timer; # create first timer
1333 2272
1334 $cv->recv; # wait until user enters /^q/i 2273 $cv->recv; # wait until user enters /^q/i
1335 2274
1336=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE 2275=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE
1337 2276
1410 2349
1411The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions) 2350The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions)
1412that occurred during request processing. The C<result> method detects 2351that occurred during request processing. The C<result> method detects
1413whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object) 2352whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object)
1414and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other 2353and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other
1415problems get reported tot he code that tries to use the result, not in a 2354problems get reported to the code that tries to use the result, not in a
1416random callback. 2355random callback.
1417 2356
1418All of this enables the following usage styles: 2357All of this enables the following usage styles:
1419 2358
14201. Blocking: 23591. Blocking:
1468through AnyEvent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero 2407through AnyEvent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero
1469timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable, 2408timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable,
1470which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again. 2409which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again.
1471 2410
1472Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent 2411Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent
1473distribution. 2412distribution. It uses the L<AE> interface, which makes a real difference
2413for the EV and Perl backends only.
1474 2414
1475=head3 Explanation of the columns 2415=head3 Explanation of the columns
1476 2416
1477I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since 2417I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since
1478different event models feature vastly different performances, each event 2418different event models feature vastly different performances, each event
1499watcher. 2439watcher.
1500 2440
1501=head3 Results 2441=head3 Results
1502 2442
1503 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment 2443 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment
1504 EV/EV 400000 244 0.56 0.46 0.31 EV native interface 2444 EV/EV 100000 223 0.47 0.43 0.27 EV native interface
1505 EV/Any 100000 244 2.50 0.46 0.29 EV + AnyEvent watchers 2445 EV/Any 100000 223 0.48 0.42 0.26 EV + AnyEvent watchers
1506 CoroEV/Any 100000 244 2.49 0.44 0.29 coroutines + Coro::Signal 2446 Coro::EV/Any 100000 223 0.47 0.42 0.26 coroutines + Coro::Signal
1507 Perl/Any 100000 513 4.92 0.87 1.12 pure perl implementation 2447 Perl/Any 100000 431 2.70 0.74 0.92 pure perl implementation
1508 Event/Event 16000 516 31.88 31.30 0.85 Event native interface 2448 Event/Event 16000 516 31.16 31.84 0.82 Event native interface
1509 Event/Any 16000 590 35.75 31.42 1.08 Event + AnyEvent watchers 2449 Event/Any 16000 1203 42.61 34.79 1.80 Event + AnyEvent watchers
2450 IOAsync/Any 16000 1911 41.92 27.45 16.81 via IO::Async::Loop::IO_Poll
2451 IOAsync/Any 16000 1726 40.69 26.37 15.25 via IO::Async::Loop::Epoll
1510 Glib/Any 16000 1357 98.22 12.41 54.00 quadratic behaviour 2452 Glib/Any 16000 1118 89.00 12.57 51.17 quadratic behaviour
1511 Tk/Any 2000 1860 26.97 67.98 14.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers 2453 Tk/Any 2000 1346 20.96 10.75 8.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers
1512 POE/Event 2000 6644 108.64 736.02 14.73 via POE::Loop::Event 2454 POE/Any 2000 6951 108.97 795.32 14.24 via POE::Loop::Event
1513 POE/Select 2000 6343 94.13 809.12 565.96 via POE::Loop::Select 2455 POE/Any 2000 6648 94.79 774.40 575.51 via POE::Loop::Select
1514 2456
1515=head3 Discussion 2457=head3 Discussion
1516 2458
1517The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very 2459The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very
1518well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one) 2460well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one)
1530benchmark machine, handling an event takes roughly 1600 CPU cycles with 2472benchmark machine, handling an event takes roughly 1600 CPU cycles with
1531EV, 3100 CPU cycles with AnyEvent's pure perl loop and almost 3000000 CPU 2473EV, 3100 CPU cycles with AnyEvent's pure perl loop and almost 3000000 CPU
1532cycles with POE. 2474cycles with POE.
1533 2475
1534C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both 2476C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both
1535maximal/minimal, respectively. Even when going through AnyEvent, it uses 2477maximal/minimal, respectively. When using the L<AE> API there is zero
2478overhead (when going through the AnyEvent API create is about 5-6 times
2479slower, with other times being equal, so still uses far less memory than
1536far less memory than any other event loop and is still faster than Event 2480any other event loop and is still faster than Event natively).
1537natively.
1538 2481
1539The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the 2482The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the
1540constant timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl 2483constant timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl
1541interpreter and the backend itself). Nevertheless this shows that it 2484interpreter and the backend itself). Nevertheless this shows that it
1542adds very little overhead in itself. Like any select-based backend its 2485adds very little overhead in itself. Like any select-based backend its
1543performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of 2486performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of
1544them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark. 2487them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark.
1545 2488
1546The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation 2489The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation
1547cost, but overall scores in on the third place. 2490cost, but overall scores in on the third place.
2491
2492C<IO::Async> performs admirably well, about on par with C<Event>, even
2493when using its pure perl backend.
1548 2494
1549C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a 2495C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a
1550faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as 2496faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as
1551C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of 2497C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of
1552watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four, 2498watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four,
1587(even when used without AnyEvent), but most event loops have acceptable 2533(even when used without AnyEvent), but most event loops have acceptable
1588performance with or without AnyEvent. 2534performance with or without AnyEvent.
1589 2535
1590=item * The overhead AnyEvent adds is usually much smaller than the overhead of 2536=item * The overhead AnyEvent adds is usually much smaller than the overhead of
1591the actual event loop, only with extremely fast event loops such as EV 2537the actual event loop, only with extremely fast event loops such as EV
1592adds AnyEvent significant overhead. 2538does AnyEvent add significant overhead.
1593 2539
1594=item * You should avoid POE like the plague if you want performance or 2540=item * You should avoid POE like the plague if you want performance or
1595reasonable memory usage. 2541reasonable memory usage.
1596 2542
1597=back 2543=back
1613In this benchmark, we use 10000 socket pairs (20000 sockets), of which 100 2559In this benchmark, we use 10000 socket pairs (20000 sockets), of which 100
1614(1%) are active. This mirrors the activity of large servers with many 2560(1%) are active. This mirrors the activity of large servers with many
1615connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time. 2561connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time.
1616 2562
1617Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent 2563Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent
1618distribution. 2564distribution. It uses the L<AE> interface, which makes a real difference
2565for the EV and Perl backends only.
1619 2566
1620=head3 Explanation of the columns 2567=head3 Explanation of the columns
1621 2568
1622I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as 2569I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as
1623each server has a read and write socket end). 2570each server has a read and write socket end).
1630it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating 2577it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating
1631a new one that moves the timeout into the future. 2578a new one that moves the timeout into the future.
1632 2579
1633=head3 Results 2580=head3 Results
1634 2581
1635 name sockets create request 2582 name sockets create request
1636 EV 20000 69.01 11.16 2583 EV 20000 62.66 7.99
1637 Perl 20000 73.32 35.87 2584 Perl 20000 68.32 32.64
1638 Event 20000 212.62 257.32 2585 IOAsync 20000 174.06 101.15 epoll
1639 Glib 20000 651.16 1896.30 2586 IOAsync 20000 174.67 610.84 poll
2587 Event 20000 202.69 242.91
2588 Glib 20000 557.01 1689.52
1640 POE 20000 349.67 12317.24 uses POE::Loop::Event 2589 POE 20000 341.54 12086.32 uses POE::Loop::Event
1641 2590
1642=head3 Discussion 2591=head3 Discussion
1643 2592
1644This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the 2593This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the
1645particular event loop. 2594particular event loop.
1647EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time 2596EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time
1648is relatively high, though. 2597is relatively high, though.
1649 2598
1650Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event 2599Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event
1651loops Event and Glib. 2600loops Event and Glib.
2601
2602IO::Async performs very well when using its epoll backend, and still quite
2603good compared to Glib when using its pure perl backend.
1652 2604
1653Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will 2605Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will
1654understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to 2606understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to
1655the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event 2607the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event
1656uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations. 2608uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations.
1719=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of 2671=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of
1720watchers, as the management overhead dominates. 2672watchers, as the management overhead dominates.
1721 2673
1722=back 2674=back
1723 2675
2676=head2 THE IO::Lambda BENCHMARK
2677
2678Recently I was told about the benchmark in the IO::Lambda manpage, which
2679could be misinterpreted to make AnyEvent look bad. In fact, the benchmark
2680simply compares IO::Lambda with POE, and IO::Lambda looks better (which
2681shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody). As such, the benchmark is
2682fine, and mostly shows that the AnyEvent backend from IO::Lambda isn't
2683very optimal. But how would AnyEvent compare when used without the extra
2684baggage? To explore this, I wrote the equivalent benchmark for AnyEvent.
2685
2686The benchmark itself creates an echo-server, and then, for 500 times,
2687connects to the echo server, sends a line, waits for the reply, and then
2688creates the next connection. This is a rather bad benchmark, as it doesn't
2689test the efficiency of the framework or much non-blocking I/O, but it is a
2690benchmark nevertheless.
2691
2692 name runtime
2693 Lambda/select 0.330 sec
2694 + optimized 0.122 sec
2695 Lambda/AnyEvent 0.327 sec
2696 + optimized 0.138 sec
2697 Raw sockets/select 0.077 sec
2698 POE/select, components 0.662 sec
2699 POE/select, raw sockets 0.226 sec
2700 POE/select, optimized 0.404 sec
2701
2702 AnyEvent/select/nb 0.085 sec
2703 AnyEvent/EV/nb 0.068 sec
2704 +state machine 0.134 sec
2705
2706The benchmark is also a bit unfair (my fault): the IO::Lambda/POE
2707benchmarks actually make blocking connects and use 100% blocking I/O,
2708defeating the purpose of an event-based solution. All of the newly
2709written AnyEvent benchmarks use 100% non-blocking connects (using
2710AnyEvent::Socket::tcp_connect and the asynchronous pure perl DNS
2711resolver), so AnyEvent is at a disadvantage here, as non-blocking connects
2712generally require a lot more bookkeeping and event handling than blocking
2713connects (which involve a single syscall only).
2714
2715The last AnyEvent benchmark additionally uses L<AnyEvent::Handle>, which
2716offers similar expressive power as POE and IO::Lambda, using conventional
2717Perl syntax. This means that both the echo server and the client are 100%
2718non-blocking, further placing it at a disadvantage.
2719
2720As you can see, the AnyEvent + EV combination even beats the
2721hand-optimised "raw sockets benchmark", while AnyEvent + its pure perl
2722backend easily beats IO::Lambda and POE.
2723
2724And even the 100% non-blocking version written using the high-level (and
2725slow :) L<AnyEvent::Handle> abstraction beats both POE and IO::Lambda
2726higher level ("unoptimised") abstractions by a large margin, even though
2727it does all of DNS, tcp-connect and socket I/O in a non-blocking way.
2728
2729The two AnyEvent benchmarks programs can be found as F<eg/ae0.pl> and
2730F<eg/ae2.pl> in the AnyEvent distribution, the remaining benchmarks are
2731part of the IO::Lambda distribution and were used without any changes.
2732
2733
2734=head1 SIGNALS
2735
2736AnyEvent currently installs handlers for these signals:
2737
2738=over 4
2739
2740=item SIGCHLD
2741
2742A handler for C<SIGCHLD> is installed by AnyEvent's child watcher
2743emulation for event loops that do not support them natively. Also, some
2744event loops install a similar handler.
2745
2746Additionally, when AnyEvent is loaded and SIGCHLD is set to IGNORE, then
2747AnyEvent will reset it to default, to avoid losing child exit statuses.
2748
2749=item SIGPIPE
2750
2751A no-op handler is installed for C<SIGPIPE> when C<$SIG{PIPE}> is C<undef>
2752when AnyEvent gets loaded.
2753
2754The rationale for this is that AnyEvent users usually do not really depend
2755on SIGPIPE delivery (which is purely an optimisation for shell use, or
2756badly-written programs), but C<SIGPIPE> can cause spurious and rare
2757program exits as a lot of people do not expect C<SIGPIPE> when writing to
2758some random socket.
2759
2760The rationale for installing a no-op handler as opposed to ignoring it is
2761that this way, the handler will be restored to defaults on exec.
2762
2763Feel free to install your own handler, or reset it to defaults.
2764
2765=back
2766
2767=cut
2768
2769undef $SIG{CHLD}
2770 if $SIG{CHLD} eq 'IGNORE';
2771
2772$SIG{PIPE} = sub { }
2773 unless defined $SIG{PIPE};
2774
2775=head1 RECOMMENDED/OPTIONAL MODULES
2776
2777One of AnyEvent's main goals is to be 100% Pure-Perl(tm): only perl (and
2778its built-in modules) are required to use it.
2779
2780That does not mean that AnyEvent won't take advantage of some additional
2781modules if they are installed.
2782
2783This section explains which additional modules will be used, and how they
2784affect AnyEvent's operation.
2785
2786=over 4
2787
2788=item L<Async::Interrupt>
2789
2790This slightly arcane module is used to implement fast signal handling: To
2791my knowledge, there is no way to do completely race-free and quick
2792signal handling in pure perl. To ensure that signals still get
2793delivered, AnyEvent will start an interval timer to wake up perl (and
2794catch the signals) with some delay (default is 10 seconds, look for
2795C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>).
2796
2797If this module is available, then it will be used to implement signal
2798catching, which means that signals will not be delayed, and the event loop
2799will not be interrupted regularly, which is more efficient (and good for
2800battery life on laptops).
2801
2802This affects not just the pure-perl event loop, but also other event loops
2803that have no signal handling on their own (e.g. Glib, Tk, Qt).
2804
2805Some event loops (POE, Event, Event::Lib) offer signal watchers natively,
2806and either employ their own workarounds (POE) or use AnyEvent's workaround
2807(using C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>). Installing L<Async::Interrupt>
2808does nothing for those backends.
2809
2810=item L<EV>
2811
2812This module isn't really "optional", as it is simply one of the backend
2813event loops that AnyEvent can use. However, it is simply the best event
2814loop available in terms of features, speed and stability: It supports
2815the AnyEvent API optimally, implements all the watcher types in XS, does
2816automatic timer adjustments even when no monotonic clock is available,
2817can take avdantage of advanced kernel interfaces such as C<epoll> and
2818C<kqueue>, and is the fastest backend I<by far>. You can even embed
2819L<Glib>/L<Gtk2> in it (or vice versa, see L<EV::Glib> and L<Glib::EV>).
2820
2821If you only use backends that rely on another event loop (e.g. C<Tk>),
2822then this module will do nothing for you.
2823
2824=item L<Guard>
2825
2826The guard module, when used, will be used to implement
2827C<AnyEvent::Util::guard>. This speeds up guards considerably (and uses a
2828lot less memory), but otherwise doesn't affect guard operation much. It is
2829purely used for performance.
2830
2831=item L<JSON> and L<JSON::XS>
2832
2833One of these modules is required when you want to read or write JSON data
2834via L<AnyEvent::Handle>. L<JSON> is also written in pure-perl, but can take
2835advantage of the ultra-high-speed L<JSON::XS> module when it is installed.
2836
2837=item L<Net::SSLeay>
2838
2839Implementing TLS/SSL in Perl is certainly interesting, but not very
2840worthwhile: If this module is installed, then L<AnyEvent::Handle> (with
2841the help of L<AnyEvent::TLS>), gains the ability to do TLS/SSL.
2842
2843=item L<Time::HiRes>
2844
2845This module is part of perl since release 5.008. It will be used when the
2846chosen event library does not come with a timing source of its own. The
2847pure-perl event loop (L<AnyEvent::Loop>) will additionally load it to
2848try to use a monotonic clock for timing stability.
2849
2850=back
2851
1724 2852
1725=head1 FORK 2853=head1 FORK
1726 2854
1727Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are 2855Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are
1728because they rely on inefficient but fork-safe C<select> or C<poll> 2856because they rely on inefficient but fork-safe C<select> or C<poll> calls
1729calls. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware. 2857- higher performance APIs such as BSD's kqueue or the dreaded Linux epoll
2858are usually badly thought-out hacks that are incompatible with fork in
2859one way or another. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware and ensures that you
2860continue event-processing in both parent and child (or both, if you know
2861what you are doing).
2862
2863This means that, in general, you cannot fork and do event processing in
2864the child if the event library was initialised before the fork (which
2865usually happens when the first AnyEvent watcher is created, or the library
2866is loaded).
1730 2867
1731If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first 2868If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first
1732watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child. 2869watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child OR you must do
2870something completely out of the scope of AnyEvent.
2871
2872The problem of doing event processing in the parent I<and> the child
2873is much more complicated: even for backends that I<are> fork-aware or
2874fork-safe, their behaviour is not usually what you want: fork clones all
2875watchers, that means all timers, I/O watchers etc. are active in both
2876parent and child, which is almost never what you want. USing C<exec>
2877to start worker children from some kind of manage rprocess is usually
2878preferred, because it is much easier and cleaner, at the expense of having
2879to have another binary.
1733 2880
1734 2881
1735=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS 2882=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
1736 2883
1737AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via 2884AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via
1749 use AnyEvent; 2896 use AnyEvent;
1750 2897
1751Similar considerations apply to $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}, as that can 2898Similar considerations apply to $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}, as that can
1752be used to probe what backend is used and gain other information (which is 2899be used to probe what backend is used and gain other information (which is
1753probably even less useful to an attacker than PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), and 2900probably even less useful to an attacker than PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), and
1754$ENV{PERL_ANYEGENT_STRICT}. 2901$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT}.
2902
2903Note that AnyEvent will remove I<all> environment variables starting with
2904C<PERL_ANYEVENT_> from C<%ENV> when it is loaded while taint mode is
2905enabled.
1755 2906
1756 2907
1757=head1 BUGS 2908=head1 BUGS
1758 2909
1759Perl 5.8 has numerous memleaks that sometimes hit this module and are hard 2910Perl 5.8 has numerous memleaks that sometimes hit this module and are hard
1760to work around. If you suffer from memleaks, first upgrade to Perl 5.10 2911to work around. If you suffer from memleaks, first upgrade to Perl 5.10
1761and check wether the leaks still show up. (Perl 5.10.0 has other annoying 2912and check wether the leaks still show up. (Perl 5.10.0 has other annoying
1762mamleaks, such as leaking on C<map> and C<grep> but it is usually not as 2913memleaks, such as leaking on C<map> and C<grep> but it is usually not as
1763pronounced). 2914pronounced).
1764 2915
1765 2916
1766=head1 SEE ALSO 2917=head1 SEE ALSO
1767 2918
1768Utility functions: L<AnyEvent::Util>. 2919Tutorial/Introduction: L<AnyEvent::Intro>.
1769 2920
1770Event modules: L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>, L<Glib::EV>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>, 2921FAQ: L<AnyEvent::FAQ>.
1771L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>. 2922
2923Utility functions: L<AnyEvent::Util> (misc. grab-bag), L<AnyEvent::Log>
2924(simply logging).
2925
2926Development/Debugging: L<AnyEvent::Strict> (stricter checking),
2927L<AnyEvent::Debug> (interactive shell, watcher tracing).
2928
2929Supported event modules: L<AnyEvent::Loop>, L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>,
2930L<Glib::EV>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>, L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>,
2931L<Qt>, L<POE>, L<FLTK>.
1772 2932
1773Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>, 2933Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>,
1774L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, 2934L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>,
1775L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>, 2935L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>,
2936L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync>, L<Anyevent::Impl::Irssi>,
1776L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>. 2937L<AnyEvent::Impl::FLTK>.
1777 2938
1778Non-blocking file handles, sockets, TCP clients and 2939Non-blocking handles, pipes, stream sockets, TCP clients and
1779servers: L<AnyEvent::Handle>, L<AnyEvent::Socket>. 2940servers: L<AnyEvent::Handle>, L<AnyEvent::Socket>, L<AnyEvent::TLS>.
1780 2941
1781Asynchronous DNS: L<AnyEvent::DNS>. 2942Asynchronous DNS: L<AnyEvent::DNS>.
1782 2943
1783Coroutine support: L<Coro>, L<Coro::AnyEvent>, L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>, 2944Thread support: L<Coro>, L<Coro::AnyEvent>, L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>.
1784 2945
1785Nontrivial usage examples: L<Net::FCP>, L<Net::XMPP2>, L<AnyEvent::DNS>. 2946Nontrivial usage examples: L<AnyEvent::GPSD>, L<AnyEvent::IRC>,
2947L<AnyEvent::HTTP>.
1786 2948
1787 2949
1788=head1 AUTHOR 2950=head1 AUTHOR
1789 2951
1790 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 2952 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>

Diff Legend

Removed lines
+ Added lines
< Changed lines
> Changed lines