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 1.55 by root, Wed Apr 23 11:25:42 2008 UTC vs.
Revision 1.263 by root, Wed Jul 29 12:39:21 2009 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, Coro::EV, Coro::Event, Glib, Tk, Perl, Event::Lib - various supported event loops 5EV, Event, Glib, Tk, Perl, Event::Lib, Irssi, rxvt-unicode, IO::Async, Qt
6and POE are various supported event loops/environments.
6 7
7=head1 SYNOPSIS 8=head1 SYNOPSIS
8 9
9 use AnyEvent; 10 use AnyEvent;
10 11
12 # file descriptor readable
11 my $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh, poll => "r|w", cb => sub { 13 my $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh, poll => "r", cb => sub { ... });
14
15 # one-shot or repeating timers
16 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, cb => sub { ... });
17 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, interval => $seconds, cb => ...
18
19 print AnyEvent->now; # prints current event loop time
20 print AnyEvent->time; # think Time::HiRes::time or simply CORE::time.
21
22 # POSIX signal
23 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "TERM", cb => sub { ... });
24
25 # child process exit
26 my $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => $pid, cb => sub {
27 my ($pid, $status) = @_;
12 ... 28 ...
13 }); 29 });
14 30
15 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, cb => sub { 31 # called when event loop idle (if applicable)
16 ... 32 my $w = AnyEvent->idle (cb => sub { ... });
17 });
18 33
19 my $w = AnyEvent->condvar; # stores whether a condition was flagged 34 my $w = AnyEvent->condvar; # stores whether a condition was flagged
35 $w->send; # wake up current and all future recv's
20 $w->wait; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->broadcast 36 $w->recv; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->send
21 $w->broadcast; # wake up current and all future wait's 37 # use a condvar in callback mode:
38 $w->cb (sub { $_[0]->recv });
39
40=head1 INTRODUCTION/TUTORIAL
41
42This manpage is mainly a reference manual. If you are interested
43in a tutorial or some gentle introduction, have a look at the
44L<AnyEvent::Intro> manpage.
45
46=head1 SUPPORT
47
48There is a mailinglist for discussing all things AnyEvent, and an IRC
49channel, too.
50
51See the AnyEvent project page at the B<Schmorpforge Ta-Sa Software
52Repository>, at L<http://anyevent.schmorp.de>, for more info.
22 53
23=head1 WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS MODULE (OR NOT) 54=head1 WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS MODULE (OR NOT)
24 55
25Glib, POE, IO::Async, Event... CPAN offers event models by the dozen 56Glib, POE, IO::Async, Event... CPAN offers event models by the dozen
26nowadays. So what is different about AnyEvent? 57nowadays. So what is different about AnyEvent?
27 58
28Executive Summary: AnyEvent is I<compatible>, AnyEvent is I<free of 59Executive Summary: AnyEvent is I<compatible>, AnyEvent is I<free of
29policy> and AnyEvent is I<small and efficient>. 60policy> and AnyEvent is I<small and efficient>.
30 61
31First and foremost, I<AnyEvent is not an event model> itself, it only 62First and foremost, I<AnyEvent is not an event model> itself, it only
32interfaces to whatever event model the main program happens to use in a 63interfaces to whatever event model the main program happens to use, in a
33pragmatic way. For event models and certain classes of immortals alike, 64pragmatic way. For event models and certain classes of immortals alike,
34the statement "there can only be one" is a bitter reality: In general, 65the statement "there can only be one" is a bitter reality: In general,
35only one event loop can be active at the same time in a process. AnyEvent 66only one event loop can be active at the same time in a process. AnyEvent
36helps hiding the differences between those event loops. 67cannot change this, but it can hide the differences between those event
68loops.
37 69
38The goal of AnyEvent is to offer module authors the ability to do event 70The goal of AnyEvent is to offer module authors the ability to do event
39programming (waiting for I/O or timer events) without subscribing to a 71programming (waiting for I/O or timer events) without subscribing to a
40religion, a way of living, and most importantly: without forcing your 72religion, a way of living, and most importantly: without forcing your
41module users into the same thing by forcing them to use the same event 73module users into the same thing by forcing them to use the same event
42model you use. 74model you use.
43 75
44For modules like POE or IO::Async (which is a total misnomer as it is 76For modules like POE or IO::Async (which is a total misnomer as it is
45actually doing all I/O I<synchronously>...), using them in your module is 77actually doing all I/O I<synchronously>...), using them in your module is
46like joining a cult: After you joined, you are dependent on them and you 78like joining a cult: After you joined, you are dependent on them and you
47cannot use anything else, as it is simply incompatible to everything that 79cannot use anything else, as they are simply incompatible to everything
48isn't itself. What's worse, all the potential users of your module are 80that isn't them. What's worse, all the potential users of your
49I<also> forced to use the same event loop you use. 81module are I<also> forced to use the same event loop you use.
50 82
51AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works 83AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works
52fine. AnyEvent + Tk works fine etc. etc. but none of these work together 84fine. AnyEvent + Tk works fine etc. etc. but none of these work together
53with the rest: POE + IO::Async? no go. Tk + Event? no go. Again: if 85with the rest: POE + IO::Async? No go. Tk + Event? No go. Again: if
54your module uses one of those, every user of your module has to use it, 86your module uses one of those, every user of your module has to use it,
55too. But if your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all 87too. But if your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all
56event models it supports (including stuff like POE and IO::Async, as long 88event models it supports (including stuff like IO::Async, as long as those
57as those use one of the supported event loops. It is trivial to add new 89use one of the supported event loops. It is trivial to add new event loops
58event loops to AnyEvent, too, so it is future-proof). 90to AnyEvent, too, so it is future-proof).
59 91
60In addition to being free of having to use I<the one and only true event 92In addition to being free of having to use I<the one and only true event
61model>, AnyEvent also is free of bloat and policy: with POE or similar 93model>, AnyEvent also is free of bloat and policy: with POE or similar
62modules, you get an enourmous amount of code and strict rules you have to 94modules, you get an enormous amount of code and strict rules you have to
63follow. AnyEvent, on the other hand, is lean and up to the point, by only 95follow. AnyEvent, on the other hand, is lean and up to the point, by only
64offering the functionality that is necessary, in as thin as a wrapper as 96offering the functionality that is necessary, in as thin as a wrapper as
65technically possible. 97technically possible.
66 98
99Of course, AnyEvent comes with a big (and fully optional!) toolbox
100of useful functionality, such as an asynchronous DNS resolver, 100%
101non-blocking connects (even with TLS/SSL, IPv6 and on broken platforms
102such as Windows) and lots of real-world knowledge and workarounds for
103platform bugs and differences.
104
67Of course, if you want lots of policy (this can arguably be somewhat 105Now, if you I<do want> lots of policy (this can arguably be somewhat
68useful) and you want to force your users to use the one and only event 106useful) and you want to force your users to use the one and only event
69model, you should I<not> use this module. 107model, you should I<not> use this module.
70
71 108
72=head1 DESCRIPTION 109=head1 DESCRIPTION
73 110
74L<AnyEvent> provides an identical interface to multiple event loops. This 111L<AnyEvent> provides an identical interface to multiple event loops. This
75allows module authors to utilise an event loop without forcing module 112allows module authors to utilise an event loop without forcing module
79The interface itself is vaguely similar, but not identical to the L<Event> 116The interface itself is vaguely similar, but not identical to the L<Event>
80module. 117module.
81 118
82During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries 119During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries
83to detect the currently loaded event loop by probing whether one of the 120to detect the currently loaded event loop by probing whether one of the
84following modules is already loaded: L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>, L<EV>, 121following modules is already loaded: L<EV>,
85L<Event>, L<Glib>, L<Tk>. The first one found is used. If none are found, 122L<Event>, L<Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>,
86the module tries to load these modules in the stated order. The first one 123L<POE>. The first one found is used. If none are found, the module tries
124to load these modules (excluding Tk, Event::Lib, Qt and POE as the pure perl
125adaptor should always succeed) in the order given. The first one that can
87that can be successfully loaded will be used. If, after this, still none 126be successfully loaded will be used. If, after this, still none could be
88could be found, AnyEvent will fall back to a pure-perl event loop, which 127found, AnyEvent will fall back to a pure-perl event loop, which is not
89is not very efficient, but should work everywhere. 128very efficient, but should work everywhere.
90 129
91Because AnyEvent first checks for modules that are already loaded, loading 130Because AnyEvent first checks for modules that are already loaded, loading
92an event model explicitly before first using AnyEvent will likely make 131an event model explicitly before first using AnyEvent will likely make
93that model the default. For example: 132that model the default. For example:
94 133
101starts using it, all bets are off. Maybe you should tell their authors to 140starts using it, all bets are off. Maybe you should tell their authors to
102use AnyEvent so their modules work together with others seamlessly... 141use AnyEvent so their modules work together with others seamlessly...
103 142
104The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called 143The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called
105C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>. Like other event modules you can load it 144C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>. Like other event modules you can load it
106explicitly. 145explicitly and enjoy the high availability of that event loop :)
107 146
108=head1 WATCHERS 147=head1 WATCHERS
109 148
110AnyEvent has the central concept of a I<watcher>, which is an object that 149AnyEvent has the central concept of a I<watcher>, which is an object that
111stores relevant data for each kind of event you are waiting for, such as 150stores relevant data for each kind of event you are waiting for, such as
112the callback to call, the filehandle to watch, etc. 151the callback to call, the file handle to watch, etc.
113 152
114These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After 153These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After
115creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the 154creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the
116callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model 155callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model
117is in control). 156is in control).
118 157
158Note that B<callbacks must not permanently change global variables>
159potentially in use by the event loop (such as C<$_> or C<$[>) and that B<<
160callbacks must not C<die> >>. The former is good programming practise in
161Perl and the latter stems from the fact that exception handling differs
162widely between event loops.
163
119To disable the watcher you have to destroy it (e.g. by setting the 164To disable the watcher you have to destroy it (e.g. by setting the
120variable you store it in to C<undef> or otherwise deleting all references 165variable you store it in to C<undef> or otherwise deleting all references
121to it). 166to it).
122 167
123All watchers are created by calling a method on the C<AnyEvent> class. 168All watchers are created by calling a method on the C<AnyEvent> class.
125Many watchers either are used with "recursion" (repeating timers for 170Many watchers either are used with "recursion" (repeating timers for
126example), or need to refer to their watcher object in other ways. 171example), or need to refer to their watcher object in other ways.
127 172
128An any way to achieve that is this pattern: 173An any way to achieve that is this pattern:
129 174
130 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->type (arg => value ..., cb => sub { 175 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->type (arg => value ..., cb => sub {
131 # you can use $w here, for example to undef it 176 # you can use $w here, for example to undef it
132 undef $w; 177 undef $w;
133 }); 178 });
134 179
135Note that C<my $w; $w => combination. This is necessary because in Perl, 180Note that C<my $w; $w => combination. This is necessary because in Perl,
136my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are 181my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are
137declared. 182declared.
138 183
139=head2 IO WATCHERS 184=head2 I/O WATCHERS
140 185
141You can create an I/O watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->io >> method 186You can create an I/O watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->io >> method
142with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments: 187with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments:
143 188
144C<fh> the Perl I<file handle> (I<not> file descriptor) to watch for 189C<fh> is the Perl I<file handle> (or a naked file descriptor) to watch
190for events (AnyEvent might or might not keep a reference to this file
191handle). Note that only file handles pointing to things for which
192non-blocking operation makes sense are allowed. This includes sockets,
193most character devices, pipes, fifos and so on, but not for example files
194or block devices.
195
145events. C<poll> must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>, which 196C<poll> must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>, which creates a
146creates a watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, 197watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, respectively.
198
147respectively. C<cb> is the callback to invoke each time the file handle 199C<cb> is the callback to invoke each time the file handle becomes ready.
148becomes ready.
149 200
150File handles will be kept alive, so as long as the watcher exists, the 201Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
151file handle exists, too. 202presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
203callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks.
152 204
205The I/O watcher might use the underlying file descriptor or a copy of it.
153It is not allowed to close a file handle as long as any watcher is active 206You must not close a file handle as long as any watcher is active on the
154on the underlying file descriptor. 207underlying file descriptor.
155 208
156Some event loops issue spurious readyness notifications, so you should 209Some event loops issue spurious readyness notifications, so you should
157always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file 210always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file
158handles. 211handles.
159 212
160Example:
161
162 # wait for readability of STDIN, then read a line and disable the watcher 213Example: wait for readability of STDIN, then read a line and disable the
214watcher.
215
163 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub { 216 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub {
164 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); 217 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>);
165 warn "read: $input\n"; 218 warn "read: $input\n";
166 undef $w; 219 undef $w;
167 }); 220 });
170 223
171You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >> 224You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >>
172method with the following mandatory arguments: 225method with the following mandatory arguments:
173 226
174C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are 227C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are
175supported) should the timer activate. C<cb> the callback to invoke in that 228supported) the callback should be invoked. C<cb> is the callback to invoke
176case. 229in that case.
177 230
178The timer callback will be invoked at most once: if you want a repeating 231Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
179timer you have to create a new watcher (this is a limitation by both Tk 232presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
180and Glib). 233callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks.
181 234
182Example: 235The callback will normally be invoked once only. If you specify another
236parameter, C<interval>, as a strictly positive number (> 0), then the
237callback will be invoked regularly at that interval (in fractional
238seconds) after the first invocation. If C<interval> is specified with a
239false value, then it is treated as if it were missing.
183 240
241The callback will be rescheduled before invoking the callback, but no
242attempt is done to avoid timer drift in most backends, so the interval is
243only approximate.
244
184 # fire an event after 7.7 seconds 245Example: fire an event after 7.7 seconds.
246
185 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub { 247 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub {
186 warn "timeout\n"; 248 warn "timeout\n";
187 }); 249 });
188 250
189 # to cancel the timer: 251 # to cancel the timer:
190 undef $w; 252 undef $w;
191 253
192Example 2:
193
194 # fire an event after 0.5 seconds, then roughly every second 254Example 2: fire an event after 0.5 seconds, then roughly every second.
195 my $w;
196 255
197 my $cb = sub {
198 # cancel the old timer while creating a new one
199 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => $cb); 256 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.5, interval => 1, cb => sub {
257 warn "timeout\n";
200 }; 258 };
201
202 # start the "loop" by creating the first watcher
203 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.5, cb => $cb);
204 259
205=head3 TIMING ISSUES 260=head3 TIMING ISSUES
206 261
207There are two ways to handle timers: based on real time (relative, "fire 262There are two ways to handle timers: based on real time (relative, "fire
208in 10 seconds") and based on wallclock time (absolute, "fire at 12 263in 10 seconds") and based on wallclock time (absolute, "fire at 12
209o'clock"). 264o'clock").
210 265
211While most event loops expect timers to specified in a relative way, they use 266While most event loops expect timers to specified in a relative way, they
212absolute time internally. This makes a difference when your clock "jumps", 267use absolute time internally. This makes a difference when your clock
213for example, when ntp decides to set your clock backwards from the wrong 2014-01-01 to 268"jumps", for example, when ntp decides to set your clock backwards from
2142008-01-01, a watcher that you created to fire "after" a second might actually take 269the wrong date of 2014-01-01 to 2008-01-01, a watcher that is supposed to
215six years to finally fire. 270fire "after" a second might actually take six years to finally fire.
216 271
217AnyEvent cannot compensate for this. The only event loop that is conscious 272AnyEvent cannot compensate for this. The only event loop that is conscious
218about these issues is L<EV>, which offers both relative (ev_timer) and 273about these issues is L<EV>, which offers both relative (ev_timer, based
219absolute (ev_periodic) timers. 274on true relative time) and absolute (ev_periodic, based on wallclock time)
275timers.
220 276
221AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the 277AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the
222AnyEvent API. 278AnyEvent API.
223 279
280AnyEvent has two additional methods that return the "current time":
281
282=over 4
283
284=item AnyEvent->time
285
286This returns the "current wallclock time" as a fractional number of
287seconds since the Epoch (the same thing as C<time> or C<Time::HiRes::time>
288return, and the result is guaranteed to be compatible with those).
289
290It progresses independently of any event loop processing, i.e. each call
291will check the system clock, which usually gets updated frequently.
292
293=item AnyEvent->now
294
295This also returns the "current wallclock time", but unlike C<time>, above,
296this value might change only once per event loop iteration, depending on
297the event loop (most return the same time as C<time>, above). This is the
298time that AnyEvent's timers get scheduled against.
299
300I<In almost all cases (in all cases if you don't care), this is the
301function to call when you want to know the current time.>
302
303This function is also often faster then C<< AnyEvent->time >>, and
304thus the preferred method if you want some timestamp (for example,
305L<AnyEvent::Handle> uses this to update it's activity timeouts).
306
307The rest of this section is only of relevance if you try to be very exact
308with your timing, you can skip it without bad conscience.
309
310For a practical example of when these times differ, consider L<Event::Lib>
311and L<EV> and the following set-up:
312
313The event loop is running and has just invoked one of your callback at
314time=500 (assume no other callbacks delay processing). In your callback,
315you wait a second by executing C<sleep 1> (blocking the process for a
316second) and then (at time=501) you create a relative timer that fires
317after three seconds.
318
319With L<Event::Lib>, C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> will
320both return C<501>, because that is the current time, and the timer will
321be scheduled to fire at time=504 (C<501> + C<3>).
322
323With L<EV>, C<< AnyEvent->time >> returns C<501> (as that is the current
324time), but C<< AnyEvent->now >> returns C<500>, as that is the time the
325last event processing phase started. With L<EV>, your timer gets scheduled
326to run at time=503 (C<500> + C<3>).
327
328In one sense, L<Event::Lib> is more exact, as it uses the current time
329regardless of any delays introduced by event processing. However, most
330callbacks do not expect large delays in processing, so this causes a
331higher drift (and a lot more system calls to get the current time).
332
333In another sense, L<EV> is more exact, as your timer will be scheduled at
334the same time, regardless of how long event processing actually took.
335
336In either case, if you care (and in most cases, you don't), then you
337can get whatever behaviour you want with any event loop, by taking the
338difference between C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> into
339account.
340
341=item AnyEvent->now_update
342
343Some event loops (such as L<EV> or L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) cache
344the current time for each loop iteration (see the discussion of L<<
345AnyEvent->now >>, above).
346
347When a callback runs for a long time (or when the process sleeps), then
348this "current" time will differ substantially from the real time, which
349might affect timers and time-outs.
350
351When this is the case, you can call this method, which will update the
352event loop's idea of "current time".
353
354Note that updating the time I<might> cause some events to be handled.
355
356=back
357
224=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS 358=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS
225 359
226You can watch for signals using a signal watcher, C<signal> is the signal 360You can watch for signals using a signal watcher, C<signal> is the signal
227I<name> without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl callback to 361I<name> in uppercase and without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl
228be invoked whenever a signal occurs. 362callback to be invoked whenever a signal occurs.
229 363
364Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
365presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
366callbacks cannot use arguments passed to signal watcher callbacks.
367
230Multiple signals occurances can be clumped together into one callback 368Multiple signal occurrences can be clumped together into one callback
231invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. synchronous means 369invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. Synchronous means
232that it might take a while until the signal gets handled by the process, 370that it might take a while until the signal gets handled by the process,
233but it is guarenteed not to interrupt any other callbacks. 371but it is guaranteed not to interrupt any other callbacks.
234 372
235The main advantage of using these watchers is that you can share a signal 373The main advantage of using these watchers is that you can share a signal
236between multiple watchers. 374between multiple watchers, and AnyEvent will ensure that signals will not
375interrupt your program at bad times.
237 376
238This watcher might use C<%SIG>, so programs overwriting those signals 377This watcher might use C<%SIG> (depending on the event loop used),
239directly will likely not work correctly. 378so programs overwriting those signals directly will likely not work
379correctly.
240 380
241Example: exit on SIGINT 381Example: exit on SIGINT
242 382
243 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 }); 383 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 });
244 384
385=head3 Signal Races, Delays and Workarounds
386
387Many event loops (e.g. Glib, Tk, Qt, IO::Async) do not support attaching
388callbacks to signals in a generic way, which is a pity, as you cannot do
389race-free signal handling in perl. AnyEvent will try to do it's best, but
390in some cases, signals will be delayed. The maximum time a signal might
391be delayed is specified in C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY> (default: 10
392seconds). This variable can be changed only before the first signal
393watcher is created, and should be left alone otherwise. Higher values
394will cause fewer spurious wake-ups, which is better for power and CPU
395saving. All these problems can be avoided by installing the optional
396L<Async::Interrupt> module. This will not work with inherently broken
397event loops such as L<Event> or L<Event::Lib> (and not with L<POE>
398currently, as POE does it's own workaround with one-second latency). With
399those, you just have to suffer the delays.
400
245=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS 401=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS
246 402
247You can also watch on a child process exit and catch its exit status. 403You can also watch on a child process exit and catch its exit status.
248 404
249The child process is specified by the C<pid> argument (if set to C<0>, it 405The child process is specified by the C<pid> argument (one some backends,
250watches for any child process exit). The watcher will trigger as often 406using C<0> watches for any child process exit, on others this will
251as status change for the child are received. This works by installing a 407croak). The watcher will be triggered only when the child process has
252signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>. The callback will be called with the pid 408finished and an exit status is available, not on any trace events
253and exit status (as returned by waitpid). 409(stopped/continued).
254 410
255Example: wait for pid 1333 411The callback will be called with the pid and exit status (as returned by
412waitpid), so unlike other watcher types, you I<can> rely on child watcher
413callback arguments.
256 414
415This watcher type works by installing a signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>,
416and since it cannot be shared, nothing else should use SIGCHLD or reap
417random child processes (waiting for specific child processes, e.g. inside
418C<system>, is just fine).
419
420There is a slight catch to child watchers, however: you usually start them
421I<after> the child process was created, and this means the process could
422have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore).
423
424Not all event models handle this correctly (neither POE nor IO::Async do,
425see their AnyEvent::Impl manpages for details), but even for event models
426that I<do> handle this correctly, they usually need to be loaded before
427the process exits (i.e. before you fork in the first place). AnyEvent's
428pure perl event loop handles all cases correctly regardless of when you
429start the watcher.
430
431This means you cannot create a child watcher as the very first
432thing in an AnyEvent program, you I<have> to create at least one
433watcher before you C<fork> the child (alternatively, you can call
434C<AnyEvent::detect>).
435
436As most event loops do not support waiting for child events, they will be
437emulated by AnyEvent in most cases, in which the latency and race problems
438mentioned in the description of signal watchers apply.
439
440Example: fork a process and wait for it
441
442 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
443
444 my $pid = fork or exit 5;
445
257 my $w = AnyEvent->child ( 446 my $w = AnyEvent->child (
258 pid => 1333, 447 pid => $pid,
259 cb => sub { 448 cb => sub {
260 my ($pid, $status) = @_; 449 my ($pid, $status) = @_;
261 warn "pid $pid exited with status $status"; 450 warn "pid $pid exited with status $status";
451 $done->send;
262 }, 452 },
263 ); 453 );
454
455 # do something else, then wait for process exit
456 $done->recv;
457
458=head2 IDLE WATCHERS
459
460Sometimes there is a need to do something, but it is not so important
461to do it instantly, but only when there is nothing better to do. This
462"nothing better to do" is usually defined to be "no other events need
463attention by the event loop".
464
465Idle watchers ideally get invoked when the event loop has nothing
466better to do, just before it would block the process to wait for new
467events. Instead of blocking, the idle watcher is invoked.
468
469Most event loops unfortunately do not really support idle watchers (only
470EV, Event and Glib do it in a usable fashion) - for the rest, AnyEvent
471will simply call the callback "from time to time".
472
473Example: read lines from STDIN, but only process them when the
474program is otherwise idle:
475
476 my @lines; # read data
477 my $idle_w;
478 my $io_w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub {
479 push @lines, scalar <STDIN>;
480
481 # start an idle watcher, if not already done
482 $idle_w ||= AnyEvent->idle (cb => sub {
483 # handle only one line, when there are lines left
484 if (my $line = shift @lines) {
485 print "handled when idle: $line";
486 } else {
487 # otherwise disable the idle watcher again
488 undef $idle_w;
489 }
490 });
491 });
264 492
265=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES 493=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES
266 494
495If you are familiar with some event loops you will know that all of them
496require you to run some blocking "loop", "run" or similar function that
497will actively watch for new events and call your callbacks.
498
499AnyEvent is slightly different: it expects somebody else to run the event
500loop and will only block when necessary (usually when told by the user).
501
502The instrument to do that is called a "condition variable", so called
503because they represent a condition that must become true.
504
505Now is probably a good time to look at the examples further below.
506
267Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar >> 507Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar
268method without any arguments. 508>> method, usually without arguments. The only argument pair allowed is
509C<cb>, which specifies a callback to be called when the condition variable
510becomes true, with the condition variable as the first argument (but not
511the results).
269 512
270A condition variable waits for a condition - precisely that the C<< 513After creation, the condition variable is "false" until it becomes "true"
271->broadcast >> method has been called. 514by calling the C<send> method (or calling the condition variable as if it
515were a callback, read about the caveats in the description for the C<<
516->send >> method).
272 517
273They are very useful to signal that a condition has been fulfilled, for 518Condition variables are similar to callbacks, except that you can
519optionally wait for them. They can also be called merge points - points
520in time where multiple outstanding events have been processed. And yet
521another way to call them is transactions - each condition variable can be
522used to represent a transaction, which finishes at some point and delivers
523a result. And yet some people know them as "futures" - a promise to
524compute/deliver something that you can wait for.
525
526Condition variables are very useful to signal that something has finished,
274example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests, 527for example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests,
275then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the 528then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the
276availability of results. 529availability of results. The user can either act when the callback is
530called or can synchronously C<< ->recv >> for the results.
277 531
278You can also use condition variables to block your main program until 532You can also use them to simulate traditional event loops - for example,
279an event occurs - for example, you could C<< ->wait >> in your main 533you can block your main program until an event occurs - for example, you
280program until the user clicks the Quit button in your app, which would C<< 534could C<< ->recv >> in your main program until the user clicks the Quit
281->broadcast >> the "quit" event. 535button of your app, which would C<< ->send >> the "quit" event.
282 536
283Note that condition variables recurse into the event loop - if you have 537Note that condition variables recurse into the event loop - if you have
284two pirces of code that call C<< ->wait >> in a round-robbin fashion, you 538two pieces of code that call C<< ->recv >> in a round-robin fashion, you
285lose. Therefore, condition variables are good to export to your caller, but 539lose. Therefore, condition variables are good to export to your caller, but
286you should avoid making a blocking wait yourself, at least in callbacks, 540you should avoid making a blocking wait yourself, at least in callbacks,
287as this asks for trouble. 541as this asks for trouble.
288 542
289This object has two methods: 543Condition variables are represented by hash refs in perl, and the keys
544used by AnyEvent itself are all named C<_ae_XXX> to make subclassing
545easy (it is often useful to build your own transaction class on top of
546AnyEvent). To subclass, use C<AnyEvent::CondVar> as base class and call
547it's C<new> method in your own C<new> method.
290 548
291=over 4 549There are two "sides" to a condition variable - the "producer side" which
550eventually calls C<< -> send >>, and the "consumer side", which waits
551for the send to occur.
292 552
293=item $cv->wait 553Example: wait for a timer.
294
295Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->broadcast >> method has been
296called on c<$cv>, while servicing other watchers normally.
297
298You can only wait once on a condition - additional calls will return
299immediately.
300
301Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case
302(programs might want to do that to stay interactive), so I<if you are
303using this from a module, never require a blocking wait>, but let the
304caller decide whether the call will block or not (for example, by coupling
305condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting
306callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block,
307while still suppporting blocking waits if the caller so desires).
308
309Another reason I<never> to C<< ->wait >> in a module is that you cannot
310sensibly have two C<< ->wait >>'s in parallel, as that would require
311multiple interpreters or coroutines/threads, none of which C<AnyEvent>
312can supply (the coroutine-aware backends L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV> and
313L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent> explicitly support concurrent C<< ->wait >>'s
314from different coroutines, however).
315
316=item $cv->broadcast
317
318Flag the condition as ready - a running C<< ->wait >> and all further
319calls to C<wait> will (eventually) return after this method has been
320called. If nobody is waiting the broadcast will be remembered..
321
322=back
323
324Example:
325 554
326 # wait till the result is ready 555 # wait till the result is ready
327 my $result_ready = AnyEvent->condvar; 556 my $result_ready = AnyEvent->condvar;
328 557
329 # do something such as adding a timer 558 # do something such as adding a timer
330 # or socket watcher the calls $result_ready->broadcast 559 # or socket watcher the calls $result_ready->send
331 # when the "result" is ready. 560 # when the "result" is ready.
332 # in this case, we simply use a timer: 561 # in this case, we simply use a timer:
333 my $w = AnyEvent->timer ( 562 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (
334 after => 1, 563 after => 1,
335 cb => sub { $result_ready->broadcast }, 564 cb => sub { $result_ready->send },
336 ); 565 );
337 566
338 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the watcher 567 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the callback
339 # calls broadcast 568 # calls -<send
340 $result_ready->wait; 569 $result_ready->recv;
570
571Example: wait for a timer, but take advantage of the fact that condition
572variables are also callable directly.
573
574 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
575 my $delay = AnyEvent->timer (after => 5, cb => $done);
576 $done->recv;
577
578Example: Imagine an API that returns a condvar and doesn't support
579callbacks. This is how you make a synchronous call, for example from
580the main program:
581
582 use AnyEvent::CouchDB;
583
584 ...
585
586 my @info = $couchdb->info->recv;
587
588And this is how you would just set a callback to be called whenever the
589results are available:
590
591 $couchdb->info->cb (sub {
592 my @info = $_[0]->recv;
593 });
594
595=head3 METHODS FOR PRODUCERS
596
597These methods should only be used by the producing side, i.e. the
598code/module that eventually sends the signal. Note that it is also
599the producer side which creates the condvar in most cases, but it isn't
600uncommon for the consumer to create it as well.
601
602=over 4
603
604=item $cv->send (...)
605
606Flag the condition as ready - a running C<< ->recv >> and all further
607calls to C<recv> will (eventually) return after this method has been
608called. If nobody is waiting the send will be remembered.
609
610If a callback has been set on the condition variable, it is called
611immediately from within send.
612
613Any arguments passed to the C<send> call will be returned by all
614future C<< ->recv >> calls.
615
616Condition variables are overloaded so one can call them directly (as if
617they were a code reference). Calling them directly is the same as calling
618C<send>.
619
620=item $cv->croak ($error)
621
622Similar to send, but causes all call's to C<< ->recv >> to invoke
623C<Carp::croak> with the given error message/object/scalar.
624
625This can be used to signal any errors to the condition variable
626user/consumer. Doing it this way instead of calling C<croak> directly
627delays the error detetcion, but has the overwhelmign advantage that it
628diagnoses the error at the place where the result is expected, and not
629deep in some event clalback without connection to the actual code causing
630the problem.
631
632=item $cv->begin ([group callback])
633
634=item $cv->end
635
636These two methods can be used to combine many transactions/events into
637one. For example, a function that pings many hosts in parallel might want
638to use a condition variable for the whole process.
639
640Every call to C<< ->begin >> will increment a counter, and every call to
641C<< ->end >> will decrement it. If the counter reaches C<0> in C<< ->end
642>>, the (last) callback passed to C<begin> will be executed. That callback
643is I<supposed> to call C<< ->send >>, but that is not required. If no
644callback was set, C<send> will be called without any arguments.
645
646You can think of C<< $cv->send >> giving you an OR condition (one call
647sends), while C<< $cv->begin >> and C<< $cv->end >> giving you an AND
648condition (all C<begin> calls must be C<end>'ed before the condvar sends).
649
650Let's start with a simple example: you have two I/O watchers (for example,
651STDOUT and STDERR for a program), and you want to wait for both streams to
652close before activating a condvar:
653
654 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
655
656 $cv->begin; # first watcher
657 my $w1 = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh1, cb => sub {
658 defined sysread $fh1, my $buf, 4096
659 or $cv->end;
660 });
661
662 $cv->begin; # second watcher
663 my $w2 = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh2, cb => sub {
664 defined sysread $fh2, my $buf, 4096
665 or $cv->end;
666 });
667
668 $cv->recv;
669
670This works because for every event source (EOF on file handle), there is
671one call to C<begin>, so the condvar waits for all calls to C<end> before
672sending.
673
674The ping example mentioned above is slightly more complicated, as the
675there are results to be passwd back, and the number of tasks that are
676begung can potentially be zero:
677
678 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
679
680 my %result;
681 $cv->begin (sub { $cv->send (\%result) });
682
683 for my $host (@list_of_hosts) {
684 $cv->begin;
685 ping_host_then_call_callback $host, sub {
686 $result{$host} = ...;
687 $cv->end;
688 };
689 }
690
691 $cv->end;
692
693This code fragment supposedly pings a number of hosts and calls
694C<send> after results for all then have have been gathered - in any
695order. To achieve this, the code issues a call to C<begin> when it starts
696each ping request and calls C<end> when it has received some result for
697it. Since C<begin> and C<end> only maintain a counter, the order in which
698results arrive is not relevant.
699
700There is an additional bracketing call to C<begin> and C<end> outside the
701loop, which serves two important purposes: first, it sets the callback
702to be called once the counter reaches C<0>, and second, it ensures that
703C<send> is called even when C<no> hosts are being pinged (the loop
704doesn't execute once).
705
706This is the general pattern when you "fan out" into multiple (but
707potentially none) subrequests: use an outer C<begin>/C<end> pair to set
708the callback and ensure C<end> is called at least once, and then, for each
709subrequest you start, call C<begin> and for each subrequest you finish,
710call C<end>.
711
712=back
713
714=head3 METHODS FOR CONSUMERS
715
716These methods should only be used by the consuming side, i.e. the
717code awaits the condition.
718
719=over 4
720
721=item $cv->recv
722
723Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->send >> or C<< ->croak
724>> methods have been called on c<$cv>, while servicing other watchers
725normally.
726
727You can only wait once on a condition - additional calls are valid but
728will return immediately.
729
730If an error condition has been set by calling C<< ->croak >>, then this
731function will call C<croak>.
732
733In list context, all parameters passed to C<send> will be returned,
734in scalar context only the first one will be returned.
735
736Note that doing a blocking wait in a callback is not supported by any
737event loop, that is, recursive invocation of a blocking C<< ->recv
738>> is not allowed, and the C<recv> call will C<croak> if such a
739condition is detected. This condition can be slightly loosened by using
740L<Coro::AnyEvent>, which allows you to do a blocking C<< ->recv >> from
741any thread that doesn't run the event loop itself.
742
743Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case
744(programs might want to do that to stay interactive), so I<if you are
745using this from a module, never require a blocking wait>. Instead, let the
746caller decide whether the call will block or not (for example, by coupling
747condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting
748callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block,
749while still supporting blocking waits if the caller so desires).
750
751You can ensure that C<< -recv >> never blocks by setting a callback and
752only calling C<< ->recv >> from within that callback (or at a later
753time). This will work even when the event loop does not support blocking
754waits otherwise.
755
756=item $bool = $cv->ready
757
758Returns true when the condition is "true", i.e. whether C<send> or
759C<croak> have been called.
760
761=item $cb = $cv->cb ($cb->($cv))
762
763This is a mutator function that returns the callback set and optionally
764replaces it before doing so.
765
766The callback will be called when the condition becomes "true", i.e. when
767C<send> or C<croak> are called, with the only argument being the condition
768variable itself. Calling C<recv> inside the callback or at any later time
769is guaranteed not to block.
770
771=back
772
773=head1 SUPPORTED EVENT LOOPS/BACKENDS
774
775The available backend classes are (every class has its own manpage):
776
777=over 4
778
779=item Backends that are autoprobed when no other event loop can be found.
780
781EV is the preferred backend when no other event loop seems to be in
782use. If EV is not installed, then AnyEvent will try Event, and, failing
783that, will fall back to its own pure-perl implementation, which is
784available everywhere as it comes with AnyEvent itself.
785
786 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (interface to libev, best choice).
787 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, very stable, few glitches.
788 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl implementation, fast and portable.
789
790=item Backends that are transparently being picked up when they are used.
791
792These will be used when they are currently loaded when the first watcher
793is created, in which case it is assumed that the application is using
794them. This means that AnyEvent will automatically pick the right backend
795when the main program loads an event module before anything starts to
796create watchers. Nothing special needs to be done by the main program.
797
798 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, slow but very stable.
799 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very broken.
800 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
801 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, very slow, some limitations.
802 AnyEvent::Impl::Irssi used when running within irssi.
803
804=item Backends with special needs.
805
806Qt requires the Qt::Application to be instantiated first, but will
807otherwise be picked up automatically. As long as the main program
808instantiates the application before any AnyEvent watchers are created,
809everything should just work.
810
811 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt.
812
813Support for IO::Async can only be partial, as it is too broken and
814architecturally limited to even support the AnyEvent API. It also
815is the only event loop that needs the loop to be set explicitly, so
816it can only be used by a main program knowing about AnyEvent. See
817L<AnyEvent::Impl::Async> for the gory details.
818
819 AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync based on IO::Async, cannot be autoprobed.
820
821=item Event loops that are indirectly supported via other backends.
822
823Some event loops can be supported via other modules:
824
825There is no direct support for WxWidgets (L<Wx>) or L<Prima>.
826
827B<WxWidgets> has no support for watching file handles. However, you can
828use WxWidgets through the POE adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply
829polls 20 times per second, which was considered to be too horrible to even
830consider for AnyEvent.
831
832B<Prima> is not supported as nobody seems to be using it, but it has a POE
833backend, so it can be supported through POE.
834
835AnyEvent knows about both L<Prima> and L<Wx>, however, and will try to
836load L<POE> when detecting them, in the hope that POE will pick them up,
837in which case everything will be automatic.
838
839=back
341 840
342=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS 841=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS
343 842
843These are not normally required to use AnyEvent, but can be useful to
844write AnyEvent extension modules.
845
344=over 4 846=over 4
345 847
346=item $AnyEvent::MODEL 848=item $AnyEvent::MODEL
347 849
348Contains C<undef> until the first watcher is being created. Then it 850Contains C<undef> until the first watcher is being created, before the
851backend has been autodetected.
852
349contains the event model that is being used, which is the name of the 853Afterwards it contains the event model that is being used, which is the
350Perl class implementing the model. This class is usually one of the 854name of the Perl class implementing the model. This class is usually one
351C<AnyEvent::Impl:xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the case 855of the C<AnyEvent::Impl:xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the
352AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode>). 856case AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode> it
353 857will be C<urxvt::anyevent>).
354The known classes so far are:
355
356 AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV based on Coro::EV, best choice.
357 AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent based on Coro::Event, second best choice.
358 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (an interface to libev, also best choice).
359 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, also second best choice :)
360 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, third-best choice.
361 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very bad choice.
362 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl implementation, inefficient but portable.
363 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
364 858
365=item AnyEvent::detect 859=item AnyEvent::detect
366 860
367Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model 861Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model
368if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would 862if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would
369have created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, as late as possible at 863have created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, as late as possible at
370runtime. 864runtime, and not e.g. while initialising of your module.
865
866If you need to do some initialisation before AnyEvent watchers are
867created, use C<post_detect>.
868
869=item $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }
870
871Arranges for the code block to be executed as soon as the event model is
872autodetected (or immediately if this has already happened).
873
874The block will be executed I<after> the actual backend has been detected
875(C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> is set), but I<before> any watchers have been
876created, so it is possible to e.g. patch C<@AnyEvent::ISA> or do
877other initialisations - see the sources of L<AnyEvent::Strict> or
878L<AnyEvent::AIO> to see how this is used.
879
880The most common usage is to create some global watchers, without forcing
881event module detection too early, for example, L<AnyEvent::AIO> creates
882and installs the global L<IO::AIO> watcher in a C<post_detect> block to
883avoid autodetecting the event module at load time.
884
885If called in scalar or list context, then it creates and returns an object
886that automatically removes the callback again when it is destroyed (or
887C<undef> when the hook was immediately executed). See L<AnyEvent::AIO> for
888a case where this is useful.
889
890Example: Create a watcher for the IO::AIO module and store it in
891C<$WATCHER>. Only do so after the event loop is initialised, though.
892
893 our WATCHER;
894
895 my $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect {
896 $WATCHER = AnyEvent->io (fh => IO::AIO::poll_fileno, poll => 'r', cb => \&IO::AIO::poll_cb);
897 };
898
899 # the ||= is important in case post_detect immediately runs the block,
900 # as to not clobber the newly-created watcher. assigning both watcher and
901 # post_detect guard to the same variable has the advantage of users being
902 # able to just C<undef $WATCHER> if the watcher causes them grief.
903
904 $WATCHER ||= $guard;
905
906=item @AnyEvent::post_detect
907
908If there are any code references in this array (you can C<push> to it
909before or after loading AnyEvent), then they will called directly after
910the event loop has been chosen.
911
912You should check C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> before adding to this array, though:
913if it is defined then the event loop has already been detected, and the
914array will be ignored.
915
916Best use C<AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }> when your application allows
917it,as it takes care of these details.
918
919This variable is mainly useful for modules that can do something useful
920when AnyEvent is used and thus want to know when it is initialised, but do
921not need to even load it by default. This array provides the means to hook
922into AnyEvent passively, without loading it.
371 923
372=back 924=back
373 925
374=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE 926=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE
375 927
379Be careful when you create watchers in the module body - AnyEvent will 931Be careful when you create watchers in the module body - AnyEvent will
380decide which event module to use as soon as the first method is called, so 932decide which event module to use as soon as the first method is called, so
381by calling AnyEvent in your module body you force the user of your module 933by calling AnyEvent in your module body you force the user of your module
382to load the event module first. 934to load the event module first.
383 935
384Never call C<< ->wait >> on a condition variable unless you I<know> that 936Never call C<< ->recv >> on a condition variable unless you I<know> that
385the C<< ->broadcast >> method has been called on it already. This is 937the C<< ->send >> method has been called on it already. This is
386because it will stall the whole program, and the whole point of using 938because it will stall the whole program, and the whole point of using
387events is to stay interactive. 939events is to stay interactive.
388 940
389It is fine, however, to call C<< ->wait >> when the user of your module 941It is fine, however, to call C<< ->recv >> when the user of your module
390requests it (i.e. if you create a http request object ad have a method 942requests it (i.e. if you create a http request object ad have a method
391called C<results> that returns the results, it should call C<< ->wait >> 943called C<results> that returns the results, it should call C<< ->recv >>
392freely, as the user of your module knows what she is doing. always). 944freely, as the user of your module knows what she is doing. always).
393 945
394=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM 946=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM
395 947
396There will always be a single main program - the only place that should 948There will always be a single main program - the only place that should
398 950
399If it doesn't care, it can just "use AnyEvent" and use it itself, or not 951If it doesn't care, it can just "use AnyEvent" and use it itself, or not
400do anything special (it does not need to be event-based) and let AnyEvent 952do anything special (it does not need to be event-based) and let AnyEvent
401decide which implementation to chose if some module relies on it. 953decide which implementation to chose if some module relies on it.
402 954
403If the main program relies on a specific event model. For example, in 955If the main program relies on a specific event model - for example, in
404Gtk2 programs you have to rely on the Glib module. You should load the 956Gtk2 programs you have to rely on the Glib module - you should load the
405event module before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it: generally 957event module before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it: generally
406speaking, you should load it as early as possible. The reason is that 958speaking, you should load it as early as possible. The reason is that
407modules might create watchers when they are loaded, and AnyEvent will 959modules might create watchers when they are loaded, and AnyEvent will
408decide on the event model to use as soon as it creates watchers, and it 960decide on the event model to use as soon as it creates watchers, and it
409might chose the wrong one unless you load the correct one yourself. 961might chose the wrong one unless you load the correct one yourself.
410 962
411You can chose to use a rather inefficient pure-perl implementation by 963You can chose to use a pure-perl implementation by loading the
412loading the C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl> module, which gives you similar 964C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl> module, which gives you similar behaviour
413behaviour everywhere, but letting AnyEvent chose is generally better. 965everywhere, but letting AnyEvent chose the model is generally better.
966
967=head2 MAINLOOP EMULATION
968
969Sometimes (often for short test scripts, or even standalone programs who
970only want to use AnyEvent), you do not want to run a specific event loop.
971
972In that case, you can use a condition variable like this:
973
974 AnyEvent->condvar->recv;
975
976This has the effect of entering the event loop and looping forever.
977
978Note that usually your program has some exit condition, in which case
979it is better to use the "traditional" approach of storing a condition
980variable somewhere, waiting for it, and sending it when the program should
981exit cleanly.
982
983
984=head1 OTHER MODULES
985
986The following is a non-exhaustive list of additional modules that use
987AnyEvent as a client and can therefore be mixed easily with other AnyEvent
988modules and other event loops in the same program. Some of the modules
989come with AnyEvent, most are available via CPAN.
990
991=over 4
992
993=item L<AnyEvent::Util>
994
995Contains various utility functions that replace often-used but blocking
996functions such as C<inet_aton> by event-/callback-based versions.
997
998=item L<AnyEvent::Socket>
999
1000Provides various utility functions for (internet protocol) sockets,
1001addresses and name resolution. Also functions to create non-blocking tcp
1002connections or tcp servers, with IPv6 and SRV record support and more.
1003
1004=item L<AnyEvent::Handle>
1005
1006Provide read and write buffers, manages watchers for reads and writes,
1007supports raw and formatted I/O, I/O queued and fully transparent and
1008non-blocking SSL/TLS (via L<AnyEvent::TLS>.
1009
1010=item L<AnyEvent::DNS>
1011
1012Provides rich asynchronous DNS resolver capabilities.
1013
1014=item L<AnyEvent::HTTP>
1015
1016A simple-to-use HTTP library that is capable of making a lot of concurrent
1017HTTP requests.
1018
1019=item L<AnyEvent::HTTPD>
1020
1021Provides a simple web application server framework.
1022
1023=item L<AnyEvent::FastPing>
1024
1025The fastest ping in the west.
1026
1027=item L<AnyEvent::DBI>
1028
1029Executes L<DBI> requests asynchronously in a proxy process.
1030
1031=item L<AnyEvent::AIO>
1032
1033Truly asynchronous I/O, should be in the toolbox of every event
1034programmer. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses L<IO::AIO> and AnyEvent
1035together.
1036
1037=item L<AnyEvent::BDB>
1038
1039Truly asynchronous Berkeley DB access. AnyEvent::BDB transparently fuses
1040L<BDB> and AnyEvent together.
1041
1042=item L<AnyEvent::GPSD>
1043
1044A non-blocking interface to gpsd, a daemon delivering GPS information.
1045
1046=item L<AnyEvent::IRC>
1047
1048AnyEvent based IRC client module family (replacing the older Net::IRC3).
1049
1050=item L<AnyEvent::XMPP>
1051
1052AnyEvent based XMPP (Jabber protocol) module family (replacing the older
1053Net::XMPP2>.
1054
1055=item L<AnyEvent::IGS>
1056
1057A non-blocking interface to the Internet Go Server protocol (used by
1058L<App::IGS>).
1059
1060=item L<Net::FCP>
1061
1062AnyEvent-based implementation of the Freenet Client Protocol, birthplace
1063of AnyEvent.
1064
1065=item L<Event::ExecFlow>
1066
1067High level API for event-based execution flow control.
1068
1069=item L<Coro>
1070
1071Has special support for AnyEvent via L<Coro::AnyEvent>.
1072
1073=back
414 1074
415=cut 1075=cut
416 1076
417package AnyEvent; 1077package AnyEvent;
418 1078
1079# basically a tuned-down version of common::sense
1080sub common_sense {
419no warnings; 1081 # no warnings
420use strict; 1082 ${^WARNING_BITS} ^= ${^WARNING_BITS};
1083 # use strict vars subs
1084 $^H |= 0x00000600;
1085}
421 1086
1087BEGIN { AnyEvent::common_sense }
1088
422use Carp; 1089use Carp ();
423 1090
424our $VERSION = '3.12'; 1091our $VERSION = 4.881;
425our $MODEL; 1092our $MODEL;
426 1093
427our $AUTOLOAD; 1094our $AUTOLOAD;
428our @ISA; 1095our @ISA;
429 1096
430our $verbose = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1;
431
432our @REGISTRY; 1097our @REGISTRY;
433 1098
1099our $WIN32;
1100
1101our $VERBOSE;
1102
1103BEGIN {
1104 eval "sub WIN32(){ " . (($^O =~ /mswin32/i)*1) ." }";
1105 eval "sub TAINT(){ " . (${^TAINT}*1) . " }";
1106
1107 delete @ENV{grep /^PERL_ANYEVENT_/, keys %ENV}
1108 if ${^TAINT};
1109
1110 $VERBOSE = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1;
1111
1112}
1113
1114our $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY = 10;
1115
1116our %PROTOCOL; # (ipv4|ipv6) => (1|2), higher numbers are preferred
1117
1118{
1119 my $idx;
1120 $PROTOCOL{$_} = ++$idx
1121 for reverse split /\s*,\s*/,
1122 $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS} || "ipv4,ipv6";
1123}
1124
434my @models = ( 1125my @models = (
435 [Coro::EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV::],
436 [Coro::Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent::],
437 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV::], 1126 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV:: , 1],
438 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::], 1127 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::, 1],
439 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib::],
440 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::],
441 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl::], 1128 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: , 1],
1129 # everything below here will not (normally) be autoprobed
1130 # as the pureperl backend should work everywhere
1131 # and is usually faster
1132 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib:: , 1], # becomes extremely slow with many watchers
442 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], 1133 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy
1134 [Irssi:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Irssi::], # Irssi has a bogus "Event" package
1135 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], # crashes with many handles
1136 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program
1137 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza
1138 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
1139 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
1140 # IO::Async is just too broken - we would need workarounds for its
1141 # byzantine signal and broken child handling, among others.
1142 # IO::Async is rather hard to detect, as it doesn't have any
1143 # obvious default class.
1144# [0, IO::Async:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program
1145# [0, IO::Async::Loop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program
1146# [0, IO::Async::Notifier:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program
443); 1147);
444 1148
445our %method = map +($_ => 1), qw(io timer condvar broadcast wait signal one_event DESTROY); 1149our %method = map +($_ => 1),
1150 qw(io timer time now now_update signal child idle condvar one_event DESTROY);
1151
1152our @post_detect;
1153
1154sub post_detect(&) {
1155 my ($cb) = @_;
1156
1157 if ($MODEL) {
1158 $cb->();
1159
1160 undef
1161 } else {
1162 push @post_detect, $cb;
1163
1164 defined wantarray
1165 ? bless \$cb, "AnyEvent::Util::postdetect"
1166 : ()
1167 }
1168}
1169
1170sub AnyEvent::Util::postdetect::DESTROY {
1171 @post_detect = grep $_ != ${$_[0]}, @post_detect;
1172}
446 1173
447sub detect() { 1174sub detect() {
448 unless ($MODEL) { 1175 unless ($MODEL) {
449 no strict 'refs'; 1176 local $SIG{__DIE__};
450 1177
451 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z]+)$/) { 1178 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z]+)$/) {
452 my $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$1"; 1179 my $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$1";
453 if (eval "require $model") { 1180 if (eval "require $model") {
454 $MODEL = $model; 1181 $MODEL = $model;
455 warn "AnyEvent: loaded model '$model' (forced by \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1182 warn "AnyEvent: loaded model '$model' (forced by \$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}), using it.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 2;
1183 } else {
1184 warn "AnyEvent: unable to load model '$model' (from \$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}):\n$@" if $VERBOSE;
456 } 1185 }
457 } 1186 }
458 1187
459 # check for already loaded models 1188 # check for already loaded models
460 unless ($MODEL) { 1189 unless ($MODEL) {
461 for (@REGISTRY, @models) { 1190 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
462 my ($package, $model) = @$_; 1191 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
463 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) { 1192 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) {
464 if (eval "require $model") { 1193 if (eval "require $model") {
465 $MODEL = $model; 1194 $MODEL = $model;
466 warn "AnyEvent: autodetected model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1195 warn "AnyEvent: autodetected model '$model', using it.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 2;
467 last; 1196 last;
468 } 1197 }
469 } 1198 }
470 } 1199 }
471 1200
472 unless ($MODEL) { 1201 unless ($MODEL) {
473 # try to load a model 1202 # try to autoload a model
474
475 for (@REGISTRY, @models) { 1203 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
476 my ($package, $model) = @$_; 1204 my ($package, $model, $autoload) = @$_;
1205 if (
1206 $autoload
477 if (eval "require $package" 1207 and eval "require $package"
478 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0 1208 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0
479 and eval "require $model") { 1209 and eval "require $model"
1210 ) {
480 $MODEL = $model; 1211 $MODEL = $model;
481 warn "AnyEvent: autoprobed model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1212 warn "AnyEvent: autoloaded model '$model', using it.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 2;
482 last; 1213 last;
483 } 1214 }
484 } 1215 }
485 1216
486 $MODEL 1217 $MODEL
487 or die "No event module selected for AnyEvent and autodetect failed. Install any one of these modules: EV (or Coro+EV), Event (or Coro+Event) or Glib."; 1218 or die "No event module selected for AnyEvent and autodetect failed. Install any one of these modules: EV, Event or Glib.\n";
488 } 1219 }
489 } 1220 }
490 1221
1222 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base";
1223
491 unshift @ISA, $MODEL; 1224 unshift @ISA, $MODEL;
492 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base"; 1225
1226 require AnyEvent::Strict if $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT};
1227
1228 (shift @post_detect)->() while @post_detect;
493 } 1229 }
494 1230
495 $MODEL 1231 $MODEL
496} 1232}
497 1233
498sub AUTOLOAD { 1234sub AUTOLOAD {
499 (my $func = $AUTOLOAD) =~ s/.*://; 1235 (my $func = $AUTOLOAD) =~ s/.*://;
500 1236
501 $method{$func} 1237 $method{$func}
502 or croak "$func: not a valid method for AnyEvent objects"; 1238 or Carp::croak "$func: not a valid method for AnyEvent objects";
503 1239
504 detect unless $MODEL; 1240 detect unless $MODEL;
505 1241
506 my $class = shift; 1242 my $class = shift;
507 $class->$func (@_); 1243 $class->$func (@_);
508} 1244}
509 1245
1246# utility function to dup a filehandle. this is used by many backends
1247# to support binding more than one watcher per filehandle (they usually
1248# allow only one watcher per fd, so we dup it to get a different one).
1249sub _dupfh($$;$$) {
1250 my ($poll, $fh, $r, $w) = @_;
1251
1252 # cygwin requires the fh mode to be matching, unix doesn't
1253 my ($rw, $mode) = $poll eq "r" ? ($r, "<&") : ($w, ">&");
1254
1255 open my $fh2, $mode, $fh
1256 or die "AnyEvent->io: cannot dup() filehandle in mode '$poll': $!,";
1257
1258 # we assume CLOEXEC is already set by perl in all important cases
1259
1260 ($fh2, $rw)
1261}
1262
510package AnyEvent::Base; 1263package AnyEvent::Base;
511 1264
1265# default implementations for many methods
1266
1267sub _time {
1268 # probe for availability of Time::HiRes
1269 if (eval "use Time::HiRes (); Time::HiRes::time (); 1") {
1270 warn "AnyEvent: using Time::HiRes for sub-second timing accuracy.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 8;
1271 *_time = \&Time::HiRes::time;
1272 # if (eval "use POSIX (); (POSIX::times())...
1273 } else {
1274 warn "AnyEvent: using built-in time(), WARNING, no sub-second resolution!\n" if $VERBOSE;
1275 *_time = sub { time }; # epic fail
1276 }
1277
1278 &_time
1279}
1280
1281sub time { _time }
1282sub now { _time }
1283sub now_update { }
1284
512# default implementation for ->condvar, ->wait, ->broadcast 1285# default implementation for ->condvar
513 1286
514sub condvar { 1287sub condvar {
515 bless \my $flag, "AnyEvent::Base::CondVar" 1288 bless { @_ == 3 ? (_ae_cb => $_[2]) : () }, "AnyEvent::CondVar"
516}
517
518sub AnyEvent::Base::CondVar::broadcast {
519 ${$_[0]}++;
520}
521
522sub AnyEvent::Base::CondVar::wait {
523 AnyEvent->one_event while !${$_[0]};
524} 1289}
525 1290
526# default implementation for ->signal 1291# default implementation for ->signal
527 1292
528our %SIG_CB; 1293our $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT;
529 1294
1295sub _have_async_interrupt() {
1296 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT = 1*(!$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_ASYNC_INTERRUPT}
1297 && eval "use Async::Interrupt 1.0 (); 1")
1298 unless defined $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT;
1299
1300 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1301}
1302
1303our ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W, %SIG_CB, %SIG_EV, $SIG_IO);
1304our (%SIG_ASY, %SIG_ASY_W);
1305our ($SIG_COUNT, $SIG_TW);
1306
1307sub _signal_exec {
1308 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1309 ? $SIGPIPE_R->drain
1310 : sysread $SIGPIPE_R, my $dummy, 9;
1311
1312 while (%SIG_EV) {
1313 for (keys %SIG_EV) {
1314 delete $SIG_EV{$_};
1315 $_->() for values %{ $SIG_CB{$_} || {} };
1316 }
1317 }
1318}
1319
1320# install a dummy wakeup watcher to reduce signal catching latency
1321sub _sig_add() {
1322 unless ($SIG_COUNT++) {
1323 # try to align timer on a full-second boundary, if possible
1324 my $NOW = AnyEvent->now;
1325
1326 $SIG_TW = AnyEvent->timer (
1327 after => $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY - ($NOW - int $NOW),
1328 interval => $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY,
1329 cb => sub { }, # just for the PERL_ASYNC_CHECK
1330 );
1331 }
1332}
1333
1334sub _sig_del {
1335 undef $SIG_TW
1336 unless --$SIG_COUNT;
1337}
1338
1339our %SIGNAME2NUM;
1340our @SIGNUM2NAME;
1341our $_sig_name_init; $_sig_name_init = sub {
1342 undef $_sig_name_init;
1343
1344 if (_have_async_interrupt) {
1345 *sig2num = \&Async::Interrupt::sig2num;
1346 *sig2name = \&Async::Interrupt::sig2name;
1347 } else {
1348 require Config;
1349
1350 @SIGNAME2NUM{ split ' ', $Config::Config{sig_name} }
1351 = split ' ', $Config::Config{sig_num};
1352 @SIGNUM2NAME[values %SIGNAME2NUM] = keys %SIGNAME2NUM;
1353
1354 *sig2num = sub($) {
1355 $_[0] > 0 ? shift : $SIGNAME2NUM{+shift}
1356 };
1357 *sig2name = sub ($) {
1358 $_[0] > 0 ? $SIGNUM2NAME[+shift] : shift
1359 };
1360 }
1361};
1362
1363sub sig2num ($) { &$_sig_name_init; &sig2num }
1364sub sig2name($) { &$_sig_name_init; &sig2name }
1365
530sub signal { 1366sub _signal {
531 my (undef, %arg) = @_; 1367 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
532 1368
533 my $signal = uc $arg{signal} 1369 my $signal = uc $arg{signal}
534 or Carp::croak "required option 'signal' is missing"; 1370 or Carp::croak "required option 'signal' is missing";
535 1371
1372 if ($HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT) {
1373 # async::interrupt
1374
1375 $signal = sig2num $signal;
536 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb}; 1376 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1377
1378 $SIG_ASY{$signal} ||= new Async::Interrupt
1379 cb => sub { undef $SIG_EV{$signal} },
1380 signal => $signal,
1381 pipe => [$SIGPIPE_R->filenos],
1382 pipe_autodrain => 0,
1383 ;
1384
1385 } else {
1386 # pure perl
1387
1388 # AE::Util has been loaded in signal
1389 $signal = sig2name $signal;
1390 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1391
537 $SIG{$signal} ||= sub { 1392 $SIG{$signal} ||= sub {
538 $_->() for values %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} || {} }; 1393 local $!;
1394 syswrite $SIGPIPE_W, "\x00", 1 unless %SIG_EV;
1395 undef $SIG_EV{$signal};
1396 };
1397
1398 # can't do signal processing without introducing races in pure perl,
1399 # so limit the signal latency.
1400 _sig_add;
539 }; 1401 }
540 1402
541 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Signal" 1403 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::signal"
542} 1404}
543 1405
1406sub signal {
1407 # probe for availability of Async::Interrupt
1408 if (_have_async_interrupt) {
1409 warn "AnyEvent: using Async::Interrupt for race-free signal handling.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 8;
1410
1411 $SIGPIPE_R = new Async::Interrupt::EventPipe;
1412 $SIG_IO = AnyEvent->io (fh => $SIGPIPE_R->fileno, poll => "r", cb => \&_signal_exec);
1413
1414 } else {
1415 warn "AnyEvent: using emulated perl signal handling with latency timer.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 8;
1416
1417 require Fcntl;
1418
1419 if (AnyEvent::WIN32) {
1420 require AnyEvent::Util;
1421
1422 ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W) = AnyEvent::Util::portable_pipe ();
1423 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_R) if $SIGPIPE_R;
1424 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_W) if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case
1425 } else {
1426 pipe $SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W;
1427 fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, &Fcntl::F_SETFL, &Fcntl::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_R;
1428 fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, &Fcntl::F_SETFL, &Fcntl::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case
1429
1430 # not strictly required, as $^F is normally 2, but let's make sure...
1431 fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, &Fcntl::F_SETFD, &Fcntl::FD_CLOEXEC;
1432 fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, &Fcntl::F_SETFD, &Fcntl::FD_CLOEXEC;
1433 }
1434
1435 $SIGPIPE_R
1436 or Carp::croak "AnyEvent: unable to create a signal reporting pipe: $!\n";
1437
1438 $SIG_IO = AnyEvent->io (fh => $SIGPIPE_R, poll => "r", cb => \&_signal_exec);
1439 }
1440
1441 *signal = \&_signal;
1442 &signal
1443}
1444
544sub AnyEvent::Base::Signal::DESTROY { 1445sub AnyEvent::Base::signal::DESTROY {
545 my ($signal, $cb) = @{$_[0]}; 1446 my ($signal, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
546 1447
1448 _sig_del;
1449
547 delete $SIG_CB{$signal}{$cb}; 1450 delete $SIG_CB{$signal}{$cb};
548 1451
549 $SIG{$signal} = 'DEFAULT' unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} }; 1452 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1453 ? delete $SIG_ASY{$signal}
1454 : # delete doesn't work with older perls - they then
1455 # print weird messages, or just unconditionally exit
1456 # instead of getting the default action.
1457 undef $SIG{$signal}
1458 unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} };
550} 1459}
551 1460
552# default implementation for ->child 1461# default implementation for ->child
553 1462
554our %PID_CB; 1463our %PID_CB;
555our $CHLD_W; 1464our $CHLD_W;
556our $CHLD_DELAY_W; 1465our $CHLD_DELAY_W;
557our $PID_IDLE;
558our $WNOHANG; 1466our $WNOHANG;
559 1467
560sub _child_wait { 1468sub _emit_childstatus($$) {
561 while (0 < (my $pid = waitpid -1, $WNOHANG)) { 1469 my (undef, $rpid, $rstatus) = @_;
1470
1471 $_->($rpid, $rstatus)
562 $_->($pid, $?) for (values %{ $PID_CB{$pid} || {} }), 1472 for values %{ $PID_CB{$rpid} || {} },
563 (values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} }); 1473 values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} };
564 }
565
566 undef $PID_IDLE;
567} 1474}
568 1475
569sub _sigchld { 1476sub _sigchld {
570 # make sure we deliver these changes "synchronous" with the event loop. 1477 my $pid;
571 $CHLD_DELAY_W ||= AnyEvent->timer (after => 0, cb => sub { 1478
572 undef $CHLD_DELAY_W; 1479 AnyEvent->_emit_childstatus ($pid, $?)
573 &_child_wait; 1480 while ($pid = waitpid -1, $WNOHANG) > 0;
574 });
575} 1481}
576 1482
577sub child { 1483sub child {
578 my (undef, %arg) = @_; 1484 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
579 1485
580 defined (my $pid = $arg{pid} + 0) 1486 defined (my $pid = $arg{pid} + 0)
581 or Carp::croak "required option 'pid' is missing"; 1487 or Carp::croak "required option 'pid' is missing";
582 1488
583 $PID_CB{$pid}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb}; 1489 $PID_CB{$pid}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
584 1490
585 unless ($WNOHANG) { 1491 # WNOHANG is almost cetrainly 1 everywhere
586 $WNOHANG = eval { require POSIX; &POSIX::WNOHANG } || 1; 1492 $WNOHANG ||= $^O =~ /^(?:openbsd|netbsd|linux|freebsd|cygwin|MSWin32)$/
587 } 1493 ? 1
1494 : eval { local $SIG{__DIE__}; require POSIX; &POSIX::WNOHANG } || 1;
588 1495
589 unless ($CHLD_W) { 1496 unless ($CHLD_W) {
590 $CHLD_W = AnyEvent->signal (signal => 'CHLD', cb => \&_sigchld); 1497 $CHLD_W = AnyEvent->signal (signal => 'CHLD', cb => \&_sigchld);
591 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round 1498 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round
592 &_sigchld; 1499 &_sigchld;
593 } 1500 }
594 1501
595 bless [$pid, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Child" 1502 bless [$pid, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::child"
596} 1503}
597 1504
598sub AnyEvent::Base::Child::DESTROY { 1505sub AnyEvent::Base::child::DESTROY {
599 my ($pid, $cb) = @{$_[0]}; 1506 my ($pid, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
600 1507
601 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb}; 1508 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb};
602 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} }; 1509 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} };
603 1510
604 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB; 1511 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB;
605} 1512}
1513
1514# idle emulation is done by simply using a timer, regardless
1515# of whether the process is idle or not, and not letting
1516# the callback use more than 50% of the time.
1517sub idle {
1518 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1519
1520 my ($cb, $w, $rcb) = $arg{cb};
1521
1522 $rcb = sub {
1523 if ($cb) {
1524 $w = _time;
1525 &$cb;
1526 $w = _time - $w;
1527
1528 # never use more then 50% of the time for the idle watcher,
1529 # within some limits
1530 $w = 0.0001 if $w < 0.0001;
1531 $w = 5 if $w > 5;
1532
1533 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $w, cb => $rcb);
1534 } else {
1535 # clean up...
1536 undef $w;
1537 undef $rcb;
1538 }
1539 };
1540
1541 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.05, cb => $rcb);
1542
1543 bless \\$cb, "AnyEvent::Base::idle"
1544}
1545
1546sub AnyEvent::Base::idle::DESTROY {
1547 undef $${$_[0]};
1548}
1549
1550package AnyEvent::CondVar;
1551
1552our @ISA = AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::;
1553
1554package AnyEvent::CondVar::Base;
1555
1556#use overload
1557# '&{}' => sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } },
1558# fallback => 1;
1559
1560# save 300+ kilobytes by dirtily hardcoding overloading
1561${"AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::OVERLOAD"}{dummy}++; # Register with magic by touching.
1562*{'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::()'} = sub { }; # "Make it findable via fetchmethod."
1563*{'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::(&{}'} = sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } }; # &{}
1564${'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::()'} = 1; # fallback
1565
1566our $WAITING;
1567
1568sub _send {
1569 # nop
1570}
1571
1572sub send {
1573 my $cv = shift;
1574 $cv->{_ae_sent} = [@_];
1575 (delete $cv->{_ae_cb})->($cv) if $cv->{_ae_cb};
1576 $cv->_send;
1577}
1578
1579sub croak {
1580 $_[0]{_ae_croak} = $_[1];
1581 $_[0]->send;
1582}
1583
1584sub ready {
1585 $_[0]{_ae_sent}
1586}
1587
1588sub _wait {
1589 $WAITING
1590 and !$_[0]{_ae_sent}
1591 and Carp::croak "AnyEvent::CondVar: recursive blocking wait detected";
1592
1593 local $WAITING = 1;
1594 AnyEvent->one_event while !$_[0]{_ae_sent};
1595}
1596
1597sub recv {
1598 $_[0]->_wait;
1599
1600 Carp::croak $_[0]{_ae_croak} if $_[0]{_ae_croak};
1601 wantarray ? @{ $_[0]{_ae_sent} } : $_[0]{_ae_sent}[0]
1602}
1603
1604sub cb {
1605 $_[0]{_ae_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1;
1606 $_[0]{_ae_cb}
1607}
1608
1609sub begin {
1610 ++$_[0]{_ae_counter};
1611 $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1;
1612}
1613
1614sub end {
1615 return if --$_[0]{_ae_counter};
1616 &{ $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} || sub { $_[0]->send } };
1617}
1618
1619# undocumented/compatibility with pre-3.4
1620*broadcast = \&send;
1621*wait = \&_wait;
1622
1623=head1 ERROR AND EXCEPTION HANDLING
1624
1625In general, AnyEvent does not do any error handling - it relies on the
1626caller to do that if required. The L<AnyEvent::Strict> module (see also
1627the C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT> environment variable, below) provides strict
1628checking of all AnyEvent methods, however, which is highly useful during
1629development.
1630
1631As for exception handling (i.e. runtime errors and exceptions thrown while
1632executing a callback), this is not only highly event-loop specific, but
1633also not in any way wrapped by this module, as this is the job of the main
1634program.
1635
1636The pure perl event loop simply re-throws the exception (usually
1637within C<< condvar->recv >>), the L<Event> and L<EV> modules call C<<
1638$Event/EV::DIED->() >>, L<Glib> uses C<< install_exception_handler >> and
1639so on.
1640
1641=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
1642
1643The following environment variables are used by this module or its
1644submodules.
1645
1646Note that AnyEvent will remove I<all> environment variables starting with
1647C<PERL_ANYEVENT_> from C<%ENV> when it is loaded while taint mode is
1648enabled.
1649
1650=over 4
1651
1652=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
1653
1654By default, AnyEvent will be completely silent except in fatal
1655conditions. You can set this environment variable to make AnyEvent more
1656talkative.
1657
1658When set to C<1> or higher, causes AnyEvent to warn about unexpected
1659conditions, such as not being able to load the event model specified by
1660C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>.
1661
1662When set to C<2> or higher, cause AnyEvent to report to STDERR which event
1663model it chooses.
1664
1665When set to C<8> or higher, then AnyEvent will report extra information on
1666which optional modules it loads and how it implements certain features.
1667
1668=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT>
1669
1670AnyEvent does not do much argument checking by default, as thorough
1671argument checking is very costly. Setting this variable to a true value
1672will cause AnyEvent to load C<AnyEvent::Strict> and then to thoroughly
1673check the arguments passed to most method calls. If it finds any problems,
1674it will croak.
1675
1676In other words, enables "strict" mode.
1677
1678Unlike C<use strict> (or it's modern cousin, C<< use L<common::sense>
1679>>, it is definitely recommended to keep it off in production. Keeping
1680C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT=1> in your environment while developing programs
1681can be very useful, however.
1682
1683=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
1684
1685This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
1686auto detection and -probing kicks in. It must be a string consisting
1687entirely of ASCII letters. The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended
1688and the resulting module name is loaded and if the load was successful,
1689used as event model. If it fails to load AnyEvent will proceed with
1690auto detection and -probing.
1691
1692This functionality might change in future versions.
1693
1694For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) you
1695could start your program like this:
1696
1697 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
1698
1699=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS>
1700
1701Used by both L<AnyEvent::DNS> and L<AnyEvent::Socket> to determine preferences
1702for IPv4 or IPv6. The default is unspecified (and might change, or be the result
1703of auto probing).
1704
1705Must be set to a comma-separated list of protocols or address families,
1706current supported: C<ipv4> and C<ipv6>. Only protocols mentioned will be
1707used, and preference will be given to protocols mentioned earlier in the
1708list.
1709
1710This variable can effectively be used for denial-of-service attacks
1711against local programs (e.g. when setuid), although the impact is likely
1712small, as the program has to handle conenction and other failures anyways.
1713
1714Examples: C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4,ipv6> - prefer IPv4 over IPv6,
1715but support both and try to use both. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4>
1716- only support IPv4, never try to resolve or contact IPv6
1717addresses. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv6,ipv4> support either IPv4 or
1718IPv6, but prefer IPv6 over IPv4.
1719
1720=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_EDNS0>
1721
1722Used by L<AnyEvent::DNS> to decide whether to use the EDNS0 extension
1723for DNS. This extension is generally useful to reduce DNS traffic, but
1724some (broken) firewalls drop such DNS packets, which is why it is off by
1725default.
1726
1727Setting this variable to C<1> will cause L<AnyEvent::DNS> to announce
1728EDNS0 in its DNS requests.
1729
1730=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_FORKS>
1731
1732The maximum number of child processes that C<AnyEvent::Util::fork_call>
1733will create in parallel.
1734
1735=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_OUTSTANDING_DNS>
1736
1737The default value for the C<max_outstanding> parameter for the default DNS
1738resolver - this is the maximum number of parallel DNS requests that are
1739sent to the DNS server.
1740
1741=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_RESOLV_CONF>
1742
1743The file to use instead of F</etc/resolv.conf> (or OS-specific
1744configuration) in the default resolver. When set to the empty string, no
1745default config will be used.
1746
1747=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_CA_FILE>, C<PERL_ANYEVENT_CA_PATH>.
1748
1749When neither C<ca_file> nor C<ca_path> was specified during
1750L<AnyEvent::TLS> context creation, and either of these environment
1751variables exist, they will be used to specify CA certificate locations
1752instead of a system-dependent default.
1753
1754=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_GUARD> and C<PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_ASYNC_INTERRUPT>
1755
1756When these are set to C<1>, then the respective modules are not
1757loaded. Mostly good for testing AnyEvent itself.
1758
1759=back
606 1760
607=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE 1761=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE
608 1762
609This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in 1763This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in
610a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to 1764a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to
645I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to 1799I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to
646condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will 1800condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will
647C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must 1801C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must
648not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense. 1802not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense.
649 1803
650=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
651
652The following environment variables are used by this module:
653
654=over 4
655
656=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
657
658When set to C<2> or higher, cause AnyEvent to report to STDERR which event
659model it chooses.
660
661=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
662
663This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
664autodetection and -probing kicks in. It must be a string consisting
665entirely of ASCII letters. The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended
666and the resulting module name is loaded and if the load was successful,
667used as event model. If it fails to load AnyEvent will proceed with
668autodetection and -probing.
669
670This functionality might change in future versions.
671
672For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) you
673could start your program like this:
674
675 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
676
677=back
678
679=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM 1804=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM
680 1805
681The following program uses an IO watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer 1806The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer
682to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the 1807to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the
683program when the user enters quit: 1808program when the user enters quit:
684 1809
685 use AnyEvent; 1810 use AnyEvent;
686 1811
691 poll => 'r', 1816 poll => 'r',
692 cb => sub { 1817 cb => sub {
693 warn "io event <$_[0]>\n"; # will always output <r> 1818 warn "io event <$_[0]>\n"; # will always output <r>
694 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); # read a line 1819 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); # read a line
695 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read 1820 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read
696 $cv->broadcast if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i 1821 $cv->send if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i
697 }, 1822 },
698 ); 1823 );
699 1824
700 my $time_watcher; # can only be used once 1825 my $time_watcher; # can only be used once
701 1826
706 }); 1831 });
707 } 1832 }
708 1833
709 new_timer; # create first timer 1834 new_timer; # create first timer
710 1835
711 $cv->wait; # wait until user enters /^q/i 1836 $cv->recv; # wait until user enters /^q/i
712 1837
713=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE 1838=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE
714 1839
715Consider the L<Net::FCP> module. It features (among others) the following 1840Consider the L<Net::FCP> module. It features (among others) the following
716API calls, which are to freenet what HTTP GET requests are to http: 1841API calls, which are to freenet what HTTP GET requests are to http:
766 syswrite $txn->{fh}, $txn->{request} 1891 syswrite $txn->{fh}, $txn->{request}
767 or die "connection or write error"; 1892 or die "connection or write error";
768 $txn->{w} = AnyEvent->io (fh => $txn->{fh}, poll => 'r', cb => sub { $txn->fh_ready_r }); 1893 $txn->{w} = AnyEvent->io (fh => $txn->{fh}, poll => 'r', cb => sub { $txn->fh_ready_r });
769 1894
770Again, C<fh_ready_r> waits till all data has arrived, and then stores the 1895Again, C<fh_ready_r> waits till all data has arrived, and then stores the
771result and signals any possible waiters that the request ahs finished: 1896result and signals any possible waiters that the request has finished:
772 1897
773 sysread $txn->{fh}, $txn->{buf}, length $txn->{$buf}; 1898 sysread $txn->{fh}, $txn->{buf}, length $txn->{$buf};
774 1899
775 if (end-of-file or data complete) { 1900 if (end-of-file or data complete) {
776 $txn->{result} = $txn->{buf}; 1901 $txn->{result} = $txn->{buf};
777 $txn->{finished}->broadcast; 1902 $txn->{finished}->send;
778 $txb->{cb}->($txn) of $txn->{cb}; # also call callback 1903 $txb->{cb}->($txn) of $txn->{cb}; # also call callback
779 } 1904 }
780 1905
781The C<result> method, finally, just waits for the finished signal (if the 1906The C<result> method, finally, just waits for the finished signal (if the
782request was already finished, it doesn't wait, of course, and returns the 1907request was already finished, it doesn't wait, of course, and returns the
783data: 1908data:
784 1909
785 $txn->{finished}->wait; 1910 $txn->{finished}->recv;
786 return $txn->{result}; 1911 return $txn->{result};
787 1912
788The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions) 1913The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions)
789that occured during request processing. The C<result> method detects 1914that occurred during request processing. The C<result> method detects
790whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object) 1915whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object)
791and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other 1916and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other
792problems get reported tot he code that tries to use the result, not in a 1917problems get reported tot he code that tries to use the result, not in a
793random callback. 1918random callback.
794 1919
825 1950
826 my $quit = AnyEvent->condvar; 1951 my $quit = AnyEvent->condvar;
827 1952
828 $fcp->txn_client_get ($url)->cb (sub { 1953 $fcp->txn_client_get ($url)->cb (sub {
829 ... 1954 ...
830 $quit->broadcast; 1955 $quit->send;
831 }); 1956 });
832 1957
833 $quit->wait; 1958 $quit->recv;
1959
1960
1961=head1 BENCHMARKS
1962
1963To give you an idea of the performance and overheads that AnyEvent adds
1964over the event loops themselves and to give you an impression of the speed
1965of various event loops I prepared some benchmarks.
1966
1967=head2 BENCHMARKING ANYEVENT OVERHEAD
1968
1969Here is a benchmark of various supported event models used natively and
1970through AnyEvent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero
1971timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable,
1972which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again.
1973
1974Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent
1975distribution.
1976
1977=head3 Explanation of the columns
1978
1979I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since
1980different event models feature vastly different performances, each event
1981loop was given a number of watchers so that overall runtime is acceptable
1982and similar between tested event loop (and keep them from crashing): Glib
1983would probably take thousands of years if asked to process the same number
1984of watchers as EV in this benchmark.
1985
1986I<bytes> is the number of bytes (as measured by the resident set size,
1987RSS) consumed by each watcher. This method of measuring captures both C
1988and Perl-based overheads.
1989
1990I<create> is the time, in microseconds (millionths of seconds), that it
1991takes to create a single watcher. The callback is a closure shared between
1992all watchers, to avoid adding memory overhead. That means closure creation
1993and memory usage is not included in the figures.
1994
1995I<invoke> is the time, in microseconds, used to invoke a simple
1996callback. The callback simply counts down a Perl variable and after it was
1997invoked "watcher" times, it would C<< ->send >> a condvar once to
1998signal the end of this phase.
1999
2000I<destroy> is the time, in microseconds, that it takes to destroy a single
2001watcher.
2002
2003=head3 Results
2004
2005 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment
2006 EV/EV 400000 224 0.47 0.35 0.27 EV native interface
2007 EV/Any 100000 224 2.88 0.34 0.27 EV + AnyEvent watchers
2008 CoroEV/Any 100000 224 2.85 0.35 0.28 coroutines + Coro::Signal
2009 Perl/Any 100000 452 4.13 0.73 0.95 pure perl implementation
2010 Event/Event 16000 517 32.20 31.80 0.81 Event native interface
2011 Event/Any 16000 590 35.85 31.55 1.06 Event + AnyEvent watchers
2012 IOAsync/Any 16000 989 38.10 32.77 11.13 via IO::Async::Loop::IO_Poll
2013 IOAsync/Any 16000 990 37.59 29.50 10.61 via IO::Async::Loop::Epoll
2014 Glib/Any 16000 1357 102.33 12.31 51.00 quadratic behaviour
2015 Tk/Any 2000 1860 27.20 66.31 14.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers
2016 POE/Event 2000 6328 109.99 751.67 14.02 via POE::Loop::Event
2017 POE/Select 2000 6027 94.54 809.13 579.80 via POE::Loop::Select
2018
2019=head3 Discussion
2020
2021The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very
2022well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one)
2023can never compete with an event loop that uses epoll when the number of
2024file descriptors grows high. In this benchmark, all events become ready at
2025the same time, so select/poll-based implementations get an unnatural speed
2026boost.
2027
2028Also, note that the number of watchers usually has a nonlinear effect on
2029overall speed, that is, creating twice as many watchers doesn't take twice
2030the time - usually it takes longer. This puts event loops tested with a
2031higher number of watchers at a disadvantage.
2032
2033To put the range of results into perspective, consider that on the
2034benchmark machine, handling an event takes roughly 1600 CPU cycles with
2035EV, 3100 CPU cycles with AnyEvent's pure perl loop and almost 3000000 CPU
2036cycles with POE.
2037
2038C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both
2039maximal/minimal, respectively. Even when going through AnyEvent, it uses
2040far less memory than any other event loop and is still faster than Event
2041natively.
2042
2043The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the
2044constant timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl
2045interpreter and the backend itself). Nevertheless this shows that it
2046adds very little overhead in itself. Like any select-based backend its
2047performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of
2048them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark.
2049
2050The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation
2051cost, but overall scores in on the third place.
2052
2053C<IO::Async> performs admirably well, about on par with C<Event>, even
2054when using its pure perl backend.
2055
2056C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a
2057faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as
2058C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of
2059watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four,
2060making it completely unusable when using larger numbers of watchers
2061(note that only a single file descriptor was used in the benchmark, so
2062inefficiencies of C<poll> do not account for this).
2063
2064The C<Tk> adaptor works relatively well. The fact that it crashes with
2065more than 2000 watchers is a big setback, however, as correctness takes
2066precedence over speed. Nevertheless, its performance is surprising, as the
2067file descriptor is dup()ed for each watcher. This shows that the dup()
2068employed by some adaptors is not a big performance issue (it does incur a
2069hidden memory cost inside the kernel which is not reflected in the figures
2070above).
2071
2072C<POE>, regardless of underlying event loop (whether using its pure perl
2073select-based backend or the Event module, the POE-EV backend couldn't
2074be tested because it wasn't working) shows abysmal performance and
2075memory usage with AnyEvent: Watchers use almost 30 times as much memory
2076as EV watchers, and 10 times as much memory as Event (the high memory
2077requirements are caused by requiring a session for each watcher). Watcher
2078invocation speed is almost 900 times slower than with AnyEvent's pure perl
2079implementation.
2080
2081The design of the POE adaptor class in AnyEvent can not really account
2082for the performance issues, though, as session creation overhead is
2083small compared to execution of the state machine, which is coded pretty
2084optimally within L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE> (and while everybody agrees that
2085using multiple sessions is not a good approach, especially regarding
2086memory usage, even the author of POE could not come up with a faster
2087design).
2088
2089=head3 Summary
2090
2091=over 4
2092
2093=item * Using EV through AnyEvent is faster than any other event loop
2094(even when used without AnyEvent), but most event loops have acceptable
2095performance with or without AnyEvent.
2096
2097=item * The overhead AnyEvent adds is usually much smaller than the overhead of
2098the actual event loop, only with extremely fast event loops such as EV
2099adds AnyEvent significant overhead.
2100
2101=item * You should avoid POE like the plague if you want performance or
2102reasonable memory usage.
2103
2104=back
2105
2106=head2 BENCHMARKING THE LARGE SERVER CASE
2107
2108This benchmark actually benchmarks the event loop itself. It works by
2109creating a number of "servers": each server consists of a socket pair, a
2110timeout watcher that gets reset on activity (but never fires), and an I/O
2111watcher waiting for input on one side of the socket. Each time the socket
2112watcher reads a byte it will write that byte to a random other "server".
2113
2114The effect is that there will be a lot of I/O watchers, only part of which
2115are active at any one point (so there is a constant number of active
2116fds for each loop iteration, but which fds these are is random). The
2117timeout is reset each time something is read because that reflects how
2118most timeouts work (and puts extra pressure on the event loops).
2119
2120In this benchmark, we use 10000 socket pairs (20000 sockets), of which 100
2121(1%) are active. This mirrors the activity of large servers with many
2122connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time.
2123
2124Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent
2125distribution.
2126
2127=head3 Explanation of the columns
2128
2129I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as
2130each server has a read and write socket end).
2131
2132I<create> is the time it takes to create a socket pair (which is
2133nontrivial) and two watchers: an I/O watcher and a timeout watcher.
2134
2135I<request>, the most important value, is the time it takes to handle a
2136single "request", that is, reading the token from the pipe and forwarding
2137it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating
2138a new one that moves the timeout into the future.
2139
2140=head3 Results
2141
2142 name sockets create request
2143 EV 20000 69.01 11.16
2144 Perl 20000 73.32 35.87
2145 IOAsync 20000 157.00 98.14 epoll
2146 IOAsync 20000 159.31 616.06 poll
2147 Event 20000 212.62 257.32
2148 Glib 20000 651.16 1896.30
2149 POE 20000 349.67 12317.24 uses POE::Loop::Event
2150
2151=head3 Discussion
2152
2153This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the
2154particular event loop.
2155
2156EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time
2157is relatively high, though.
2158
2159Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event
2160loops Event and Glib.
2161
2162IO::Async performs very well when using its epoll backend, and still quite
2163good compared to Glib when using its pure perl backend.
2164
2165Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will
2166understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to
2167the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event
2168uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations.
2169
2170Glib is hit hard by its quadratic behaviour w.r.t. many watchers. It
2171clearly fails to perform with many filehandles or in busy servers.
2172
2173POE is still completely out of the picture, taking over 1000 times as long
2174as EV, and over 100 times as long as the Perl implementation, even though
2175it uses a C-based event loop in this case.
2176
2177=head3 Summary
2178
2179=over 4
2180
2181=item * The pure perl implementation performs extremely well.
2182
2183=item * Avoid Glib or POE in large projects where performance matters.
2184
2185=back
2186
2187=head2 BENCHMARKING SMALL SERVERS
2188
2189While event loops should scale (and select-based ones do not...) even to
2190large servers, most programs we (or I :) actually write have only a few
2191I/O watchers.
2192
2193In this benchmark, I use the same benchmark program as in the large server
2194case, but it uses only eight "servers", of which three are active at any
2195one time. This should reflect performance for a small server relatively
2196well.
2197
2198The columns are identical to the previous table.
2199
2200=head3 Results
2201
2202 name sockets create request
2203 EV 16 20.00 6.54
2204 Perl 16 25.75 12.62
2205 Event 16 81.27 35.86
2206 Glib 16 32.63 15.48
2207 POE 16 261.87 276.28 uses POE::Loop::Event
2208
2209=head3 Discussion
2210
2211The benchmark tries to test the performance of a typical small
2212server. While knowing how various event loops perform is interesting, keep
2213in mind that their overhead in this case is usually not as important, due
2214to the small absolute number of watchers (that is, you need efficiency and
2215speed most when you have lots of watchers, not when you only have a few of
2216them).
2217
2218EV is again fastest.
2219
2220Perl again comes second. It is noticeably faster than the C-based event
2221loops Event and Glib, although the difference is too small to really
2222matter.
2223
2224POE also performs much better in this case, but is is still far behind the
2225others.
2226
2227=head3 Summary
2228
2229=over 4
2230
2231=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of
2232watchers, as the management overhead dominates.
2233
2234=back
2235
2236=head2 THE IO::Lambda BENCHMARK
2237
2238Recently I was told about the benchmark in the IO::Lambda manpage, which
2239could be misinterpreted to make AnyEvent look bad. In fact, the benchmark
2240simply compares IO::Lambda with POE, and IO::Lambda looks better (which
2241shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody). As such, the benchmark is
2242fine, and mostly shows that the AnyEvent backend from IO::Lambda isn't
2243very optimal. But how would AnyEvent compare when used without the extra
2244baggage? To explore this, I wrote the equivalent benchmark for AnyEvent.
2245
2246The benchmark itself creates an echo-server, and then, for 500 times,
2247connects to the echo server, sends a line, waits for the reply, and then
2248creates the next connection. This is a rather bad benchmark, as it doesn't
2249test the efficiency of the framework or much non-blocking I/O, but it is a
2250benchmark nevertheless.
2251
2252 name runtime
2253 Lambda/select 0.330 sec
2254 + optimized 0.122 sec
2255 Lambda/AnyEvent 0.327 sec
2256 + optimized 0.138 sec
2257 Raw sockets/select 0.077 sec
2258 POE/select, components 0.662 sec
2259 POE/select, raw sockets 0.226 sec
2260 POE/select, optimized 0.404 sec
2261
2262 AnyEvent/select/nb 0.085 sec
2263 AnyEvent/EV/nb 0.068 sec
2264 +state machine 0.134 sec
2265
2266The benchmark is also a bit unfair (my fault): the IO::Lambda/POE
2267benchmarks actually make blocking connects and use 100% blocking I/O,
2268defeating the purpose of an event-based solution. All of the newly
2269written AnyEvent benchmarks use 100% non-blocking connects (using
2270AnyEvent::Socket::tcp_connect and the asynchronous pure perl DNS
2271resolver), so AnyEvent is at a disadvantage here, as non-blocking connects
2272generally require a lot more bookkeeping and event handling than blocking
2273connects (which involve a single syscall only).
2274
2275The last AnyEvent benchmark additionally uses L<AnyEvent::Handle>, which
2276offers similar expressive power as POE and IO::Lambda, using conventional
2277Perl syntax. This means that both the echo server and the client are 100%
2278non-blocking, further placing it at a disadvantage.
2279
2280As you can see, the AnyEvent + EV combination even beats the
2281hand-optimised "raw sockets benchmark", while AnyEvent + its pure perl
2282backend easily beats IO::Lambda and POE.
2283
2284And even the 100% non-blocking version written using the high-level (and
2285slow :) L<AnyEvent::Handle> abstraction beats both POE and IO::Lambda by a
2286large margin, even though it does all of DNS, tcp-connect and socket I/O
2287in a non-blocking way.
2288
2289The two AnyEvent benchmarks programs can be found as F<eg/ae0.pl> and
2290F<eg/ae2.pl> in the AnyEvent distribution, the remaining benchmarks are
2291part of the IO::lambda distribution and were used without any changes.
2292
2293
2294=head1 SIGNALS
2295
2296AnyEvent currently installs handlers for these signals:
2297
2298=over 4
2299
2300=item SIGCHLD
2301
2302A handler for C<SIGCHLD> is installed by AnyEvent's child watcher
2303emulation for event loops that do not support them natively. Also, some
2304event loops install a similar handler.
2305
2306Additionally, when AnyEvent is loaded and SIGCHLD is set to IGNORE, then
2307AnyEvent will reset it to default, to avoid losing child exit statuses.
2308
2309=item SIGPIPE
2310
2311A no-op handler is installed for C<SIGPIPE> when C<$SIG{PIPE}> is C<undef>
2312when AnyEvent gets loaded.
2313
2314The rationale for this is that AnyEvent users usually do not really depend
2315on SIGPIPE delivery (which is purely an optimisation for shell use, or
2316badly-written programs), but C<SIGPIPE> can cause spurious and rare
2317program exits as a lot of people do not expect C<SIGPIPE> when writing to
2318some random socket.
2319
2320The rationale for installing a no-op handler as opposed to ignoring it is
2321that this way, the handler will be restored to defaults on exec.
2322
2323Feel free to install your own handler, or reset it to defaults.
2324
2325=back
2326
2327=cut
2328
2329undef $SIG{CHLD}
2330 if $SIG{CHLD} eq 'IGNORE';
2331
2332$SIG{PIPE} = sub { }
2333 unless defined $SIG{PIPE};
2334
2335=head1 RECOMMENDED/OPTIONAL MODULES
2336
2337One of AnyEvent's main goals is to be 100% Pure-Perl(tm): only perl (and
2338it's built-in modules) are required to use it.
2339
2340That does not mean that AnyEvent won't take advantage of some additional
2341modules if they are installed.
2342
2343This section epxlains which additional modules will be used, and how they
2344affect AnyEvent's operetion.
2345
2346=over 4
2347
2348=item L<Async::Interrupt>
2349
2350This slightly arcane module is used to implement fast signal handling: To
2351my knowledge, there is no way to do completely race-free and quick
2352signal handling in pure perl. To ensure that signals still get
2353delivered, AnyEvent will start an interval timer to wake up perl (and
2354catch the signals) with some delay (default is 10 seconds, look for
2355C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>).
2356
2357If this module is available, then it will be used to implement signal
2358catching, which means that signals will not be delayed, and the event loop
2359will not be interrupted regularly, which is more efficient (And good for
2360battery life on laptops).
2361
2362This affects not just the pure-perl event loop, but also other event loops
2363that have no signal handling on their own (e.g. Glib, Tk, Qt).
2364
2365Some event loops (POE, Event, Event::Lib) offer signal watchers natively,
2366and either employ their own workarounds (POE) or use AnyEvent's workaround
2367(using C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>). Installing L<Async::Interrupt>
2368does nothing for those backends.
2369
2370=item L<EV>
2371
2372This module isn't really "optional", as it is simply one of the backend
2373event loops that AnyEvent can use. However, it is simply the best event
2374loop available in terms of features, speed and stability: It supports
2375the AnyEvent API optimally, implements all the watcher types in XS, does
2376automatic timer adjustments even when no monotonic clock is available,
2377can take avdantage of advanced kernel interfaces such as C<epoll> and
2378C<kqueue>, and is the fastest backend I<by far>. You can even embed
2379L<Glib>/L<Gtk2> in it (or vice versa, see L<EV::Glib> and L<Glib::EV>).
2380
2381=item L<Guard>
2382
2383The guard module, when used, will be used to implement
2384C<AnyEvent::Util::guard>. This speeds up guards considerably (and uses a
2385lot less memory), but otherwise doesn't affect guard operation much. It is
2386purely used for performance.
2387
2388=item L<JSON> and L<JSON::XS>
2389
2390This module is required when you want to read or write JSON data via
2391L<AnyEvent::Handle>. It is also written in pure-perl, but can take
2392advantage of the ultra-high-speed L<JSON::XS> module when it is installed.
2393
2394In fact, L<AnyEvent::Handle> will use L<JSON::XS> by default if it is
2395installed.
2396
2397=item L<Net::SSLeay>
2398
2399Implementing TLS/SSL in Perl is certainly interesting, but not very
2400worthwhile: If this module is installed, then L<AnyEvent::Handle> (with
2401the help of L<AnyEvent::TLS>), gains the ability to do TLS/SSL.
2402
2403=item L<Time::HiRes>
2404
2405This module is part of perl since release 5.008. It will be used when the
2406chosen event library does not come with a timing source on it's own. The
2407pure-perl event loop (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) will additionally use it to
2408try to use a monotonic clock for timing stability.
2409
2410=back
2411
834 2412
835=head1 FORK 2413=head1 FORK
836 2414
837Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are 2415Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are
838because they are so inefficient. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware. 2416because they rely on inefficient but fork-safe C<select> or C<poll>
2417calls. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware.
839 2418
840If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first 2419If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first
841watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child. 2420watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child OR you must do
2421something completely out of the scope of AnyEvent.
2422
842 2423
843=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS 2424=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
844 2425
845AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via 2426AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via
846$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}. While this cannot (to my knowledge) be used to 2427$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}. While this cannot (to my knowledge) be used to
850specified in the variable. 2431specified in the variable.
851 2432
852You can make AnyEvent completely ignore this variable by deleting it 2433You can make AnyEvent completely ignore this variable by deleting it
853before the first watcher gets created, e.g. with a C<BEGIN> block: 2434before the first watcher gets created, e.g. with a C<BEGIN> block:
854 2435
855 BEGIN { delete $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} } 2436 BEGIN { delete $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} }
856 2437
857 use AnyEvent; 2438 use AnyEvent;
2439
2440Similar considerations apply to $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}, as that can
2441be used to probe what backend is used and gain other information (which is
2442probably even less useful to an attacker than PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), and
2443$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT}.
2444
2445Note that AnyEvent will remove I<all> environment variables starting with
2446C<PERL_ANYEVENT_> from C<%ENV> when it is loaded while taint mode is
2447enabled.
2448
2449
2450=head1 BUGS
2451
2452Perl 5.8 has numerous memleaks that sometimes hit this module and are hard
2453to work around. If you suffer from memleaks, first upgrade to Perl 5.10
2454and check wether the leaks still show up. (Perl 5.10.0 has other annoying
2455memleaks, such as leaking on C<map> and C<grep> but it is usually not as
2456pronounced).
2457
858 2458
859=head1 SEE ALSO 2459=head1 SEE ALSO
860 2460
861Event modules: L<Coro::EV>, L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>, L<Glib::EV>, 2461Utility functions: L<AnyEvent::Util>.
862L<Coro::Event>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>, L<Glib>, L<Coro>, L<Tk>,
863L<Event::Lib>.
864 2462
865Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, 2463Event modules: L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>, L<Glib::EV>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>,
2464L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>.
2465
2466Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>,
2467L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>,
2468L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>,
866L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, 2469L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync>, L<Anyevent::Impl::Irssi>.
867L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>.
868 2470
2471Non-blocking file handles, sockets, TCP clients and
2472servers: L<AnyEvent::Handle>, L<AnyEvent::Socket>, L<AnyEvent::TLS>.
2473
2474Asynchronous DNS: L<AnyEvent::DNS>.
2475
2476Coroutine support: L<Coro>, L<Coro::AnyEvent>, L<Coro::EV>,
2477L<Coro::Event>,
2478
869Nontrivial usage examples: L<Net::FCP>, L<Net::XMPP2>. 2479Nontrivial usage examples: L<AnyEvent::GPSD>, L<AnyEvent::XMPP>,
2480L<AnyEvent::HTTP>.
2481
870 2482
871=head1 AUTHOR 2483=head1 AUTHOR
872 2484
873 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 2485 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
874 http://home.schmorp.de/ 2486 http://home.schmorp.de/
875 2487
876=cut 2488=cut
877 2489
8781 24901
879 2491

Diff Legend

Removed lines
+ Added lines
< Changed lines
> Changed lines