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1=head1 NAME 1=head1 NAME
2 2
3AnyEvent - provide framework for multiple event loops 3AnyEvent - the DBI of event loop programming
4 4
5EV, Event, Coro::EV, Coro::Event, Glib, Tk, Perl, Event::Lib, Qt, POE - various supported event loops 5EV, Event, Glib, Tk, Perl, Event::Lib, Irssi, rxvt-unicode, IO::Async, Qt
6and POE are various supported event loops/environments.
6 7
7=head1 SYNOPSIS 8=head1 SYNOPSIS
8 9
9 use AnyEvent; 10 use AnyEvent;
10 11
12 # if you prefer function calls, look at the AE manpage for
13 # an alternative API.
14
15 # file handle or descriptor readable
11 my $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh, poll => "r|w", cb => sub { 16 my $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh, poll => "r", cb => sub { ... });
17
18 # one-shot or repeating timers
19 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, cb => sub { ... });
20 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, interval => $seconds, cb => ...);
21
22 print AnyEvent->now; # prints current event loop time
23 print AnyEvent->time; # think Time::HiRes::time or simply CORE::time.
24
25 # POSIX signal
26 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "TERM", cb => sub { ... });
27
28 # child process exit
29 my $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => $pid, cb => sub {
30 my ($pid, $status) = @_;
12 ... 31 ...
13 }); 32 });
14 33
15 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, cb => sub { 34 # called when event loop idle (if applicable)
16 ... 35 my $w = AnyEvent->idle (cb => sub { ... });
17 });
18 36
19 my $w = AnyEvent->condvar; # stores whether a condition was flagged 37 my $w = AnyEvent->condvar; # stores whether a condition was flagged
38 $w->send; # wake up current and all future recv's
20 $w->wait; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->broadcast 39 $w->recv; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->send
21 $w->broadcast; # wake up current and all future wait's 40 # use a condvar in callback mode:
41 $w->cb (sub { $_[0]->recv });
42
43=head1 INTRODUCTION/TUTORIAL
44
45This manpage is mainly a reference manual. If you are interested
46in a tutorial or some gentle introduction, have a look at the
47L<AnyEvent::Intro> manpage.
48
49=head1 SUPPORT
50
51An FAQ document is available as L<AnyEvent::FAQ>.
52
53There also is a mailinglist for discussing all things AnyEvent, and an IRC
54channel, too.
55
56See the AnyEvent project page at the B<Schmorpforge Ta-Sa Software
57Repository>, at L<http://anyevent.schmorp.de>, for more info.
22 58
23=head1 WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS MODULE (OR NOT) 59=head1 WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS MODULE (OR NOT)
24 60
25Glib, POE, IO::Async, Event... CPAN offers event models by the dozen 61Glib, POE, IO::Async, Event... CPAN offers event models by the dozen
26nowadays. So what is different about AnyEvent? 62nowadays. So what is different about AnyEvent?
27 63
28Executive Summary: AnyEvent is I<compatible>, AnyEvent is I<free of 64Executive Summary: AnyEvent is I<compatible>, AnyEvent is I<free of
29policy> and AnyEvent is I<small and efficient>. 65policy> and AnyEvent is I<small and efficient>.
30 66
31First and foremost, I<AnyEvent is not an event model> itself, it only 67First and foremost, I<AnyEvent is not an event model> itself, it only
32interfaces to whatever event model the main program happens to use in a 68interfaces to whatever event model the main program happens to use, in a
33pragmatic way. For event models and certain classes of immortals alike, 69pragmatic way. For event models and certain classes of immortals alike,
34the statement "there can only be one" is a bitter reality: In general, 70the statement "there can only be one" is a bitter reality: In general,
35only one event loop can be active at the same time in a process. AnyEvent 71only one event loop can be active at the same time in a process. AnyEvent
36helps hiding the differences between those event loops. 72cannot change this, but it can hide the differences between those event
73loops.
37 74
38The goal of AnyEvent is to offer module authors the ability to do event 75The goal of AnyEvent is to offer module authors the ability to do event
39programming (waiting for I/O or timer events) without subscribing to a 76programming (waiting for I/O or timer events) without subscribing to a
40religion, a way of living, and most importantly: without forcing your 77religion, a way of living, and most importantly: without forcing your
41module users into the same thing by forcing them to use the same event 78module users into the same thing by forcing them to use the same event
42model you use. 79model you use.
43 80
44For modules like POE or IO::Async (which is a total misnomer as it is 81For modules like POE or IO::Async (which is a total misnomer as it is
45actually doing all I/O I<synchronously>...), using them in your module is 82actually doing all I/O I<synchronously>...), using them in your module is
46like joining a cult: After you joined, you are dependent on them and you 83like joining a cult: After you join, you are dependent on them and you
47cannot use anything else, as it is simply incompatible to everything that 84cannot use anything else, as they are simply incompatible to everything
48isn't itself. What's worse, all the potential users of your module are 85that isn't them. What's worse, all the potential users of your
49I<also> forced to use the same event loop you use. 86module are I<also> forced to use the same event loop you use.
50 87
51AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works 88AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works
52fine. AnyEvent + Tk works fine etc. etc. but none of these work together 89fine. AnyEvent + Tk works fine etc. etc. but none of these work together
53with the rest: POE + IO::Async? no go. Tk + Event? no go. Again: if 90with the rest: POE + EV? No go. Tk + Event? No go. Again: if your module
54your module uses one of those, every user of your module has to use it, 91uses one of those, every user of your module has to use it, too. But if
55too. But if your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all 92your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all event models it
56event models it supports (including stuff like POE and IO::Async, as long 93supports (including stuff like IO::Async, as long as those use one of the
57as those use one of the supported event loops. It is trivial to add new 94supported event loops. It is easy to add new event loops to AnyEvent, too,
58event loops to AnyEvent, too, so it is future-proof). 95so it is future-proof).
59 96
60In addition to being free of having to use I<the one and only true event 97In addition to being free of having to use I<the one and only true event
61model>, AnyEvent also is free of bloat and policy: with POE or similar 98model>, AnyEvent also is free of bloat and policy: with POE or similar
62modules, you get an enourmous amount of code and strict rules you have to 99modules, 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 100follow. AnyEvent, on the other hand, is lean and to the point, by only
64offering the functionality that is necessary, in as thin as a wrapper as 101offering the functionality that is necessary, in as thin as a wrapper as
65technically possible. 102technically possible.
66 103
104Of course, AnyEvent comes with a big (and fully optional!) toolbox
105of useful functionality, such as an asynchronous DNS resolver, 100%
106non-blocking connects (even with TLS/SSL, IPv6 and on broken platforms
107such as Windows) and lots of real-world knowledge and workarounds for
108platform bugs and differences.
109
67Of course, if you want lots of policy (this can arguably be somewhat 110Now, 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 111useful) and you want to force your users to use the one and only event
69model, you should I<not> use this module. 112model, you should I<not> use this module.
70 113
71
72=head1 DESCRIPTION 114=head1 DESCRIPTION
73 115
74L<AnyEvent> provides an identical interface to multiple event loops. This 116L<AnyEvent> provides a uniform interface to various event loops. This
75allows module authors to utilise an event loop without forcing module 117allows module authors to use event loop functionality without forcing
76users to use the same event loop (as only a single event loop can coexist 118module users to use a specific event loop implementation (since more
77peacefully at any one time). 119than one event loop cannot coexist peacefully).
78 120
79The interface itself is vaguely similar, but not identical to the L<Event> 121The interface itself is vaguely similar, but not identical to the L<Event>
80module. 122module.
81 123
82During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries 124During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries
83to detect the currently loaded event loop by probing whether one of the 125to detect the currently loaded event loop by probing whether one of the
84following modules is already loaded: L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>, L<EV>, 126following modules is already loaded: L<EV>, L<AnyEvent::Loop>,
85L<Event>, L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, 127L<Event>, L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>. The first one
86L<POE>. The first one found is used. If none are found, the module tries 128found is used. If none are detected, the module tries to load the first
87to load these modules (excluding Event::Lib, Qt and POE as the pure perl 129four modules in the order given; but note that if L<EV> is not
88adaptor should always succeed) in the order given. The first one that can 130available, the pure-perl L<AnyEvent::Loop> should always work, so
89be successfully loaded will be used. If, after this, still none could be 131the other two are not normally tried.
90found, AnyEvent will fall back to a pure-perl event loop, which is not
91very efficient, but should work everywhere.
92 132
93Because AnyEvent first checks for modules that are already loaded, loading 133Because AnyEvent first checks for modules that are already loaded, loading
94an event model explicitly before first using AnyEvent will likely make 134an event model explicitly before first using AnyEvent will likely make
95that model the default. For example: 135that model the default. For example:
96 136
98 use AnyEvent; 138 use AnyEvent;
99 139
100 # .. AnyEvent will likely default to Tk 140 # .. AnyEvent will likely default to Tk
101 141
102The I<likely> means that, if any module loads another event model and 142The I<likely> means that, if any module loads another event model and
103starts using it, all bets are off. Maybe you should tell their authors to 143starts using it, all bets are off - this case should be very rare though,
104use AnyEvent so their modules work together with others seamlessly... 144as very few modules hardcode event loops without announcing this very
145loudly.
105 146
106The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called 147The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called C<AnyEvent::Loop>. Like
107C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>. Like other event modules you can load it 148other event modules you can load it explicitly and enjoy the high
108explicitly. 149availability of that event loop :)
109 150
110=head1 WATCHERS 151=head1 WATCHERS
111 152
112AnyEvent has the central concept of a I<watcher>, which is an object that 153AnyEvent has the central concept of a I<watcher>, which is an object that
113stores relevant data for each kind of event you are waiting for, such as 154stores relevant data for each kind of event you are waiting for, such as
114the callback to call, the filehandle to watch, etc. 155the callback to call, the file handle to watch, etc.
115 156
116These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After 157These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After
117creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the 158creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the
118callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model 159callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model
119is in control). 160is in control).
120 161
162Note that B<callbacks must not permanently change global variables>
163potentially in use by the event loop (such as C<$_> or C<$[>) and that B<<
164callbacks must not C<die> >>. The former is good programming practice in
165Perl and the latter stems from the fact that exception handling differs
166widely between event loops.
167
121To disable the watcher you have to destroy it (e.g. by setting the 168To disable a watcher you have to destroy it (e.g. by setting the
122variable you store it in to C<undef> or otherwise deleting all references 169variable you store it in to C<undef> or otherwise deleting all references
123to it). 170to it).
124 171
125All watchers are created by calling a method on the C<AnyEvent> class. 172All watchers are created by calling a method on the C<AnyEvent> class.
126 173
127Many watchers either are used with "recursion" (repeating timers for 174Many watchers either are used with "recursion" (repeating timers for
128example), or need to refer to their watcher object in other ways. 175example), or need to refer to their watcher object in other ways.
129 176
130An any way to achieve that is this pattern: 177One way to achieve that is this pattern:
131 178
132 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->type (arg => value ..., cb => sub { 179 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->type (arg => value ..., cb => sub {
133 # you can use $w here, for example to undef it 180 # you can use $w here, for example to undef it
134 undef $w; 181 undef $w;
135 }); 182 });
136 183
137Note that C<my $w; $w => combination. This is necessary because in Perl, 184Note that C<my $w; $w => combination. This is necessary because in Perl,
138my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are 185my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are
139declared. 186declared.
140 187
141=head2 I/O WATCHERS 188=head2 I/O WATCHERS
142 189
190 $w = AnyEvent->io (
191 fh => <filehandle_or_fileno>,
192 poll => <"r" or "w">,
193 cb => <callback>,
194 );
195
143You can create an I/O watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->io >> method 196You can create an I/O watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->io >> method
144with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments: 197with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments:
145 198
146C<fh> the Perl I<file handle> (I<not> file descriptor) to watch for 199C<fh> is the Perl I<file handle> (or a naked file descriptor) to watch
200for events (AnyEvent might or might not keep a reference to this file
201handle). Note that only file handles pointing to things for which
202non-blocking operation makes sense are allowed. This includes sockets,
203most character devices, pipes, fifos and so on, but not for example files
204or block devices.
205
147events. C<poll> must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>, which 206C<poll> must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>, which creates a
148creates a watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, 207watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, respectively.
208
149respectively. C<cb> is the callback to invoke each time the file handle 209C<cb> is the callback to invoke each time the file handle becomes ready.
150becomes ready.
151 210
152As long as the I/O watcher exists it will keep the file descriptor or a 211Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
153copy of it alive/open. 212presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
213callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks.
154 214
215The I/O watcher might use the underlying file descriptor or a copy of it.
155It is not allowed to close a file handle as long as any watcher is active 216You must not close a file handle as long as any watcher is active on the
156on the underlying file descriptor. 217underlying file descriptor.
157 218
158Some event loops issue spurious readyness notifications, so you should 219Some event loops issue spurious readiness notifications, so you should
159always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file 220always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file
160handles. 221handles.
161 222
162Example:
163
164 # wait for readability of STDIN, then read a line and disable the watcher 223Example: wait for readability of STDIN, then read a line and disable the
224watcher.
225
165 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub { 226 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub {
166 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); 227 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>);
167 warn "read: $input\n"; 228 warn "read: $input\n";
168 undef $w; 229 undef $w;
169 }); 230 });
170 231
171=head2 TIME WATCHERS 232=head2 TIME WATCHERS
172 233
234 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => <seconds>, cb => <callback>);
235
236 $w = AnyEvent->timer (
237 after => <fractional_seconds>,
238 interval => <fractional_seconds>,
239 cb => <callback>,
240 );
241
173You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >> 242You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >>
174method with the following mandatory arguments: 243method with the following mandatory arguments:
175 244
176C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are 245C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are
177supported) should the timer activate. C<cb> the callback to invoke in that 246supported) the callback should be invoked. C<cb> is the callback to invoke
178case. 247in that case.
179 248
180The timer callback will be invoked at most once: if you want a repeating 249Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
181timer you have to create a new watcher (this is a limitation by both Tk 250presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
182and Glib). 251callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks.
183 252
184Example: 253The callback will normally be invoked only once. If you specify another
254parameter, C<interval>, as a strictly positive number (> 0), then the
255callback will be invoked regularly at that interval (in fractional
256seconds) after the first invocation. If C<interval> is specified with a
257false value, then it is treated as if it were not specified at all.
185 258
259The callback will be rescheduled before invoking the callback, but no
260attempt is made to avoid timer drift in most backends, so the interval is
261only approximate.
262
186 # fire an event after 7.7 seconds 263Example: fire an event after 7.7 seconds.
264
187 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub { 265 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub {
188 warn "timeout\n"; 266 warn "timeout\n";
189 }); 267 });
190 268
191 # to cancel the timer: 269 # to cancel the timer:
192 undef $w; 270 undef $w;
193 271
194Example 2:
195
196 # fire an event after 0.5 seconds, then roughly every second 272Example 2: fire an event after 0.5 seconds, then roughly every second.
197 my $w;
198 273
199 my $cb = sub {
200 # cancel the old timer while creating a new one
201 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => $cb); 274 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.5, interval => 1, cb => sub {
275 warn "timeout\n";
202 }; 276 };
203
204 # start the "loop" by creating the first watcher
205 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.5, cb => $cb);
206 277
207=head3 TIMING ISSUES 278=head3 TIMING ISSUES
208 279
209There are two ways to handle timers: based on real time (relative, "fire 280There are two ways to handle timers: based on real time (relative, "fire
210in 10 seconds") and based on wallclock time (absolute, "fire at 12 281in 10 seconds") and based on wallclock time (absolute, "fire at 12
212 283
213While most event loops expect timers to specified in a relative way, they 284While most event loops expect timers to specified in a relative way, they
214use absolute time internally. This makes a difference when your clock 285use absolute time internally. This makes a difference when your clock
215"jumps", for example, when ntp decides to set your clock backwards from 286"jumps", for example, when ntp decides to set your clock backwards from
216the wrong date of 2014-01-01 to 2008-01-01, a watcher that is supposed to 287the wrong date of 2014-01-01 to 2008-01-01, a watcher that is supposed to
217fire "after" a second might actually take six years to finally fire. 288fire "after a second" might actually take six years to finally fire.
218 289
219AnyEvent cannot compensate for this. The only event loop that is conscious 290AnyEvent cannot compensate for this. The only event loop that is conscious
220about these issues is L<EV>, which offers both relative (ev_timer, based 291of these issues is L<EV>, which offers both relative (ev_timer, based
221on true relative time) and absolute (ev_periodic, based on wallclock time) 292on true relative time) and absolute (ev_periodic, based on wallclock time)
222timers. 293timers.
223 294
224AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the 295AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the
225AnyEvent API. 296AnyEvent API.
226 297
298AnyEvent has two additional methods that return the "current time":
299
300=over 4
301
302=item AnyEvent->time
303
304This returns the "current wallclock time" as a fractional number of
305seconds since the Epoch (the same thing as C<time> or C<Time::HiRes::time>
306return, and the result is guaranteed to be compatible with those).
307
308It progresses independently of any event loop processing, i.e. each call
309will check the system clock, which usually gets updated frequently.
310
311=item AnyEvent->now
312
313This also returns the "current wallclock time", but unlike C<time>, above,
314this value might change only once per event loop iteration, depending on
315the event loop (most return the same time as C<time>, above). This is the
316time that AnyEvent's timers get scheduled against.
317
318I<In almost all cases (in all cases if you don't care), this is the
319function to call when you want to know the current time.>
320
321This function is also often faster then C<< AnyEvent->time >>, and
322thus the preferred method if you want some timestamp (for example,
323L<AnyEvent::Handle> uses this to update its activity timeouts).
324
325The rest of this section is only of relevance if you try to be very exact
326with your timing; you can skip it without a bad conscience.
327
328For a practical example of when these times differ, consider L<Event::Lib>
329and L<EV> and the following set-up:
330
331The event loop is running and has just invoked one of your callbacks at
332time=500 (assume no other callbacks delay processing). In your callback,
333you wait a second by executing C<sleep 1> (blocking the process for a
334second) and then (at time=501) you create a relative timer that fires
335after three seconds.
336
337With L<Event::Lib>, C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> will
338both return C<501>, because that is the current time, and the timer will
339be scheduled to fire at time=504 (C<501> + C<3>).
340
341With L<EV>, C<< AnyEvent->time >> returns C<501> (as that is the current
342time), but C<< AnyEvent->now >> returns C<500>, as that is the time the
343last event processing phase started. With L<EV>, your timer gets scheduled
344to run at time=503 (C<500> + C<3>).
345
346In one sense, L<Event::Lib> is more exact, as it uses the current time
347regardless of any delays introduced by event processing. However, most
348callbacks do not expect large delays in processing, so this causes a
349higher drift (and a lot more system calls to get the current time).
350
351In another sense, L<EV> is more exact, as your timer will be scheduled at
352the same time, regardless of how long event processing actually took.
353
354In either case, if you care (and in most cases, you don't), then you
355can get whatever behaviour you want with any event loop, by taking the
356difference between C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> into
357account.
358
359=item AnyEvent->now_update
360
361Some event loops (such as L<EV> or L<AnyEvent::Loop>) cache the current
362time for each loop iteration (see the discussion of L<< AnyEvent->now >>,
363above).
364
365When a callback runs for a long time (or when the process sleeps), then
366this "current" time will differ substantially from the real time, which
367might affect timers and time-outs.
368
369When this is the case, you can call this method, which will update the
370event loop's idea of "current time".
371
372A typical example would be a script in a web server (e.g. C<mod_perl>) -
373when mod_perl executes the script, then the event loop will have the wrong
374idea about the "current time" (being potentially far in the past, when the
375script ran the last time). In that case you should arrange a call to C<<
376AnyEvent->now_update >> each time the web server process wakes up again
377(e.g. at the start of your script, or in a handler).
378
379Note that updating the time I<might> cause some events to be handled.
380
381=back
382
227=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS 383=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS
228 384
385 $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => <uppercase_signal_name>, cb => <callback>);
386
229You can watch for signals using a signal watcher, C<signal> is the signal 387You can watch for signals using a signal watcher, C<signal> is the signal
230I<name> without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl callback to 388I<name> in uppercase and without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl
231be invoked whenever a signal occurs. 389callback to be invoked whenever a signal occurs.
232 390
391Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
392presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
393callbacks cannot use arguments passed to signal watcher callbacks.
394
233Multiple signal occurances can be clumped together into one callback 395Multiple signal occurrences can be clumped together into one callback
234invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. synchronous means 396invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. Synchronous means
235that it might take a while until the signal gets handled by the process, 397that it might take a while until the signal gets handled by the process,
236but it is guarenteed not to interrupt any other callbacks. 398but it is guaranteed not to interrupt any other callbacks.
237 399
238The main advantage of using these watchers is that you can share a signal 400The main advantage of using these watchers is that you can share a signal
239between multiple watchers. 401between multiple watchers, and AnyEvent will ensure that signals will not
402interrupt your program at bad times.
240 403
241This watcher might use C<%SIG>, so programs overwriting those signals 404This watcher might use C<%SIG> (depending on the event loop used),
242directly will likely not work correctly. 405so programs overwriting those signals directly will likely not work
406correctly.
243 407
244Example: exit on SIGINT 408Example: exit on SIGINT
245 409
246 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 }); 410 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 });
247 411
412=head3 Restart Behaviour
413
414While restart behaviour is up to the event loop implementation, most will
415not restart syscalls (that includes L<Async::Interrupt> and AnyEvent's
416pure perl implementation).
417
418=head3 Safe/Unsafe Signals
419
420Perl signals can be either "safe" (synchronous to opcode handling) or
421"unsafe" (asynchronous) - the former might get delayed indefinitely, the
422latter might corrupt your memory.
423
424AnyEvent signal handlers are, in addition, synchronous to the event loop,
425i.e. they will not interrupt your running perl program but will only be
426called as part of the normal event handling (just like timer, I/O etc.
427callbacks, too).
428
429=head3 Signal Races, Delays and Workarounds
430
431Many event loops (e.g. Glib, Tk, Qt, IO::Async) do not support attaching
432callbacks to signals in a generic way, which is a pity, as you cannot
433do race-free signal handling in perl, requiring C libraries for
434this. AnyEvent will try to do its best, which means in some cases,
435signals will be delayed. The maximum time a signal might be delayed is
436specified in C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY> (default: 10 seconds). This
437variable can be changed only before the first signal watcher is created,
438and should be left alone otherwise. This variable determines how often
439AnyEvent polls for signals (in case a wake-up was missed). Higher values
440will cause fewer spurious wake-ups, which is better for power and CPU
441saving.
442
443All these problems can be avoided by installing the optional
444L<Async::Interrupt> module, which works with most event loops. It will not
445work with inherently broken event loops such as L<Event> or L<Event::Lib>
446(and not with L<POE> currently, as POE does its own workaround with
447one-second latency). For those, you just have to suffer the delays.
448
248=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS 449=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS
249 450
451 $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => <process id>, cb => <callback>);
452
250You can also watch on a child process exit and catch its exit status. 453You can also watch for a child process exit and catch its exit status.
251 454
252The child process is specified by the C<pid> argument (if set to C<0>, it 455The child process is specified by the C<pid> argument (on some backends,
253watches for any child process exit). The watcher will trigger as often 456using C<0> watches for any child process exit, on others this will
254as status change for the child are received. This works by installing a 457croak). The watcher will be triggered only when the child process has
255signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>. The callback will be called with the pid 458finished and an exit status is available, not on any trace events
256and exit status (as returned by waitpid). 459(stopped/continued).
257 460
258Example: wait for pid 1333 461The callback will be called with the pid and exit status (as returned by
462waitpid), so unlike other watcher types, you I<can> rely on child watcher
463callback arguments.
259 464
465This watcher type works by installing a signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>,
466and since it cannot be shared, nothing else should use SIGCHLD or reap
467random child processes (waiting for specific child processes, e.g. inside
468C<system>, is just fine).
469
470There is a slight catch to child watchers, however: you usually start them
471I<after> the child process was created, and this means the process could
472have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore).
473
474Not all event models handle this correctly (neither POE nor IO::Async do,
475see their AnyEvent::Impl manpages for details), but even for event models
476that I<do> handle this correctly, they usually need to be loaded before
477the process exits (i.e. before you fork in the first place). AnyEvent's
478pure perl event loop handles all cases correctly regardless of when you
479start the watcher.
480
481This means you cannot create a child watcher as the very first
482thing in an AnyEvent program, you I<have> to create at least one
483watcher before you C<fork> the child (alternatively, you can call
484C<AnyEvent::detect>).
485
486As most event loops do not support waiting for child events, they will be
487emulated by AnyEvent in most cases, in which case the latency and race
488problems mentioned in the description of signal watchers apply.
489
490Example: fork a process and wait for it
491
492 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
493
494 my $pid = fork or exit 5;
495
260 my $w = AnyEvent->child ( 496 my $w = AnyEvent->child (
261 pid => 1333, 497 pid => $pid,
262 cb => sub { 498 cb => sub {
263 my ($pid, $status) = @_; 499 my ($pid, $status) = @_;
264 warn "pid $pid exited with status $status"; 500 warn "pid $pid exited with status $status";
501 $done->send;
265 }, 502 },
266 ); 503 );
504
505 # do something else, then wait for process exit
506 $done->recv;
507
508=head2 IDLE WATCHERS
509
510 $w = AnyEvent->idle (cb => <callback>);
511
512This will repeatedly invoke the callback after the process becomes idle,
513until either the watcher is destroyed or new events have been detected.
514
515Idle watchers are useful when there is a need to do something, but it
516is not so important (or wise) to do it instantly. The callback will be
517invoked only when there is "nothing better to do", which is usually
518defined as "all outstanding events have been handled and no new events
519have been detected". That means that idle watchers ideally get invoked
520when the event loop has just polled for new events but none have been
521detected. Instead of blocking to wait for more events, the idle watchers
522will be invoked.
523
524Unfortunately, most event loops do not really support idle watchers (only
525EV, Event and Glib do it in a usable fashion) - for the rest, AnyEvent
526will simply call the callback "from time to time".
527
528Example: read lines from STDIN, but only process them when the
529program is otherwise idle:
530
531 my @lines; # read data
532 my $idle_w;
533 my $io_w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub {
534 push @lines, scalar <STDIN>;
535
536 # start an idle watcher, if not already done
537 $idle_w ||= AnyEvent->idle (cb => sub {
538 # handle only one line, when there are lines left
539 if (my $line = shift @lines) {
540 print "handled when idle: $line";
541 } else {
542 # otherwise disable the idle watcher again
543 undef $idle_w;
544 }
545 });
546 });
267 547
268=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES 548=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES
269 549
550 $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
551
552 $cv->send (<list>);
553 my @res = $cv->recv;
554
555If you are familiar with some event loops you will know that all of them
556require you to run some blocking "loop", "run" or similar function that
557will actively watch for new events and call your callbacks.
558
559AnyEvent is slightly different: it expects somebody else to run the event
560loop and will only block when necessary (usually when told by the user).
561
562The tool to do that is called a "condition variable", so called because
563they represent a condition that must become true.
564
565Now is probably a good time to look at the examples further below.
566
270Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar >> 567Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar
271method without any arguments. 568>> method, usually without arguments. The only argument pair allowed is
569C<cb>, which specifies a callback to be called when the condition variable
570becomes true, with the condition variable as the first argument (but not
571the results).
272 572
273A condition variable waits for a condition - precisely that the C<< 573After creation, the condition variable is "false" until it becomes "true"
274->broadcast >> method has been called. 574by calling the C<send> method (or calling the condition variable as if it
575were a callback, read about the caveats in the description for the C<<
576->send >> method).
275 577
276They are very useful to signal that a condition has been fulfilled, for 578Since condition variables are the most complex part of the AnyEvent API, here are
579some different mental models of what they are - pick the ones you can connect to:
580
581=over 4
582
583=item * Condition variables are like callbacks - you can call them (and pass them instead
584of callbacks). Unlike callbacks however, you can also wait for them to be called.
585
586=item * Condition variables are signals - one side can emit or send them,
587the other side can wait for them, or install a handler that is called when
588the signal fires.
589
590=item * Condition variables are like "Merge Points" - points in your program
591where you merge multiple independent results/control flows into one.
592
593=item * Condition variables represent a transaction - functions that start
594some kind of transaction can return them, leaving the caller the choice
595between waiting in a blocking fashion, or setting a callback.
596
597=item * Condition variables represent future values, or promises to deliver
598some result, long before the result is available.
599
600=back
601
602Condition variables are very useful to signal that something has finished,
277example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests, 603for example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests,
278then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the 604then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the
279availability of results. 605availability of results. The user can either act when the callback is
606called or can synchronously C<< ->recv >> for the results.
280 607
281You can also use condition variables to block your main program until 608You can also use them to simulate traditional event loops - for example,
282an event occurs - for example, you could C<< ->wait >> in your main 609you can block your main program until an event occurs - for example, you
283program until the user clicks the Quit button in your app, which would C<< 610could C<< ->recv >> in your main program until the user clicks the Quit
284->broadcast >> the "quit" event. 611button of your app, which would C<< ->send >> the "quit" event.
285 612
286Note that condition variables recurse into the event loop - if you have 613Note that condition variables recurse into the event loop - if you have
287two pirces of code that call C<< ->wait >> in a round-robbin fashion, you 614two pieces of code that call C<< ->recv >> in a round-robin fashion, you
288lose. Therefore, condition variables are good to export to your caller, but 615lose. Therefore, condition variables are good to export to your caller, but
289you should avoid making a blocking wait yourself, at least in callbacks, 616you should avoid making a blocking wait yourself, at least in callbacks,
290as this asks for trouble. 617as this asks for trouble.
291 618
292This object has two methods: 619Condition variables are represented by hash refs in perl, and the keys
620used by AnyEvent itself are all named C<_ae_XXX> to make subclassing
621easy (it is often useful to build your own transaction class on top of
622AnyEvent). To subclass, use C<AnyEvent::CondVar> as base class and call
623its C<new> method in your own C<new> method.
624
625There are two "sides" to a condition variable - the "producer side" which
626eventually calls C<< -> send >>, and the "consumer side", which waits
627for the send to occur.
628
629Example: wait for a timer.
630
631 # condition: "wait till the timer is fired"
632 my $timer_fired = AnyEvent->condvar;
633
634 # create the timer - we could wait for, say
635 # a handle becomign ready, or even an
636 # AnyEvent::HTTP request to finish, but
637 # in this case, we simply use a timer:
638 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (
639 after => 1,
640 cb => sub { $timer_fired->send },
641 );
642
643 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the callback
644 # calls ->send
645 $timer_fired->recv;
646
647Example: wait for a timer, but take advantage of the fact that condition
648variables are also callable directly.
649
650 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
651 my $delay = AnyEvent->timer (after => 5, cb => $done);
652 $done->recv;
653
654Example: Imagine an API that returns a condvar and doesn't support
655callbacks. This is how you make a synchronous call, for example from
656the main program:
657
658 use AnyEvent::CouchDB;
659
660 ...
661
662 my @info = $couchdb->info->recv;
663
664And this is how you would just set a callback to be called whenever the
665results are available:
666
667 $couchdb->info->cb (sub {
668 my @info = $_[0]->recv;
669 });
670
671=head3 METHODS FOR PRODUCERS
672
673These methods should only be used by the producing side, i.e. the
674code/module that eventually sends the signal. Note that it is also
675the producer side which creates the condvar in most cases, but it isn't
676uncommon for the consumer to create it as well.
293 677
294=over 4 678=over 4
295 679
680=item $cv->send (...)
681
682Flag the condition as ready - a running C<< ->recv >> and all further
683calls to C<recv> will (eventually) return after this method has been
684called. If nobody is waiting the send will be remembered.
685
686If a callback has been set on the condition variable, it is called
687immediately from within send.
688
689Any arguments passed to the C<send> call will be returned by all
690future C<< ->recv >> calls.
691
692Condition variables are overloaded so one can call them directly (as if
693they were a code reference). Calling them directly is the same as calling
694C<send>.
695
696=item $cv->croak ($error)
697
698Similar to send, but causes all calls to C<< ->recv >> to invoke
699C<Carp::croak> with the given error message/object/scalar.
700
701This can be used to signal any errors to the condition variable
702user/consumer. Doing it this way instead of calling C<croak> directly
703delays the error detection, but has the overwhelming advantage that it
704diagnoses the error at the place where the result is expected, and not
705deep in some event callback with no connection to the actual code causing
706the problem.
707
708=item $cv->begin ([group callback])
709
296=item $cv->wait 710=item $cv->end
297 711
298Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->broadcast >> method has been 712These two methods can be used to combine many transactions/events into
299called on c<$cv>, while servicing other watchers normally. 713one. For example, a function that pings many hosts in parallel might want
714to use a condition variable for the whole process.
300 715
716Every call to C<< ->begin >> will increment a counter, and every call to
717C<< ->end >> will decrement it. If the counter reaches C<0> in C<< ->end
718>>, the (last) callback passed to C<begin> will be executed, passing the
719condvar as first argument. That callback is I<supposed> to call C<< ->send
720>>, but that is not required. If no group callback was set, C<send> will
721be called without any arguments.
722
723You can think of C<< $cv->send >> giving you an OR condition (one call
724sends), while C<< $cv->begin >> and C<< $cv->end >> giving you an AND
725condition (all C<begin> calls must be C<end>'ed before the condvar sends).
726
727Let's start with a simple example: you have two I/O watchers (for example,
728STDOUT and STDERR for a program), and you want to wait for both streams to
729close before activating a condvar:
730
731 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
732
733 $cv->begin; # first watcher
734 my $w1 = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh1, cb => sub {
735 defined sysread $fh1, my $buf, 4096
736 or $cv->end;
737 });
738
739 $cv->begin; # second watcher
740 my $w2 = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh2, cb => sub {
741 defined sysread $fh2, my $buf, 4096
742 or $cv->end;
743 });
744
745 $cv->recv;
746
747This works because for every event source (EOF on file handle), there is
748one call to C<begin>, so the condvar waits for all calls to C<end> before
749sending.
750
751The ping example mentioned above is slightly more complicated, as the
752there are results to be passwd back, and the number of tasks that are
753begun can potentially be zero:
754
755 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
756
757 my %result;
758 $cv->begin (sub { shift->send (\%result) });
759
760 for my $host (@list_of_hosts) {
761 $cv->begin;
762 ping_host_then_call_callback $host, sub {
763 $result{$host} = ...;
764 $cv->end;
765 };
766 }
767
768 $cv->end;
769
770This code fragment supposedly pings a number of hosts and calls
771C<send> after results for all then have have been gathered - in any
772order. To achieve this, the code issues a call to C<begin> when it starts
773each ping request and calls C<end> when it has received some result for
774it. Since C<begin> and C<end> only maintain a counter, the order in which
775results arrive is not relevant.
776
777There is an additional bracketing call to C<begin> and C<end> outside the
778loop, which serves two important purposes: first, it sets the callback
779to be called once the counter reaches C<0>, and second, it ensures that
780C<send> is called even when C<no> hosts are being pinged (the loop
781doesn't execute once).
782
783This is the general pattern when you "fan out" into multiple (but
784potentially zero) subrequests: use an outer C<begin>/C<end> pair to set
785the callback and ensure C<end> is called at least once, and then, for each
786subrequest you start, call C<begin> and for each subrequest you finish,
787call C<end>.
788
789=back
790
791=head3 METHODS FOR CONSUMERS
792
793These methods should only be used by the consuming side, i.e. the
794code awaits the condition.
795
796=over 4
797
798=item $cv->recv
799
800Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->send >> or C<< ->croak
801>> methods have been called on C<$cv>, while servicing other watchers
802normally.
803
301You can only wait once on a condition - additional calls will return 804You can only wait once on a condition - additional calls are valid but
302immediately. 805will return immediately.
806
807If an error condition has been set by calling C<< ->croak >>, then this
808function will call C<croak>.
809
810In list context, all parameters passed to C<send> will be returned,
811in scalar context only the first one will be returned.
812
813Note that doing a blocking wait in a callback is not supported by any
814event loop, that is, recursive invocation of a blocking C<< ->recv
815>> is not allowed, and the C<recv> call will C<croak> if such a
816condition is detected. This condition can be slightly loosened by using
817L<Coro::AnyEvent>, which allows you to do a blocking C<< ->recv >> from
818any thread that doesn't run the event loop itself.
303 819
304Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case 820Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case
305(programs might want to do that to stay interactive), so I<if you are 821(programs might want to do that to stay interactive), so I<if you are
306using this from a module, never require a blocking wait>, but let the 822using this from a module, never require a blocking wait>. Instead, let the
307caller decide whether the call will block or not (for example, by coupling 823caller decide whether the call will block or not (for example, by coupling
308condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting 824condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting
309callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block, 825callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block,
310while still suppporting blocking waits if the caller so desires). 826while still supporting blocking waits if the caller so desires).
311 827
312Another reason I<never> to C<< ->wait >> in a module is that you cannot 828You can ensure that C<< ->recv >> never blocks by setting a callback and
313sensibly have two C<< ->wait >>'s in parallel, as that would require 829only calling C<< ->recv >> from within that callback (or at a later
314multiple interpreters or coroutines/threads, none of which C<AnyEvent> 830time). This will work even when the event loop does not support blocking
315can supply (the coroutine-aware backends L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV> and 831waits otherwise.
316L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent> explicitly support concurrent C<< ->wait >>'s
317from different coroutines, however).
318 832
319=item $cv->broadcast 833=item $bool = $cv->ready
320 834
321Flag the condition as ready - a running C<< ->wait >> and all further 835Returns true when the condition is "true", i.e. whether C<send> or
322calls to C<wait> will (eventually) return after this method has been 836C<croak> have been called.
323called. If nobody is waiting the broadcast will be remembered.. 837
838=item $cb = $cv->cb ($cb->($cv))
839
840This is a mutator function that returns the callback set and optionally
841replaces it before doing so.
842
843The callback will be called when the condition becomes "true", i.e. when
844C<send> or C<croak> are called, with the only argument being the
845condition variable itself. If the condition is already true, the
846callback is called immediately when it is set. Calling C<recv> inside
847the callback or at any later time is guaranteed not to block.
324 848
325=back 849=back
326 850
327Example: 851=head1 SUPPORTED EVENT LOOPS/BACKENDS
328 852
329 # wait till the result is ready 853The available backend classes are (every class has its own manpage):
330 my $result_ready = AnyEvent->condvar;
331 854
332 # do something such as adding a timer 855=over 4
333 # or socket watcher the calls $result_ready->broadcast
334 # when the "result" is ready.
335 # in this case, we simply use a timer:
336 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (
337 after => 1,
338 cb => sub { $result_ready->broadcast },
339 );
340 856
341 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the watcher 857=item Backends that are autoprobed when no other event loop can be found.
342 # calls broadcast 858
343 $result_ready->wait; 859EV is the preferred backend when no other event loop seems to be in
860use. If EV is not installed, then AnyEvent will fall back to its own
861pure-perl implementation, which is available everywhere as it comes with
862AnyEvent itself.
863
864 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (interface to libev, best choice).
865 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl AnyEvent::Loop, fast and portable.
866
867=item Backends that are transparently being picked up when they are used.
868
869These will be used if they are already loaded when the first watcher
870is created, in which case it is assumed that the application is using
871them. This means that AnyEvent will automatically pick the right backend
872when the main program loads an event module before anything starts to
873create watchers. Nothing special needs to be done by the main program.
874
875 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, very stable, few glitches.
876 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, slow but very stable.
877 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very broken.
878 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
879 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, very slow, some limitations.
880 AnyEvent::Impl::Irssi used when running within irssi.
881 AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync based on IO::Async.
882 AnyEvent::Impl::Cocoa based on Cocoa::EventLoop.
883 AnyEvent::Impl::FLTK2 based on FLTK (fltk 2 binding).
884
885=item Backends with special needs.
886
887Qt requires the Qt::Application to be instantiated first, but will
888otherwise be picked up automatically. As long as the main program
889instantiates the application before any AnyEvent watchers are created,
890everything should just work.
891
892 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt.
893
894=item Event loops that are indirectly supported via other backends.
895
896Some event loops can be supported via other modules:
897
898There is no direct support for WxWidgets (L<Wx>) or L<Prima>.
899
900B<WxWidgets> has no support for watching file handles. However, you can
901use WxWidgets through the POE adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply
902polls 20 times per second, which was considered to be too horrible to even
903consider for AnyEvent.
904
905B<Prima> is not supported as nobody seems to be using it, but it has a POE
906backend, so it can be supported through POE.
907
908AnyEvent knows about both L<Prima> and L<Wx>, however, and will try to
909load L<POE> when detecting them, in the hope that POE will pick them up,
910in which case everything will be automatic.
911
912=back
344 913
345=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS 914=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS
346 915
916These are not normally required to use AnyEvent, but can be useful to
917write AnyEvent extension modules.
918
347=over 4 919=over 4
348 920
349=item $AnyEvent::MODEL 921=item $AnyEvent::MODEL
350 922
351Contains C<undef> until the first watcher is being created. Then it 923Contains C<undef> until the first watcher is being created, before the
924backend has been autodetected.
925
352contains the event model that is being used, which is the name of the 926Afterwards it contains the event model that is being used, which is the
353Perl class implementing the model. This class is usually one of the 927name of the Perl class implementing the model. This class is usually one
354C<AnyEvent::Impl:xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the case 928of the C<AnyEvent::Impl::xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the
355AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode>). 929case AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode> it
356 930will be C<urxvt::anyevent>).
357The known classes so far are:
358
359 AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV based on Coro::EV, best choice.
360 AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent based on Coro::Event, second best choice.
361 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (an interface to libev, best choice).
362 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, second best choice.
363 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, third-best choice.
364 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very bad choice.
365 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl implementation, inefficient but portable.
366 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt, cannot be autoprobed (see its docs).
367 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
368 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, not generic enough for full support.
369
370There is no support for WxWidgets, as WxWidgets has no support for
371watching file handles. However, you can use WxWidgets through the
372POE Adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply polls 20 times per
373second, which was considered to be too horrible to even consider for
374AnyEvent. Likewise, other POE backends can be used by AnyEvent by using
375it's adaptor.
376
377AnyEvent knows about L<Prima> and L<Wx> and will try to use L<POE> when
378autodetecting them.
379 931
380=item AnyEvent::detect 932=item AnyEvent::detect
381 933
382Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model 934Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model
383if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would 935if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would
384have created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, as late as possible at 936have created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, as late as possible at
385runtime. 937runtime, and not e.g. during initialisation of your module.
938
939The effect of calling this function is as if a watcher had been created
940(specifically, actions that happen "when the first watcher is created"
941happen when calling detetc as well).
942
943If you need to do some initialisation before AnyEvent watchers are
944created, use C<post_detect>.
945
946=item $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }
947
948Arranges for the code block to be executed as soon as the event model is
949autodetected (or immediately if that has already happened).
950
951The block will be executed I<after> the actual backend has been detected
952(C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> is set), but I<before> any watchers have been
953created, so it is possible to e.g. patch C<@AnyEvent::ISA> or do
954other initialisations - see the sources of L<AnyEvent::Strict> or
955L<AnyEvent::AIO> to see how this is used.
956
957The most common usage is to create some global watchers, without forcing
958event module detection too early, for example, L<AnyEvent::AIO> creates
959and installs the global L<IO::AIO> watcher in a C<post_detect> block to
960avoid autodetecting the event module at load time.
961
962If called in scalar or list context, then it creates and returns an object
963that automatically removes the callback again when it is destroyed (or
964C<undef> when the hook was immediately executed). See L<AnyEvent::AIO> for
965a case where this is useful.
966
967Example: Create a watcher for the IO::AIO module and store it in
968C<$WATCHER>, but do so only do so after the event loop is initialised.
969
970 our WATCHER;
971
972 my $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect {
973 $WATCHER = AnyEvent->io (fh => IO::AIO::poll_fileno, poll => 'r', cb => \&IO::AIO::poll_cb);
974 };
975
976 # the ||= is important in case post_detect immediately runs the block,
977 # as to not clobber the newly-created watcher. assigning both watcher and
978 # post_detect guard to the same variable has the advantage of users being
979 # able to just C<undef $WATCHER> if the watcher causes them grief.
980
981 $WATCHER ||= $guard;
982
983=item @AnyEvent::post_detect
984
985If there are any code references in this array (you can C<push> to it
986before or after loading AnyEvent), then they will be called directly
987after the event loop has been chosen.
988
989You should check C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> before adding to this array, though:
990if it is defined then the event loop has already been detected, and the
991array will be ignored.
992
993Best use C<AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }> when your application allows
994it, as it takes care of these details.
995
996This variable is mainly useful for modules that can do something useful
997when AnyEvent is used and thus want to know when it is initialised, but do
998not need to even load it by default. This array provides the means to hook
999into AnyEvent passively, without loading it.
1000
1001Example: To load Coro::AnyEvent whenever Coro and AnyEvent are used
1002together, you could put this into Coro (this is the actual code used by
1003Coro to accomplish this):
1004
1005 if (defined $AnyEvent::MODEL) {
1006 # AnyEvent already initialised, so load Coro::AnyEvent
1007 require Coro::AnyEvent;
1008 } else {
1009 # AnyEvent not yet initialised, so make sure to load Coro::AnyEvent
1010 # as soon as it is
1011 push @AnyEvent::post_detect, sub { require Coro::AnyEvent };
1012 }
1013
1014=item AnyEvent::postpone { BLOCK }
1015
1016Arranges for the block to be executed as soon as possible, but not before
1017the call itself returns. In practise, the block will be executed just
1018before the event loop polls for new events, or shortly afterwards.
1019
1020This function never returns anything (to make the C<return postpone { ...
1021}> idiom more useful.
1022
1023To understand the usefulness of this function, consider a function that
1024asynchronously does something for you and returns some transaction
1025object or guard to let you cancel the operation. For example,
1026C<AnyEvent::Socket::tcp_connect>:
1027
1028 # start a conenction attempt unless one is active
1029 $self->{connect_guard} ||= AnyEvent::Socket::tcp_connect "www.example.net", 80, sub {
1030 delete $self->{connect_guard};
1031 ...
1032 };
1033
1034Imagine that this function could instantly call the callback, for
1035example, because it detects an obvious error such as a negative port
1036number. Invoking the callback before the function returns causes problems
1037however: the callback will be called and will try to delete the guard
1038object. But since the function hasn't returned yet, there is nothing to
1039delete. When the function eventually returns it will assign the guard
1040object to C<< $self->{connect_guard} >>, where it will likely never be
1041deleted, so the program thinks it is still trying to connect.
1042
1043This is where C<AnyEvent::postpone> should be used. Instead of calling the
1044callback directly on error:
1045
1046 $cb->(undef), return # signal error to callback, BAD!
1047 if $some_error_condition;
1048
1049It should use C<postpone>:
1050
1051 AnyEvent::postpone { $cb->(undef) }, return # signal error to callback, later
1052 if $some_error_condition;
1053
1054=item AnyEvent::log $level, $msg[, @args]
1055
1056Log the given C<$msg> at the given C<$level>.
1057
1058Loads AnyEvent::Log on first use and calls C<AnyEvent::Log::log> -
1059consequently, look at the L<AnyEvent::Log> documentation for details.
386 1060
387=back 1061=back
388 1062
389=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE 1063=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE
390 1064
394Be careful when you create watchers in the module body - AnyEvent will 1068Be careful when you create watchers in the module body - AnyEvent will
395decide which event module to use as soon as the first method is called, so 1069decide which event module to use as soon as the first method is called, so
396by calling AnyEvent in your module body you force the user of your module 1070by calling AnyEvent in your module body you force the user of your module
397to load the event module first. 1071to load the event module first.
398 1072
399Never call C<< ->wait >> on a condition variable unless you I<know> that 1073Never call C<< ->recv >> on a condition variable unless you I<know> that
400the C<< ->broadcast >> method has been called on it already. This is 1074the C<< ->send >> method has been called on it already. This is
401because it will stall the whole program, and the whole point of using 1075because it will stall the whole program, and the whole point of using
402events is to stay interactive. 1076events is to stay interactive.
403 1077
404It is fine, however, to call C<< ->wait >> when the user of your module 1078It is fine, however, to call C<< ->recv >> when the user of your module
405requests it (i.e. if you create a http request object ad have a method 1079requests it (i.e. if you create a http request object ad have a method
406called C<results> that returns the results, it should call C<< ->wait >> 1080called C<results> that returns the results, it may call C<< ->recv >>
407freely, as the user of your module knows what she is doing. always). 1081freely, as the user of your module knows what she is doing. Always).
408 1082
409=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM 1083=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM
410 1084
411There will always be a single main program - the only place that should 1085There will always be a single main program - the only place that should
412dictate which event model to use. 1086dictate which event model to use.
413 1087
414If it doesn't care, it can just "use AnyEvent" and use it itself, or not 1088If the program is not event-based, it need not do anything special, even
415do anything special (it does not need to be event-based) and let AnyEvent 1089when it depends on a module that uses an AnyEvent. If the program itself
416decide which implementation to chose if some module relies on it. 1090uses AnyEvent, but does not care which event loop is used, all it needs
1091to do is C<use AnyEvent>. In either case, AnyEvent will choose the best
1092available loop implementation.
417 1093
418If the main program relies on a specific event model. For example, in 1094If the main program relies on a specific event model - for example, in
419Gtk2 programs you have to rely on the Glib module. You should load the 1095Gtk2 programs you have to rely on the Glib module - you should load the
420event module before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it: generally 1096event module before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it: generally
421speaking, you should load it as early as possible. The reason is that 1097speaking, you should load it as early as possible. The reason is that
422modules might create watchers when they are loaded, and AnyEvent will 1098modules might create watchers when they are loaded, and AnyEvent will
423decide on the event model to use as soon as it creates watchers, and it 1099decide on the event model to use as soon as it creates watchers, and it
424might chose the wrong one unless you load the correct one yourself. 1100might choose the wrong one unless you load the correct one yourself.
425 1101
426You can chose to use a rather inefficient pure-perl implementation by 1102You can chose to use a pure-perl implementation by loading the
427loading the C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl> module, which gives you similar 1103C<AnyEvent::Loop> module, which gives you similar behaviour
428behaviour everywhere, but letting AnyEvent chose is generally better. 1104everywhere, but letting AnyEvent chose the model is generally better.
1105
1106=head2 MAINLOOP EMULATION
1107
1108Sometimes (often for short test scripts, or even standalone programs who
1109only want to use AnyEvent), you do not want to run a specific event loop.
1110
1111In that case, you can use a condition variable like this:
1112
1113 AnyEvent->condvar->recv;
1114
1115This has the effect of entering the event loop and looping forever.
1116
1117Note that usually your program has some exit condition, in which case
1118it is better to use the "traditional" approach of storing a condition
1119variable somewhere, waiting for it, and sending it when the program should
1120exit cleanly.
1121
1122
1123=head1 OTHER MODULES
1124
1125The following is a non-exhaustive list of additional modules that use
1126AnyEvent as a client and can therefore be mixed easily with other AnyEvent
1127modules and other event loops in the same program. Some of the modules
1128come as part of AnyEvent, the others are available via CPAN.
1129
1130=over 4
1131
1132=item L<AnyEvent::Util>
1133
1134Contains various utility functions that replace often-used blocking
1135functions such as C<inet_aton> with event/callback-based versions.
1136
1137=item L<AnyEvent::Socket>
1138
1139Provides various utility functions for (internet protocol) sockets,
1140addresses and name resolution. Also functions to create non-blocking tcp
1141connections or tcp servers, with IPv6 and SRV record support and more.
1142
1143=item L<AnyEvent::Handle>
1144
1145Provide read and write buffers, manages watchers for reads and writes,
1146supports raw and formatted I/O, I/O queued and fully transparent and
1147non-blocking SSL/TLS (via L<AnyEvent::TLS>).
1148
1149=item L<AnyEvent::DNS>
1150
1151Provides rich asynchronous DNS resolver capabilities.
1152
1153=item L<AnyEvent::HTTP>, L<AnyEvent::IRC>, L<AnyEvent::XMPP>, L<AnyEvent::GPSD>, L<AnyEvent::IGS>, L<AnyEvent::FCP>
1154
1155Implement event-based interfaces to the protocols of the same name (for
1156the curious, IGS is the International Go Server and FCP is the Freenet
1157Client Protocol).
1158
1159=item L<AnyEvent::Handle::UDP>
1160
1161Here be danger!
1162
1163As Pauli would put it, "Not only is it not right, it's not even wrong!" -
1164there are so many things wrong with AnyEvent::Handle::UDP, most notably
1165its use of a stream-based API with a protocol that isn't streamable, that
1166the only way to improve it is to delete it.
1167
1168It features data corruption (but typically only under load) and general
1169confusion. On top, the author is not only clueless about UDP but also
1170fact-resistant - some gems of his understanding: "connect doesn't work
1171with UDP", "UDP packets are not IP packets", "UDP only has datagrams, not
1172packets", "I don't need to implement proper error checking as UDP doesn't
1173support error checking" and so on - he doesn't even understand what's
1174wrong with his module when it is explained to him.
1175
1176=item L<AnyEvent::DBI>
1177
1178Executes L<DBI> requests asynchronously in a proxy process for you,
1179notifying you in an event-based way when the operation is finished.
1180
1181=item L<AnyEvent::AIO>
1182
1183Truly asynchronous (as opposed to non-blocking) I/O, should be in the
1184toolbox of every event programmer. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses
1185L<IO::AIO> and AnyEvent together, giving AnyEvent access to event-based
1186file I/O, and much more.
1187
1188=item L<AnyEvent::HTTPD>
1189
1190A simple embedded webserver.
1191
1192=item L<AnyEvent::FastPing>
1193
1194The fastest ping in the west.
1195
1196=item L<Coro>
1197
1198Has special support for AnyEvent via L<Coro::AnyEvent>.
1199
1200=back
429 1201
430=cut 1202=cut
431 1203
432package AnyEvent; 1204package AnyEvent;
433 1205
434no warnings; 1206# basically a tuned-down version of common::sense
435use strict; 1207sub common_sense {
1208 # from common:.sense 3.4
1209 ${^WARNING_BITS} ^= ${^WARNING_BITS} ^ "\x3c\x3f\x33\x00\x0f\xf0\x0f\xc0\xf0\xfc\x33\x00";
1210 # use strict vars subs - NO UTF-8, as Util.pm doesn't like this atm. (uts46data.pl)
1211 $^H |= 0x00000600;
1212}
436 1213
1214BEGIN { AnyEvent::common_sense }
1215
437use Carp; 1216use Carp ();
438 1217
439our $VERSION = '3.3'; 1218our $VERSION = '6.01';
440our $MODEL; 1219our $MODEL;
441 1220
442our $AUTOLOAD;
443our @ISA; 1221our @ISA;
444 1222
445our $verbose = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1;
446
447our @REGISTRY; 1223our @REGISTRY;
448 1224
1225our $VERBOSE;
1226
1227BEGIN {
1228 require "AnyEvent/constants.pl";
1229
1230 eval "sub TAINT (){" . (${^TAINT}*1) . "}";
1231
1232 delete @ENV{grep /^PERL_ANYEVENT_/, keys %ENV}
1233 if ${^TAINT};
1234
1235 $VERBOSE = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1;
1236}
1237
1238our $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY = 10;
1239
1240our %PROTOCOL; # (ipv4|ipv6) => (1|2), higher numbers are preferred
1241
1242{
1243 my $idx;
1244 $PROTOCOL{$_} = ++$idx
1245 for reverse split /\s*,\s*/,
1246 $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS} || "ipv4,ipv6";
1247}
1248
1249our @post_detect;
1250
1251sub post_detect(&) {
1252 my ($cb) = @_;
1253
1254 push @post_detect, $cb;
1255
1256 defined wantarray
1257 ? bless \$cb, "AnyEvent::Util::postdetect"
1258 : ()
1259}
1260
1261sub AnyEvent::Util::postdetect::DESTROY {
1262 @post_detect = grep $_ != ${$_[0]}, @post_detect;
1263}
1264
1265our $POSTPONE_W;
1266our @POSTPONE;
1267
1268sub _postpone_exec {
1269 undef $POSTPONE_W;
1270
1271 &{ shift @POSTPONE }
1272 while @POSTPONE;
1273}
1274
1275sub postpone(&) {
1276 push @POSTPONE, shift;
1277
1278 $POSTPONE_W ||= AE::timer (0, 0, \&_postpone_exec);
1279
1280 ()
1281}
1282
1283sub log($$;@) {
1284 require AnyEvent::Log;
1285 # AnyEvent::Log overwrites this function
1286 goto &log;
1287}
1288
449my @models = ( 1289our @models = (
450 [Coro::EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV::],
451 [Coro::Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent::],
452 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV::], 1290 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV:: , 1],
1291 [AnyEvent::Loop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: , 1],
1292 # everything below here will not (normally) be autoprobed
1293 # as the pure perl backend should work everywhere
1294 # and is usually faster
453 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::], 1295 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::, 1],
454 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib::], 1296 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib:: , 1], # becomes extremely slow with many watchers
1297 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy
1298 [Irssi:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Irssi::], # Irssi has a bogus "Event" package
455 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], 1299 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], # crashes with many handles
1300 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program
1301 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza
456 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], 1302 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
457 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], 1303 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
458 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl::], 1304 [IO::Async::Loop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # a bitch to autodetect
459 # everything below here will not be autoprobed as the pureperl backend should work everywhere 1305 [Cocoa::EventLoop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Cocoa::],
460 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy 1306 [FLTK:: => AnyEvent::Impl::FLTK2::],
461 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program
462 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza
463); 1307);
464 1308
465our %method = map +($_ => 1), qw(io timer signal child condvar broadcast wait one_event DESTROY); 1309our @isa_hook;
1310
1311sub _isa_set {
1312 my @pkg = ("AnyEvent", (map $_->[0], grep defined, @isa_hook), $MODEL);
1313
1314 @{"$pkg[$_-1]::ISA"} = $pkg[$_]
1315 for 1 .. $#pkg;
1316
1317 grep $_ && $_->[1], @isa_hook
1318 and AE::_reset ();
1319}
1320
1321# used for hooking AnyEvent::Strict and AnyEvent::Debug::Wrap into the class hierarchy
1322sub _isa_hook($$;$) {
1323 my ($i, $pkg, $reset_ae) = @_;
1324
1325 $isa_hook[$i] = $pkg ? [$pkg, $reset_ae] : undef;
1326
1327 _isa_set;
1328}
1329
1330# all autoloaded methods reserve the complete glob, not just the method slot.
1331# due to bugs in perls method cache implementation.
1332our @methods = qw(io timer time now now_update signal child idle condvar);
466 1333
467sub detect() { 1334sub detect() {
1335 return $MODEL if $MODEL; # some programs keep references to detect
1336
1337 local $!; # for good measure
1338 local $SIG{__DIE__}; # we use eval
1339
1340 # free some memory
1341 *detect = sub () { $MODEL };
1342 # undef &func doesn't correctly update the method cache. grmbl.
1343 # so we delete the whole glob. grmbl.
1344 # otoh, perl doesn't let me undef an active usb, but it lets me free
1345 # a glob with an active sub. hrm. i hope it works, but perl is
1346 # usually buggy in this department. sigh.
1347 delete @{"AnyEvent::"}{@methods};
1348 undef @methods;
1349
1350 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z0-9:]+)$/) {
1351 my $model = $1;
1352 $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$model" unless $model =~ s/::$//;
1353 if (eval "require $model") {
1354 $MODEL = $model;
1355 AnyEvent::log 7 => "loaded model '$model' (forced by \$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}), using it."
1356 if $VERBOSE >= 7;
1357 } else {
1358 AnyEvent::log warn => "unable to load model '$model' (from \$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}):\n$@";
1359 }
1360 }
1361
1362 # check for already loaded models
468 unless ($MODEL) { 1363 unless ($MODEL) {
469 no strict 'refs'; 1364 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
470 1365 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
471 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z]+)$/) { 1366 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) {
472 my $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$1";
473 if (eval "require $model") { 1367 if (eval "require $model") {
474 $MODEL = $model; 1368 $MODEL = $model;
475 warn "AnyEvent: loaded model '$model' (forced by \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1369 AnyEvent::log 7 => "autodetected model '$model', using it."
476 } else { 1370 if $VERBOSE >= 7;
477 warn "AnyEvent: unable to load model '$model' (from \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL):\n$@" if $verbose; 1371 last;
1372 }
478 } 1373 }
479 } 1374 }
480 1375
481 # check for already loaded models
482 unless ($MODEL) { 1376 unless ($MODEL) {
1377 # try to autoload a model
483 for (@REGISTRY, @models) { 1378 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
484 my ($package, $model) = @$_; 1379 my ($package, $model, $autoload) = @$_;
1380 if (
1381 $autoload
1382 and eval "require $package"
485 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) { 1383 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0
486 if (eval "require $model") { 1384 and eval "require $model"
1385 ) {
487 $MODEL = $model; 1386 $MODEL = $model;
488 warn "AnyEvent: autodetected model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1387 AnyEvent::log 7 => "autoloaded model '$model', using it."
1388 if $VERBOSE >= 7;
489 last; 1389 last;
490 }
491 } 1390 }
492 } 1391 }
493 1392
494 unless ($MODEL) { 1393 $MODEL
495 # try to load a model 1394 or die "AnyEvent: backend autodetection failed - did you properly install AnyEvent?";
1395 }
1396 }
496 1397
497 for (@REGISTRY, @models) { 1398 # free memory only needed for probing
498 my ($package, $model) = @$_; 1399 undef @models;
499 if (eval "require $package" 1400 undef @REGISTRY;
500 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0 1401
501 and eval "require $model") { 1402 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base";
502 $MODEL = $model; 1403
503 warn "AnyEvent: autoprobed model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1404 # now nuke some methods that are overridden by the backend.
1405 # SUPER usage is not allowed in these.
1406 for (qw(time signal child idle)) {
1407 undef &{"AnyEvent::Base::$_"}
1408 if defined &{"$MODEL\::$_"};
1409 }
1410
1411 _isa_set;
1412
1413 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT}) {
1414 require AnyEvent::Strict;
1415 }
1416
1417 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_WRAP}) {
1418 require AnyEvent::Debug;
1419 AnyEvent::Debug::wrap ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_WRAP});
1420 }
1421
1422 if (length $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_SHELL}) {
1423 require AnyEvent::Socket;
1424 require AnyEvent::Debug;
1425
1426 my $shell = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_SHELL};
1427 $shell =~ s/\$\$/$$/g;
1428
1429 my ($host, $service) = AnyEvent::Socket::parse_hostport ($shell);
1430 $AnyEvent::Debug::SHELL = AnyEvent::Debug::shell ($host, $service);
1431 }
1432
1433 (shift @post_detect)->() while @post_detect;
1434 undef @post_detect;
1435
1436 *post_detect = sub(&) {
1437 shift->();
1438
1439 undef
1440 };
1441
1442 $MODEL
1443}
1444
1445for my $name (@methods) {
1446 *$name = sub {
1447 detect;
1448 # we use goto because
1449 # a) it makes the thunk more transparent
1450 # b) it allows us to delete the thunk later
1451 goto &{ UNIVERSAL::can AnyEvent => "SUPER::$name" }
1452 };
1453}
1454
1455# utility function to dup a filehandle. this is used by many backends
1456# to support binding more than one watcher per filehandle (they usually
1457# allow only one watcher per fd, so we dup it to get a different one).
1458sub _dupfh($$;$$) {
1459 my ($poll, $fh, $r, $w) = @_;
1460
1461 # cygwin requires the fh mode to be matching, unix doesn't
1462 my ($rw, $mode) = $poll eq "r" ? ($r, "<&") : ($w, ">&");
1463
1464 open my $fh2, $mode, $fh
1465 or die "AnyEvent->io: cannot dup() filehandle in mode '$poll': $!,";
1466
1467 # we assume CLOEXEC is already set by perl in all important cases
1468
1469 ($fh2, $rw)
1470}
1471
1472=head1 SIMPLIFIED AE API
1473
1474Starting with version 5.0, AnyEvent officially supports a second, much
1475simpler, API that is designed to reduce the calling, typing and memory
1476overhead by using function call syntax and a fixed number of parameters.
1477
1478See the L<AE> manpage for details.
1479
1480=cut
1481
1482package AE;
1483
1484our $VERSION = $AnyEvent::VERSION;
1485
1486sub _reset() {
1487 eval q{
1488 # fall back to the main API by default - backends and AnyEvent::Base
1489 # implementations can overwrite these.
1490
1491 sub io($$$) {
1492 AnyEvent->io (fh => $_[0], poll => $_[1] ? "w" : "r", cb => $_[2])
1493 }
1494
1495 sub timer($$$) {
1496 AnyEvent->timer (after => $_[0], interval => $_[1], cb => $_[2])
1497 }
1498
1499 sub signal($$) {
1500 AnyEvent->signal (signal => $_[0], cb => $_[1])
1501 }
1502
1503 sub child($$) {
1504 AnyEvent->child (pid => $_[0], cb => $_[1])
1505 }
1506
1507 sub idle($) {
1508 AnyEvent->idle (cb => $_[0]);
1509 }
1510
1511 sub cv(;&) {
1512 AnyEvent->condvar (@_ ? (cb => $_[0]) : ())
1513 }
1514
1515 sub now() {
1516 AnyEvent->now
1517 }
1518
1519 sub now_update() {
1520 AnyEvent->now_update
1521 }
1522
1523 sub time() {
1524 AnyEvent->time
1525 }
1526
1527 *postpone = \&AnyEvent::postpone;
1528 *log = \&AnyEvent::log;
1529 };
1530 die if $@;
1531}
1532
1533BEGIN { _reset }
1534
1535package AnyEvent::Base;
1536
1537# default implementations for many methods
1538
1539sub time {
1540 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1541 # probe for availability of Time::HiRes
1542 if (eval "use Time::HiRes (); Time::HiRes::time (); 1") {
1543 AnyEvent::log 8 => "AnyEvent: using Time::HiRes for sub-second timing accuracy."
1544 if $AnyEvent::VERBOSE >= 8;
1545 *time = sub { Time::HiRes::time () };
1546 *AE::time = \& Time::HiRes::time ;
1547 # if (eval "use POSIX (); (POSIX::times())...
1548 } else {
1549 AnyEvent::log critical => "using built-in time(), WARNING, no sub-second resolution!";
1550 *time = sub { CORE::time };
1551 *AE::time = sub (){ CORE::time };
1552 }
1553
1554 *now = \&time;
1555 };
1556 die if $@;
1557
1558 &time
1559}
1560
1561*now = \&time;
1562sub now_update { }
1563
1564sub _poll {
1565 Carp::croak "$AnyEvent::MODEL does not support blocking waits. Caught";
1566}
1567
1568# default implementation for ->condvar
1569# in fact, the default should not be overwritten
1570
1571sub condvar {
1572 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1573 *condvar = sub {
1574 bless { @_ == 3 ? (_ae_cb => $_[2]) : () }, "AnyEvent::CondVar"
1575 };
1576
1577 *AE::cv = sub (;&) {
1578 bless { @_ ? (_ae_cb => shift) : () }, "AnyEvent::CondVar"
1579 };
1580 };
1581 die if $@;
1582
1583 &condvar
1584}
1585
1586# default implementation for ->signal
1587
1588our $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT;
1589
1590sub _have_async_interrupt() {
1591 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT = 1*(!$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_ASYNC_INTERRUPT}
1592 && eval "use Async::Interrupt 1.02 (); 1")
1593 unless defined $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT;
1594
1595 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1596}
1597
1598our ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W, %SIG_CB, %SIG_EV, $SIG_IO);
1599our (%SIG_ASY, %SIG_ASY_W);
1600our ($SIG_COUNT, $SIG_TW);
1601
1602# install a dummy wakeup watcher to reduce signal catching latency
1603# used by Impls
1604sub _sig_add() {
1605 unless ($SIG_COUNT++) {
1606 # try to align timer on a full-second boundary, if possible
1607 my $NOW = AE::now;
1608
1609 $SIG_TW = AE::timer
1610 $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY - ($NOW - int $NOW),
1611 $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY,
1612 sub { } # just for the PERL_ASYNC_CHECK
1613 ;
1614 }
1615}
1616
1617sub _sig_del {
1618 undef $SIG_TW
1619 unless --$SIG_COUNT;
1620}
1621
1622our $_sig_name_init; $_sig_name_init = sub {
1623 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1624 undef $_sig_name_init;
1625
1626 if (_have_async_interrupt) {
1627 *sig2num = \&Async::Interrupt::sig2num;
1628 *sig2name = \&Async::Interrupt::sig2name;
1629 } else {
1630 require Config;
1631
1632 my %signame2num;
1633 @signame2num{ split ' ', $Config::Config{sig_name} }
1634 = split ' ', $Config::Config{sig_num};
1635
1636 my @signum2name;
1637 @signum2name[values %signame2num] = keys %signame2num;
1638
1639 *sig2num = sub($) {
1640 $_[0] > 0 ? shift : $signame2num{+shift}
1641 };
1642 *sig2name = sub ($) {
1643 $_[0] > 0 ? $signum2name[+shift] : shift
1644 };
1645 }
1646 };
1647 die if $@;
1648};
1649
1650sub sig2num ($) { &$_sig_name_init; &sig2num }
1651sub sig2name($) { &$_sig_name_init; &sig2name }
1652
1653sub signal {
1654 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1655 # probe for availability of Async::Interrupt
1656 if (_have_async_interrupt) {
1657 AnyEvent::log 8 => "using Async::Interrupt for race-free signal handling."
1658 if $AnyEvent::VERBOSE >= 8;
1659
1660 $SIGPIPE_R = new Async::Interrupt::EventPipe;
1661 $SIG_IO = AE::io $SIGPIPE_R->fileno, 0, \&_signal_exec;
1662
1663 } else {
1664 AnyEvent::log 8 => "using emulated perl signal handling with latency timer."
1665 if $AnyEvent::VERBOSE >= 8;
1666
1667 if (AnyEvent::WIN32) {
1668 require AnyEvent::Util;
1669
1670 ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W) = AnyEvent::Util::portable_pipe ();
1671 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_R, 1) if $SIGPIPE_R;
1672 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_W, 1) if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case
1673 } else {
1674 pipe $SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W;
1675 fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, AnyEvent::F_SETFL, AnyEvent::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_R;
1676 fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, AnyEvent::F_SETFL, AnyEvent::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case
1677
1678 # not strictly required, as $^F is normally 2, but let's make sure...
1679 fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, AnyEvent::F_SETFD, AnyEvent::FD_CLOEXEC;
1680 fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, AnyEvent::F_SETFD, AnyEvent::FD_CLOEXEC;
1681 }
1682
1683 $SIGPIPE_R
1684 or Carp::croak "AnyEvent: unable to create a signal reporting pipe: $!\n";
1685
1686 $SIG_IO = AE::io $SIGPIPE_R, 0, \&_signal_exec;
1687 }
1688
1689 *signal = $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1690 ? sub {
1691 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1692
1693 # async::interrupt
1694 my $signal = sig2num $arg{signal};
1695 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1696
1697 $SIG_ASY{$signal} ||= new Async::Interrupt
1698 cb => sub { undef $SIG_EV{$signal} },
1699 signal => $signal,
1700 pipe => [$SIGPIPE_R->filenos],
1701 pipe_autodrain => 0,
1702 ;
1703
1704 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::signal"
1705 }
1706 : sub {
1707 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1708
1709 # pure perl
1710 my $signal = sig2name $arg{signal};
1711 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1712
1713 $SIG{$signal} ||= sub {
504 last; 1714 local $!;
1715 syswrite $SIGPIPE_W, "\x00", 1 unless %SIG_EV;
1716 undef $SIG_EV{$signal};
505 } 1717 };
1718
1719 # can't do signal processing without introducing races in pure perl,
1720 # so limit the signal latency.
1721 _sig_add;
1722
1723 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::signal"
1724 }
1725 ;
1726
1727 *AnyEvent::Base::signal::DESTROY = sub {
1728 my ($signal, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
1729
1730 _sig_del;
1731
1732 delete $SIG_CB{$signal}{$cb};
1733
1734 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1735 ? delete $SIG_ASY{$signal}
1736 : # delete doesn't work with older perls - they then
1737 # print weird messages, or just unconditionally exit
1738 # instead of getting the default action.
1739 undef $SIG{$signal}
1740 unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} };
1741 };
1742
1743 *_signal_exec = sub {
1744 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1745 ? $SIGPIPE_R->drain
1746 : sysread $SIGPIPE_R, (my $dummy), 9;
1747
1748 while (%SIG_EV) {
1749 for (keys %SIG_EV) {
1750 delete $SIG_EV{$_};
1751 &$_ for values %{ $SIG_CB{$_} || {} };
506 } 1752 }
507
508 $MODEL
509 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.";
510 } 1753 }
511 } 1754 };
512
513 unshift @ISA, $MODEL;
514 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base";
515 }
516
517 $MODEL
518}
519
520sub AUTOLOAD {
521 (my $func = $AUTOLOAD) =~ s/.*://;
522
523 $method{$func}
524 or croak "$func: not a valid method for AnyEvent objects";
525
526 detect unless $MODEL;
527
528 my $class = shift;
529 $class->$func (@_);
530}
531
532package AnyEvent::Base;
533
534# default implementation for ->condvar, ->wait, ->broadcast
535
536sub condvar {
537 bless \my $flag, "AnyEvent::Base::CondVar"
538}
539
540sub AnyEvent::Base::CondVar::broadcast {
541 ${$_[0]}++;
542}
543
544sub AnyEvent::Base::CondVar::wait {
545 AnyEvent->one_event while !${$_[0]};
546}
547
548# default implementation for ->signal
549
550our %SIG_CB;
551
552sub signal {
553 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
554
555 my $signal = uc $arg{signal}
556 or Carp::croak "required option 'signal' is missing";
557
558 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
559 $SIG{$signal} ||= sub {
560 $_->() for values %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} || {} };
561 }; 1755 };
1756 die if $@;
562 1757
563 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Signal" 1758 &signal
564}
565
566sub AnyEvent::Base::Signal::DESTROY {
567 my ($signal, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
568
569 delete $SIG_CB{$signal}{$cb};
570
571 $SIG{$signal} = 'DEFAULT' unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} };
572} 1759}
573 1760
574# default implementation for ->child 1761# default implementation for ->child
575 1762
576our %PID_CB; 1763our %PID_CB;
577our $CHLD_W; 1764our $CHLD_W;
578our $CHLD_DELAY_W; 1765our $CHLD_DELAY_W;
579our $PID_IDLE;
580our $WNOHANG;
581 1766
582sub _child_wait { 1767# used by many Impl's
583 while (0 < (my $pid = waitpid -1, $WNOHANG)) { 1768sub _emit_childstatus($$) {
1769 my (undef, $rpid, $rstatus) = @_;
1770
1771 $_->($rpid, $rstatus)
584 $_->($pid, $?) for (values %{ $PID_CB{$pid} || {} }), 1772 for values %{ $PID_CB{$rpid} || {} },
585 (values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} }); 1773 values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} };
1774}
1775
1776sub child {
1777 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1778 *_sigchld = sub {
1779 my $pid;
1780
1781 AnyEvent->_emit_childstatus ($pid, $?)
1782 while ($pid = waitpid -1, WNOHANG) > 0;
1783 };
1784
1785 *child = sub {
1786 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1787
1788 my $pid = $arg{pid};
1789 my $cb = $arg{cb};
1790
1791 $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb+0} = $cb;
1792
1793 unless ($CHLD_W) {
1794 $CHLD_W = AE::signal CHLD => \&_sigchld;
1795 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round
1796 &_sigchld;
1797 }
1798
1799 bless [$pid, $cb+0], "AnyEvent::Base::child"
1800 };
1801
1802 *AnyEvent::Base::child::DESTROY = sub {
1803 my ($pid, $icb) = @{$_[0]};
1804
1805 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$icb};
1806 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} };
1807
1808 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB;
1809 };
1810 };
1811 die if $@;
1812
1813 &child
1814}
1815
1816# idle emulation is done by simply using a timer, regardless
1817# of whether the process is idle or not, and not letting
1818# the callback use more than 50% of the time.
1819sub idle {
1820 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1821 *idle = sub {
1822 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1823
1824 my ($cb, $w, $rcb) = $arg{cb};
1825
1826 $rcb = sub {
1827 if ($cb) {
1828 $w = AE::time;
1829 &$cb;
1830 $w = AE::time - $w;
1831
1832 # never use more then 50% of the time for the idle watcher,
1833 # within some limits
1834 $w = 0.0001 if $w < 0.0001;
1835 $w = 5 if $w > 5;
1836
1837 $w = AE::timer $w, 0, $rcb;
1838 } else {
1839 # clean up...
1840 undef $w;
1841 undef $rcb;
1842 }
1843 };
1844
1845 $w = AE::timer 0.05, 0, $rcb;
1846
1847 bless \\$cb, "AnyEvent::Base::idle"
1848 };
1849
1850 *AnyEvent::Base::idle::DESTROY = sub {
1851 undef $${$_[0]};
1852 };
1853 };
1854 die if $@;
1855
1856 &idle
1857}
1858
1859package AnyEvent::CondVar;
1860
1861our @ISA = AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::;
1862
1863# only to be used for subclassing
1864sub new {
1865 my $class = shift;
1866 bless AnyEvent->condvar (@_), $class
1867}
1868
1869package AnyEvent::CondVar::Base;
1870
1871#use overload
1872# '&{}' => sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } },
1873# fallback => 1;
1874
1875# save 300+ kilobytes by dirtily hardcoding overloading
1876${"AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::OVERLOAD"}{dummy}++; # Register with magic by touching.
1877*{'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::()'} = sub { }; # "Make it findable via fetchmethod."
1878*{'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::(&{}'} = sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } }; # &{}
1879${'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::()'} = 1; # fallback
1880
1881our $WAITING;
1882
1883sub _send {
1884 # nop
1885}
1886
1887sub _wait {
1888 AnyEvent->_poll until $_[0]{_ae_sent};
1889}
1890
1891sub send {
1892 my $cv = shift;
1893 $cv->{_ae_sent} = [@_];
1894 (delete $cv->{_ae_cb})->($cv) if $cv->{_ae_cb};
1895 $cv->_send;
1896}
1897
1898sub croak {
1899 $_[0]{_ae_croak} = $_[1];
1900 $_[0]->send;
1901}
1902
1903sub ready {
1904 $_[0]{_ae_sent}
1905}
1906
1907sub recv {
1908 unless ($_[0]{_ae_sent}) {
1909 $WAITING
1910 and Carp::croak "AnyEvent::CondVar: recursive blocking wait attempted";
1911
1912 local $WAITING = 1;
1913 $_[0]->_wait;
586 } 1914 }
587 1915
588 undef $PID_IDLE; 1916 $_[0]{_ae_croak}
589} 1917 and Carp::croak $_[0]{_ae_croak};
590 1918
591sub _sigchld { 1919 wantarray
592 # make sure we deliver these changes "synchronous" with the event loop. 1920 ? @{ $_[0]{_ae_sent} }
593 $CHLD_DELAY_W ||= AnyEvent->timer (after => 0, cb => sub { 1921 : $_[0]{_ae_sent}[0]
594 undef $CHLD_DELAY_W;
595 &_child_wait;
596 });
597} 1922}
598 1923
599sub child { 1924sub cb {
600 my (undef, %arg) = @_; 1925 my $cv = shift;
601 1926
602 defined (my $pid = $arg{pid} + 0) 1927 @_
603 or Carp::croak "required option 'pid' is missing"; 1928 and $cv->{_ae_cb} = shift
1929 and $cv->{_ae_sent}
1930 and (delete $cv->{_ae_cb})->($cv);
604 1931
605 $PID_CB{$pid}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb}; 1932 $cv->{_ae_cb}
606
607 unless ($WNOHANG) {
608 $WNOHANG = eval { require POSIX; &POSIX::WNOHANG } || 1;
609 }
610
611 unless ($CHLD_W) {
612 $CHLD_W = AnyEvent->signal (signal => 'CHLD', cb => \&_sigchld);
613 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round
614 &_sigchld;
615 }
616
617 bless [$pid, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Child"
618} 1933}
619 1934
620sub AnyEvent::Base::Child::DESTROY { 1935sub begin {
621 my ($pid, $cb) = @{$_[0]}; 1936 ++$_[0]{_ae_counter};
622 1937 $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1;
623 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb};
624 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} };
625
626 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB;
627} 1938}
1939
1940sub end {
1941 return if --$_[0]{_ae_counter};
1942 &{ $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} || sub { $_[0]->send } };
1943}
1944
1945# undocumented/compatibility with pre-3.4
1946*broadcast = \&send;
1947*wait = \&recv;
1948
1949=head1 ERROR AND EXCEPTION HANDLING
1950
1951In general, AnyEvent does not do any error handling - it relies on the
1952caller to do that if required. The L<AnyEvent::Strict> module (see also
1953the C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT> environment variable, below) provides strict
1954checking of all AnyEvent methods, however, which is highly useful during
1955development.
1956
1957As for exception handling (i.e. runtime errors and exceptions thrown while
1958executing a callback), this is not only highly event-loop specific, but
1959also not in any way wrapped by this module, as this is the job of the main
1960program.
1961
1962The pure perl event loop simply re-throws the exception (usually
1963within C<< condvar->recv >>), the L<Event> and L<EV> modules call C<<
1964$Event/EV::DIED->() >>, L<Glib> uses C<< install_exception_handler >> and
1965so on.
1966
1967=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
1968
1969The following environment variables are used by this module or its
1970submodules.
1971
1972Note that AnyEvent will remove I<all> environment variables starting with
1973C<PERL_ANYEVENT_> from C<%ENV> when it is loaded while taint mode is
1974enabled.
1975
1976=over 4
1977
1978=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
1979
1980By default, AnyEvent will be completely silent except in fatal
1981conditions. You can set this environment variable to make AnyEvent more
1982talkative.
1983
1984When set to C<5> or higher, causes AnyEvent to warn about unexpected
1985conditions, such as not being able to load the event model specified by
1986C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>.
1987
1988When set to C<7> or higher, cause AnyEvent to report to STDERR which event
1989model it chooses.
1990
1991When set to C<8> or higher, then AnyEvent will report extra information on
1992which optional modules it loads and how it implements certain features.
1993
1994=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT>
1995
1996AnyEvent does not do much argument checking by default, as thorough
1997argument checking is very costly. Setting this variable to a true value
1998will cause AnyEvent to load C<AnyEvent::Strict> and then to thoroughly
1999check the arguments passed to most method calls. If it finds any problems,
2000it will croak.
2001
2002In other words, enables "strict" mode.
2003
2004Unlike C<use strict> (or its modern cousin, C<< use L<common::sense>
2005>>, it is definitely recommended to keep it off in production. Keeping
2006C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT=1> in your environment while developing programs
2007can be very useful, however.
2008
2009=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_SHELL>
2010
2011If this env variable is set, then its contents will be interpreted by
2012C<AnyEvent::Socket::parse_hostport> (after replacing every occurance of
2013C<$$> by the process pid) and an C<AnyEvent::Debug::shell> is bound on
2014that port. The shell object is saved in C<$AnyEvent::Debug::SHELL>.
2015
2016This takes place when the first watcher is created.
2017
2018For example, to bind a debug shell on a unix domain socket in
2019F<< /tmp/debug<pid>.sock >>, you could use this:
2020
2021 PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_SHELL=/tmp/debug\$\$.sock perlprog
2022
2023Note that creating sockets in F</tmp> is very unsafe on multiuser
2024systems.
2025
2026=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_WRAP>
2027
2028Can be set to C<0>, C<1> or C<2> and enables wrapping of all watchers for
2029debugging purposes. See C<AnyEvent::Debug::wrap> for details.
2030
2031=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
2032
2033This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
2034auto detection and -probing kicks in.
2035
2036It normally is a string consisting entirely of ASCII letters (e.g. C<EV>
2037or C<IOAsync>). The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended and the
2038resulting module name is loaded and - if the load was successful - used as
2039event model backend. If it fails to load then AnyEvent will proceed with
2040auto detection and -probing.
2041
2042If the string ends with C<::> instead (e.g. C<AnyEvent::Impl::EV::>) then
2043nothing gets prepended and the module name is used as-is (hint: C<::> at
2044the end of a string designates a module name and quotes it appropriately).
2045
2046For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Loop::Perl>) you
2047could start your program like this:
2048
2049 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
2050
2051=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS>
2052
2053Used by both L<AnyEvent::DNS> and L<AnyEvent::Socket> to determine preferences
2054for IPv4 or IPv6. The default is unspecified (and might change, or be the result
2055of auto probing).
2056
2057Must be set to a comma-separated list of protocols or address families,
2058current supported: C<ipv4> and C<ipv6>. Only protocols mentioned will be
2059used, and preference will be given to protocols mentioned earlier in the
2060list.
2061
2062This variable can effectively be used for denial-of-service attacks
2063against local programs (e.g. when setuid), although the impact is likely
2064small, as the program has to handle conenction and other failures anyways.
2065
2066Examples: C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4,ipv6> - prefer IPv4 over IPv6,
2067but support both and try to use both. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4>
2068- only support IPv4, never try to resolve or contact IPv6
2069addresses. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv6,ipv4> support either IPv4 or
2070IPv6, but prefer IPv6 over IPv4.
2071
2072=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_EDNS0>
2073
2074Used by L<AnyEvent::DNS> to decide whether to use the EDNS0 extension
2075for DNS. This extension is generally useful to reduce DNS traffic, but
2076some (broken) firewalls drop such DNS packets, which is why it is off by
2077default.
2078
2079Setting this variable to C<1> will cause L<AnyEvent::DNS> to announce
2080EDNS0 in its DNS requests.
2081
2082=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_FORKS>
2083
2084The maximum number of child processes that C<AnyEvent::Util::fork_call>
2085will create in parallel.
2086
2087=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_OUTSTANDING_DNS>
2088
2089The default value for the C<max_outstanding> parameter for the default DNS
2090resolver - this is the maximum number of parallel DNS requests that are
2091sent to the DNS server.
2092
2093=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_RESOLV_CONF>
2094
2095The file to use instead of F</etc/resolv.conf> (or OS-specific
2096configuration) in the default resolver. When set to the empty string, no
2097default config will be used.
2098
2099=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_CA_FILE>, C<PERL_ANYEVENT_CA_PATH>.
2100
2101When neither C<ca_file> nor C<ca_path> was specified during
2102L<AnyEvent::TLS> context creation, and either of these environment
2103variables exist, they will be used to specify CA certificate locations
2104instead of a system-dependent default.
2105
2106=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_GUARD> and C<PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_ASYNC_INTERRUPT>
2107
2108When these are set to C<1>, then the respective modules are not
2109loaded. Mostly good for testing AnyEvent itself.
2110
2111=back
628 2112
629=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE 2113=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE
630 2114
631This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in 2115This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in
632a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to 2116a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to
666 2150
667I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to 2151I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to
668condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will 2152condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will
669C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must 2153C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must
670not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense. 2154not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense.
671
672=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
673
674The following environment variables are used by this module:
675
676=over 4
677
678=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
679
680By default, AnyEvent will be completely silent except in fatal
681conditions. You can set this environment variable to make AnyEvent more
682talkative.
683
684When set to C<1> or higher, causes AnyEvent to warn about unexpected
685conditions, such as not being able to load the event model specified by
686C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>.
687
688When set to C<2> or higher, cause AnyEvent to report to STDERR which event
689model it chooses.
690
691=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
692
693This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
694autodetection and -probing kicks in. It must be a string consisting
695entirely of ASCII letters. The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended
696and the resulting module name is loaded and if the load was successful,
697used as event model. If it fails to load AnyEvent will proceed with
698autodetection and -probing.
699
700This functionality might change in future versions.
701
702For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) you
703could start your program like this:
704
705 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
706
707=back
708 2155
709=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM 2156=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM
710 2157
711The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer 2158The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer
712to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the 2159to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the
721 poll => 'r', 2168 poll => 'r',
722 cb => sub { 2169 cb => sub {
723 warn "io event <$_[0]>\n"; # will always output <r> 2170 warn "io event <$_[0]>\n"; # will always output <r>
724 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); # read a line 2171 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); # read a line
725 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read 2172 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read
726 $cv->broadcast if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i 2173 $cv->send if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i
727 }, 2174 },
728 ); 2175 );
729 2176
730 my $time_watcher; # can only be used once
731
732 sub new_timer {
733 $timer = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => sub { 2177 my $time_watcher = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, interval => 1, cb => sub {
734 warn "timeout\n"; # print 'timeout' about every second 2178 warn "timeout\n"; # print 'timeout' at most every second
735 &new_timer; # and restart the time
736 }); 2179 });
737 }
738 2180
739 new_timer; # create first timer
740
741 $cv->wait; # wait until user enters /^q/i 2181 $cv->recv; # wait until user enters /^q/i
742 2182
743=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE 2183=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE
744 2184
745Consider the L<Net::FCP> module. It features (among others) the following 2185Consider the L<Net::FCP> module. It features (among others) the following
746API calls, which are to freenet what HTTP GET requests are to http: 2186API calls, which are to freenet what HTTP GET requests are to http:
796 syswrite $txn->{fh}, $txn->{request} 2236 syswrite $txn->{fh}, $txn->{request}
797 or die "connection or write error"; 2237 or die "connection or write error";
798 $txn->{w} = AnyEvent->io (fh => $txn->{fh}, poll => 'r', cb => sub { $txn->fh_ready_r }); 2238 $txn->{w} = AnyEvent->io (fh => $txn->{fh}, poll => 'r', cb => sub { $txn->fh_ready_r });
799 2239
800Again, C<fh_ready_r> waits till all data has arrived, and then stores the 2240Again, C<fh_ready_r> waits till all data has arrived, and then stores the
801result and signals any possible waiters that the request ahs finished: 2241result and signals any possible waiters that the request has finished:
802 2242
803 sysread $txn->{fh}, $txn->{buf}, length $txn->{$buf}; 2243 sysread $txn->{fh}, $txn->{buf}, length $txn->{$buf};
804 2244
805 if (end-of-file or data complete) { 2245 if (end-of-file or data complete) {
806 $txn->{result} = $txn->{buf}; 2246 $txn->{result} = $txn->{buf};
807 $txn->{finished}->broadcast; 2247 $txn->{finished}->send;
808 $txb->{cb}->($txn) of $txn->{cb}; # also call callback 2248 $txb->{cb}->($txn) of $txn->{cb}; # also call callback
809 } 2249 }
810 2250
811The C<result> method, finally, just waits for the finished signal (if the 2251The C<result> method, finally, just waits for the finished signal (if the
812request was already finished, it doesn't wait, of course, and returns the 2252request was already finished, it doesn't wait, of course, and returns the
813data: 2253data:
814 2254
815 $txn->{finished}->wait; 2255 $txn->{finished}->recv;
816 return $txn->{result}; 2256 return $txn->{result};
817 2257
818The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions) 2258The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions)
819that occured during request processing. The C<result> method detects 2259that occurred during request processing. The C<result> method detects
820whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object) 2260whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object)
821and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other 2261and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other
822problems get reported tot he code that tries to use the result, not in a 2262problems get reported to the code that tries to use the result, not in a
823random callback. 2263random callback.
824 2264
825All of this enables the following usage styles: 2265All of this enables the following usage styles:
826 2266
8271. Blocking: 22671. Blocking:
855 2295
856 my $quit = AnyEvent->condvar; 2296 my $quit = AnyEvent->condvar;
857 2297
858 $fcp->txn_client_get ($url)->cb (sub { 2298 $fcp->txn_client_get ($url)->cb (sub {
859 ... 2299 ...
860 $quit->broadcast; 2300 $quit->send;
861 }); 2301 });
862 2302
863 $quit->wait; 2303 $quit->recv;
864 2304
865 2305
866=head1 BENCHMARK 2306=head1 BENCHMARKS
867 2307
868To give you an idea of the performance and overheads that AnyEvent adds 2308To give you an idea of the performance and overheads that AnyEvent adds
869over the event loops themselves (and to give you an impression of the 2309over the event loops themselves and to give you an impression of the speed
870speed of various event loops), here is a benchmark of various supported 2310of various event loops I prepared some benchmarks.
871event models natively and with anyevent. The benchmark creates a lot of 2311
872timers (with a zero timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to 2312=head2 BENCHMARKING ANYEVENT OVERHEAD
2313
2314Here is a benchmark of various supported event models used natively and
2315through AnyEvent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero
2316timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable,
873become writable, which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys 2317which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again.
874them again.
875 2318
876Rewriting the benchmark to use many different sockets instead of using 2319Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent
877the same filehandle for all I/O watchers results in a much longer runtime 2320distribution. It uses the L<AE> interface, which makes a real difference
878(socket creation is expensive), but qualitatively the same figures, so it 2321for the EV and Perl backends only.
879was not used.
880 2322
881=head2 Explanation of the columns 2323=head3 Explanation of the columns
882 2324
883I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since 2325I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since
884different event models feature vastly different performances, each event 2326different event models feature vastly different performances, each event
885loop was given a number of watchers so that overall runtime is acceptable 2327loop was given a number of watchers so that overall runtime is acceptable
886and similar between tested event loop (and keep them from crashing): Glib 2328and similar between tested event loop (and keep them from crashing): Glib
896all watchers, to avoid adding memory overhead. That means closure creation 2338all watchers, to avoid adding memory overhead. That means closure creation
897and memory usage is not included in the figures. 2339and memory usage is not included in the figures.
898 2340
899I<invoke> is the time, in microseconds, used to invoke a simple 2341I<invoke> is the time, in microseconds, used to invoke a simple
900callback. The callback simply counts down a Perl variable and after it was 2342callback. The callback simply counts down a Perl variable and after it was
901invoked "watcher" times, it would C<< ->broadcast >> a condvar once to 2343invoked "watcher" times, it would C<< ->send >> a condvar once to
902signal the end of this phase. 2344signal the end of this phase.
903 2345
904I<destroy> is the time, in microseconds, that it takes to destroy a single 2346I<destroy> is the time, in microseconds, that it takes to destroy a single
905watcher. 2347watcher.
906 2348
907=head2 Results 2349=head3 Results
908 2350
909 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment 2351 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment
910 EV/EV 400000 244 0.56 0.46 0.31 EV native interface 2352 EV/EV 100000 223 0.47 0.43 0.27 EV native interface
911 EV/Any 100000 610 3.52 0.91 0.75 EV + AnyEvent watchers 2353 EV/Any 100000 223 0.48 0.42 0.26 EV + AnyEvent watchers
912 CoroEV/Any 100000 610 3.49 0.92 0.75 coroutines + Coro::Signal 2354 Coro::EV/Any 100000 223 0.47 0.42 0.26 coroutines + Coro::Signal
913 Perl/Any 100000 513 4.91 0.92 1.15 pure perl implementation 2355 Perl/Any 100000 431 2.70 0.74 0.92 pure perl implementation
914 Event/Event 16000 523 28.05 21.38 0.86 Event native interface 2356 Event/Event 16000 516 31.16 31.84 0.82 Event native interface
915 Event/Any 16000 943 34.43 20.48 1.39 Event + AnyEvent watchers 2357 Event/Any 16000 1203 42.61 34.79 1.80 Event + AnyEvent watchers
2358 IOAsync/Any 16000 1911 41.92 27.45 16.81 via IO::Async::Loop::IO_Poll
2359 IOAsync/Any 16000 1726 40.69 26.37 15.25 via IO::Async::Loop::Epoll
916 Glib/Any 16000 1357 96.99 12.55 55.51 quadratic behaviour 2360 Glib/Any 16000 1118 89.00 12.57 51.17 quadratic behaviour
917 Tk/Any 2000 1855 27.01 66.61 14.03 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers 2361 Tk/Any 2000 1346 20.96 10.75 8.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers
918 POE/Event 2000 6644 108.15 768.19 14.33 via POE::Loop::Event 2362 POE/Any 2000 6951 108.97 795.32 14.24 via POE::Loop::Event
919 POE/Select 2000 6343 94.69 807.65 562.69 via POE::Loop::Select 2363 POE/Any 2000 6648 94.79 774.40 575.51 via POE::Loop::Select
920 2364
921=head2 Discussion 2365=head3 Discussion
922 2366
923The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very 2367The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very
924well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one) 2368well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one)
925can never compete with an event loop that uses epoll when the number of 2369can never compete with an event loop that uses epoll when the number of
926file descriptors grows high. In this benchmark, all events become ready at 2370file descriptors grows high. In this benchmark, all events become ready at
927the same time, so select/poll-based implementations get an unnatural speed 2371the same time, so select/poll-based implementations get an unnatural speed
928boost. 2372boost.
929 2373
2374Also, note that the number of watchers usually has a nonlinear effect on
2375overall speed, that is, creating twice as many watchers doesn't take twice
2376the time - usually it takes longer. This puts event loops tested with a
2377higher number of watchers at a disadvantage.
2378
2379To put the range of results into perspective, consider that on the
2380benchmark machine, handling an event takes roughly 1600 CPU cycles with
2381EV, 3100 CPU cycles with AnyEvent's pure perl loop and almost 3000000 CPU
2382cycles with POE.
2383
930C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both 2384C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both
931maximal/minimal, respectively. Even when going through AnyEvent, there are 2385maximal/minimal, respectively. When using the L<AE> API there is zero
932only two event loops that use slightly less memory (the C<Event> module 2386overhead (when going through the AnyEvent API create is about 5-6 times
933natively and the pure perl backend), and no faster event models, not even 2387slower, with other times being equal, so still uses far less memory than
934C<Event> natively. 2388any other event loop and is still faster than Event natively).
935 2389
936The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the 2390The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the
937zero timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl 2391constant timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl
938interpreter and the backend itself, and all watchers become ready at the 2392interpreter and the backend itself). Nevertheless this shows that it
939same time). Nevertheless this shows that it adds very little overhead in 2393adds very little overhead in itself. Like any select-based backend its
940itself. Like any select-based backend its performance becomes really bad 2394performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of
941with lots of file descriptors (and few of them active), of course, but 2395them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark.
942this was not subject of this benchmark.
943 2396
944The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation cost, 2397The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation
945but overall scores on the third place. 2398cost, but overall scores in on the third place.
946 2399
2400C<IO::Async> performs admirably well, about on par with C<Event>, even
2401when using its pure perl backend.
2402
947C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit bit higher, but it features a 2403C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a
948faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as 2404faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as
949C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of 2405C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of
950watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four, 2406watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four,
951making it completely unusable when using larger numbers of watchers 2407making it completely unusable when using larger numbers of watchers
952(note that only a single file descriptor was used in the benchmark, so 2408(note that only a single file descriptor was used in the benchmark, so
955The C<Tk> adaptor works relatively well. The fact that it crashes with 2411The C<Tk> adaptor works relatively well. The fact that it crashes with
956more than 2000 watchers is a big setback, however, as correctness takes 2412more than 2000 watchers is a big setback, however, as correctness takes
957precedence over speed. Nevertheless, its performance is surprising, as the 2413precedence over speed. Nevertheless, its performance is surprising, as the
958file descriptor is dup()ed for each watcher. This shows that the dup() 2414file descriptor is dup()ed for each watcher. This shows that the dup()
959employed by some adaptors is not a big performance issue (it does incur a 2415employed by some adaptors is not a big performance issue (it does incur a
960hidden memory cost inside the kernel, though, that is not reflected in the 2416hidden memory cost inside the kernel which is not reflected in the figures
961figures above). 2417above).
962 2418
963C<POE>, regardless of underlying event loop (wether using its pure perl 2419C<POE>, regardless of underlying event loop (whether using its pure perl
964select-based backend or the Event module) shows abysmal performance and 2420select-based backend or the Event module, the POE-EV backend couldn't
2421be tested because it wasn't working) shows abysmal performance and
965memory usage: Watchers use almost 30 times as much memory as EV watchers, 2422memory usage with AnyEvent: Watchers use almost 30 times as much memory
966and 10 times as much memory as both Event or EV via AnyEvent. Watcher 2423as EV watchers, and 10 times as much memory as Event (the high memory
2424requirements are caused by requiring a session for each watcher). Watcher
967invocation is almost 900 times slower than with AnyEvent's pure perl 2425invocation speed is almost 900 times slower than with AnyEvent's pure perl
2426implementation.
2427
968implementation. The design of the POE adaptor class in AnyEvent can not 2428The design of the POE adaptor class in AnyEvent can not really account
969really account for this, as session creation overhead is small compared 2429for the performance issues, though, as session creation overhead is
970to execution of the state machine, which is coded pretty optimally within 2430small compared to execution of the state machine, which is coded pretty
971L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>. POE simply seems to be abysmally slow. 2431optimally within L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE> (and while everybody agrees that
2432using multiple sessions is not a good approach, especially regarding
2433memory usage, even the author of POE could not come up with a faster
2434design).
972 2435
973=head2 Summary 2436=head3 Summary
974 2437
2438=over 4
2439
975Using EV through AnyEvent is faster than any other event loop, but most 2440=item * Using EV through AnyEvent is faster than any other event loop
976event loops have acceptable performance with or without AnyEvent. 2441(even when used without AnyEvent), but most event loops have acceptable
2442performance with or without AnyEvent.
977 2443
978The overhead AnyEvent adds is usually much smaller than the overhead of 2444=item * The overhead AnyEvent adds is usually much smaller than the overhead of
979the actual event loop, only with extremely fast event loops such as the EV 2445the actual event loop, only with extremely fast event loops such as EV
980adds AnyEvent significant overhead. 2446does AnyEvent add significant overhead.
981 2447
982And you should simply avoid POE like the plague if you want performance or 2448=item * You should avoid POE like the plague if you want performance or
983reasonable memory usage. 2449reasonable memory usage.
984 2450
2451=back
2452
2453=head2 BENCHMARKING THE LARGE SERVER CASE
2454
2455This benchmark actually benchmarks the event loop itself. It works by
2456creating a number of "servers": each server consists of a socket pair, a
2457timeout watcher that gets reset on activity (but never fires), and an I/O
2458watcher waiting for input on one side of the socket. Each time the socket
2459watcher reads a byte it will write that byte to a random other "server".
2460
2461The effect is that there will be a lot of I/O watchers, only part of which
2462are active at any one point (so there is a constant number of active
2463fds for each loop iteration, but which fds these are is random). The
2464timeout is reset each time something is read because that reflects how
2465most timeouts work (and puts extra pressure on the event loops).
2466
2467In this benchmark, we use 10000 socket pairs (20000 sockets), of which 100
2468(1%) are active. This mirrors the activity of large servers with many
2469connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time.
2470
2471Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent
2472distribution. It uses the L<AE> interface, which makes a real difference
2473for the EV and Perl backends only.
2474
2475=head3 Explanation of the columns
2476
2477I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as
2478each server has a read and write socket end).
2479
2480I<create> is the time it takes to create a socket pair (which is
2481nontrivial) and two watchers: an I/O watcher and a timeout watcher.
2482
2483I<request>, the most important value, is the time it takes to handle a
2484single "request", that is, reading the token from the pipe and forwarding
2485it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating
2486a new one that moves the timeout into the future.
2487
2488=head3 Results
2489
2490 name sockets create request
2491 EV 20000 62.66 7.99
2492 Perl 20000 68.32 32.64
2493 IOAsync 20000 174.06 101.15 epoll
2494 IOAsync 20000 174.67 610.84 poll
2495 Event 20000 202.69 242.91
2496 Glib 20000 557.01 1689.52
2497 POE 20000 341.54 12086.32 uses POE::Loop::Event
2498
2499=head3 Discussion
2500
2501This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the
2502particular event loop.
2503
2504EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time
2505is relatively high, though.
2506
2507Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event
2508loops Event and Glib.
2509
2510IO::Async performs very well when using its epoll backend, and still quite
2511good compared to Glib when using its pure perl backend.
2512
2513Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will
2514understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to
2515the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event
2516uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations.
2517
2518Glib is hit hard by its quadratic behaviour w.r.t. many watchers. It
2519clearly fails to perform with many filehandles or in busy servers.
2520
2521POE is still completely out of the picture, taking over 1000 times as long
2522as EV, and over 100 times as long as the Perl implementation, even though
2523it uses a C-based event loop in this case.
2524
2525=head3 Summary
2526
2527=over 4
2528
2529=item * The pure perl implementation performs extremely well.
2530
2531=item * Avoid Glib or POE in large projects where performance matters.
2532
2533=back
2534
2535=head2 BENCHMARKING SMALL SERVERS
2536
2537While event loops should scale (and select-based ones do not...) even to
2538large servers, most programs we (or I :) actually write have only a few
2539I/O watchers.
2540
2541In this benchmark, I use the same benchmark program as in the large server
2542case, but it uses only eight "servers", of which three are active at any
2543one time. This should reflect performance for a small server relatively
2544well.
2545
2546The columns are identical to the previous table.
2547
2548=head3 Results
2549
2550 name sockets create request
2551 EV 16 20.00 6.54
2552 Perl 16 25.75 12.62
2553 Event 16 81.27 35.86
2554 Glib 16 32.63 15.48
2555 POE 16 261.87 276.28 uses POE::Loop::Event
2556
2557=head3 Discussion
2558
2559The benchmark tries to test the performance of a typical small
2560server. While knowing how various event loops perform is interesting, keep
2561in mind that their overhead in this case is usually not as important, due
2562to the small absolute number of watchers (that is, you need efficiency and
2563speed most when you have lots of watchers, not when you only have a few of
2564them).
2565
2566EV is again fastest.
2567
2568Perl again comes second. It is noticeably faster than the C-based event
2569loops Event and Glib, although the difference is too small to really
2570matter.
2571
2572POE also performs much better in this case, but is is still far behind the
2573others.
2574
2575=head3 Summary
2576
2577=over 4
2578
2579=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of
2580watchers, as the management overhead dominates.
2581
2582=back
2583
2584=head2 THE IO::Lambda BENCHMARK
2585
2586Recently I was told about the benchmark in the IO::Lambda manpage, which
2587could be misinterpreted to make AnyEvent look bad. In fact, the benchmark
2588simply compares IO::Lambda with POE, and IO::Lambda looks better (which
2589shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody). As such, the benchmark is
2590fine, and mostly shows that the AnyEvent backend from IO::Lambda isn't
2591very optimal. But how would AnyEvent compare when used without the extra
2592baggage? To explore this, I wrote the equivalent benchmark for AnyEvent.
2593
2594The benchmark itself creates an echo-server, and then, for 500 times,
2595connects to the echo server, sends a line, waits for the reply, and then
2596creates the next connection. This is a rather bad benchmark, as it doesn't
2597test the efficiency of the framework or much non-blocking I/O, but it is a
2598benchmark nevertheless.
2599
2600 name runtime
2601 Lambda/select 0.330 sec
2602 + optimized 0.122 sec
2603 Lambda/AnyEvent 0.327 sec
2604 + optimized 0.138 sec
2605 Raw sockets/select 0.077 sec
2606 POE/select, components 0.662 sec
2607 POE/select, raw sockets 0.226 sec
2608 POE/select, optimized 0.404 sec
2609
2610 AnyEvent/select/nb 0.085 sec
2611 AnyEvent/EV/nb 0.068 sec
2612 +state machine 0.134 sec
2613
2614The benchmark is also a bit unfair (my fault): the IO::Lambda/POE
2615benchmarks actually make blocking connects and use 100% blocking I/O,
2616defeating the purpose of an event-based solution. All of the newly
2617written AnyEvent benchmarks use 100% non-blocking connects (using
2618AnyEvent::Socket::tcp_connect and the asynchronous pure perl DNS
2619resolver), so AnyEvent is at a disadvantage here, as non-blocking connects
2620generally require a lot more bookkeeping and event handling than blocking
2621connects (which involve a single syscall only).
2622
2623The last AnyEvent benchmark additionally uses L<AnyEvent::Handle>, which
2624offers similar expressive power as POE and IO::Lambda, using conventional
2625Perl syntax. This means that both the echo server and the client are 100%
2626non-blocking, further placing it at a disadvantage.
2627
2628As you can see, the AnyEvent + EV combination even beats the
2629hand-optimised "raw sockets benchmark", while AnyEvent + its pure perl
2630backend easily beats IO::Lambda and POE.
2631
2632And even the 100% non-blocking version written using the high-level (and
2633slow :) L<AnyEvent::Handle> abstraction beats both POE and IO::Lambda
2634higher level ("unoptimised") abstractions by a large margin, even though
2635it does all of DNS, tcp-connect and socket I/O in a non-blocking way.
2636
2637The two AnyEvent benchmarks programs can be found as F<eg/ae0.pl> and
2638F<eg/ae2.pl> in the AnyEvent distribution, the remaining benchmarks are
2639part of the IO::Lambda distribution and were used without any changes.
2640
2641
2642=head1 SIGNALS
2643
2644AnyEvent currently installs handlers for these signals:
2645
2646=over 4
2647
2648=item SIGCHLD
2649
2650A handler for C<SIGCHLD> is installed by AnyEvent's child watcher
2651emulation for event loops that do not support them natively. Also, some
2652event loops install a similar handler.
2653
2654Additionally, when AnyEvent is loaded and SIGCHLD is set to IGNORE, then
2655AnyEvent will reset it to default, to avoid losing child exit statuses.
2656
2657=item SIGPIPE
2658
2659A no-op handler is installed for C<SIGPIPE> when C<$SIG{PIPE}> is C<undef>
2660when AnyEvent gets loaded.
2661
2662The rationale for this is that AnyEvent users usually do not really depend
2663on SIGPIPE delivery (which is purely an optimisation for shell use, or
2664badly-written programs), but C<SIGPIPE> can cause spurious and rare
2665program exits as a lot of people do not expect C<SIGPIPE> when writing to
2666some random socket.
2667
2668The rationale for installing a no-op handler as opposed to ignoring it is
2669that this way, the handler will be restored to defaults on exec.
2670
2671Feel free to install your own handler, or reset it to defaults.
2672
2673=back
2674
2675=cut
2676
2677undef $SIG{CHLD}
2678 if $SIG{CHLD} eq 'IGNORE';
2679
2680$SIG{PIPE} = sub { }
2681 unless defined $SIG{PIPE};
2682
2683=head1 RECOMMENDED/OPTIONAL MODULES
2684
2685One of AnyEvent's main goals is to be 100% Pure-Perl(tm): only perl (and
2686its built-in modules) are required to use it.
2687
2688That does not mean that AnyEvent won't take advantage of some additional
2689modules if they are installed.
2690
2691This section explains which additional modules will be used, and how they
2692affect AnyEvent's operation.
2693
2694=over 4
2695
2696=item L<Async::Interrupt>
2697
2698This slightly arcane module is used to implement fast signal handling: To
2699my knowledge, there is no way to do completely race-free and quick
2700signal handling in pure perl. To ensure that signals still get
2701delivered, AnyEvent will start an interval timer to wake up perl (and
2702catch the signals) with some delay (default is 10 seconds, look for
2703C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>).
2704
2705If this module is available, then it will be used to implement signal
2706catching, which means that signals will not be delayed, and the event loop
2707will not be interrupted regularly, which is more efficient (and good for
2708battery life on laptops).
2709
2710This affects not just the pure-perl event loop, but also other event loops
2711that have no signal handling on their own (e.g. Glib, Tk, Qt).
2712
2713Some event loops (POE, Event, Event::Lib) offer signal watchers natively,
2714and either employ their own workarounds (POE) or use AnyEvent's workaround
2715(using C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>). Installing L<Async::Interrupt>
2716does nothing for those backends.
2717
2718=item L<EV>
2719
2720This module isn't really "optional", as it is simply one of the backend
2721event loops that AnyEvent can use. However, it is simply the best event
2722loop available in terms of features, speed and stability: It supports
2723the AnyEvent API optimally, implements all the watcher types in XS, does
2724automatic timer adjustments even when no monotonic clock is available,
2725can take avdantage of advanced kernel interfaces such as C<epoll> and
2726C<kqueue>, and is the fastest backend I<by far>. You can even embed
2727L<Glib>/L<Gtk2> in it (or vice versa, see L<EV::Glib> and L<Glib::EV>).
2728
2729If you only use backends that rely on another event loop (e.g. C<Tk>),
2730then this module will do nothing for you.
2731
2732=item L<Guard>
2733
2734The guard module, when used, will be used to implement
2735C<AnyEvent::Util::guard>. This speeds up guards considerably (and uses a
2736lot less memory), but otherwise doesn't affect guard operation much. It is
2737purely used for performance.
2738
2739=item L<JSON> and L<JSON::XS>
2740
2741One of these modules is required when you want to read or write JSON data
2742via L<AnyEvent::Handle>. L<JSON> is also written in pure-perl, but can take
2743advantage of the ultra-high-speed L<JSON::XS> module when it is installed.
2744
2745=item L<Net::SSLeay>
2746
2747Implementing TLS/SSL in Perl is certainly interesting, but not very
2748worthwhile: If this module is installed, then L<AnyEvent::Handle> (with
2749the help of L<AnyEvent::TLS>), gains the ability to do TLS/SSL.
2750
2751=item L<Time::HiRes>
2752
2753This module is part of perl since release 5.008. It will be used when the
2754chosen event library does not come with a timing source of its own. The
2755pure-perl event loop (L<AnyEvent::Loop>) will additionally load it to
2756try to use a monotonic clock for timing stability.
2757
2758=back
2759
985 2760
986=head1 FORK 2761=head1 FORK
987 2762
988Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are 2763Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are
989because they are so inefficient. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware. 2764because they rely on inefficient but fork-safe C<select> or C<poll> calls
2765- higher performance APIs such as BSD's kqueue or the dreaded Linux epoll
2766are usually badly thought-out hacks that are incompatible with fork in
2767one way or another. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware and ensures that you
2768continue event-processing in both parent and child (or both, if you know
2769what you are doing).
2770
2771This means that, in general, you cannot fork and do event processing in
2772the child if the event library was initialised before the fork (which
2773usually happens when the first AnyEvent watcher is created, or the library
2774is loaded).
990 2775
991If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first 2776If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first
992watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child. 2777watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child OR you must do
2778something completely out of the scope of AnyEvent.
2779
2780The problem of doing event processing in the parent I<and> the child
2781is much more complicated: even for backends that I<are> fork-aware or
2782fork-safe, their behaviour is not usually what you want: fork clones all
2783watchers, that means all timers, I/O watchers etc. are active in both
2784parent and child, which is almost never what you want. USing C<exec>
2785to start worker children from some kind of manage rprocess is usually
2786preferred, because it is much easier and cleaner, at the expense of having
2787to have another binary.
993 2788
994 2789
995=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS 2790=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
996 2791
997AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via 2792AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via
1002specified in the variable. 2797specified in the variable.
1003 2798
1004You can make AnyEvent completely ignore this variable by deleting it 2799You can make AnyEvent completely ignore this variable by deleting it
1005before the first watcher gets created, e.g. with a C<BEGIN> block: 2800before the first watcher gets created, e.g. with a C<BEGIN> block:
1006 2801
1007 BEGIN { delete $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} } 2802 BEGIN { delete $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} }
1008 2803
1009 use AnyEvent; 2804 use AnyEvent;
2805
2806Similar considerations apply to $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}, as that can
2807be used to probe what backend is used and gain other information (which is
2808probably even less useful to an attacker than PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), and
2809$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT}.
2810
2811Note that AnyEvent will remove I<all> environment variables starting with
2812C<PERL_ANYEVENT_> from C<%ENV> when it is loaded while taint mode is
2813enabled.
2814
2815
2816=head1 BUGS
2817
2818Perl 5.8 has numerous memleaks that sometimes hit this module and are hard
2819to work around. If you suffer from memleaks, first upgrade to Perl 5.10
2820and check wether the leaks still show up. (Perl 5.10.0 has other annoying
2821memleaks, such as leaking on C<map> and C<grep> but it is usually not as
2822pronounced).
1010 2823
1011 2824
1012=head1 SEE ALSO 2825=head1 SEE ALSO
1013 2826
1014Event modules: L<Coro::EV>, L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>, L<Glib::EV>, 2827Tutorial/Introduction: L<AnyEvent::Intro>.
1015L<Coro::Event>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>, L<Glib>, L<Coro>, L<Tk>,
1016L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>.
1017 2828
1018Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, 2829FAQ: L<AnyEvent::FAQ>.
2830
2831Utility functions: L<AnyEvent::Util> (misc. grab-bag), L<AnyEvent::Log>
2832(simply logging).
2833
2834Development/Debugging: L<AnyEvent::Strict> (stricter checking),
2835L<AnyEvent::Debug> (interactive shell, watcher tracing).
2836
2837Supported event modules: L<AnyEvent::Loop>, L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>,
2838L<Glib::EV>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>, L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>,
2839L<Qt>, L<POE>, L<FLTK>.
2840
2841Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>,
2842L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>,
2843L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>,
1019L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, 2844L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync>, L<Anyevent::Impl::Irssi>,
1020L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, 2845L<AnyEvent::Impl::FLTK>.
1021L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>.
1022 2846
2847Non-blocking handles, pipes, stream sockets, TCP clients and
2848servers: L<AnyEvent::Handle>, L<AnyEvent::Socket>, L<AnyEvent::TLS>.
2849
2850Asynchronous DNS: L<AnyEvent::DNS>.
2851
2852Thread support: L<Coro>, L<Coro::AnyEvent>, L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>.
2853
1023Nontrivial usage examples: L<Net::FCP>, L<Net::XMPP2>. 2854Nontrivial usage examples: L<AnyEvent::GPSD>, L<AnyEvent::IRC>,
2855L<AnyEvent::HTTP>.
1024 2856
1025 2857
1026=head1 AUTHOR 2858=head1 AUTHOR
1027 2859
1028 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 2860 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
1029 http://home.schmorp.de/ 2861 http://home.schmorp.de/
1030 2862
1031=cut 2863=cut
1032 2864
10331 28651
1034 2866

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