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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 # file descriptor readable
11 my $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh, poll => "r|w", cb => sub { 13 my $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh, poll => "r", cb => sub { ... });
14
15 # one-shot or repeating timers
16 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, cb => sub { ... });
17 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, interval => $seconds, cb => ...
18
19 print AnyEvent->now; # prints current event loop time
20 print AnyEvent->time; # think Time::HiRes::time or simply CORE::time.
21
22 # POSIX signal
23 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "TERM", cb => sub { ... });
24
25 # child process exit
26 my $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => $pid, cb => sub {
27 my ($pid, $status) = @_;
12 ... 28 ...
13 }); 29 });
14 30
15 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, cb => sub { 31 # called when event loop idle (if applicable)
16 ... 32 my $w = AnyEvent->idle (cb => sub { ... });
17 });
18 33
19 my $w = AnyEvent->condvar; # stores whether a condition was flagged 34 my $w = AnyEvent->condvar; # stores whether a condition was flagged
35 $w->send; # wake up current and all future recv's
20 $w->wait; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->broadcast 36 $w->recv; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->send
21 $w->broadcast; # wake up current and all future wait's 37 # use a condvar in callback mode:
38 $w->cb (sub { $_[0]->recv });
39
40=head1 INTRODUCTION/TUTORIAL
41
42This manpage is mainly a reference manual. If you are interested
43in a tutorial or some gentle introduction, have a look at the
44L<AnyEvent::Intro> manpage.
45
46=head1 SUPPORT
47
48There is a mailinglist for discussing all things AnyEvent, and an IRC
49channel, too.
50
51See the AnyEvent project page at the B<Schmorpforge Ta-Sa Software
52Repository>, at L<http://anyevent.schmorp.de>, for more info.
22 53
23=head1 WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS MODULE (OR NOT) 54=head1 WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS MODULE (OR NOT)
24 55
25Glib, POE, IO::Async, Event... CPAN offers event models by the dozen 56Glib, POE, IO::Async, Event... CPAN offers event models by the dozen
26nowadays. So what is different about AnyEvent? 57nowadays. So what is different about AnyEvent?
27 58
28Executive Summary: AnyEvent is I<compatible>, AnyEvent is I<free of 59Executive Summary: AnyEvent is I<compatible>, AnyEvent is I<free of
29policy> and AnyEvent is I<small and efficient>. 60policy> and AnyEvent is I<small and efficient>.
30 61
31First and foremost, I<AnyEvent is not an event model> itself, it only 62First and foremost, I<AnyEvent is not an event model> itself, it only
32interfaces to whatever event model the main program happens to use in a 63interfaces to whatever event model the main program happens to use, in a
33pragmatic way. For event models and certain classes of immortals alike, 64pragmatic way. For event models and certain classes of immortals alike,
34the statement "there can only be one" is a bitter reality: In general, 65the statement "there can only be one" is a bitter reality: In general,
35only one event loop can be active at the same time in a process. AnyEvent 66only one event loop can be active at the same time in a process. AnyEvent
36helps hiding the differences between those event loops. 67cannot change this, but it can hide the differences between those event
68loops.
37 69
38The goal of AnyEvent is to offer module authors the ability to do event 70The goal of AnyEvent is to offer module authors the ability to do event
39programming (waiting for I/O or timer events) without subscribing to a 71programming (waiting for I/O or timer events) without subscribing to a
40religion, a way of living, and most importantly: without forcing your 72religion, a way of living, and most importantly: without forcing your
41module users into the same thing by forcing them to use the same event 73module users into the same thing by forcing them to use the same event
42model you use. 74model you use.
43 75
44For modules like POE or IO::Async (which is a total misnomer as it is 76For modules like POE or IO::Async (which is a total misnomer as it is
45actually doing all I/O I<synchronously>...), using them in your module is 77actually doing all I/O I<synchronously>...), using them in your module is
46like joining a cult: After you joined, you are dependent on them and you 78like joining a cult: After you joined, you are dependent on them and you
47cannot use anything else, as it is simply incompatible to everything that 79cannot use anything else, as they are simply incompatible to everything
48isn't itself. What's worse, all the potential users of your module are 80that isn't them. What's worse, all the potential users of your
49I<also> forced to use the same event loop you use. 81module are I<also> forced to use the same event loop you use.
50 82
51AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works 83AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works
52fine. AnyEvent + Tk works fine etc. etc. but none of these work together 84fine. AnyEvent + Tk works fine etc. etc. but none of these work together
53with the rest: POE + IO::Async? no go. Tk + Event? no go. Again: if 85with the rest: POE + IO::Async? No go. Tk + Event? No go. Again: if
54your module uses one of those, every user of your module has to use it, 86your module uses one of those, every user of your module has to use it,
55too. But if your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all 87too. But if your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all
56event models it supports (including stuff like POE and IO::Async, as long 88event models it supports (including stuff like IO::Async, as long as those
57as those use one of the supported event loops. It is trivial to add new 89use one of the supported event loops. It is trivial to add new event loops
58event loops to AnyEvent, too, so it is future-proof). 90to AnyEvent, too, so it is future-proof).
59 91
60In addition to being free of having to use I<the one and only true event 92In addition to being free of having to use I<the one and only true event
61model>, AnyEvent also is free of bloat and policy: with POE or similar 93model>, AnyEvent also is free of bloat and policy: with POE or similar
62modules, you get an enourmous amount of code and strict rules you have to 94modules, you get an enormous amount of code and strict rules you have to
63follow. AnyEvent, on the other hand, is lean and up to the point, by only 95follow. AnyEvent, on the other hand, is lean and up to the point, by only
64offering the functionality that is necessary, in as thin as a wrapper as 96offering the functionality that is necessary, in as thin as a wrapper as
65technically possible. 97technically possible.
66 98
99Of course, AnyEvent comes with a big (and fully optional!) toolbox
100of useful functionality, such as an asynchronous DNS resolver, 100%
101non-blocking connects (even with TLS/SSL, IPv6 and on broken platforms
102such as Windows) and lots of real-world knowledge and workarounds for
103platform bugs and differences.
104
67Of course, if you want lots of policy (this can arguably be somewhat 105Now, if you I<do want> lots of policy (this can arguably be somewhat
68useful) and you want to force your users to use the one and only event 106useful) and you want to force your users to use the one and only event
69model, you should I<not> use this module. 107model, you should I<not> use this module.
70
71 108
72=head1 DESCRIPTION 109=head1 DESCRIPTION
73 110
74L<AnyEvent> provides an identical interface to multiple event loops. This 111L<AnyEvent> provides an identical interface to multiple event loops. This
75allows module authors to utilise an event loop without forcing module 112allows module authors to utilise an event loop without forcing module
79The interface itself is vaguely similar, but not identical to the L<Event> 116The interface itself is vaguely similar, but not identical to the L<Event>
80module. 117module.
81 118
82During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries 119During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries
83to detect the currently loaded event loop by probing whether one of the 120to detect the currently loaded event loop by probing whether one of the
84following modules is already loaded: L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>, L<EV>, 121following modules is already loaded: L<EV>,
85L<Event>, L<Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, 122L<Event>, L<Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>,
86L<POE>. The first one found is used. If none are found, the module tries 123L<POE>. The first one found is used. If none are found, the module tries
87to load these modules (excluding Tk, Event::Lib, Qt and POE as the pure perl 124to load these modules (excluding Tk, Event::Lib, Qt and POE as the pure perl
88adaptor should always succeed) in the order given. The first one that can 125adaptor should always succeed) in the order given. The first one that can
89be successfully loaded will be used. If, after this, still none could be 126be successfully loaded will be used. If, after this, still none could be
103starts using it, all bets are off. Maybe you should tell their authors to 140starts using it, all bets are off. Maybe you should tell their authors to
104use AnyEvent so their modules work together with others seamlessly... 141use AnyEvent so their modules work together with others seamlessly...
105 142
106The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called 143The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called
107C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>. Like other event modules you can load it 144C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>. Like other event modules you can load it
108explicitly. 145explicitly and enjoy the high availability of that event loop :)
109 146
110=head1 WATCHERS 147=head1 WATCHERS
111 148
112AnyEvent has the central concept of a I<watcher>, which is an object that 149AnyEvent has the central concept of a I<watcher>, which is an object that
113stores relevant data for each kind of event you are waiting for, such as 150stores relevant data for each kind of event you are waiting for, such as
114the callback to call, the filehandle to watch, etc. 151the callback to call, the file handle to watch, etc.
115 152
116These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After 153These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After
117creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the 154creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the
118callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model 155callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model
119is in control). 156is in control).
120 157
158Note that B<callbacks must not permanently change global variables>
159potentially in use by the event loop (such as C<$_> or C<$[>) and that B<<
160callbacks must not C<die> >>. The former is good programming practise in
161Perl and the latter stems from the fact that exception handling differs
162widely between event loops.
163
121To disable the watcher you have to destroy it (e.g. by setting the 164To disable the watcher you have to destroy it (e.g. by setting the
122variable you store it in to C<undef> or otherwise deleting all references 165variable you store it in to C<undef> or otherwise deleting all references
123to it). 166to it).
124 167
125All watchers are created by calling a method on the C<AnyEvent> class. 168All watchers are created by calling a method on the C<AnyEvent> class.
127Many watchers either are used with "recursion" (repeating timers for 170Many watchers either are used with "recursion" (repeating timers for
128example), or need to refer to their watcher object in other ways. 171example), or need to refer to their watcher object in other ways.
129 172
130An any way to achieve that is this pattern: 173An any way to achieve that is this pattern:
131 174
132 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->type (arg => value ..., cb => sub { 175 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->type (arg => value ..., cb => sub {
133 # you can use $w here, for example to undef it 176 # you can use $w here, for example to undef it
134 undef $w; 177 undef $w;
135 }); 178 });
136 179
137Note that C<my $w; $w => combination. This is necessary because in Perl, 180Note that C<my $w; $w => combination. This is necessary because in Perl,
138my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are 181my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are
139declared. 182declared.
140 183
141=head2 I/O WATCHERS 184=head2 I/O WATCHERS
142 185
186 $w = AnyEvent->io (
187 fh => <filehandle_or_fileno>,
188 poll => <"r" or "w">,
189 cb => <callback>,
190 );
191
143You can create an I/O watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->io >> method 192You can create an I/O watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->io >> method
144with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments: 193with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments:
145 194
146C<fh> the Perl I<file handle> (I<not> file descriptor) to watch 195C<fh> is the Perl I<file handle> (or a naked file descriptor) to watch
196for events (AnyEvent might or might not keep a reference to this file
197handle). Note that only file handles pointing to things for which
198non-blocking operation makes sense are allowed. This includes sockets,
199most character devices, pipes, fifos and so on, but not for example files
200or block devices.
201
147for events. C<poll> must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>, 202C<poll> must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>, which creates a
148which creates a watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, 203watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, respectively.
204
149respectively. C<cb> is the callback to invoke each time the file handle 205C<cb> is the callback to invoke each time the file handle becomes ready.
150becomes ready.
151 206
152Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 207Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
153presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 208presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
154callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks. 209callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks.
155 210
159 214
160Some event loops issue spurious readyness notifications, so you should 215Some event loops issue spurious readyness notifications, so you should
161always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file 216always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file
162handles. 217handles.
163 218
164Example:
165
166 # wait for readability of STDIN, then read a line and disable the watcher 219Example: wait for readability of STDIN, then read a line and disable the
220watcher.
221
167 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub { 222 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub {
168 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); 223 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>);
169 warn "read: $input\n"; 224 warn "read: $input\n";
170 undef $w; 225 undef $w;
171 }); 226 });
172 227
173=head2 TIME WATCHERS 228=head2 TIME WATCHERS
174 229
230 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => <seconds>, cb => <callback>);
231
232 $w = AnyEvent->timer (
233 after => <fractional_seconds>,
234 interval => <fractional_seconds>,
235 cb => <callback>,
236 );
237
175You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >> 238You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >>
176method with the following mandatory arguments: 239method with the following mandatory arguments:
177 240
178C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are 241C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are
179supported) the callback should be invoked. C<cb> is the callback to invoke 242supported) the callback should be invoked. C<cb> is the callback to invoke
181 244
182Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 245Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
183presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 246presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
184callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks. 247callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks.
185 248
186The timer callback will be invoked at most once: if you want a repeating 249The callback will normally be invoked once only. If you specify another
187timer you have to create a new watcher (this is a limitation by both Tk 250parameter, C<interval>, as a strictly positive number (> 0), then the
188and Glib). 251callback will be invoked regularly at that interval (in fractional
252seconds) after the first invocation. If C<interval> is specified with a
253false value, then it is treated as if it were missing.
189 254
190Example: 255The callback will be rescheduled before invoking the callback, but no
256attempt is done to avoid timer drift in most backends, so the interval is
257only approximate.
191 258
192 # fire an event after 7.7 seconds 259Example: fire an event after 7.7 seconds.
260
193 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub { 261 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub {
194 warn "timeout\n"; 262 warn "timeout\n";
195 }); 263 });
196 264
197 # to cancel the timer: 265 # to cancel the timer:
198 undef $w; 266 undef $w;
199 267
200Example 2:
201
202 # fire an event after 0.5 seconds, then roughly every second 268Example 2: fire an event after 0.5 seconds, then roughly every second.
203 my $w;
204 269
205 my $cb = sub {
206 # cancel the old timer while creating a new one
207 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => $cb); 270 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.5, interval => 1, cb => sub {
271 warn "timeout\n";
208 }; 272 };
209
210 # start the "loop" by creating the first watcher
211 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.5, cb => $cb);
212 273
213=head3 TIMING ISSUES 274=head3 TIMING ISSUES
214 275
215There are two ways to handle timers: based on real time (relative, "fire 276There are two ways to handle timers: based on real time (relative, "fire
216in 10 seconds") and based on wallclock time (absolute, "fire at 12 277in 10 seconds") and based on wallclock time (absolute, "fire at 12
228timers. 289timers.
229 290
230AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the 291AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the
231AnyEvent API. 292AnyEvent API.
232 293
294AnyEvent has two additional methods that return the "current time":
295
296=over 4
297
298=item AnyEvent->time
299
300This returns the "current wallclock time" as a fractional number of
301seconds since the Epoch (the same thing as C<time> or C<Time::HiRes::time>
302return, and the result is guaranteed to be compatible with those).
303
304It progresses independently of any event loop processing, i.e. each call
305will check the system clock, which usually gets updated frequently.
306
307=item AnyEvent->now
308
309This also returns the "current wallclock time", but unlike C<time>, above,
310this value might change only once per event loop iteration, depending on
311the event loop (most return the same time as C<time>, above). This is the
312time that AnyEvent's timers get scheduled against.
313
314I<In almost all cases (in all cases if you don't care), this is the
315function to call when you want to know the current time.>
316
317This function is also often faster then C<< AnyEvent->time >>, and
318thus the preferred method if you want some timestamp (for example,
319L<AnyEvent::Handle> uses this to update it's activity timeouts).
320
321The rest of this section is only of relevance if you try to be very exact
322with your timing, you can skip it without bad conscience.
323
324For a practical example of when these times differ, consider L<Event::Lib>
325and L<EV> and the following set-up:
326
327The event loop is running and has just invoked one of your callback at
328time=500 (assume no other callbacks delay processing). In your callback,
329you wait a second by executing C<sleep 1> (blocking the process for a
330second) and then (at time=501) you create a relative timer that fires
331after three seconds.
332
333With L<Event::Lib>, C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> will
334both return C<501>, because that is the current time, and the timer will
335be scheduled to fire at time=504 (C<501> + C<3>).
336
337With L<EV>, C<< AnyEvent->time >> returns C<501> (as that is the current
338time), but C<< AnyEvent->now >> returns C<500>, as that is the time the
339last event processing phase started. With L<EV>, your timer gets scheduled
340to run at time=503 (C<500> + C<3>).
341
342In one sense, L<Event::Lib> is more exact, as it uses the current time
343regardless of any delays introduced by event processing. However, most
344callbacks do not expect large delays in processing, so this causes a
345higher drift (and a lot more system calls to get the current time).
346
347In another sense, L<EV> is more exact, as your timer will be scheduled at
348the same time, regardless of how long event processing actually took.
349
350In either case, if you care (and in most cases, you don't), then you
351can get whatever behaviour you want with any event loop, by taking the
352difference between C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> into
353account.
354
355=item AnyEvent->now_update
356
357Some event loops (such as L<EV> or L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) cache
358the current time for each loop iteration (see the discussion of L<<
359AnyEvent->now >>, above).
360
361When a callback runs for a long time (or when the process sleeps), then
362this "current" time will differ substantially from the real time, which
363might affect timers and time-outs.
364
365When this is the case, you can call this method, which will update the
366event loop's idea of "current time".
367
368A typical example would be a script in a web server (e.g. C<mod_perl>) -
369when mod_perl executes the script, then the event loop will have the wrong
370idea about the "current time" (being potentially far in the past, when the
371script ran the last time). In that case you should arrange a call to C<<
372AnyEvent->now_update >> each time the web server process wakes up again
373(e.g. at the start of your script, or in a handler).
374
375Note that updating the time I<might> cause some events to be handled.
376
377=back
378
233=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS 379=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS
234 380
381 $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => <uppercase_signal_name>, cb => <callback>);
382
235You can watch for signals using a signal watcher, C<signal> is the signal 383You can watch for signals using a signal watcher, C<signal> is the signal
236I<name> without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl callback to 384I<name> in uppercase and without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl
237be invoked whenever a signal occurs. 385callback to be invoked whenever a signal occurs.
238 386
239Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 387Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
240presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 388presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
241callbacks cannot use arguments passed to signal watcher callbacks. 389callbacks cannot use arguments passed to signal watcher callbacks.
242 390
243Multiple signal occurances can be clumped together into one callback 391Multiple signal occurrences can be clumped together into one callback
244invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. synchronous means 392invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. Synchronous means
245that it might take a while until the signal gets handled by the process, 393that it might take a while until the signal gets handled by the process,
246but it is guarenteed not to interrupt any other callbacks. 394but it is guaranteed not to interrupt any other callbacks.
247 395
248The main advantage of using these watchers is that you can share a signal 396The main advantage of using these watchers is that you can share a signal
249between multiple watchers. 397between multiple watchers, and AnyEvent will ensure that signals will not
398interrupt your program at bad times.
250 399
251This watcher might use C<%SIG>, so programs overwriting those signals 400This watcher might use C<%SIG> (depending on the event loop used),
252directly will likely not work correctly. 401so programs overwriting those signals directly will likely not work
402correctly.
253 403
254Example: exit on SIGINT 404Example: exit on SIGINT
255 405
256 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 }); 406 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 });
257 407
408=head3 Restart Behaviour
409
410While restart behaviour is up to the event loop implementation, most will
411not restart syscalls (that includes L<Async::Interrupt> and AnyEvent's
412pure perl implementation).
413
414=head3 Safe/Unsafe Signals
415
416Perl signals can be either "safe" (synchronous to opcode handling) or
417"unsafe" (asynchronous) - the former might get delayed indefinitely, the
418latter might corrupt your memory.
419
420AnyEvent signal handlers are, in addition, synchronous to the event loop,
421i.e. they will not interrupt your running perl program but will only be
422called as part of the normal event handling (just like timer, I/O etc.
423callbacks, too).
424
425=head3 Signal Races, Delays and Workarounds
426
427Many event loops (e.g. Glib, Tk, Qt, IO::Async) do not support attaching
428callbacks to signals in a generic way, which is a pity, as you cannot
429do race-free signal handling in perl, requiring C libraries for
430this. AnyEvent will try to do it's best, which means in some cases,
431signals will be delayed. The maximum time a signal might be delayed is
432specified in C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY> (default: 10 seconds). This
433variable can be changed only before the first signal watcher is created,
434and should be left alone otherwise. This variable determines how often
435AnyEvent polls for signals (in case a wake-up was missed). Higher values
436will cause fewer spurious wake-ups, which is better for power and CPU
437saving.
438
439All these problems can be avoided by installing the optional
440L<Async::Interrupt> module, which works with most event loops. It will not
441work with inherently broken event loops such as L<Event> or L<Event::Lib>
442(and not with L<POE> currently, as POE does it's own workaround with
443one-second latency). For those, you just have to suffer the delays.
444
258=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS 445=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS
259 446
447 $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => <process id>, cb => <callback>);
448
260You can also watch on a child process exit and catch its exit status. 449You can also watch on a child process exit and catch its exit status.
261 450
262The child process is specified by the C<pid> argument (if set to C<0>, it 451The child process is specified by the C<pid> argument (one some backends,
263watches for any child process exit). The watcher will trigger as often 452using C<0> watches for any child process exit, on others this will
264as status change for the child are received. This works by installing a 453croak). The watcher will be triggered only when the child process has
265signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>. The callback will be called with the pid 454finished and an exit status is available, not on any trace events
266and exit status (as returned by waitpid), so unlike other watcher types, 455(stopped/continued).
267you I<can> rely on child watcher callback arguments. 456
457The callback will be called with the pid and exit status (as returned by
458waitpid), so unlike other watcher types, you I<can> rely on child watcher
459callback arguments.
460
461This watcher type works by installing a signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>,
462and since it cannot be shared, nothing else should use SIGCHLD or reap
463random child processes (waiting for specific child processes, e.g. inside
464C<system>, is just fine).
268 465
269There is a slight catch to child watchers, however: you usually start them 466There is a slight catch to child watchers, however: you usually start them
270I<after> the child process was created, and this means the process could 467I<after> the child process was created, and this means the process could
271have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore). 468have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore).
272 469
273Not all event models handle this correctly (POE doesn't), but even for 470Not all event models handle this correctly (neither POE nor IO::Async do,
471see their AnyEvent::Impl manpages for details), but even for event models
274event models that I<do> handle this correctly, they usually need to be 472that I<do> handle this correctly, they usually need to be loaded before
275loaded before the process exits (i.e. before you fork in the first place). 473the process exits (i.e. before you fork in the first place). AnyEvent's
474pure perl event loop handles all cases correctly regardless of when you
475start the watcher.
276 476
277This means you cannot create a child watcher as the very first thing in an 477This means you cannot create a child watcher as the very first
278AnyEvent program, you I<have> to create at least one watcher before you 478thing in an AnyEvent program, you I<have> to create at least one
279C<fork> the child (alternatively, you can call C<AnyEvent::detect>). 479watcher before you C<fork> the child (alternatively, you can call
480C<AnyEvent::detect>).
481
482As most event loops do not support waiting for child events, they will be
483emulated by AnyEvent in most cases, in which the latency and race problems
484mentioned in the description of signal watchers apply.
280 485
281Example: fork a process and wait for it 486Example: fork a process and wait for it
282 487
283 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar; 488 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
284 489
285 AnyEvent::detect; # force event module to be initialised
286
287 my $pid = fork or exit 5; 490 my $pid = fork or exit 5;
288 491
289 my $w = AnyEvent->child ( 492 my $w = AnyEvent->child (
290 pid => $pid, 493 pid => $pid,
291 cb => sub { 494 cb => sub {
292 my ($pid, $status) = @_; 495 my ($pid, $status) = @_;
293 warn "pid $pid exited with status $status"; 496 warn "pid $pid exited with status $status";
294 $done->broadcast; 497 $done->send;
295 }, 498 },
296 ); 499 );
297 500
298 # do something else, then wait for process exit 501 # do something else, then wait for process exit
299 $done->wait; 502 $done->recv;
503
504=head2 IDLE WATCHERS
505
506 $w = AnyEvent->idle (cb => <callback>);
507
508Repeatedly invoke the callback after the process becomes idle, until
509either the watcher is destroyed or new events have been detected.
510
511Idle watchers are useful when there is a need to do something, but it
512is not so important (or wise) to do it instantly. The callback will be
513invoked only when there is "nothing better to do", which is usually
514defined as "all outstanding events have been handled and no new events
515have been detected". That means that idle watchers ideally get invoked
516when the event loop has just polled for new events but none have been
517detected. Instead of blocking to wait for more events, the idle watchers
518will be invoked.
519
520Unfortunately, most event loops do not really support idle watchers (only
521EV, Event and Glib do it in a usable fashion) - for the rest, AnyEvent
522will simply call the callback "from time to time".
523
524Example: read lines from STDIN, but only process them when the
525program is otherwise idle:
526
527 my @lines; # read data
528 my $idle_w;
529 my $io_w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub {
530 push @lines, scalar <STDIN>;
531
532 # start an idle watcher, if not already done
533 $idle_w ||= AnyEvent->idle (cb => sub {
534 # handle only one line, when there are lines left
535 if (my $line = shift @lines) {
536 print "handled when idle: $line";
537 } else {
538 # otherwise disable the idle watcher again
539 undef $idle_w;
540 }
541 });
542 });
300 543
301=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES 544=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES
302 545
546 $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
547
548 $cv->send (<list>);
549 my @res = $cv->recv;
550
551If you are familiar with some event loops you will know that all of them
552require you to run some blocking "loop", "run" or similar function that
553will actively watch for new events and call your callbacks.
554
555AnyEvent is slightly different: it expects somebody else to run the event
556loop and will only block when necessary (usually when told by the user).
557
558The instrument to do that is called a "condition variable", so called
559because they represent a condition that must become true.
560
561Now is probably a good time to look at the examples further below.
562
303Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar >> 563Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar
304method without any arguments. 564>> method, usually without arguments. The only argument pair allowed is
565C<cb>, which specifies a callback to be called when the condition variable
566becomes true, with the condition variable as the first argument (but not
567the results).
305 568
306A condition variable waits for a condition - precisely that the C<< 569After creation, the condition variable is "false" until it becomes "true"
307->broadcast >> method has been called. 570by calling the C<send> method (or calling the condition variable as if it
571were a callback, read about the caveats in the description for the C<<
572->send >> method).
308 573
309They are very useful to signal that a condition has been fulfilled, for 574Condition variables are similar to callbacks, except that you can
575optionally wait for them. They can also be called merge points - points
576in time where multiple outstanding events have been processed. And yet
577another way to call them is transactions - each condition variable can be
578used to represent a transaction, which finishes at some point and delivers
579a result. And yet some people know them as "futures" - a promise to
580compute/deliver something that you can wait for.
581
582Condition variables are very useful to signal that something has finished,
310example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests, 583for example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests,
311then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the 584then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the
312availability of results. 585availability of results. The user can either act when the callback is
586called or can synchronously C<< ->recv >> for the results.
313 587
314You can also use condition variables to block your main program until 588You can also use them to simulate traditional event loops - for example,
315an event occurs - for example, you could C<< ->wait >> in your main 589you can block your main program until an event occurs - for example, you
316program until the user clicks the Quit button in your app, which would C<< 590could C<< ->recv >> in your main program until the user clicks the Quit
317->broadcast >> the "quit" event. 591button of your app, which would C<< ->send >> the "quit" event.
318 592
319Note that condition variables recurse into the event loop - if you have 593Note that condition variables recurse into the event loop - if you have
320two pirces of code that call C<< ->wait >> in a round-robbin fashion, you 594two pieces of code that call C<< ->recv >> in a round-robin fashion, you
321lose. Therefore, condition variables are good to export to your caller, but 595lose. Therefore, condition variables are good to export to your caller, but
322you should avoid making a blocking wait yourself, at least in callbacks, 596you should avoid making a blocking wait yourself, at least in callbacks,
323as this asks for trouble. 597as this asks for trouble.
324 598
325This object has two methods: 599Condition variables are represented by hash refs in perl, and the keys
600used by AnyEvent itself are all named C<_ae_XXX> to make subclassing
601easy (it is often useful to build your own transaction class on top of
602AnyEvent). To subclass, use C<AnyEvent::CondVar> as base class and call
603it's C<new> method in your own C<new> method.
326 604
327=over 4 605There are two "sides" to a condition variable - the "producer side" which
606eventually calls C<< -> send >>, and the "consumer side", which waits
607for the send to occur.
328 608
329=item $cv->wait 609Example: wait for a timer.
330
331Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->broadcast >> method has been
332called on c<$cv>, while servicing other watchers normally.
333
334You can only wait once on a condition - additional calls will return
335immediately.
336
337Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case
338(programs might want to do that to stay interactive), so I<if you are
339using this from a module, never require a blocking wait>, but let the
340caller decide whether the call will block or not (for example, by coupling
341condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting
342callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block,
343while still suppporting blocking waits if the caller so desires).
344
345Another reason I<never> to C<< ->wait >> in a module is that you cannot
346sensibly have two C<< ->wait >>'s in parallel, as that would require
347multiple interpreters or coroutines/threads, none of which C<AnyEvent>
348can supply (the coroutine-aware backends L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV> and
349L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent> explicitly support concurrent C<< ->wait >>'s
350from different coroutines, however).
351
352=item $cv->broadcast
353
354Flag the condition as ready - a running C<< ->wait >> and all further
355calls to C<wait> will (eventually) return after this method has been
356called. If nobody is waiting the broadcast will be remembered..
357
358=back
359
360Example:
361 610
362 # wait till the result is ready 611 # wait till the result is ready
363 my $result_ready = AnyEvent->condvar; 612 my $result_ready = AnyEvent->condvar;
364 613
365 # do something such as adding a timer 614 # do something such as adding a timer
366 # or socket watcher the calls $result_ready->broadcast 615 # or socket watcher the calls $result_ready->send
367 # when the "result" is ready. 616 # when the "result" is ready.
368 # in this case, we simply use a timer: 617 # in this case, we simply use a timer:
369 my $w = AnyEvent->timer ( 618 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (
370 after => 1, 619 after => 1,
371 cb => sub { $result_ready->broadcast }, 620 cb => sub { $result_ready->send },
372 ); 621 );
373 622
374 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the watcher 623 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the callback
375 # calls broadcast 624 # calls ->send
376 $result_ready->wait; 625 $result_ready->recv;
626
627Example: wait for a timer, but take advantage of the fact that condition
628variables are also callable directly.
629
630 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
631 my $delay = AnyEvent->timer (after => 5, cb => $done);
632 $done->recv;
633
634Example: Imagine an API that returns a condvar and doesn't support
635callbacks. This is how you make a synchronous call, for example from
636the main program:
637
638 use AnyEvent::CouchDB;
639
640 ...
641
642 my @info = $couchdb->info->recv;
643
644And this is how you would just set a callback to be called whenever the
645results are available:
646
647 $couchdb->info->cb (sub {
648 my @info = $_[0]->recv;
649 });
650
651=head3 METHODS FOR PRODUCERS
652
653These methods should only be used by the producing side, i.e. the
654code/module that eventually sends the signal. Note that it is also
655the producer side which creates the condvar in most cases, but it isn't
656uncommon for the consumer to create it as well.
657
658=over 4
659
660=item $cv->send (...)
661
662Flag the condition as ready - a running C<< ->recv >> and all further
663calls to C<recv> will (eventually) return after this method has been
664called. If nobody is waiting the send will be remembered.
665
666If a callback has been set on the condition variable, it is called
667immediately from within send.
668
669Any arguments passed to the C<send> call will be returned by all
670future C<< ->recv >> calls.
671
672Condition variables are overloaded so one can call them directly (as if
673they were a code reference). Calling them directly is the same as calling
674C<send>.
675
676=item $cv->croak ($error)
677
678Similar to send, but causes all call's to C<< ->recv >> to invoke
679C<Carp::croak> with the given error message/object/scalar.
680
681This can be used to signal any errors to the condition variable
682user/consumer. Doing it this way instead of calling C<croak> directly
683delays the error detetcion, but has the overwhelmign advantage that it
684diagnoses the error at the place where the result is expected, and not
685deep in some event clalback without connection to the actual code causing
686the problem.
687
688=item $cv->begin ([group callback])
689
690=item $cv->end
691
692These two methods can be used to combine many transactions/events into
693one. For example, a function that pings many hosts in parallel might want
694to use a condition variable for the whole process.
695
696Every call to C<< ->begin >> will increment a counter, and every call to
697C<< ->end >> will decrement it. If the counter reaches C<0> in C<< ->end
698>>, the (last) callback passed to C<begin> will be executed, passing the
699condvar as first argument. That callback is I<supposed> to call C<< ->send
700>>, but that is not required. If no group callback was set, C<send> will
701be called without any arguments.
702
703You can think of C<< $cv->send >> giving you an OR condition (one call
704sends), while C<< $cv->begin >> and C<< $cv->end >> giving you an AND
705condition (all C<begin> calls must be C<end>'ed before the condvar sends).
706
707Let's start with a simple example: you have two I/O watchers (for example,
708STDOUT and STDERR for a program), and you want to wait for both streams to
709close before activating a condvar:
710
711 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
712
713 $cv->begin; # first watcher
714 my $w1 = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh1, cb => sub {
715 defined sysread $fh1, my $buf, 4096
716 or $cv->end;
717 });
718
719 $cv->begin; # second watcher
720 my $w2 = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh2, cb => sub {
721 defined sysread $fh2, my $buf, 4096
722 or $cv->end;
723 });
724
725 $cv->recv;
726
727This works because for every event source (EOF on file handle), there is
728one call to C<begin>, so the condvar waits for all calls to C<end> before
729sending.
730
731The ping example mentioned above is slightly more complicated, as the
732there are results to be passwd back, and the number of tasks that are
733begung can potentially be zero:
734
735 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
736
737 my %result;
738 $cv->begin (sub { shift->send (\%result) });
739
740 for my $host (@list_of_hosts) {
741 $cv->begin;
742 ping_host_then_call_callback $host, sub {
743 $result{$host} = ...;
744 $cv->end;
745 };
746 }
747
748 $cv->end;
749
750This code fragment supposedly pings a number of hosts and calls
751C<send> after results for all then have have been gathered - in any
752order. To achieve this, the code issues a call to C<begin> when it starts
753each ping request and calls C<end> when it has received some result for
754it. Since C<begin> and C<end> only maintain a counter, the order in which
755results arrive is not relevant.
756
757There is an additional bracketing call to C<begin> and C<end> outside the
758loop, which serves two important purposes: first, it sets the callback
759to be called once the counter reaches C<0>, and second, it ensures that
760C<send> is called even when C<no> hosts are being pinged (the loop
761doesn't execute once).
762
763This is the general pattern when you "fan out" into multiple (but
764potentially none) subrequests: use an outer C<begin>/C<end> pair to set
765the callback and ensure C<end> is called at least once, and then, for each
766subrequest you start, call C<begin> and for each subrequest you finish,
767call C<end>.
768
769=back
770
771=head3 METHODS FOR CONSUMERS
772
773These methods should only be used by the consuming side, i.e. the
774code awaits the condition.
775
776=over 4
777
778=item $cv->recv
779
780Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->send >> or C<< ->croak
781>> methods have been called on c<$cv>, while servicing other watchers
782normally.
783
784You can only wait once on a condition - additional calls are valid but
785will return immediately.
786
787If an error condition has been set by calling C<< ->croak >>, then this
788function will call C<croak>.
789
790In list context, all parameters passed to C<send> will be returned,
791in scalar context only the first one will be returned.
792
793Note that doing a blocking wait in a callback is not supported by any
794event loop, that is, recursive invocation of a blocking C<< ->recv
795>> is not allowed, and the C<recv> call will C<croak> if such a
796condition is detected. This condition can be slightly loosened by using
797L<Coro::AnyEvent>, which allows you to do a blocking C<< ->recv >> from
798any thread that doesn't run the event loop itself.
799
800Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case
801(programs might want to do that to stay interactive), so I<if you are
802using this from a module, never require a blocking wait>. Instead, let the
803caller decide whether the call will block or not (for example, by coupling
804condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting
805callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block,
806while still supporting blocking waits if the caller so desires).
807
808You can ensure that C<< -recv >> never blocks by setting a callback and
809only calling C<< ->recv >> from within that callback (or at a later
810time). This will work even when the event loop does not support blocking
811waits otherwise.
812
813=item $bool = $cv->ready
814
815Returns true when the condition is "true", i.e. whether C<send> or
816C<croak> have been called.
817
818=item $cb = $cv->cb ($cb->($cv))
819
820This is a mutator function that returns the callback set and optionally
821replaces it before doing so.
822
823The callback will be called when the condition becomes (or already was)
824"true", i.e. when C<send> or C<croak> are called (or were called), with
825the only argument being the condition variable itself. Calling C<recv>
826inside the callback or at any later time is guaranteed not to block.
827
828=back
829
830=head1 SUPPORTED EVENT LOOPS/BACKENDS
831
832The available backend classes are (every class has its own manpage):
833
834=over 4
835
836=item Backends that are autoprobed when no other event loop can be found.
837
838EV is the preferred backend when no other event loop seems to be in
839use. If EV is not installed, then AnyEvent will fall back to its own
840pure-perl implementation, which is available everywhere as it comes with
841AnyEvent itself.
842
843 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (interface to libev, best choice).
844 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl implementation, fast and portable.
845
846=item Backends that are transparently being picked up when they are used.
847
848These will be used when they are currently loaded when the first watcher
849is created, in which case it is assumed that the application is using
850them. This means that AnyEvent will automatically pick the right backend
851when the main program loads an event module before anything starts to
852create watchers. Nothing special needs to be done by the main program.
853
854 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, very stable, few glitches.
855 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, slow but very stable.
856 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very broken.
857 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
858 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, very slow, some limitations.
859 AnyEvent::Impl::Irssi used when running within irssi.
860
861=item Backends with special needs.
862
863Qt requires the Qt::Application to be instantiated first, but will
864otherwise be picked up automatically. As long as the main program
865instantiates the application before any AnyEvent watchers are created,
866everything should just work.
867
868 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt.
869
870Support for IO::Async can only be partial, as it is too broken and
871architecturally limited to even support the AnyEvent API. It also
872is the only event loop that needs the loop to be set explicitly, so
873it can only be used by a main program knowing about AnyEvent. See
874L<AnyEvent::Impl::Async> for the gory details.
875
876 AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync based on IO::Async, cannot be autoprobed.
877
878=item Event loops that are indirectly supported via other backends.
879
880Some event loops can be supported via other modules:
881
882There is no direct support for WxWidgets (L<Wx>) or L<Prima>.
883
884B<WxWidgets> has no support for watching file handles. However, you can
885use WxWidgets through the POE adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply
886polls 20 times per second, which was considered to be too horrible to even
887consider for AnyEvent.
888
889B<Prima> is not supported as nobody seems to be using it, but it has a POE
890backend, so it can be supported through POE.
891
892AnyEvent knows about both L<Prima> and L<Wx>, however, and will try to
893load L<POE> when detecting them, in the hope that POE will pick them up,
894in which case everything will be automatic.
895
896=back
377 897
378=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS 898=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS
379 899
900These are not normally required to use AnyEvent, but can be useful to
901write AnyEvent extension modules.
902
380=over 4 903=over 4
381 904
382=item $AnyEvent::MODEL 905=item $AnyEvent::MODEL
383 906
384Contains C<undef> until the first watcher is being created. Then it 907Contains C<undef> until the first watcher is being created, before the
908backend has been autodetected.
909
385contains the event model that is being used, which is the name of the 910Afterwards it contains the event model that is being used, which is the
386Perl class implementing the model. This class is usually one of the 911name of the Perl class implementing the model. This class is usually one
387C<AnyEvent::Impl:xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the case 912of the C<AnyEvent::Impl:xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the
388AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode>). 913case AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode> it
389 914will be C<urxvt::anyevent>).
390The known classes so far are:
391
392 AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV based on Coro::EV, best choice.
393 AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent based on Coro::Event, second best choice.
394 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (an interface to libev, best choice).
395 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, second best choice.
396 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, third-best choice.
397 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl implementation, inefficient but portable.
398 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very bad choice.
399 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt, cannot be autoprobed (see its docs).
400 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
401 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, not generic enough for full support.
402
403There is no support for WxWidgets, as WxWidgets has no support for
404watching file handles. However, you can use WxWidgets through the
405POE Adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply polls 20 times per
406second, which was considered to be too horrible to even consider for
407AnyEvent. Likewise, other POE backends can be used by AnyEvent by using
408it's adaptor.
409
410AnyEvent knows about L<Prima> and L<Wx> and will try to use L<POE> when
411autodetecting them.
412 915
413=item AnyEvent::detect 916=item AnyEvent::detect
414 917
415Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model 918Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model
416if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would 919if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would
417have created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, as late as possible at 920have created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, as late as possible at
418runtime. 921runtime, and not e.g. while initialising of your module.
922
923If you need to do some initialisation before AnyEvent watchers are
924created, use C<post_detect>.
925
926=item $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }
927
928Arranges for the code block to be executed as soon as the event model is
929autodetected (or immediately if this has already happened).
930
931The block will be executed I<after> the actual backend has been detected
932(C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> is set), but I<before> any watchers have been
933created, so it is possible to e.g. patch C<@AnyEvent::ISA> or do
934other initialisations - see the sources of L<AnyEvent::Strict> or
935L<AnyEvent::AIO> to see how this is used.
936
937The most common usage is to create some global watchers, without forcing
938event module detection too early, for example, L<AnyEvent::AIO> creates
939and installs the global L<IO::AIO> watcher in a C<post_detect> block to
940avoid autodetecting the event module at load time.
941
942If called in scalar or list context, then it creates and returns an object
943that automatically removes the callback again when it is destroyed (or
944C<undef> when the hook was immediately executed). See L<AnyEvent::AIO> for
945a case where this is useful.
946
947Example: Create a watcher for the IO::AIO module and store it in
948C<$WATCHER>. Only do so after the event loop is initialised, though.
949
950 our WATCHER;
951
952 my $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect {
953 $WATCHER = AnyEvent->io (fh => IO::AIO::poll_fileno, poll => 'r', cb => \&IO::AIO::poll_cb);
954 };
955
956 # the ||= is important in case post_detect immediately runs the block,
957 # as to not clobber the newly-created watcher. assigning both watcher and
958 # post_detect guard to the same variable has the advantage of users being
959 # able to just C<undef $WATCHER> if the watcher causes them grief.
960
961 $WATCHER ||= $guard;
962
963=item @AnyEvent::post_detect
964
965If there are any code references in this array (you can C<push> to it
966before or after loading AnyEvent), then they will called directly after
967the event loop has been chosen.
968
969You should check C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> before adding to this array, though:
970if it is defined then the event loop has already been detected, and the
971array will be ignored.
972
973Best use C<AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }> when your application allows
974it, as it takes care of these details.
975
976This variable is mainly useful for modules that can do something useful
977when AnyEvent is used and thus want to know when it is initialised, but do
978not need to even load it by default. This array provides the means to hook
979into AnyEvent passively, without loading it.
980
981Example: To load Coro::AnyEvent whenever Coro and AnyEvent are used
982together, you could put this into Coro (this is the actual code used by
983Coro to accomplish this):
984
985 if (defined $AnyEvent::MODEL) {
986 # AnyEvent already initialised, so load Coro::AnyEvent
987 require Coro::AnyEvent;
988 } else {
989 # AnyEvent not yet initialised, so make sure to load Coro::AnyEvent
990 # as soon as it is
991 push @AnyEvent::post_detect, sub { require Coro::AnyEvent };
992 }
419 993
420=back 994=back
421 995
422=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE 996=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE
423 997
427Be careful when you create watchers in the module body - AnyEvent will 1001Be careful when you create watchers in the module body - AnyEvent will
428decide which event module to use as soon as the first method is called, so 1002decide which event module to use as soon as the first method is called, so
429by calling AnyEvent in your module body you force the user of your module 1003by calling AnyEvent in your module body you force the user of your module
430to load the event module first. 1004to load the event module first.
431 1005
432Never call C<< ->wait >> on a condition variable unless you I<know> that 1006Never call C<< ->recv >> on a condition variable unless you I<know> that
433the C<< ->broadcast >> method has been called on it already. This is 1007the C<< ->send >> method has been called on it already. This is
434because it will stall the whole program, and the whole point of using 1008because it will stall the whole program, and the whole point of using
435events is to stay interactive. 1009events is to stay interactive.
436 1010
437It is fine, however, to call C<< ->wait >> when the user of your module 1011It is fine, however, to call C<< ->recv >> when the user of your module
438requests it (i.e. if you create a http request object ad have a method 1012requests it (i.e. if you create a http request object ad have a method
439called C<results> that returns the results, it should call C<< ->wait >> 1013called C<results> that returns the results, it should call C<< ->recv >>
440freely, as the user of your module knows what she is doing. always). 1014freely, as the user of your module knows what she is doing. always).
441 1015
442=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM 1016=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM
443 1017
444There will always be a single main program - the only place that should 1018There will always be a single main program - the only place that should
446 1020
447If it doesn't care, it can just "use AnyEvent" and use it itself, or not 1021If it doesn't care, it can just "use AnyEvent" and use it itself, or not
448do anything special (it does not need to be event-based) and let AnyEvent 1022do anything special (it does not need to be event-based) and let AnyEvent
449decide which implementation to chose if some module relies on it. 1023decide which implementation to chose if some module relies on it.
450 1024
451If the main program relies on a specific event model. For example, in 1025If the main program relies on a specific event model - for example, in
452Gtk2 programs you have to rely on the Glib module. You should load the 1026Gtk2 programs you have to rely on the Glib module - you should load the
453event module before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it: generally 1027event module before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it: generally
454speaking, you should load it as early as possible. The reason is that 1028speaking, you should load it as early as possible. The reason is that
455modules might create watchers when they are loaded, and AnyEvent will 1029modules might create watchers when they are loaded, and AnyEvent will
456decide on the event model to use as soon as it creates watchers, and it 1030decide on the event model to use as soon as it creates watchers, and it
457might chose the wrong one unless you load the correct one yourself. 1031might chose the wrong one unless you load the correct one yourself.
458 1032
459You can chose to use a rather inefficient pure-perl implementation by 1033You can chose to use a pure-perl implementation by loading the
460loading the C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl> module, which gives you similar 1034C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl> module, which gives you similar behaviour
461behaviour everywhere, but letting AnyEvent chose is generally better. 1035everywhere, but letting AnyEvent chose the model is generally better.
1036
1037=head2 MAINLOOP EMULATION
1038
1039Sometimes (often for short test scripts, or even standalone programs who
1040only want to use AnyEvent), you do not want to run a specific event loop.
1041
1042In that case, you can use a condition variable like this:
1043
1044 AnyEvent->condvar->recv;
1045
1046This has the effect of entering the event loop and looping forever.
1047
1048Note that usually your program has some exit condition, in which case
1049it is better to use the "traditional" approach of storing a condition
1050variable somewhere, waiting for it, and sending it when the program should
1051exit cleanly.
1052
1053
1054=head1 OTHER MODULES
1055
1056The following is a non-exhaustive list of additional modules that use
1057AnyEvent as a client and can therefore be mixed easily with other AnyEvent
1058modules and other event loops in the same program. Some of the modules
1059come with AnyEvent, most are available via CPAN.
1060
1061=over 4
1062
1063=item L<AnyEvent::Util>
1064
1065Contains various utility functions that replace often-used but blocking
1066functions such as C<inet_aton> by event-/callback-based versions.
1067
1068=item L<AnyEvent::Socket>
1069
1070Provides various utility functions for (internet protocol) sockets,
1071addresses and name resolution. Also functions to create non-blocking tcp
1072connections or tcp servers, with IPv6 and SRV record support and more.
1073
1074=item L<AnyEvent::Handle>
1075
1076Provide read and write buffers, manages watchers for reads and writes,
1077supports raw and formatted I/O, I/O queued and fully transparent and
1078non-blocking SSL/TLS (via L<AnyEvent::TLS>.
1079
1080=item L<AnyEvent::DNS>
1081
1082Provides rich asynchronous DNS resolver capabilities.
1083
1084=item L<AnyEvent::HTTP>
1085
1086A simple-to-use HTTP library that is capable of making a lot of concurrent
1087HTTP requests.
1088
1089=item L<AnyEvent::HTTPD>
1090
1091Provides a simple web application server framework.
1092
1093=item L<AnyEvent::FastPing>
1094
1095The fastest ping in the west.
1096
1097=item L<AnyEvent::DBI>
1098
1099Executes L<DBI> requests asynchronously in a proxy process.
1100
1101=item L<AnyEvent::AIO>
1102
1103Truly asynchronous I/O, should be in the toolbox of every event
1104programmer. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses L<IO::AIO> and AnyEvent
1105together.
1106
1107=item L<AnyEvent::BDB>
1108
1109Truly asynchronous Berkeley DB access. AnyEvent::BDB transparently fuses
1110L<BDB> and AnyEvent together.
1111
1112=item L<AnyEvent::GPSD>
1113
1114A non-blocking interface to gpsd, a daemon delivering GPS information.
1115
1116=item L<AnyEvent::IRC>
1117
1118AnyEvent based IRC client module family (replacing the older Net::IRC3).
1119
1120=item L<AnyEvent::XMPP>
1121
1122AnyEvent based XMPP (Jabber protocol) module family (replacing the older
1123Net::XMPP2>.
1124
1125=item L<AnyEvent::IGS>
1126
1127A non-blocking interface to the Internet Go Server protocol (used by
1128L<App::IGS>).
1129
1130=item L<Net::FCP>
1131
1132AnyEvent-based implementation of the Freenet Client Protocol, birthplace
1133of AnyEvent.
1134
1135=item L<Event::ExecFlow>
1136
1137High level API for event-based execution flow control.
1138
1139=item L<Coro>
1140
1141Has special support for AnyEvent via L<Coro::AnyEvent>.
1142
1143=back
462 1144
463=cut 1145=cut
464 1146
465package AnyEvent; 1147package AnyEvent;
466 1148
467no warnings; 1149# basically a tuned-down version of common::sense
468use strict; 1150sub common_sense {
1151 # from common:.sense 1.0
1152 ${^WARNING_BITS} = "\xfc\x3f\x33\x00\x0f\xf3\xcf\xc0\xf3\xfc\x33\x00";
1153 # use strict vars subs - NO UTF-8, as Util.pm doesn't like this atm. (uts46data.pl)
1154 $^H |= 0x00000600;
1155}
469 1156
1157BEGIN { AnyEvent::common_sense }
1158
470use Carp; 1159use Carp ();
471 1160
472our $VERSION = '3.3'; 1161our $VERSION = '5.251';
473our $MODEL; 1162our $MODEL;
474 1163
475our $AUTOLOAD; 1164our $AUTOLOAD;
476our @ISA; 1165our @ISA;
477 1166
478our $verbose = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1;
479
480our @REGISTRY; 1167our @REGISTRY;
481 1168
1169our $VERBOSE;
1170
1171BEGIN {
1172 require "AnyEvent/constants.pl";
1173
1174 eval "sub TAINT (){" . (${^TAINT} *1) . "}";
1175
1176 delete @ENV{grep /^PERL_ANYEVENT_/, keys %ENV}
1177 if ${^TAINT};
1178
1179 $VERBOSE = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1;
1180
1181}
1182
1183our $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY = 10;
1184
1185our %PROTOCOL; # (ipv4|ipv6) => (1|2), higher numbers are preferred
1186
1187{
1188 my $idx;
1189 $PROTOCOL{$_} = ++$idx
1190 for reverse split /\s*,\s*/,
1191 $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS} || "ipv4,ipv6";
1192}
1193
482my @models = ( 1194my @models = (
483 [Coro::EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV::],
484 [Coro::Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent::],
485 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV::], 1195 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV:: , 1],
1196 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: , 1],
1197 # everything below here will not (normally) be autoprobed
1198 # as the pureperl backend should work everywhere
1199 # and is usually faster
486 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::], 1200 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::, 1],
487 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib::], 1201 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib:: , 1], # becomes extremely slow with many watchers
1202 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy
1203 [Irssi:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Irssi::], # Irssi has a bogus "Event" package
488 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], 1204 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], # crashes with many handles
1205 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program
1206 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza
489 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], 1207 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
490 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], 1208 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
491 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl::], 1209 # IO::Async is just too broken - we would need workarounds for its
492 # everything below here will not be autoprobed as the pureperl backend should work everywhere 1210 # byzantine signal and broken child handling, among others.
493 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy 1211 # IO::Async is rather hard to detect, as it doesn't have any
1212 # obvious default class.
494 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program 1213 [IO::Async:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program
495 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza 1214 [IO::Async::Loop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program
1215 [IO::Async::Notifier:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program
1216 [AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program
496); 1217);
497 1218
498our %method = map +($_ => 1), qw(io timer signal child condvar broadcast wait one_event DESTROY); 1219our %method = map +($_ => 1),
1220 qw(io timer time now now_update signal child idle condvar one_event DESTROY);
1221
1222our @post_detect;
1223
1224sub post_detect(&) {
1225 my ($cb) = @_;
1226
1227 if ($MODEL) {
1228 $cb->();
1229
1230 undef
1231 } else {
1232 push @post_detect, $cb;
1233
1234 defined wantarray
1235 ? bless \$cb, "AnyEvent::Util::postdetect"
1236 : ()
1237 }
1238}
1239
1240sub AnyEvent::Util::postdetect::DESTROY {
1241 @post_detect = grep $_ != ${$_[0]}, @post_detect;
1242}
499 1243
500sub detect() { 1244sub detect() {
1245 # free some memory
1246 *detect = sub () { $MODEL };
1247
1248 local $!; # for good measure
1249 local $SIG{__DIE__};
1250
1251 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z]+)$/) {
1252 my $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$1";
1253 if (eval "require $model") {
1254 $MODEL = $model;
1255 warn "AnyEvent: loaded model '$model' (forced by \$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}), using it.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 2;
1256 } else {
1257 warn "AnyEvent: unable to load model '$model' (from \$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}):\n$@" if $VERBOSE;
1258 }
1259 }
1260
1261 # check for already loaded models
501 unless ($MODEL) { 1262 unless ($MODEL) {
502 no strict 'refs'; 1263 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
503 1264 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
504 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z]+)$/) { 1265 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) {
505 my $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$1";
506 if (eval "require $model") { 1266 if (eval "require $model") {
507 $MODEL = $model; 1267 $MODEL = $model;
508 warn "AnyEvent: loaded model '$model' (forced by \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1268 warn "AnyEvent: autodetected model '$model', using it.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 2;
509 } else { 1269 last;
510 warn "AnyEvent: unable to load model '$model' (from \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL):\n$@" if $verbose; 1270 }
511 } 1271 }
512 } 1272 }
513 1273
514 # check for already loaded models
515 unless ($MODEL) { 1274 unless ($MODEL) {
1275 # try to autoload a model
516 for (@REGISTRY, @models) { 1276 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
517 my ($package, $model) = @$_; 1277 my ($package, $model, $autoload) = @$_;
1278 if (
1279 $autoload
1280 and eval "require $package"
518 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) { 1281 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0
519 if (eval "require $model") { 1282 and eval "require $model"
1283 ) {
520 $MODEL = $model; 1284 $MODEL = $model;
521 warn "AnyEvent: autodetected model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1285 warn "AnyEvent: autoloaded model '$model', using it.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 2;
522 last; 1286 last;
523 }
524 } 1287 }
525 } 1288 }
526 1289
527 unless ($MODEL) {
528 # try to load a model
529
530 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
531 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
532 if (eval "require $package"
533 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0
534 and eval "require $model") {
535 $MODEL = $model;
536 warn "AnyEvent: autoprobed model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1;
537 last;
538 }
539 }
540
541 $MODEL 1290 $MODEL
542 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."; 1291 or die "No event module selected for AnyEvent and autodetect failed. Install any one of these modules: EV, Event or Glib.\n";
543 }
544 } 1292 }
545
546 unshift @ISA, $MODEL;
547 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base";
548 } 1293 }
1294
1295 @models = (); # free probe data
1296
1297 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base";
1298 unshift @ISA, $MODEL;
1299
1300 require AnyEvent::Strict if $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT};
1301
1302 (shift @post_detect)->() while @post_detect;
549 1303
550 $MODEL 1304 $MODEL
551} 1305}
552 1306
553sub AUTOLOAD { 1307sub AUTOLOAD {
554 (my $func = $AUTOLOAD) =~ s/.*://; 1308 (my $func = $AUTOLOAD) =~ s/.*://;
555 1309
556 $method{$func} 1310 $method{$func}
557 or croak "$func: not a valid method for AnyEvent objects"; 1311 or Carp::croak "$func: not a valid AnyEvent class method";
558 1312
559 detect unless $MODEL; 1313 detect;
560 1314
561 my $class = shift; 1315 my $class = shift;
562 $class->$func (@_); 1316 $class->$func (@_);
563} 1317}
564 1318
1319# utility function to dup a filehandle. this is used by many backends
1320# to support binding more than one watcher per filehandle (they usually
1321# allow only one watcher per fd, so we dup it to get a different one).
1322sub _dupfh($$;$$) {
1323 my ($poll, $fh, $r, $w) = @_;
1324
1325 # cygwin requires the fh mode to be matching, unix doesn't
1326 my ($rw, $mode) = $poll eq "r" ? ($r, "<&") : ($w, ">&");
1327
1328 open my $fh2, $mode, $fh
1329 or die "AnyEvent->io: cannot dup() filehandle in mode '$poll': $!,";
1330
1331 # we assume CLOEXEC is already set by perl in all important cases
1332
1333 ($fh2, $rw)
1334}
1335
1336=head1 SIMPLIFIED AE API
1337
1338Starting with version 5.0, AnyEvent officially supports a second, much
1339simpler, API that is designed to reduce the calling, typing and memory
1340overhead.
1341
1342See the L<AE> manpage for details.
1343
1344=cut
1345
1346package AE;
1347
1348our $VERSION = $AnyEvent::VERSION;
1349
1350sub io($$$) {
1351 AnyEvent->io (fh => $_[0], poll => $_[1] ? "w" : "r", cb => $_[2])
1352}
1353
1354sub timer($$$) {
1355 AnyEvent->timer (after => $_[0], interval => $_[1], cb => $_[2])
1356}
1357
1358sub signal($$) {
1359 AnyEvent->signal (signal => $_[0], cb => $_[1])
1360}
1361
1362sub child($$) {
1363 AnyEvent->child (pid => $_[0], cb => $_[1])
1364}
1365
1366sub idle($) {
1367 AnyEvent->idle (cb => $_[0])
1368}
1369
1370sub cv(;&) {
1371 AnyEvent->condvar (@_ ? (cb => $_[0]) : ())
1372}
1373
1374sub now() {
1375 AnyEvent->now
1376}
1377
1378sub now_update() {
1379 AnyEvent->now_update
1380}
1381
1382sub time() {
1383 AnyEvent->time
1384}
1385
565package AnyEvent::Base; 1386package AnyEvent::Base;
566 1387
1388# default implementations for many methods
1389
1390sub _time() {
1391 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading
1392 # probe for availability of Time::HiRes
1393 if (eval "use Time::HiRes (); Time::HiRes::time (); 1") {
1394 warn "AnyEvent: using Time::HiRes for sub-second timing accuracy.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 8;
1395 *_time = \&Time::HiRes::time;
1396 # if (eval "use POSIX (); (POSIX::times())...
1397 } else {
1398 warn "AnyEvent: using built-in time(), WARNING, no sub-second resolution!\n" if $VERBOSE;
1399 *_time = sub (){ time }; # epic fail
1400 }
1401 };
1402 die if $@;
1403
1404 &_time
1405}
1406
1407sub time { _time }
1408sub now { _time }
1409sub now_update { }
1410
567# default implementation for ->condvar, ->wait, ->broadcast 1411# default implementation for ->condvar
568 1412
569sub condvar { 1413sub condvar {
570 bless \my $flag, "AnyEvent::Base::CondVar" 1414 bless { @_ == 3 ? (_ae_cb => $_[2]) : () }, "AnyEvent::CondVar"
571}
572
573sub AnyEvent::Base::CondVar::broadcast {
574 ${$_[0]}++;
575}
576
577sub AnyEvent::Base::CondVar::wait {
578 AnyEvent->one_event while !${$_[0]};
579} 1415}
580 1416
581# default implementation for ->signal 1417# default implementation for ->signal
582 1418
583our %SIG_CB; 1419our $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT;
1420
1421sub _have_async_interrupt() {
1422 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT = 1*(!$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_ASYNC_INTERRUPT}
1423 && eval "use Async::Interrupt 1.02 (); 1")
1424 unless defined $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT;
1425
1426 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1427}
1428
1429our ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W, %SIG_CB, %SIG_EV, $SIG_IO);
1430our (%SIG_ASY, %SIG_ASY_W);
1431our ($SIG_COUNT, $SIG_TW);
1432
1433# install a dummy wakeup watcher to reduce signal catching latency
1434# used by Impls
1435sub _sig_add() {
1436 unless ($SIG_COUNT++) {
1437 # try to align timer on a full-second boundary, if possible
1438 my $NOW = AE::now;
1439
1440 $SIG_TW = AE::timer
1441 $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY - ($NOW - int $NOW),
1442 $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY,
1443 sub { } # just for the PERL_ASYNC_CHECK
1444 ;
1445 }
1446}
1447
1448sub _sig_del {
1449 undef $SIG_TW
1450 unless --$SIG_COUNT;
1451}
1452
1453our $_sig_name_init; $_sig_name_init = sub {
1454 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading
1455 undef $_sig_name_init;
1456
1457 if (_have_async_interrupt) {
1458 *sig2num = \&Async::Interrupt::sig2num;
1459 *sig2name = \&Async::Interrupt::sig2name;
1460 } else {
1461 require Config;
1462
1463 my %signame2num;
1464 @signame2num{ split ' ', $Config::Config{sig_name} }
1465 = split ' ', $Config::Config{sig_num};
1466
1467 my @signum2name;
1468 @signum2name[values %signame2num] = keys %signame2num;
1469
1470 *sig2num = sub($) {
1471 $_[0] > 0 ? shift : $signame2num{+shift}
1472 };
1473 *sig2name = sub ($) {
1474 $_[0] > 0 ? $signum2name[+shift] : shift
1475 };
1476 }
1477 };
1478 die if $@;
1479};
1480
1481sub sig2num ($) { &$_sig_name_init; &sig2num }
1482sub sig2name($) { &$_sig_name_init; &sig2name }
584 1483
585sub signal { 1484sub signal {
1485 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1486 # probe for availability of Async::Interrupt
1487 if (_have_async_interrupt) {
1488 warn "AnyEvent: using Async::Interrupt for race-free signal handling.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 8;
1489
1490 $SIGPIPE_R = new Async::Interrupt::EventPipe;
1491 $SIG_IO = AE::io $SIGPIPE_R->fileno, 0, \&_signal_exec;
1492
1493 } else {
1494 warn "AnyEvent: using emulated perl signal handling with latency timer.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 8;
1495
1496 if (AnyEvent::WIN32) {
1497 require AnyEvent::Util;
1498
1499 ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W) = AnyEvent::Util::portable_pipe ();
1500 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_R, 1) if $SIGPIPE_R;
1501 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_W, 1) if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case
1502 } else {
1503 pipe $SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W;
1504 fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, AnyEvent::F_SETFL, AnyEvent::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_R;
1505 fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, AnyEvent::F_SETFL, AnyEvent::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case
1506
1507 # not strictly required, as $^F is normally 2, but let's make sure...
1508 fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, AnyEvent::F_SETFD, AnyEvent::FD_CLOEXEC;
1509 fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, AnyEvent::F_SETFD, AnyEvent::FD_CLOEXEC;
1510 }
1511
1512 $SIGPIPE_R
1513 or Carp::croak "AnyEvent: unable to create a signal reporting pipe: $!\n";
1514
1515 $SIG_IO = AE::io $SIGPIPE_R, 0, \&_signal_exec;
1516 }
1517
1518 *signal = sub {
586 my (undef, %arg) = @_; 1519 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
587 1520
588 my $signal = uc $arg{signal} 1521 my $signal = uc $arg{signal}
589 or Carp::croak "required option 'signal' is missing"; 1522 or Carp::croak "required option 'signal' is missing";
590 1523
1524 if ($HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT) {
1525 # async::interrupt
1526
1527 $signal = sig2num $signal;
591 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb}; 1528 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1529
1530 $SIG_ASY{$signal} ||= new Async::Interrupt
1531 cb => sub { undef $SIG_EV{$signal} },
1532 signal => $signal,
1533 pipe => [$SIGPIPE_R->filenos],
1534 pipe_autodrain => 0,
1535 ;
1536
1537 } else {
1538 # pure perl
1539
1540 # AE::Util has been loaded in signal
1541 $signal = sig2name $signal;
1542 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1543
592 $SIG{$signal} ||= sub { 1544 $SIG{$signal} ||= sub {
1545 local $!;
1546 syswrite $SIGPIPE_W, "\x00", 1 unless %SIG_EV;
1547 undef $SIG_EV{$signal};
1548 };
1549
1550 # can't do signal processing without introducing races in pure perl,
1551 # so limit the signal latency.
1552 _sig_add;
1553 }
1554
1555 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::signal"
1556 };
1557
1558 *AnyEvent::Base::signal::DESTROY = sub {
1559 my ($signal, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
1560
1561 _sig_del;
1562
1563 delete $SIG_CB{$signal}{$cb};
1564
1565 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1566 ? delete $SIG_ASY{$signal}
1567 : # delete doesn't work with older perls - they then
1568 # print weird messages, or just unconditionally exit
1569 # instead of getting the default action.
1570 undef $SIG{$signal}
1571 unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} };
1572 };
1573
1574 *_signal_exec = sub {
1575 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1576 ? $SIGPIPE_R->drain
1577 : sysread $SIGPIPE_R, (my $dummy), 9;
1578
1579 while (%SIG_EV) {
1580 for (keys %SIG_EV) {
1581 delete $SIG_EV{$_};
593 $_->() for values %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} || {} }; 1582 $_->() for values %{ $SIG_CB{$_} || {} };
1583 }
1584 }
1585 };
594 }; 1586 };
1587 die if $@;
595 1588
596 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Signal" 1589 &signal
597}
598
599sub AnyEvent::Base::Signal::DESTROY {
600 my ($signal, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
601
602 delete $SIG_CB{$signal}{$cb};
603
604 $SIG{$signal} = 'DEFAULT' unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} };
605} 1590}
606 1591
607# default implementation for ->child 1592# default implementation for ->child
608 1593
609our %PID_CB; 1594our %PID_CB;
610our $CHLD_W; 1595our $CHLD_W;
611our $CHLD_DELAY_W; 1596our $CHLD_DELAY_W;
612our $PID_IDLE;
613our $WNOHANG; 1597our $WNOHANG;
614 1598
615sub _child_wait { 1599# used by many Impl's
616 while (0 < (my $pid = waitpid -1, $WNOHANG)) { 1600sub _emit_childstatus($$) {
1601 my (undef, $rpid, $rstatus) = @_;
1602
1603 $_->($rpid, $rstatus)
617 $_->($pid, $?) for (values %{ $PID_CB{$pid} || {} }), 1604 for values %{ $PID_CB{$rpid} || {} },
618 (values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} }); 1605 values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} };
619 }
620
621 undef $PID_IDLE;
622}
623
624sub _sigchld {
625 # make sure we deliver these changes "synchronous" with the event loop.
626 $CHLD_DELAY_W ||= AnyEvent->timer (after => 0, cb => sub {
627 undef $CHLD_DELAY_W;
628 &_child_wait;
629 });
630} 1606}
631 1607
632sub child { 1608sub child {
1609 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1610 *_sigchld = sub {
1611 my $pid;
1612
1613 AnyEvent->_emit_childstatus ($pid, $?)
1614 while ($pid = waitpid -1, $WNOHANG) > 0;
1615 };
1616
1617 *child = sub {
633 my (undef, %arg) = @_; 1618 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
634 1619
635 defined (my $pid = $arg{pid} + 0) 1620 defined (my $pid = $arg{pid} + 0)
636 or Carp::croak "required option 'pid' is missing"; 1621 or Carp::croak "required option 'pid' is missing";
637 1622
638 $PID_CB{$pid}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb}; 1623 $PID_CB{$pid}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
639 1624
640 unless ($WNOHANG) { 1625 # WNOHANG is almost cetrainly 1 everywhere
641 $WNOHANG = eval { require POSIX; &POSIX::WNOHANG } || 1; 1626 $WNOHANG ||= $^O =~ /^(?:openbsd|netbsd|linux|freebsd|cygwin|MSWin32)$/
642 } 1627 ? 1
1628 : eval { local $SIG{__DIE__}; require POSIX; &POSIX::WNOHANG } || 1;
643 1629
644 unless ($CHLD_W) { 1630 unless ($CHLD_W) {
645 $CHLD_W = AnyEvent->signal (signal => 'CHLD', cb => \&_sigchld); 1631 $CHLD_W = AE::signal CHLD => \&_sigchld;
646 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round 1632 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round
647 &_sigchld; 1633 &_sigchld;
648 } 1634 }
649 1635
650 bless [$pid, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Child" 1636 bless [$pid, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::child"
651} 1637 };
652 1638
653sub AnyEvent::Base::Child::DESTROY { 1639 *AnyEvent::Base::child::DESTROY = sub {
654 my ($pid, $cb) = @{$_[0]}; 1640 my ($pid, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
655 1641
656 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb}; 1642 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb};
657 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} }; 1643 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} };
658 1644
659 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB; 1645 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB;
1646 };
1647 };
1648 die if $@;
1649
1650 &child
660} 1651}
1652
1653# idle emulation is done by simply using a timer, regardless
1654# of whether the process is idle or not, and not letting
1655# the callback use more than 50% of the time.
1656sub idle {
1657 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1658 *idle = sub {
1659 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1660
1661 my ($cb, $w, $rcb) = $arg{cb};
1662
1663 $rcb = sub {
1664 if ($cb) {
1665 $w = _time;
1666 &$cb;
1667 $w = _time - $w;
1668
1669 # never use more then 50% of the time for the idle watcher,
1670 # within some limits
1671 $w = 0.0001 if $w < 0.0001;
1672 $w = 5 if $w > 5;
1673
1674 $w = AE::timer $w, 0, $rcb;
1675 } else {
1676 # clean up...
1677 undef $w;
1678 undef $rcb;
1679 }
1680 };
1681
1682 $w = AE::timer 0.05, 0, $rcb;
1683
1684 bless \\$cb, "AnyEvent::Base::idle"
1685 };
1686
1687 *AnyEvent::Base::idle::DESTROY = sub {
1688 undef $${$_[0]};
1689 };
1690 };
1691 die if $@;
1692
1693 &idle
1694}
1695
1696package AnyEvent::CondVar;
1697
1698our @ISA = AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::;
1699
1700package AnyEvent::CondVar::Base;
1701
1702#use overload
1703# '&{}' => sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } },
1704# fallback => 1;
1705
1706# save 300+ kilobytes by dirtily hardcoding overloading
1707${"AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::OVERLOAD"}{dummy}++; # Register with magic by touching.
1708*{'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::()'} = sub { }; # "Make it findable via fetchmethod."
1709*{'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::(&{}'} = sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } }; # &{}
1710${'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::()'} = 1; # fallback
1711
1712our $WAITING;
1713
1714sub _send {
1715 # nop
1716}
1717
1718sub send {
1719 my $cv = shift;
1720 $cv->{_ae_sent} = [@_];
1721 (delete $cv->{_ae_cb})->($cv) if $cv->{_ae_cb};
1722 $cv->_send;
1723}
1724
1725sub croak {
1726 $_[0]{_ae_croak} = $_[1];
1727 $_[0]->send;
1728}
1729
1730sub ready {
1731 $_[0]{_ae_sent}
1732}
1733
1734sub _wait {
1735 $WAITING
1736 and !$_[0]{_ae_sent}
1737 and Carp::croak "AnyEvent::CondVar: recursive blocking wait detected";
1738
1739 local $WAITING = 1;
1740 AnyEvent->one_event while !$_[0]{_ae_sent};
1741}
1742
1743sub recv {
1744 $_[0]->_wait;
1745
1746 Carp::croak $_[0]{_ae_croak} if $_[0]{_ae_croak};
1747 wantarray ? @{ $_[0]{_ae_sent} } : $_[0]{_ae_sent}[0]
1748}
1749
1750sub cb {
1751 my $cv = shift;
1752
1753 @_
1754 and $cv->{_ae_cb} = shift
1755 and $cv->{_ae_sent}
1756 and (delete $cv->{_ae_cb})->($cv);
1757
1758 $cv->{_ae_cb}
1759}
1760
1761sub begin {
1762 ++$_[0]{_ae_counter};
1763 $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1;
1764}
1765
1766sub end {
1767 return if --$_[0]{_ae_counter};
1768 &{ $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} || sub { $_[0]->send } };
1769}
1770
1771# undocumented/compatibility with pre-3.4
1772*broadcast = \&send;
1773*wait = \&_wait;
1774
1775=head1 ERROR AND EXCEPTION HANDLING
1776
1777In general, AnyEvent does not do any error handling - it relies on the
1778caller to do that if required. The L<AnyEvent::Strict> module (see also
1779the C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT> environment variable, below) provides strict
1780checking of all AnyEvent methods, however, which is highly useful during
1781development.
1782
1783As for exception handling (i.e. runtime errors and exceptions thrown while
1784executing a callback), this is not only highly event-loop specific, but
1785also not in any way wrapped by this module, as this is the job of the main
1786program.
1787
1788The pure perl event loop simply re-throws the exception (usually
1789within C<< condvar->recv >>), the L<Event> and L<EV> modules call C<<
1790$Event/EV::DIED->() >>, L<Glib> uses C<< install_exception_handler >> and
1791so on.
1792
1793=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
1794
1795The following environment variables are used by this module or its
1796submodules.
1797
1798Note that AnyEvent will remove I<all> environment variables starting with
1799C<PERL_ANYEVENT_> from C<%ENV> when it is loaded while taint mode is
1800enabled.
1801
1802=over 4
1803
1804=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
1805
1806By default, AnyEvent will be completely silent except in fatal
1807conditions. You can set this environment variable to make AnyEvent more
1808talkative.
1809
1810When set to C<1> or higher, causes AnyEvent to warn about unexpected
1811conditions, such as not being able to load the event model specified by
1812C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>.
1813
1814When set to C<2> or higher, cause AnyEvent to report to STDERR which event
1815model it chooses.
1816
1817When set to C<8> or higher, then AnyEvent will report extra information on
1818which optional modules it loads and how it implements certain features.
1819
1820=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT>
1821
1822AnyEvent does not do much argument checking by default, as thorough
1823argument checking is very costly. Setting this variable to a true value
1824will cause AnyEvent to load C<AnyEvent::Strict> and then to thoroughly
1825check the arguments passed to most method calls. If it finds any problems,
1826it will croak.
1827
1828In other words, enables "strict" mode.
1829
1830Unlike C<use strict> (or it's modern cousin, C<< use L<common::sense>
1831>>, it is definitely recommended to keep it off in production. Keeping
1832C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT=1> in your environment while developing programs
1833can be very useful, however.
1834
1835=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
1836
1837This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
1838auto detection and -probing kicks in. It must be a string consisting
1839entirely of ASCII letters. The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended
1840and the resulting module name is loaded and if the load was successful,
1841used as event model. If it fails to load AnyEvent will proceed with
1842auto detection and -probing.
1843
1844This functionality might change in future versions.
1845
1846For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) you
1847could start your program like this:
1848
1849 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
1850
1851=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS>
1852
1853Used by both L<AnyEvent::DNS> and L<AnyEvent::Socket> to determine preferences
1854for IPv4 or IPv6. The default is unspecified (and might change, or be the result
1855of auto probing).
1856
1857Must be set to a comma-separated list of protocols or address families,
1858current supported: C<ipv4> and C<ipv6>. Only protocols mentioned will be
1859used, and preference will be given to protocols mentioned earlier in the
1860list.
1861
1862This variable can effectively be used for denial-of-service attacks
1863against local programs (e.g. when setuid), although the impact is likely
1864small, as the program has to handle conenction and other failures anyways.
1865
1866Examples: C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4,ipv6> - prefer IPv4 over IPv6,
1867but support both and try to use both. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4>
1868- only support IPv4, never try to resolve or contact IPv6
1869addresses. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv6,ipv4> support either IPv4 or
1870IPv6, but prefer IPv6 over IPv4.
1871
1872=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_EDNS0>
1873
1874Used by L<AnyEvent::DNS> to decide whether to use the EDNS0 extension
1875for DNS. This extension is generally useful to reduce DNS traffic, but
1876some (broken) firewalls drop such DNS packets, which is why it is off by
1877default.
1878
1879Setting this variable to C<1> will cause L<AnyEvent::DNS> to announce
1880EDNS0 in its DNS requests.
1881
1882=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_FORKS>
1883
1884The maximum number of child processes that C<AnyEvent::Util::fork_call>
1885will create in parallel.
1886
1887=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_OUTSTANDING_DNS>
1888
1889The default value for the C<max_outstanding> parameter for the default DNS
1890resolver - this is the maximum number of parallel DNS requests that are
1891sent to the DNS server.
1892
1893=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_RESOLV_CONF>
1894
1895The file to use instead of F</etc/resolv.conf> (or OS-specific
1896configuration) in the default resolver. When set to the empty string, no
1897default config will be used.
1898
1899=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_CA_FILE>, C<PERL_ANYEVENT_CA_PATH>.
1900
1901When neither C<ca_file> nor C<ca_path> was specified during
1902L<AnyEvent::TLS> context creation, and either of these environment
1903variables exist, they will be used to specify CA certificate locations
1904instead of a system-dependent default.
1905
1906=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_GUARD> and C<PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_ASYNC_INTERRUPT>
1907
1908When these are set to C<1>, then the respective modules are not
1909loaded. Mostly good for testing AnyEvent itself.
1910
1911=back
661 1912
662=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE 1913=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE
663 1914
664This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in 1915This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in
665a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to 1916a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to
699 1950
700I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to 1951I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to
701condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will 1952condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will
702C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must 1953C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must
703not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense. 1954not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense.
704
705=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
706
707The following environment variables are used by this module:
708
709=over 4
710
711=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
712
713By default, AnyEvent will be completely silent except in fatal
714conditions. You can set this environment variable to make AnyEvent more
715talkative.
716
717When set to C<1> or higher, causes AnyEvent to warn about unexpected
718conditions, such as not being able to load the event model specified by
719C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>.
720
721When set to C<2> or higher, cause AnyEvent to report to STDERR which event
722model it chooses.
723
724=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
725
726This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
727autodetection and -probing kicks in. It must be a string consisting
728entirely of ASCII letters. The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended
729and the resulting module name is loaded and if the load was successful,
730used as event model. If it fails to load AnyEvent will proceed with
731autodetection and -probing.
732
733This functionality might change in future versions.
734
735For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) you
736could start your program like this:
737
738 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
739
740=back
741 1955
742=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM 1956=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM
743 1957
744The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer 1958The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer
745to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the 1959to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the
754 poll => 'r', 1968 poll => 'r',
755 cb => sub { 1969 cb => sub {
756 warn "io event <$_[0]>\n"; # will always output <r> 1970 warn "io event <$_[0]>\n"; # will always output <r>
757 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); # read a line 1971 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); # read a line
758 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read 1972 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read
759 $cv->broadcast if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i 1973 $cv->send if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i
760 }, 1974 },
761 ); 1975 );
762 1976
763 my $time_watcher; # can only be used once
764
765 sub new_timer {
766 $timer = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => sub { 1977 my $time_watcher = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, interval => 1, cb => sub {
767 warn "timeout\n"; # print 'timeout' about every second 1978 warn "timeout\n"; # print 'timeout' at most every second
768 &new_timer; # and restart the time
769 }); 1979 });
770 }
771 1980
772 new_timer; # create first timer
773
774 $cv->wait; # wait until user enters /^q/i 1981 $cv->recv; # wait until user enters /^q/i
775 1982
776=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE 1983=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE
777 1984
778Consider the L<Net::FCP> module. It features (among others) the following 1985Consider the L<Net::FCP> module. It features (among others) the following
779API calls, which are to freenet what HTTP GET requests are to http: 1986API calls, which are to freenet what HTTP GET requests are to http:
829 syswrite $txn->{fh}, $txn->{request} 2036 syswrite $txn->{fh}, $txn->{request}
830 or die "connection or write error"; 2037 or die "connection or write error";
831 $txn->{w} = AnyEvent->io (fh => $txn->{fh}, poll => 'r', cb => sub { $txn->fh_ready_r }); 2038 $txn->{w} = AnyEvent->io (fh => $txn->{fh}, poll => 'r', cb => sub { $txn->fh_ready_r });
832 2039
833Again, C<fh_ready_r> waits till all data has arrived, and then stores the 2040Again, C<fh_ready_r> waits till all data has arrived, and then stores the
834result and signals any possible waiters that the request ahs finished: 2041result and signals any possible waiters that the request has finished:
835 2042
836 sysread $txn->{fh}, $txn->{buf}, length $txn->{$buf}; 2043 sysread $txn->{fh}, $txn->{buf}, length $txn->{$buf};
837 2044
838 if (end-of-file or data complete) { 2045 if (end-of-file or data complete) {
839 $txn->{result} = $txn->{buf}; 2046 $txn->{result} = $txn->{buf};
840 $txn->{finished}->broadcast; 2047 $txn->{finished}->send;
841 $txb->{cb}->($txn) of $txn->{cb}; # also call callback 2048 $txb->{cb}->($txn) of $txn->{cb}; # also call callback
842 } 2049 }
843 2050
844The C<result> method, finally, just waits for the finished signal (if the 2051The C<result> method, finally, just waits for the finished signal (if the
845request was already finished, it doesn't wait, of course, and returns the 2052request was already finished, it doesn't wait, of course, and returns the
846data: 2053data:
847 2054
848 $txn->{finished}->wait; 2055 $txn->{finished}->recv;
849 return $txn->{result}; 2056 return $txn->{result};
850 2057
851The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions) 2058The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions)
852that occured during request processing. The C<result> method detects 2059that occurred during request processing. The C<result> method detects
853whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object) 2060whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object)
854and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other 2061and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other
855problems get reported tot he code that tries to use the result, not in a 2062problems get reported tot he code that tries to use the result, not in a
856random callback. 2063random callback.
857 2064
888 2095
889 my $quit = AnyEvent->condvar; 2096 my $quit = AnyEvent->condvar;
890 2097
891 $fcp->txn_client_get ($url)->cb (sub { 2098 $fcp->txn_client_get ($url)->cb (sub {
892 ... 2099 ...
893 $quit->broadcast; 2100 $quit->send;
894 }); 2101 });
895 2102
896 $quit->wait; 2103 $quit->recv;
897 2104
898 2105
899=head1 BENCHMARKS 2106=head1 BENCHMARKS
900 2107
901To give you an idea of the performance and overheads that AnyEvent adds 2108To give you an idea of the performance and overheads that AnyEvent adds
903of various event loops I prepared some benchmarks. 2110of various event loops I prepared some benchmarks.
904 2111
905=head2 BENCHMARKING ANYEVENT OVERHEAD 2112=head2 BENCHMARKING ANYEVENT OVERHEAD
906 2113
907Here is a benchmark of various supported event models used natively and 2114Here is a benchmark of various supported event models used natively and
908through anyevent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero 2115through AnyEvent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero
909timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable, 2116timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable,
910which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again. 2117which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again.
911 2118
912Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent 2119Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent
913distribution. 2120distribution. It uses the L<AE> interface, which makes a real difference
2121for the EV and Perl backends only.
914 2122
915=head3 Explanation of the columns 2123=head3 Explanation of the columns
916 2124
917I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since 2125I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since
918different event models feature vastly different performances, each event 2126different event models feature vastly different performances, each event
930all watchers, to avoid adding memory overhead. That means closure creation 2138all watchers, to avoid adding memory overhead. That means closure creation
931and memory usage is not included in the figures. 2139and memory usage is not included in the figures.
932 2140
933I<invoke> is the time, in microseconds, used to invoke a simple 2141I<invoke> is the time, in microseconds, used to invoke a simple
934callback. The callback simply counts down a Perl variable and after it was 2142callback. The callback simply counts down a Perl variable and after it was
935invoked "watcher" times, it would C<< ->broadcast >> a condvar once to 2143invoked "watcher" times, it would C<< ->send >> a condvar once to
936signal the end of this phase. 2144signal the end of this phase.
937 2145
938I<destroy> is the time, in microseconds, that it takes to destroy a single 2146I<destroy> is the time, in microseconds, that it takes to destroy a single
939watcher. 2147watcher.
940 2148
941=head3 Results 2149=head3 Results
942 2150
943 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment 2151 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment
944 EV/EV 400000 244 0.56 0.46 0.31 EV native interface 2152 EV/EV 100000 223 0.47 0.43 0.27 EV native interface
945 EV/Any 100000 244 2.50 0.46 0.29 EV + AnyEvent watchers 2153 EV/Any 100000 223 0.48 0.42 0.26 EV + AnyEvent watchers
946 CoroEV/Any 100000 244 2.49 0.44 0.29 coroutines + Coro::Signal 2154 Coro::EV/Any 100000 223 0.47 0.42 0.26 coroutines + Coro::Signal
947 Perl/Any 100000 513 4.92 0.87 1.12 pure perl implementation 2155 Perl/Any 100000 431 2.70 0.74 0.92 pure perl implementation
948 Event/Event 16000 516 31.88 31.30 0.85 Event native interface 2156 Event/Event 16000 516 31.16 31.84 0.82 Event native interface
949 Event/Any 16000 936 39.17 33.63 1.43 Event + AnyEvent watchers 2157 Event/Any 16000 1203 42.61 34.79 1.80 Event + AnyEvent watchers
2158 IOAsync/Any 16000 1911 41.92 27.45 16.81 via IO::Async::Loop::IO_Poll
2159 IOAsync/Any 16000 1726 40.69 26.37 15.25 via IO::Async::Loop::Epoll
950 Glib/Any 16000 1357 98.22 12.41 54.00 quadratic behaviour 2160 Glib/Any 16000 1118 89.00 12.57 51.17 quadratic behaviour
951 Tk/Any 2000 1860 26.97 67.98 14.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers 2161 Tk/Any 2000 1346 20.96 10.75 8.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers
952 POE/Event 2000 6644 108.64 736.02 14.73 via POE::Loop::Event 2162 POE/Any 2000 6951 108.97 795.32 14.24 via POE::Loop::Event
953 POE/Select 2000 6343 94.13 809.12 565.96 via POE::Loop::Select 2163 POE/Any 2000 6648 94.79 774.40 575.51 via POE::Loop::Select
954 2164
955=head3 Discussion 2165=head3 Discussion
956 2166
957The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very 2167The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very
958well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one) 2168well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one)
970benchmark machine, handling an event takes roughly 1600 CPU cycles with 2180benchmark machine, handling an event takes roughly 1600 CPU cycles with
971EV, 3100 CPU cycles with AnyEvent's pure perl loop and almost 3000000 CPU 2181EV, 3100 CPU cycles with AnyEvent's pure perl loop and almost 3000000 CPU
972cycles with POE. 2182cycles with POE.
973 2183
974C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both 2184C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both
975maximal/minimal, respectively. Even when going through AnyEvent, it uses 2185maximal/minimal, respectively. When using the L<AE> API there is zero
2186overhead (when going through the AnyEvent API create is about 5-6 times
2187slower, with other times being equal, so still uses far less memory than
976far less memory than any other event loop and is still faster than Event 2188any other event loop and is still faster than Event natively).
977natively.
978 2189
979The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the 2190The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the
980constant timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl 2191constant timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl
981interpreter and the backend itself). Nevertheless this shows that it 2192interpreter and the backend itself). Nevertheless this shows that it
982adds very little overhead in itself. Like any select-based backend its 2193adds very little overhead in itself. Like any select-based backend its
983performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of 2194performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of
984them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark. 2195them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark.
985 2196
986The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation 2197The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation
987cost, but overall scores in on the third place. 2198cost, but overall scores in on the third place.
2199
2200C<IO::Async> performs admirably well, about on par with C<Event>, even
2201when using its pure perl backend.
988 2202
989C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a 2203C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a
990faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as 2204faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as
991C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of 2205C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of
992watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four, 2206watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four,
1000file descriptor is dup()ed for each watcher. This shows that the dup() 2214file descriptor is dup()ed for each watcher. This shows that the dup()
1001employed by some adaptors is not a big performance issue (it does incur a 2215employed by some adaptors is not a big performance issue (it does incur a
1002hidden memory cost inside the kernel which is not reflected in the figures 2216hidden memory cost inside the kernel which is not reflected in the figures
1003above). 2217above).
1004 2218
1005C<POE>, regardless of underlying event loop (whether using its pure 2219C<POE>, regardless of underlying event loop (whether using its pure perl
1006perl select-based backend or the Event module, the POE-EV backend 2220select-based backend or the Event module, the POE-EV backend couldn't
1007couldn't be tested because it wasn't working) shows abysmal performance 2221be tested because it wasn't working) shows abysmal performance and
1008and memory usage: Watchers use almost 30 times as much memory as 2222memory usage with AnyEvent: Watchers use almost 30 times as much memory
1009EV watchers, and 10 times as much memory as Event (the high memory 2223as EV watchers, and 10 times as much memory as Event (the high memory
1010requirements are caused by requiring a session for each watcher). Watcher 2224requirements are caused by requiring a session for each watcher). Watcher
1011invocation speed is almost 900 times slower than with AnyEvent's pure perl 2225invocation speed is almost 900 times slower than with AnyEvent's pure perl
2226implementation.
2227
1012implementation. The design of the POE adaptor class in AnyEvent can not 2228The design of the POE adaptor class in AnyEvent can not really account
1013really account for this, as session creation overhead is small compared 2229for the performance issues, though, as session creation overhead is
1014to execution of the state machine, which is coded pretty optimally within 2230small compared to execution of the state machine, which is coded pretty
1015L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>. POE simply seems to be abysmally slow. 2231optimally within L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE> (and while everybody agrees that
2232using multiple sessions is not a good approach, especially regarding
2233memory usage, even the author of POE could not come up with a faster
2234design).
1016 2235
1017=head3 Summary 2236=head3 Summary
1018 2237
1019=over 4 2238=over 4
1020 2239
1031 2250
1032=back 2251=back
1033 2252
1034=head2 BENCHMARKING THE LARGE SERVER CASE 2253=head2 BENCHMARKING THE LARGE SERVER CASE
1035 2254
1036This benchmark atcually benchmarks the event loop itself. It works by 2255This benchmark actually benchmarks the event loop itself. It works by
1037creating a number of "servers": each server consists of a socketpair, a 2256creating a number of "servers": each server consists of a socket pair, a
1038timeout watcher that gets reset on activity (but never fires), and an I/O 2257timeout watcher that gets reset on activity (but never fires), and an I/O
1039watcher waiting for input on one side of the socket. Each time the socket 2258watcher waiting for input on one side of the socket. Each time the socket
1040watcher reads a byte it will write that byte to a random other "server". 2259watcher reads a byte it will write that byte to a random other "server".
1041 2260
1042The effect is that there will be a lot of I/O watchers, only part of which 2261The effect is that there will be a lot of I/O watchers, only part of which
1043are active at any one point (so there is a constant number of active 2262are active at any one point (so there is a constant number of active
1044fds for each loop iterstaion, but which fds these are is random). The 2263fds for each loop iteration, but which fds these are is random). The
1045timeout is reset each time something is read because that reflects how 2264timeout is reset each time something is read because that reflects how
1046most timeouts work (and puts extra pressure on the event loops). 2265most timeouts work (and puts extra pressure on the event loops).
1047 2266
1048In this benchmark, we use 10000 socketpairs (20000 sockets), of which 100 2267In this benchmark, we use 10000 socket pairs (20000 sockets), of which 100
1049(1%) are active. This mirrors the activity of large servers with many 2268(1%) are active. This mirrors the activity of large servers with many
1050connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time. 2269connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time.
1051 2270
1052Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent 2271Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent
1053distribution. 2272distribution. It uses the L<AE> interface, which makes a real difference
2273for the EV and Perl backends only.
1054 2274
1055=head3 Explanation of the columns 2275=head3 Explanation of the columns
1056 2276
1057I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as 2277I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as
1058each server has a read and write socket end). 2278each server has a read and write socket end).
1059 2279
1060I<create> is the time it takes to create a socketpair (which is 2280I<create> is the time it takes to create a socket pair (which is
1061nontrivial) and two watchers: an I/O watcher and a timeout watcher. 2281nontrivial) and two watchers: an I/O watcher and a timeout watcher.
1062 2282
1063I<request>, the most important value, is the time it takes to handle a 2283I<request>, the most important value, is the time it takes to handle a
1064single "request", that is, reading the token from the pipe and forwarding 2284single "request", that is, reading the token from the pipe and forwarding
1065it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating 2285it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating
1066a new one that moves the timeout into the future. 2286a new one that moves the timeout into the future.
1067 2287
1068=head3 Results 2288=head3 Results
1069 2289
1070 name sockets create request 2290 name sockets create request
1071 EV 20000 69.01 11.16 2291 EV 20000 62.66 7.99
1072 Perl 20000 75.28 112.76 2292 Perl 20000 68.32 32.64
1073 Event 20000 212.62 257.32 2293 IOAsync 20000 174.06 101.15 epoll
1074 Glib 20000 651.16 1896.30 2294 IOAsync 20000 174.67 610.84 poll
2295 Event 20000 202.69 242.91
2296 Glib 20000 557.01 1689.52
1075 POE 20000 349.67 12317.24 uses POE::Loop::Event 2297 POE 20000 341.54 12086.32 uses POE::Loop::Event
1076 2298
1077=head3 Discussion 2299=head3 Discussion
1078 2300
1079This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the 2301This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the
1080particular event loop. 2302particular event loop.
1082EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time 2304EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time
1083is relatively high, though. 2305is relatively high, though.
1084 2306
1085Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event 2307Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event
1086loops Event and Glib. 2308loops Event and Glib.
2309
2310IO::Async performs very well when using its epoll backend, and still quite
2311good compared to Glib when using its pure perl backend.
1087 2312
1088Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will 2313Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will
1089understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to 2314understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to
1090the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event 2315the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event
1091uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations. 2316uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations.
1099 2324
1100=head3 Summary 2325=head3 Summary
1101 2326
1102=over 4 2327=over 4
1103 2328
1104=item * The pure perl implementation performs extremely well, considering 2329=item * The pure perl implementation performs extremely well.
1105that it uses select.
1106 2330
1107=item * Avoid Glib or POE in large projects where performance matters. 2331=item * Avoid Glib or POE in large projects where performance matters.
1108 2332
1109=back 2333=back
1110 2334
1123 2347
1124=head3 Results 2348=head3 Results
1125 2349
1126 name sockets create request 2350 name sockets create request
1127 EV 16 20.00 6.54 2351 EV 16 20.00 6.54
2352 Perl 16 25.75 12.62
1128 Event 16 81.27 35.86 2353 Event 16 81.27 35.86
1129 Glib 16 32.63 15.48 2354 Glib 16 32.63 15.48
1130 Perl 16 24.62 162.37
1131 POE 16 261.87 276.28 uses POE::Loop::Event 2355 POE 16 261.87 276.28 uses POE::Loop::Event
1132 2356
1133=head3 Discussion 2357=head3 Discussion
1134 2358
1135The benchmark tries to test the performance of a typical small 2359The benchmark tries to test the performance of a typical small
1139speed most when you have lots of watchers, not when you only have a few of 2363speed most when you have lots of watchers, not when you only have a few of
1140them). 2364them).
1141 2365
1142EV is again fastest. 2366EV is again fastest.
1143 2367
1144The C-based event loops Event and Glib come in second this time, as the 2368Perl again comes second. It is noticeably faster than the C-based event
1145overhead of running an iteration is much smaller in C than in Perl (little 2369loops Event and Glib, although the difference is too small to really
1146code to execute in the inner loop, and perl's function calling overhead is 2370matter.
1147high, and updating all the data structures is costly).
1148
1149The pure perl event loop is much slower, but still competitive.
1150 2371
1151POE also performs much better in this case, but is is still far behind the 2372POE also performs much better in this case, but is is still far behind the
1152others. 2373others.
1153 2374
1154=head3 Summary 2375=head3 Summary
1158=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of 2379=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of
1159watchers, as the management overhead dominates. 2380watchers, as the management overhead dominates.
1160 2381
1161=back 2382=back
1162 2383
2384=head2 THE IO::Lambda BENCHMARK
2385
2386Recently I was told about the benchmark in the IO::Lambda manpage, which
2387could be misinterpreted to make AnyEvent look bad. In fact, the benchmark
2388simply compares IO::Lambda with POE, and IO::Lambda looks better (which
2389shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody). As such, the benchmark is
2390fine, and mostly shows that the AnyEvent backend from IO::Lambda isn't
2391very optimal. But how would AnyEvent compare when used without the extra
2392baggage? To explore this, I wrote the equivalent benchmark for AnyEvent.
2393
2394The benchmark itself creates an echo-server, and then, for 500 times,
2395connects to the echo server, sends a line, waits for the reply, and then
2396creates the next connection. This is a rather bad benchmark, as it doesn't
2397test the efficiency of the framework or much non-blocking I/O, but it is a
2398benchmark nevertheless.
2399
2400 name runtime
2401 Lambda/select 0.330 sec
2402 + optimized 0.122 sec
2403 Lambda/AnyEvent 0.327 sec
2404 + optimized 0.138 sec
2405 Raw sockets/select 0.077 sec
2406 POE/select, components 0.662 sec
2407 POE/select, raw sockets 0.226 sec
2408 POE/select, optimized 0.404 sec
2409
2410 AnyEvent/select/nb 0.085 sec
2411 AnyEvent/EV/nb 0.068 sec
2412 +state machine 0.134 sec
2413
2414The benchmark is also a bit unfair (my fault): the IO::Lambda/POE
2415benchmarks actually make blocking connects and use 100% blocking I/O,
2416defeating the purpose of an event-based solution. All of the newly
2417written AnyEvent benchmarks use 100% non-blocking connects (using
2418AnyEvent::Socket::tcp_connect and the asynchronous pure perl DNS
2419resolver), so AnyEvent is at a disadvantage here, as non-blocking connects
2420generally require a lot more bookkeeping and event handling than blocking
2421connects (which involve a single syscall only).
2422
2423The last AnyEvent benchmark additionally uses L<AnyEvent::Handle>, which
2424offers similar expressive power as POE and IO::Lambda, using conventional
2425Perl syntax. This means that both the echo server and the client are 100%
2426non-blocking, further placing it at a disadvantage.
2427
2428As you can see, the AnyEvent + EV combination even beats the
2429hand-optimised "raw sockets benchmark", while AnyEvent + its pure perl
2430backend easily beats IO::Lambda and POE.
2431
2432And even the 100% non-blocking version written using the high-level (and
2433slow :) L<AnyEvent::Handle> abstraction beats both POE and IO::Lambda
2434higher level ("unoptimised") abstractions by a large margin, even though
2435it does all of DNS, tcp-connect and socket I/O in a non-blocking way.
2436
2437The two AnyEvent benchmarks programs can be found as F<eg/ae0.pl> and
2438F<eg/ae2.pl> in the AnyEvent distribution, the remaining benchmarks are
2439part of the IO::Lambda distribution and were used without any changes.
2440
2441
2442=head1 SIGNALS
2443
2444AnyEvent currently installs handlers for these signals:
2445
2446=over 4
2447
2448=item SIGCHLD
2449
2450A handler for C<SIGCHLD> is installed by AnyEvent's child watcher
2451emulation for event loops that do not support them natively. Also, some
2452event loops install a similar handler.
2453
2454Additionally, when AnyEvent is loaded and SIGCHLD is set to IGNORE, then
2455AnyEvent will reset it to default, to avoid losing child exit statuses.
2456
2457=item SIGPIPE
2458
2459A no-op handler is installed for C<SIGPIPE> when C<$SIG{PIPE}> is C<undef>
2460when AnyEvent gets loaded.
2461
2462The rationale for this is that AnyEvent users usually do not really depend
2463on SIGPIPE delivery (which is purely an optimisation for shell use, or
2464badly-written programs), but C<SIGPIPE> can cause spurious and rare
2465program exits as a lot of people do not expect C<SIGPIPE> when writing to
2466some random socket.
2467
2468The rationale for installing a no-op handler as opposed to ignoring it is
2469that this way, the handler will be restored to defaults on exec.
2470
2471Feel free to install your own handler, or reset it to defaults.
2472
2473=back
2474
2475=cut
2476
2477undef $SIG{CHLD}
2478 if $SIG{CHLD} eq 'IGNORE';
2479
2480$SIG{PIPE} = sub { }
2481 unless defined $SIG{PIPE};
2482
2483=head1 RECOMMENDED/OPTIONAL MODULES
2484
2485One of AnyEvent's main goals is to be 100% Pure-Perl(tm): only perl (and
2486it's built-in modules) are required to use it.
2487
2488That does not mean that AnyEvent won't take advantage of some additional
2489modules if they are installed.
2490
2491This section explains which additional modules will be used, and how they
2492affect AnyEvent's operation.
2493
2494=over 4
2495
2496=item L<Async::Interrupt>
2497
2498This slightly arcane module is used to implement fast signal handling: To
2499my knowledge, there is no way to do completely race-free and quick
2500signal handling in pure perl. To ensure that signals still get
2501delivered, AnyEvent will start an interval timer to wake up perl (and
2502catch the signals) with some delay (default is 10 seconds, look for
2503C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>).
2504
2505If this module is available, then it will be used to implement signal
2506catching, which means that signals will not be delayed, and the event loop
2507will not be interrupted regularly, which is more efficient (and good for
2508battery life on laptops).
2509
2510This affects not just the pure-perl event loop, but also other event loops
2511that have no signal handling on their own (e.g. Glib, Tk, Qt).
2512
2513Some event loops (POE, Event, Event::Lib) offer signal watchers natively,
2514and either employ their own workarounds (POE) or use AnyEvent's workaround
2515(using C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>). Installing L<Async::Interrupt>
2516does nothing for those backends.
2517
2518=item L<EV>
2519
2520This module isn't really "optional", as it is simply one of the backend
2521event loops that AnyEvent can use. However, it is simply the best event
2522loop available in terms of features, speed and stability: It supports
2523the AnyEvent API optimally, implements all the watcher types in XS, does
2524automatic timer adjustments even when no monotonic clock is available,
2525can take avdantage of advanced kernel interfaces such as C<epoll> and
2526C<kqueue>, and is the fastest backend I<by far>. You can even embed
2527L<Glib>/L<Gtk2> in it (or vice versa, see L<EV::Glib> and L<Glib::EV>).
2528
2529If you only use backends that rely on another event loop (e.g. C<Tk>),
2530then this module will do nothing for you.
2531
2532=item L<Guard>
2533
2534The guard module, when used, will be used to implement
2535C<AnyEvent::Util::guard>. This speeds up guards considerably (and uses a
2536lot less memory), but otherwise doesn't affect guard operation much. It is
2537purely used for performance.
2538
2539=item L<JSON> and L<JSON::XS>
2540
2541One of these modules is required when you want to read or write JSON data
2542via L<AnyEvent::Handle>. L<JSON> is also written in pure-perl, but can take
2543advantage of the ultra-high-speed L<JSON::XS> module when it is installed.
2544
2545=item L<Net::SSLeay>
2546
2547Implementing TLS/SSL in Perl is certainly interesting, but not very
2548worthwhile: If this module is installed, then L<AnyEvent::Handle> (with
2549the help of L<AnyEvent::TLS>), gains the ability to do TLS/SSL.
2550
2551=item L<Time::HiRes>
2552
2553This module is part of perl since release 5.008. It will be used when the
2554chosen event library does not come with a timing source on it's own. The
2555pure-perl event loop (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) will additionally use it to
2556try to use a monotonic clock for timing stability.
2557
2558=back
2559
1163 2560
1164=head1 FORK 2561=head1 FORK
1165 2562
1166Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are 2563Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are
1167because they are so inefficient. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware. 2564because they rely on inefficient but fork-safe C<select> or C<poll> calls
2565- higher performance APIs such as BSD's kqueue or the dreaded Linux epoll
2566are usually badly thought-out hacks that are incompatible with fork in
2567one way or another. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware and ensures that you
2568continue event-processing in both parent and child (or both, if you know
2569what you are doing).
2570
2571This means that, in general, you cannot fork and do event processing in
2572the child if the event library was initialised before the fork (which
2573usually happens when the first AnyEvent watcher is created, or the library
2574is loaded).
1168 2575
1169If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first 2576If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first
1170watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child. 2577watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child OR you must do
2578something completely out of the scope of AnyEvent.
2579
2580The problem of doing event processing in the parent I<and> the child
2581is much more complicated: even for backends that I<are> fork-aware or
2582fork-safe, their behaviour is not usually what you want: fork clones all
2583watchers, that means all timers, I/O watchers etc. are active in both
2584parent and child, which is almost never what you want. USing C<exec>
2585to start worker children from some kind of manage rprocess is usually
2586preferred, because it is much easier and cleaner, at the expense of having
2587to have another binary.
1171 2588
1172 2589
1173=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS 2590=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
1174 2591
1175AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via 2592AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via
1180specified in the variable. 2597specified in the variable.
1181 2598
1182You can make AnyEvent completely ignore this variable by deleting it 2599You can make AnyEvent completely ignore this variable by deleting it
1183before the first watcher gets created, e.g. with a C<BEGIN> block: 2600before the first watcher gets created, e.g. with a C<BEGIN> block:
1184 2601
1185 BEGIN { delete $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} } 2602 BEGIN { delete $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} }
1186 2603
1187 use AnyEvent; 2604 use AnyEvent;
2605
2606Similar considerations apply to $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}, as that can
2607be used to probe what backend is used and gain other information (which is
2608probably even less useful to an attacker than PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), and
2609$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT}.
2610
2611Note that AnyEvent will remove I<all> environment variables starting with
2612C<PERL_ANYEVENT_> from C<%ENV> when it is loaded while taint mode is
2613enabled.
2614
2615
2616=head1 BUGS
2617
2618Perl 5.8 has numerous memleaks that sometimes hit this module and are hard
2619to work around. If you suffer from memleaks, first upgrade to Perl 5.10
2620and check wether the leaks still show up. (Perl 5.10.0 has other annoying
2621memleaks, such as leaking on C<map> and C<grep> but it is usually not as
2622pronounced).
1188 2623
1189 2624
1190=head1 SEE ALSO 2625=head1 SEE ALSO
1191 2626
1192Event modules: L<Coro::EV>, L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>, L<Glib::EV>, 2627Utility functions: L<AnyEvent::Util>.
1193L<Coro::Event>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>, L<Glib>, L<Coro>, L<Tk>, 2628
2629Event modules: L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>, L<Glib::EV>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>,
1194L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>. 2630L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>.
1195 2631
1196Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, 2632Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>,
2633L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>,
2634L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>,
1197L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, 2635L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync>, L<Anyevent::Impl::Irssi>.
1198L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>,
1199L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>.
1200 2636
2637Non-blocking file handles, sockets, TCP clients and
2638servers: L<AnyEvent::Handle>, L<AnyEvent::Socket>, L<AnyEvent::TLS>.
2639
2640Asynchronous DNS: L<AnyEvent::DNS>.
2641
2642Coroutine support: L<Coro>, L<Coro::AnyEvent>, L<Coro::EV>,
2643L<Coro::Event>,
2644
1201Nontrivial usage examples: L<Net::FCP>, L<Net::XMPP2>. 2645Nontrivial usage examples: L<AnyEvent::GPSD>, L<AnyEvent::XMPP>,
2646L<AnyEvent::HTTP>.
1202 2647
1203 2648
1204=head1 AUTHOR 2649=head1 AUTHOR
1205 2650
1206 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 2651 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
1207 http://home.schmorp.de/ 2652 http://home.schmorp.de/
1208 2653
1209=cut 2654=cut
1210 2655
12111 26561
1212 2657

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