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1=head1 NAME 1=head1 NAME
2 2
3AnyEvent - provide framework for multiple event loops 3AnyEvent - the DBI of event loop programming
4 4
5EV, Event, Glib, Tk, Perl, Event::Lib, Qt, POE - various supported event loops 5EV, Event, Glib, Tk, Perl, Event::Lib, Irssi, rxvt-unicode, IO::Async, Qt,
6FLTK and POE are various supported event loops/environments.
6 7
7=head1 SYNOPSIS 8=head1 SYNOPSIS
8 9
9 use AnyEvent; 10 use AnyEvent;
10 11
12 # if you prefer function calls, look at the AE manpage for
13 # an alternative API.
14
15 # file handle or descriptor readable
11 my $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh, poll => "r|w", cb => sub { 16 my $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh, poll => "r", cb => sub { ... });
17
18 # one-shot or repeating timers
19 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, cb => sub { ... });
20 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, interval => $seconds, cb => ...);
21
22 print AnyEvent->now; # prints current event loop time
23 print AnyEvent->time; # think Time::HiRes::time or simply CORE::time.
24
25 # POSIX signal
26 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "TERM", cb => sub { ... });
27
28 # child process exit
29 my $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => $pid, cb => sub {
30 my ($pid, $status) = @_;
12 ... 31 ...
13 }); 32 });
14 33
15 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, cb => sub { 34 # called when event loop idle (if applicable)
16 ... 35 my $w = AnyEvent->idle (cb => sub { ... });
17 });
18 36
19 my $w = AnyEvent->condvar; # stores whether a condition was flagged 37 my $w = AnyEvent->condvar; # stores whether a condition was flagged
20 $w->send; # wake up current and all future recv's 38 $w->send; # wake up current and all future recv's
21 $w->recv; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->send 39 $w->recv; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->send
40 # use a condvar in callback mode:
41 $w->cb (sub { $_[0]->recv });
42
43=head1 INTRODUCTION/TUTORIAL
44
45This manpage is mainly a reference manual. If you are interested
46in a tutorial or some gentle introduction, have a look at the
47L<AnyEvent::Intro> manpage.
48
49=head1 SUPPORT
50
51An FAQ document is available as L<AnyEvent::FAQ>.
52
53There also is a mailinglist for discussing all things AnyEvent, and an IRC
54channel, too.
55
56See the AnyEvent project page at the B<Schmorpforge Ta-Sa Software
57Repository>, at L<http://anyevent.schmorp.de>, for more info.
22 58
23=head1 WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS MODULE (OR NOT) 59=head1 WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS MODULE (OR NOT)
24 60
25Glib, POE, IO::Async, Event... CPAN offers event models by the dozen 61Glib, POE, IO::Async, Event... CPAN offers event models by the dozen
26nowadays. So what is different about AnyEvent? 62nowadays. So what is different about AnyEvent?
27 63
28Executive Summary: AnyEvent is I<compatible>, AnyEvent is I<free of 64Executive Summary: AnyEvent is I<compatible>, AnyEvent is I<free of
29policy> and AnyEvent is I<small and efficient>. 65policy> and AnyEvent is I<small and efficient>.
30 66
31First and foremost, I<AnyEvent is not an event model> itself, it only 67First and foremost, I<AnyEvent is not an event model> itself, it only
32interfaces to whatever event model the main program happens to use in a 68interfaces to whatever event model the main program happens to use, in a
33pragmatic way. For event models and certain classes of immortals alike, 69pragmatic way. For event models and certain classes of immortals alike,
34the statement "there can only be one" is a bitter reality: In general, 70the statement "there can only be one" is a bitter reality: In general,
35only one event loop can be active at the same time in a process. AnyEvent 71only one event loop can be active at the same time in a process. AnyEvent
36helps hiding the differences between those event loops. 72cannot change this, but it can hide the differences between those event
73loops.
37 74
38The goal of AnyEvent is to offer module authors the ability to do event 75The goal of AnyEvent is to offer module authors the ability to do event
39programming (waiting for I/O or timer events) without subscribing to a 76programming (waiting for I/O or timer events) without subscribing to a
40religion, a way of living, and most importantly: without forcing your 77religion, a way of living, and most importantly: without forcing your
41module users into the same thing by forcing them to use the same event 78module users into the same thing by forcing them to use the same event
42model you use. 79model you use.
43 80
44For modules like POE or IO::Async (which is a total misnomer as it is 81For modules like POE or IO::Async (which is a total misnomer as it is
45actually doing all I/O I<synchronously>...), using them in your module is 82actually doing all I/O I<synchronously>...), using them in your module is
46like joining a cult: After you joined, you are dependent on them and you 83like joining a cult: After you join, you are dependent on them and you
47cannot use anything else, as it is simply incompatible to everything that 84cannot use anything else, as they are simply incompatible to everything
48isn't itself. What's worse, all the potential users of your module are 85that isn't them. What's worse, all the potential users of your
49I<also> forced to use the same event loop you use. 86module are I<also> forced to use the same event loop you use.
50 87
51AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works 88AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works
52fine. AnyEvent + Tk works fine etc. etc. but none of these work together 89fine. AnyEvent + Tk works fine etc. etc. but none of these work together
53with the rest: POE + IO::Async? no go. Tk + Event? no go. Again: if 90with the rest: POE + EV? No go. Tk + Event? No go. Again: if your module
54your module uses one of those, every user of your module has to use it, 91uses one of those, every user of your module has to use it, too. But if
55too. But if your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all 92your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all event models it
56event models it supports (including stuff like POE and IO::Async, as long 93supports (including stuff like IO::Async, as long as those use one of the
57as those use one of the supported event loops. It is trivial to add new 94supported event loops. It is easy to add new event loops to AnyEvent, too,
58event loops to AnyEvent, too, so it is future-proof). 95so it is future-proof).
59 96
60In addition to being free of having to use I<the one and only true event 97In addition to being free of having to use I<the one and only true event
61model>, AnyEvent also is free of bloat and policy: with POE or similar 98model>, AnyEvent also is free of bloat and policy: with POE or similar
62modules, you get an enourmous amount of code and strict rules you have to 99modules, you get an enormous amount of code and strict rules you have to
63follow. AnyEvent, on the other hand, is lean and up to the point, by only 100follow. AnyEvent, on the other hand, is lean and to the point, by only
64offering the functionality that is necessary, in as thin as a wrapper as 101offering the functionality that is necessary, in as thin as a wrapper as
65technically possible. 102technically possible.
66 103
104Of course, AnyEvent comes with a big (and fully optional!) toolbox
105of useful functionality, such as an asynchronous DNS resolver, 100%
106non-blocking connects (even with TLS/SSL, IPv6 and on broken platforms
107such as Windows) and lots of real-world knowledge and workarounds for
108platform bugs and differences.
109
67Of course, if you want lots of policy (this can arguably be somewhat 110Now, if you I<do want> lots of policy (this can arguably be somewhat
68useful) and you want to force your users to use the one and only event 111useful) and you want to force your users to use the one and only event
69model, you should I<not> use this module. 112model, you should I<not> use this module.
70 113
71=head1 DESCRIPTION 114=head1 DESCRIPTION
72 115
73L<AnyEvent> provides an identical interface to multiple event loops. This 116L<AnyEvent> provides a uniform interface to various event loops. This
74allows module authors to utilise an event loop without forcing module 117allows module authors to use event loop functionality without forcing
75users to use the same event loop (as only a single event loop can coexist 118module users to use a specific event loop implementation (since more
76peacefully at any one time). 119than one event loop cannot coexist peacefully).
77 120
78The interface itself is vaguely similar, but not identical to the L<Event> 121The interface itself is vaguely similar, but not identical to the L<Event>
79module. 122module.
80 123
81During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries 124During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries
82to detect the currently loaded event loop by probing whether one of the 125to detect the currently loaded event loop by probing whether one of the
83following modules is already loaded: L<EV>, 126following modules is already loaded: L<EV>, L<AnyEvent::Loop>,
84L<Event>, L<Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, 127L<Event>, L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>. The first one
85L<POE>. The first one found is used. If none are found, the module tries 128found is used. If none are detected, the module tries to load the first
86to load these modules (excluding Tk, Event::Lib, Qt and POE as the pure perl 129four modules in the order given; but note that if L<EV> is not
87adaptor should always succeed) in the order given. The first one that can 130available, the pure-perl L<AnyEvent::Loop> should always work, so
88be successfully loaded will be used. If, after this, still none could be 131the other two are not normally tried.
89found, AnyEvent will fall back to a pure-perl event loop, which is not
90very efficient, but should work everywhere.
91 132
92Because AnyEvent first checks for modules that are already loaded, loading 133Because AnyEvent first checks for modules that are already loaded, loading
93an event model explicitly before first using AnyEvent will likely make 134an event model explicitly before first using AnyEvent will likely make
94that model the default. For example: 135that model the default. For example:
95 136
97 use AnyEvent; 138 use AnyEvent;
98 139
99 # .. AnyEvent will likely default to Tk 140 # .. AnyEvent will likely default to Tk
100 141
101The I<likely> means that, if any module loads another event model and 142The I<likely> means that, if any module loads another event model and
102starts using it, all bets are off. Maybe you should tell their authors to 143starts using it, all bets are off - this case should be very rare though,
103use AnyEvent so their modules work together with others seamlessly... 144as very few modules hardcode event loops without announcing this very
145loudly.
104 146
105The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called 147The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called C<AnyEvent::Loop>. Like
106C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>. Like other event modules you can load it 148other event modules you can load it explicitly and enjoy the high
107explicitly. 149availability of that event loop :)
108 150
109=head1 WATCHERS 151=head1 WATCHERS
110 152
111AnyEvent has the central concept of a I<watcher>, which is an object that 153AnyEvent has the central concept of a I<watcher>, which is an object that
112stores relevant data for each kind of event you are waiting for, such as 154stores relevant data for each kind of event you are waiting for, such as
113the callback to call, the filehandle to watch, etc. 155the callback to call, the file handle to watch, etc.
114 156
115These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After 157These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After
116creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the 158creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the
117callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model 159callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model
118is in control). 160is in control).
119 161
162Note that B<callbacks must not permanently change global variables>
163potentially in use by the event loop (such as C<$_> or C<$[>) and that B<<
164callbacks must not C<die> >>. The former is good programming practice in
165Perl and the latter stems from the fact that exception handling differs
166widely between event loops.
167
120To disable the watcher you have to destroy it (e.g. by setting the 168To disable a watcher you have to destroy it (e.g. by setting the
121variable you store it in to C<undef> or otherwise deleting all references 169variable you store it in to C<undef> or otherwise deleting all references
122to it). 170to it).
123 171
124All watchers are created by calling a method on the C<AnyEvent> class. 172All watchers are created by calling a method on the C<AnyEvent> class.
125 173
126Many watchers either are used with "recursion" (repeating timers for 174Many watchers either are used with "recursion" (repeating timers for
127example), or need to refer to their watcher object in other ways. 175example), or need to refer to their watcher object in other ways.
128 176
129An any way to achieve that is this pattern: 177One way to achieve that is this pattern:
130 178
131 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->type (arg => value ..., cb => sub { 179 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->type (arg => value ..., cb => sub {
132 # you can use $w here, for example to undef it 180 # you can use $w here, for example to undef it
133 undef $w; 181 undef $w;
134 }); 182 });
135 183
136Note that C<my $w; $w => combination. This is necessary because in Perl, 184Note that C<my $w; $w => combination. This is necessary because in Perl,
137my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are 185my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are
138declared. 186declared.
139 187
140=head2 I/O WATCHERS 188=head2 I/O WATCHERS
141 189
190 $w = AnyEvent->io (
191 fh => <filehandle_or_fileno>,
192 poll => <"r" or "w">,
193 cb => <callback>,
194 );
195
142You can create an I/O watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->io >> method 196You can create an I/O watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->io >> method
143with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments: 197with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments:
144 198
145C<fh> the Perl I<file handle> (I<not> file descriptor) to watch 199C<fh> is the Perl I<file handle> (or a naked file descriptor) to watch
200for events (AnyEvent might or might not keep a reference to this file
201handle). Note that only file handles pointing to things for which
202non-blocking operation makes sense are allowed. This includes sockets,
203most character devices, pipes, fifos and so on, but not for example files
204or block devices.
205
146for events. C<poll> must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>, 206C<poll> must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>, which creates a
147which creates a watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, 207watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, respectively.
208
148respectively. C<cb> is the callback to invoke each time the file handle 209C<cb> is the callback to invoke each time the file handle becomes ready.
149becomes ready.
150 210
151Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 211Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
152presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 212presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
153callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks. 213callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks.
154 214
155The I/O watcher might use the underlying file descriptor or a copy of it. 215The I/O watcher might use the underlying file descriptor or a copy of it.
156You must not close a file handle as long as any watcher is active on the 216You must not close a file handle as long as any watcher is active on the
157underlying file descriptor. 217underlying file descriptor.
158 218
159Some event loops issue spurious readyness notifications, so you should 219Some event loops issue spurious readiness notifications, so you should
160always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file 220always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file
161handles. 221handles.
162 222
163Example:
164
165 # wait for readability of STDIN, then read a line and disable the watcher 223Example: wait for readability of STDIN, then read a line and disable the
224watcher.
225
166 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub { 226 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub {
167 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); 227 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>);
168 warn "read: $input\n"; 228 warn "read: $input\n";
169 undef $w; 229 undef $w;
170 }); 230 });
171 231
172=head2 TIME WATCHERS 232=head2 TIME WATCHERS
173 233
234 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => <seconds>, cb => <callback>);
235
236 $w = AnyEvent->timer (
237 after => <fractional_seconds>,
238 interval => <fractional_seconds>,
239 cb => <callback>,
240 );
241
174You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >> 242You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >>
175method with the following mandatory arguments: 243method with the following mandatory arguments:
176 244
177C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are 245C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are
178supported) the callback should be invoked. C<cb> is the callback to invoke 246supported) the callback should be invoked. C<cb> is the callback to invoke
180 248
181Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 249Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
182presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 250presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
183callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks. 251callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks.
184 252
185The timer callback will be invoked at most once: if you want a repeating 253The callback will normally be invoked only once. If you specify another
186timer you have to create a new watcher (this is a limitation by both Tk 254parameter, C<interval>, as a strictly positive number (> 0), then the
187and Glib). 255callback will be invoked regularly at that interval (in fractional
256seconds) after the first invocation. If C<interval> is specified with a
257false value, then it is treated as if it were not specified at all.
188 258
189Example: 259The callback will be rescheduled before invoking the callback, but no
260attempt is made to avoid timer drift in most backends, so the interval is
261only approximate.
190 262
191 # fire an event after 7.7 seconds 263Example: fire an event after 7.7 seconds.
264
192 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub { 265 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub {
193 warn "timeout\n"; 266 warn "timeout\n";
194 }); 267 });
195 268
196 # to cancel the timer: 269 # to cancel the timer:
197 undef $w; 270 undef $w;
198 271
199Example 2:
200
201 # fire an event after 0.5 seconds, then roughly every second 272Example 2: fire an event after 0.5 seconds, then roughly every second.
202 my $w;
203 273
204 my $cb = sub {
205 # cancel the old timer while creating a new one
206 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => $cb); 274 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.5, interval => 1, cb => sub {
275 warn "timeout\n";
207 }; 276 };
208
209 # start the "loop" by creating the first watcher
210 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.5, cb => $cb);
211 277
212=head3 TIMING ISSUES 278=head3 TIMING ISSUES
213 279
214There are two ways to handle timers: based on real time (relative, "fire 280There are two ways to handle timers: based on real time (relative, "fire
215in 10 seconds") and based on wallclock time (absolute, "fire at 12 281in 10 seconds") and based on wallclock time (absolute, "fire at 12
217 283
218While most event loops expect timers to specified in a relative way, they 284While most event loops expect timers to specified in a relative way, they
219use absolute time internally. This makes a difference when your clock 285use absolute time internally. This makes a difference when your clock
220"jumps", for example, when ntp decides to set your clock backwards from 286"jumps", for example, when ntp decides to set your clock backwards from
221the wrong date of 2014-01-01 to 2008-01-01, a watcher that is supposed to 287the wrong date of 2014-01-01 to 2008-01-01, a watcher that is supposed to
222fire "after" a second might actually take six years to finally fire. 288fire "after a second" might actually take six years to finally fire.
223 289
224AnyEvent cannot compensate for this. The only event loop that is conscious 290AnyEvent cannot compensate for this. The only event loop that is conscious
225about these issues is L<EV>, which offers both relative (ev_timer, based 291of these issues is L<EV>, which offers both relative (ev_timer, based
226on true relative time) and absolute (ev_periodic, based on wallclock time) 292on true relative time) and absolute (ev_periodic, based on wallclock time)
227timers. 293timers.
228 294
229AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the 295AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the
230AnyEvent API. 296AnyEvent API.
231 297
298AnyEvent has two additional methods that return the "current time":
299
300=over 4
301
302=item AnyEvent->time
303
304This returns the "current wallclock time" as a fractional number of
305seconds since the Epoch (the same thing as C<time> or C<Time::HiRes::time>
306return, and the result is guaranteed to be compatible with those).
307
308It progresses independently of any event loop processing, i.e. each call
309will check the system clock, which usually gets updated frequently.
310
311=item AnyEvent->now
312
313This also returns the "current wallclock time", but unlike C<time>, above,
314this value might change only once per event loop iteration, depending on
315the event loop (most return the same time as C<time>, above). This is the
316time that AnyEvent's timers get scheduled against.
317
318I<In almost all cases (in all cases if you don't care), this is the
319function to call when you want to know the current time.>
320
321This function is also often faster then C<< AnyEvent->time >>, and
322thus the preferred method if you want some timestamp (for example,
323L<AnyEvent::Handle> uses this to update its activity timeouts).
324
325The rest of this section is only of relevance if you try to be very exact
326with your timing; you can skip it without a bad conscience.
327
328For a practical example of when these times differ, consider L<Event::Lib>
329and L<EV> and the following set-up:
330
331The event loop is running and has just invoked one of your callbacks at
332time=500 (assume no other callbacks delay processing). In your callback,
333you wait a second by executing C<sleep 1> (blocking the process for a
334second) and then (at time=501) you create a relative timer that fires
335after three seconds.
336
337With L<Event::Lib>, C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> will
338both return C<501>, because that is the current time, and the timer will
339be scheduled to fire at time=504 (C<501> + C<3>).
340
341With L<EV>, C<< AnyEvent->time >> returns C<501> (as that is the current
342time), but C<< AnyEvent->now >> returns C<500>, as that is the time the
343last event processing phase started. With L<EV>, your timer gets scheduled
344to run at time=503 (C<500> + C<3>).
345
346In one sense, L<Event::Lib> is more exact, as it uses the current time
347regardless of any delays introduced by event processing. However, most
348callbacks do not expect large delays in processing, so this causes a
349higher drift (and a lot more system calls to get the current time).
350
351In another sense, L<EV> is more exact, as your timer will be scheduled at
352the same time, regardless of how long event processing actually took.
353
354In either case, if you care (and in most cases, you don't), then you
355can get whatever behaviour you want with any event loop, by taking the
356difference between C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> into
357account.
358
359=item AnyEvent->now_update
360
361Some event loops (such as L<EV> or L<AnyEvent::Loop>) cache the current
362time for each loop iteration (see the discussion of L<< AnyEvent->now >>,
363above).
364
365When a callback runs for a long time (or when the process sleeps), then
366this "current" time will differ substantially from the real time, which
367might affect timers and time-outs.
368
369When this is the case, you can call this method, which will update the
370event loop's idea of "current time".
371
372A typical example would be a script in a web server (e.g. C<mod_perl>) -
373when mod_perl executes the script, then the event loop will have the wrong
374idea about the "current time" (being potentially far in the past, when the
375script ran the last time). In that case you should arrange a call to C<<
376AnyEvent->now_update >> each time the web server process wakes up again
377(e.g. at the start of your script, or in a handler).
378
379Note that updating the time I<might> cause some events to be handled.
380
381=back
382
232=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS 383=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS
233 384
385 $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => <uppercase_signal_name>, cb => <callback>);
386
234You can watch for signals using a signal watcher, C<signal> is the signal 387You can watch for signals using a signal watcher, C<signal> is the signal
235I<name> without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl callback to 388I<name> in uppercase and without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl
236be invoked whenever a signal occurs. 389callback to be invoked whenever a signal occurs.
237 390
238Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 391Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
239presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 392presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
240callbacks cannot use arguments passed to signal watcher callbacks. 393callbacks cannot use arguments passed to signal watcher callbacks.
241 394
242Multiple signal occurances can be clumped together into one callback 395Multiple signal occurrences can be clumped together into one callback
243invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. synchronous means 396invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. Synchronous means
244that it might take a while until the signal gets handled by the process, 397that it might take a while until the signal gets handled by the process,
245but it is guarenteed not to interrupt any other callbacks. 398but it is guaranteed not to interrupt any other callbacks.
246 399
247The main advantage of using these watchers is that you can share a signal 400The main advantage of using these watchers is that you can share a signal
248between multiple watchers. 401between multiple watchers, and AnyEvent will ensure that signals will not
402interrupt your program at bad times.
249 403
250This watcher might use C<%SIG>, so programs overwriting those signals 404This watcher might use C<%SIG> (depending on the event loop used),
251directly will likely not work correctly. 405so programs overwriting those signals directly will likely not work
406correctly.
252 407
253Example: exit on SIGINT 408Example: exit on SIGINT
254 409
255 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 }); 410 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 });
256 411
412=head3 Restart Behaviour
413
414While restart behaviour is up to the event loop implementation, most will
415not restart syscalls (that includes L<Async::Interrupt> and AnyEvent's
416pure perl implementation).
417
418=head3 Safe/Unsafe Signals
419
420Perl signals can be either "safe" (synchronous to opcode handling) or
421"unsafe" (asynchronous) - the former might get delayed indefinitely, the
422latter might corrupt your memory.
423
424AnyEvent signal handlers are, in addition, synchronous to the event loop,
425i.e. they will not interrupt your running perl program but will only be
426called as part of the normal event handling (just like timer, I/O etc.
427callbacks, too).
428
429=head3 Signal Races, Delays and Workarounds
430
431Many event loops (e.g. Glib, Tk, Qt, IO::Async) do not support attaching
432callbacks to signals in a generic way, which is a pity, as you cannot
433do race-free signal handling in perl, requiring C libraries for
434this. AnyEvent will try to do its best, which means in some cases,
435signals will be delayed. The maximum time a signal might be delayed is
436specified in C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY> (default: 10 seconds). This
437variable can be changed only before the first signal watcher is created,
438and should be left alone otherwise. This variable determines how often
439AnyEvent polls for signals (in case a wake-up was missed). Higher values
440will cause fewer spurious wake-ups, which is better for power and CPU
441saving.
442
443All these problems can be avoided by installing the optional
444L<Async::Interrupt> module, which works with most event loops. It will not
445work with inherently broken event loops such as L<Event> or L<Event::Lib>
446(and not with L<POE> currently, as POE does its own workaround with
447one-second latency). For those, you just have to suffer the delays.
448
257=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS 449=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS
258 450
451 $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => <process id>, cb => <callback>);
452
259You can also watch on a child process exit and catch its exit status. 453You can also watch for a child process exit and catch its exit status.
260 454
261The child process is specified by the C<pid> argument (if set to C<0>, it 455The child process is specified by the C<pid> argument (on some backends,
262watches for any child process exit). The watcher will trigger as often 456using C<0> watches for any child process exit, on others this will
263as status change for the child are received. This works by installing a 457croak). The watcher will be triggered only when the child process has
264signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>. The callback will be called with the pid 458finished and an exit status is available, not on any trace events
265and exit status (as returned by waitpid), so unlike other watcher types, 459(stopped/continued).
266you I<can> rely on child watcher callback arguments. 460
461The callback will be called with the pid and exit status (as returned by
462waitpid), so unlike other watcher types, you I<can> rely on child watcher
463callback arguments.
464
465This watcher type works by installing a signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>,
466and since it cannot be shared, nothing else should use SIGCHLD or reap
467random child processes (waiting for specific child processes, e.g. inside
468C<system>, is just fine).
267 469
268There is a slight catch to child watchers, however: you usually start them 470There is a slight catch to child watchers, however: you usually start them
269I<after> the child process was created, and this means the process could 471I<after> the child process was created, and this means the process could
270have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore). 472have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore).
271 473
272Not all event models handle this correctly (POE doesn't), but even for 474Not all event models handle this correctly (neither POE nor IO::Async do,
475see their AnyEvent::Impl manpages for details), but even for event models
273event models that I<do> handle this correctly, they usually need to be 476that I<do> handle this correctly, they usually need to be loaded before
274loaded before the process exits (i.e. before you fork in the first place). 477the process exits (i.e. before you fork in the first place). AnyEvent's
478pure perl event loop handles all cases correctly regardless of when you
479start the watcher.
275 480
276This means you cannot create a child watcher as the very first thing in an 481This means you cannot create a child watcher as the very first
277AnyEvent program, you I<have> to create at least one watcher before you 482thing in an AnyEvent program, you I<have> to create at least one
278C<fork> the child (alternatively, you can call C<AnyEvent::detect>). 483watcher before you C<fork> the child (alternatively, you can call
484C<AnyEvent::detect>).
485
486As most event loops do not support waiting for child events, they will be
487emulated by AnyEvent in most cases, in which case the latency and race
488problems mentioned in the description of signal watchers apply.
279 489
280Example: fork a process and wait for it 490Example: fork a process and wait for it
281 491
282 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar; 492 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
283 493
284 my $pid = fork or exit 5; 494 my $pid = fork or exit 5;
285 495
286 my $w = AnyEvent->child ( 496 my $w = AnyEvent->child (
287 pid => $pid, 497 pid => $pid,
288 cb => sub { 498 cb => sub {
289 my ($pid, $status) = @_; 499 my ($pid, $status) = @_;
290 warn "pid $pid exited with status $status"; 500 warn "pid $pid exited with status $status";
291 $done->send; 501 $done->send;
292 }, 502 },
293 ); 503 );
294 504
295 # do something else, then wait for process exit 505 # do something else, then wait for process exit
296 $done->recv; 506 $done->recv;
507
508=head2 IDLE WATCHERS
509
510 $w = AnyEvent->idle (cb => <callback>);
511
512This will repeatedly invoke the callback after the process becomes idle,
513until either the watcher is destroyed or new events have been detected.
514
515Idle watchers are useful when there is a need to do something, but it
516is not so important (or wise) to do it instantly. The callback will be
517invoked only when there is "nothing better to do", which is usually
518defined as "all outstanding events have been handled and no new events
519have been detected". That means that idle watchers ideally get invoked
520when the event loop has just polled for new events but none have been
521detected. Instead of blocking to wait for more events, the idle watchers
522will be invoked.
523
524Unfortunately, most event loops do not really support idle watchers (only
525EV, Event and Glib do it in a usable fashion) - for the rest, AnyEvent
526will simply call the callback "from time to time".
527
528Example: read lines from STDIN, but only process them when the
529program is otherwise idle:
530
531 my @lines; # read data
532 my $idle_w;
533 my $io_w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub {
534 push @lines, scalar <STDIN>;
535
536 # start an idle watcher, if not already done
537 $idle_w ||= AnyEvent->idle (cb => sub {
538 # handle only one line, when there are lines left
539 if (my $line = shift @lines) {
540 print "handled when idle: $line";
541 } else {
542 # otherwise disable the idle watcher again
543 undef $idle_w;
544 }
545 });
546 });
297 547
298=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES 548=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES
549
550 $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
551
552 $cv->send (<list>);
553 my @res = $cv->recv;
299 554
300If you are familiar with some event loops you will know that all of them 555If you are familiar with some event loops you will know that all of them
301require you to run some blocking "loop", "run" or similar function that 556require you to run some blocking "loop", "run" or similar function that
302will actively watch for new events and call your callbacks. 557will actively watch for new events and call your callbacks.
303 558
304AnyEvent is different, it expects somebody else to run the event loop and 559AnyEvent is slightly different: it expects somebody else to run the event
305will only block when necessary (usually when told by the user). 560loop and will only block when necessary (usually when told by the user).
306 561
307The instrument to do that is called a "condition variable", so called 562The tool to do that is called a "condition variable", so called because
308because they represent a condition that must become true. 563they represent a condition that must become true.
564
565Now is probably a good time to look at the examples further below.
309 566
310Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar 567Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar
311>> method, usually without arguments. The only argument pair allowed is 568>> method, usually without arguments. The only argument pair allowed is
312C<cb>, which specifies a callback to be called when the condition variable 569C<cb>, which specifies a callback to be called when the condition variable
313becomes true. 570becomes true, with the condition variable as the first argument (but not
571the results).
314 572
315After creation, the conditon variable is "false" until it becomes "true" 573After creation, the condition variable is "false" until it becomes "true"
316by calling the C<send> method. 574by calling the C<send> method (or calling the condition variable as if it
575were a callback, read about the caveats in the description for the C<<
576->send >> method).
317 577
318Condition variables are similar to callbacks, except that you can 578Since condition variables are the most complex part of the AnyEvent API, here are
319optionally wait for them. They can also be called merge points - points 579some different mental models of what they are - pick the ones you can connect to:
320in time where multiple outstandign events have been processed. And yet 580
321another way to call them is transations - each condition variable can be 581=over 4
322used to represent a transaction, which finishes at some point and delivers 582
323a result. 583=item * Condition variables are like callbacks - you can call them (and pass them instead
584of callbacks). Unlike callbacks however, you can also wait for them to be called.
585
586=item * Condition variables are signals - one side can emit or send them,
587the other side can wait for them, or install a handler that is called when
588the signal fires.
589
590=item * Condition variables are like "Merge Points" - points in your program
591where you merge multiple independent results/control flows into one.
592
593=item * Condition variables represent a transaction - functions that start
594some kind of transaction can return them, leaving the caller the choice
595between waiting in a blocking fashion, or setting a callback.
596
597=item * Condition variables represent future values, or promises to deliver
598some result, long before the result is available.
599
600=back
324 601
325Condition variables are very useful to signal that something has finished, 602Condition variables are very useful to signal that something has finished,
326for example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests, 603for example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests,
327then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the 604then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the
328availability of results. The user can either act when the callback is 605availability of results. The user can either act when the callback is
332you can block your main program until an event occurs - for example, you 609you can block your main program until an event occurs - for example, you
333could C<< ->recv >> in your main program until the user clicks the Quit 610could C<< ->recv >> in your main program until the user clicks the Quit
334button of your app, which would C<< ->send >> the "quit" event. 611button of your app, which would C<< ->send >> the "quit" event.
335 612
336Note that condition variables recurse into the event loop - if you have 613Note that condition variables recurse into the event loop - if you have
337two pieces of code that call C<< ->recv >> in a round-robbin fashion, you 614two pieces of code that call C<< ->recv >> in a round-robin fashion, you
338lose. Therefore, condition variables are good to export to your caller, but 615lose. Therefore, condition variables are good to export to your caller, but
339you should avoid making a blocking wait yourself, at least in callbacks, 616you should avoid making a blocking wait yourself, at least in callbacks,
340as this asks for trouble. 617as this asks for trouble.
341 618
342Condition variables are represented by hash refs in perl, and the keys 619Condition variables are represented by hash refs in perl, and the keys
343used by AnyEvent itself are all named C<_ae_XXX> to make subclassing 620used by AnyEvent itself are all named C<_ae_XXX> to make subclassing
344easy (it is often useful to build your own transaction class on top of 621easy (it is often useful to build your own transaction class on top of
345AnyEvent). To subclass, use C<AnyEvent::CondVar> as base class and call 622AnyEvent). To subclass, use C<AnyEvent::CondVar> as base class and call
346it's C<new> method in your own C<new> method. 623its C<new> method in your own C<new> method.
347 624
348There are two "sides" to a condition variable - the "producer side" which 625There are two "sides" to a condition variable - the "producer side" which
349eventually calls C<< -> send >>, and the "consumer side", which waits 626eventually calls C<< -> send >>, and the "consumer side", which waits
350for the send to occur. 627for the send to occur.
351 628
352Example: 629Example: wait for a timer.
353 630
354 # wait till the result is ready 631 # condition: "wait till the timer is fired"
355 my $result_ready = AnyEvent->condvar; 632 my $timer_fired = AnyEvent->condvar;
356 633
357 # do something such as adding a timer 634 # create the timer - we could wait for, say
358 # or socket watcher the calls $result_ready->send 635 # a handle becomign ready, or even an
359 # when the "result" is ready. 636 # AnyEvent::HTTP request to finish, but
360 # in this case, we simply use a timer: 637 # in this case, we simply use a timer:
361 my $w = AnyEvent->timer ( 638 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (
362 after => 1, 639 after => 1,
363 cb => sub { $result_ready->send }, 640 cb => sub { $timer_fired->send },
364 ); 641 );
365 642
366 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the callback 643 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the callback
367 # calls send 644 # calls ->send
368 $result_ready->recv; 645 $timer_fired->recv;
646
647Example: wait for a timer, but take advantage of the fact that condition
648variables are also callable directly.
649
650 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
651 my $delay = AnyEvent->timer (after => 5, cb => $done);
652 $done->recv;
653
654Example: Imagine an API that returns a condvar and doesn't support
655callbacks. This is how you make a synchronous call, for example from
656the main program:
657
658 use AnyEvent::CouchDB;
659
660 ...
661
662 my @info = $couchdb->info->recv;
663
664And this is how you would just set a callback to be called whenever the
665results are available:
666
667 $couchdb->info->cb (sub {
668 my @info = $_[0]->recv;
669 });
369 670
370=head3 METHODS FOR PRODUCERS 671=head3 METHODS FOR PRODUCERS
371 672
372These methods should only be used by the producing side, i.e. the 673These methods should only be used by the producing side, i.e. the
373code/module that eventually sends the signal. Note that it is also 674code/module that eventually sends the signal. Note that it is also
386immediately from within send. 687immediately from within send.
387 688
388Any arguments passed to the C<send> call will be returned by all 689Any arguments passed to the C<send> call will be returned by all
389future C<< ->recv >> calls. 690future C<< ->recv >> calls.
390 691
692Condition variables are overloaded so one can call them directly (as if
693they were a code reference). Calling them directly is the same as calling
694C<send>.
695
391=item $cv->croak ($error) 696=item $cv->croak ($error)
392 697
393Similar to send, but causes all call's to C<< ->recv >> to invoke 698Similar to send, but causes all calls to C<< ->recv >> to invoke
394C<Carp::croak> with the given error message/object/scalar. 699C<Carp::croak> with the given error message/object/scalar.
395 700
396This can be used to signal any errors to the condition variable 701This can be used to signal any errors to the condition variable
397user/consumer. 702user/consumer. Doing it this way instead of calling C<croak> directly
703delays the error detection, but has the overwhelming advantage that it
704diagnoses the error at the place where the result is expected, and not
705deep in some event callback with no connection to the actual code causing
706the problem.
398 707
399=item $cv->begin ([group callback]) 708=item $cv->begin ([group callback])
400 709
401=item $cv->end 710=item $cv->end
402
403These two methods are EXPERIMENTAL and MIGHT CHANGE.
404 711
405These two methods can be used to combine many transactions/events into 712These two methods can be used to combine many transactions/events into
406one. For example, a function that pings many hosts in parallel might want 713one. For example, a function that pings many hosts in parallel might want
407to use a condition variable for the whole process. 714to use a condition variable for the whole process.
408 715
409Every call to C<< ->begin >> will increment a counter, and every call to 716Every call to C<< ->begin >> will increment a counter, and every call to
410C<< ->end >> will decrement it. If the counter reaches C<0> in C<< ->end 717C<< ->end >> will decrement it. If the counter reaches C<0> in C<< ->end
411>>, the (last) callback passed to C<begin> will be executed. That callback 718>>, the (last) callback passed to C<begin> will be executed, passing the
412is I<supposed> to call C<< ->send >>, but that is not required. If no 719condvar as first argument. That callback is I<supposed> to call C<< ->send
413callback was set, C<send> will be called without any arguments. 720>>, but that is not required. If no group callback was set, C<send> will
721be called without any arguments.
414 722
415Let's clarify this with the ping example: 723You can think of C<< $cv->send >> giving you an OR condition (one call
724sends), while C<< $cv->begin >> and C<< $cv->end >> giving you an AND
725condition (all C<begin> calls must be C<end>'ed before the condvar sends).
726
727Let's start with a simple example: you have two I/O watchers (for example,
728STDOUT and STDERR for a program), and you want to wait for both streams to
729close before activating a condvar:
416 730
417 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar; 731 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
418 732
733 $cv->begin; # first watcher
734 my $w1 = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh1, cb => sub {
735 defined sysread $fh1, my $buf, 4096
736 or $cv->end;
737 });
738
739 $cv->begin; # second watcher
740 my $w2 = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh2, cb => sub {
741 defined sysread $fh2, my $buf, 4096
742 or $cv->end;
743 });
744
745 $cv->recv;
746
747This works because for every event source (EOF on file handle), there is
748one call to C<begin>, so the condvar waits for all calls to C<end> before
749sending.
750
751The ping example mentioned above is slightly more complicated, as the
752there are results to be passwd back, and the number of tasks that are
753begun can potentially be zero:
754
755 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
756
419 my %result; 757 my %result;
420 $cv->begin (sub { $cv->send (\%result) }); 758 $cv->begin (sub { shift->send (\%result) });
421 759
422 for my $host (@list_of_hosts) { 760 for my $host (@list_of_hosts) {
423 $cv->begin; 761 $cv->begin;
424 ping_host_then_call_callback $host, sub { 762 ping_host_then_call_callback $host, sub {
425 $result{$host} = ...; 763 $result{$host} = ...;
440loop, which serves two important purposes: first, it sets the callback 778loop, which serves two important purposes: first, it sets the callback
441to be called once the counter reaches C<0>, and second, it ensures that 779to be called once the counter reaches C<0>, and second, it ensures that
442C<send> is called even when C<no> hosts are being pinged (the loop 780C<send> is called even when C<no> hosts are being pinged (the loop
443doesn't execute once). 781doesn't execute once).
444 782
445This is the general pattern when you "fan out" into multiple subrequests: 783This is the general pattern when you "fan out" into multiple (but
446use an outer C<begin>/C<end> pair to set the callback and ensure C<end> 784potentially zero) subrequests: use an outer C<begin>/C<end> pair to set
447is called at least once, and then, for each subrequest you start, call 785the callback and ensure C<end> is called at least once, and then, for each
448C<begin> and for eahc subrequest you finish, call C<end>. 786subrequest you start, call C<begin> and for each subrequest you finish,
787call C<end>.
449 788
450=back 789=back
451 790
452=head3 METHODS FOR CONSUMERS 791=head3 METHODS FOR CONSUMERS
453 792
457=over 4 796=over 4
458 797
459=item $cv->recv 798=item $cv->recv
460 799
461Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->send >> or C<< ->croak 800Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->send >> or C<< ->croak
462>> methods have been called on c<$cv>, while servicing other watchers 801>> methods have been called on C<$cv>, while servicing other watchers
463normally. 802normally.
464 803
465You can only wait once on a condition - additional calls are valid but 804You can only wait once on a condition - additional calls are valid but
466will return immediately. 805will return immediately.
467 806
469function will call C<croak>. 808function will call C<croak>.
470 809
471In list context, all parameters passed to C<send> will be returned, 810In list context, all parameters passed to C<send> will be returned,
472in scalar context only the first one will be returned. 811in scalar context only the first one will be returned.
473 812
813Note that doing a blocking wait in a callback is not supported by any
814event loop, that is, recursive invocation of a blocking C<< ->recv
815>> is not allowed, and the C<recv> call will C<croak> if such a
816condition is detected. This condition can be slightly loosened by using
817L<Coro::AnyEvent>, which allows you to do a blocking C<< ->recv >> from
818any thread that doesn't run the event loop itself.
819
474Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case 820Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case
475(programs might want to do that to stay interactive), so I<if you are 821(programs might want to do that to stay interactive), so I<if you are
476using this from a module, never require a blocking wait>, but let the 822using this from a module, never require a blocking wait>. Instead, let the
477caller decide whether the call will block or not (for example, by coupling 823caller decide whether the call will block or not (for example, by coupling
478condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting 824condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting
479callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block, 825callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block,
480while still suppporting blocking waits if the caller so desires). 826while still supporting blocking waits if the caller so desires).
481 827
482Another reason I<never> to C<< ->recv >> in a module is that you cannot
483sensibly have two C<< ->recv >>'s in parallel, as that would require
484multiple interpreters or coroutines/threads, none of which C<AnyEvent>
485can supply.
486
487The L<Coro> module, however, I<can> and I<does> supply coroutines and, in
488fact, L<Coro::AnyEvent> replaces AnyEvent's condvars by coroutine-safe
489versions and also integrates coroutines into AnyEvent, making blocking
490C<< ->recv >> calls perfectly safe as long as they are done from another
491coroutine (one that doesn't run the event loop).
492
493You can ensure that C<< -recv >> never blocks by setting a callback and 828You can ensure that C<< ->recv >> never blocks by setting a callback and
494only calling C<< ->recv >> from within that callback (or at a later 829only calling C<< ->recv >> from within that callback (or at a later
495time). This will work even when the event loop does not support blocking 830time). This will work even when the event loop does not support blocking
496waits otherwise. 831waits otherwise.
497 832
498=item $bool = $cv->ready 833=item $bool = $cv->ready
499 834
500Returns true when the condition is "true", i.e. whether C<send> or 835Returns true when the condition is "true", i.e. whether C<send> or
501C<croak> have been called. 836C<croak> have been called.
502 837
503=item $cb = $cv->cb ([new callback]) 838=item $cb = $cv->cb ($cb->($cv))
504 839
505This is a mutator function that returns the callback set and optionally 840This is a mutator function that returns the callback set and optionally
506replaces it before doing so. 841replaces it before doing so.
507 842
508The callback will be called when the condition becomes "true", i.e. when 843The callback will be called when the condition becomes "true", i.e. when
509C<send> or C<croak> are called. Calling C<recv> inside the callback 844C<send> or C<croak> are called, with the only argument being the
845condition variable itself. If the condition is already true, the
846callback is called immediately when it is set. Calling C<recv> inside
510or at any later time is guaranteed not to block. 847the callback or at any later time is guaranteed not to block.
511 848
512=back 849=back
513 850
851=head1 SUPPORTED EVENT LOOPS/BACKENDS
852
853The available backend classes are (every class has its own manpage):
854
855=over 4
856
857=item Backends that are autoprobed when no other event loop can be found.
858
859EV is the preferred backend when no other event loop seems to be in
860use. If EV is not installed, then AnyEvent will fall back to its own
861pure-perl implementation, which is available everywhere as it comes with
862AnyEvent itself.
863
864 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (interface to libev, best choice).
865 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl AnyEvent::Loop, fast and portable.
866
867=item Backends that are transparently being picked up when they are used.
868
869These will be used if they are already loaded when the first watcher
870is created, in which case it is assumed that the application is using
871them. This means that AnyEvent will automatically pick the right backend
872when the main program loads an event module before anything starts to
873create watchers. Nothing special needs to be done by the main program.
874
875 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, very stable, few glitches.
876 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, slow but very stable.
877 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very broken.
878 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
879 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, very slow, some limitations.
880 AnyEvent::Impl::Irssi used when running within irssi.
881 AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync based on IO::Async.
882 AnyEvent::Impl::Cocoa based on Cocoa::EventLoop.
883 AnyEvent::Impl::FLTK based on FLTK (fltk 2 binding).
884
885=item Backends with special needs.
886
887Qt requires the Qt::Application to be instantiated first, but will
888otherwise be picked up automatically. As long as the main program
889instantiates the application before any AnyEvent watchers are created,
890everything should just work.
891
892 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt.
893
894=item Event loops that are indirectly supported via other backends.
895
896Some event loops can be supported via other modules:
897
898There is no direct support for WxWidgets (L<Wx>) or L<Prima>.
899
900B<WxWidgets> has no support for watching file handles. However, you can
901use WxWidgets through the POE adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply
902polls 20 times per second, which was considered to be too horrible to even
903consider for AnyEvent.
904
905B<Prima> is not supported as nobody seems to be using it, but it has a POE
906backend, so it can be supported through POE.
907
908AnyEvent knows about both L<Prima> and L<Wx>, however, and will try to
909load L<POE> when detecting them, in the hope that POE will pick them up,
910in which case everything will be automatic.
911
912=back
913
514=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS 914=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS
515 915
916These are not normally required to use AnyEvent, but can be useful to
917write AnyEvent extension modules.
918
516=over 4 919=over 4
517 920
518=item $AnyEvent::MODEL 921=item $AnyEvent::MODEL
519 922
520Contains C<undef> until the first watcher is being created. Then it 923Contains C<undef> until the first watcher is being created, before the
924backend has been autodetected.
925
521contains the event model that is being used, which is the name of the 926Afterwards it contains the event model that is being used, which is the
522Perl class implementing the model. This class is usually one of the 927name of the Perl class implementing the model. This class is usually one
523C<AnyEvent::Impl:xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the case 928of the C<AnyEvent::Impl::xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the
524AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode>). 929case AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode> it
525 930will be C<urxvt::anyevent>).
526The known classes so far are:
527
528 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (an interface to libev, best choice).
529 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, second best choice.
530 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl implementation, fast and portable.
531 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, third-best choice.
532 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very bad choice.
533 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt, cannot be autoprobed (see its docs).
534 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
535 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, not generic enough for full support.
536
537There is no support for WxWidgets, as WxWidgets has no support for
538watching file handles. However, you can use WxWidgets through the
539POE Adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply polls 20 times per
540second, which was considered to be too horrible to even consider for
541AnyEvent. Likewise, other POE backends can be used by AnyEvent by using
542it's adaptor.
543
544AnyEvent knows about L<Prima> and L<Wx> and will try to use L<POE> when
545autodetecting them.
546 931
547=item AnyEvent::detect 932=item AnyEvent::detect
548 933
549Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model 934Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model
550if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would 935if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would
551have created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, as late as possible at 936have created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, as late as possible at
552runtime. 937runtime, and not e.g. during initialisation of your module.
938
939The effect of calling this function is as if a watcher had been created
940(specifically, actions that happen "when the first watcher is created"
941happen when calling detetc as well).
942
943If you need to do some initialisation before AnyEvent watchers are
944created, use C<post_detect>.
553 945
554=item $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK } 946=item $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }
555 947
556Arranges for the code block to be executed as soon as the event model is 948Arranges for the code block to be executed as soon as the event model is
557autodetected (or immediately if this has already happened). 949autodetected (or immediately if that has already happened).
950
951The block will be executed I<after> the actual backend has been detected
952(C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> is set), but I<before> any watchers have been
953created, so it is possible to e.g. patch C<@AnyEvent::ISA> or do
954other initialisations - see the sources of L<AnyEvent::Strict> or
955L<AnyEvent::AIO> to see how this is used.
956
957The most common usage is to create some global watchers, without forcing
958event module detection too early, for example, L<AnyEvent::AIO> creates
959and installs the global L<IO::AIO> watcher in a C<post_detect> block to
960avoid autodetecting the event module at load time.
558 961
559If called in scalar or list context, then it creates and returns an object 962If called in scalar or list context, then it creates and returns an object
560that automatically removes the callback again when it is destroyed. See 963that automatically removes the callback again when it is destroyed (or
964C<undef> when the hook was immediately executed). See L<AnyEvent::AIO> for
561L<Coro::BDB> for a case where this is useful. 965a case where this is useful.
966
967Example: Create a watcher for the IO::AIO module and store it in
968C<$WATCHER>, but do so only do so after the event loop is initialised.
969
970 our WATCHER;
971
972 my $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect {
973 $WATCHER = AnyEvent->io (fh => IO::AIO::poll_fileno, poll => 'r', cb => \&IO::AIO::poll_cb);
974 };
975
976 # the ||= is important in case post_detect immediately runs the block,
977 # as to not clobber the newly-created watcher. assigning both watcher and
978 # post_detect guard to the same variable has the advantage of users being
979 # able to just C<undef $WATCHER> if the watcher causes them grief.
980
981 $WATCHER ||= $guard;
562 982
563=item @AnyEvent::post_detect 983=item @AnyEvent::post_detect
564 984
565If there are any code references in this array (you can C<push> to it 985If there are any code references in this array (you can C<push> to it
566before or after loading AnyEvent), then they will called directly after 986before or after loading AnyEvent), then they will be called directly
567the event loop has been chosen. 987after the event loop has been chosen.
568 988
569You should check C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> before adding to this array, though: 989You should check C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> before adding to this array, though:
570if it contains a true value then the event loop has already been detected, 990if it is defined then the event loop has already been detected, and the
571and the array will be ignored. 991array will be ignored.
572 992
573Best use C<AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }> instead. 993Best use C<AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }> when your application allows
994it, as it takes care of these details.
995
996This variable is mainly useful for modules that can do something useful
997when AnyEvent is used and thus want to know when it is initialised, but do
998not need to even load it by default. This array provides the means to hook
999into AnyEvent passively, without loading it.
1000
1001Example: To load Coro::AnyEvent whenever Coro and AnyEvent are used
1002together, you could put this into Coro (this is the actual code used by
1003Coro to accomplish this):
1004
1005 if (defined $AnyEvent::MODEL) {
1006 # AnyEvent already initialised, so load Coro::AnyEvent
1007 require Coro::AnyEvent;
1008 } else {
1009 # AnyEvent not yet initialised, so make sure to load Coro::AnyEvent
1010 # as soon as it is
1011 push @AnyEvent::post_detect, sub { require Coro::AnyEvent };
1012 }
1013
1014=item AnyEvent::postpone { BLOCK }
1015
1016Arranges for the block to be executed as soon as possible, but not before
1017the call itself returns. In practise, the block will be executed just
1018before the event loop polls for new events, or shortly afterwards.
1019
1020This function never returns anything (to make the C<return postpone { ...
1021}> idiom more useful.
1022
1023To understand the usefulness of this function, consider a function that
1024asynchronously does something for you and returns some transaction
1025object or guard to let you cancel the operation. For example,
1026C<AnyEvent::Socket::tcp_connect>:
1027
1028 # start a conenction attempt unless one is active
1029 $self->{connect_guard} ||= AnyEvent::Socket::tcp_connect "www.example.net", 80, sub {
1030 delete $self->{connect_guard};
1031 ...
1032 };
1033
1034Imagine that this function could instantly call the callback, for
1035example, because it detects an obvious error such as a negative port
1036number. Invoking the callback before the function returns causes problems
1037however: the callback will be called and will try to delete the guard
1038object. But since the function hasn't returned yet, there is nothing to
1039delete. When the function eventually returns it will assign the guard
1040object to C<< $self->{connect_guard} >>, where it will likely never be
1041deleted, so the program thinks it is still trying to connect.
1042
1043This is where C<AnyEvent::postpone> should be used. Instead of calling the
1044callback directly on error:
1045
1046 $cb->(undef), return # signal error to callback, BAD!
1047 if $some_error_condition;
1048
1049It should use C<postpone>:
1050
1051 AnyEvent::postpone { $cb->(undef) }, return # signal error to callback, later
1052 if $some_error_condition;
1053
1054=item AnyEvent::log $level, $msg[, @args]
1055
1056Log the given C<$msg> at the given C<$level>.
1057
1058If L<AnyEvent::Log> is not loaded then this function makes a simple test
1059to see whether the message will be logged. If the test succeeds it will
1060load AnyEvent::Log and call C<AnyEvent::Log::log> - consequently, look at
1061the L<AnyEvent::Log> documentation for details.
1062
1063If the test fails it will simply return. Right now this happens when a
1064numerical loglevel is used and it is larger than the level specified via
1065C<$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}>.
1066
1067If you want to sprinkle loads of logging calls around your code, consider
1068creating a logger callback with the C<AnyEvent::Log::logger> function,
1069which can reduce typing, codesize and can reduce the logging overhead
1070enourmously.
574 1071
575=back 1072=back
576 1073
577=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE 1074=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE
578 1075
589because it will stall the whole program, and the whole point of using 1086because it will stall the whole program, and the whole point of using
590events is to stay interactive. 1087events is to stay interactive.
591 1088
592It is fine, however, to call C<< ->recv >> when the user of your module 1089It is fine, however, to call C<< ->recv >> when the user of your module
593requests it (i.e. if you create a http request object ad have a method 1090requests it (i.e. if you create a http request object ad have a method
594called C<results> that returns the results, it should call C<< ->recv >> 1091called C<results> that returns the results, it may call C<< ->recv >>
595freely, as the user of your module knows what she is doing. always). 1092freely, as the user of your module knows what she is doing. Always).
596 1093
597=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM 1094=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM
598 1095
599There will always be a single main program - the only place that should 1096There will always be a single main program - the only place that should
600dictate which event model to use. 1097dictate which event model to use.
601 1098
602If it doesn't care, it can just "use AnyEvent" and use it itself, or not 1099If the program is not event-based, it need not do anything special, even
603do anything special (it does not need to be event-based) and let AnyEvent 1100when it depends on a module that uses an AnyEvent. If the program itself
604decide which implementation to chose if some module relies on it. 1101uses AnyEvent, but does not care which event loop is used, all it needs
1102to do is C<use AnyEvent>. In either case, AnyEvent will choose the best
1103available loop implementation.
605 1104
606If the main program relies on a specific event model. For example, in 1105If the main program relies on a specific event model - for example, in
607Gtk2 programs you have to rely on the Glib module. You should load the 1106Gtk2 programs you have to rely on the Glib module - you should load the
608event module before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it: generally 1107event module before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it: generally
609speaking, you should load it as early as possible. The reason is that 1108speaking, you should load it as early as possible. The reason is that
610modules might create watchers when they are loaded, and AnyEvent will 1109modules might create watchers when they are loaded, and AnyEvent will
611decide on the event model to use as soon as it creates watchers, and it 1110decide on the event model to use as soon as it creates watchers, and it
612might chose the wrong one unless you load the correct one yourself. 1111might choose the wrong one unless you load the correct one yourself.
613 1112
614You can chose to use a rather inefficient pure-perl implementation by 1113You can chose to use a pure-perl implementation by loading the
615loading the C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl> module, which gives you similar 1114C<AnyEvent::Loop> module, which gives you similar behaviour
616behaviour everywhere, but letting AnyEvent chose is generally better. 1115everywhere, but letting AnyEvent chose the model is generally better.
1116
1117=head2 MAINLOOP EMULATION
1118
1119Sometimes (often for short test scripts, or even standalone programs who
1120only want to use AnyEvent), you do not want to run a specific event loop.
1121
1122In that case, you can use a condition variable like this:
1123
1124 AnyEvent->condvar->recv;
1125
1126This has the effect of entering the event loop and looping forever.
1127
1128Note that usually your program has some exit condition, in which case
1129it is better to use the "traditional" approach of storing a condition
1130variable somewhere, waiting for it, and sending it when the program should
1131exit cleanly.
1132
617 1133
618=head1 OTHER MODULES 1134=head1 OTHER MODULES
619 1135
620The following is a non-exhaustive list of additional modules that use 1136The following is a non-exhaustive list of additional modules that use
621AnyEvent and can therefore be mixed easily with other AnyEvent modules 1137AnyEvent as a client and can therefore be mixed easily with other
622in the same program. Some of the modules come with AnyEvent, some are 1138AnyEvent modules and other event loops in the same program. Some of the
623available via CPAN. 1139modules come as part of AnyEvent, the others are available via CPAN (see
1140L<http://search.cpan.org/search?m=module&q=anyevent%3A%3A*> for
1141a longer non-exhaustive list), and the list is heavily biased towards
1142modules of the AnyEvent author himself :)
624 1143
625=over 4 1144=over 4
626 1145
627=item L<AnyEvent::Util> 1146=item L<AnyEvent::Util>
628 1147
629Contains various utility functions that replace often-used but blocking 1148Contains various utility functions that replace often-used blocking
630functions such as C<inet_aton> by event-/callback-based versions. 1149functions such as C<inet_aton> with event/callback-based versions.
1150
1151=item L<AnyEvent::Socket>
1152
1153Provides various utility functions for (internet protocol) sockets,
1154addresses and name resolution. Also functions to create non-blocking tcp
1155connections or tcp servers, with IPv6 and SRV record support and more.
631 1156
632=item L<AnyEvent::Handle> 1157=item L<AnyEvent::Handle>
633 1158
634Provide read and write buffers and manages watchers for reads and writes. 1159Provide read and write buffers, manages watchers for reads and writes,
1160supports raw and formatted I/O, I/O queued and fully transparent and
1161non-blocking SSL/TLS (via L<AnyEvent::TLS>).
1162
1163=item L<AnyEvent::DNS>
1164
1165Provides rich asynchronous DNS resolver capabilities.
1166
1167=item L<AnyEvent::HTTP>, L<AnyEvent::IRC>, L<AnyEvent::XMPP>, L<AnyEvent::GPSD>, L<AnyEvent::IGS>, L<AnyEvent::FCP>
1168
1169Implement event-based interfaces to the protocols of the same name (for
1170the curious, IGS is the International Go Server and FCP is the Freenet
1171Client Protocol).
1172
1173=item L<AnyEvent::AIO>
1174
1175Truly asynchronous (as opposed to non-blocking) I/O, should be in the
1176toolbox of every event programmer. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses
1177L<IO::AIO> and AnyEvent together, giving AnyEvent access to event-based
1178file I/O, and much more.
1179
1180=item L<AnyEvent::Filesys::Notify>
1181
1182AnyEvent is good for non-blocking stuff, but it can't detect file or
1183path changes (e.g. "watch this directory for new files", "watch this
1184file for changes"). The L<AnyEvent::Filesys::Notify> module promises to
1185do just that in a portbale fashion, supporting inotify on GNU/Linux and
1186some weird, without doubt broken, stuff on OS X to monitor files. It can
1187fall back to blocking scans at regular intervals transparently on other
1188platforms, so it's about as portable as it gets.
1189
1190(I haven't used it myself, but I haven't heard anybody complaining about
1191it yet).
1192
1193=item L<AnyEvent::DBI>
1194
1195Executes L<DBI> requests asynchronously in a proxy process for you,
1196notifying you in an event-based way when the operation is finished.
635 1197
636=item L<AnyEvent::HTTPD> 1198=item L<AnyEvent::HTTPD>
637 1199
638Provides a simple web application server framework. 1200A simple embedded webserver.
639
640=item L<AnyEvent::DNS>
641
642Provides asynchronous DNS resolver capabilities, beyond what
643L<AnyEvent::Util> offers.
644 1201
645=item L<AnyEvent::FastPing> 1202=item L<AnyEvent::FastPing>
646 1203
647The fastest ping in the west. 1204The fastest ping in the west.
648 1205
649=item L<Net::IRC3>
650
651AnyEvent based IRC client module family.
652
653=item L<Net::XMPP2>
654
655AnyEvent based XMPP (Jabber protocol) module family.
656
657=item L<Net::FCP>
658
659AnyEvent-based implementation of the Freenet Client Protocol, birthplace
660of AnyEvent.
661
662=item L<Event::ExecFlow>
663
664High level API for event-based execution flow control.
665
666=item L<Coro> 1206=item L<Coro>
667 1207
668Has special support for AnyEvent via L<Coro::AnyEvent>. 1208Has special support for AnyEvent via L<Coro::AnyEvent>, which allows you
1209to simply invert the flow control - don't call us, we will call you:
669 1210
670=item L<AnyEvent::AIO>, L<IO::AIO> 1211 async {
1212 Coro::AnyEvent::sleep 5; # creates a 5s timer and waits for it
1213 print "5 seconds later!\n";
671 1214
672Truly asynchronous I/O, should be in the toolbox of every event 1215 Coro::AnyEvent::readable *STDIN; # uses an I/O watcher
673programmer. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses IO::AIO and AnyEvent 1216 my $line = <STDIN>; # works for ttys
674together.
675 1217
676=item L<AnyEvent::BDB>, L<BDB> 1218 AnyEvent::HTTP::http_get "url", Coro::rouse_cb;
677 1219 my ($body, $hdr) = Coro::rouse_wait;
678Truly asynchronous Berkeley DB access. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses 1220 };
679IO::AIO and AnyEvent together.
680
681=item L<IO::Lambda>
682
683The lambda approach to I/O - don't ask, look there. Can use AnyEvent.
684 1221
685=back 1222=back
686 1223
687=cut 1224=cut
688 1225
689package AnyEvent; 1226package AnyEvent;
690 1227
691no warnings; 1228# basically a tuned-down version of common::sense
692use strict; 1229sub common_sense {
1230 # from common:.sense 3.4
1231 ${^WARNING_BITS} ^= ${^WARNING_BITS} ^ "\x3c\x3f\x33\x00\x0f\xf0\x0f\xc0\xf0\xfc\x33\x00";
1232 # use strict vars subs - NO UTF-8, as Util.pm doesn't like this atm. (uts46data.pl)
1233 $^H |= 0x00000600;
1234}
693 1235
1236BEGIN { AnyEvent::common_sense }
1237
694use Carp; 1238use Carp ();
695 1239
696our $VERSION = '3.41'; 1240our $VERSION = '6.02';
697our $MODEL; 1241our $MODEL;
698
699our $AUTOLOAD;
700our @ISA; 1242our @ISA;
701
702our $verbose = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1;
703
704our @REGISTRY; 1243our @REGISTRY;
1244our $VERBOSE;
1245our $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY = 10;
1246our %PROTOCOL; # (ipv4|ipv6) => (1|2), higher numbers are preferred
705 1247
1248BEGIN {
1249 require "AnyEvent/constants.pl";
1250
1251 eval "sub TAINT (){" . (${^TAINT}*1) . "}";
1252
1253 delete @ENV{grep /^PERL_ANYEVENT_/, keys %ENV}
1254 if ${^TAINT};
1255
1256 $ENV{"PERL_ANYEVENT_$_"} = $ENV{"AE_$_"}
1257 for grep s/^AE_// && !exists $ENV{"PERL_ANYEVENT_$_"}, keys %ENV;
1258
1259 @ENV{grep /^PERL_ANYEVENT_/, keys %ENV} = ()
1260 if ${^TAINT};
1261
1262 # $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_xxx} now valid
1263
1264 $VERBOSE = length $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE} ? $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1 : 3;
1265
1266 my $idx;
1267 $PROTOCOL{$_} = ++$idx
1268 for reverse split /\s*,\s*/,
1269 $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS} || "ipv4,ipv6";
1270}
1271
1272our @post_detect;
1273
1274sub post_detect(&) {
1275 my ($cb) = @_;
1276
1277 push @post_detect, $cb;
1278
1279 defined wantarray
1280 ? bless \$cb, "AnyEvent::Util::postdetect"
1281 : ()
1282}
1283
1284sub AnyEvent::Util::postdetect::DESTROY {
1285 @post_detect = grep $_ != ${$_[0]}, @post_detect;
1286}
1287
1288our $POSTPONE_W;
1289our @POSTPONE;
1290
1291sub _postpone_exec {
1292 undef $POSTPONE_W;
1293
1294 &{ shift @POSTPONE }
1295 while @POSTPONE;
1296}
1297
1298sub postpone(&) {
1299 push @POSTPONE, shift;
1300
1301 $POSTPONE_W ||= AE::timer (0, 0, \&_postpone_exec);
1302
1303 ()
1304}
1305
1306sub log($$;@) {
1307 # only load the big bloated module when we actually are about to log something
1308 if ($_[0] <= $VERBOSE) { # also catches non-numeric levels(!)
1309 require AnyEvent::Log;
1310 # AnyEvent::Log overwrites this function
1311 goto &log;
1312 }
1313
1314 0 # not logged
1315}
1316
1317if (length $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_LOG}) {
1318 require AnyEvent::Log; # AnyEvent::Log does the thing for us
1319}
1320
706my @models = ( 1321our @models = (
707 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV::], 1322 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV:: , 1],
1323 [AnyEvent::Loop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: , 1],
1324 # everything below here will not (normally) be autoprobed
1325 # as the pure perl backend should work everywhere
1326 # and is usually faster
708 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::], 1327 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::, 1],
1328 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib:: , 1], # becomes extremely slow with many watchers
1329 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy
1330 [Irssi:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Irssi::], # Irssi has a bogus "Event" package
709 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], 1331 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], # crashes with many handles
1332 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program
1333 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza
710 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], 1334 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
711 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], 1335 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
712 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl::], 1336 [IO::Async::Loop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # a bitch to autodetect
713 # everything below here will not be autoprobed as the pureperl backend should work everywhere 1337 [Cocoa::EventLoop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Cocoa::],
714 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib::], 1338 [FLTK:: => AnyEvent::Impl::FLTK::],
715 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy
716 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program
717 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza
718); 1339);
719 1340
720our %method = map +($_ => 1), qw(io timer signal child condvar one_event DESTROY); 1341our @isa_hook;
721 1342
722our @post_detect; 1343sub _isa_set {
1344 my @pkg = ("AnyEvent", (map $_->[0], grep defined, @isa_hook), $MODEL);
723 1345
1346 @{"$pkg[$_-1]::ISA"} = $pkg[$_]
1347 for 1 .. $#pkg;
1348
1349 grep $_ && $_->[1], @isa_hook
1350 and AE::_reset ();
1351}
1352
1353# used for hooking AnyEvent::Strict and AnyEvent::Debug::Wrap into the class hierarchy
1354sub _isa_hook($$;$) {
1355 my ($i, $pkg, $reset_ae) = @_;
1356
1357 $isa_hook[$i] = $pkg ? [$pkg, $reset_ae] : undef;
1358
1359 _isa_set;
1360}
1361
1362# all autoloaded methods reserve the complete glob, not just the method slot.
1363# due to bugs in perls method cache implementation.
1364our @methods = qw(io timer time now now_update signal child idle condvar);
1365
724sub post_detect(&) { 1366sub detect() {
725 my ($cb) = @_; 1367 return $MODEL if $MODEL; # some programs keep references to detect
726 1368
727 if ($MODEL) { 1369 local $!; # for good measure
728 $cb->(); 1370 local $SIG{__DIE__}; # we use eval
729 1371
730 1 1372 # free some memory
1373 *detect = sub () { $MODEL };
1374 # undef &func doesn't correctly update the method cache. grmbl.
1375 # so we delete the whole glob. grmbl.
1376 # otoh, perl doesn't let me undef an active usb, but it lets me free
1377 # a glob with an active sub. hrm. i hope it works, but perl is
1378 # usually buggy in this department. sigh.
1379 delete @{"AnyEvent::"}{@methods};
1380 undef @methods;
1381
1382 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z0-9:]+)$/) {
1383 my $model = $1;
1384 $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$model" unless $model =~ s/::$//;
1385 if (eval "require $model") {
1386 AnyEvent::log 7 => "loaded model '$model' (forced by \$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}), using it.";
1387 $MODEL = $model;
731 } else { 1388 } else {
732 push @post_detect, $cb; 1389 AnyEvent::log 5 => "unable to load model '$model' (from \$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}):\n$@";
733 1390 }
734 defined wantarray
735 ? bless \$cb, "AnyEvent::Util::Guard"
736 : ()
737 } 1391 }
738}
739 1392
740sub AnyEvent::Util::Guard::DESTROY { 1393 # check for already loaded models
741 @post_detect = grep $_ != ${$_[0]}, @post_detect;
742}
743
744sub detect() {
745 unless ($MODEL) { 1394 unless ($MODEL) {
746 no strict 'refs'; 1395 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
747 1396 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
748 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z]+)$/) { 1397 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) {
749 my $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$1";
750 if (eval "require $model") { 1398 if (eval "require $model") {
1399 AnyEvent::log 7 => "autodetected model '$model', using it.";
751 $MODEL = $model; 1400 $MODEL = $model;
752 warn "AnyEvent: loaded model '$model' (forced by \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1401 last;
753 } else { 1402 }
754 warn "AnyEvent: unable to load model '$model' (from \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL):\n$@" if $verbose;
755 } 1403 }
756 } 1404 }
757 1405
758 # check for already loaded models
759 unless ($MODEL) { 1406 unless ($MODEL) {
1407 # try to autoload a model
760 for (@REGISTRY, @models) { 1408 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
761 my ($package, $model) = @$_; 1409 my ($package, $model, $autoload) = @$_;
1410 if (
1411 $autoload
1412 and eval "require $package"
762 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) { 1413 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0
763 if (eval "require $model") { 1414 and eval "require $model"
1415 ) {
1416 AnyEvent::log 7 => "autoloaded model '$model', using it.";
764 $MODEL = $model; 1417 $MODEL = $model;
765 warn "AnyEvent: autodetected model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1;
766 last; 1418 last;
767 }
768 } 1419 }
769 } 1420 }
770 1421
771 unless ($MODEL) { 1422 $MODEL
772 # try to load a model 1423 or die "AnyEvent: backend autodetection failed - did you properly install AnyEvent?";
1424 }
1425 }
773 1426
774 for (@REGISTRY, @models) { 1427 # free memory only needed for probing
775 my ($package, $model) = @$_; 1428 undef @models;
776 if (eval "require $package" 1429 undef @REGISTRY;
777 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0 1430
778 and eval "require $model") { 1431 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base";
779 $MODEL = $model; 1432
780 warn "AnyEvent: autoprobed model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1433 # now nuke some methods that are overridden by the backend.
1434 # SUPER usage is not allowed in these.
1435 for (qw(time signal child idle)) {
1436 undef &{"AnyEvent::Base::$_"}
1437 if defined &{"$MODEL\::$_"};
1438 }
1439
1440 _isa_set;
1441
1442 # we're officially open!
1443
1444 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT}) {
1445 require AnyEvent::Strict;
1446 }
1447
1448 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_WRAP}) {
1449 require AnyEvent::Debug;
1450 AnyEvent::Debug::wrap ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_WRAP});
1451 }
1452
1453 if (length $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_SHELL}) {
1454 require AnyEvent::Socket;
1455 require AnyEvent::Debug;
1456
1457 my $shell = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_SHELL};
1458 $shell =~ s/\$\$/$$/g;
1459
1460 my ($host, $service) = AnyEvent::Socket::parse_hostport ($shell);
1461 $AnyEvent::Debug::SHELL = AnyEvent::Debug::shell ($host, $service);
1462 }
1463
1464 # now the anyevent environment is set up as the user told us to, so
1465 # call the actual user code - post detects
1466
1467 (shift @post_detect)->() while @post_detect;
1468 undef @post_detect;
1469
1470 *post_detect = sub(&) {
1471 shift->();
1472
1473 undef
1474 };
1475
1476 $MODEL
1477}
1478
1479for my $name (@methods) {
1480 *$name = sub {
1481 detect;
1482 # we use goto because
1483 # a) it makes the thunk more transparent
1484 # b) it allows us to delete the thunk later
1485 goto &{ UNIVERSAL::can AnyEvent => "SUPER::$name" }
1486 };
1487}
1488
1489# utility function to dup a filehandle. this is used by many backends
1490# to support binding more than one watcher per filehandle (they usually
1491# allow only one watcher per fd, so we dup it to get a different one).
1492sub _dupfh($$;$$) {
1493 my ($poll, $fh, $r, $w) = @_;
1494
1495 # cygwin requires the fh mode to be matching, unix doesn't
1496 my ($rw, $mode) = $poll eq "r" ? ($r, "<&") : ($w, ">&");
1497
1498 open my $fh2, $mode, $fh
1499 or die "AnyEvent->io: cannot dup() filehandle in mode '$poll': $!,";
1500
1501 # we assume CLOEXEC is already set by perl in all important cases
1502
1503 ($fh2, $rw)
1504}
1505
1506=head1 SIMPLIFIED AE API
1507
1508Starting with version 5.0, AnyEvent officially supports a second, much
1509simpler, API that is designed to reduce the calling, typing and memory
1510overhead by using function call syntax and a fixed number of parameters.
1511
1512See the L<AE> manpage for details.
1513
1514=cut
1515
1516package AE;
1517
1518our $VERSION = $AnyEvent::VERSION;
1519
1520sub _reset() {
1521 eval q{
1522 # fall back to the main API by default - backends and AnyEvent::Base
1523 # implementations can overwrite these.
1524
1525 sub io($$$) {
1526 AnyEvent->io (fh => $_[0], poll => $_[1] ? "w" : "r", cb => $_[2])
1527 }
1528
1529 sub timer($$$) {
1530 AnyEvent->timer (after => $_[0], interval => $_[1], cb => $_[2])
1531 }
1532
1533 sub signal($$) {
1534 AnyEvent->signal (signal => $_[0], cb => $_[1])
1535 }
1536
1537 sub child($$) {
1538 AnyEvent->child (pid => $_[0], cb => $_[1])
1539 }
1540
1541 sub idle($) {
1542 AnyEvent->idle (cb => $_[0]);
1543 }
1544
1545 sub cv(;&) {
1546 AnyEvent->condvar (@_ ? (cb => $_[0]) : ())
1547 }
1548
1549 sub now() {
1550 AnyEvent->now
1551 }
1552
1553 sub now_update() {
1554 AnyEvent->now_update
1555 }
1556
1557 sub time() {
1558 AnyEvent->time
1559 }
1560
1561 *postpone = \&AnyEvent::postpone;
1562 *log = \&AnyEvent::log;
1563 };
1564 die if $@;
1565}
1566
1567BEGIN { _reset }
1568
1569package AnyEvent::Base;
1570
1571# default implementations for many methods
1572
1573sub time {
1574 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1575 # probe for availability of Time::HiRes
1576 if (eval "use Time::HiRes (); Time::HiRes::time (); 1") {
1577 *time = sub { Time::HiRes::time () };
1578 *AE::time = \& Time::HiRes::time ;
1579 *now = \&time;
1580 AnyEvent::log 8 => "AnyEvent: using Time::HiRes for sub-second timing accuracy.";
1581 # if (eval "use POSIX (); (POSIX::times())...
1582 } else {
1583 *time = sub { CORE::time };
1584 *AE::time = sub (){ CORE::time };
1585 *now = \&time;
1586 AnyEvent::log 3 => "using built-in time(), WARNING, no sub-second resolution!";
1587 }
1588 };
1589 die if $@;
1590
1591 &time
1592}
1593
1594*now = \&time;
1595sub now_update { }
1596
1597sub _poll {
1598 Carp::croak "$AnyEvent::MODEL does not support blocking waits. Caught";
1599}
1600
1601# default implementation for ->condvar
1602# in fact, the default should not be overwritten
1603
1604sub condvar {
1605 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1606 *condvar = sub {
1607 bless { @_ == 3 ? (_ae_cb => $_[2]) : () }, "AnyEvent::CondVar"
1608 };
1609
1610 *AE::cv = sub (;&) {
1611 bless { @_ ? (_ae_cb => shift) : () }, "AnyEvent::CondVar"
1612 };
1613 };
1614 die if $@;
1615
1616 &condvar
1617}
1618
1619# default implementation for ->signal
1620
1621our $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT;
1622
1623sub _have_async_interrupt() {
1624 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT = 1*(!$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_ASYNC_INTERRUPT}
1625 && eval "use Async::Interrupt 1.02 (); 1")
1626 unless defined $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT;
1627
1628 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1629}
1630
1631our ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W, %SIG_CB, %SIG_EV, $SIG_IO);
1632our (%SIG_ASY, %SIG_ASY_W);
1633our ($SIG_COUNT, $SIG_TW);
1634
1635# install a dummy wakeup watcher to reduce signal catching latency
1636# used by Impls
1637sub _sig_add() {
1638 unless ($SIG_COUNT++) {
1639 # try to align timer on a full-second boundary, if possible
1640 my $NOW = AE::now;
1641
1642 $SIG_TW = AE::timer
1643 $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY - ($NOW - int $NOW),
1644 $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY,
1645 sub { } # just for the PERL_ASYNC_CHECK
1646 ;
1647 }
1648}
1649
1650sub _sig_del {
1651 undef $SIG_TW
1652 unless --$SIG_COUNT;
1653}
1654
1655our $_sig_name_init; $_sig_name_init = sub {
1656 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1657 undef $_sig_name_init;
1658
1659 if (_have_async_interrupt) {
1660 *sig2num = \&Async::Interrupt::sig2num;
1661 *sig2name = \&Async::Interrupt::sig2name;
1662 } else {
1663 require Config;
1664
1665 my %signame2num;
1666 @signame2num{ split ' ', $Config::Config{sig_name} }
1667 = split ' ', $Config::Config{sig_num};
1668
1669 my @signum2name;
1670 @signum2name[values %signame2num] = keys %signame2num;
1671
1672 *sig2num = sub($) {
1673 $_[0] > 0 ? shift : $signame2num{+shift}
1674 };
1675 *sig2name = sub ($) {
1676 $_[0] > 0 ? $signum2name[+shift] : shift
1677 };
1678 }
1679 };
1680 die if $@;
1681};
1682
1683sub sig2num ($) { &$_sig_name_init; &sig2num }
1684sub sig2name($) { &$_sig_name_init; &sig2name }
1685
1686sub signal {
1687 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1688 # probe for availability of Async::Interrupt
1689 if (_have_async_interrupt) {
1690 AnyEvent::log 8 => "using Async::Interrupt for race-free signal handling.";
1691
1692 $SIGPIPE_R = new Async::Interrupt::EventPipe;
1693 $SIG_IO = AE::io $SIGPIPE_R->fileno, 0, \&_signal_exec;
1694
1695 } else {
1696 AnyEvent::log 8 => "using emulated perl signal handling with latency timer.";
1697
1698 if (AnyEvent::WIN32) {
1699 require AnyEvent::Util;
1700
1701 ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W) = AnyEvent::Util::portable_pipe ();
1702 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_R, 1) if $SIGPIPE_R;
1703 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_W, 1) if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case
1704 } else {
1705 pipe $SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W;
1706 fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, AnyEvent::F_SETFL, AnyEvent::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_R;
1707 fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, AnyEvent::F_SETFL, AnyEvent::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case
1708
1709 # not strictly required, as $^F is normally 2, but let's make sure...
1710 fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, AnyEvent::F_SETFD, AnyEvent::FD_CLOEXEC;
1711 fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, AnyEvent::F_SETFD, AnyEvent::FD_CLOEXEC;
1712 }
1713
1714 $SIGPIPE_R
1715 or Carp::croak "AnyEvent: unable to create a signal reporting pipe: $!\n";
1716
1717 $SIG_IO = AE::io $SIGPIPE_R, 0, \&_signal_exec;
1718 }
1719
1720 *signal = $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1721 ? sub {
1722 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1723
1724 # async::interrupt
1725 my $signal = sig2num $arg{signal};
1726 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1727
1728 $SIG_ASY{$signal} ||= new Async::Interrupt
1729 cb => sub { undef $SIG_EV{$signal} },
1730 signal => $signal,
1731 pipe => [$SIGPIPE_R->filenos],
1732 pipe_autodrain => 0,
1733 ;
1734
1735 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::signal"
1736 }
1737 : sub {
1738 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1739
1740 # pure perl
1741 my $signal = sig2name $arg{signal};
1742 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1743
1744 $SIG{$signal} ||= sub {
781 last; 1745 local $!;
1746 syswrite $SIGPIPE_W, "\x00", 1 unless %SIG_EV;
1747 undef $SIG_EV{$signal};
782 } 1748 };
1749
1750 # can't do signal processing without introducing races in pure perl,
1751 # so limit the signal latency.
1752 _sig_add;
1753
1754 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::signal"
1755 }
1756 ;
1757
1758 *AnyEvent::Base::signal::DESTROY = sub {
1759 my ($signal, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
1760
1761 _sig_del;
1762
1763 delete $SIG_CB{$signal}{$cb};
1764
1765 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1766 ? delete $SIG_ASY{$signal}
1767 : # delete doesn't work with older perls - they then
1768 # print weird messages, or just unconditionally exit
1769 # instead of getting the default action.
1770 undef $SIG{$signal}
1771 unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} };
1772 };
1773
1774 *_signal_exec = sub {
1775 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1776 ? $SIGPIPE_R->drain
1777 : sysread $SIGPIPE_R, (my $dummy), 9;
1778
1779 while (%SIG_EV) {
1780 for (keys %SIG_EV) {
1781 delete $SIG_EV{$_};
1782 &$_ for values %{ $SIG_CB{$_} || {} };
783 } 1783 }
784
785 $MODEL
786 or die "No event module selected for AnyEvent and autodetect failed. Install any one of these modules: EV, Event or Glib.";
787 } 1784 }
788 } 1785 };
789
790 unshift @ISA, $MODEL;
791 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base";
792
793 (shift @post_detect)->() while @post_detect;
794 }
795
796 $MODEL
797}
798
799sub AUTOLOAD {
800 (my $func = $AUTOLOAD) =~ s/.*://;
801
802 $method{$func}
803 or croak "$func: not a valid method for AnyEvent objects";
804
805 detect unless $MODEL;
806
807 my $class = shift;
808 $class->$func (@_);
809}
810
811package AnyEvent::Base;
812
813# default implementation for ->condvar
814
815sub condvar {
816 bless {}, AnyEvent::CondVar::
817}
818
819# default implementation for ->signal
820
821our %SIG_CB;
822
823sub signal {
824 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
825
826 my $signal = uc $arg{signal}
827 or Carp::croak "required option 'signal' is missing";
828
829 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
830 $SIG{$signal} ||= sub {
831 $_->() for values %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} || {} };
832 }; 1786 };
1787 die if $@;
833 1788
834 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Signal" 1789 &signal
835}
836
837sub AnyEvent::Base::Signal::DESTROY {
838 my ($signal, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
839
840 delete $SIG_CB{$signal}{$cb};
841
842 $SIG{$signal} = 'DEFAULT' unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} };
843} 1790}
844 1791
845# default implementation for ->child 1792# default implementation for ->child
846 1793
847our %PID_CB; 1794our %PID_CB;
848our $CHLD_W; 1795our $CHLD_W;
849our $CHLD_DELAY_W; 1796our $CHLD_DELAY_W;
850our $PID_IDLE;
851our $WNOHANG;
852 1797
853sub _child_wait { 1798# used by many Impl's
854 while (0 < (my $pid = waitpid -1, $WNOHANG)) { 1799sub _emit_childstatus($$) {
1800 my (undef, $rpid, $rstatus) = @_;
1801
1802 $_->($rpid, $rstatus)
855 $_->($pid, $?) for (values %{ $PID_CB{$pid} || {} }), 1803 for values %{ $PID_CB{$rpid} || {} },
856 (values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} }); 1804 values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} };
857 }
858
859 undef $PID_IDLE;
860}
861
862sub _sigchld {
863 # make sure we deliver these changes "synchronous" with the event loop.
864 $CHLD_DELAY_W ||= AnyEvent->timer (after => 0, cb => sub {
865 undef $CHLD_DELAY_W;
866 &_child_wait;
867 });
868} 1805}
869 1806
870sub child { 1807sub child {
1808 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1809 *_sigchld = sub {
1810 my $pid;
1811
1812 AnyEvent->_emit_childstatus ($pid, $?)
1813 while ($pid = waitpid -1, WNOHANG) > 0;
1814 };
1815
1816 *child = sub {
871 my (undef, %arg) = @_; 1817 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
872 1818
873 defined (my $pid = $arg{pid} + 0) 1819 my $pid = $arg{pid};
874 or Carp::croak "required option 'pid' is missing"; 1820 my $cb = $arg{cb};
875 1821
876 $PID_CB{$pid}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb}; 1822 $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb+0} = $cb;
877 1823
878 unless ($WNOHANG) {
879 $WNOHANG = eval { require POSIX; &POSIX::WNOHANG } || 1;
880 }
881
882 unless ($CHLD_W) { 1824 unless ($CHLD_W) {
883 $CHLD_W = AnyEvent->signal (signal => 'CHLD', cb => \&_sigchld); 1825 $CHLD_W = AE::signal CHLD => \&_sigchld;
884 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round 1826 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round
885 &_sigchld; 1827 &_sigchld;
886 } 1828 }
887 1829
888 bless [$pid, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Child" 1830 bless [$pid, $cb+0], "AnyEvent::Base::child"
889} 1831 };
890 1832
891sub AnyEvent::Base::Child::DESTROY { 1833 *AnyEvent::Base::child::DESTROY = sub {
892 my ($pid, $cb) = @{$_[0]}; 1834 my ($pid, $icb) = @{$_[0]};
893 1835
894 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb}; 1836 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$icb};
895 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} }; 1837 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} };
896 1838
897 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB; 1839 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB;
1840 };
1841 };
1842 die if $@;
1843
1844 &child
1845}
1846
1847# idle emulation is done by simply using a timer, regardless
1848# of whether the process is idle or not, and not letting
1849# the callback use more than 50% of the time.
1850sub idle {
1851 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1852 *idle = sub {
1853 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1854
1855 my ($cb, $w, $rcb) = $arg{cb};
1856
1857 $rcb = sub {
1858 if ($cb) {
1859 $w = AE::time;
1860 &$cb;
1861 $w = AE::time - $w;
1862
1863 # never use more then 50% of the time for the idle watcher,
1864 # within some limits
1865 $w = 0.0001 if $w < 0.0001;
1866 $w = 5 if $w > 5;
1867
1868 $w = AE::timer $w, 0, $rcb;
1869 } else {
1870 # clean up...
1871 undef $w;
1872 undef $rcb;
1873 }
1874 };
1875
1876 $w = AE::timer 0.05, 0, $rcb;
1877
1878 bless \\$cb, "AnyEvent::Base::idle"
1879 };
1880
1881 *AnyEvent::Base::idle::DESTROY = sub {
1882 undef $${$_[0]};
1883 };
1884 };
1885 die if $@;
1886
1887 &idle
898} 1888}
899 1889
900package AnyEvent::CondVar; 1890package AnyEvent::CondVar;
901 1891
902our @ISA = AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::; 1892our @ISA = AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::;
903 1893
1894# only to be used for subclassing
1895sub new {
1896 my $class = shift;
1897 bless AnyEvent->condvar (@_), $class
1898}
1899
904package AnyEvent::CondVar::Base; 1900package AnyEvent::CondVar::Base;
1901
1902#use overload
1903# '&{}' => sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } },
1904# fallback => 1;
1905
1906# save 300+ kilobytes by dirtily hardcoding overloading
1907${"AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::OVERLOAD"}{dummy}++; # Register with magic by touching.
1908*{'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::()'} = sub { }; # "Make it findable via fetchmethod."
1909*{'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::(&{}'} = sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } }; # &{}
1910${'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::()'} = 1; # fallback
1911
1912our $WAITING;
905 1913
906sub _send { 1914sub _send {
907 # nop 1915 # nop
1916}
1917
1918sub _wait {
1919 AnyEvent->_poll until $_[0]{_ae_sent};
908} 1920}
909 1921
910sub send { 1922sub send {
911 my $cv = shift; 1923 my $cv = shift;
912 $cv->{_ae_sent} = [@_]; 1924 $cv->{_ae_sent} = [@_];
921 1933
922sub ready { 1934sub ready {
923 $_[0]{_ae_sent} 1935 $_[0]{_ae_sent}
924} 1936}
925 1937
926sub _wait {
927 AnyEvent->one_event while !$_[0]{_ae_sent};
928}
929
930sub recv { 1938sub recv {
1939 unless ($_[0]{_ae_sent}) {
1940 $WAITING
1941 and Carp::croak "AnyEvent::CondVar: recursive blocking wait attempted";
1942
1943 local $WAITING = 1;
931 $_[0]->_wait; 1944 $_[0]->_wait;
1945 }
932 1946
933 Carp::croak $_[0]{_ae_croak} if $_[0]{_ae_croak}; 1947 $_[0]{_ae_croak}
934 wantarray ? @{ $_[0]{_ae_sent} } : $_[0]{_ae_sent}[0] 1948 and Carp::croak $_[0]{_ae_croak};
1949
1950 wantarray
1951 ? @{ $_[0]{_ae_sent} }
1952 : $_[0]{_ae_sent}[0]
935} 1953}
936 1954
937sub cb { 1955sub cb {
938 $_[0]{_ae_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1; 1956 my $cv = shift;
1957
1958 @_
1959 and $cv->{_ae_cb} = shift
1960 and $cv->{_ae_sent}
1961 and (delete $cv->{_ae_cb})->($cv);
1962
939 $_[0]{_ae_cb} 1963 $cv->{_ae_cb}
940} 1964}
941 1965
942sub begin { 1966sub begin {
943 ++$_[0]{_ae_counter}; 1967 ++$_[0]{_ae_counter};
944 $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1; 1968 $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1;
945} 1969}
946 1970
947sub end { 1971sub end {
948 return if --$_[0]{_ae_counter}; 1972 return if --$_[0]{_ae_counter};
949 &{ $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} } if $_[0]{_ae_end_cb}; 1973 &{ $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} || sub { $_[0]->send } };
950} 1974}
951 1975
952# undocumented/compatibility with pre-3.4 1976# undocumented/compatibility with pre-3.4
953*broadcast = \&send; 1977*broadcast = \&send;
954*wait = \&_wait; 1978*wait = \&recv;
1979
1980=head1 ERROR AND EXCEPTION HANDLING
1981
1982In general, AnyEvent does not do any error handling - it relies on the
1983caller to do that if required. The L<AnyEvent::Strict> module (see also
1984the C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT> environment variable, below) provides strict
1985checking of all AnyEvent methods, however, which is highly useful during
1986development.
1987
1988As for exception handling (i.e. runtime errors and exceptions thrown while
1989executing a callback), this is not only highly event-loop specific, but
1990also not in any way wrapped by this module, as this is the job of the main
1991program.
1992
1993The pure perl event loop simply re-throws the exception (usually
1994within C<< condvar->recv >>), the L<Event> and L<EV> modules call C<<
1995$Event/EV::DIED->() >>, L<Glib> uses C<< install_exception_handler >> and
1996so on.
1997
1998=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
1999
2000AnyEvent supports a number of environment variables that tune the
2001runtime behaviour. They are usually evaluated when AnyEvent is
2002loaded, initialised, or a submodule that uses them is loaded. Many of
2003them also cause AnyEvent to load additional modules - for example,
2004C<PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_WRAP> causes the L<AnyEvent::Debug> module to be
2005loaded.
2006
2007All the environment variables documented here start with
2008C<PERL_ANYEVENT_>, which is what AnyEvent considers its own
2009namespace. Other modules are encouraged (but by no means required) to use
2010C<PERL_ANYEVENT_SUBMODULE> if they have registered the AnyEvent::Submodule
2011namespace on CPAN, for any submodule. For example, L<AnyEvent::HTTP> could
2012be expected to use C<PERL_ANYEVENT_HTTP_PROXY> (it should not access env
2013variables starting with C<AE_>, see below).
2014
2015All variables can also be set via the C<AE_> prefix, that is, instead
2016of setting C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE> you can also set C<AE_VERBOSE>. In
2017case there is a clash btween anyevent and another program that uses
2018C<AE_something> you can set the corresponding C<PERL_ANYEVENT_something>
2019variable to the empty string, as those variables take precedence.
2020
2021When AnyEvent is first loaded, it copies all C<AE_xxx> env variables
2022to their C<PERL_ANYEVENT_xxx> counterpart unless that variable already
2023exists. If taint mode is on, then AnyEvent will remove I<all> environment
2024variables starting with C<PERL_ANYEVENT_> from C<%ENV> (or replace them
2025with C<undef> or the empty string, if the corresaponding C<AE_> variable
2026is set).
2027
2028The exact algorithm is currently:
2029
2030 1. if taint mode enabled, delete all PERL_ANYEVENT_xyz variables from %ENV
2031 2. copy over AE_xyz to PERL_ANYEVENT_xyz unless the latter alraedy exists
2032 3. if taint mode enabled, set all PERL_ANYEVENT_xyz variables to undef.
2033
2034This ensures that child processes will not see the C<AE_> variables.
2035
2036The following environment variables are currently known to AnyEvent:
2037
2038=over 4
2039
2040=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
2041
2042By default, AnyEvent will only log messages with loglevel C<3>
2043(C<critical>) or higher (see L<AnyEvent::Log>). You can set this
2044environment variable to a numerical loglevel to make AnyEvent more (or
2045less) talkative.
2046
2047If you want to do more than just set the global logging level
2048you should have a look at C<PERL_ANYEVENT_LOG>, which allows much more
2049complex specifications.
2050
2051When set to C<0> (C<off>), then no messages whatsoever will be logged with
2052the default logging settings.
2053
2054When set to C<5> or higher (C<warn>), causes AnyEvent to warn about
2055unexpected conditions, such as not being able to load the event model
2056specified by C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>, or a guard callback throwing an
2057exception - this is the minimum recommended level.
2058
2059When set to C<7> or higher (info), cause AnyEvent to report which event model it
2060chooses.
2061
2062When set to C<8> or higher (debug), then AnyEvent will report extra information on
2063which optional modules it loads and how it implements certain features.
2064
2065=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_LOG>
2066
2067Accepts rather complex logging specifications. For example, you could log
2068all C<debug> messages of some module to stderr, warnings and above to
2069stderr, and errors and above to syslog, with:
2070
2071 PERL_ANYEVENT_LOG=Some::Module=debug,+log:filter=warn,+%syslog:%syslog=error,syslog
2072
2073For the rather extensive details, see L<AnyEvent::Log>.
2074
2075This variable is evaluated when AnyEvent (or L<AnyEvent::Log>) is loaded,
2076so will take effect even before AnyEvent has initialised itself.
2077
2078Note that specifying this environment variable causes the L<AnyEvent::Log>
2079module to be loaded, while C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE> does not, so only
2080using the latter saves a few hundred kB of memory until the first message
2081is being logged.
2082
2083=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT>
2084
2085AnyEvent does not do much argument checking by default, as thorough
2086argument checking is very costly. Setting this variable to a true value
2087will cause AnyEvent to load C<AnyEvent::Strict> and then to thoroughly
2088check the arguments passed to most method calls. If it finds any problems,
2089it will croak.
2090
2091In other words, enables "strict" mode.
2092
2093Unlike C<use strict> (or its modern cousin, C<< use L<common::sense>
2094>>, it is definitely recommended to keep it off in production. Keeping
2095C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT=1> in your environment while developing programs
2096can be very useful, however.
2097
2098=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_SHELL>
2099
2100If this env variable is set, then its contents will be interpreted by
2101C<AnyEvent::Socket::parse_hostport> (after replacing every occurance of
2102C<$$> by the process pid) and an C<AnyEvent::Debug::shell> is bound on
2103that port. The shell object is saved in C<$AnyEvent::Debug::SHELL>.
2104
2105This happens when the first watcher is created.
2106
2107For example, to bind a debug shell on a unix domain socket in
2108F<< /tmp/debug<pid>.sock >>, you could use this:
2109
2110 PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_SHELL=/tmp/debug\$\$.sock perlprog
2111
2112Note that creating sockets in F</tmp> is very unsafe on multiuser
2113systems.
2114
2115=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_WRAP>
2116
2117Can be set to C<0>, C<1> or C<2> and enables wrapping of all watchers for
2118debugging purposes. See C<AnyEvent::Debug::wrap> for details.
2119
2120=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
2121
2122This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
2123auto detection and -probing kicks in.
2124
2125It normally is a string consisting entirely of ASCII letters (e.g. C<EV>
2126or C<IOAsync>). The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended and the
2127resulting module name is loaded and - if the load was successful - used as
2128event model backend. If it fails to load then AnyEvent will proceed with
2129auto detection and -probing.
2130
2131If the string ends with C<::> instead (e.g. C<AnyEvent::Impl::EV::>) then
2132nothing gets prepended and the module name is used as-is (hint: C<::> at
2133the end of a string designates a module name and quotes it appropriately).
2134
2135For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Loop::Perl>) you
2136could start your program like this:
2137
2138 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
2139
2140=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS>
2141
2142Used by both L<AnyEvent::DNS> and L<AnyEvent::Socket> to determine preferences
2143for IPv4 or IPv6. The default is unspecified (and might change, or be the result
2144of auto probing).
2145
2146Must be set to a comma-separated list of protocols or address families,
2147current supported: C<ipv4> and C<ipv6>. Only protocols mentioned will be
2148used, and preference will be given to protocols mentioned earlier in the
2149list.
2150
2151This variable can effectively be used for denial-of-service attacks
2152against local programs (e.g. when setuid), although the impact is likely
2153small, as the program has to handle conenction and other failures anyways.
2154
2155Examples: C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4,ipv6> - prefer IPv4 over IPv6,
2156but support both and try to use both. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4>
2157- only support IPv4, never try to resolve or contact IPv6
2158addresses. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv6,ipv4> support either IPv4 or
2159IPv6, but prefer IPv6 over IPv4.
2160
2161=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_HOSTS>
2162
2163This variable, if specified, overrides the F</etc/hosts> file used by
2164L<AnyEvent::Socket>C<::resolve_sockaddr>, i.e. hosts aliases will be read
2165from that file instead.
2166
2167=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_EDNS0>
2168
2169Used by L<AnyEvent::DNS> to decide whether to use the EDNS0 extension for
2170DNS. This extension is generally useful to reduce DNS traffic, especially
2171when DNSSEC is involved, but some (broken) firewalls drop such DNS
2172packets, which is why it is off by default.
2173
2174Setting this variable to C<1> will cause L<AnyEvent::DNS> to announce
2175EDNS0 in its DNS requests.
2176
2177=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_FORKS>
2178
2179The maximum number of child processes that C<AnyEvent::Util::fork_call>
2180will create in parallel.
2181
2182=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_OUTSTANDING_DNS>
2183
2184The default value for the C<max_outstanding> parameter for the default DNS
2185resolver - this is the maximum number of parallel DNS requests that are
2186sent to the DNS server.
2187
2188=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_RESOLV_CONF>
2189
2190The absolute path to a F<resolv.conf>-style file to use instead of
2191F</etc/resolv.conf> (or the OS-specific configuration) in the default
2192resolver, or the empty string to select the default configuration.
2193
2194=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_CA_FILE>, C<PERL_ANYEVENT_CA_PATH>.
2195
2196When neither C<ca_file> nor C<ca_path> was specified during
2197L<AnyEvent::TLS> context creation, and either of these environment
2198variables are nonempty, they will be used to specify CA certificate
2199locations instead of a system-dependent default.
2200
2201=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_GUARD> and C<PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_ASYNC_INTERRUPT>
2202
2203When these are set to C<1>, then the respective modules are not
2204loaded. Mostly good for testing AnyEvent itself.
2205
2206=back
955 2207
956=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE 2208=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE
957 2209
958This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in 2210This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in
959a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to 2211a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to
993 2245
994I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to 2246I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to
995condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will 2247condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will
996C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must 2248C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must
997not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense. 2249not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense.
998
999=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
1000
1001The following environment variables are used by this module:
1002
1003=over 4
1004
1005=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
1006
1007By default, AnyEvent will be completely silent except in fatal
1008conditions. You can set this environment variable to make AnyEvent more
1009talkative.
1010
1011When set to C<1> or higher, causes AnyEvent to warn about unexpected
1012conditions, such as not being able to load the event model specified by
1013C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>.
1014
1015When set to C<2> or higher, cause AnyEvent to report to STDERR which event
1016model it chooses.
1017
1018=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
1019
1020This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
1021autodetection and -probing kicks in. It must be a string consisting
1022entirely of ASCII letters. The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended
1023and the resulting module name is loaded and if the load was successful,
1024used as event model. If it fails to load AnyEvent will proceed with
1025autodetection and -probing.
1026
1027This functionality might change in future versions.
1028
1029For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) you
1030could start your program like this:
1031
1032 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
1033
1034=back
1035 2250
1036=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM 2251=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM
1037 2252
1038The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer 2253The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer
1039to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the 2254to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the
1048 poll => 'r', 2263 poll => 'r',
1049 cb => sub { 2264 cb => sub {
1050 warn "io event <$_[0]>\n"; # will always output <r> 2265 warn "io event <$_[0]>\n"; # will always output <r>
1051 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); # read a line 2266 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); # read a line
1052 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read 2267 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read
1053 $cv->broadcast if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i 2268 $cv->send if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i
1054 }, 2269 },
1055 ); 2270 );
1056 2271
1057 my $time_watcher; # can only be used once
1058
1059 sub new_timer {
1060 $timer = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => sub { 2272 my $time_watcher = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, interval => 1, cb => sub {
1061 warn "timeout\n"; # print 'timeout' about every second 2273 warn "timeout\n"; # print 'timeout' at most every second
1062 &new_timer; # and restart the time
1063 }); 2274 });
1064 }
1065 2275
1066 new_timer; # create first timer
1067
1068 $cv->wait; # wait until user enters /^q/i 2276 $cv->recv; # wait until user enters /^q/i
1069 2277
1070=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE 2278=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE
1071 2279
1072Consider the L<Net::FCP> module. It features (among others) the following 2280Consider the L<Net::FCP> module. It features (among others) the following
1073API calls, which are to freenet what HTTP GET requests are to http: 2281API calls, which are to freenet what HTTP GET requests are to http:
1123 syswrite $txn->{fh}, $txn->{request} 2331 syswrite $txn->{fh}, $txn->{request}
1124 or die "connection or write error"; 2332 or die "connection or write error";
1125 $txn->{w} = AnyEvent->io (fh => $txn->{fh}, poll => 'r', cb => sub { $txn->fh_ready_r }); 2333 $txn->{w} = AnyEvent->io (fh => $txn->{fh}, poll => 'r', cb => sub { $txn->fh_ready_r });
1126 2334
1127Again, C<fh_ready_r> waits till all data has arrived, and then stores the 2335Again, C<fh_ready_r> waits till all data has arrived, and then stores the
1128result and signals any possible waiters that the request ahs finished: 2336result and signals any possible waiters that the request has finished:
1129 2337
1130 sysread $txn->{fh}, $txn->{buf}, length $txn->{$buf}; 2338 sysread $txn->{fh}, $txn->{buf}, length $txn->{$buf};
1131 2339
1132 if (end-of-file or data complete) { 2340 if (end-of-file or data complete) {
1133 $txn->{result} = $txn->{buf}; 2341 $txn->{result} = $txn->{buf};
1134 $txn->{finished}->broadcast; 2342 $txn->{finished}->send;
1135 $txb->{cb}->($txn) of $txn->{cb}; # also call callback 2343 $txb->{cb}->($txn) of $txn->{cb}; # also call callback
1136 } 2344 }
1137 2345
1138The C<result> method, finally, just waits for the finished signal (if the 2346The C<result> method, finally, just waits for the finished signal (if the
1139request was already finished, it doesn't wait, of course, and returns the 2347request was already finished, it doesn't wait, of course, and returns the
1140data: 2348data:
1141 2349
1142 $txn->{finished}->wait; 2350 $txn->{finished}->recv;
1143 return $txn->{result}; 2351 return $txn->{result};
1144 2352
1145The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions) 2353The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions)
1146that occured during request processing. The C<result> method detects 2354that occurred during request processing. The C<result> method detects
1147whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object) 2355whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object)
1148and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other 2356and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other
1149problems get reported tot he code that tries to use the result, not in a 2357problems get reported to the code that tries to use the result, not in a
1150random callback. 2358random callback.
1151 2359
1152All of this enables the following usage styles: 2360All of this enables the following usage styles:
1153 2361
11541. Blocking: 23621. Blocking:
1182 2390
1183 my $quit = AnyEvent->condvar; 2391 my $quit = AnyEvent->condvar;
1184 2392
1185 $fcp->txn_client_get ($url)->cb (sub { 2393 $fcp->txn_client_get ($url)->cb (sub {
1186 ... 2394 ...
1187 $quit->broadcast; 2395 $quit->send;
1188 }); 2396 });
1189 2397
1190 $quit->wait; 2398 $quit->recv;
1191 2399
1192 2400
1193=head1 BENCHMARKS 2401=head1 BENCHMARKS
1194 2402
1195To give you an idea of the performance and overheads that AnyEvent adds 2403To give you an idea of the performance and overheads that AnyEvent adds
1197of various event loops I prepared some benchmarks. 2405of various event loops I prepared some benchmarks.
1198 2406
1199=head2 BENCHMARKING ANYEVENT OVERHEAD 2407=head2 BENCHMARKING ANYEVENT OVERHEAD
1200 2408
1201Here is a benchmark of various supported event models used natively and 2409Here is a benchmark of various supported event models used natively and
1202through anyevent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero 2410through AnyEvent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero
1203timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable, 2411timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable,
1204which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again. 2412which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again.
1205 2413
1206Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent 2414Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent
1207distribution. 2415distribution. It uses the L<AE> interface, which makes a real difference
2416for the EV and Perl backends only.
1208 2417
1209=head3 Explanation of the columns 2418=head3 Explanation of the columns
1210 2419
1211I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since 2420I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since
1212different event models feature vastly different performances, each event 2421different event models feature vastly different performances, each event
1224all watchers, to avoid adding memory overhead. That means closure creation 2433all watchers, to avoid adding memory overhead. That means closure creation
1225and memory usage is not included in the figures. 2434and memory usage is not included in the figures.
1226 2435
1227I<invoke> is the time, in microseconds, used to invoke a simple 2436I<invoke> is the time, in microseconds, used to invoke a simple
1228callback. The callback simply counts down a Perl variable and after it was 2437callback. The callback simply counts down a Perl variable and after it was
1229invoked "watcher" times, it would C<< ->broadcast >> a condvar once to 2438invoked "watcher" times, it would C<< ->send >> a condvar once to
1230signal the end of this phase. 2439signal the end of this phase.
1231 2440
1232I<destroy> is the time, in microseconds, that it takes to destroy a single 2441I<destroy> is the time, in microseconds, that it takes to destroy a single
1233watcher. 2442watcher.
1234 2443
1235=head3 Results 2444=head3 Results
1236 2445
1237 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment 2446 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment
1238 EV/EV 400000 244 0.56 0.46 0.31 EV native interface 2447 EV/EV 100000 223 0.47 0.43 0.27 EV native interface
1239 EV/Any 100000 244 2.50 0.46 0.29 EV + AnyEvent watchers 2448 EV/Any 100000 223 0.48 0.42 0.26 EV + AnyEvent watchers
1240 CoroEV/Any 100000 244 2.49 0.44 0.29 coroutines + Coro::Signal 2449 Coro::EV/Any 100000 223 0.47 0.42 0.26 coroutines + Coro::Signal
1241 Perl/Any 100000 513 4.92 0.87 1.12 pure perl implementation 2450 Perl/Any 100000 431 2.70 0.74 0.92 pure perl implementation
1242 Event/Event 16000 516 31.88 31.30 0.85 Event native interface 2451 Event/Event 16000 516 31.16 31.84 0.82 Event native interface
1243 Event/Any 16000 590 35.75 31.42 1.08 Event + AnyEvent watchers 2452 Event/Any 16000 1203 42.61 34.79 1.80 Event + AnyEvent watchers
2453 IOAsync/Any 16000 1911 41.92 27.45 16.81 via IO::Async::Loop::IO_Poll
2454 IOAsync/Any 16000 1726 40.69 26.37 15.25 via IO::Async::Loop::Epoll
1244 Glib/Any 16000 1357 98.22 12.41 54.00 quadratic behaviour 2455 Glib/Any 16000 1118 89.00 12.57 51.17 quadratic behaviour
1245 Tk/Any 2000 1860 26.97 67.98 14.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers 2456 Tk/Any 2000 1346 20.96 10.75 8.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers
1246 POE/Event 2000 6644 108.64 736.02 14.73 via POE::Loop::Event 2457 POE/Any 2000 6951 108.97 795.32 14.24 via POE::Loop::Event
1247 POE/Select 2000 6343 94.13 809.12 565.96 via POE::Loop::Select 2458 POE/Any 2000 6648 94.79 774.40 575.51 via POE::Loop::Select
1248 2459
1249=head3 Discussion 2460=head3 Discussion
1250 2461
1251The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very 2462The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very
1252well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one) 2463well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one)
1264benchmark machine, handling an event takes roughly 1600 CPU cycles with 2475benchmark machine, handling an event takes roughly 1600 CPU cycles with
1265EV, 3100 CPU cycles with AnyEvent's pure perl loop and almost 3000000 CPU 2476EV, 3100 CPU cycles with AnyEvent's pure perl loop and almost 3000000 CPU
1266cycles with POE. 2477cycles with POE.
1267 2478
1268C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both 2479C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both
1269maximal/minimal, respectively. Even when going through AnyEvent, it uses 2480maximal/minimal, respectively. When using the L<AE> API there is zero
2481overhead (when going through the AnyEvent API create is about 5-6 times
2482slower, with other times being equal, so still uses far less memory than
1270far less memory than any other event loop and is still faster than Event 2483any other event loop and is still faster than Event natively).
1271natively.
1272 2484
1273The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the 2485The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the
1274constant timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl 2486constant timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl
1275interpreter and the backend itself). Nevertheless this shows that it 2487interpreter and the backend itself). Nevertheless this shows that it
1276adds very little overhead in itself. Like any select-based backend its 2488adds very little overhead in itself. Like any select-based backend its
1277performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of 2489performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of
1278them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark. 2490them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark.
1279 2491
1280The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation 2492The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation
1281cost, but overall scores in on the third place. 2493cost, but overall scores in on the third place.
2494
2495C<IO::Async> performs admirably well, about on par with C<Event>, even
2496when using its pure perl backend.
1282 2497
1283C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a 2498C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a
1284faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as 2499faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as
1285C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of 2500C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of
1286watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four, 2501watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four,
1321(even when used without AnyEvent), but most event loops have acceptable 2536(even when used without AnyEvent), but most event loops have acceptable
1322performance with or without AnyEvent. 2537performance with or without AnyEvent.
1323 2538
1324=item * The overhead AnyEvent adds is usually much smaller than the overhead of 2539=item * The overhead AnyEvent adds is usually much smaller than the overhead of
1325the actual event loop, only with extremely fast event loops such as EV 2540the actual event loop, only with extremely fast event loops such as EV
1326adds AnyEvent significant overhead. 2541does AnyEvent add significant overhead.
1327 2542
1328=item * You should avoid POE like the plague if you want performance or 2543=item * You should avoid POE like the plague if you want performance or
1329reasonable memory usage. 2544reasonable memory usage.
1330 2545
1331=back 2546=back
1332 2547
1333=head2 BENCHMARKING THE LARGE SERVER CASE 2548=head2 BENCHMARKING THE LARGE SERVER CASE
1334 2549
1335This benchmark atcually benchmarks the event loop itself. It works by 2550This benchmark actually benchmarks the event loop itself. It works by
1336creating a number of "servers": each server consists of a socketpair, a 2551creating a number of "servers": each server consists of a socket pair, a
1337timeout watcher that gets reset on activity (but never fires), and an I/O 2552timeout watcher that gets reset on activity (but never fires), and an I/O
1338watcher waiting for input on one side of the socket. Each time the socket 2553watcher waiting for input on one side of the socket. Each time the socket
1339watcher reads a byte it will write that byte to a random other "server". 2554watcher reads a byte it will write that byte to a random other "server".
1340 2555
1341The effect is that there will be a lot of I/O watchers, only part of which 2556The effect is that there will be a lot of I/O watchers, only part of which
1342are active at any one point (so there is a constant number of active 2557are active at any one point (so there is a constant number of active
1343fds for each loop iterstaion, but which fds these are is random). The 2558fds for each loop iteration, but which fds these are is random). The
1344timeout is reset each time something is read because that reflects how 2559timeout is reset each time something is read because that reflects how
1345most timeouts work (and puts extra pressure on the event loops). 2560most timeouts work (and puts extra pressure on the event loops).
1346 2561
1347In this benchmark, we use 10000 socketpairs (20000 sockets), of which 100 2562In this benchmark, we use 10000 socket pairs (20000 sockets), of which 100
1348(1%) are active. This mirrors the activity of large servers with many 2563(1%) are active. This mirrors the activity of large servers with many
1349connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time. 2564connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time.
1350 2565
1351Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent 2566Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent
1352distribution. 2567distribution. It uses the L<AE> interface, which makes a real difference
2568for the EV and Perl backends only.
1353 2569
1354=head3 Explanation of the columns 2570=head3 Explanation of the columns
1355 2571
1356I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as 2572I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as
1357each server has a read and write socket end). 2573each server has a read and write socket end).
1358 2574
1359I<create> is the time it takes to create a socketpair (which is 2575I<create> is the time it takes to create a socket pair (which is
1360nontrivial) and two watchers: an I/O watcher and a timeout watcher. 2576nontrivial) and two watchers: an I/O watcher and a timeout watcher.
1361 2577
1362I<request>, the most important value, is the time it takes to handle a 2578I<request>, the most important value, is the time it takes to handle a
1363single "request", that is, reading the token from the pipe and forwarding 2579single "request", that is, reading the token from the pipe and forwarding
1364it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating 2580it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating
1365a new one that moves the timeout into the future. 2581a new one that moves the timeout into the future.
1366 2582
1367=head3 Results 2583=head3 Results
1368 2584
1369 name sockets create request 2585 name sockets create request
1370 EV 20000 69.01 11.16 2586 EV 20000 62.66 7.99
1371 Perl 20000 73.32 35.87 2587 Perl 20000 68.32 32.64
1372 Event 20000 212.62 257.32 2588 IOAsync 20000 174.06 101.15 epoll
1373 Glib 20000 651.16 1896.30 2589 IOAsync 20000 174.67 610.84 poll
2590 Event 20000 202.69 242.91
2591 Glib 20000 557.01 1689.52
1374 POE 20000 349.67 12317.24 uses POE::Loop::Event 2592 POE 20000 341.54 12086.32 uses POE::Loop::Event
1375 2593
1376=head3 Discussion 2594=head3 Discussion
1377 2595
1378This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the 2596This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the
1379particular event loop. 2597particular event loop.
1381EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time 2599EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time
1382is relatively high, though. 2600is relatively high, though.
1383 2601
1384Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event 2602Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event
1385loops Event and Glib. 2603loops Event and Glib.
2604
2605IO::Async performs very well when using its epoll backend, and still quite
2606good compared to Glib when using its pure perl backend.
1386 2607
1387Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will 2608Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will
1388understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to 2609understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to
1389the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event 2610the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event
1390uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations. 2611uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations.
1437speed most when you have lots of watchers, not when you only have a few of 2658speed most when you have lots of watchers, not when you only have a few of
1438them). 2659them).
1439 2660
1440EV is again fastest. 2661EV is again fastest.
1441 2662
1442Perl again comes second. It is noticably faster than the C-based event 2663Perl again comes second. It is noticeably faster than the C-based event
1443loops Event and Glib, although the difference is too small to really 2664loops Event and Glib, although the difference is too small to really
1444matter. 2665matter.
1445 2666
1446POE also performs much better in this case, but is is still far behind the 2667POE also performs much better in this case, but is is still far behind the
1447others. 2668others.
1453=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of 2674=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of
1454watchers, as the management overhead dominates. 2675watchers, as the management overhead dominates.
1455 2676
1456=back 2677=back
1457 2678
2679=head2 THE IO::Lambda BENCHMARK
2680
2681Recently I was told about the benchmark in the IO::Lambda manpage, which
2682could be misinterpreted to make AnyEvent look bad. In fact, the benchmark
2683simply compares IO::Lambda with POE, and IO::Lambda looks better (which
2684shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody). As such, the benchmark is
2685fine, and mostly shows that the AnyEvent backend from IO::Lambda isn't
2686very optimal. But how would AnyEvent compare when used without the extra
2687baggage? To explore this, I wrote the equivalent benchmark for AnyEvent.
2688
2689The benchmark itself creates an echo-server, and then, for 500 times,
2690connects to the echo server, sends a line, waits for the reply, and then
2691creates the next connection. This is a rather bad benchmark, as it doesn't
2692test the efficiency of the framework or much non-blocking I/O, but it is a
2693benchmark nevertheless.
2694
2695 name runtime
2696 Lambda/select 0.330 sec
2697 + optimized 0.122 sec
2698 Lambda/AnyEvent 0.327 sec
2699 + optimized 0.138 sec
2700 Raw sockets/select 0.077 sec
2701 POE/select, components 0.662 sec
2702 POE/select, raw sockets 0.226 sec
2703 POE/select, optimized 0.404 sec
2704
2705 AnyEvent/select/nb 0.085 sec
2706 AnyEvent/EV/nb 0.068 sec
2707 +state machine 0.134 sec
2708
2709The benchmark is also a bit unfair (my fault): the IO::Lambda/POE
2710benchmarks actually make blocking connects and use 100% blocking I/O,
2711defeating the purpose of an event-based solution. All of the newly
2712written AnyEvent benchmarks use 100% non-blocking connects (using
2713AnyEvent::Socket::tcp_connect and the asynchronous pure perl DNS
2714resolver), so AnyEvent is at a disadvantage here, as non-blocking connects
2715generally require a lot more bookkeeping and event handling than blocking
2716connects (which involve a single syscall only).
2717
2718The last AnyEvent benchmark additionally uses L<AnyEvent::Handle>, which
2719offers similar expressive power as POE and IO::Lambda, using conventional
2720Perl syntax. This means that both the echo server and the client are 100%
2721non-blocking, further placing it at a disadvantage.
2722
2723As you can see, the AnyEvent + EV combination even beats the
2724hand-optimised "raw sockets benchmark", while AnyEvent + its pure perl
2725backend easily beats IO::Lambda and POE.
2726
2727And even the 100% non-blocking version written using the high-level (and
2728slow :) L<AnyEvent::Handle> abstraction beats both POE and IO::Lambda
2729higher level ("unoptimised") abstractions by a large margin, even though
2730it does all of DNS, tcp-connect and socket I/O in a non-blocking way.
2731
2732The two AnyEvent benchmarks programs can be found as F<eg/ae0.pl> and
2733F<eg/ae2.pl> in the AnyEvent distribution, the remaining benchmarks are
2734part of the IO::Lambda distribution and were used without any changes.
2735
2736
2737=head1 SIGNALS
2738
2739AnyEvent currently installs handlers for these signals:
2740
2741=over 4
2742
2743=item SIGCHLD
2744
2745A handler for C<SIGCHLD> is installed by AnyEvent's child watcher
2746emulation for event loops that do not support them natively. Also, some
2747event loops install a similar handler.
2748
2749Additionally, when AnyEvent is loaded and SIGCHLD is set to IGNORE, then
2750AnyEvent will reset it to default, to avoid losing child exit statuses.
2751
2752=item SIGPIPE
2753
2754A no-op handler is installed for C<SIGPIPE> when C<$SIG{PIPE}> is C<undef>
2755when AnyEvent gets loaded.
2756
2757The rationale for this is that AnyEvent users usually do not really depend
2758on SIGPIPE delivery (which is purely an optimisation for shell use, or
2759badly-written programs), but C<SIGPIPE> can cause spurious and rare
2760program exits as a lot of people do not expect C<SIGPIPE> when writing to
2761some random socket.
2762
2763The rationale for installing a no-op handler as opposed to ignoring it is
2764that this way, the handler will be restored to defaults on exec.
2765
2766Feel free to install your own handler, or reset it to defaults.
2767
2768=back
2769
2770=cut
2771
2772undef $SIG{CHLD}
2773 if $SIG{CHLD} eq 'IGNORE';
2774
2775$SIG{PIPE} = sub { }
2776 unless defined $SIG{PIPE};
2777
2778=head1 RECOMMENDED/OPTIONAL MODULES
2779
2780One of AnyEvent's main goals is to be 100% Pure-Perl(tm): only perl (and
2781its built-in modules) are required to use it.
2782
2783That does not mean that AnyEvent won't take advantage of some additional
2784modules if they are installed.
2785
2786This section explains which additional modules will be used, and how they
2787affect AnyEvent's operation.
2788
2789=over 4
2790
2791=item L<Async::Interrupt>
2792
2793This slightly arcane module is used to implement fast signal handling: To
2794my knowledge, there is no way to do completely race-free and quick
2795signal handling in pure perl. To ensure that signals still get
2796delivered, AnyEvent will start an interval timer to wake up perl (and
2797catch the signals) with some delay (default is 10 seconds, look for
2798C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>).
2799
2800If this module is available, then it will be used to implement signal
2801catching, which means that signals will not be delayed, and the event loop
2802will not be interrupted regularly, which is more efficient (and good for
2803battery life on laptops).
2804
2805This affects not just the pure-perl event loop, but also other event loops
2806that have no signal handling on their own (e.g. Glib, Tk, Qt).
2807
2808Some event loops (POE, Event, Event::Lib) offer signal watchers natively,
2809and either employ their own workarounds (POE) or use AnyEvent's workaround
2810(using C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>). Installing L<Async::Interrupt>
2811does nothing for those backends.
2812
2813=item L<EV>
2814
2815This module isn't really "optional", as it is simply one of the backend
2816event loops that AnyEvent can use. However, it is simply the best event
2817loop available in terms of features, speed and stability: It supports
2818the AnyEvent API optimally, implements all the watcher types in XS, does
2819automatic timer adjustments even when no monotonic clock is available,
2820can take avdantage of advanced kernel interfaces such as C<epoll> and
2821C<kqueue>, and is the fastest backend I<by far>. You can even embed
2822L<Glib>/L<Gtk2> in it (or vice versa, see L<EV::Glib> and L<Glib::EV>).
2823
2824If you only use backends that rely on another event loop (e.g. C<Tk>),
2825then this module will do nothing for you.
2826
2827=item L<Guard>
2828
2829The guard module, when used, will be used to implement
2830C<AnyEvent::Util::guard>. This speeds up guards considerably (and uses a
2831lot less memory), but otherwise doesn't affect guard operation much. It is
2832purely used for performance.
2833
2834=item L<JSON> and L<JSON::XS>
2835
2836One of these modules is required when you want to read or write JSON data
2837via L<AnyEvent::Handle>. L<JSON> is also written in pure-perl, but can take
2838advantage of the ultra-high-speed L<JSON::XS> module when it is installed.
2839
2840=item L<Net::SSLeay>
2841
2842Implementing TLS/SSL in Perl is certainly interesting, but not very
2843worthwhile: If this module is installed, then L<AnyEvent::Handle> (with
2844the help of L<AnyEvent::TLS>), gains the ability to do TLS/SSL.
2845
2846=item L<Time::HiRes>
2847
2848This module is part of perl since release 5.008. It will be used when the
2849chosen event library does not come with a timing source of its own. The
2850pure-perl event loop (L<AnyEvent::Loop>) will additionally load it to
2851try to use a monotonic clock for timing stability.
2852
2853=back
2854
1458 2855
1459=head1 FORK 2856=head1 FORK
1460 2857
1461Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are 2858Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are
1462because they rely on inefficient but fork-safe C<select> or C<poll> 2859because they rely on inefficient but fork-safe C<select> or C<poll> calls
1463calls. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware. 2860- higher performance APIs such as BSD's kqueue or the dreaded Linux epoll
2861are usually badly thought-out hacks that are incompatible with fork in
2862one way or another. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware and ensures that you
2863continue event-processing in both parent and child (or both, if you know
2864what you are doing).
2865
2866This means that, in general, you cannot fork and do event processing in
2867the child if the event library was initialised before the fork (which
2868usually happens when the first AnyEvent watcher is created, or the library
2869is loaded).
1464 2870
1465If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first 2871If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first
1466watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child. 2872watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child OR you must do
2873something completely out of the scope of AnyEvent.
2874
2875The problem of doing event processing in the parent I<and> the child
2876is much more complicated: even for backends that I<are> fork-aware or
2877fork-safe, their behaviour is not usually what you want: fork clones all
2878watchers, that means all timers, I/O watchers etc. are active in both
2879parent and child, which is almost never what you want. USing C<exec>
2880to start worker children from some kind of manage rprocess is usually
2881preferred, because it is much easier and cleaner, at the expense of having
2882to have another binary.
1467 2883
1468 2884
1469=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS 2885=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
1470 2886
1471AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via 2887AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via
1476specified in the variable. 2892specified in the variable.
1477 2893
1478You can make AnyEvent completely ignore this variable by deleting it 2894You can make AnyEvent completely ignore this variable by deleting it
1479before the first watcher gets created, e.g. with a C<BEGIN> block: 2895before the first watcher gets created, e.g. with a C<BEGIN> block:
1480 2896
1481 BEGIN { delete $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} } 2897 BEGIN { delete $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} }
1482 2898
1483 use AnyEvent; 2899 use AnyEvent;
1484 2900
1485Similar considerations apply to $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}, as that can 2901Similar considerations apply to $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}, as that can
1486be used to probe what backend is used and gain other information (which is 2902be used to probe what backend is used and gain other information (which is
1487probably even less useful to an attacker than PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL). 2903probably even less useful to an attacker than PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), and
2904$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT}.
2905
2906Note that AnyEvent will remove I<all> environment variables starting with
2907C<PERL_ANYEVENT_> from C<%ENV> when it is loaded while taint mode is
2908enabled.
2909
2910
2911=head1 BUGS
2912
2913Perl 5.8 has numerous memleaks that sometimes hit this module and are hard
2914to work around. If you suffer from memleaks, first upgrade to Perl 5.10
2915and check wether the leaks still show up. (Perl 5.10.0 has other annoying
2916memleaks, such as leaking on C<map> and C<grep> but it is usually not as
2917pronounced).
1488 2918
1489 2919
1490=head1 SEE ALSO 2920=head1 SEE ALSO
1491 2921
1492Event modules: L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>, L<Glib::EV>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>, 2922Tutorial/Introduction: L<AnyEvent::Intro>.
1493L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>. 2923
2924FAQ: L<AnyEvent::FAQ>.
2925
2926Utility functions: L<AnyEvent::Util> (misc. grab-bag), L<AnyEvent::Log>
2927(simply logging).
2928
2929Development/Debugging: L<AnyEvent::Strict> (stricter checking),
2930L<AnyEvent::Debug> (interactive shell, watcher tracing).
2931
2932Supported event modules: L<AnyEvent::Loop>, L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>,
2933L<Glib::EV>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>, L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>,
2934L<Qt>, L<POE>, L<FLTK>.
1494 2935
1495Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>, 2936Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>,
1496L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, 2937L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>,
1497L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>, 2938L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>,
2939L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync>, L<Anyevent::Impl::Irssi>,
1498L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>. 2940L<AnyEvent::Impl::FLTK>.
1499 2941
2942Non-blocking handles, pipes, stream sockets, TCP clients and
2943servers: L<AnyEvent::Handle>, L<AnyEvent::Socket>, L<AnyEvent::TLS>.
2944
2945Asynchronous DNS: L<AnyEvent::DNS>.
2946
1500Coroutine support: L<Coro>, L<Coro::AnyEvent>, L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>, 2947Thread support: L<Coro>, L<Coro::AnyEvent>, L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>.
1501 2948
1502Nontrivial usage examples: L<Net::FCP>, L<Net::XMPP2>. 2949Nontrivial usage examples: L<AnyEvent::GPSD>, L<AnyEvent::IRC>,
2950L<AnyEvent::HTTP>.
1503 2951
1504 2952
1505=head1 AUTHOR 2953=head1 AUTHOR
1506 2954
1507 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 2955 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
1508 http://home.schmorp.de/ 2956 http://home.schmorp.de/
1509 2957
1510=cut 2958=cut
1511 2959
15121 29601
1513 2961

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