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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
6and POE are various supported event loops/environments.
6 7
7=head1 SYNOPSIS 8=head1 SYNOPSIS
8 9
9 use AnyEvent; 10 use AnyEvent;
10 11
12 # if you prefer function calls, look at the AE manpage for
13 # an alternative API.
14
15 # file handle or descriptor readable
11 my $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh, poll => "r|w", cb => sub { 16 my $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh, poll => "r", cb => sub { ... });
17
18 # one-shot or repeating timers
19 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, cb => sub { ... });
20 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, interval => $seconds, cb => ...);
21
22 print AnyEvent->now; # prints current event loop time
23 print AnyEvent->time; # think Time::HiRes::time or simply CORE::time.
24
25 # POSIX signal
26 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "TERM", cb => sub { ... });
27
28 # child process exit
29 my $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => $pid, cb => sub {
30 my ($pid, $status) = @_;
12 ... 31 ...
13 }); 32 });
14 33
15 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, cb => sub { 34 # called when event loop idle (if applicable)
16 ... 35 my $w = AnyEvent->idle (cb => sub { ... });
17 });
18 36
19 my $w = AnyEvent->condvar; # stores whether a condition was flagged 37 my $w = AnyEvent->condvar; # stores whether a condition was flagged
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 });
22 42
23=head1 INTRODUCTION/TUTORIAL 43=head1 INTRODUCTION/TUTORIAL
24 44
25This manpage is mainly a reference manual. If you are interested 45This manpage is mainly a reference manual. If you are interested
26in a tutorial or some gentle introduction, have a look at the 46in a tutorial or some gentle introduction, have a look at the
27L<AnyEvent::Intro> manpage. 47L<AnyEvent::Intro> manpage.
28 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.
58
29=head1 WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS MODULE (OR NOT) 59=head1 WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS MODULE (OR NOT)
30 60
31Glib, POE, IO::Async, Event... CPAN offers event models by the dozen 61Glib, POE, IO::Async, Event... CPAN offers event models by the dozen
32nowadays. So what is different about AnyEvent? 62nowadays. So what is different about AnyEvent?
33 63
34Executive Summary: AnyEvent is I<compatible>, AnyEvent is I<free of 64Executive Summary: AnyEvent is I<compatible>, AnyEvent is I<free of
35policy> and AnyEvent is I<small and efficient>. 65policy> and AnyEvent is I<small and efficient>.
36 66
37First 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
38interfaces 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
39pragmatic way. For event models and certain classes of immortals alike, 69pragmatic way. For event models and certain classes of immortals alike,
40the 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,
41only 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
42helps hiding the differences between those event loops. 72cannot change this, but it can hide the differences between those event
73loops.
43 74
44The 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
45programming (waiting for I/O or timer events) without subscribing to a 76programming (waiting for I/O or timer events) without subscribing to a
46religion, a way of living, and most importantly: without forcing your 77religion, a way of living, and most importantly: without forcing your
47module 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
48model you use. 79model you use.
49 80
50For 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
51actually 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
52like 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
53cannot use anything else, as it is simply incompatible to everything that 84cannot use anything else, as they are simply incompatible to everything
54isn'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
55I<also> forced to use the same event loop you use. 86module are I<also> forced to use the same event loop you use.
56 87
57AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works 88AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works
58fine. 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
59with the rest: POE + IO::Async? No go. Tk + Event? No go. Again: if 90with the rest: POE + IO::Async? No go. Tk + Event? No go. Again: if
60your module uses one of those, every user of your module has to use it, 91your module uses one of those, every user of your module has to use it,
61too. But if your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all 92too. But if your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all
62event models it supports (including stuff like POE and IO::Async, as long 93event models it supports (including stuff like IO::Async, as long as those
63as those use one of the supported event loops. It is trivial to add new 94use one of the supported event loops. It is easy to add new event loops
64event loops to AnyEvent, too, so it is future-proof). 95to AnyEvent, too, so it is future-proof).
65 96
66In 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
67model>, 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
68modules, you get an enormous amount of code and strict rules you have to 99modules, you get an enormous amount of code and strict rules you have to
69follow. 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
70offering 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
71technically possible. 102technically possible.
72 103
73Of course, AnyEvent comes with a big (and fully optional!) toolbox 104Of course, AnyEvent comes with a big (and fully optional!) toolbox
74of useful functionality, such as an asynchronous DNS resolver, 100% 105of useful functionality, such as an asynchronous DNS resolver, 100%
80useful) 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
81model, you should I<not> use this module. 112model, you should I<not> use this module.
82 113
83=head1 DESCRIPTION 114=head1 DESCRIPTION
84 115
85L<AnyEvent> provides an identical interface to multiple event loops. This 116L<AnyEvent> provides a uniform interface to various event loops. This
86allows module authors to utilise an event loop without forcing module 117allows module authors to use event loop functionality without forcing
87users 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
88peacefully at any one time). 119than one event loop cannot coexist peacefully).
89 120
90The 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>
91module. 122module.
92 123
93During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries 124During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries
94to 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
95following modules is already loaded: L<EV>, 126following modules is already loaded: L<EV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>,
96L<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
97L<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
98to 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
99adaptor should always succeed) in the order given. The first one that can 130available, the pure-perl L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl> should always work, so
100be successfully loaded will be used. If, after this, still none could be 131the other two are not normally tried.
101found, AnyEvent will fall back to a pure-perl event loop, which is not
102very efficient, but should work everywhere.
103 132
104Because AnyEvent first checks for modules that are already loaded, loading 133Because AnyEvent first checks for modules that are already loaded, loading
105an event model explicitly before first using AnyEvent will likely make 134an event model explicitly before first using AnyEvent will likely make
106that model the default. For example: 135that model the default. For example:
107 136
109 use AnyEvent; 138 use AnyEvent;
110 139
111 # .. AnyEvent will likely default to Tk 140 # .. AnyEvent will likely default to Tk
112 141
113The 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
114starts 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,
115use AnyEvent so their modules work together with others seamlessly... 144as very few modules hardcode event loops without announcing this very
145loudly.
116 146
117The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called 147The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called
118C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>. Like other event modules you can load it 148C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>. Like other event modules you can load it
119explicitly and enjoy the high availability of that event loop :) 149explicitly and enjoy the high availability of that event loop :)
120 150
127These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After 157These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After
128creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the 158creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the
129callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model 159callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model
130is in control). 160is in control).
131 161
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
132To 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
133variable 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
134to it). 170to it).
135 171
136All 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.
137 173
138Many watchers either are used with "recursion" (repeating timers for 174Many watchers either are used with "recursion" (repeating timers for
139example), or need to refer to their watcher object in other ways. 175example), or need to refer to their watcher object in other ways.
140 176
141An any way to achieve that is this pattern: 177One way to achieve that is this pattern:
142 178
143 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->type (arg => value ..., cb => sub { 179 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->type (arg => value ..., cb => sub {
144 # you can use $w here, for example to undef it 180 # you can use $w here, for example to undef it
145 undef $w; 181 undef $w;
146 }); 182 });
149my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are 185my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are
150declared. 186declared.
151 187
152=head2 I/O WATCHERS 188=head2 I/O WATCHERS
153 189
190 $w = AnyEvent->io (
191 fh => <filehandle_or_fileno>,
192 poll => <"r" or "w">,
193 cb => <callback>,
194 );
195
154You 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
155with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments: 197with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments:
156 198
157C<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
158for 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
159which creates a watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, 207watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, respectively.
208
160respectively. 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.
161becomes ready.
162 210
163Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 211Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
164presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 212presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
165callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks. 213callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks.
166 214
167The 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.
168You 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
169underlying file descriptor. 217underlying file descriptor.
170 218
171Some event loops issue spurious readyness notifications, so you should 219Some event loops issue spurious readiness notifications, so you should
172always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file 220always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file
173handles. 221handles.
174 222
175Example:
176
177 # 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
178 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub { 226 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub {
179 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); 227 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>);
180 warn "read: $input\n"; 228 warn "read: $input\n";
181 undef $w; 229 undef $w;
182 }); 230 });
183 231
184=head2 TIME WATCHERS 232=head2 TIME WATCHERS
185 233
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
186You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >> 242You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >>
187method with the following mandatory arguments: 243method with the following mandatory arguments:
188 244
189C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are 245C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are
190supported) 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
192 248
193Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 249Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
194presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 250presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
195callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks. 251callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks.
196 252
197The 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
198timer 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
199and 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.
200 258
201Example: 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.
202 262
203 # fire an event after 7.7 seconds 263Example: fire an event after 7.7 seconds.
264
204 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub { 265 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub {
205 warn "timeout\n"; 266 warn "timeout\n";
206 }); 267 });
207 268
208 # to cancel the timer: 269 # to cancel the timer:
209 undef $w; 270 undef $w;
210 271
211Example 2:
212
213 # fire an event after 0.5 seconds, then roughly every second 272Example 2: fire an event after 0.5 seconds, then roughly every second.
214 my $w;
215 273
216 my $cb = sub {
217 # cancel the old timer while creating a new one
218 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => $cb); 274 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.5, interval => 1, cb => sub {
275 warn "timeout\n";
219 }; 276 };
220
221 # start the "loop" by creating the first watcher
222 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.5, cb => $cb);
223 277
224=head3 TIMING ISSUES 278=head3 TIMING ISSUES
225 279
226There 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
227in 10 seconds") and based on wallclock time (absolute, "fire at 12 281in 10 seconds") and based on wallclock time (absolute, "fire at 12
229 283
230While 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
231use absolute time internally. This makes a difference when your clock 285use absolute time internally. This makes a difference when your clock
232"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
233the 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
234fire "after" a second might actually take six years to finally fire. 288fire "after a second" might actually take six years to finally fire.
235 289
236AnyEvent cannot compensate for this. The only event loop that is conscious 290AnyEvent cannot compensate for this. The only event loop that is conscious
237about 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
238on true relative time) and absolute (ev_periodic, based on wallclock time) 292on true relative time) and absolute (ev_periodic, based on wallclock time)
239timers. 293timers.
240 294
241AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the 295AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the
242AnyEvent API. 296AnyEvent API.
264I<In almost all cases (in all cases if you don't care), this is the 318I<In almost all cases (in all cases if you don't care), this is the
265function to call when you want to know the current time.> 319function to call when you want to know the current time.>
266 320
267This function is also often faster then C<< AnyEvent->time >>, and 321This function is also often faster then C<< AnyEvent->time >>, and
268thus the preferred method if you want some timestamp (for example, 322thus the preferred method if you want some timestamp (for example,
269L<AnyEvent::Handle> uses this to update it's activity timeouts). 323L<AnyEvent::Handle> uses this to update its activity timeouts).
270 324
271The rest of this section is only of relevance if you try to be very exact 325The rest of this section is only of relevance if you try to be very exact
272with your timing, you can skip it without bad conscience. 326with your timing; you can skip it without a bad conscience.
273 327
274For a practical example of when these times differ, consider L<Event::Lib> 328For a practical example of when these times differ, consider L<Event::Lib>
275and L<EV> and the following set-up: 329and L<EV> and the following set-up:
276 330
277The event loop is running and has just invoked one of your callback at 331The event loop is running and has just invoked one of your callbacks at
278time=500 (assume no other callbacks delay processing). In your callback, 332time=500 (assume no other callbacks delay processing). In your callback,
279you wait a second by executing C<sleep 1> (blocking the process for a 333you wait a second by executing C<sleep 1> (blocking the process for a
280second) and then (at time=501) you create a relative timer that fires 334second) and then (at time=501) you create a relative timer that fires
281after three seconds. 335after three seconds.
282 336
300In either case, if you care (and in most cases, you don't), then you 354In either case, if you care (and in most cases, you don't), then you
301can get whatever behaviour you want with any event loop, by taking the 355can get whatever behaviour you want with any event loop, by taking the
302difference between C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> into 356difference between C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> into
303account. 357account.
304 358
359=item AnyEvent->now_update
360
361Some event loops (such as L<EV> or L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) cache
362the current time for each loop iteration (see the discussion of L<<
363AnyEvent->now >>, above).
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
305=back 381=back
306 382
307=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS 383=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS
308 384
385 $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => <uppercase_signal_name>, cb => <callback>);
386
309You 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
310I<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
311be invoked whenever a signal occurs. 389callback to be invoked whenever a signal occurs.
312 390
313Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 391Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
314presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 392presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
315callbacks cannot use arguments passed to signal watcher callbacks. 393callbacks cannot use arguments passed to signal watcher callbacks.
316 394
318invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. Synchronous means 396invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. Synchronous means
319that 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,
320but it is guaranteed not to interrupt any other callbacks. 398but it is guaranteed not to interrupt any other callbacks.
321 399
322The 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
323between multiple watchers. 401between multiple watchers, and AnyEvent will ensure that signals will not
402interrupt your program at bad times.
324 403
325This watcher might use C<%SIG>, so programs overwriting those signals 404This watcher might use C<%SIG> (depending on the event loop used),
326directly will likely not work correctly. 405so programs overwriting those signals directly will likely not work
406correctly.
327 407
328Example: exit on SIGINT 408Example: exit on SIGINT
329 409
330 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 }); 410 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 });
331 411
412=head3 Restart Behaviour
413
414While restart behaviour is up to the event loop implementation, most will
415not restart syscalls (that includes L<Async::Interrupt> and AnyEvent's
416pure perl implementation).
417
418=head3 Safe/Unsafe Signals
419
420Perl signals can be either "safe" (synchronous to opcode handling) or
421"unsafe" (asynchronous) - the former might get delayed indefinitely, the
422latter might corrupt your memory.
423
424AnyEvent signal handlers are, in addition, synchronous to the event loop,
425i.e. they will not interrupt your running perl program but will only be
426called as part of the normal event handling (just like timer, I/O etc.
427callbacks, too).
428
429=head3 Signal Races, Delays and Workarounds
430
431Many event loops (e.g. Glib, Tk, Qt, IO::Async) do not support attaching
432callbacks to signals in a generic way, which is a pity, as you cannot
433do race-free signal handling in perl, requiring C libraries for
434this. AnyEvent will try to do its best, which means in some cases,
435signals will be delayed. The maximum time a signal might be delayed is
436specified in C<$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
332=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS 449=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS
333 450
451 $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => <process id>, cb => <callback>);
452
334You 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.
335 454
336The 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,
337watches for any child process exit). The watcher will trigger as often 456using C<0> watches for any child process exit, on others this will
338as status change for the child are received. This works by installing a 457croak). The watcher will be triggered only when the child process has
339signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>. The callback will be called with the pid 458finished and an exit status is available, not on any trace events
340and exit status (as returned by waitpid), so unlike other watcher types, 459(stopped/continued).
341you 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).
342 469
343There 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
344I<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
345have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore). 472have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore).
346 473
347Not 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
348event 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
349loaded 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.
350 480
351This 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
352AnyEvent 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
353C<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 the latency and race problems
488mentioned in the description of signal watchers apply.
354 489
355Example: fork a process and wait for it 490Example: fork a process and wait for it
356 491
357 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar; 492 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
358 493
368 ); 503 );
369 504
370 # do something else, then wait for process exit 505 # do something else, then wait for process exit
371 $done->recv; 506 $done->recv;
372 507
508=head2 IDLE WATCHERS
509
510 $w = AnyEvent->idle (cb => <callback>);
511
512This will repeatedly invoke the callback after the process becomes idle,
513until either the watcher is destroyed or new events have been detected.
514
515Idle watchers are useful when there is a need to do something, but it
516is not so important (or wise) to do it instantly. The callback will be
517invoked only when there is "nothing better to do", which is usually
518defined as "all outstanding events have been handled and no new events
519have been detected". That means that idle watchers ideally get invoked
520when the event loop has just polled for new events but none have been
521detected. Instead of blocking to wait for more events, the idle watchers
522will be invoked.
523
524Unfortunately, most event loops do not really support idle watchers (only
525EV, Event and Glib do it in a usable fashion) - for the rest, AnyEvent
526will simply call the callback "from time to time".
527
528Example: read lines from STDIN, but only process them when the
529program is otherwise idle:
530
531 my @lines; # read data
532 my $idle_w;
533 my $io_w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub {
534 push @lines, scalar <STDIN>;
535
536 # start an idle watcher, if not already done
537 $idle_w ||= AnyEvent->idle (cb => sub {
538 # handle only one line, when there are lines left
539 if (my $line = shift @lines) {
540 print "handled when idle: $line";
541 } else {
542 # otherwise disable the idle watcher again
543 undef $idle_w;
544 }
545 });
546 });
547
373=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES 548=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES
549
550 $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
551
552 $cv->send (<list>);
553 my @res = $cv->recv;
374 554
375If 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
376require you to run some blocking "loop", "run" or similar function that 556require you to run some blocking "loop", "run" or similar function that
377will actively watch for new events and call your callbacks. 557will actively watch for new events and call your callbacks.
378 558
379AnyEvent is different, it expects somebody else to run the event loop and 559AnyEvent is slightly different: it expects somebody else to run the event
380will only block when necessary (usually when told by the user). 560loop and will only block when necessary (usually when told by the user).
381 561
382The instrument to do that is called a "condition variable", so called 562The tool to do that is called a "condition variable", so called because
383because 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.
384 566
385Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar 567Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar
386>> method, usually without arguments. The only argument pair allowed is 568>> method, usually without arguments. The only argument pair allowed is
387C<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
388becomes true. 570becomes true, with the condition variable as the first argument (but not
571the results).
389 572
390After creation, the condition variable is "false" until it becomes "true" 573After creation, the condition variable is "false" until it becomes "true"
391by calling the C<send> method (or calling the condition variable as if it 574by calling the C<send> method (or calling the condition variable as if it
392were a callback, read about the caveats in the description for the C<< 575were a callback, read about the caveats in the description for the C<<
393->send >> method). 576->send >> method).
394 577
395Condition variables are similar to callbacks, except that you can 578Since condition variables are the most complex part of the AnyEvent API, here are
396optionally 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:
397in time where multiple outstanding events have been processed. And yet 580
398another way to call them is transactions - each condition variable can be 581=over 4
399used to represent a transaction, which finishes at some point and delivers 582
400a 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
401 601
402Condition variables are very useful to signal that something has finished, 602Condition variables are very useful to signal that something has finished,
403for example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests, 603for example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests,
404then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the 604then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the
405availability of results. The user can either act when the callback is 605availability of results. The user can either act when the callback is
418 618
419Condition variables are represented by hash refs in perl, and the keys 619Condition variables are represented by hash refs in perl, and the keys
420used 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
421easy (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
422AnyEvent). To subclass, use C<AnyEvent::CondVar> as base class and call 622AnyEvent). To subclass, use C<AnyEvent::CondVar> as base class and call
423it's C<new> method in your own C<new> method. 623its C<new> method in your own C<new> method.
424 624
425There are two "sides" to a condition variable - the "producer side" which 625There are two "sides" to a condition variable - the "producer side" which
426eventually calls C<< -> send >>, and the "consumer side", which waits 626eventually calls C<< -> send >>, and the "consumer side", which waits
427for the send to occur. 627for the send to occur.
428 628
429Example: wait for a timer. 629Example: wait for a timer.
430 630
431 # wait till the result is ready 631 # condition: "wait till the timer is fired"
432 my $result_ready = AnyEvent->condvar; 632 my $timer_fired = AnyEvent->condvar;
433 633
434 # do something such as adding a timer 634 # create the timer - we could wait for, say
435 # or socket watcher the calls $result_ready->send 635 # a handle becomign ready, or even an
436 # when the "result" is ready. 636 # AnyEvent::HTTP request to finish, but
437 # in this case, we simply use a timer: 637 # in this case, we simply use a timer:
438 my $w = AnyEvent->timer ( 638 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (
439 after => 1, 639 after => 1,
440 cb => sub { $result_ready->send }, 640 cb => sub { $timer_fired->send },
441 ); 641 );
442 642
443 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the callback 643 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the callback
444 # calls send 644 # calls ->send
445 $result_ready->recv; 645 $timer_fired->recv;
446 646
447Example: wait for a timer, but take advantage of the fact that 647Example: wait for a timer, but take advantage of the fact that condition
448condition variables are also code references. 648variables are also callable directly.
449 649
450 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar; 650 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
451 my $delay = AnyEvent->timer (after => 5, cb => $done); 651 my $delay = AnyEvent->timer (after => 5, cb => $done);
452 $done->recv; 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 });
453 670
454=head3 METHODS FOR PRODUCERS 671=head3 METHODS FOR PRODUCERS
455 672
456These 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
457code/module that eventually sends the signal. Note that it is also 674code/module that eventually sends the signal. Note that it is also
470immediately from within send. 687immediately from within send.
471 688
472Any 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
473future C<< ->recv >> calls. 690future C<< ->recv >> calls.
474 691
475Condition variables are overloaded so one can call them directly 692Condition variables are overloaded so one can call them directly (as if
476(as a code reference). Calling them directly is the same as calling 693they were a code reference). Calling them directly is the same as calling
477C<send>. Note, however, that many C-based event loops do not handle 694C<send>.
478overloading, so as tempting as it may be, passing a condition variable
479instead of a callback does not work. Both the pure perl and EV loops
480support overloading, however, as well as all functions that use perl to
481invoke a callback (as in L<AnyEvent::Socket> and L<AnyEvent::DNS> for
482example).
483 695
484=item $cv->croak ($error) 696=item $cv->croak ($error)
485 697
486Similar to send, but causes all call's to C<< ->recv >> to invoke 698Similar to send, but causes all calls to C<< ->recv >> to invoke
487C<Carp::croak> with the given error message/object/scalar. 699C<Carp::croak> with the given error message/object/scalar.
488 700
489This can be used to signal any errors to the condition variable 701This can be used to signal any errors to the condition variable
490user/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.
491 707
492=item $cv->begin ([group callback]) 708=item $cv->begin ([group callback])
493 709
494=item $cv->end 710=item $cv->end
495
496These two methods are EXPERIMENTAL and MIGHT CHANGE.
497 711
498These two methods can be used to combine many transactions/events into 712These two methods can be used to combine many transactions/events into
499one. 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
500to use a condition variable for the whole process. 714to use a condition variable for the whole process.
501 715
502Every 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
503C<< ->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
504>>, 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
505is 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
506callback 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.
507 722
508Let'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:
509 730
510 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar; 731 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
511 732
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
512 my %result; 757 my %result;
513 $cv->begin (sub { $cv->send (\%result) }); 758 $cv->begin (sub { shift->send (\%result) });
514 759
515 for my $host (@list_of_hosts) { 760 for my $host (@list_of_hosts) {
516 $cv->begin; 761 $cv->begin;
517 ping_host_then_call_callback $host, sub { 762 ping_host_then_call_callback $host, sub {
518 $result{$host} = ...; 763 $result{$host} = ...;
533loop, which serves two important purposes: first, it sets the callback 778loop, which serves two important purposes: first, it sets the callback
534to 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
535C<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
536doesn't execute once). 781doesn't execute once).
537 782
538This is the general pattern when you "fan out" into multiple subrequests: 783This is the general pattern when you "fan out" into multiple (but
539use 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
540is 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
541C<begin> and for each subrequest you finish, call C<end>. 786subrequest you start, call C<begin> and for each subrequest you finish,
787call C<end>.
542 788
543=back 789=back
544 790
545=head3 METHODS FOR CONSUMERS 791=head3 METHODS FOR CONSUMERS
546 792
550=over 4 796=over 4
551 797
552=item $cv->recv 798=item $cv->recv
553 799
554Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->send >> or C<< ->croak 800Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->send >> or C<< ->croak
555>> methods have been called on c<$cv>, while servicing other watchers 801>> methods have been called on C<$cv>, while servicing other watchers
556normally. 802normally.
557 803
558You 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
559will return immediately. 805will return immediately.
560 806
562function will call C<croak>. 808function will call C<croak>.
563 809
564In list context, all parameters passed to C<send> will be returned, 810In list context, all parameters passed to C<send> will be returned,
565in scalar context only the first one will be returned. 811in scalar context only the first one will be returned.
566 812
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
567Not 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
568(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
569using 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
570caller 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
571condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting 824condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting
572callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block, 825callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block,
573while still supporting blocking waits if the caller so desires). 826while still supporting blocking waits if the caller so desires).
574 827
575Another reason I<never> to C<< ->recv >> in a module is that you cannot
576sensibly have two C<< ->recv >>'s in parallel, as that would require
577multiple interpreters or coroutines/threads, none of which C<AnyEvent>
578can supply.
579
580The L<Coro> module, however, I<can> and I<does> supply coroutines and, in
581fact, L<Coro::AnyEvent> replaces AnyEvent's condvars by coroutine-safe
582versions and also integrates coroutines into AnyEvent, making blocking
583C<< ->recv >> calls perfectly safe as long as they are done from another
584coroutine (one that doesn't run the event loop).
585
586You 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
587only calling C<< ->recv >> from within that callback (or at a later 829only calling C<< ->recv >> from within that callback (or at a later
588time). 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
589waits otherwise. 831waits otherwise.
590 832
591=item $bool = $cv->ready 833=item $bool = $cv->ready
592 834
593Returns 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
594C<croak> have been called. 836C<croak> have been called.
595 837
596=item $cb = $cv->cb ([new callback]) 838=item $cb = $cv->cb ($cb->($cv))
597 839
598This is a mutator function that returns the callback set and optionally 840This is a mutator function that returns the callback set and optionally
599replaces it before doing so. 841replaces it before doing so.
600 842
601The 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
602C<send> or C<croak> are called, with the only argument being the condition 844C<send> or C<croak> are called, with the only argument being the
603variable itself. Calling C<recv> inside the callback or at any later time 845condition variable itself. If the condition is already true, the
604is guaranteed not to block. 846callback is called immediately when it is set. Calling C<recv> inside
847the callback or at any later time is guaranteed not to block.
605 848
606=back 849=back
607 850
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 implementation, 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
882=item Backends with special needs.
883
884Qt requires the Qt::Application to be instantiated first, but will
885otherwise be picked up automatically. As long as the main program
886instantiates the application before any AnyEvent watchers are created,
887everything should just work.
888
889 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt.
890
891Support for IO::Async can only be partial, as it is too broken and
892architecturally limited to even support the AnyEvent API. It also
893is the only event loop that needs the loop to be set explicitly, so
894it can only be used by a main program knowing about AnyEvent. See
895L<AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync> for the gory details.
896
897 AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync based on IO::Async, cannot be autoprobed.
898
899=item Event loops that are indirectly supported via other backends.
900
901Some event loops can be supported via other modules:
902
903There is no direct support for WxWidgets (L<Wx>) or L<Prima>.
904
905B<WxWidgets> has no support for watching file handles. However, you can
906use WxWidgets through the POE adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply
907polls 20 times per second, which was considered to be too horrible to even
908consider for AnyEvent.
909
910B<Prima> is not supported as nobody seems to be using it, but it has a POE
911backend, so it can be supported through POE.
912
913AnyEvent knows about both L<Prima> and L<Wx>, however, and will try to
914load L<POE> when detecting them, in the hope that POE will pick them up,
915in which case everything will be automatic.
916
917=back
918
608=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS 919=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS
609 920
921These are not normally required to use AnyEvent, but can be useful to
922write AnyEvent extension modules.
923
610=over 4 924=over 4
611 925
612=item $AnyEvent::MODEL 926=item $AnyEvent::MODEL
613 927
614Contains C<undef> until the first watcher is being created. Then it 928Contains C<undef> until the first watcher is being created, before the
929backend has been autodetected.
930
615contains the event model that is being used, which is the name of the 931Afterwards it contains the event model that is being used, which is the
616Perl class implementing the model. This class is usually one of the 932name of the Perl class implementing the model. This class is usually one
617C<AnyEvent::Impl:xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the case 933of the C<AnyEvent::Impl::xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the
618AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode>). 934case AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode> it
619 935will be C<urxvt::anyevent>).
620The known classes so far are:
621
622 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (an interface to libev, best choice).
623 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, second best choice.
624 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl implementation, fast and portable.
625 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, third-best choice.
626 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very bad choice.
627 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt, cannot be autoprobed (see its docs).
628 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
629 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, not generic enough for full support.
630
631There is no support for WxWidgets, as WxWidgets has no support for
632watching file handles. However, you can use WxWidgets through the
633POE Adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply polls 20 times per
634second, which was considered to be too horrible to even consider for
635AnyEvent. Likewise, other POE backends can be used by AnyEvent by using
636it's adaptor.
637
638AnyEvent knows about L<Prima> and L<Wx> and will try to use L<POE> when
639autodetecting them.
640 936
641=item AnyEvent::detect 937=item AnyEvent::detect
642 938
643Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model 939Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model
644if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would 940if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would
645have created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, as late as possible at 941have created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, as late as possible at
646runtime. 942runtime, and not e.g. during initialisation of your module.
943
944If you need to do some initialisation before AnyEvent watchers are
945created, use C<post_detect>.
647 946
648=item $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK } 947=item $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }
649 948
650Arranges for the code block to be executed as soon as the event model is 949Arranges for the code block to be executed as soon as the event model is
651autodetected (or immediately if this has already happened). 950autodetected (or immediately if that has already happened).
951
952The block will be executed I<after> the actual backend has been detected
953(C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> is set), but I<before> any watchers have been
954created, so it is possible to e.g. patch C<@AnyEvent::ISA> or do
955other initialisations - see the sources of L<AnyEvent::Strict> or
956L<AnyEvent::AIO> to see how this is used.
957
958The most common usage is to create some global watchers, without forcing
959event module detection too early, for example, L<AnyEvent::AIO> creates
960and installs the global L<IO::AIO> watcher in a C<post_detect> block to
961avoid autodetecting the event module at load time.
652 962
653If called in scalar or list context, then it creates and returns an object 963If called in scalar or list context, then it creates and returns an object
654that automatically removes the callback again when it is destroyed. See 964that automatically removes the callback again when it is destroyed (or
965C<undef> when the hook was immediately executed). See L<AnyEvent::AIO> for
655L<Coro::BDB> for a case where this is useful. 966a case where this is useful.
967
968Example: Create a watcher for the IO::AIO module and store it in
969C<$WATCHER>, but do so only do so after the event loop is initialised.
970
971 our WATCHER;
972
973 my $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect {
974 $WATCHER = AnyEvent->io (fh => IO::AIO::poll_fileno, poll => 'r', cb => \&IO::AIO::poll_cb);
975 };
976
977 # the ||= is important in case post_detect immediately runs the block,
978 # as to not clobber the newly-created watcher. assigning both watcher and
979 # post_detect guard to the same variable has the advantage of users being
980 # able to just C<undef $WATCHER> if the watcher causes them grief.
981
982 $WATCHER ||= $guard;
656 983
657=item @AnyEvent::post_detect 984=item @AnyEvent::post_detect
658 985
659If there are any code references in this array (you can C<push> to it 986If there are any code references in this array (you can C<push> to it
660before or after loading AnyEvent), then they will called directly after 987before or after loading AnyEvent), then they will be called directly
661the event loop has been chosen. 988after the event loop has been chosen.
662 989
663You should check C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> before adding to this array, though: 990You should check C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> before adding to this array, though:
664if it contains a true value then the event loop has already been detected, 991if it is defined then the event loop has already been detected, and the
665and the array will be ignored. 992array will be ignored.
666 993
667Best use C<AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }> instead. 994Best use C<AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }> when your application allows
995it, as it takes care of these details.
996
997This variable is mainly useful for modules that can do something useful
998when AnyEvent is used and thus want to know when it is initialised, but do
999not need to even load it by default. This array provides the means to hook
1000into AnyEvent passively, without loading it.
1001
1002Example: To load Coro::AnyEvent whenever Coro and AnyEvent are used
1003together, you could put this into Coro (this is the actual code used by
1004Coro to accomplish this):
1005
1006 if (defined $AnyEvent::MODEL) {
1007 # AnyEvent already initialised, so load Coro::AnyEvent
1008 require Coro::AnyEvent;
1009 } else {
1010 # AnyEvent not yet initialised, so make sure to load Coro::AnyEvent
1011 # as soon as it is
1012 push @AnyEvent::post_detect, sub { require Coro::AnyEvent };
1013 }
668 1014
669=back 1015=back
670 1016
671=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE 1017=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE
672 1018
683because it will stall the whole program, and the whole point of using 1029because it will stall the whole program, and the whole point of using
684events is to stay interactive. 1030events is to stay interactive.
685 1031
686It is fine, however, to call C<< ->recv >> when the user of your module 1032It is fine, however, to call C<< ->recv >> when the user of your module
687requests it (i.e. if you create a http request object ad have a method 1033requests it (i.e. if you create a http request object ad have a method
688called C<results> that returns the results, it should call C<< ->recv >> 1034called C<results> that returns the results, it may call C<< ->recv >>
689freely, as the user of your module knows what she is doing. always). 1035freely, as the user of your module knows what she is doing. Always).
690 1036
691=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM 1037=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM
692 1038
693There will always be a single main program - the only place that should 1039There will always be a single main program - the only place that should
694dictate which event model to use. 1040dictate which event model to use.
695 1041
696If it doesn't care, it can just "use AnyEvent" and use it itself, or not 1042If the program is not event-based, it need not do anything special, even
697do anything special (it does not need to be event-based) and let AnyEvent 1043when it depends on a module that uses an AnyEvent. If the program itself
698decide which implementation to chose if some module relies on it. 1044uses AnyEvent, but does not care which event loop is used, all it needs
1045to do is C<use AnyEvent>. In either case, AnyEvent will choose the best
1046available loop implementation.
699 1047
700If the main program relies on a specific event model - for example, in 1048If the main program relies on a specific event model - for example, in
701Gtk2 programs you have to rely on the Glib module - you should load the 1049Gtk2 programs you have to rely on the Glib module - you should load the
702event module before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it: generally 1050event module before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it: generally
703speaking, you should load it as early as possible. The reason is that 1051speaking, you should load it as early as possible. The reason is that
704modules might create watchers when they are loaded, and AnyEvent will 1052modules might create watchers when they are loaded, and AnyEvent will
705decide on the event model to use as soon as it creates watchers, and it 1053decide on the event model to use as soon as it creates watchers, and it
706might chose the wrong one unless you load the correct one yourself. 1054might choose the wrong one unless you load the correct one yourself.
707 1055
708You can chose to use a pure-perl implementation by loading the 1056You can chose to use a pure-perl implementation by loading the
709C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl> module, which gives you similar behaviour 1057C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl> module, which gives you similar behaviour
710everywhere, but letting AnyEvent chose the model is generally better. 1058everywhere, but letting AnyEvent chose the model is generally better.
711 1059
727 1075
728 1076
729=head1 OTHER MODULES 1077=head1 OTHER MODULES
730 1078
731The following is a non-exhaustive list of additional modules that use 1079The following is a non-exhaustive list of additional modules that use
732AnyEvent and can therefore be mixed easily with other AnyEvent modules 1080AnyEvent as a client and can therefore be mixed easily with other AnyEvent
733in the same program. Some of the modules come with AnyEvent, some are 1081modules and other event loops in the same program. Some of the modules
734available via CPAN. 1082come as part of AnyEvent, the others are available via CPAN.
735 1083
736=over 4 1084=over 4
737 1085
738=item L<AnyEvent::Util> 1086=item L<AnyEvent::Util>
739 1087
740Contains various utility functions that replace often-used but blocking 1088Contains various utility functions that replace often-used blocking
741functions such as C<inet_aton> by event-/callback-based versions. 1089functions such as C<inet_aton> with event/callback-based versions.
742
743=item L<AnyEvent::Handle>
744
745Provide read and write buffers and manages watchers for reads and writes.
746 1090
747=item L<AnyEvent::Socket> 1091=item L<AnyEvent::Socket>
748 1092
749Provides various utility functions for (internet protocol) sockets, 1093Provides various utility functions for (internet protocol) sockets,
750addresses and name resolution. Also functions to create non-blocking tcp 1094addresses and name resolution. Also functions to create non-blocking tcp
751connections or tcp servers, with IPv6 and SRV record support and more. 1095connections or tcp servers, with IPv6 and SRV record support and more.
752 1096
1097=item L<AnyEvent::Handle>
1098
1099Provide read and write buffers, manages watchers for reads and writes,
1100supports raw and formatted I/O, I/O queued and fully transparent and
1101non-blocking SSL/TLS (via L<AnyEvent::TLS>).
1102
753=item L<AnyEvent::DNS> 1103=item L<AnyEvent::DNS>
754 1104
755Provides rich asynchronous DNS resolver capabilities. 1105Provides rich asynchronous DNS resolver capabilities.
756 1106
1107=item L<AnyEvent::HTTP>, L<AnyEvent::IRC>, L<AnyEvent::XMPP>, L<AnyEvent::GPSD>, L<AnyEvent::IGS>, L<AnyEvent::FCP>
1108
1109Implement event-based interfaces to the protocols of the same name (for
1110the curious, IGS is the International Go Server and FCP is the Freenet
1111Client Protocol).
1112
1113=item L<AnyEvent::Handle::UDP>
1114
1115Here be danger!
1116
1117As Pauli would put it, "Not only is it not right, it's not even wrong!" -
1118there are so many things wrong with AnyEvent::Handle::UDP, most notably
1119its use of a stream-based API with a protocol that isn't streamable, that
1120the only way to improve it is to delete it.
1121
1122It features data corruption (but typically only under load) and general
1123confusion. On top, the author is not only clueless about UDP but also
1124fact-resistant - some gems of his understanding: "connect doesn't work
1125with UDP", "UDP packets are not IP packets", "UDP only has datagrams, not
1126packets", "I don't need to implement proper error checking as UDP doesn't
1127support error checking" and so on - he doesn't even understand what's
1128wrong with his module when it is explained to him.
1129
757=item L<AnyEvent::HTTP> 1130=item L<AnyEvent::DBI>
758 1131
759A simple-to-use HTTP library that is capable of making a lot of concurrent 1132Executes L<DBI> requests asynchronously in a proxy process for you,
760HTTP requests. 1133notifying you in an event-based way when the operation is finished.
1134
1135=item L<AnyEvent::AIO>
1136
1137Truly asynchronous (as opposed to non-blocking) I/O, should be in the
1138toolbox of every event programmer. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses
1139L<IO::AIO> and AnyEvent together, giving AnyEvent access to event-based
1140file I/O, and much more.
761 1141
762=item L<AnyEvent::HTTPD> 1142=item L<AnyEvent::HTTPD>
763 1143
764Provides a simple web application server framework. 1144A simple embedded webserver.
765 1145
766=item L<AnyEvent::FastPing> 1146=item L<AnyEvent::FastPing>
767 1147
768The fastest ping in the west. 1148The fastest ping in the west.
769 1149
770=item L<AnyEvent::DBI>
771
772Executes DBI requests asynchronously in a proxy process.
773
774=item L<Net::IRC3>
775
776AnyEvent based IRC client module family.
777
778=item L<Net::XMPP2>
779
780AnyEvent based XMPP (Jabber protocol) module family.
781
782=item L<Net::FCP>
783
784AnyEvent-based implementation of the Freenet Client Protocol, birthplace
785of AnyEvent.
786
787=item L<Event::ExecFlow>
788
789High level API for event-based execution flow control.
790
791=item L<Coro> 1150=item L<Coro>
792 1151
793Has special support for AnyEvent via L<Coro::AnyEvent>. 1152Has special support for AnyEvent via L<Coro::AnyEvent>.
794 1153
795=item L<AnyEvent::AIO>, L<IO::AIO>
796
797Truly asynchronous I/O, should be in the toolbox of every event
798programmer. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses IO::AIO and AnyEvent
799together.
800
801=item L<AnyEvent::BDB>, L<BDB>
802
803Truly asynchronous Berkeley DB access. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses
804IO::AIO and AnyEvent together.
805
806=item L<IO::Lambda>
807
808The lambda approach to I/O - don't ask, look there. Can use AnyEvent.
809
810=back 1154=back
811 1155
812=cut 1156=cut
813 1157
814package AnyEvent; 1158package AnyEvent;
815 1159
816no warnings; 1160# basically a tuned-down version of common::sense
817use strict; 1161sub common_sense {
1162 # from common:.sense 3.3
1163 ${^WARNING_BITS} ^= ${^WARNING_BITS} ^ "\x3c\x3f\x33\x00\x0f\xf3\x0f\xc0\xf0\xfc\x33\x00";
1164 # use strict vars subs - NO UTF-8, as Util.pm doesn't like this atm. (uts46data.pl)
1165 $^H |= 0x00000600;
1166}
818 1167
1168BEGIN { AnyEvent::common_sense }
1169
819use Carp; 1170use Carp ();
820 1171
821our $VERSION = 4.151; 1172our $VERSION = '5.29';
822our $MODEL; 1173our $MODEL;
823 1174
824our $AUTOLOAD; 1175our $AUTOLOAD;
825our @ISA; 1176our @ISA;
826 1177
827our @REGISTRY; 1178our @REGISTRY;
828 1179
829our $WIN32; 1180our $VERBOSE;
830 1181
831BEGIN { 1182BEGIN {
832 my $win32 = ! ! ($^O =~ /mswin32/i); 1183 require "AnyEvent/constants.pl";
833 eval "sub WIN32(){ $win32 }";
834}
835 1184
1185 eval "sub TAINT (){" . (${^TAINT}*1) . "}";
1186
1187 delete @ENV{grep /^PERL_ANYEVENT_/, keys %ENV}
1188 if ${^TAINT};
1189
836our $verbose = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1; 1190 $VERBOSE = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1;
1191
1192}
1193
1194our $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY = 10;
837 1195
838our %PROTOCOL; # (ipv4|ipv6) => (1|2), higher numbers are preferred 1196our %PROTOCOL; # (ipv4|ipv6) => (1|2), higher numbers are preferred
839 1197
840{ 1198{
841 my $idx; 1199 my $idx;
843 for reverse split /\s*,\s*/, 1201 for reverse split /\s*,\s*/,
844 $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS} || "ipv4,ipv6"; 1202 $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS} || "ipv4,ipv6";
845} 1203}
846 1204
847my @models = ( 1205my @models = (
848 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV::], 1206 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV:: , 1],
849 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::],
850 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl::], 1207 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: , 1],
851 # everything below here will not be autoprobed 1208 # everything below here will not (normally) be autoprobed
852 # as the pureperl backend should work everywhere 1209 # as the pureperl backend should work everywhere
853 # and is usually faster 1210 # and is usually faster
1211 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::, 1],
1212 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib:: , 1], # becomes extremely slow with many watchers
1213 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy
1214 [Irssi:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Irssi::], # Irssi has a bogus "Event" package
854 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], # crashes with many handles 1215 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], # crashes with many handles
855 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib::], # becomes extremely slow with many watchers
856 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy
857 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program 1216 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program
858 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza 1217 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza
859 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], 1218 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
860 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], 1219 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
1220 # IO::Async is just too broken - we would need workarounds for its
1221 # byzantine signal and broken child handling, among others.
1222 # IO::Async is rather hard to detect, as it doesn't have any
1223 # obvious default class.
1224 [IO::Async:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program
1225 [IO::Async::Loop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program
1226 [IO::Async::Notifier:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program
1227 [AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program
861); 1228);
862 1229
863our %method = map +($_ => 1), qw(io timer time now signal child condvar one_event DESTROY); 1230our %method = map +($_ => 1),
1231 qw(io timer time now now_update signal child idle condvar one_event DESTROY);
864 1232
865our @post_detect; 1233our @post_detect;
866 1234
867sub post_detect(&) { 1235sub post_detect(&) {
868 my ($cb) = @_; 1236 my ($cb) = @_;
869 1237
870 if ($MODEL) {
871 $cb->();
872
873 1
874 } else {
875 push @post_detect, $cb; 1238 push @post_detect, $cb;
876 1239
877 defined wantarray 1240 defined wantarray
878 ? bless \$cb, "AnyEvent::Util::PostDetect" 1241 ? bless \$cb, "AnyEvent::Util::postdetect"
879 : () 1242 : ()
1243}
1244
1245sub AnyEvent::Util::postdetect::DESTROY {
1246 @post_detect = grep $_ != ${$_[0]}, @post_detect;
1247}
1248
1249sub detect() {
1250 # free some memory
1251 *detect = sub () { $MODEL };
1252
1253 local $!; # for good measure
1254 local $SIG{__DIE__};
1255
1256 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z]+)$/) {
1257 my $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$1";
1258 if (eval "require $model") {
1259 $MODEL = $model;
1260 warn "AnyEvent: loaded model '$model' (forced by \$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}), using it.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 2;
1261 } else {
1262 warn "AnyEvent: unable to load model '$model' (from \$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}):\n$@" if $VERBOSE;
1263 }
880 } 1264 }
881}
882 1265
883sub AnyEvent::Util::PostDetect::DESTROY { 1266 # check for already loaded models
884 @post_detect = grep $_ != ${$_[0]}, @post_detect;
885}
886
887sub detect() {
888 unless ($MODEL) { 1267 unless ($MODEL) {
889 no strict 'refs'; 1268 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
890 local $SIG{__DIE__}; 1269 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
891 1270 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) {
892 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z]+)$/) {
893 my $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$1";
894 if (eval "require $model") { 1271 if (eval "require $model") {
895 $MODEL = $model; 1272 $MODEL = $model;
896 warn "AnyEvent: loaded model '$model' (forced by \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1273 warn "AnyEvent: autodetected model '$model', using it.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 2;
897 } else { 1274 last;
898 warn "AnyEvent: unable to load model '$model' (from \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL):\n$@" if $verbose; 1275 }
899 } 1276 }
900 } 1277 }
901 1278
902 # check for already loaded models
903 unless ($MODEL) { 1279 unless ($MODEL) {
1280 # try to autoload a model
904 for (@REGISTRY, @models) { 1281 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
905 my ($package, $model) = @$_; 1282 my ($package, $model, $autoload) = @$_;
1283 if (
1284 $autoload
1285 and eval "require $package"
906 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) { 1286 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0
907 if (eval "require $model") { 1287 and eval "require $model"
1288 ) {
908 $MODEL = $model; 1289 $MODEL = $model;
909 warn "AnyEvent: autodetected model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1290 warn "AnyEvent: autoloaded model '$model', using it.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 2;
910 last; 1291 last;
911 }
912 } 1292 }
913 } 1293 }
914 1294
915 unless ($MODEL) {
916 # try to load a model
917
918 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
919 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
920 if (eval "require $package"
921 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0
922 and eval "require $model") {
923 $MODEL = $model;
924 warn "AnyEvent: autoprobed model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1;
925 last;
926 }
927 }
928
929 $MODEL 1295 $MODEL
930 or die "No event module selected for AnyEvent and autodetect failed. Install any one of these modules: EV, Event or Glib."; 1296 or die "AnyEvent: backend autodetection failed - did you properly install AnyEvent?\n";
931 }
932 } 1297 }
933
934 unshift @ISA, $MODEL;
935 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base";
936
937 (shift @post_detect)->() while @post_detect;
938 } 1298 }
1299
1300 @models = (); # free probe data
1301
1302 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base";
1303 unshift @ISA, $MODEL;
1304
1305 # now nuke some methods that are overridden by the backend.
1306 # SUPER is not allowed.
1307 for (qw(time signal child idle)) {
1308 undef &{"AnyEvent::Base::$_"}
1309 if defined &{"$MODEL\::$_"};
1310 }
1311
1312 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT}) {
1313 eval { require AnyEvent::Strict };
1314 warn "AnyEvent: cannot load AnyEvent::Strict: $@"
1315 if $@ && $VERBOSE;
1316 }
1317
1318 (shift @post_detect)->() while @post_detect;
1319
1320 *post_detect = sub(&) {
1321 shift->();
1322
1323 undef
1324 };
939 1325
940 $MODEL 1326 $MODEL
941} 1327}
942 1328
943sub AUTOLOAD { 1329sub AUTOLOAD {
944 (my $func = $AUTOLOAD) =~ s/.*://; 1330 (my $func = $AUTOLOAD) =~ s/.*://;
945 1331
946 $method{$func} 1332 $method{$func}
947 or croak "$func: not a valid method for AnyEvent objects"; 1333 or Carp::croak "$func: not a valid AnyEvent class method";
948 1334
949 detect unless $MODEL; 1335 detect;
950 1336
951 my $class = shift; 1337 my $class = shift;
952 $class->$func (@_); 1338 $class->$func (@_);
953} 1339}
954 1340
1341# utility function to dup a filehandle. this is used by many backends
1342# to support binding more than one watcher per filehandle (they usually
1343# allow only one watcher per fd, so we dup it to get a different one).
1344sub _dupfh($$;$$) {
1345 my ($poll, $fh, $r, $w) = @_;
1346
1347 # cygwin requires the fh mode to be matching, unix doesn't
1348 my ($rw, $mode) = $poll eq "r" ? ($r, "<&") : ($w, ">&");
1349
1350 open my $fh2, $mode, $fh
1351 or die "AnyEvent->io: cannot dup() filehandle in mode '$poll': $!,";
1352
1353 # we assume CLOEXEC is already set by perl in all important cases
1354
1355 ($fh2, $rw)
1356}
1357
1358=head1 SIMPLIFIED AE API
1359
1360Starting with version 5.0, AnyEvent officially supports a second, much
1361simpler, API that is designed to reduce the calling, typing and memory
1362overhead by using function call syntax and a fixed number of parameters.
1363
1364See the L<AE> manpage for details.
1365
1366=cut
1367
1368package AE;
1369
1370our $VERSION = $AnyEvent::VERSION;
1371
1372# fall back to the main API by default - backends and AnyEvent::Base
1373# implementations can overwrite these.
1374
1375sub io($$$) {
1376 AnyEvent->io (fh => $_[0], poll => $_[1] ? "w" : "r", cb => $_[2])
1377}
1378
1379sub timer($$$) {
1380 AnyEvent->timer (after => $_[0], interval => $_[1], cb => $_[2])
1381}
1382
1383sub signal($$) {
1384 AnyEvent->signal (signal => $_[0], cb => $_[1])
1385}
1386
1387sub child($$) {
1388 AnyEvent->child (pid => $_[0], cb => $_[1])
1389}
1390
1391sub idle($) {
1392 AnyEvent->idle (cb => $_[0])
1393}
1394
1395sub cv(;&) {
1396 AnyEvent->condvar (@_ ? (cb => $_[0]) : ())
1397}
1398
1399sub now() {
1400 AnyEvent->now
1401}
1402
1403sub now_update() {
1404 AnyEvent->now_update
1405}
1406
1407sub time() {
1408 AnyEvent->time
1409}
1410
955package AnyEvent::Base; 1411package AnyEvent::Base;
956 1412
957# default implementation for now and time 1413# default implementations for many methods
958 1414
959use Time::HiRes (); 1415sub time {
1416 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1417 # probe for availability of Time::HiRes
1418 if (eval "use Time::HiRes (); Time::HiRes::time (); 1") {
1419 warn "AnyEvent: using Time::HiRes for sub-second timing accuracy.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 8;
1420 *AE::time = \&Time::HiRes::time;
1421 # if (eval "use POSIX (); (POSIX::times())...
1422 } else {
1423 warn "AnyEvent: using built-in time(), WARNING, no sub-second resolution!\n" if $VERBOSE;
1424 *AE::time = sub (){ time }; # epic fail
1425 }
960 1426
961sub time { Time::HiRes::time } 1427 *time = sub { AE::time }; # different prototypes
962sub now { Time::HiRes::time } 1428 };
1429 die if $@;
1430
1431 &time
1432}
1433
1434*now = \&time;
1435
1436sub now_update { }
963 1437
964# default implementation for ->condvar 1438# default implementation for ->condvar
965 1439
966sub condvar { 1440sub condvar {
1441 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1442 *condvar = sub {
967 bless { @_ == 3 ? (_ae_cb => $_[2]) : () }, AnyEvent::CondVar:: 1443 bless { @_ == 3 ? (_ae_cb => $_[2]) : () }, "AnyEvent::CondVar"
1444 };
1445
1446 *AE::cv = sub (;&) {
1447 bless { @_ ? (_ae_cb => shift) : () }, "AnyEvent::CondVar"
1448 };
1449 };
1450 die if $@;
1451
1452 &condvar
968} 1453}
969 1454
970# default implementation for ->signal 1455# default implementation for ->signal
971 1456
972our %SIG_CB; 1457our $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT;
1458
1459sub _have_async_interrupt() {
1460 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT = 1*(!$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_ASYNC_INTERRUPT}
1461 && eval "use Async::Interrupt 1.02 (); 1")
1462 unless defined $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT;
1463
1464 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1465}
1466
1467our ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W, %SIG_CB, %SIG_EV, $SIG_IO);
1468our (%SIG_ASY, %SIG_ASY_W);
1469our ($SIG_COUNT, $SIG_TW);
1470
1471# install a dummy wakeup watcher to reduce signal catching latency
1472# used by Impls
1473sub _sig_add() {
1474 unless ($SIG_COUNT++) {
1475 # try to align timer on a full-second boundary, if possible
1476 my $NOW = AE::now;
1477
1478 $SIG_TW = AE::timer
1479 $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY - ($NOW - int $NOW),
1480 $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY,
1481 sub { } # just for the PERL_ASYNC_CHECK
1482 ;
1483 }
1484}
1485
1486sub _sig_del {
1487 undef $SIG_TW
1488 unless --$SIG_COUNT;
1489}
1490
1491our $_sig_name_init; $_sig_name_init = sub {
1492 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1493 undef $_sig_name_init;
1494
1495 if (_have_async_interrupt) {
1496 *sig2num = \&Async::Interrupt::sig2num;
1497 *sig2name = \&Async::Interrupt::sig2name;
1498 } else {
1499 require Config;
1500
1501 my %signame2num;
1502 @signame2num{ split ' ', $Config::Config{sig_name} }
1503 = split ' ', $Config::Config{sig_num};
1504
1505 my @signum2name;
1506 @signum2name[values %signame2num] = keys %signame2num;
1507
1508 *sig2num = sub($) {
1509 $_[0] > 0 ? shift : $signame2num{+shift}
1510 };
1511 *sig2name = sub ($) {
1512 $_[0] > 0 ? $signum2name[+shift] : shift
1513 };
1514 }
1515 };
1516 die if $@;
1517};
1518
1519sub sig2num ($) { &$_sig_name_init; &sig2num }
1520sub sig2name($) { &$_sig_name_init; &sig2name }
973 1521
974sub signal { 1522sub signal {
1523 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1524 # probe for availability of Async::Interrupt
1525 if (_have_async_interrupt) {
1526 warn "AnyEvent: using Async::Interrupt for race-free signal handling.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 8;
1527
1528 $SIGPIPE_R = new Async::Interrupt::EventPipe;
1529 $SIG_IO = AE::io $SIGPIPE_R->fileno, 0, \&_signal_exec;
1530
1531 } else {
1532 warn "AnyEvent: using emulated perl signal handling with latency timer.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 8;
1533
1534 if (AnyEvent::WIN32) {
1535 require AnyEvent::Util;
1536
1537 ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W) = AnyEvent::Util::portable_pipe ();
1538 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_R, 1) if $SIGPIPE_R;
1539 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_W, 1) if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case
1540 } else {
1541 pipe $SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W;
1542 fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, AnyEvent::F_SETFL, AnyEvent::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_R;
1543 fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, AnyEvent::F_SETFL, AnyEvent::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case
1544
1545 # not strictly required, as $^F is normally 2, but let's make sure...
1546 fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, AnyEvent::F_SETFD, AnyEvent::FD_CLOEXEC;
1547 fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, AnyEvent::F_SETFD, AnyEvent::FD_CLOEXEC;
1548 }
1549
1550 $SIGPIPE_R
1551 or Carp::croak "AnyEvent: unable to create a signal reporting pipe: $!\n";
1552
1553 $SIG_IO = AE::io $SIGPIPE_R, 0, \&_signal_exec;
1554 }
1555
1556 *signal = $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1557 ? sub {
975 my (undef, %arg) = @_; 1558 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
976 1559
1560 # async::interrupt
977 my $signal = uc $arg{signal} 1561 my $signal = sig2num $arg{signal};
978 or Carp::croak "required option 'signal' is missing";
979
980 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb}; 1562 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1563
1564 $SIG_ASY{$signal} ||= new Async::Interrupt
1565 cb => sub { undef $SIG_EV{$signal} },
1566 signal => $signal,
1567 pipe => [$SIGPIPE_R->filenos],
1568 pipe_autodrain => 0,
1569 ;
1570
1571 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::signal"
1572 }
1573 : sub {
1574 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1575
1576 # pure perl
1577 my $signal = sig2name $arg{signal};
1578 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1579
981 $SIG{$signal} ||= sub { 1580 $SIG{$signal} ||= sub {
1581 local $!;
1582 syswrite $SIGPIPE_W, "\x00", 1 unless %SIG_EV;
1583 undef $SIG_EV{$signal};
1584 };
1585
1586 # can't do signal processing without introducing races in pure perl,
1587 # so limit the signal latency.
1588 _sig_add;
1589
1590 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::signal"
1591 }
1592 ;
1593
1594 *AnyEvent::Base::signal::DESTROY = sub {
1595 my ($signal, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
1596
1597 _sig_del;
1598
1599 delete $SIG_CB{$signal}{$cb};
1600
1601 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1602 ? delete $SIG_ASY{$signal}
1603 : # delete doesn't work with older perls - they then
1604 # print weird messages, or just unconditionally exit
1605 # instead of getting the default action.
1606 undef $SIG{$signal}
1607 unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} };
1608 };
1609
1610 *_signal_exec = sub {
1611 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1612 ? $SIGPIPE_R->drain
1613 : sysread $SIGPIPE_R, (my $dummy), 9;
1614
1615 while (%SIG_EV) {
1616 for (keys %SIG_EV) {
1617 delete $SIG_EV{$_};
982 $_->() for values %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} || {} }; 1618 $_->() for values %{ $SIG_CB{$_} || {} };
1619 }
1620 }
1621 };
983 }; 1622 };
1623 die if $@;
984 1624
985 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Signal" 1625 &signal
986}
987
988sub AnyEvent::Base::Signal::DESTROY {
989 my ($signal, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
990
991 delete $SIG_CB{$signal}{$cb};
992
993 $SIG{$signal} = 'DEFAULT' unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} };
994} 1626}
995 1627
996# default implementation for ->child 1628# default implementation for ->child
997 1629
998our %PID_CB; 1630our %PID_CB;
999our $CHLD_W; 1631our $CHLD_W;
1000our $CHLD_DELAY_W; 1632our $CHLD_DELAY_W;
1001our $PID_IDLE;
1002our $WNOHANG;
1003 1633
1004sub _child_wait { 1634# used by many Impl's
1005 while (0 < (my $pid = waitpid -1, $WNOHANG)) { 1635sub _emit_childstatus($$) {
1636 my (undef, $rpid, $rstatus) = @_;
1637
1638 $_->($rpid, $rstatus)
1006 $_->($pid, $?) for (values %{ $PID_CB{$pid} || {} }), 1639 for values %{ $PID_CB{$rpid} || {} },
1007 (values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} }); 1640 values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} };
1008 }
1009
1010 undef $PID_IDLE;
1011}
1012
1013sub _sigchld {
1014 # make sure we deliver these changes "synchronous" with the event loop.
1015 $CHLD_DELAY_W ||= AnyEvent->timer (after => 0, cb => sub {
1016 undef $CHLD_DELAY_W;
1017 &_child_wait;
1018 });
1019} 1641}
1020 1642
1021sub child { 1643sub child {
1644 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1645 *_sigchld = sub {
1646 my $pid;
1647
1648 AnyEvent->_emit_childstatus ($pid, $?)
1649 while ($pid = waitpid -1, WNOHANG) > 0;
1650 };
1651
1652 *child = sub {
1022 my (undef, %arg) = @_; 1653 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1023 1654
1024 defined (my $pid = $arg{pid} + 0) 1655 defined (my $pid = $arg{pid} + 0)
1025 or Carp::croak "required option 'pid' is missing"; 1656 or Carp::croak "required option 'pid' is missing";
1026 1657
1027 $PID_CB{$pid}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb}; 1658 $PID_CB{$pid}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1028 1659
1029 unless ($WNOHANG) {
1030 $WNOHANG = eval { local $SIG{__DIE__}; require POSIX; &POSIX::WNOHANG } || 1;
1031 }
1032
1033 unless ($CHLD_W) { 1660 unless ($CHLD_W) {
1034 $CHLD_W = AnyEvent->signal (signal => 'CHLD', cb => \&_sigchld); 1661 $CHLD_W = AE::signal CHLD => \&_sigchld;
1035 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round 1662 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round
1036 &_sigchld; 1663 &_sigchld;
1037 } 1664 }
1038 1665
1039 bless [$pid, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Child" 1666 bless [$pid, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::child"
1040} 1667 };
1041 1668
1042sub AnyEvent::Base::Child::DESTROY { 1669 *AnyEvent::Base::child::DESTROY = sub {
1043 my ($pid, $cb) = @{$_[0]}; 1670 my ($pid, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
1044 1671
1045 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb}; 1672 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb};
1046 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} }; 1673 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} };
1047 1674
1048 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB; 1675 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB;
1676 };
1677 };
1678 die if $@;
1679
1680 &child
1681}
1682
1683# idle emulation is done by simply using a timer, regardless
1684# of whether the process is idle or not, and not letting
1685# the callback use more than 50% of the time.
1686sub idle {
1687 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1688 *idle = sub {
1689 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1690
1691 my ($cb, $w, $rcb) = $arg{cb};
1692
1693 $rcb = sub {
1694 if ($cb) {
1695 $w = _time;
1696 &$cb;
1697 $w = _time - $w;
1698
1699 # never use more then 50% of the time for the idle watcher,
1700 # within some limits
1701 $w = 0.0001 if $w < 0.0001;
1702 $w = 5 if $w > 5;
1703
1704 $w = AE::timer $w, 0, $rcb;
1705 } else {
1706 # clean up...
1707 undef $w;
1708 undef $rcb;
1709 }
1710 };
1711
1712 $w = AE::timer 0.05, 0, $rcb;
1713
1714 bless \\$cb, "AnyEvent::Base::idle"
1715 };
1716
1717 *AnyEvent::Base::idle::DESTROY = sub {
1718 undef $${$_[0]};
1719 };
1720 };
1721 die if $@;
1722
1723 &idle
1049} 1724}
1050 1725
1051package AnyEvent::CondVar; 1726package AnyEvent::CondVar;
1052 1727
1053our @ISA = AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::; 1728our @ISA = AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::;
1054 1729
1730# only to be used for subclassing
1731sub new {
1732 my $class = shift;
1733 bless AnyEvent->condvar (@_), $class
1734}
1735
1055package AnyEvent::CondVar::Base; 1736package AnyEvent::CondVar::Base;
1056 1737
1057use overload 1738#use overload
1058 '&{}' => sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } }, 1739# '&{}' => sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } },
1059 fallback => 1; 1740# fallback => 1;
1741
1742# save 300+ kilobytes by dirtily hardcoding overloading
1743${"AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::OVERLOAD"}{dummy}++; # Register with magic by touching.
1744*{'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::()'} = sub { }; # "Make it findable via fetchmethod."
1745*{'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::(&{}'} = sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } }; # &{}
1746${'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::()'} = 1; # fallback
1747
1748our $WAITING;
1060 1749
1061sub _send { 1750sub _send {
1062 # nop 1751 # nop
1063} 1752}
1064 1753
1077sub ready { 1766sub ready {
1078 $_[0]{_ae_sent} 1767 $_[0]{_ae_sent}
1079} 1768}
1080 1769
1081sub _wait { 1770sub _wait {
1771 $WAITING
1772 and !$_[0]{_ae_sent}
1773 and Carp::croak "AnyEvent::CondVar: recursive blocking wait detected";
1774
1775 local $WAITING = 1;
1082 AnyEvent->one_event while !$_[0]{_ae_sent}; 1776 AnyEvent->one_event while !$_[0]{_ae_sent};
1083} 1777}
1084 1778
1085sub recv { 1779sub recv {
1086 $_[0]->_wait; 1780 $_[0]->_wait;
1088 Carp::croak $_[0]{_ae_croak} if $_[0]{_ae_croak}; 1782 Carp::croak $_[0]{_ae_croak} if $_[0]{_ae_croak};
1089 wantarray ? @{ $_[0]{_ae_sent} } : $_[0]{_ae_sent}[0] 1783 wantarray ? @{ $_[0]{_ae_sent} } : $_[0]{_ae_sent}[0]
1090} 1784}
1091 1785
1092sub cb { 1786sub cb {
1093 $_[0]{_ae_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1; 1787 my $cv = shift;
1788
1789 @_
1790 and $cv->{_ae_cb} = shift
1791 and $cv->{_ae_sent}
1792 and (delete $cv->{_ae_cb})->($cv);
1793
1094 $_[0]{_ae_cb} 1794 $cv->{_ae_cb}
1095} 1795}
1096 1796
1097sub begin { 1797sub begin {
1098 ++$_[0]{_ae_counter}; 1798 ++$_[0]{_ae_counter};
1099 $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1; 1799 $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1;
1105} 1805}
1106 1806
1107# undocumented/compatibility with pre-3.4 1807# undocumented/compatibility with pre-3.4
1108*broadcast = \&send; 1808*broadcast = \&send;
1109*wait = \&_wait; 1809*wait = \&_wait;
1810
1811=head1 ERROR AND EXCEPTION HANDLING
1812
1813In general, AnyEvent does not do any error handling - it relies on the
1814caller to do that if required. The L<AnyEvent::Strict> module (see also
1815the C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT> environment variable, below) provides strict
1816checking of all AnyEvent methods, however, which is highly useful during
1817development.
1818
1819As for exception handling (i.e. runtime errors and exceptions thrown while
1820executing a callback), this is not only highly event-loop specific, but
1821also not in any way wrapped by this module, as this is the job of the main
1822program.
1823
1824The pure perl event loop simply re-throws the exception (usually
1825within C<< condvar->recv >>), the L<Event> and L<EV> modules call C<<
1826$Event/EV::DIED->() >>, L<Glib> uses C<< install_exception_handler >> and
1827so on.
1828
1829=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
1830
1831The following environment variables are used by this module or its
1832submodules.
1833
1834Note that AnyEvent will remove I<all> environment variables starting with
1835C<PERL_ANYEVENT_> from C<%ENV> when it is loaded while taint mode is
1836enabled.
1837
1838=over 4
1839
1840=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
1841
1842By default, AnyEvent will be completely silent except in fatal
1843conditions. You can set this environment variable to make AnyEvent more
1844talkative.
1845
1846When set to C<1> or higher, causes AnyEvent to warn about unexpected
1847conditions, such as not being able to load the event model specified by
1848C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>.
1849
1850When set to C<2> or higher, cause AnyEvent to report to STDERR which event
1851model it chooses.
1852
1853When set to C<8> or higher, then AnyEvent will report extra information on
1854which optional modules it loads and how it implements certain features.
1855
1856=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT>
1857
1858AnyEvent does not do much argument checking by default, as thorough
1859argument checking is very costly. Setting this variable to a true value
1860will cause AnyEvent to load C<AnyEvent::Strict> and then to thoroughly
1861check the arguments passed to most method calls. If it finds any problems,
1862it will croak.
1863
1864In other words, enables "strict" mode.
1865
1866Unlike C<use strict> (or its modern cousin, C<< use L<common::sense>
1867>>, it is definitely recommended to keep it off in production. Keeping
1868C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT=1> in your environment while developing programs
1869can be very useful, however.
1870
1871=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
1872
1873This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
1874auto detection and -probing kicks in. It must be a string consisting
1875entirely of ASCII letters. The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended
1876and the resulting module name is loaded and if the load was successful,
1877used as event model. If it fails to load AnyEvent will proceed with
1878auto detection and -probing.
1879
1880This functionality might change in future versions.
1881
1882For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) you
1883could start your program like this:
1884
1885 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
1886
1887=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS>
1888
1889Used by both L<AnyEvent::DNS> and L<AnyEvent::Socket> to determine preferences
1890for IPv4 or IPv6. The default is unspecified (and might change, or be the result
1891of auto probing).
1892
1893Must be set to a comma-separated list of protocols or address families,
1894current supported: C<ipv4> and C<ipv6>. Only protocols mentioned will be
1895used, and preference will be given to protocols mentioned earlier in the
1896list.
1897
1898This variable can effectively be used for denial-of-service attacks
1899against local programs (e.g. when setuid), although the impact is likely
1900small, as the program has to handle conenction and other failures anyways.
1901
1902Examples: C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4,ipv6> - prefer IPv4 over IPv6,
1903but support both and try to use both. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4>
1904- only support IPv4, never try to resolve or contact IPv6
1905addresses. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv6,ipv4> support either IPv4 or
1906IPv6, but prefer IPv6 over IPv4.
1907
1908=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_EDNS0>
1909
1910Used by L<AnyEvent::DNS> to decide whether to use the EDNS0 extension
1911for DNS. This extension is generally useful to reduce DNS traffic, but
1912some (broken) firewalls drop such DNS packets, which is why it is off by
1913default.
1914
1915Setting this variable to C<1> will cause L<AnyEvent::DNS> to announce
1916EDNS0 in its DNS requests.
1917
1918=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_FORKS>
1919
1920The maximum number of child processes that C<AnyEvent::Util::fork_call>
1921will create in parallel.
1922
1923=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_OUTSTANDING_DNS>
1924
1925The default value for the C<max_outstanding> parameter for the default DNS
1926resolver - this is the maximum number of parallel DNS requests that are
1927sent to the DNS server.
1928
1929=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_RESOLV_CONF>
1930
1931The file to use instead of F</etc/resolv.conf> (or OS-specific
1932configuration) in the default resolver. When set to the empty string, no
1933default config will be used.
1934
1935=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_CA_FILE>, C<PERL_ANYEVENT_CA_PATH>.
1936
1937When neither C<ca_file> nor C<ca_path> was specified during
1938L<AnyEvent::TLS> context creation, and either of these environment
1939variables exist, they will be used to specify CA certificate locations
1940instead of a system-dependent default.
1941
1942=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_GUARD> and C<PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_ASYNC_INTERRUPT>
1943
1944When these are set to C<1>, then the respective modules are not
1945loaded. Mostly good for testing AnyEvent itself.
1946
1947=back
1110 1948
1111=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE 1949=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE
1112 1950
1113This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in 1951This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in
1114a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to 1952a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to
1148 1986
1149I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to 1987I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to
1150condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will 1988condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will
1151C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must 1989C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must
1152not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense. 1990not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense.
1153
1154=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
1155
1156The following environment variables are used by this module:
1157
1158=over 4
1159
1160=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
1161
1162By default, AnyEvent will be completely silent except in fatal
1163conditions. You can set this environment variable to make AnyEvent more
1164talkative.
1165
1166When set to C<1> or higher, causes AnyEvent to warn about unexpected
1167conditions, such as not being able to load the event model specified by
1168C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>.
1169
1170When set to C<2> or higher, cause AnyEvent to report to STDERR which event
1171model it chooses.
1172
1173=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
1174
1175This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
1176auto detection and -probing kicks in. It must be a string consisting
1177entirely of ASCII letters. The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended
1178and the resulting module name is loaded and if the load was successful,
1179used as event model. If it fails to load AnyEvent will proceed with
1180auto detection and -probing.
1181
1182This functionality might change in future versions.
1183
1184For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) you
1185could start your program like this:
1186
1187 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
1188
1189=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS>
1190
1191Used by both L<AnyEvent::DNS> and L<AnyEvent::Socket> to determine preferences
1192for IPv4 or IPv6. The default is unspecified (and might change, or be the result
1193of auto probing).
1194
1195Must be set to a comma-separated list of protocols or address families,
1196current supported: C<ipv4> and C<ipv6>. Only protocols mentioned will be
1197used, and preference will be given to protocols mentioned earlier in the
1198list.
1199
1200This variable can effectively be used for denial-of-service attacks
1201against local programs (e.g. when setuid), although the impact is likely
1202small, as the program has to handle connection errors already-
1203
1204Examples: C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4,ipv6> - prefer IPv4 over IPv6,
1205but support both and try to use both. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4>
1206- only support IPv4, never try to resolve or contact IPv6
1207addresses. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv6,ipv4> support either IPv4 or
1208IPv6, but prefer IPv6 over IPv4.
1209
1210=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_EDNS0>
1211
1212Used by L<AnyEvent::DNS> to decide whether to use the EDNS0 extension
1213for DNS. This extension is generally useful to reduce DNS traffic, but
1214some (broken) firewalls drop such DNS packets, which is why it is off by
1215default.
1216
1217Setting this variable to C<1> will cause L<AnyEvent::DNS> to announce
1218EDNS0 in its DNS requests.
1219
1220=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_FORKS>
1221
1222The maximum number of child processes that C<AnyEvent::Util::fork_call>
1223will create in parallel.
1224
1225=back
1226 1991
1227=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM 1992=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM
1228 1993
1229The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer 1994The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer
1230to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the 1995to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the
1243 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read 2008 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read
1244 $cv->send if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i 2009 $cv->send if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i
1245 }, 2010 },
1246 ); 2011 );
1247 2012
1248 my $time_watcher; # can only be used once
1249
1250 sub new_timer {
1251 $timer = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => sub { 2013 my $time_watcher = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, interval => 1, cb => sub {
1252 warn "timeout\n"; # print 'timeout' about every second 2014 warn "timeout\n"; # print 'timeout' at most every second
1253 &new_timer; # and restart the time
1254 }); 2015 });
1255 }
1256
1257 new_timer; # create first timer
1258 2016
1259 $cv->recv; # wait until user enters /^q/i 2017 $cv->recv; # wait until user enters /^q/i
1260 2018
1261=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE 2019=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE
1262 2020
1335 2093
1336The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions) 2094The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions)
1337that occurred during request processing. The C<result> method detects 2095that occurred during request processing. The C<result> method detects
1338whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object) 2096whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object)
1339and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other 2097and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other
1340problems get reported tot he code that tries to use the result, not in a 2098problems get reported to the code that tries to use the result, not in a
1341random callback. 2099random callback.
1342 2100
1343All of this enables the following usage styles: 2101All of this enables the following usage styles:
1344 2102
13451. Blocking: 21031. Blocking:
1393through AnyEvent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero 2151through AnyEvent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero
1394timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable, 2152timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable,
1395which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again. 2153which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again.
1396 2154
1397Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent 2155Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent
1398distribution. 2156distribution. It uses the L<AE> interface, which makes a real difference
2157for the EV and Perl backends only.
1399 2158
1400=head3 Explanation of the columns 2159=head3 Explanation of the columns
1401 2160
1402I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since 2161I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since
1403different event models feature vastly different performances, each event 2162different event models feature vastly different performances, each event
1424watcher. 2183watcher.
1425 2184
1426=head3 Results 2185=head3 Results
1427 2186
1428 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment 2187 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment
1429 EV/EV 400000 244 0.56 0.46 0.31 EV native interface 2188 EV/EV 100000 223 0.47 0.43 0.27 EV native interface
1430 EV/Any 100000 244 2.50 0.46 0.29 EV + AnyEvent watchers 2189 EV/Any 100000 223 0.48 0.42 0.26 EV + AnyEvent watchers
1431 CoroEV/Any 100000 244 2.49 0.44 0.29 coroutines + Coro::Signal 2190 Coro::EV/Any 100000 223 0.47 0.42 0.26 coroutines + Coro::Signal
1432 Perl/Any 100000 513 4.92 0.87 1.12 pure perl implementation 2191 Perl/Any 100000 431 2.70 0.74 0.92 pure perl implementation
1433 Event/Event 16000 516 31.88 31.30 0.85 Event native interface 2192 Event/Event 16000 516 31.16 31.84 0.82 Event native interface
1434 Event/Any 16000 590 35.75 31.42 1.08 Event + AnyEvent watchers 2193 Event/Any 16000 1203 42.61 34.79 1.80 Event + AnyEvent watchers
2194 IOAsync/Any 16000 1911 41.92 27.45 16.81 via IO::Async::Loop::IO_Poll
2195 IOAsync/Any 16000 1726 40.69 26.37 15.25 via IO::Async::Loop::Epoll
1435 Glib/Any 16000 1357 98.22 12.41 54.00 quadratic behaviour 2196 Glib/Any 16000 1118 89.00 12.57 51.17 quadratic behaviour
1436 Tk/Any 2000 1860 26.97 67.98 14.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers 2197 Tk/Any 2000 1346 20.96 10.75 8.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers
1437 POE/Event 2000 6644 108.64 736.02 14.73 via POE::Loop::Event 2198 POE/Any 2000 6951 108.97 795.32 14.24 via POE::Loop::Event
1438 POE/Select 2000 6343 94.13 809.12 565.96 via POE::Loop::Select 2199 POE/Any 2000 6648 94.79 774.40 575.51 via POE::Loop::Select
1439 2200
1440=head3 Discussion 2201=head3 Discussion
1441 2202
1442The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very 2203The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very
1443well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one) 2204well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one)
1455benchmark machine, handling an event takes roughly 1600 CPU cycles with 2216benchmark machine, handling an event takes roughly 1600 CPU cycles with
1456EV, 3100 CPU cycles with AnyEvent's pure perl loop and almost 3000000 CPU 2217EV, 3100 CPU cycles with AnyEvent's pure perl loop and almost 3000000 CPU
1457cycles with POE. 2218cycles with POE.
1458 2219
1459C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both 2220C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both
1460maximal/minimal, respectively. Even when going through AnyEvent, it uses 2221maximal/minimal, respectively. When using the L<AE> API there is zero
2222overhead (when going through the AnyEvent API create is about 5-6 times
2223slower, with other times being equal, so still uses far less memory than
1461far less memory than any other event loop and is still faster than Event 2224any other event loop and is still faster than Event natively).
1462natively.
1463 2225
1464The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the 2226The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the
1465constant timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl 2227constant timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl
1466interpreter and the backend itself). Nevertheless this shows that it 2228interpreter and the backend itself). Nevertheless this shows that it
1467adds very little overhead in itself. Like any select-based backend its 2229adds very little overhead in itself. Like any select-based backend its
1468performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of 2230performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of
1469them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark. 2231them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark.
1470 2232
1471The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation 2233The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation
1472cost, but overall scores in on the third place. 2234cost, but overall scores in on the third place.
2235
2236C<IO::Async> performs admirably well, about on par with C<Event>, even
2237when using its pure perl backend.
1473 2238
1474C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a 2239C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a
1475faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as 2240faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as
1476C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of 2241C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of
1477watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four, 2242watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four,
1538In this benchmark, we use 10000 socket pairs (20000 sockets), of which 100 2303In this benchmark, we use 10000 socket pairs (20000 sockets), of which 100
1539(1%) are active. This mirrors the activity of large servers with many 2304(1%) are active. This mirrors the activity of large servers with many
1540connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time. 2305connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time.
1541 2306
1542Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent 2307Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent
1543distribution. 2308distribution. It uses the L<AE> interface, which makes a real difference
2309for the EV and Perl backends only.
1544 2310
1545=head3 Explanation of the columns 2311=head3 Explanation of the columns
1546 2312
1547I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as 2313I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as
1548each server has a read and write socket end). 2314each server has a read and write socket end).
1555it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating 2321it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating
1556a new one that moves the timeout into the future. 2322a new one that moves the timeout into the future.
1557 2323
1558=head3 Results 2324=head3 Results
1559 2325
1560 name sockets create request 2326 name sockets create request
1561 EV 20000 69.01 11.16 2327 EV 20000 62.66 7.99
1562 Perl 20000 73.32 35.87 2328 Perl 20000 68.32 32.64
1563 Event 20000 212.62 257.32 2329 IOAsync 20000 174.06 101.15 epoll
1564 Glib 20000 651.16 1896.30 2330 IOAsync 20000 174.67 610.84 poll
2331 Event 20000 202.69 242.91
2332 Glib 20000 557.01 1689.52
1565 POE 20000 349.67 12317.24 uses POE::Loop::Event 2333 POE 20000 341.54 12086.32 uses POE::Loop::Event
1566 2334
1567=head3 Discussion 2335=head3 Discussion
1568 2336
1569This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the 2337This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the
1570particular event loop. 2338particular event loop.
1572EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time 2340EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time
1573is relatively high, though. 2341is relatively high, though.
1574 2342
1575Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event 2343Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event
1576loops Event and Glib. 2344loops Event and Glib.
2345
2346IO::Async performs very well when using its epoll backend, and still quite
2347good compared to Glib when using its pure perl backend.
1577 2348
1578Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will 2349Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will
1579understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to 2350understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to
1580the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event 2351the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event
1581uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations. 2352uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations.
1644=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of 2415=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of
1645watchers, as the management overhead dominates. 2416watchers, as the management overhead dominates.
1646 2417
1647=back 2418=back
1648 2419
2420=head2 THE IO::Lambda BENCHMARK
2421
2422Recently I was told about the benchmark in the IO::Lambda manpage, which
2423could be misinterpreted to make AnyEvent look bad. In fact, the benchmark
2424simply compares IO::Lambda with POE, and IO::Lambda looks better (which
2425shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody). As such, the benchmark is
2426fine, and mostly shows that the AnyEvent backend from IO::Lambda isn't
2427very optimal. But how would AnyEvent compare when used without the extra
2428baggage? To explore this, I wrote the equivalent benchmark for AnyEvent.
2429
2430The benchmark itself creates an echo-server, and then, for 500 times,
2431connects to the echo server, sends a line, waits for the reply, and then
2432creates the next connection. This is a rather bad benchmark, as it doesn't
2433test the efficiency of the framework or much non-blocking I/O, but it is a
2434benchmark nevertheless.
2435
2436 name runtime
2437 Lambda/select 0.330 sec
2438 + optimized 0.122 sec
2439 Lambda/AnyEvent 0.327 sec
2440 + optimized 0.138 sec
2441 Raw sockets/select 0.077 sec
2442 POE/select, components 0.662 sec
2443 POE/select, raw sockets 0.226 sec
2444 POE/select, optimized 0.404 sec
2445
2446 AnyEvent/select/nb 0.085 sec
2447 AnyEvent/EV/nb 0.068 sec
2448 +state machine 0.134 sec
2449
2450The benchmark is also a bit unfair (my fault): the IO::Lambda/POE
2451benchmarks actually make blocking connects and use 100% blocking I/O,
2452defeating the purpose of an event-based solution. All of the newly
2453written AnyEvent benchmarks use 100% non-blocking connects (using
2454AnyEvent::Socket::tcp_connect and the asynchronous pure perl DNS
2455resolver), so AnyEvent is at a disadvantage here, as non-blocking connects
2456generally require a lot more bookkeeping and event handling than blocking
2457connects (which involve a single syscall only).
2458
2459The last AnyEvent benchmark additionally uses L<AnyEvent::Handle>, which
2460offers similar expressive power as POE and IO::Lambda, using conventional
2461Perl syntax. This means that both the echo server and the client are 100%
2462non-blocking, further placing it at a disadvantage.
2463
2464As you can see, the AnyEvent + EV combination even beats the
2465hand-optimised "raw sockets benchmark", while AnyEvent + its pure perl
2466backend easily beats IO::Lambda and POE.
2467
2468And even the 100% non-blocking version written using the high-level (and
2469slow :) L<AnyEvent::Handle> abstraction beats both POE and IO::Lambda
2470higher level ("unoptimised") abstractions by a large margin, even though
2471it does all of DNS, tcp-connect and socket I/O in a non-blocking way.
2472
2473The two AnyEvent benchmarks programs can be found as F<eg/ae0.pl> and
2474F<eg/ae2.pl> in the AnyEvent distribution, the remaining benchmarks are
2475part of the IO::Lambda distribution and were used without any changes.
2476
2477
2478=head1 SIGNALS
2479
2480AnyEvent currently installs handlers for these signals:
2481
2482=over 4
2483
2484=item SIGCHLD
2485
2486A handler for C<SIGCHLD> is installed by AnyEvent's child watcher
2487emulation for event loops that do not support them natively. Also, some
2488event loops install a similar handler.
2489
2490Additionally, when AnyEvent is loaded and SIGCHLD is set to IGNORE, then
2491AnyEvent will reset it to default, to avoid losing child exit statuses.
2492
2493=item SIGPIPE
2494
2495A no-op handler is installed for C<SIGPIPE> when C<$SIG{PIPE}> is C<undef>
2496when AnyEvent gets loaded.
2497
2498The rationale for this is that AnyEvent users usually do not really depend
2499on SIGPIPE delivery (which is purely an optimisation for shell use, or
2500badly-written programs), but C<SIGPIPE> can cause spurious and rare
2501program exits as a lot of people do not expect C<SIGPIPE> when writing to
2502some random socket.
2503
2504The rationale for installing a no-op handler as opposed to ignoring it is
2505that this way, the handler will be restored to defaults on exec.
2506
2507Feel free to install your own handler, or reset it to defaults.
2508
2509=back
2510
2511=cut
2512
2513undef $SIG{CHLD}
2514 if $SIG{CHLD} eq 'IGNORE';
2515
2516$SIG{PIPE} = sub { }
2517 unless defined $SIG{PIPE};
2518
2519=head1 RECOMMENDED/OPTIONAL MODULES
2520
2521One of AnyEvent's main goals is to be 100% Pure-Perl(tm): only perl (and
2522its built-in modules) are required to use it.
2523
2524That does not mean that AnyEvent won't take advantage of some additional
2525modules if they are installed.
2526
2527This section explains which additional modules will be used, and how they
2528affect AnyEvent's operation.
2529
2530=over 4
2531
2532=item L<Async::Interrupt>
2533
2534This slightly arcane module is used to implement fast signal handling: To
2535my knowledge, there is no way to do completely race-free and quick
2536signal handling in pure perl. To ensure that signals still get
2537delivered, AnyEvent will start an interval timer to wake up perl (and
2538catch the signals) with some delay (default is 10 seconds, look for
2539C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>).
2540
2541If this module is available, then it will be used to implement signal
2542catching, which means that signals will not be delayed, and the event loop
2543will not be interrupted regularly, which is more efficient (and good for
2544battery life on laptops).
2545
2546This affects not just the pure-perl event loop, but also other event loops
2547that have no signal handling on their own (e.g. Glib, Tk, Qt).
2548
2549Some event loops (POE, Event, Event::Lib) offer signal watchers natively,
2550and either employ their own workarounds (POE) or use AnyEvent's workaround
2551(using C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>). Installing L<Async::Interrupt>
2552does nothing for those backends.
2553
2554=item L<EV>
2555
2556This module isn't really "optional", as it is simply one of the backend
2557event loops that AnyEvent can use. However, it is simply the best event
2558loop available in terms of features, speed and stability: It supports
2559the AnyEvent API optimally, implements all the watcher types in XS, does
2560automatic timer adjustments even when no monotonic clock is available,
2561can take avdantage of advanced kernel interfaces such as C<epoll> and
2562C<kqueue>, and is the fastest backend I<by far>. You can even embed
2563L<Glib>/L<Gtk2> in it (or vice versa, see L<EV::Glib> and L<Glib::EV>).
2564
2565If you only use backends that rely on another event loop (e.g. C<Tk>),
2566then this module will do nothing for you.
2567
2568=item L<Guard>
2569
2570The guard module, when used, will be used to implement
2571C<AnyEvent::Util::guard>. This speeds up guards considerably (and uses a
2572lot less memory), but otherwise doesn't affect guard operation much. It is
2573purely used for performance.
2574
2575=item L<JSON> and L<JSON::XS>
2576
2577One of these modules is required when you want to read or write JSON data
2578via L<AnyEvent::Handle>. L<JSON> is also written in pure-perl, but can take
2579advantage of the ultra-high-speed L<JSON::XS> module when it is installed.
2580
2581=item L<Net::SSLeay>
2582
2583Implementing TLS/SSL in Perl is certainly interesting, but not very
2584worthwhile: If this module is installed, then L<AnyEvent::Handle> (with
2585the help of L<AnyEvent::TLS>), gains the ability to do TLS/SSL.
2586
2587=item L<Time::HiRes>
2588
2589This module is part of perl since release 5.008. It will be used when the
2590chosen event library does not come with a timing source of its own. The
2591pure-perl event loop (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) will additionally use it to
2592try to use a monotonic clock for timing stability.
2593
2594=back
2595
1649 2596
1650=head1 FORK 2597=head1 FORK
1651 2598
1652Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are 2599Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are
1653because they rely on inefficient but fork-safe C<select> or C<poll> 2600because they rely on inefficient but fork-safe C<select> or C<poll> calls
1654calls. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware. 2601- higher performance APIs such as BSD's kqueue or the dreaded Linux epoll
2602are usually badly thought-out hacks that are incompatible with fork in
2603one way or another. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware and ensures that you
2604continue event-processing in both parent and child (or both, if you know
2605what you are doing).
2606
2607This means that, in general, you cannot fork and do event processing in
2608the child if the event library was initialised before the fork (which
2609usually happens when the first AnyEvent watcher is created, or the library
2610is loaded).
1655 2611
1656If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first 2612If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first
1657watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child. 2613watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child OR you must do
2614something completely out of the scope of AnyEvent.
2615
2616The problem of doing event processing in the parent I<and> the child
2617is much more complicated: even for backends that I<are> fork-aware or
2618fork-safe, their behaviour is not usually what you want: fork clones all
2619watchers, that means all timers, I/O watchers etc. are active in both
2620parent and child, which is almost never what you want. USing C<exec>
2621to start worker children from some kind of manage rprocess is usually
2622preferred, because it is much easier and cleaner, at the expense of having
2623to have another binary.
1658 2624
1659 2625
1660=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS 2626=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
1661 2627
1662AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via 2628AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via
1673 2639
1674 use AnyEvent; 2640 use AnyEvent;
1675 2641
1676Similar considerations apply to $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}, as that can 2642Similar considerations apply to $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}, as that can
1677be used to probe what backend is used and gain other information (which is 2643be used to probe what backend is used and gain other information (which is
1678probably even less useful to an attacker than PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL). 2644probably even less useful to an attacker than PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), and
2645$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT}.
2646
2647Note that AnyEvent will remove I<all> environment variables starting with
2648C<PERL_ANYEVENT_> from C<%ENV> when it is loaded while taint mode is
2649enabled.
1679 2650
1680 2651
1681=head1 BUGS 2652=head1 BUGS
1682 2653
1683Perl 5.8 has numerous memleaks that sometimes hit this module and are hard 2654Perl 5.8 has numerous memleaks that sometimes hit this module and are hard
1684to work around. If you suffer from memleaks, first upgrade to Perl 5.10 2655to work around. If you suffer from memleaks, first upgrade to Perl 5.10
1685and check wether the leaks still show up. (Perl 5.10.0 has other annoying 2656and check wether the leaks still show up. (Perl 5.10.0 has other annoying
1686mamleaks, such as leaking on C<map> and C<grep> but it is usually not as 2657memleaks, such as leaking on C<map> and C<grep> but it is usually not as
1687pronounced). 2658pronounced).
1688 2659
1689 2660
1690=head1 SEE ALSO 2661=head1 SEE ALSO
2662
2663Tutorial/Introduction: L<AnyEvent::Intro>.
2664
2665FAQ: L<AnyEvent::FAQ>.
1691 2666
1692Utility functions: L<AnyEvent::Util>. 2667Utility functions: L<AnyEvent::Util>.
1693 2668
1694Event modules: L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>, L<Glib::EV>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>, 2669Event modules: L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>, L<Glib::EV>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>,
1695L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>. 2670L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>.
1696 2671
1697Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>, 2672Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>,
1698L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, 2673L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>,
1699L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>, 2674L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>,
1700L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>. 2675L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync>, L<Anyevent::Impl::Irssi>.
1701 2676
1702Non-blocking file handles, sockets, TCP clients and 2677Non-blocking file handles, sockets, TCP clients and
1703servers: L<AnyEvent::Handle>, L<AnyEvent::Socket>. 2678servers: L<AnyEvent::Handle>, L<AnyEvent::Socket>, L<AnyEvent::TLS>.
1704 2679
1705Asynchronous DNS: L<AnyEvent::DNS>. 2680Asynchronous DNS: L<AnyEvent::DNS>.
1706 2681
1707Coroutine support: L<Coro>, L<Coro::AnyEvent>, L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>, 2682Thread support: L<Coro>, L<Coro::AnyEvent>, L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>.
1708 2683
1709Nontrivial usage examples: L<Net::FCP>, L<Net::XMPP2>, L<AnyEvent::DNS>. 2684Nontrivial usage examples: L<AnyEvent::GPSD>, L<AnyEvent::IRC>,
2685L<AnyEvent::HTTP>.
1710 2686
1711 2687
1712=head1 AUTHOR 2688=head1 AUTHOR
1713 2689
1714 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 2690 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>

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