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1=head1 NAME 1=head1 NAME
2 2
3AnyEvent - provide framework for multiple event loops 3AnyEvent - the DBI of event loop programming
4 4
5EV, Event, Glib, Tk, Perl, Event::Lib, Qt, POE - various supported event loops 5EV, Event, Glib, Tk, Perl, Event::Lib, Irssi, rxvt-unicode, IO::Async, Qt,
6FLTK and POE are various supported event loops/environments.
6 7
7=head1 SYNOPSIS 8=head1 SYNOPSIS
8 9
9 use AnyEvent; 10 use AnyEvent;
10 11
12 # if you prefer function calls, look at the AE manpage for
13 # an alternative API.
14
15 # file handle or descriptor readable
11 my $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh, poll => "r|w", cb => sub { 16 my $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh, poll => "r", cb => sub { ... });
17
18 # one-shot or repeating timers
19 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, cb => sub { ... });
20 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, interval => $seconds, cb => ...);
21
22 print AnyEvent->now; # prints current event loop time
23 print AnyEvent->time; # think Time::HiRes::time or simply CORE::time.
24
25 # POSIX signal
26 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "TERM", cb => sub { ... });
27
28 # child process exit
29 my $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => $pid, cb => sub {
30 my ($pid, $status) = @_;
12 ... 31 ...
13 }); 32 });
14 33
15 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, cb => sub { 34 # called when event loop idle (if applicable)
16 ... 35 my $w = AnyEvent->idle (cb => sub { ... });
17 });
18 36
19 my $w = AnyEvent->condvar; # stores whether a condition was flagged 37 my $w = AnyEvent->condvar; # stores whether a condition was flagged
20 $w->send; # wake up current and all future recv's 38 $w->send; # wake up current and all future recv's
21 $w->recv; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->send 39 $w->recv; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->send
40 # use a condvar in callback mode:
41 $w->cb (sub { $_[0]->recv });
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.
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.
28 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?
48module 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
49model you use. 79model you use.
50 80
51For 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
52actually 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
53like 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
54cannot use anything else, as they are simply incompatible to everything 84cannot use anything else, as they are simply incompatible to everything
55that isn't them. What's worse, all the potential users of your 85that isn't them. What's worse, all the potential users of your
56module are I<also> forced to use the same event loop you use. 86module are I<also> forced to use the same event loop you use.
57 87
58AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works 88AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works
59fine. 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
60with the rest: POE + IO::Async? No go. Tk + Event? No go. Again: if 90with the rest: POE + EV? No go. Tk + Event? No go. Again: if your module
61your module uses one of those, every user of your module has to use it, 91uses one of those, every user of your module has to use it, too. But if
62too. But if your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all 92your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all event models it
63event models it supports (including stuff like IO::Async, as long as those 93supports (including stuff like IO::Async, as long as those use one of the
64use one of the supported event loops. It is trivial to add new event loops 94supported event loops. It is easy to add new event loops to AnyEvent, too,
65to AnyEvent, too, so it is future-proof). 95so it is future-proof).
66 96
67In 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
68model>, 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
69modules, 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
70follow. 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
71offering 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
72technically possible. 102technically possible.
73 103
74Of course, AnyEvent comes with a big (and fully optional!) toolbox 104Of course, AnyEvent comes with a big (and fully optional!) toolbox
75of useful functionality, such as an asynchronous DNS resolver, 100% 105of useful functionality, such as an asynchronous DNS resolver, 100%
81useful) 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
82model, you should I<not> use this module. 112model, you should I<not> use this module.
83 113
84=head1 DESCRIPTION 114=head1 DESCRIPTION
85 115
86L<AnyEvent> provides an identical interface to multiple event loops. This 116L<AnyEvent> provides a uniform interface to various event loops. This
87allows module authors to utilise an event loop without forcing module 117allows module authors to use event loop functionality without forcing
88users 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
89peacefully at any one time). 119than one event loop cannot coexist peacefully).
90 120
91The 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>
92module. 122module.
93 123
94During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries 124During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries
95to 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
96following modules is already loaded: L<EV>, 126following modules is already loaded: L<EV>, L<AnyEvent::Loop>,
97L<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
98L<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
99to 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
100adaptor should always succeed) in the order given. The first one that can 130available, the pure-perl L<AnyEvent::Loop> should always work, so
101be successfully loaded will be used. If, after this, still none could be 131the other two are not normally tried.
102found, AnyEvent will fall back to a pure-perl event loop, which is not
103very efficient, but should work everywhere.
104 132
105Because AnyEvent first checks for modules that are already loaded, loading 133Because AnyEvent first checks for modules that are already loaded, loading
106an event model explicitly before first using AnyEvent will likely make 134an event model explicitly before first using AnyEvent will likely make
107that model the default. For example: 135that model the default. For example:
108 136
110 use AnyEvent; 138 use AnyEvent;
111 139
112 # .. AnyEvent will likely default to Tk 140 # .. AnyEvent will likely default to Tk
113 141
114The 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
115starts 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,
116use AnyEvent so their modules work together with others seamlessly... 144as very few modules hardcode event loops without announcing this very
145loudly.
117 146
118The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called 147The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called C<AnyEvent::Loop>. Like
119C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>. Like other event modules you can load it 148other event modules you can load it explicitly and enjoy the high
120explicitly and enjoy the high availability of that event loop :) 149availability of that event loop :)
121 150
122=head1 WATCHERS 151=head1 WATCHERS
123 152
124AnyEvent has the central concept of a I<watcher>, which is an object that 153AnyEvent has the central concept of a I<watcher>, which is an object that
125stores relevant data for each kind of event you are waiting for, such as 154stores relevant data for each kind of event you are waiting for, such as
128These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After 157These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After
129creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the 158creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the
130callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model 159callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model
131is in control). 160is in control).
132 161
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
133To 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
134variable 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
135to it). 170to it).
136 171
137All 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.
138 173
139Many watchers either are used with "recursion" (repeating timers for 174Many watchers either are used with "recursion" (repeating timers for
140example), or need to refer to their watcher object in other ways. 175example), or need to refer to their watcher object in other ways.
141 176
142An any way to achieve that is this pattern: 177One way to achieve that is this pattern:
143 178
144 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->type (arg => value ..., cb => sub { 179 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->type (arg => value ..., cb => sub {
145 # you can use $w here, for example to undef it 180 # you can use $w here, for example to undef it
146 undef $w; 181 undef $w;
147 }); 182 });
150my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are 185my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are
151declared. 186declared.
152 187
153=head2 I/O WATCHERS 188=head2 I/O WATCHERS
154 189
190 $w = AnyEvent->io (
191 fh => <filehandle_or_fileno>,
192 poll => <"r" or "w">,
193 cb => <callback>,
194 );
195
155You 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
156with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments: 197with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments:
157 198
158C<fh> the Perl I<file handle> (I<not> file descriptor) to watch for events 199C<fh> is the Perl I<file handle> (or a naked file descriptor) to watch
159(AnyEvent might or might not keep a reference to this file handle). C<poll> 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
160must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>, which creates a watcher 206C<poll> must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>, which creates a
161waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, respectively. C<cb> is the 207watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, respectively.
208
162callback to invoke each time the file handle becomes ready. 209C<cb> is the callback to invoke each time the file handle becomes ready.
163 210
164Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 211Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
165presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 212presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
166callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks. 213callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks.
167 214
168The 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.
169You 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
170underlying file descriptor. 217underlying file descriptor.
171 218
172Some event loops issue spurious readyness notifications, so you should 219Some event loops issue spurious readiness notifications, so you should
173always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file 220always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file
174handles. 221handles.
175 222
176Example: wait for readability of STDIN, then read a line and disable the 223Example: wait for readability of STDIN, then read a line and disable the
177watcher. 224watcher.
182 undef $w; 229 undef $w;
183 }); 230 });
184 231
185=head2 TIME WATCHERS 232=head2 TIME WATCHERS
186 233
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
187You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >> 242You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >>
188method with the following mandatory arguments: 243method with the following mandatory arguments:
189 244
190C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are 245C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are
191supported) 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
193 248
194Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 249Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
195presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 250presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
196callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks. 251callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks.
197 252
198The callback will normally be invoked once only. If you specify another 253The callback will normally be invoked only once. If you specify another
199parameter, C<interval>, as a strictly positive number (> 0), then the 254parameter, C<interval>, as a strictly positive number (> 0), then the
200callback will be invoked regularly at that interval (in fractional 255callback will be invoked regularly at that interval (in fractional
201seconds) after the first invocation. If C<interval> is specified with a 256seconds) after the first invocation. If C<interval> is specified with a
202false value, then it is treated as if it were missing. 257false value, then it is treated as if it were not specified at all.
203 258
204The callback will be rescheduled before invoking the callback, but no 259The callback will be rescheduled before invoking the callback, but no
205attempt is done to avoid timer drift in most backends, so the interval is 260attempt is made to avoid timer drift in most backends, so the interval is
206only approximate. 261only approximate.
207 262
208Example: fire an event after 7.7 seconds. 263Example: fire an event after 7.7 seconds.
209 264
210 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub { 265 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub {
228 283
229While 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
230use absolute time internally. This makes a difference when your clock 285use absolute time internally. This makes a difference when your clock
231"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
232the 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
233fire "after" a second might actually take six years to finally fire. 288fire "after a second" might actually take six years to finally fire.
234 289
235AnyEvent cannot compensate for this. The only event loop that is conscious 290AnyEvent cannot compensate for this. The only event loop that is conscious
236about 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
237on true relative time) and absolute (ev_periodic, based on wallclock time) 292on true relative time) and absolute (ev_periodic, based on wallclock time)
238timers. 293timers.
239 294
240AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the 295AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the
241AnyEvent API. 296AnyEvent API.
263I<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
264function to call when you want to know the current time.> 319function to call when you want to know the current time.>
265 320
266This function is also often faster then C<< AnyEvent->time >>, and 321This function is also often faster then C<< AnyEvent->time >>, and
267thus the preferred method if you want some timestamp (for example, 322thus the preferred method if you want some timestamp (for example,
268L<AnyEvent::Handle> uses this to update it's activity timeouts). 323L<AnyEvent::Handle> uses this to update its activity timeouts).
269 324
270The 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
271with your timing, you can skip it without bad conscience. 326with your timing; you can skip it without a bad conscience.
272 327
273For 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>
274and L<EV> and the following set-up: 329and L<EV> and the following set-up:
275 330
276The 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
277time=500 (assume no other callbacks delay processing). In your callback, 332time=500 (assume no other callbacks delay processing). In your callback,
278you 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
279second) 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
280after three seconds. 335after three seconds.
281 336
299In 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
300can 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
301difference between C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> into 356difference between C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> into
302account. 357account.
303 358
359=item AnyEvent->now_update
360
361Some event loops (such as L<EV> or L<AnyEvent::Loop>) cache the current
362time for each loop iteration (see the discussion of L<< AnyEvent->now >>,
363above).
364
365When a callback runs for a long time (or when the process sleeps), then
366this "current" time will differ substantially from the real time, which
367might affect timers and time-outs.
368
369When this is the case, you can call this method, which will update the
370event loop's idea of "current time".
371
372A typical example would be a script in a web server (e.g. C<mod_perl>) -
373when mod_perl executes the script, then the event loop will have the wrong
374idea about the "current time" (being potentially far in the past, when the
375script ran the last time). In that case you should arrange a call to C<<
376AnyEvent->now_update >> each time the web server process wakes up again
377(e.g. at the start of your script, or in a handler).
378
379Note that updating the time I<might> cause some events to be handled.
380
304=back 381=back
305 382
306=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS 383=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS
384
385 $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => <uppercase_signal_name>, cb => <callback>);
307 386
308You 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
309I<name> in uppercase and without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl 388I<name> in uppercase and without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl
310callback to be invoked whenever a signal occurs. 389callback to be invoked whenever a signal occurs.
311 390
317invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. Synchronous means 396invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. Synchronous means
318that 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,
319but it is guaranteed not to interrupt any other callbacks. 398but it is guaranteed not to interrupt any other callbacks.
320 399
321The 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
322between multiple watchers. 401between multiple watchers, and AnyEvent will ensure that signals will not
402interrupt your program at bad times.
323 403
324This watcher might use C<%SIG>, so programs overwriting those signals 404This watcher might use C<%SIG> (depending on the event loop used),
325directly will likely not work correctly. 405so programs overwriting those signals directly will likely not work
406correctly.
326 407
327Example: exit on SIGINT 408Example: exit on SIGINT
328 409
329 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 }); 410 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 });
330 411
412=head3 Restart Behaviour
413
414While restart behaviour is up to the event loop implementation, most will
415not restart syscalls (that includes L<Async::Interrupt> and AnyEvent's
416pure perl implementation).
417
418=head3 Safe/Unsafe Signals
419
420Perl signals can be either "safe" (synchronous to opcode handling)
421or "unsafe" (asynchronous) - the former might delay signal delivery
422indefinitely, the latter might corrupt your memory.
423
424AnyEvent signal handlers are, in addition, synchronous to the event loop,
425i.e. they will not interrupt your running perl program but will only be
426called as part of the normal event handling (just like timer, I/O etc.
427callbacks, too).
428
429=head3 Signal Races, Delays and Workarounds
430
431Many event loops (e.g. Glib, Tk, Qt, IO::Async) do not support
432attaching callbacks to signals in a generic way, which is a pity,
433as you cannot do race-free signal handling in perl, requiring
434C libraries for this. AnyEvent will try to do its best, which
435means in some cases, signals will be delayed. The maximum time
436a signal might be delayed is 10 seconds by default, but can
437be overriden via C<$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY}> or
438C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY> - see the Ö<ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES>
439section for details.
440
441All these problems can be avoided by installing the optional
442L<Async::Interrupt> module, which works with most event loops. It will not
443work with inherently broken event loops such as L<Event> or L<Event::Lib>
444(and not with L<POE> currently). For those, you just have to suffer the
445delays.
446
331=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS 447=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS
332 448
449 $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => <process id>, cb => <callback>);
450
333You can also watch on a child process exit and catch its exit status. 451You can also watch for a child process exit and catch its exit status.
334 452
335The child process is specified by the C<pid> argument (if set to C<0>, it 453The child process is specified by the C<pid> argument (on some backends,
336watches for any child process exit). The watcher will trigger as often 454using C<0> watches for any child process exit, on others this will
337as status change for the child are received. This works by installing a 455croak). The watcher will be triggered only when the child process has
338signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>. The callback will be called with the pid 456finished and an exit status is available, not on any trace events
339and exit status (as returned by waitpid), so unlike other watcher types, 457(stopped/continued).
340you I<can> rely on child watcher callback arguments. 458
459The callback will be called with the pid and exit status (as returned by
460waitpid), so unlike other watcher types, you I<can> rely on child watcher
461callback arguments.
462
463This watcher type works by installing a signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>,
464and since it cannot be shared, nothing else should use SIGCHLD or reap
465random child processes (waiting for specific child processes, e.g. inside
466C<system>, is just fine).
341 467
342There is a slight catch to child watchers, however: you usually start them 468There is a slight catch to child watchers, however: you usually start them
343I<after> the child process was created, and this means the process could 469I<after> the child process was created, and this means the process could
344have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore). 470have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore).
345 471
346Not all event models handle this correctly (POE doesn't), but even for 472Not all event models handle this correctly (neither POE nor IO::Async do,
473see their AnyEvent::Impl manpages for details), but even for event models
347event models that I<do> handle this correctly, they usually need to be 474that I<do> handle this correctly, they usually need to be loaded before
348loaded before the process exits (i.e. before you fork in the first place). 475the process exits (i.e. before you fork in the first place). AnyEvent's
476pure perl event loop handles all cases correctly regardless of when you
477start the watcher.
349 478
350This means you cannot create a child watcher as the very first thing in an 479This means you cannot create a child watcher as the very first
351AnyEvent program, you I<have> to create at least one watcher before you 480thing in an AnyEvent program, you I<have> to create at least one
352C<fork> the child (alternatively, you can call C<AnyEvent::detect>). 481watcher before you C<fork> the child (alternatively, you can call
482C<AnyEvent::detect>).
483
484As most event loops do not support waiting for child events, they will be
485emulated by AnyEvent in most cases, in which case the latency and race
486problems mentioned in the description of signal watchers apply.
353 487
354Example: fork a process and wait for it 488Example: fork a process and wait for it
355 489
356 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar; 490 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
357 491
367 ); 501 );
368 502
369 # do something else, then wait for process exit 503 # do something else, then wait for process exit
370 $done->recv; 504 $done->recv;
371 505
506=head2 IDLE WATCHERS
507
508 $w = AnyEvent->idle (cb => <callback>);
509
510This will repeatedly invoke the callback after the process becomes idle,
511until either the watcher is destroyed or new events have been detected.
512
513Idle watchers are useful when there is a need to do something, but it
514is not so important (or wise) to do it instantly. The callback will be
515invoked only when there is "nothing better to do", which is usually
516defined as "all outstanding events have been handled and no new events
517have been detected". That means that idle watchers ideally get invoked
518when the event loop has just polled for new events but none have been
519detected. Instead of blocking to wait for more events, the idle watchers
520will be invoked.
521
522Unfortunately, most event loops do not really support idle watchers (only
523EV, Event and Glib do it in a usable fashion) - for the rest, AnyEvent
524will simply call the callback "from time to time".
525
526Example: read lines from STDIN, but only process them when the
527program is otherwise idle:
528
529 my @lines; # read data
530 my $idle_w;
531 my $io_w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub {
532 push @lines, scalar <STDIN>;
533
534 # start an idle watcher, if not already done
535 $idle_w ||= AnyEvent->idle (cb => sub {
536 # handle only one line, when there are lines left
537 if (my $line = shift @lines) {
538 print "handled when idle: $line";
539 } else {
540 # otherwise disable the idle watcher again
541 undef $idle_w;
542 }
543 });
544 });
545
372=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES 546=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES
547
548 $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
549
550 $cv->send (<list>);
551 my @res = $cv->recv;
373 552
374If you are familiar with some event loops you will know that all of them 553If you are familiar with some event loops you will know that all of them
375require you to run some blocking "loop", "run" or similar function that 554require you to run some blocking "loop", "run" or similar function that
376will actively watch for new events and call your callbacks. 555will actively watch for new events and call your callbacks.
377 556
378AnyEvent is different, it expects somebody else to run the event loop and 557AnyEvent is slightly different: it expects somebody else to run the event
379will only block when necessary (usually when told by the user). 558loop and will only block when necessary (usually when told by the user).
380 559
381The instrument to do that is called a "condition variable", so called 560The tool to do that is called a "condition variable", so called because
382because they represent a condition that must become true. 561they represent a condition that must become true.
562
563Now is probably a good time to look at the examples further below.
383 564
384Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar 565Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar
385>> method, usually without arguments. The only argument pair allowed is 566>> method, usually without arguments. The only argument pair allowed is
386C<cb>, which specifies a callback to be called when the condition variable 567C<cb>, which specifies a callback to be called when the condition variable
387becomes true. 568becomes true, with the condition variable as the first argument (but not
569the results).
388 570
389After creation, the condition variable is "false" until it becomes "true" 571After creation, the condition variable is "false" until it becomes "true"
390by calling the C<send> method (or calling the condition variable as if it 572by calling the C<send> method (or calling the condition variable as if it
391were a callback, read about the caveats in the description for the C<< 573were a callback, read about the caveats in the description for the C<<
392->send >> method). 574->send >> method).
393 575
394Condition variables are similar to callbacks, except that you can 576Since condition variables are the most complex part of the AnyEvent API, here are
395optionally wait for them. They can also be called merge points - points 577some different mental models of what they are - pick the ones you can connect to:
396in time where multiple outstanding events have been processed. And yet 578
397another way to call them is transactions - each condition variable can be 579=over 4
398used to represent a transaction, which finishes at some point and delivers 580
399a result. 581=item * Condition variables are like callbacks - you can call them (and pass them instead
582of callbacks). Unlike callbacks however, you can also wait for them to be called.
583
584=item * Condition variables are signals - one side can emit or send them,
585the other side can wait for them, or install a handler that is called when
586the signal fires.
587
588=item * Condition variables are like "Merge Points" - points in your program
589where you merge multiple independent results/control flows into one.
590
591=item * Condition variables represent a transaction - functions that start
592some kind of transaction can return them, leaving the caller the choice
593between waiting in a blocking fashion, or setting a callback.
594
595=item * Condition variables represent future values, or promises to deliver
596some result, long before the result is available.
597
598=back
400 599
401Condition variables are very useful to signal that something has finished, 600Condition variables are very useful to signal that something has finished,
402for example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests, 601for example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests,
403then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the 602then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the
404availability of results. The user can either act when the callback is 603availability of results. The user can either act when the callback is
417 616
418Condition variables are represented by hash refs in perl, and the keys 617Condition variables are represented by hash refs in perl, and the keys
419used by AnyEvent itself are all named C<_ae_XXX> to make subclassing 618used by AnyEvent itself are all named C<_ae_XXX> to make subclassing
420easy (it is often useful to build your own transaction class on top of 619easy (it is often useful to build your own transaction class on top of
421AnyEvent). To subclass, use C<AnyEvent::CondVar> as base class and call 620AnyEvent). To subclass, use C<AnyEvent::CondVar> as base class and call
422it's C<new> method in your own C<new> method. 621its C<new> method in your own C<new> method.
423 622
424There are two "sides" to a condition variable - the "producer side" which 623There are two "sides" to a condition variable - the "producer side" which
425eventually calls C<< -> send >>, and the "consumer side", which waits 624eventually calls C<< -> send >>, and the "consumer side", which waits
426for the send to occur. 625for the send to occur.
427 626
428Example: wait for a timer. 627Example: wait for a timer.
429 628
430 # wait till the result is ready 629 # condition: "wait till the timer is fired"
431 my $result_ready = AnyEvent->condvar; 630 my $timer_fired = AnyEvent->condvar;
432 631
433 # do something such as adding a timer 632 # create the timer - we could wait for, say
434 # or socket watcher the calls $result_ready->send 633 # a handle becomign ready, or even an
435 # when the "result" is ready. 634 # AnyEvent::HTTP request to finish, but
436 # in this case, we simply use a timer: 635 # in this case, we simply use a timer:
437 my $w = AnyEvent->timer ( 636 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (
438 after => 1, 637 after => 1,
439 cb => sub { $result_ready->send }, 638 cb => sub { $timer_fired->send },
440 ); 639 );
441 640
442 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the callback 641 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the callback
443 # calls send 642 # calls ->send
444 $result_ready->recv; 643 $timer_fired->recv;
445 644
446Example: wait for a timer, but take advantage of the fact that 645Example: wait for a timer, but take advantage of the fact that condition
447condition variables are also code references. 646variables are also callable directly.
448 647
449 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar; 648 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
450 my $delay = AnyEvent->timer (after => 5, cb => $done); 649 my $delay = AnyEvent->timer (after => 5, cb => $done);
451 $done->recv; 650 $done->recv;
651
652Example: Imagine an API that returns a condvar and doesn't support
653callbacks. This is how you make a synchronous call, for example from
654the main program:
655
656 use AnyEvent::CouchDB;
657
658 ...
659
660 my @info = $couchdb->info->recv;
661
662And this is how you would just set a callback to be called whenever the
663results are available:
664
665 $couchdb->info->cb (sub {
666 my @info = $_[0]->recv;
667 });
452 668
453=head3 METHODS FOR PRODUCERS 669=head3 METHODS FOR PRODUCERS
454 670
455These methods should only be used by the producing side, i.e. the 671These methods should only be used by the producing side, i.e. the
456code/module that eventually sends the signal. Note that it is also 672code/module that eventually sends the signal. Note that it is also
469immediately from within send. 685immediately from within send.
470 686
471Any arguments passed to the C<send> call will be returned by all 687Any arguments passed to the C<send> call will be returned by all
472future C<< ->recv >> calls. 688future C<< ->recv >> calls.
473 689
474Condition variables are overloaded so one can call them directly 690Condition variables are overloaded so one can call them directly (as if
475(as a code reference). Calling them directly is the same as calling 691they were a code reference). Calling them directly is the same as calling
476C<send>. Note, however, that many C-based event loops do not handle 692C<send>.
477overloading, so as tempting as it may be, passing a condition variable
478instead of a callback does not work. Both the pure perl and EV loops
479support overloading, however, as well as all functions that use perl to
480invoke a callback (as in L<AnyEvent::Socket> and L<AnyEvent::DNS> for
481example).
482 693
483=item $cv->croak ($error) 694=item $cv->croak ($error)
484 695
485Similar to send, but causes all call's to C<< ->recv >> to invoke 696Similar to send, but causes all calls to C<< ->recv >> to invoke
486C<Carp::croak> with the given error message/object/scalar. 697C<Carp::croak> with the given error message/object/scalar.
487 698
488This can be used to signal any errors to the condition variable 699This can be used to signal any errors to the condition variable
489user/consumer. 700user/consumer. Doing it this way instead of calling C<croak> directly
701delays the error detection, but has the overwhelming advantage that it
702diagnoses the error at the place where the result is expected, and not
703deep in some event callback with no connection to the actual code causing
704the problem.
490 705
491=item $cv->begin ([group callback]) 706=item $cv->begin ([group callback])
492 707
493=item $cv->end 708=item $cv->end
494
495These two methods are EXPERIMENTAL and MIGHT CHANGE.
496 709
497These two methods can be used to combine many transactions/events into 710These two methods can be used to combine many transactions/events into
498one. For example, a function that pings many hosts in parallel might want 711one. For example, a function that pings many hosts in parallel might want
499to use a condition variable for the whole process. 712to use a condition variable for the whole process.
500 713
501Every call to C<< ->begin >> will increment a counter, and every call to 714Every call to C<< ->begin >> will increment a counter, and every call to
502C<< ->end >> will decrement it. If the counter reaches C<0> in C<< ->end 715C<< ->end >> will decrement it. If the counter reaches C<0> in C<< ->end
503>>, the (last) callback passed to C<begin> will be executed. That callback 716>>, the (last) callback passed to C<begin> will be executed, passing the
504is I<supposed> to call C<< ->send >>, but that is not required. If no 717condvar as first argument. That callback is I<supposed> to call C<< ->send
505callback was set, C<send> will be called without any arguments. 718>>, but that is not required. If no group callback was set, C<send> will
719be called without any arguments.
506 720
507Let's clarify this with the ping example: 721You can think of C<< $cv->send >> giving you an OR condition (one call
722sends), while C<< $cv->begin >> and C<< $cv->end >> giving you an AND
723condition (all C<begin> calls must be C<end>'ed before the condvar sends).
724
725Let's start with a simple example: you have two I/O watchers (for example,
726STDOUT and STDERR for a program), and you want to wait for both streams to
727close before activating a condvar:
508 728
509 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar; 729 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
510 730
731 $cv->begin; # first watcher
732 my $w1 = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh1, cb => sub {
733 defined sysread $fh1, my $buf, 4096
734 or $cv->end;
735 });
736
737 $cv->begin; # second watcher
738 my $w2 = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh2, cb => sub {
739 defined sysread $fh2, my $buf, 4096
740 or $cv->end;
741 });
742
743 $cv->recv;
744
745This works because for every event source (EOF on file handle), there is
746one call to C<begin>, so the condvar waits for all calls to C<end> before
747sending.
748
749The ping example mentioned above is slightly more complicated, as the
750there are results to be passwd back, and the number of tasks that are
751begun can potentially be zero:
752
753 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
754
511 my %result; 755 my %result;
512 $cv->begin (sub { $cv->send (\%result) }); 756 $cv->begin (sub { shift->send (\%result) });
513 757
514 for my $host (@list_of_hosts) { 758 for my $host (@list_of_hosts) {
515 $cv->begin; 759 $cv->begin;
516 ping_host_then_call_callback $host, sub { 760 ping_host_then_call_callback $host, sub {
517 $result{$host} = ...; 761 $result{$host} = ...;
532loop, which serves two important purposes: first, it sets the callback 776loop, which serves two important purposes: first, it sets the callback
533to be called once the counter reaches C<0>, and second, it ensures that 777to be called once the counter reaches C<0>, and second, it ensures that
534C<send> is called even when C<no> hosts are being pinged (the loop 778C<send> is called even when C<no> hosts are being pinged (the loop
535doesn't execute once). 779doesn't execute once).
536 780
537This is the general pattern when you "fan out" into multiple subrequests: 781This is the general pattern when you "fan out" into multiple (but
538use an outer C<begin>/C<end> pair to set the callback and ensure C<end> 782potentially zero) subrequests: use an outer C<begin>/C<end> pair to set
539is called at least once, and then, for each subrequest you start, call 783the callback and ensure C<end> is called at least once, and then, for each
540C<begin> and for each subrequest you finish, call C<end>. 784subrequest you start, call C<begin> and for each subrequest you finish,
785call C<end>.
541 786
542=back 787=back
543 788
544=head3 METHODS FOR CONSUMERS 789=head3 METHODS FOR CONSUMERS
545 790
549=over 4 794=over 4
550 795
551=item $cv->recv 796=item $cv->recv
552 797
553Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->send >> or C<< ->croak 798Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->send >> or C<< ->croak
554>> methods have been called on c<$cv>, while servicing other watchers 799>> methods have been called on C<$cv>, while servicing other watchers
555normally. 800normally.
556 801
557You can only wait once on a condition - additional calls are valid but 802You can only wait once on a condition - additional calls are valid but
558will return immediately. 803will return immediately.
559 804
561function will call C<croak>. 806function will call C<croak>.
562 807
563In list context, all parameters passed to C<send> will be returned, 808In list context, all parameters passed to C<send> will be returned,
564in scalar context only the first one will be returned. 809in scalar context only the first one will be returned.
565 810
811Note that doing a blocking wait in a callback is not supported by any
812event loop, that is, recursive invocation of a blocking C<< ->recv
813>> is not allowed, and the C<recv> call will C<croak> if such a
814condition is detected. This condition can be slightly loosened by using
815L<Coro::AnyEvent>, which allows you to do a blocking C<< ->recv >> from
816any thread that doesn't run the event loop itself.
817
566Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case 818Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case
567(programs might want to do that to stay interactive), so I<if you are 819(programs might want to do that to stay interactive), so I<if you are
568using this from a module, never require a blocking wait>, but let the 820using this from a module, never require a blocking wait>. Instead, let the
569caller decide whether the call will block or not (for example, by coupling 821caller decide whether the call will block or not (for example, by coupling
570condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting 822condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting
571callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block, 823callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block,
572while still supporting blocking waits if the caller so desires). 824while still supporting blocking waits if the caller so desires).
573 825
574Another reason I<never> to C<< ->recv >> in a module is that you cannot
575sensibly have two C<< ->recv >>'s in parallel, as that would require
576multiple interpreters or coroutines/threads, none of which C<AnyEvent>
577can supply.
578
579The L<Coro> module, however, I<can> and I<does> supply coroutines and, in
580fact, L<Coro::AnyEvent> replaces AnyEvent's condvars by coroutine-safe
581versions and also integrates coroutines into AnyEvent, making blocking
582C<< ->recv >> calls perfectly safe as long as they are done from another
583coroutine (one that doesn't run the event loop).
584
585You can ensure that C<< -recv >> never blocks by setting a callback and 826You can ensure that C<< ->recv >> never blocks by setting a callback and
586only calling C<< ->recv >> from within that callback (or at a later 827only calling C<< ->recv >> from within that callback (or at a later
587time). This will work even when the event loop does not support blocking 828time). This will work even when the event loop does not support blocking
588waits otherwise. 829waits otherwise.
589 830
590=item $bool = $cv->ready 831=item $bool = $cv->ready
591 832
592Returns true when the condition is "true", i.e. whether C<send> or 833Returns true when the condition is "true", i.e. whether C<send> or
593C<croak> have been called. 834C<croak> have been called.
594 835
595=item $cb = $cv->cb ([new callback]) 836=item $cb = $cv->cb ($cb->($cv))
596 837
597This is a mutator function that returns the callback set and optionally 838This is a mutator function that returns the callback set and optionally
598replaces it before doing so. 839replaces it before doing so.
599 840
600The callback will be called when the condition becomes "true", i.e. when 841The callback will be called when the condition becomes "true", i.e. when
601C<send> or C<croak> are called, with the only argument being the condition 842C<send> or C<croak> are called, with the only argument being the
602variable itself. Calling C<recv> inside the callback or at any later time 843condition variable itself. If the condition is already true, the
603is guaranteed not to block. 844callback is called immediately when it is set. Calling C<recv> inside
845the callback or at any later time is guaranteed not to block.
604 846
605=back 847=back
606 848
849=head1 SUPPORTED EVENT LOOPS/BACKENDS
850
851The available backend classes are (every class has its own manpage):
852
853=over 4
854
855=item Backends that are autoprobed when no other event loop can be found.
856
857EV is the preferred backend when no other event loop seems to be in
858use. If EV is not installed, then AnyEvent will fall back to its own
859pure-perl implementation, which is available everywhere as it comes with
860AnyEvent itself.
861
862 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (interface to libev, best choice).
863 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl AnyEvent::Loop, fast and portable.
864
865=item Backends that are transparently being picked up when they are used.
866
867These will be used if they are already loaded when the first watcher
868is created, in which case it is assumed that the application is using
869them. This means that AnyEvent will automatically pick the right backend
870when the main program loads an event module before anything starts to
871create watchers. Nothing special needs to be done by the main program.
872
873 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, very stable, few glitches.
874 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, slow but very stable.
875 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very broken.
876 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
877 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, very slow, some limitations.
878 AnyEvent::Impl::Irssi used when running within irssi.
879 AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync based on IO::Async.
880 AnyEvent::Impl::Cocoa based on Cocoa::EventLoop.
881 AnyEvent::Impl::FLTK based on FLTK (fltk 2 binding).
882
883=item Backends with special needs.
884
885Qt requires the Qt::Application to be instantiated first, but will
886otherwise be picked up automatically. As long as the main program
887instantiates the application before any AnyEvent watchers are created,
888everything should just work.
889
890 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt.
891
892=item Event loops that are indirectly supported via other backends.
893
894Some event loops can be supported via other modules:
895
896There is no direct support for WxWidgets (L<Wx>) or L<Prima>.
897
898B<WxWidgets> has no support for watching file handles. However, you can
899use WxWidgets through the POE adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply
900polls 20 times per second, which was considered to be too horrible to even
901consider for AnyEvent.
902
903B<Prima> is not supported as nobody seems to be using it, but it has a POE
904backend, so it can be supported through POE.
905
906AnyEvent knows about both L<Prima> and L<Wx>, however, and will try to
907load L<POE> when detecting them, in the hope that POE will pick them up,
908in which case everything will be automatic.
909
910=back
911
607=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS 912=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS
608 913
914These are not normally required to use AnyEvent, but can be useful to
915write AnyEvent extension modules.
916
609=over 4 917=over 4
610 918
611=item $AnyEvent::MODEL 919=item $AnyEvent::MODEL
612 920
613Contains C<undef> until the first watcher is being created. Then it 921Contains C<undef> until the first watcher is being created, before the
922backend has been autodetected.
923
614contains the event model that is being used, which is the name of the 924Afterwards it contains the event model that is being used, which is the
615Perl class implementing the model. This class is usually one of the 925name of the Perl class implementing the model. This class is usually one
616C<AnyEvent::Impl:xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the case 926of the C<AnyEvent::Impl::xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the
617AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode>). 927case AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode> it
618 928will be C<urxvt::anyevent>).
619The known classes so far are:
620
621 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (an interface to libev, best choice).
622 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, second best choice.
623 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl implementation, fast and portable.
624 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, third-best choice.
625 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very bad choice.
626 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt, cannot be autoprobed (see its docs).
627 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
628 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, not generic enough for full support.
629
630There is no support for WxWidgets, as WxWidgets has no support for
631watching file handles. However, you can use WxWidgets through the
632POE Adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply polls 20 times per
633second, which was considered to be too horrible to even consider for
634AnyEvent. Likewise, other POE backends can be used by AnyEvent by using
635it's adaptor.
636
637AnyEvent knows about L<Prima> and L<Wx> and will try to use L<POE> when
638autodetecting them.
639 929
640=item AnyEvent::detect 930=item AnyEvent::detect
641 931
642Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model 932Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model
643if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would 933if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would
644have created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, as late as possible at 934have created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, as late as possible at
645runtime. 935runtime, and not e.g. during initialisation of your module.
936
937The effect of calling this function is as if a watcher had been created
938(specifically, actions that happen "when the first watcher is created"
939happen when calling detetc as well).
940
941If you need to do some initialisation before AnyEvent watchers are
942created, use C<post_detect>.
646 943
647=item $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK } 944=item $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }
648 945
649Arranges for the code block to be executed as soon as the event model is 946Arranges for the code block to be executed as soon as the event model is
650autodetected (or immediately if this has already happened). 947autodetected (or immediately if that has already happened).
948
949The block will be executed I<after> the actual backend has been detected
950(C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> is set), but I<before> any watchers have been
951created, so it is possible to e.g. patch C<@AnyEvent::ISA> or do
952other initialisations - see the sources of L<AnyEvent::Strict> or
953L<AnyEvent::AIO> to see how this is used.
954
955The most common usage is to create some global watchers, without forcing
956event module detection too early, for example, L<AnyEvent::AIO> creates
957and installs the global L<IO::AIO> watcher in a C<post_detect> block to
958avoid autodetecting the event module at load time.
651 959
652If called in scalar or list context, then it creates and returns an object 960If called in scalar or list context, then it creates and returns an object
653that automatically removes the callback again when it is destroyed. See 961that automatically removes the callback again when it is destroyed (or
962C<undef> when the hook was immediately executed). See L<AnyEvent::AIO> for
654L<Coro::BDB> for a case where this is useful. 963a case where this is useful.
964
965Example: Create a watcher for the IO::AIO module and store it in
966C<$WATCHER>, but do so only do so after the event loop is initialised.
967
968 our WATCHER;
969
970 my $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect {
971 $WATCHER = AnyEvent->io (fh => IO::AIO::poll_fileno, poll => 'r', cb => \&IO::AIO::poll_cb);
972 };
973
974 # the ||= is important in case post_detect immediately runs the block,
975 # as to not clobber the newly-created watcher. assigning both watcher and
976 # post_detect guard to the same variable has the advantage of users being
977 # able to just C<undef $WATCHER> if the watcher causes them grief.
978
979 $WATCHER ||= $guard;
655 980
656=item @AnyEvent::post_detect 981=item @AnyEvent::post_detect
657 982
658If there are any code references in this array (you can C<push> to it 983If there are any code references in this array (you can C<push> to it
659before or after loading AnyEvent), then they will called directly after 984before or after loading AnyEvent), then they will be called directly
660the event loop has been chosen. 985after the event loop has been chosen.
661 986
662You should check C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> before adding to this array, though: 987You should check C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> before adding to this array, though:
663if it contains a true value then the event loop has already been detected, 988if it is defined then the event loop has already been detected, and the
664and the array will be ignored. 989array will be ignored.
665 990
666Best use C<AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }> instead. 991Best use C<AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }> when your application allows
992it, as it takes care of these details.
993
994This variable is mainly useful for modules that can do something useful
995when AnyEvent is used and thus want to know when it is initialised, but do
996not need to even load it by default. This array provides the means to hook
997into AnyEvent passively, without loading it.
998
999Example: To load Coro::AnyEvent whenever Coro and AnyEvent are used
1000together, you could put this into Coro (this is the actual code used by
1001Coro to accomplish this):
1002
1003 if (defined $AnyEvent::MODEL) {
1004 # AnyEvent already initialised, so load Coro::AnyEvent
1005 require Coro::AnyEvent;
1006 } else {
1007 # AnyEvent not yet initialised, so make sure to load Coro::AnyEvent
1008 # as soon as it is
1009 push @AnyEvent::post_detect, sub { require Coro::AnyEvent };
1010 }
1011
1012=item AnyEvent::postpone { BLOCK }
1013
1014Arranges for the block to be executed as soon as possible, but not before
1015the call itself returns. In practise, the block will be executed just
1016before the event loop polls for new events, or shortly afterwards.
1017
1018This function never returns anything (to make the C<return postpone { ...
1019}> idiom more useful.
1020
1021To understand the usefulness of this function, consider a function that
1022asynchronously does something for you and returns some transaction
1023object or guard to let you cancel the operation. For example,
1024C<AnyEvent::Socket::tcp_connect>:
1025
1026 # start a conenction attempt unless one is active
1027 $self->{connect_guard} ||= AnyEvent::Socket::tcp_connect "www.example.net", 80, sub {
1028 delete $self->{connect_guard};
1029 ...
1030 };
1031
1032Imagine that this function could instantly call the callback, for
1033example, because it detects an obvious error such as a negative port
1034number. Invoking the callback before the function returns causes problems
1035however: the callback will be called and will try to delete the guard
1036object. But since the function hasn't returned yet, there is nothing to
1037delete. When the function eventually returns it will assign the guard
1038object to C<< $self->{connect_guard} >>, where it will likely never be
1039deleted, so the program thinks it is still trying to connect.
1040
1041This is where C<AnyEvent::postpone> should be used. Instead of calling the
1042callback directly on error:
1043
1044 $cb->(undef), return # signal error to callback, BAD!
1045 if $some_error_condition;
1046
1047It should use C<postpone>:
1048
1049 AnyEvent::postpone { $cb->(undef) }, return # signal error to callback, later
1050 if $some_error_condition;
1051
1052=item AnyEvent::log $level, $msg[, @args]
1053
1054Log the given C<$msg> at the given C<$level>.
1055
1056If L<AnyEvent::Log> is not loaded then this function makes a simple test
1057to see whether the message will be logged. If the test succeeds it will
1058load AnyEvent::Log and call C<AnyEvent::Log::log> - consequently, look at
1059the L<AnyEvent::Log> documentation for details.
1060
1061If the test fails it will simply return. Right now this happens when a
1062numerical loglevel is used and it is larger than the level specified via
1063C<$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}>.
1064
1065If you want to sprinkle loads of logging calls around your code, consider
1066creating a logger callback with the C<AnyEvent::Log::logger> function,
1067which can reduce typing, codesize and can reduce the logging overhead
1068enourmously.
667 1069
668=back 1070=back
669 1071
670=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE 1072=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE
671 1073
682because it will stall the whole program, and the whole point of using 1084because it will stall the whole program, and the whole point of using
683events is to stay interactive. 1085events is to stay interactive.
684 1086
685It is fine, however, to call C<< ->recv >> when the user of your module 1087It is fine, however, to call C<< ->recv >> when the user of your module
686requests it (i.e. if you create a http request object ad have a method 1088requests it (i.e. if you create a http request object ad have a method
687called C<results> that returns the results, it should call C<< ->recv >> 1089called C<results> that returns the results, it may call C<< ->recv >>
688freely, as the user of your module knows what she is doing. always). 1090freely, as the user of your module knows what she is doing. Always).
689 1091
690=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM 1092=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM
691 1093
692There will always be a single main program - the only place that should 1094There will always be a single main program - the only place that should
693dictate which event model to use. 1095dictate which event model to use.
694 1096
695If it doesn't care, it can just "use AnyEvent" and use it itself, or not 1097If the program is not event-based, it need not do anything special, even
696do anything special (it does not need to be event-based) and let AnyEvent 1098when it depends on a module that uses an AnyEvent. If the program itself
697decide which implementation to chose if some module relies on it. 1099uses AnyEvent, but does not care which event loop is used, all it needs
1100to do is C<use AnyEvent>. In either case, AnyEvent will choose the best
1101available loop implementation.
698 1102
699If the main program relies on a specific event model - for example, in 1103If the main program relies on a specific event model - for example, in
700Gtk2 programs you have to rely on the Glib module - you should load the 1104Gtk2 programs you have to rely on the Glib module - you should load the
701event module before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it: generally 1105event module before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it: generally
702speaking, you should load it as early as possible. The reason is that 1106speaking, you should load it as early as possible. The reason is that
703modules might create watchers when they are loaded, and AnyEvent will 1107modules might create watchers when they are loaded, and AnyEvent will
704decide on the event model to use as soon as it creates watchers, and it 1108decide on the event model to use as soon as it creates watchers, and it
705might chose the wrong one unless you load the correct one yourself. 1109might choose the wrong one unless you load the correct one yourself.
706 1110
707You can chose to use a pure-perl implementation by loading the 1111You can chose to use a pure-perl implementation by loading the
708C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl> module, which gives you similar behaviour 1112C<AnyEvent::Loop> module, which gives you similar behaviour
709everywhere, but letting AnyEvent chose the model is generally better. 1113everywhere, but letting AnyEvent chose the model is generally better.
710 1114
711=head2 MAINLOOP EMULATION 1115=head2 MAINLOOP EMULATION
712 1116
713Sometimes (often for short test scripts, or even standalone programs who 1117Sometimes (often for short test scripts, or even standalone programs who
726 1130
727 1131
728=head1 OTHER MODULES 1132=head1 OTHER MODULES
729 1133
730The following is a non-exhaustive list of additional modules that use 1134The following is a non-exhaustive list of additional modules that use
731AnyEvent and can therefore be mixed easily with other AnyEvent modules 1135AnyEvent as a client and can therefore be mixed easily with other
732in the same program. Some of the modules come with AnyEvent, some are 1136AnyEvent modules and other event loops in the same program. Some of the
733available via CPAN. 1137modules come as part of AnyEvent, the others are available via CPAN (see
1138L<http://search.cpan.org/search?m=module&q=anyevent%3A%3A*> for
1139a longer non-exhaustive list), and the list is heavily biased towards
1140modules of the AnyEvent author himself :)
734 1141
735=over 4 1142=over 4
736 1143
737=item L<AnyEvent::Util> 1144=item L<AnyEvent::Util>
738 1145
739Contains various utility functions that replace often-used but blocking 1146Contains various utility functions that replace often-used blocking
740functions such as C<inet_aton> by event-/callback-based versions. 1147functions such as C<inet_aton> with event/callback-based versions.
741 1148
742=item L<AnyEvent::Socket> 1149=item L<AnyEvent::Socket>
743 1150
744Provides various utility functions for (internet protocol) sockets, 1151Provides various utility functions for (internet protocol) sockets,
745addresses and name resolution. Also functions to create non-blocking tcp 1152addresses and name resolution. Also functions to create non-blocking tcp
747 1154
748=item L<AnyEvent::Handle> 1155=item L<AnyEvent::Handle>
749 1156
750Provide read and write buffers, manages watchers for reads and writes, 1157Provide read and write buffers, manages watchers for reads and writes,
751supports raw and formatted I/O, I/O queued and fully transparent and 1158supports raw and formatted I/O, I/O queued and fully transparent and
752non-blocking SSL/TLS. 1159non-blocking SSL/TLS (via L<AnyEvent::TLS>).
753 1160
754=item L<AnyEvent::DNS> 1161=item L<AnyEvent::DNS>
755 1162
756Provides rich asynchronous DNS resolver capabilities. 1163Provides rich asynchronous DNS resolver capabilities.
757 1164
1165=item L<AnyEvent::HTTP>, L<AnyEvent::IRC>, L<AnyEvent::XMPP>, L<AnyEvent::GPSD>, L<AnyEvent::IGS>, L<AnyEvent::FCP>
1166
1167Implement event-based interfaces to the protocols of the same name (for
1168the curious, IGS is the International Go Server and FCP is the Freenet
1169Client Protocol).
1170
758=item L<AnyEvent::HTTP> 1171=item L<AnyEvent::AIO>
759 1172
760A simple-to-use HTTP library that is capable of making a lot of concurrent 1173Truly asynchronous (as opposed to non-blocking) I/O, should be in the
761HTTP requests. 1174toolbox of every event programmer. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses
1175L<IO::AIO> and AnyEvent together, giving AnyEvent access to event-based
1176file I/O, and much more.
1177
1178=item L<AnyEvent::Filesys::Notify>
1179
1180AnyEvent is good for non-blocking stuff, but it can't detect file or
1181path changes (e.g. "watch this directory for new files", "watch this
1182file for changes"). The L<AnyEvent::Filesys::Notify> module promises to
1183do just that in a portbale fashion, supporting inotify on GNU/Linux and
1184some weird, without doubt broken, stuff on OS X to monitor files. It can
1185fall back to blocking scans at regular intervals transparently on other
1186platforms, so it's about as portable as it gets.
1187
1188(I haven't used it myself, but I haven't heard anybody complaining about
1189it yet).
1190
1191=item L<AnyEvent::DBI>
1192
1193Executes L<DBI> requests asynchronously in a proxy process for you,
1194notifying you in an event-based way when the operation is finished.
762 1195
763=item L<AnyEvent::HTTPD> 1196=item L<AnyEvent::HTTPD>
764 1197
765Provides a simple web application server framework. 1198A simple embedded webserver.
766 1199
767=item L<AnyEvent::FastPing> 1200=item L<AnyEvent::FastPing>
768 1201
769The fastest ping in the west. 1202The fastest ping in the west.
770 1203
771=item L<AnyEvent::DBI>
772
773Executes L<DBI> requests asynchronously in a proxy process.
774
775=item L<AnyEvent::AIO>
776
777Truly asynchronous I/O, should be in the toolbox of every event
778programmer. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses L<IO::AIO> and AnyEvent
779together.
780
781=item L<AnyEvent::BDB>
782
783Truly asynchronous Berkeley DB access. AnyEvent::BDB transparently fuses
784L<BDB> and AnyEvent together.
785
786=item L<AnyEvent::GPSD>
787
788A non-blocking interface to gpsd, a daemon delivering GPS information.
789
790=item L<AnyEvent::IGS>
791
792A non-blocking interface to the Internet Go Server protocol (used by
793L<App::IGS>).
794
795=item L<Net::IRC3>
796
797AnyEvent based IRC client module family.
798
799=item L<Net::XMPP2>
800
801AnyEvent based XMPP (Jabber protocol) module family.
802
803=item L<Net::FCP>
804
805AnyEvent-based implementation of the Freenet Client Protocol, birthplace
806of AnyEvent.
807
808=item L<Event::ExecFlow>
809
810High level API for event-based execution flow control.
811
812=item L<Coro> 1204=item L<Coro>
813 1205
814Has special support for AnyEvent via L<Coro::AnyEvent>. 1206Has special support for AnyEvent via L<Coro::AnyEvent>, which allows you
1207to simply invert the flow control - don't call us, we will call you:
815 1208
816=item L<IO::Lambda> 1209 async {
1210 Coro::AnyEvent::sleep 5; # creates a 5s timer and waits for it
1211 print "5 seconds later!\n";
817 1212
818The lambda approach to I/O - don't ask, look there. Can use AnyEvent. 1213 Coro::AnyEvent::readable *STDIN; # uses an I/O watcher
1214 my $line = <STDIN>; # works for ttys
1215
1216 AnyEvent::HTTP::http_get "url", Coro::rouse_cb;
1217 my ($body, $hdr) = Coro::rouse_wait;
1218 };
819 1219
820=back 1220=back
821 1221
822=cut 1222=cut
823 1223
824package AnyEvent; 1224package AnyEvent;
825 1225
826no warnings; 1226# basically a tuned-down version of common::sense
827use strict; 1227sub common_sense {
1228 # from common:.sense 3.4
1229 ${^WARNING_BITS} ^= ${^WARNING_BITS} ^ "\x3c\x3f\x33\x00\x0f\xf0\x0f\xc0\xf0\xfc\x33\x00";
1230 # use strict vars subs - NO UTF-8, as Util.pm doesn't like this atm. (uts46data.pl)
1231 $^H |= 0x00000600;
1232}
828 1233
1234BEGIN { AnyEvent::common_sense }
1235
829use Carp; 1236use Carp ();
830 1237
831our $VERSION = 4.2; 1238our $VERSION = '6.02';
832our $MODEL; 1239our $MODEL;
833
834our $AUTOLOAD;
835our @ISA; 1240our @ISA;
836
837our @REGISTRY; 1241our @REGISTRY;
838 1242our $VERBOSE;
839our $WIN32; 1243our %PROTOCOL; # (ipv4|ipv6) => (1|2), higher numbers are preferred
1244our $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY} || 10; # executes after the BEGIN block below (tainting!)
840 1245
841BEGIN { 1246BEGIN {
842 my $win32 = ! ! ($^O =~ /mswin32/i); 1247 require "AnyEvent/constants.pl";
843 eval "sub WIN32(){ $win32 }";
844}
845 1248
846our $verbose = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1; 1249 eval "sub TAINT (){" . (${^TAINT}*1) . "}";
847 1250
848our %PROTOCOL; # (ipv4|ipv6) => (1|2), higher numbers are preferred 1251 delete @ENV{grep /^PERL_ANYEVENT_/, keys %ENV}
1252 if ${^TAINT};
849 1253
850{ 1254 $ENV{"PERL_ANYEVENT_$_"} = $ENV{"AE_$_"}
1255 for grep s/^AE_// && !exists $ENV{"PERL_ANYEVENT_$_"}, keys %ENV;
1256
1257 @ENV{grep /^PERL_ANYEVENT_/, keys %ENV} = ()
1258 if ${^TAINT};
1259
1260 # $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_xxx} now valid
1261
1262 $VERBOSE = length $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE} ? $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1 : 4;
1263
851 my $idx; 1264 my $idx;
852 $PROTOCOL{$_} = ++$idx 1265 $PROTOCOL{$_} = ++$idx
853 for reverse split /\s*,\s*/, 1266 for reverse split /\s*,\s*/,
854 $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS} || "ipv4,ipv6"; 1267 $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS} || "ipv4,ipv6";
855} 1268}
856 1269
1270our @post_detect;
1271
1272sub post_detect(&) {
1273 my ($cb) = @_;
1274
1275 push @post_detect, $cb;
1276
1277 defined wantarray
1278 ? bless \$cb, "AnyEvent::Util::postdetect"
1279 : ()
1280}
1281
1282sub AnyEvent::Util::postdetect::DESTROY {
1283 @post_detect = grep $_ != ${$_[0]}, @post_detect;
1284}
1285
1286our $POSTPONE_W;
1287our @POSTPONE;
1288
1289sub _postpone_exec {
1290 undef $POSTPONE_W;
1291
1292 &{ shift @POSTPONE }
1293 while @POSTPONE;
1294}
1295
1296sub postpone(&) {
1297 push @POSTPONE, shift;
1298
1299 $POSTPONE_W ||= AE::timer (0, 0, \&_postpone_exec);
1300
1301 ()
1302}
1303
1304sub log($$;@) {
1305 # only load the big bloated module when we actually are about to log something
1306 if ($_[0] <= ($VERBOSE || 1)) { # also catches non-numeric levels(!) and fatal
1307 local ($!, $@);
1308 require AnyEvent::Log; # among other things, sets $VERBOSE to 9
1309 # AnyEvent::Log overwrites this function
1310 goto &log;
1311 }
1312
1313 0 # not logged
1314}
1315
1316sub _logger($;$) {
1317 my ($level, $renabled) = @_;
1318
1319 $$renabled = $level <= $VERBOSE;
1320
1321 my $logger = [(caller)[0], $level, $renabled];
1322
1323 $AnyEvent::Log::LOGGER{$logger+0} = $logger;
1324
1325# return unless defined wantarray;
1326#
1327# require AnyEvent::Util;
1328# my $guard = AnyEvent::Util::guard (sub {
1329# # "clean up"
1330# delete $LOGGER{$logger+0};
1331# });
1332#
1333# sub {
1334# return 0 unless $$renabled;
1335#
1336# $guard if 0; # keep guard alive, but don't cause runtime overhead
1337# require AnyEvent::Log unless $AnyEvent::Log::VERSION;
1338# package AnyEvent::Log;
1339# _log ($logger->[0], $level, @_) # logger->[0] has been converted at load time
1340# }
1341}
1342
1343if (length $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_LOG}) {
1344 require AnyEvent::Log; # AnyEvent::Log does the thing for us
1345}
1346
857my @models = ( 1347our @models = (
858 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV::], 1348 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV::],
859 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::],
860 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl::], 1349 [AnyEvent::Loop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl::],
861 # everything below here will not be autoprobed 1350 # everything below here will not (normally) be autoprobed
862 # as the pureperl backend should work everywhere 1351 # as the pure perl backend should work everywhere
863 # and is usually faster 1352 # and is usually faster
1353 [Irssi:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Irssi::], # Irssi has a bogus "Event" package, so msut be near the top
1354 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::], # slow, stable
1355 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib::], # becomes extremely slow with many watchers
1356 # everything below here should not be autoloaded
1357 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy
864 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], # crashes with many handles 1358 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], # crashes with many handles
865 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib::], # becomes extremely slow with many watchers
866 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy
867 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program 1359 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program
868 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza 1360 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza
869 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], 1361 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
870 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], 1362 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
1363 [IO::Async::Loop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # a bitch to autodetect
1364 [Cocoa::EventLoop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Cocoa::],
1365 [FLTK:: => AnyEvent::Impl::FLTK::],
871); 1366);
872 1367
873our %method = map +($_ => 1), qw(io timer time now signal child condvar one_event DESTROY); 1368our @isa_hook;
874 1369
875our @post_detect; 1370sub _isa_set {
1371 my @pkg = ("AnyEvent", (map $_->[0], grep defined, @isa_hook), $MODEL);
876 1372
1373 @{"$pkg[$_-1]::ISA"} = $pkg[$_]
1374 for 1 .. $#pkg;
1375
1376 grep $_ && $_->[1], @isa_hook
1377 and AE::_reset ();
1378}
1379
1380# used for hooking AnyEvent::Strict and AnyEvent::Debug::Wrap into the class hierarchy
1381sub _isa_hook($$;$) {
1382 my ($i, $pkg, $reset_ae) = @_;
1383
1384 $isa_hook[$i] = $pkg ? [$pkg, $reset_ae] : undef;
1385
1386 _isa_set;
1387}
1388
1389# all autoloaded methods reserve the complete glob, not just the method slot.
1390# due to bugs in perls method cache implementation.
1391our @methods = qw(io timer time now now_update signal child idle condvar);
1392
877sub post_detect(&) { 1393sub detect() {
878 my ($cb) = @_; 1394 return $MODEL if $MODEL; # some programs keep references to detect
879 1395
880 if ($MODEL) { 1396 # IO::Async::Loop::AnyEvent is extremely evil, refuse to work with it
881 $cb->(); 1397 # the author knows about the problems and what it does to AnyEvent as a whole
1398 # (and the ability of others to use AnyEvent), but simply wants to abuse AnyEvent
1399 # anyway.
1400 AnyEvent::log fatal => "AnyEvent: IO::Async::Loop::AnyEvent detected - this module is broken by design,\n"
1401 . "abuses internals and breaks AnyEvent, will not continue."
1402 if exists $INC{"IO/Async/Loop/AnyEvent.pm"};
882 1403
883 1 1404 local $!; # for good measure
1405 local $SIG{__DIE__}; # we use eval
1406
1407 # free some memory
1408 *detect = sub () { $MODEL };
1409 # undef &func doesn't correctly update the method cache. grmbl.
1410 # so we delete the whole glob. grmbl.
1411 # otoh, perl doesn't let me undef an active usb, but it lets me free
1412 # a glob with an active sub. hrm. i hope it works, but perl is
1413 # usually buggy in this department. sigh.
1414 delete @{"AnyEvent::"}{@methods};
1415 undef @methods;
1416
1417 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z0-9:]+)$/) {
1418 my $model = $1;
1419 $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$model" unless $model =~ s/::$//;
1420 if (eval "require $model") {
1421 AnyEvent::log 7 => "loaded model '$model' (forced by \$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}), using it.";
1422 $MODEL = $model;
884 } else { 1423 } else {
885 push @post_detect, $cb; 1424 AnyEvent::log 4 => "unable to load model '$model' (from \$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}):\n$@";
886 1425 }
887 defined wantarray
888 ? bless \$cb, "AnyEvent::Util::PostDetect"
889 : ()
890 } 1426 }
891}
892 1427
893sub AnyEvent::Util::PostDetect::DESTROY { 1428 # check for already loaded models
894 @post_detect = grep $_ != ${$_[0]}, @post_detect;
895}
896
897sub detect() {
898 unless ($MODEL) { 1429 unless ($MODEL) {
899 no strict 'refs'; 1430 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
900 local $SIG{__DIE__}; 1431 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
901 1432 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) {
902 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z]+)$/) {
903 my $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$1";
904 if (eval "require $model") { 1433 if (eval "require $model") {
1434 AnyEvent::log 7 => "autodetected model '$model', using it.";
905 $MODEL = $model; 1435 $MODEL = $model;
906 warn "AnyEvent: loaded model '$model' (forced by \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1436 last;
907 } else { 1437 }
908 warn "AnyEvent: unable to load model '$model' (from \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL):\n$@" if $verbose;
909 } 1438 }
910 } 1439 }
911 1440
912 # check for already loaded models
913 unless ($MODEL) { 1441 unless ($MODEL) {
1442 # try to autoload a model
914 for (@REGISTRY, @models) { 1443 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
915 my ($package, $model) = @$_; 1444 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
1445 if (
1446 eval "require $package"
916 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) { 1447 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0
917 if (eval "require $model") { 1448 and eval "require $model"
1449 ) {
1450 AnyEvent::log 7 => "autoloaded model '$model', using it.";
918 $MODEL = $model; 1451 $MODEL = $model;
919 warn "AnyEvent: autodetected model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1;
920 last; 1452 last;
921 }
922 } 1453 }
923 } 1454 }
924 1455
925 unless ($MODEL) {
926 # try to load a model
927
928 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
929 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
930 if (eval "require $package"
931 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0
932 and eval "require $model") {
933 $MODEL = $model;
934 warn "AnyEvent: autoprobed model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1;
935 last;
936 }
937 }
938
939 $MODEL 1456 $MODEL
940 or die "No event module selected for AnyEvent and autodetect failed. Install any one of these modules: EV, Event or Glib."; 1457 or AnyEvent::log fatal => "AnyEvent: backend autodetection failed - did you properly install AnyEvent?";
941 }
942 } 1458 }
943
944 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base";
945
946 unshift @ISA, $MODEL;
947
948 require AnyEvent::Strict if $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT};
949
950 (shift @post_detect)->() while @post_detect;
951 } 1459 }
952 1460
1461 # free memory only needed for probing
1462 undef @models;
1463 undef @REGISTRY;
1464
1465 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base";
1466
1467 # now nuke some methods that are overridden by the backend.
1468 # SUPER usage is not allowed in these.
1469 for (qw(time signal child idle)) {
1470 undef &{"AnyEvent::Base::$_"}
1471 if defined &{"$MODEL\::$_"};
1472 }
1473
1474 _isa_set;
1475
1476 # we're officially open!
1477
1478 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT}) {
1479 require AnyEvent::Strict;
1480 }
1481
1482 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_WRAP}) {
1483 require AnyEvent::Debug;
1484 AnyEvent::Debug::wrap ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_WRAP});
1485 }
1486
1487 if (length $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_SHELL}) {
1488 require AnyEvent::Socket;
1489 require AnyEvent::Debug;
1490
1491 my $shell = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_SHELL};
1492 $shell =~ s/\$\$/$$/g;
1493
1494 my ($host, $service) = AnyEvent::Socket::parse_hostport ($shell);
1495 $AnyEvent::Debug::SHELL = AnyEvent::Debug::shell ($host, $service);
1496 }
1497
1498 # now the anyevent environment is set up as the user told us to, so
1499 # call the actual user code - post detects
1500
1501 (shift @post_detect)->() while @post_detect;
1502 undef @post_detect;
1503
1504 *post_detect = sub(&) {
1505 shift->();
1506
1507 undef
1508 };
1509
953 $MODEL 1510 $MODEL
954} 1511}
955 1512
956sub AUTOLOAD { 1513for my $name (@methods) {
957 (my $func = $AUTOLOAD) =~ s/.*://; 1514 *$name = sub {
958 1515 detect;
959 $method{$func} 1516 # we use goto because
960 or croak "$func: not a valid method for AnyEvent objects"; 1517 # a) it makes the thunk more transparent
961 1518 # b) it allows us to delete the thunk later
962 detect unless $MODEL; 1519 goto &{ UNIVERSAL::can AnyEvent => "SUPER::$name" }
963 1520 };
964 my $class = shift;
965 $class->$func (@_);
966} 1521}
967 1522
968# utility function to dup a filehandle. this is used by many backends 1523# utility function to dup a filehandle. this is used by many backends
969# to support binding more than one watcher per filehandle (they usually 1524# to support binding more than one watcher per filehandle (they usually
970# allow only one watcher per fd, so we dup it to get a different one). 1525# allow only one watcher per fd, so we dup it to get a different one).
971sub _dupfh($$$$) { 1526sub _dupfh($$;$$) {
972 my ($poll, $fh, $r, $w) = @_; 1527 my ($poll, $fh, $r, $w) = @_;
973 1528
974 require Fcntl;
975
976 # cygwin requires the fh mode to be matching, unix doesn't 1529 # cygwin requires the fh mode to be matching, unix doesn't
977 my ($rw, $mode) = $poll eq "r" ? ($r, "<") 1530 my ($rw, $mode) = $poll eq "r" ? ($r, "<&") : ($w, ">&");
978 : $poll eq "w" ? ($w, ">")
979 : Carp::croak "AnyEvent->io requires poll set to either 'r' or 'w'";
980 1531
981 open my $fh2, "$mode&" . fileno $fh 1532 open my $fh2, $mode, $fh
982 or die "cannot dup() filehandle: $!"; 1533 or die "AnyEvent->io: cannot dup() filehandle in mode '$poll': $!,";
983 1534
984 # we assume CLOEXEC is already set by perl in all important cases 1535 # we assume CLOEXEC is already set by perl in all important cases
985 1536
986 ($fh2, $rw) 1537 ($fh2, $rw)
987} 1538}
988 1539
1540=head1 SIMPLIFIED AE API
1541
1542Starting with version 5.0, AnyEvent officially supports a second, much
1543simpler, API that is designed to reduce the calling, typing and memory
1544overhead by using function call syntax and a fixed number of parameters.
1545
1546See the L<AE> manpage for details.
1547
1548=cut
1549
1550package AE;
1551
1552our $VERSION = $AnyEvent::VERSION;
1553
1554sub _reset() {
1555 eval q{
1556 # fall back to the main API by default - backends and AnyEvent::Base
1557 # implementations can overwrite these.
1558
1559 sub io($$$) {
1560 AnyEvent->io (fh => $_[0], poll => $_[1] ? "w" : "r", cb => $_[2])
1561 }
1562
1563 sub timer($$$) {
1564 AnyEvent->timer (after => $_[0], interval => $_[1], cb => $_[2])
1565 }
1566
1567 sub signal($$) {
1568 AnyEvent->signal (signal => $_[0], cb => $_[1])
1569 }
1570
1571 sub child($$) {
1572 AnyEvent->child (pid => $_[0], cb => $_[1])
1573 }
1574
1575 sub idle($) {
1576 AnyEvent->idle (cb => $_[0]);
1577 }
1578
1579 sub cv(;&) {
1580 AnyEvent->condvar (@_ ? (cb => $_[0]) : ())
1581 }
1582
1583 sub now() {
1584 AnyEvent->now
1585 }
1586
1587 sub now_update() {
1588 AnyEvent->now_update
1589 }
1590
1591 sub time() {
1592 AnyEvent->time
1593 }
1594
1595 *postpone = \&AnyEvent::postpone;
1596 *log = \&AnyEvent::log;
1597 };
1598 die if $@;
1599}
1600
1601BEGIN { _reset }
1602
989package AnyEvent::Base; 1603package AnyEvent::Base;
990 1604
991# default implementation for now and time 1605# default implementations for many methods
992 1606
993use Time::HiRes (); 1607sub time {
1608 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1609 # probe for availability of Time::HiRes
1610 if (eval "use Time::HiRes (); Time::HiRes::time (); 1") {
1611 *time = sub { Time::HiRes::time () };
1612 *AE::time = \& Time::HiRes::time ;
1613 *now = \&time;
1614 AnyEvent::log 8 => "AnyEvent: using Time::HiRes for sub-second timing accuracy.";
1615 # if (eval "use POSIX (); (POSIX::times())...
1616 } else {
1617 *time = sub { CORE::time };
1618 *AE::time = sub (){ CORE::time };
1619 *now = \&time;
1620 AnyEvent::log 3 => "using built-in time(), WARNING, no sub-second resolution!";
1621 }
1622 };
1623 die if $@;
994 1624
995sub time { Time::HiRes::time } 1625 &time
996sub now { Time::HiRes::time } 1626}
1627
1628*now = \&time;
1629sub now_update { }
1630
1631sub _poll {
1632 Carp::croak "$AnyEvent::MODEL does not support blocking waits. Caught";
1633}
997 1634
998# default implementation for ->condvar 1635# default implementation for ->condvar
1636# in fact, the default should not be overwritten
999 1637
1000sub condvar { 1638sub condvar {
1639 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1640 *condvar = sub {
1001 bless { @_ == 3 ? (_ae_cb => $_[2]) : () }, AnyEvent::CondVar:: 1641 bless { @_ == 3 ? (_ae_cb => $_[2]) : () }, "AnyEvent::CondVar"
1642 };
1643
1644 *AE::cv = sub (;&) {
1645 bless { @_ ? (_ae_cb => shift) : () }, "AnyEvent::CondVar"
1646 };
1647 };
1648 die if $@;
1649
1650 &condvar
1002} 1651}
1003 1652
1004# default implementation for ->signal 1653# default implementation for ->signal
1005 1654
1006our %SIG_CB; 1655our $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT;
1656
1657sub _have_async_interrupt() {
1658 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT = 1*(!$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_ASYNC_INTERRUPT}
1659 && eval "use Async::Interrupt 1.02 (); 1")
1660 unless defined $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT;
1661
1662 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1663}
1664
1665our ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W, %SIG_CB, %SIG_EV, $SIG_IO);
1666our (%SIG_ASY, %SIG_ASY_W);
1667our ($SIG_COUNT, $SIG_TW);
1668
1669# install a dummy wakeup watcher to reduce signal catching latency
1670# used by Impls
1671sub _sig_add() {
1672 unless ($SIG_COUNT++) {
1673 # try to align timer on a full-second boundary, if possible
1674 my $NOW = AE::now;
1675
1676 $SIG_TW = AE::timer
1677 $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY - ($NOW - int $NOW),
1678 $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY,
1679 sub { } # just for the PERL_ASYNC_CHECK
1680 ;
1681 }
1682}
1683
1684sub _sig_del {
1685 undef $SIG_TW
1686 unless --$SIG_COUNT;
1687}
1688
1689our $_sig_name_init; $_sig_name_init = sub {
1690 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1691 undef $_sig_name_init;
1692
1693 if (_have_async_interrupt) {
1694 *sig2num = \&Async::Interrupt::sig2num;
1695 *sig2name = \&Async::Interrupt::sig2name;
1696 } else {
1697 require Config;
1698
1699 my %signame2num;
1700 @signame2num{ split ' ', $Config::Config{sig_name} }
1701 = split ' ', $Config::Config{sig_num};
1702
1703 my @signum2name;
1704 @signum2name[values %signame2num] = keys %signame2num;
1705
1706 *sig2num = sub($) {
1707 $_[0] > 0 ? shift : $signame2num{+shift}
1708 };
1709 *sig2name = sub ($) {
1710 $_[0] > 0 ? $signum2name[+shift] : shift
1711 };
1712 }
1713 };
1714 die if $@;
1715};
1716
1717sub sig2num ($) { &$_sig_name_init; &sig2num }
1718sub sig2name($) { &$_sig_name_init; &sig2name }
1007 1719
1008sub signal { 1720sub signal {
1721 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1722 # probe for availability of Async::Interrupt
1723 if (_have_async_interrupt) {
1724 AnyEvent::log 8 => "using Async::Interrupt for race-free signal handling.";
1725
1726 $SIGPIPE_R = new Async::Interrupt::EventPipe;
1727 $SIG_IO = AE::io $SIGPIPE_R->fileno, 0, \&_signal_exec;
1728
1729 } else {
1730 AnyEvent::log 8 => "using emulated perl signal handling with latency timer.";
1731
1732 if (AnyEvent::WIN32) {
1733 require AnyEvent::Util;
1734
1735 ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W) = AnyEvent::Util::portable_pipe ();
1736 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_R, 1) if $SIGPIPE_R;
1737 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_W, 1) if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case
1738 } else {
1739 pipe $SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W;
1740 fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, AnyEvent::F_SETFL, AnyEvent::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_R;
1741 fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, AnyEvent::F_SETFL, AnyEvent::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case
1742
1743 # not strictly required, as $^F is normally 2, but let's make sure...
1744 fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, AnyEvent::F_SETFD, AnyEvent::FD_CLOEXEC;
1745 fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, AnyEvent::F_SETFD, AnyEvent::FD_CLOEXEC;
1746 }
1747
1748 $SIGPIPE_R
1749 or Carp::croak "AnyEvent: unable to create a signal reporting pipe: $!\n";
1750
1751 $SIG_IO = AE::io $SIGPIPE_R, 0, \&_signal_exec;
1752 }
1753
1754 *signal = $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1755 ? sub {
1009 my (undef, %arg) = @_; 1756 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1010 1757
1758 # async::interrupt
1011 my $signal = uc $arg{signal} 1759 my $signal = sig2num $arg{signal};
1012 or Carp::croak "required option 'signal' is missing";
1013
1014 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb}; 1760 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1761
1762 $SIG_ASY{$signal} ||= new Async::Interrupt
1763 cb => sub { undef $SIG_EV{$signal} },
1764 signal => $signal,
1765 pipe => [$SIGPIPE_R->filenos],
1766 pipe_autodrain => 0,
1767 ;
1768
1769 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::signal"
1770 }
1771 : sub {
1772 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1773
1774 # pure perl
1775 my $signal = sig2name $arg{signal};
1776 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1777
1015 $SIG{$signal} ||= sub { 1778 $SIG{$signal} ||= sub {
1779 local $!;
1780 syswrite $SIGPIPE_W, "\x00", 1 unless %SIG_EV;
1781 undef $SIG_EV{$signal};
1782 };
1783
1784 # can't do signal processing without introducing races in pure perl,
1785 # so limit the signal latency.
1786 _sig_add;
1787
1788 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::signal"
1789 }
1790 ;
1791
1792 *AnyEvent::Base::signal::DESTROY = sub {
1793 my ($signal, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
1794
1795 _sig_del;
1796
1797 delete $SIG_CB{$signal}{$cb};
1798
1799 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1800 ? delete $SIG_ASY{$signal}
1801 : # delete doesn't work with older perls - they then
1802 # print weird messages, or just unconditionally exit
1803 # instead of getting the default action.
1804 undef $SIG{$signal}
1805 unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} };
1806 };
1807
1808 *_signal_exec = sub {
1809 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1810 ? $SIGPIPE_R->drain
1811 : sysread $SIGPIPE_R, (my $dummy), 9;
1812
1813 while (%SIG_EV) {
1814 for (keys %SIG_EV) {
1815 delete $SIG_EV{$_};
1016 $_->() for values %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} || {} }; 1816 &$_ for values %{ $SIG_CB{$_} || {} };
1817 }
1818 }
1819 };
1017 }; 1820 };
1821 die if $@;
1018 1822
1019 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Signal" 1823 &signal
1020}
1021
1022sub AnyEvent::Base::Signal::DESTROY {
1023 my ($signal, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
1024
1025 delete $SIG_CB{$signal}{$cb};
1026
1027 delete $SIG{$signal} unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} };
1028} 1824}
1029 1825
1030# default implementation for ->child 1826# default implementation for ->child
1031 1827
1032our %PID_CB; 1828our %PID_CB;
1033our $CHLD_W; 1829our $CHLD_W;
1034our $CHLD_DELAY_W; 1830our $CHLD_DELAY_W;
1035our $PID_IDLE;
1036our $WNOHANG;
1037 1831
1038sub _child_wait { 1832# used by many Impl's
1039 while (0 < (my $pid = waitpid -1, $WNOHANG)) { 1833sub _emit_childstatus($$) {
1834 my (undef, $rpid, $rstatus) = @_;
1835
1836 $_->($rpid, $rstatus)
1040 $_->($pid, $?) for (values %{ $PID_CB{$pid} || {} }), 1837 for values %{ $PID_CB{$rpid} || {} },
1041 (values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} }); 1838 values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} };
1042 }
1043
1044 undef $PID_IDLE;
1045}
1046
1047sub _sigchld {
1048 # make sure we deliver these changes "synchronous" with the event loop.
1049 $CHLD_DELAY_W ||= AnyEvent->timer (after => 0, cb => sub {
1050 undef $CHLD_DELAY_W;
1051 &_child_wait;
1052 });
1053} 1839}
1054 1840
1055sub child { 1841sub child {
1842 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1843 *_sigchld = sub {
1844 my $pid;
1845
1846 AnyEvent->_emit_childstatus ($pid, $?)
1847 while ($pid = waitpid -1, WNOHANG) > 0;
1848 };
1849
1850 *child = sub {
1056 my (undef, %arg) = @_; 1851 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1057 1852
1058 defined (my $pid = $arg{pid} + 0) 1853 my $pid = $arg{pid};
1059 or Carp::croak "required option 'pid' is missing"; 1854 my $cb = $arg{cb};
1060 1855
1061 $PID_CB{$pid}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb}; 1856 $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb+0} = $cb;
1062 1857
1063 unless ($WNOHANG) {
1064 $WNOHANG = eval { local $SIG{__DIE__}; require POSIX; &POSIX::WNOHANG } || 1;
1065 }
1066
1067 unless ($CHLD_W) { 1858 unless ($CHLD_W) {
1068 $CHLD_W = AnyEvent->signal (signal => 'CHLD', cb => \&_sigchld); 1859 $CHLD_W = AE::signal CHLD => \&_sigchld;
1069 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round 1860 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round
1070 &_sigchld; 1861 &_sigchld;
1071 } 1862 }
1072 1863
1073 bless [$pid, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Child" 1864 bless [$pid, $cb+0], "AnyEvent::Base::child"
1074} 1865 };
1075 1866
1076sub AnyEvent::Base::Child::DESTROY { 1867 *AnyEvent::Base::child::DESTROY = sub {
1077 my ($pid, $cb) = @{$_[0]}; 1868 my ($pid, $icb) = @{$_[0]};
1078 1869
1079 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb}; 1870 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$icb};
1080 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} }; 1871 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} };
1081 1872
1082 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB; 1873 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB;
1874 };
1875 };
1876 die if $@;
1877
1878 &child
1879}
1880
1881# idle emulation is done by simply using a timer, regardless
1882# of whether the process is idle or not, and not letting
1883# the callback use more than 50% of the time.
1884sub idle {
1885 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1886 *idle = sub {
1887 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1888
1889 my ($cb, $w, $rcb) = $arg{cb};
1890
1891 $rcb = sub {
1892 if ($cb) {
1893 $w = AE::time;
1894 &$cb;
1895 $w = AE::time - $w;
1896
1897 # never use more then 50% of the time for the idle watcher,
1898 # within some limits
1899 $w = 0.0001 if $w < 0.0001;
1900 $w = 5 if $w > 5;
1901
1902 $w = AE::timer $w, 0, $rcb;
1903 } else {
1904 # clean up...
1905 undef $w;
1906 undef $rcb;
1907 }
1908 };
1909
1910 $w = AE::timer 0.05, 0, $rcb;
1911
1912 bless \\$cb, "AnyEvent::Base::idle"
1913 };
1914
1915 *AnyEvent::Base::idle::DESTROY = sub {
1916 undef $${$_[0]};
1917 };
1918 };
1919 die if $@;
1920
1921 &idle
1083} 1922}
1084 1923
1085package AnyEvent::CondVar; 1924package AnyEvent::CondVar;
1086 1925
1087our @ISA = AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::; 1926our @ISA = AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::;
1088 1927
1928# only to be used for subclassing
1929sub new {
1930 my $class = shift;
1931 bless AnyEvent->condvar (@_), $class
1932}
1933
1089package AnyEvent::CondVar::Base; 1934package AnyEvent::CondVar::Base;
1090 1935
1091use overload 1936#use overload
1092 '&{}' => sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } }, 1937# '&{}' => sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } },
1093 fallback => 1; 1938# fallback => 1;
1939
1940# save 300+ kilobytes by dirtily hardcoding overloading
1941${"AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::OVERLOAD"}{dummy}++; # Register with magic by touching.
1942*{'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::()'} = sub { }; # "Make it findable via fetchmethod."
1943*{'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::(&{}'} = sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } }; # &{}
1944${'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::()'} = 1; # fallback
1945
1946our $WAITING;
1094 1947
1095sub _send { 1948sub _send {
1096 # nop 1949 # nop
1950}
1951
1952sub _wait {
1953 AnyEvent->_poll until $_[0]{_ae_sent};
1097} 1954}
1098 1955
1099sub send { 1956sub send {
1100 my $cv = shift; 1957 my $cv = shift;
1101 $cv->{_ae_sent} = [@_]; 1958 $cv->{_ae_sent} = [@_];
1110 1967
1111sub ready { 1968sub ready {
1112 $_[0]{_ae_sent} 1969 $_[0]{_ae_sent}
1113} 1970}
1114 1971
1115sub _wait {
1116 AnyEvent->one_event while !$_[0]{_ae_sent};
1117}
1118
1119sub recv { 1972sub recv {
1973 unless ($_[0]{_ae_sent}) {
1974 $WAITING
1975 and Carp::croak "AnyEvent::CondVar: recursive blocking wait attempted";
1976
1977 local $WAITING = 1;
1120 $_[0]->_wait; 1978 $_[0]->_wait;
1979 }
1121 1980
1122 Carp::croak $_[0]{_ae_croak} if $_[0]{_ae_croak}; 1981 $_[0]{_ae_croak}
1123 wantarray ? @{ $_[0]{_ae_sent} } : $_[0]{_ae_sent}[0] 1982 and Carp::croak $_[0]{_ae_croak};
1983
1984 wantarray
1985 ? @{ $_[0]{_ae_sent} }
1986 : $_[0]{_ae_sent}[0]
1124} 1987}
1125 1988
1126sub cb { 1989sub cb {
1127 $_[0]{_ae_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1; 1990 my $cv = shift;
1991
1992 @_
1993 and $cv->{_ae_cb} = shift
1994 and $cv->{_ae_sent}
1995 and (delete $cv->{_ae_cb})->($cv);
1996
1128 $_[0]{_ae_cb} 1997 $cv->{_ae_cb}
1129} 1998}
1130 1999
1131sub begin { 2000sub begin {
1132 ++$_[0]{_ae_counter}; 2001 ++$_[0]{_ae_counter};
1133 $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1; 2002 $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1;
1138 &{ $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} || sub { $_[0]->send } }; 2007 &{ $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} || sub { $_[0]->send } };
1139} 2008}
1140 2009
1141# undocumented/compatibility with pre-3.4 2010# undocumented/compatibility with pre-3.4
1142*broadcast = \&send; 2011*broadcast = \&send;
1143*wait = \&_wait; 2012*wait = \&recv;
2013
2014=head1 ERROR AND EXCEPTION HANDLING
2015
2016In general, AnyEvent does not do any error handling - it relies on the
2017caller to do that if required. The L<AnyEvent::Strict> module (see also
2018the C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT> environment variable, below) provides strict
2019checking of all AnyEvent methods, however, which is highly useful during
2020development.
2021
2022As for exception handling (i.e. runtime errors and exceptions thrown while
2023executing a callback), this is not only highly event-loop specific, but
2024also not in any way wrapped by this module, as this is the job of the main
2025program.
2026
2027The pure perl event loop simply re-throws the exception (usually
2028within C<< condvar->recv >>), the L<Event> and L<EV> modules call C<<
2029$Event/EV::DIED->() >>, L<Glib> uses C<< install_exception_handler >> and
2030so on.
2031
2032=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
2033
2034AnyEvent supports a number of environment variables that tune the
2035runtime behaviour. They are usually evaluated when AnyEvent is
2036loaded, initialised, or a submodule that uses them is loaded. Many of
2037them also cause AnyEvent to load additional modules - for example,
2038C<PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_WRAP> causes the L<AnyEvent::Debug> module to be
2039loaded.
2040
2041All the environment variables documented here start with
2042C<PERL_ANYEVENT_>, which is what AnyEvent considers its own
2043namespace. Other modules are encouraged (but by no means required) to use
2044C<PERL_ANYEVENT_SUBMODULE> if they have registered the AnyEvent::Submodule
2045namespace on CPAN, for any submodule. For example, L<AnyEvent::HTTP> could
2046be expected to use C<PERL_ANYEVENT_HTTP_PROXY> (it should not access env
2047variables starting with C<AE_>, see below).
2048
2049All variables can also be set via the C<AE_> prefix, that is, instead
2050of setting C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE> you can also set C<AE_VERBOSE>. In
2051case there is a clash btween anyevent and another program that uses
2052C<AE_something> you can set the corresponding C<PERL_ANYEVENT_something>
2053variable to the empty string, as those variables take precedence.
2054
2055When AnyEvent is first loaded, it copies all C<AE_xxx> env variables
2056to their C<PERL_ANYEVENT_xxx> counterpart unless that variable already
2057exists. If taint mode is on, then AnyEvent will remove I<all> environment
2058variables starting with C<PERL_ANYEVENT_> from C<%ENV> (or replace them
2059with C<undef> or the empty string, if the corresaponding C<AE_> variable
2060is set).
2061
2062The exact algorithm is currently:
2063
2064 1. if taint mode enabled, delete all PERL_ANYEVENT_xyz variables from %ENV
2065 2. copy over AE_xyz to PERL_ANYEVENT_xyz unless the latter alraedy exists
2066 3. if taint mode enabled, set all PERL_ANYEVENT_xyz variables to undef.
2067
2068This ensures that child processes will not see the C<AE_> variables.
2069
2070The following environment variables are currently known to AnyEvent:
2071
2072=over 4
2073
2074=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
2075
2076By default, AnyEvent will only log messages with loglevel C<3>
2077(C<critical>) or higher (see L<AnyEvent::Log>). You can set this
2078environment variable to a numerical loglevel to make AnyEvent more (or
2079less) talkative.
2080
2081If you want to do more than just set the global logging level
2082you should have a look at C<PERL_ANYEVENT_LOG>, which allows much more
2083complex specifications.
2084
2085When set to C<0> (C<off>), then no messages whatsoever will be logged with
2086the default logging settings.
2087
2088When set to C<5> or higher (C<warn>), causes AnyEvent to warn about
2089unexpected conditions, such as not being able to load the event model
2090specified by C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>, or a guard callback throwing an
2091exception - this is the minimum recommended level.
2092
2093When set to C<7> or higher (info), cause AnyEvent to report which event model it
2094chooses.
2095
2096When set to C<8> or higher (debug), then AnyEvent will report extra information on
2097which optional modules it loads and how it implements certain features.
2098
2099=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_LOG>
2100
2101Accepts rather complex logging specifications. For example, you could log
2102all C<debug> messages of some module to stderr, warnings and above to
2103stderr, and errors and above to syslog, with:
2104
2105 PERL_ANYEVENT_LOG=Some::Module=debug,+log:filter=warn,+%syslog:%syslog=error,syslog
2106
2107For the rather extensive details, see L<AnyEvent::Log>.
2108
2109This variable is evaluated when AnyEvent (or L<AnyEvent::Log>) is loaded,
2110so will take effect even before AnyEvent has initialised itself.
2111
2112Note that specifying this environment variable causes the L<AnyEvent::Log>
2113module to be loaded, while C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE> does not, so only
2114using the latter saves a few hundred kB of memory until the first message
2115is being logged.
2116
2117=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT>
2118
2119AnyEvent does not do much argument checking by default, as thorough
2120argument checking is very costly. Setting this variable to a true value
2121will cause AnyEvent to load C<AnyEvent::Strict> and then to thoroughly
2122check the arguments passed to most method calls. If it finds any problems,
2123it will croak.
2124
2125In other words, enables "strict" mode.
2126
2127Unlike C<use strict> (or its modern cousin, C<< use L<common::sense>
2128>>, it is definitely recommended to keep it off in production. Keeping
2129C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT=1> in your environment while developing programs
2130can be very useful, however.
2131
2132=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_SHELL>
2133
2134If this env variable is nonempty, then its contents will be interpreted by
2135C<AnyEvent::Socket::parse_hostport> and C<AnyEvent::Debug::shell> (after
2136replacing every occurance of C<$$> by the process pid). The shell object
2137is saved in C<$AnyEvent::Debug::SHELL>.
2138
2139This happens when the first watcher is created.
2140
2141For example, to bind a debug shell on a unix domain socket in
2142F<< /tmp/debug<pid>.sock >>, you could use this:
2143
2144 PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_SHELL=/tmp/debug\$\$.sock perlprog
2145 # connect with e.g.: socat readline /tmp/debug123.sock
2146
2147Or to bind to tcp port 4545 on localhost:
2148
2149 PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_SHELL=127.0.0.1:4545 perlprog
2150 # connect with e.g.: telnet localhost 4545
2151
2152Note that creating sockets in F</tmp> or on localhost is very unsafe on
2153multiuser systems.
2154
2155=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_WRAP>
2156
2157Can be set to C<0>, C<1> or C<2> and enables wrapping of all watchers for
2158debugging purposes. See C<AnyEvent::Debug::wrap> for details.
2159
2160=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
2161
2162This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
2163auto detection and -probing kicks in.
2164
2165It normally is a string consisting entirely of ASCII letters (e.g. C<EV>
2166or C<IOAsync>). The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended and the
2167resulting module name is loaded and - if the load was successful - used as
2168event model backend. If it fails to load then AnyEvent will proceed with
2169auto detection and -probing.
2170
2171If the string ends with C<::> instead (e.g. C<AnyEvent::Impl::EV::>) then
2172nothing gets prepended and the module name is used as-is (hint: C<::> at
2173the end of a string designates a module name and quotes it appropriately).
2174
2175For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Loop::Perl>) you
2176could start your program like this:
2177
2178 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
2179
2180=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS>
2181
2182Used by both L<AnyEvent::DNS> and L<AnyEvent::Socket> to determine preferences
2183for IPv4 or IPv6. The default is unspecified (and might change, or be the result
2184of auto probing).
2185
2186Must be set to a comma-separated list of protocols or address families,
2187current supported: C<ipv4> and C<ipv6>. Only protocols mentioned will be
2188used, and preference will be given to protocols mentioned earlier in the
2189list.
2190
2191This variable can effectively be used for denial-of-service attacks
2192against local programs (e.g. when setuid), although the impact is likely
2193small, as the program has to handle conenction and other failures anyways.
2194
2195Examples: C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4,ipv6> - prefer IPv4 over IPv6,
2196but support both and try to use both. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4>
2197- only support IPv4, never try to resolve or contact IPv6
2198addresses. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv6,ipv4> support either IPv4 or
2199IPv6, but prefer IPv6 over IPv4.
2200
2201=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_HOSTS>
2202
2203This variable, if specified, overrides the F</etc/hosts> file used by
2204L<AnyEvent::Socket>C<::resolve_sockaddr>, i.e. hosts aliases will be read
2205from that file instead.
2206
2207=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_EDNS0>
2208
2209Used by L<AnyEvent::DNS> to decide whether to use the EDNS0 extension for
2210DNS. This extension is generally useful to reduce DNS traffic, especially
2211when DNSSEC is involved, but some (broken) firewalls drop such DNS
2212packets, which is why it is off by default.
2213
2214Setting this variable to C<1> will cause L<AnyEvent::DNS> to announce
2215EDNS0 in its DNS requests.
2216
2217=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_FORKS>
2218
2219The maximum number of child processes that C<AnyEvent::Util::fork_call>
2220will create in parallel.
2221
2222=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_OUTSTANDING_DNS>
2223
2224The default value for the C<max_outstanding> parameter for the default DNS
2225resolver - this is the maximum number of parallel DNS requests that are
2226sent to the DNS server.
2227
2228=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>
2229
2230Perl has inherently racy signal handling (you can basically choose between
2231losing signals and memory corruption) - pure perl event loops (including
2232C<AnyEvent::Loop>, when C<Async::Interrupt> isn't available) therefore
2233have to poll regularly to avoid losing signals.
2234
2235Some event loops are racy, but don't poll regularly, and some event loops
2236are written in C but are still racy. For those event loops, AnyEvent
2237installs a timer that regularly wakes up the event loop.
2238
2239By default, the interval for this timer is C<10> seconds, but you can
2240override this delay with this environment variable (or by setting
2241the C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY> variable before creating signal
2242watchers).
2243
2244Lower values increase CPU (and energy) usage, higher values can introduce
2245long delays when reaping children or waiting for signals.
2246
2247The L<AnyEvent::Async> module, if available, will be used to avoid this
2248polling (with most event loops).
2249
2250=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_RESOLV_CONF>
2251
2252The absolute path to a F<resolv.conf>-style file to use instead of
2253F</etc/resolv.conf> (or the OS-specific configuration) in the default
2254resolver, or the empty string to select the default configuration.
2255
2256=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_CA_FILE>, C<PERL_ANYEVENT_CA_PATH>.
2257
2258When neither C<ca_file> nor C<ca_path> was specified during
2259L<AnyEvent::TLS> context creation, and either of these environment
2260variables are nonempty, they will be used to specify CA certificate
2261locations instead of a system-dependent default.
2262
2263=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_GUARD> and C<PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_ASYNC_INTERRUPT>
2264
2265When these are set to C<1>, then the respective modules are not
2266loaded. Mostly good for testing AnyEvent itself.
2267
2268=back
1144 2269
1145=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE 2270=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE
1146 2271
1147This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in 2272This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in
1148a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to 2273a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to
1182 2307
1183I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to 2308I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to
1184condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will 2309condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will
1185C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must 2310C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must
1186not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense. 2311not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense.
1187
1188=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
1189
1190The following environment variables are used by this module:
1191
1192=over 4
1193
1194=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
1195
1196By default, AnyEvent will be completely silent except in fatal
1197conditions. You can set this environment variable to make AnyEvent more
1198talkative.
1199
1200When set to C<1> or higher, causes AnyEvent to warn about unexpected
1201conditions, such as not being able to load the event model specified by
1202C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>.
1203
1204When set to C<2> or higher, cause AnyEvent to report to STDERR which event
1205model it chooses.
1206
1207=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT>
1208
1209AnyEvent does not do much argument checking by default, as thorough
1210argument checking is very costly. Setting this variable to a true value
1211will cause AnyEvent to load C<AnyEvent::Strict> and then to thoroughly
1212check the arguments passed to most method calls. If it finds any problems
1213it will croak.
1214
1215In other words, enables "strict" mode.
1216
1217Unlike C<use strict> it is definitely recommended ot keep it off in
1218production.
1219
1220=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
1221
1222This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
1223auto detection and -probing kicks in. It must be a string consisting
1224entirely of ASCII letters. The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended
1225and the resulting module name is loaded and if the load was successful,
1226used as event model. If it fails to load AnyEvent will proceed with
1227auto detection and -probing.
1228
1229This functionality might change in future versions.
1230
1231For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) you
1232could start your program like this:
1233
1234 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
1235
1236=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS>
1237
1238Used by both L<AnyEvent::DNS> and L<AnyEvent::Socket> to determine preferences
1239for IPv4 or IPv6. The default is unspecified (and might change, or be the result
1240of auto probing).
1241
1242Must be set to a comma-separated list of protocols or address families,
1243current supported: C<ipv4> and C<ipv6>. Only protocols mentioned will be
1244used, and preference will be given to protocols mentioned earlier in the
1245list.
1246
1247This variable can effectively be used for denial-of-service attacks
1248against local programs (e.g. when setuid), although the impact is likely
1249small, as the program has to handle connection errors already-
1250
1251Examples: C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4,ipv6> - prefer IPv4 over IPv6,
1252but support both and try to use both. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4>
1253- only support IPv4, never try to resolve or contact IPv6
1254addresses. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv6,ipv4> support either IPv4 or
1255IPv6, but prefer IPv6 over IPv4.
1256
1257=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_EDNS0>
1258
1259Used by L<AnyEvent::DNS> to decide whether to use the EDNS0 extension
1260for DNS. This extension is generally useful to reduce DNS traffic, but
1261some (broken) firewalls drop such DNS packets, which is why it is off by
1262default.
1263
1264Setting this variable to C<1> will cause L<AnyEvent::DNS> to announce
1265EDNS0 in its DNS requests.
1266
1267=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_FORKS>
1268
1269The maximum number of child processes that C<AnyEvent::Util::fork_call>
1270will create in parallel.
1271
1272=back
1273 2312
1274=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM 2313=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM
1275 2314
1276The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer 2315The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer
1277to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the 2316to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the
1290 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read 2329 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read
1291 $cv->send if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i 2330 $cv->send if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i
1292 }, 2331 },
1293 ); 2332 );
1294 2333
1295 my $time_watcher; # can only be used once
1296
1297 sub new_timer {
1298 $timer = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => sub { 2334 my $time_watcher = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, interval => 1, cb => sub {
1299 warn "timeout\n"; # print 'timeout' about every second 2335 warn "timeout\n"; # print 'timeout' at most every second
1300 &new_timer; # and restart the time
1301 }); 2336 });
1302 }
1303
1304 new_timer; # create first timer
1305 2337
1306 $cv->recv; # wait until user enters /^q/i 2338 $cv->recv; # wait until user enters /^q/i
1307 2339
1308=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE 2340=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE
1309 2341
1382 2414
1383The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions) 2415The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions)
1384that occurred during request processing. The C<result> method detects 2416that occurred during request processing. The C<result> method detects
1385whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object) 2417whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object)
1386and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other 2418and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other
1387problems get reported tot he code that tries to use the result, not in a 2419problems get reported to the code that tries to use the result, not in a
1388random callback. 2420random callback.
1389 2421
1390All of this enables the following usage styles: 2422All of this enables the following usage styles:
1391 2423
13921. Blocking: 24241. Blocking:
1440through AnyEvent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero 2472through AnyEvent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero
1441timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable, 2473timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable,
1442which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again. 2474which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again.
1443 2475
1444Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent 2476Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent
1445distribution. 2477distribution. It uses the L<AE> interface, which makes a real difference
2478for the EV and Perl backends only.
1446 2479
1447=head3 Explanation of the columns 2480=head3 Explanation of the columns
1448 2481
1449I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since 2482I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since
1450different event models feature vastly different performances, each event 2483different event models feature vastly different performances, each event
1471watcher. 2504watcher.
1472 2505
1473=head3 Results 2506=head3 Results
1474 2507
1475 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment 2508 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment
1476 EV/EV 400000 244 0.56 0.46 0.31 EV native interface 2509 EV/EV 100000 223 0.47 0.43 0.27 EV native interface
1477 EV/Any 100000 244 2.50 0.46 0.29 EV + AnyEvent watchers 2510 EV/Any 100000 223 0.48 0.42 0.26 EV + AnyEvent watchers
1478 CoroEV/Any 100000 244 2.49 0.44 0.29 coroutines + Coro::Signal 2511 Coro::EV/Any 100000 223 0.47 0.42 0.26 coroutines + Coro::Signal
1479 Perl/Any 100000 513 4.92 0.87 1.12 pure perl implementation 2512 Perl/Any 100000 431 2.70 0.74 0.92 pure perl implementation
1480 Event/Event 16000 516 31.88 31.30 0.85 Event native interface 2513 Event/Event 16000 516 31.16 31.84 0.82 Event native interface
1481 Event/Any 16000 590 35.75 31.42 1.08 Event + AnyEvent watchers 2514 Event/Any 16000 1203 42.61 34.79 1.80 Event + AnyEvent watchers
2515 IOAsync/Any 16000 1911 41.92 27.45 16.81 via IO::Async::Loop::IO_Poll
2516 IOAsync/Any 16000 1726 40.69 26.37 15.25 via IO::Async::Loop::Epoll
1482 Glib/Any 16000 1357 98.22 12.41 54.00 quadratic behaviour 2517 Glib/Any 16000 1118 89.00 12.57 51.17 quadratic behaviour
1483 Tk/Any 2000 1860 26.97 67.98 14.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers 2518 Tk/Any 2000 1346 20.96 10.75 8.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers
1484 POE/Event 2000 6644 108.64 736.02 14.73 via POE::Loop::Event 2519 POE/Any 2000 6951 108.97 795.32 14.24 via POE::Loop::Event
1485 POE/Select 2000 6343 94.13 809.12 565.96 via POE::Loop::Select 2520 POE/Any 2000 6648 94.79 774.40 575.51 via POE::Loop::Select
1486 2521
1487=head3 Discussion 2522=head3 Discussion
1488 2523
1489The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very 2524The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very
1490well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one) 2525well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one)
1502benchmark machine, handling an event takes roughly 1600 CPU cycles with 2537benchmark machine, handling an event takes roughly 1600 CPU cycles with
1503EV, 3100 CPU cycles with AnyEvent's pure perl loop and almost 3000000 CPU 2538EV, 3100 CPU cycles with AnyEvent's pure perl loop and almost 3000000 CPU
1504cycles with POE. 2539cycles with POE.
1505 2540
1506C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both 2541C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both
1507maximal/minimal, respectively. Even when going through AnyEvent, it uses 2542maximal/minimal, respectively. When using the L<AE> API there is zero
2543overhead (when going through the AnyEvent API create is about 5-6 times
2544slower, with other times being equal, so still uses far less memory than
1508far less memory than any other event loop and is still faster than Event 2545any other event loop and is still faster than Event natively).
1509natively.
1510 2546
1511The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the 2547The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the
1512constant timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl 2548constant timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl
1513interpreter and the backend itself). Nevertheless this shows that it 2549interpreter and the backend itself). Nevertheless this shows that it
1514adds very little overhead in itself. Like any select-based backend its 2550adds very little overhead in itself. Like any select-based backend its
1515performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of 2551performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of
1516them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark. 2552them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark.
1517 2553
1518The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation 2554The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation
1519cost, but overall scores in on the third place. 2555cost, but overall scores in on the third place.
2556
2557C<IO::Async> performs admirably well, about on par with C<Event>, even
2558when using its pure perl backend.
1520 2559
1521C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a 2560C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a
1522faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as 2561faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as
1523C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of 2562C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of
1524watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four, 2563watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four,
1559(even when used without AnyEvent), but most event loops have acceptable 2598(even when used without AnyEvent), but most event loops have acceptable
1560performance with or without AnyEvent. 2599performance with or without AnyEvent.
1561 2600
1562=item * The overhead AnyEvent adds is usually much smaller than the overhead of 2601=item * The overhead AnyEvent adds is usually much smaller than the overhead of
1563the actual event loop, only with extremely fast event loops such as EV 2602the actual event loop, only with extremely fast event loops such as EV
1564adds AnyEvent significant overhead. 2603does AnyEvent add significant overhead.
1565 2604
1566=item * You should avoid POE like the plague if you want performance or 2605=item * You should avoid POE like the plague if you want performance or
1567reasonable memory usage. 2606reasonable memory usage.
1568 2607
1569=back 2608=back
1585In this benchmark, we use 10000 socket pairs (20000 sockets), of which 100 2624In this benchmark, we use 10000 socket pairs (20000 sockets), of which 100
1586(1%) are active. This mirrors the activity of large servers with many 2625(1%) are active. This mirrors the activity of large servers with many
1587connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time. 2626connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time.
1588 2627
1589Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent 2628Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent
1590distribution. 2629distribution. It uses the L<AE> interface, which makes a real difference
2630for the EV and Perl backends only.
1591 2631
1592=head3 Explanation of the columns 2632=head3 Explanation of the columns
1593 2633
1594I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as 2634I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as
1595each server has a read and write socket end). 2635each server has a read and write socket end).
1602it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating 2642it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating
1603a new one that moves the timeout into the future. 2643a new one that moves the timeout into the future.
1604 2644
1605=head3 Results 2645=head3 Results
1606 2646
1607 name sockets create request 2647 name sockets create request
1608 EV 20000 69.01 11.16 2648 EV 20000 62.66 7.99
1609 Perl 20000 73.32 35.87 2649 Perl 20000 68.32 32.64
1610 Event 20000 212.62 257.32 2650 IOAsync 20000 174.06 101.15 epoll
1611 Glib 20000 651.16 1896.30 2651 IOAsync 20000 174.67 610.84 poll
2652 Event 20000 202.69 242.91
2653 Glib 20000 557.01 1689.52
1612 POE 20000 349.67 12317.24 uses POE::Loop::Event 2654 POE 20000 341.54 12086.32 uses POE::Loop::Event
1613 2655
1614=head3 Discussion 2656=head3 Discussion
1615 2657
1616This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the 2658This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the
1617particular event loop. 2659particular event loop.
1619EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time 2661EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time
1620is relatively high, though. 2662is relatively high, though.
1621 2663
1622Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event 2664Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event
1623loops Event and Glib. 2665loops Event and Glib.
2666
2667IO::Async performs very well when using its epoll backend, and still quite
2668good compared to Glib when using its pure perl backend.
1624 2669
1625Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will 2670Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will
1626understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to 2671understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to
1627the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event 2672the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event
1628uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations. 2673uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations.
1691=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of 2736=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of
1692watchers, as the management overhead dominates. 2737watchers, as the management overhead dominates.
1693 2738
1694=back 2739=back
1695 2740
2741=head2 THE IO::Lambda BENCHMARK
2742
2743Recently I was told about the benchmark in the IO::Lambda manpage, which
2744could be misinterpreted to make AnyEvent look bad. In fact, the benchmark
2745simply compares IO::Lambda with POE, and IO::Lambda looks better (which
2746shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody). As such, the benchmark is
2747fine, and mostly shows that the AnyEvent backend from IO::Lambda isn't
2748very optimal. But how would AnyEvent compare when used without the extra
2749baggage? To explore this, I wrote the equivalent benchmark for AnyEvent.
2750
2751The benchmark itself creates an echo-server, and then, for 500 times,
2752connects to the echo server, sends a line, waits for the reply, and then
2753creates the next connection. This is a rather bad benchmark, as it doesn't
2754test the efficiency of the framework or much non-blocking I/O, but it is a
2755benchmark nevertheless.
2756
2757 name runtime
2758 Lambda/select 0.330 sec
2759 + optimized 0.122 sec
2760 Lambda/AnyEvent 0.327 sec
2761 + optimized 0.138 sec
2762 Raw sockets/select 0.077 sec
2763 POE/select, components 0.662 sec
2764 POE/select, raw sockets 0.226 sec
2765 POE/select, optimized 0.404 sec
2766
2767 AnyEvent/select/nb 0.085 sec
2768 AnyEvent/EV/nb 0.068 sec
2769 +state machine 0.134 sec
2770
2771The benchmark is also a bit unfair (my fault): the IO::Lambda/POE
2772benchmarks actually make blocking connects and use 100% blocking I/O,
2773defeating the purpose of an event-based solution. All of the newly
2774written AnyEvent benchmarks use 100% non-blocking connects (using
2775AnyEvent::Socket::tcp_connect and the asynchronous pure perl DNS
2776resolver), so AnyEvent is at a disadvantage here, as non-blocking connects
2777generally require a lot more bookkeeping and event handling than blocking
2778connects (which involve a single syscall only).
2779
2780The last AnyEvent benchmark additionally uses L<AnyEvent::Handle>, which
2781offers similar expressive power as POE and IO::Lambda, using conventional
2782Perl syntax. This means that both the echo server and the client are 100%
2783non-blocking, further placing it at a disadvantage.
2784
2785As you can see, the AnyEvent + EV combination even beats the
2786hand-optimised "raw sockets benchmark", while AnyEvent + its pure perl
2787backend easily beats IO::Lambda and POE.
2788
2789And even the 100% non-blocking version written using the high-level (and
2790slow :) L<AnyEvent::Handle> abstraction beats both POE and IO::Lambda
2791higher level ("unoptimised") abstractions by a large margin, even though
2792it does all of DNS, tcp-connect and socket I/O in a non-blocking way.
2793
2794The two AnyEvent benchmarks programs can be found as F<eg/ae0.pl> and
2795F<eg/ae2.pl> in the AnyEvent distribution, the remaining benchmarks are
2796part of the IO::Lambda distribution and were used without any changes.
2797
2798
2799=head1 SIGNALS
2800
2801AnyEvent currently installs handlers for these signals:
2802
2803=over 4
2804
2805=item SIGCHLD
2806
2807A handler for C<SIGCHLD> is installed by AnyEvent's child watcher
2808emulation for event loops that do not support them natively. Also, some
2809event loops install a similar handler.
2810
2811Additionally, when AnyEvent is loaded and SIGCHLD is set to IGNORE, then
2812AnyEvent will reset it to default, to avoid losing child exit statuses.
2813
2814=item SIGPIPE
2815
2816A no-op handler is installed for C<SIGPIPE> when C<$SIG{PIPE}> is C<undef>
2817when AnyEvent gets loaded.
2818
2819The rationale for this is that AnyEvent users usually do not really depend
2820on SIGPIPE delivery (which is purely an optimisation for shell use, or
2821badly-written programs), but C<SIGPIPE> can cause spurious and rare
2822program exits as a lot of people do not expect C<SIGPIPE> when writing to
2823some random socket.
2824
2825The rationale for installing a no-op handler as opposed to ignoring it is
2826that this way, the handler will be restored to defaults on exec.
2827
2828Feel free to install your own handler, or reset it to defaults.
2829
2830=back
2831
2832=cut
2833
2834undef $SIG{CHLD}
2835 if $SIG{CHLD} eq 'IGNORE';
2836
2837$SIG{PIPE} = sub { }
2838 unless defined $SIG{PIPE};
2839
2840=head1 RECOMMENDED/OPTIONAL MODULES
2841
2842One of AnyEvent's main goals is to be 100% Pure-Perl(tm): only perl (and
2843its built-in modules) are required to use it.
2844
2845That does not mean that AnyEvent won't take advantage of some additional
2846modules if they are installed.
2847
2848This section explains which additional modules will be used, and how they
2849affect AnyEvent's operation.
2850
2851=over 4
2852
2853=item L<Async::Interrupt>
2854
2855This slightly arcane module is used to implement fast signal handling: To
2856my knowledge, there is no way to do completely race-free and quick
2857signal handling in pure perl. To ensure that signals still get
2858delivered, AnyEvent will start an interval timer to wake up perl (and
2859catch the signals) with some delay (default is 10 seconds, look for
2860C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>).
2861
2862If this module is available, then it will be used to implement signal
2863catching, which means that signals will not be delayed, and the event loop
2864will not be interrupted regularly, which is more efficient (and good for
2865battery life on laptops).
2866
2867This affects not just the pure-perl event loop, but also other event loops
2868that have no signal handling on their own (e.g. Glib, Tk, Qt).
2869
2870Some event loops (POE, Event, Event::Lib) offer signal watchers natively,
2871and either employ their own workarounds (POE) or use AnyEvent's workaround
2872(using C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>). Installing L<Async::Interrupt>
2873does nothing for those backends.
2874
2875=item L<EV>
2876
2877This module isn't really "optional", as it is simply one of the backend
2878event loops that AnyEvent can use. However, it is simply the best event
2879loop available in terms of features, speed and stability: It supports
2880the AnyEvent API optimally, implements all the watcher types in XS, does
2881automatic timer adjustments even when no monotonic clock is available,
2882can take avdantage of advanced kernel interfaces such as C<epoll> and
2883C<kqueue>, and is the fastest backend I<by far>. You can even embed
2884L<Glib>/L<Gtk2> in it (or vice versa, see L<EV::Glib> and L<Glib::EV>).
2885
2886If you only use backends that rely on another event loop (e.g. C<Tk>),
2887then this module will do nothing for you.
2888
2889=item L<Guard>
2890
2891The guard module, when used, will be used to implement
2892C<AnyEvent::Util::guard>. This speeds up guards considerably (and uses a
2893lot less memory), but otherwise doesn't affect guard operation much. It is
2894purely used for performance.
2895
2896=item L<JSON> and L<JSON::XS>
2897
2898One of these modules is required when you want to read or write JSON data
2899via L<AnyEvent::Handle>. L<JSON> is also written in pure-perl, but can take
2900advantage of the ultra-high-speed L<JSON::XS> module when it is installed.
2901
2902=item L<Net::SSLeay>
2903
2904Implementing TLS/SSL in Perl is certainly interesting, but not very
2905worthwhile: If this module is installed, then L<AnyEvent::Handle> (with
2906the help of L<AnyEvent::TLS>), gains the ability to do TLS/SSL.
2907
2908=item L<Time::HiRes>
2909
2910This module is part of perl since release 5.008. It will be used when the
2911chosen event library does not come with a timing source of its own. The
2912pure-perl event loop (L<AnyEvent::Loop>) will additionally load it to
2913try to use a monotonic clock for timing stability.
2914
2915=back
2916
1696 2917
1697=head1 FORK 2918=head1 FORK
1698 2919
1699Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are 2920Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are
1700because they rely on inefficient but fork-safe C<select> or C<poll> 2921because they rely on inefficient but fork-safe C<select> or C<poll> calls
1701calls. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware. 2922- higher performance APIs such as BSD's kqueue or the dreaded Linux epoll
2923are usually badly thought-out hacks that are incompatible with fork in
2924one way or another. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware and ensures that you
2925continue event-processing in both parent and child (or both, if you know
2926what you are doing).
2927
2928This means that, in general, you cannot fork and do event processing in
2929the child if the event library was initialised before the fork (which
2930usually happens when the first AnyEvent watcher is created, or the library
2931is loaded).
1702 2932
1703If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first 2933If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first
1704watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child. 2934watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child OR you must do
2935something completely out of the scope of AnyEvent.
2936
2937The problem of doing event processing in the parent I<and> the child
2938is much more complicated: even for backends that I<are> fork-aware or
2939fork-safe, their behaviour is not usually what you want: fork clones all
2940watchers, that means all timers, I/O watchers etc. are active in both
2941parent and child, which is almost never what you want. USing C<exec>
2942to start worker children from some kind of manage rprocess is usually
2943preferred, because it is much easier and cleaner, at the expense of having
2944to have another binary.
1705 2945
1706 2946
1707=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS 2947=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
1708 2948
1709AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via 2949AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via
1721 use AnyEvent; 2961 use AnyEvent;
1722 2962
1723Similar considerations apply to $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}, as that can 2963Similar considerations apply to $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}, as that can
1724be used to probe what backend is used and gain other information (which is 2964be used to probe what backend is used and gain other information (which is
1725probably even less useful to an attacker than PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), and 2965probably even less useful to an attacker than PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), and
1726$ENV{PERL_ANYEGENT_STRICT}. 2966$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT}.
2967
2968Note that AnyEvent will remove I<all> environment variables starting with
2969C<PERL_ANYEVENT_> from C<%ENV> when it is loaded while taint mode is
2970enabled.
1727 2971
1728 2972
1729=head1 BUGS 2973=head1 BUGS
1730 2974
1731Perl 5.8 has numerous memleaks that sometimes hit this module and are hard 2975Perl 5.8 has numerous memleaks that sometimes hit this module and are hard
1732to work around. If you suffer from memleaks, first upgrade to Perl 5.10 2976to work around. If you suffer from memleaks, first upgrade to Perl 5.10
1733and check wether the leaks still show up. (Perl 5.10.0 has other annoying 2977and check wether the leaks still show up. (Perl 5.10.0 has other annoying
1734mamleaks, such as leaking on C<map> and C<grep> but it is usually not as 2978memleaks, such as leaking on C<map> and C<grep> but it is usually not as
1735pronounced). 2979pronounced).
1736 2980
1737 2981
1738=head1 SEE ALSO 2982=head1 SEE ALSO
1739 2983
1740Utility functions: L<AnyEvent::Util>. 2984Tutorial/Introduction: L<AnyEvent::Intro>.
1741 2985
1742Event modules: L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>, L<Glib::EV>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>, 2986FAQ: L<AnyEvent::FAQ>.
1743L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>. 2987
2988Utility functions: L<AnyEvent::Util> (misc. grab-bag), L<AnyEvent::Log>
2989(simply logging).
2990
2991Development/Debugging: L<AnyEvent::Strict> (stricter checking),
2992L<AnyEvent::Debug> (interactive shell, watcher tracing).
2993
2994Supported event modules: L<AnyEvent::Loop>, L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>,
2995L<Glib::EV>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>, L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>,
2996L<Qt>, L<POE>, L<FLTK>.
1744 2997
1745Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>, 2998Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>,
1746L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, 2999L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>,
1747L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>, 3000L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>,
3001L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync>, L<Anyevent::Impl::Irssi>,
1748L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>. 3002L<AnyEvent::Impl::FLTK>.
1749 3003
1750Non-blocking file handles, sockets, TCP clients and 3004Non-blocking handles, pipes, stream sockets, TCP clients and
1751servers: L<AnyEvent::Handle>, L<AnyEvent::Socket>. 3005servers: L<AnyEvent::Handle>, L<AnyEvent::Socket>, L<AnyEvent::TLS>.
1752 3006
1753Asynchronous DNS: L<AnyEvent::DNS>. 3007Asynchronous DNS: L<AnyEvent::DNS>.
1754 3008
1755Coroutine support: L<Coro>, L<Coro::AnyEvent>, L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>, 3009Thread support: L<Coro>, L<Coro::AnyEvent>, L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>.
1756 3010
1757Nontrivial usage examples: L<Net::FCP>, L<Net::XMPP2>, L<AnyEvent::DNS>. 3011Nontrivial usage examples: L<AnyEvent::GPSD>, L<AnyEvent::IRC>,
3012L<AnyEvent::HTTP>.
1758 3013
1759 3014
1760=head1 AUTHOR 3015=head1 AUTHOR
1761 3016
1762 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 3017 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>

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