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1=head1 NAME 1=head1 NAME
2 2
3AnyEvent - provide framework for multiple event loops 3AnyEvent - the DBI of event loop programming
4 4
5EV, Event, Glib, Tk, Perl, Event::Lib, Qt, POE - various supported event loops 5EV, Event, Glib, Tk, Perl, Event::Lib, Irssi, rxvt-unicode, IO::Async, Qt
6and POE are various supported event loops/environments.
6 7
7=head1 SYNOPSIS 8=head1 SYNOPSIS
8 9
9 use AnyEvent; 10 use AnyEvent;
10 11
12 # if you prefer function calls, look at the AE manpage for
13 # an alternative API.
14
15 # file handle or descriptor readable
11 my $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh, poll => "r|w", cb => sub { ... }); 16 my $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh, poll => "r", cb => sub { ... });
12 17
18 # one-shot or repeating timers
13 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, cb => sub { ... }); 19 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, cb => sub { ... });
14 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, interval => $seconds, cb => ... 20 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, interval => $seconds, cb => ...);
15 21
16 print AnyEvent->now; # prints current event loop time 22 print AnyEvent->now; # prints current event loop time
17 print AnyEvent->time; # think Time::HiRes::time or simply CORE::time. 23 print AnyEvent->time; # think Time::HiRes::time or simply CORE::time.
18 24
25 # POSIX signal
19 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "TERM", cb => sub { ... }); 26 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "TERM", cb => sub { ... });
20 27
28 # child process exit
21 my $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => $pid, cb => sub { 29 my $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => $pid, cb => sub {
22 my ($pid, $status) = @_; 30 my ($pid, $status) = @_;
23 ... 31 ...
24 }); 32 });
33
34 # called when event loop idle (if applicable)
35 my $w = AnyEvent->idle (cb => sub { ... });
25 36
26 my $w = AnyEvent->condvar; # stores whether a condition was flagged 37 my $w = AnyEvent->condvar; # stores whether a condition was flagged
27 $w->send; # wake up current and all future recv's 38 $w->send; # wake up current and all future recv's
28 $w->recv; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->send 39 $w->recv; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->send
29 # use a condvar in callback mode: 40 # use a condvar in callback mode:
32=head1 INTRODUCTION/TUTORIAL 43=head1 INTRODUCTION/TUTORIAL
33 44
34This manpage is mainly a reference manual. If you are interested 45This manpage is mainly a reference manual. If you are interested
35in a tutorial or some gentle introduction, have a look at the 46in a tutorial or some gentle introduction, have a look at the
36L<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.
37 58
38=head1 WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS MODULE (OR NOT) 59=head1 WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS MODULE (OR NOT)
39 60
40Glib, POE, IO::Async, Event... CPAN offers event models by the dozen 61Glib, POE, IO::Async, Event... CPAN offers event models by the dozen
41nowadays. So what is different about AnyEvent? 62nowadays. So what is different about AnyEvent?
57module 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
58model you use. 79model you use.
59 80
60For 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
61actually 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
62like 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
63cannot use anything else, as they are simply incompatible to everything 84cannot use anything else, as they are simply incompatible to everything
64that 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
65module 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.
66 87
67AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works 88AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works
68fine. 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
69with 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
70your 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
71too. But if your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all 92your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all event models it
72event 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
73use 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,
74to AnyEvent, too, so it is future-proof). 95so it is future-proof).
75 96
76In 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
77model>, 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
78modules, 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
79follow. 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
80offering 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
81technically possible. 102technically possible.
82 103
83Of course, AnyEvent comes with a big (and fully optional!) toolbox 104Of course, AnyEvent comes with a big (and fully optional!) toolbox
84of useful functionality, such as an asynchronous DNS resolver, 100% 105of useful functionality, such as an asynchronous DNS resolver, 100%
90useful) 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
91model, you should I<not> use this module. 112model, you should I<not> use this module.
92 113
93=head1 DESCRIPTION 114=head1 DESCRIPTION
94 115
95L<AnyEvent> provides an identical interface to multiple event loops. This 116L<AnyEvent> provides a uniform interface to various event loops. This
96allows module authors to utilise an event loop without forcing module 117allows module authors to use event loop functionality without forcing
97users 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
98peacefully at any one time). 119than one event loop cannot coexist peacefully).
99 120
100The 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>
101module. 122module.
102 123
103During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries 124During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries
104to 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
105following modules is already loaded: L<EV>, 126following modules is already loaded: L<EV>, L<AnyEvent::Loop>,
106L<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
107L<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
108to 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
109adaptor should always succeed) in the order given. The first one that can 130available, the pure-perl L<AnyEvent::Loop> should always work, so
110be successfully loaded will be used. If, after this, still none could be 131the other two are not normally tried.
111found, AnyEvent will fall back to a pure-perl event loop, which is not
112very efficient, but should work everywhere.
113 132
114Because AnyEvent first checks for modules that are already loaded, loading 133Because AnyEvent first checks for modules that are already loaded, loading
115an event model explicitly before first using AnyEvent will likely make 134an event model explicitly before first using AnyEvent will likely make
116that model the default. For example: 135that model the default. For example:
117 136
119 use AnyEvent; 138 use AnyEvent;
120 139
121 # .. AnyEvent will likely default to Tk 140 # .. AnyEvent will likely default to Tk
122 141
123The 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
124starts 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,
125use AnyEvent so their modules work together with others seamlessly... 144as very few modules hardcode event loops without announcing this very
145loudly.
126 146
127The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called 147The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called C<AnyEvent::Loop>. Like
128C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>. Like other event modules you can load it 148other event modules you can load it explicitly and enjoy the high
129explicitly and enjoy the high availability of that event loop :) 149availability of that event loop :)
130 150
131=head1 WATCHERS 151=head1 WATCHERS
132 152
133AnyEvent 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
134stores 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
137These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After 157These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After
138creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the 158creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the
139callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model 159callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model
140is in control). 160is in control).
141 161
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
142To 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
143variable 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
144to it). 170to it).
145 171
146All 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.
147 173
148Many watchers either are used with "recursion" (repeating timers for 174Many watchers either are used with "recursion" (repeating timers for
149example), or need to refer to their watcher object in other ways. 175example), or need to refer to their watcher object in other ways.
150 176
151An any way to achieve that is this pattern: 177One way to achieve that is this pattern:
152 178
153 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->type (arg => value ..., cb => sub { 179 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->type (arg => value ..., cb => sub {
154 # you can use $w here, for example to undef it 180 # you can use $w here, for example to undef it
155 undef $w; 181 undef $w;
156 }); 182 });
159my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are 185my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are
160declared. 186declared.
161 187
162=head2 I/O WATCHERS 188=head2 I/O WATCHERS
163 189
190 $w = AnyEvent->io (
191 fh => <filehandle_or_fileno>,
192 poll => <"r" or "w">,
193 cb => <callback>,
194 );
195
164You 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
165with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments: 197with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments:
166 198
167C<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
168(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
169must 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
170waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, respectively. C<cb> is the 207watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, respectively.
208
171callback to invoke each time the file handle becomes ready. 209C<cb> is the callback to invoke each time the file handle becomes ready.
172 210
173Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 211Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
174presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 212presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
175callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks. 213callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks.
176 214
177The 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.
178You 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
179underlying file descriptor. 217underlying file descriptor.
180 218
181Some event loops issue spurious readyness notifications, so you should 219Some event loops issue spurious readiness notifications, so you should
182always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file 220always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file
183handles. 221handles.
184 222
185Example: 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
186watcher. 224watcher.
191 undef $w; 229 undef $w;
192 }); 230 });
193 231
194=head2 TIME WATCHERS 232=head2 TIME WATCHERS
195 233
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
196You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >> 242You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >>
197method with the following mandatory arguments: 243method with the following mandatory arguments:
198 244
199C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are 245C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are
200supported) 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
202 248
203Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 249Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
204presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 250presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
205callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks. 251callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks.
206 252
207The callback will normally be invoked once only. If you specify another 253The callback will normally be invoked only once. If you specify another
208parameter, C<interval>, as a strictly positive number (> 0), then the 254parameter, C<interval>, as a strictly positive number (> 0), then the
209callback will be invoked regularly at that interval (in fractional 255callback will be invoked regularly at that interval (in fractional
210seconds) after the first invocation. If C<interval> is specified with a 256seconds) after the first invocation. If C<interval> is specified with a
211false value, then it is treated as if it were missing. 257false value, then it is treated as if it were not specified at all.
212 258
213The callback will be rescheduled before invoking the callback, but no 259The callback will be rescheduled before invoking the callback, but no
214attempt 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
215only approximate. 261only approximate.
216 262
217Example: fire an event after 7.7 seconds. 263Example: fire an event after 7.7 seconds.
218 264
219 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub { 265 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub {
237 283
238While 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
239use absolute time internally. This makes a difference when your clock 285use absolute time internally. This makes a difference when your clock
240"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
241the 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
242fire "after" a second might actually take six years to finally fire. 288fire "after a second" might actually take six years to finally fire.
243 289
244AnyEvent cannot compensate for this. The only event loop that is conscious 290AnyEvent cannot compensate for this. The only event loop that is conscious
245about 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
246on true relative time) and absolute (ev_periodic, based on wallclock time) 292on true relative time) and absolute (ev_periodic, based on wallclock time)
247timers. 293timers.
248 294
249AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the 295AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the
250AnyEvent API. 296AnyEvent API.
272I<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
273function to call when you want to know the current time.> 319function to call when you want to know the current time.>
274 320
275This function is also often faster then C<< AnyEvent->time >>, and 321This function is also often faster then C<< AnyEvent->time >>, and
276thus the preferred method if you want some timestamp (for example, 322thus the preferred method if you want some timestamp (for example,
277L<AnyEvent::Handle> uses this to update it's activity timeouts). 323L<AnyEvent::Handle> uses this to update its activity timeouts).
278 324
279The 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
280with your timing, you can skip it without bad conscience. 326with your timing; you can skip it without a bad conscience.
281 327
282For 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>
283and L<EV> and the following set-up: 329and L<EV> and the following set-up:
284 330
285The 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
286time=500 (assume no other callbacks delay processing). In your callback, 332time=500 (assume no other callbacks delay processing). In your callback,
287you 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
288second) 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
289after three seconds. 335after three seconds.
290 336
308In 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
309can 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
310difference between C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> into 356difference between C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> into
311account. 357account.
312 358
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
313=back 381=back
314 382
315=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS 383=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS
384
385 $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => <uppercase_signal_name>, cb => <callback>);
316 386
317You 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
318I<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
319callback to be invoked whenever a signal occurs. 389callback to be invoked whenever a signal occurs.
320 390
326invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. Synchronous means 396invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. Synchronous means
327that 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,
328but it is guaranteed not to interrupt any other callbacks. 398but it is guaranteed not to interrupt any other callbacks.
329 399
330The 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
331between multiple watchers. 401between multiple watchers, and AnyEvent will ensure that signals will not
402interrupt your program at bad times.
332 403
333This watcher might use C<%SIG>, so programs overwriting those signals 404This watcher might use C<%SIG> (depending on the event loop used),
334directly will likely not work correctly. 405so programs overwriting those signals directly will likely not work
406correctly.
335 407
336Example: exit on SIGINT 408Example: exit on SIGINT
337 409
338 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 }); 410 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 });
339 411
412=head3 Restart Behaviour
413
414While restart behaviour is up to the event loop implementation, most will
415not restart syscalls (that includes L<Async::Interrupt> and AnyEvent's
416pure perl implementation).
417
418=head3 Safe/Unsafe Signals
419
420Perl signals can be either "safe" (synchronous to opcode handling) or
421"unsafe" (asynchronous) - the former might get delayed indefinitely, the
422latter might corrupt your memory.
423
424AnyEvent signal handlers are, in addition, synchronous to the event loop,
425i.e. they will not interrupt your running perl program but will only be
426called as part of the normal event handling (just like timer, I/O etc.
427callbacks, too).
428
429=head3 Signal Races, Delays and Workarounds
430
431Many event loops (e.g. Glib, Tk, Qt, IO::Async) do not support attaching
432callbacks to signals in a generic way, which is a pity, as you cannot
433do race-free signal handling in perl, requiring C libraries for
434this. AnyEvent will try to do its best, which means in some cases,
435signals will be delayed. The maximum time a signal might be delayed is
436specified in C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY> (default: 10 seconds). This
437variable can be changed only before the first signal watcher is created,
438and should be left alone otherwise. This variable determines how often
439AnyEvent polls for signals (in case a wake-up was missed). Higher values
440will cause fewer spurious wake-ups, which is better for power and CPU
441saving.
442
443All these problems can be avoided by installing the optional
444L<Async::Interrupt> module, which works with most event loops. It will not
445work with inherently broken event loops such as L<Event> or L<Event::Lib>
446(and not with L<POE> currently, as POE does its own workaround with
447one-second latency). For those, you just have to suffer the delays.
448
340=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS 449=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS
341 450
451 $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => <process id>, cb => <callback>);
452
342You can also watch on a child process exit and catch its exit status. 453You can also watch for a child process exit and catch its exit status.
343 454
344The child process is specified by the C<pid> argument (if set to C<0>, it 455The child process is specified by the C<pid> argument (on some backends,
345watches for any child process exit). The watcher will trigger as often 456using C<0> watches for any child process exit, on others this will
346as status change for the child are received. This works by installing a 457croak). The watcher will be triggered only when the child process has
347signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>. The callback will be called with the pid 458finished and an exit status is available, not on any trace events
348and exit status (as returned by waitpid), so unlike other watcher types, 459(stopped/continued).
349you I<can> rely on child watcher callback arguments. 460
461The callback will be called with the pid and exit status (as returned by
462waitpid), so unlike other watcher types, you I<can> rely on child watcher
463callback arguments.
464
465This watcher type works by installing a signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>,
466and since it cannot be shared, nothing else should use SIGCHLD or reap
467random child processes (waiting for specific child processes, e.g. inside
468C<system>, is just fine).
350 469
351There is a slight catch to child watchers, however: you usually start them 470There is a slight catch to child watchers, however: you usually start them
352I<after> the child process was created, and this means the process could 471I<after> the child process was created, and this means the process could
353have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore). 472have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore).
354 473
355Not all event models handle this correctly (POE doesn't), but even for 474Not all event models handle this correctly (neither POE nor IO::Async do,
475see their AnyEvent::Impl manpages for details), but even for event models
356event models that I<do> handle this correctly, they usually need to be 476that I<do> handle this correctly, they usually need to be loaded before
357loaded before the process exits (i.e. before you fork in the first place). 477the process exits (i.e. before you fork in the first place). AnyEvent's
478pure perl event loop handles all cases correctly regardless of when you
479start the watcher.
358 480
359This means you cannot create a child watcher as the very first thing in an 481This means you cannot create a child watcher as the very first
360AnyEvent program, you I<have> to create at least one watcher before you 482thing in an AnyEvent program, you I<have> to create at least one
361C<fork> the child (alternatively, you can call C<AnyEvent::detect>). 483watcher before you C<fork> the child (alternatively, you can call
484C<AnyEvent::detect>).
485
486As most event loops do not support waiting for child events, they will be
487emulated by AnyEvent in most cases, in which case the latency and race
488problems mentioned in the description of signal watchers apply.
362 489
363Example: fork a process and wait for it 490Example: fork a process and wait for it
364 491
365 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar; 492 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
366 493
376 ); 503 );
377 504
378 # do something else, then wait for process exit 505 # do something else, then wait for process exit
379 $done->recv; 506 $done->recv;
380 507
508=head2 IDLE WATCHERS
509
510 $w = AnyEvent->idle (cb => <callback>);
511
512This will repeatedly invoke the callback after the process becomes idle,
513until either the watcher is destroyed or new events have been detected.
514
515Idle watchers are useful when there is a need to do something, but it
516is not so important (or wise) to do it instantly. The callback will be
517invoked only when there is "nothing better to do", which is usually
518defined as "all outstanding events have been handled and no new events
519have been detected". That means that idle watchers ideally get invoked
520when the event loop has just polled for new events but none have been
521detected. Instead of blocking to wait for more events, the idle watchers
522will be invoked.
523
524Unfortunately, most event loops do not really support idle watchers (only
525EV, Event and Glib do it in a usable fashion) - for the rest, AnyEvent
526will simply call the callback "from time to time".
527
528Example: read lines from STDIN, but only process them when the
529program is otherwise idle:
530
531 my @lines; # read data
532 my $idle_w;
533 my $io_w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub {
534 push @lines, scalar <STDIN>;
535
536 # start an idle watcher, if not already done
537 $idle_w ||= AnyEvent->idle (cb => sub {
538 # handle only one line, when there are lines left
539 if (my $line = shift @lines) {
540 print "handled when idle: $line";
541 } else {
542 # otherwise disable the idle watcher again
543 undef $idle_w;
544 }
545 });
546 });
547
381=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES 548=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES
549
550 $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
551
552 $cv->send (<list>);
553 my @res = $cv->recv;
382 554
383If you are familiar with some event loops you will know that all of them 555If you are familiar with some event loops you will know that all of them
384require you to run some blocking "loop", "run" or similar function that 556require you to run some blocking "loop", "run" or similar function that
385will actively watch for new events and call your callbacks. 557will actively watch for new events and call your callbacks.
386 558
387AnyEvent is different, it expects somebody else to run the event loop and 559AnyEvent is slightly different: it expects somebody else to run the event
388will only block when necessary (usually when told by the user). 560loop and will only block when necessary (usually when told by the user).
389 561
390The instrument to do that is called a "condition variable", so called 562The tool to do that is called a "condition variable", so called because
391because they represent a condition that must become true. 563they represent a condition that must become true.
564
565Now is probably a good time to look at the examples further below.
392 566
393Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar 567Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar
394>> method, usually without arguments. The only argument pair allowed is 568>> method, usually without arguments. The only argument pair allowed is
395
396C<cb>, which specifies a callback to be called when the condition variable 569C<cb>, which specifies a callback to be called when the condition variable
397becomes true, with the condition variable as the first argument (but not 570becomes true, with the condition variable as the first argument (but not
398the results). 571the results).
399 572
400After creation, the condition variable is "false" until it becomes "true" 573After creation, the condition variable is "false" until it becomes "true"
401by calling the C<send> method (or calling the condition variable as if it 574by calling the C<send> method (or calling the condition variable as if it
402were a callback, read about the caveats in the description for the C<< 575were a callback, read about the caveats in the description for the C<<
403->send >> method). 576->send >> method).
404 577
405Condition variables are similar to callbacks, except that you can 578Since condition variables are the most complex part of the AnyEvent API, here are
406optionally wait for them. They can also be called merge points - points 579some different mental models of what they are - pick the ones you can connect to:
407in time where multiple outstanding events have been processed. And yet 580
408another way to call them is transactions - each condition variable can be 581=over 4
409used to represent a transaction, which finishes at some point and delivers 582
410a result. 583=item * Condition variables are like callbacks - you can call them (and pass them instead
584of callbacks). Unlike callbacks however, you can also wait for them to be called.
585
586=item * Condition variables are signals - one side can emit or send them,
587the other side can wait for them, or install a handler that is called when
588the signal fires.
589
590=item * Condition variables are like "Merge Points" - points in your program
591where you merge multiple independent results/control flows into one.
592
593=item * Condition variables represent a transaction - functions that start
594some kind of transaction can return them, leaving the caller the choice
595between waiting in a blocking fashion, or setting a callback.
596
597=item * Condition variables represent future values, or promises to deliver
598some result, long before the result is available.
599
600=back
411 601
412Condition variables are very useful to signal that something has finished, 602Condition variables are very useful to signal that something has finished,
413for example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests, 603for example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests,
414then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the 604then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the
415availability of results. The user can either act when the callback is 605availability of results. The user can either act when the callback is
428 618
429Condition variables are represented by hash refs in perl, and the keys 619Condition variables are represented by hash refs in perl, and the keys
430used by AnyEvent itself are all named C<_ae_XXX> to make subclassing 620used by AnyEvent itself are all named C<_ae_XXX> to make subclassing
431easy (it is often useful to build your own transaction class on top of 621easy (it is often useful to build your own transaction class on top of
432AnyEvent). To subclass, use C<AnyEvent::CondVar> as base class and call 622AnyEvent). To subclass, use C<AnyEvent::CondVar> as base class and call
433it's C<new> method in your own C<new> method. 623its C<new> method in your own C<new> method.
434 624
435There are two "sides" to a condition variable - the "producer side" which 625There are two "sides" to a condition variable - the "producer side" which
436eventually calls C<< -> send >>, and the "consumer side", which waits 626eventually calls C<< -> send >>, and the "consumer side", which waits
437for the send to occur. 627for the send to occur.
438 628
439Example: wait for a timer. 629Example: wait for a timer.
440 630
441 # wait till the result is ready 631 # condition: "wait till the timer is fired"
442 my $result_ready = AnyEvent->condvar; 632 my $timer_fired = AnyEvent->condvar;
443 633
444 # do something such as adding a timer 634 # create the timer - we could wait for, say
445 # or socket watcher the calls $result_ready->send 635 # a handle becomign ready, or even an
446 # when the "result" is ready. 636 # AnyEvent::HTTP request to finish, but
447 # in this case, we simply use a timer: 637 # in this case, we simply use a timer:
448 my $w = AnyEvent->timer ( 638 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (
449 after => 1, 639 after => 1,
450 cb => sub { $result_ready->send }, 640 cb => sub { $timer_fired->send },
451 ); 641 );
452 642
453 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the callback 643 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the callback
454 # calls send 644 # calls ->send
455 $result_ready->recv; 645 $timer_fired->recv;
456 646
457Example: wait for a timer, but take advantage of the fact that 647Example: wait for a timer, but take advantage of the fact that condition
458condition variables are also code references. 648variables are also callable directly.
459 649
460 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar; 650 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
461 my $delay = AnyEvent->timer (after => 5, cb => $done); 651 my $delay = AnyEvent->timer (after => 5, cb => $done);
462 $done->recv; 652 $done->recv;
463 653
469 659
470 ... 660 ...
471 661
472 my @info = $couchdb->info->recv; 662 my @info = $couchdb->info->recv;
473 663
474And this is how you would just ste a callback to be called whenever the 664And this is how you would just set a callback to be called whenever the
475results are available: 665results are available:
476 666
477 $couchdb->info->cb (sub { 667 $couchdb->info->cb (sub {
478 my @info = $_[0]->recv; 668 my @info = $_[0]->recv;
479 }); 669 });
497immediately from within send. 687immediately from within send.
498 688
499Any arguments passed to the C<send> call will be returned by all 689Any arguments passed to the C<send> call will be returned by all
500future C<< ->recv >> calls. 690future C<< ->recv >> calls.
501 691
502Condition variables are overloaded so one can call them directly 692Condition variables are overloaded so one can call them directly (as if
503(as a code reference). Calling them directly is the same as calling 693they were a code reference). Calling them directly is the same as calling
504C<send>. Note, however, that many C-based event loops do not handle 694C<send>.
505overloading, so as tempting as it may be, passing a condition variable
506instead of a callback does not work. Both the pure perl and EV loops
507support overloading, however, as well as all functions that use perl to
508invoke a callback (as in L<AnyEvent::Socket> and L<AnyEvent::DNS> for
509example).
510 695
511=item $cv->croak ($error) 696=item $cv->croak ($error)
512 697
513Similar to send, but causes all call's to C<< ->recv >> to invoke 698Similar to send, but causes all calls to C<< ->recv >> to invoke
514C<Carp::croak> with the given error message/object/scalar. 699C<Carp::croak> with the given error message/object/scalar.
515 700
516This can be used to signal any errors to the condition variable 701This can be used to signal any errors to the condition variable
517user/consumer. 702user/consumer. Doing it this way instead of calling C<croak> directly
703delays the error detection, but has the overwhelming advantage that it
704diagnoses the error at the place where the result is expected, and not
705deep in some event callback with no connection to the actual code causing
706the problem.
518 707
519=item $cv->begin ([group callback]) 708=item $cv->begin ([group callback])
520 709
521=item $cv->end 710=item $cv->end
522
523These two methods are EXPERIMENTAL and MIGHT CHANGE.
524 711
525These two methods can be used to combine many transactions/events into 712These two methods can be used to combine many transactions/events into
526one. For example, a function that pings many hosts in parallel might want 713one. For example, a function that pings many hosts in parallel might want
527to use a condition variable for the whole process. 714to use a condition variable for the whole process.
528 715
529Every call to C<< ->begin >> will increment a counter, and every call to 716Every call to C<< ->begin >> will increment a counter, and every call to
530C<< ->end >> will decrement it. If the counter reaches C<0> in C<< ->end 717C<< ->end >> will decrement it. If the counter reaches C<0> in C<< ->end
531>>, the (last) callback passed to C<begin> will be executed. That callback 718>>, the (last) callback passed to C<begin> will be executed, passing the
532is I<supposed> to call C<< ->send >>, but that is not required. If no 719condvar as first argument. That callback is I<supposed> to call C<< ->send
533callback was set, C<send> will be called without any arguments. 720>>, but that is not required. If no group callback was set, C<send> will
721be called without any arguments.
534 722
535Let's clarify this with the ping example: 723You can think of C<< $cv->send >> giving you an OR condition (one call
724sends), while C<< $cv->begin >> and C<< $cv->end >> giving you an AND
725condition (all C<begin> calls must be C<end>'ed before the condvar sends).
726
727Let's start with a simple example: you have two I/O watchers (for example,
728STDOUT and STDERR for a program), and you want to wait for both streams to
729close before activating a condvar:
536 730
537 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar; 731 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
538 732
733 $cv->begin; # first watcher
734 my $w1 = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh1, cb => sub {
735 defined sysread $fh1, my $buf, 4096
736 or $cv->end;
737 });
738
739 $cv->begin; # second watcher
740 my $w2 = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh2, cb => sub {
741 defined sysread $fh2, my $buf, 4096
742 or $cv->end;
743 });
744
745 $cv->recv;
746
747This works because for every event source (EOF on file handle), there is
748one call to C<begin>, so the condvar waits for all calls to C<end> before
749sending.
750
751The ping example mentioned above is slightly more complicated, as the
752there are results to be passwd back, and the number of tasks that are
753begun can potentially be zero:
754
755 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
756
539 my %result; 757 my %result;
540 $cv->begin (sub { $cv->send (\%result) }); 758 $cv->begin (sub { shift->send (\%result) });
541 759
542 for my $host (@list_of_hosts) { 760 for my $host (@list_of_hosts) {
543 $cv->begin; 761 $cv->begin;
544 ping_host_then_call_callback $host, sub { 762 ping_host_then_call_callback $host, sub {
545 $result{$host} = ...; 763 $result{$host} = ...;
560loop, which serves two important purposes: first, it sets the callback 778loop, which serves two important purposes: first, it sets the callback
561to be called once the counter reaches C<0>, and second, it ensures that 779to be called once the counter reaches C<0>, and second, it ensures that
562C<send> is called even when C<no> hosts are being pinged (the loop 780C<send> is called even when C<no> hosts are being pinged (the loop
563doesn't execute once). 781doesn't execute once).
564 782
565This is the general pattern when you "fan out" into multiple subrequests: 783This is the general pattern when you "fan out" into multiple (but
566use an outer C<begin>/C<end> pair to set the callback and ensure C<end> 784potentially zero) subrequests: use an outer C<begin>/C<end> pair to set
567is called at least once, and then, for each subrequest you start, call 785the callback and ensure C<end> is called at least once, and then, for each
568C<begin> and for each subrequest you finish, call C<end>. 786subrequest you start, call C<begin> and for each subrequest you finish,
787call C<end>.
569 788
570=back 789=back
571 790
572=head3 METHODS FOR CONSUMERS 791=head3 METHODS FOR CONSUMERS
573 792
577=over 4 796=over 4
578 797
579=item $cv->recv 798=item $cv->recv
580 799
581Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->send >> or C<< ->croak 800Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->send >> or C<< ->croak
582>> methods have been called on c<$cv>, while servicing other watchers 801>> methods have been called on C<$cv>, while servicing other watchers
583normally. 802normally.
584 803
585You can only wait once on a condition - additional calls are valid but 804You can only wait once on a condition - additional calls are valid but
586will return immediately. 805will return immediately.
587 806
589function will call C<croak>. 808function will call C<croak>.
590 809
591In list context, all parameters passed to C<send> will be returned, 810In list context, all parameters passed to C<send> will be returned,
592in scalar context only the first one will be returned. 811in scalar context only the first one will be returned.
593 812
813Note that doing a blocking wait in a callback is not supported by any
814event loop, that is, recursive invocation of a blocking C<< ->recv
815>> is not allowed, and the C<recv> call will C<croak> if such a
816condition is detected. This condition can be slightly loosened by using
817L<Coro::AnyEvent>, which allows you to do a blocking C<< ->recv >> from
818any thread that doesn't run the event loop itself.
819
594Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case 820Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case
595(programs might want to do that to stay interactive), so I<if you are 821(programs might want to do that to stay interactive), so I<if you are
596using this from a module, never require a blocking wait>, but let the 822using this from a module, never require a blocking wait>. Instead, let the
597caller decide whether the call will block or not (for example, by coupling 823caller decide whether the call will block or not (for example, by coupling
598condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting 824condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting
599callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block, 825callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block,
600while still supporting blocking waits if the caller so desires). 826while still supporting blocking waits if the caller so desires).
601 827
602Another reason I<never> to C<< ->recv >> in a module is that you cannot
603sensibly have two C<< ->recv >>'s in parallel, as that would require
604multiple interpreters or coroutines/threads, none of which C<AnyEvent>
605can supply.
606
607The L<Coro> module, however, I<can> and I<does> supply coroutines and, in
608fact, L<Coro::AnyEvent> replaces AnyEvent's condvars by coroutine-safe
609versions and also integrates coroutines into AnyEvent, making blocking
610C<< ->recv >> calls perfectly safe as long as they are done from another
611coroutine (one that doesn't run the event loop).
612
613You can ensure that C<< -recv >> never blocks by setting a callback and 828You can ensure that C<< ->recv >> never blocks by setting a callback and
614only calling C<< ->recv >> from within that callback (or at a later 829only calling C<< ->recv >> from within that callback (or at a later
615time). This will work even when the event loop does not support blocking 830time). This will work even when the event loop does not support blocking
616waits otherwise. 831waits otherwise.
617 832
618=item $bool = $cv->ready 833=item $bool = $cv->ready
624 839
625This is a mutator function that returns the callback set and optionally 840This is a mutator function that returns the callback set and optionally
626replaces it before doing so. 841replaces it before doing so.
627 842
628The callback will be called when the condition becomes "true", i.e. when 843The callback will be called when the condition becomes "true", i.e. when
629C<send> or C<croak> are called, with the only argument being the condition 844C<send> or C<croak> are called, with the only argument being the
630variable itself. Calling C<recv> inside the callback or at any later time 845condition variable itself. If the condition is already true, the
631is guaranteed not to block. 846callback is called immediately when it is set. Calling C<recv> inside
847the callback or at any later time is guaranteed not to block.
632 848
633=back 849=back
634 850
851=head1 SUPPORTED EVENT LOOPS/BACKENDS
852
853The available backend classes are (every class has its own manpage):
854
855=over 4
856
857=item Backends that are autoprobed when no other event loop can be found.
858
859EV is the preferred backend when no other event loop seems to be in
860use. If EV is not installed, then AnyEvent will fall back to its own
861pure-perl implementation, which is available everywhere as it comes with
862AnyEvent itself.
863
864 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (interface to libev, best choice).
865 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl AnyEvent::Loop, fast and portable.
866
867=item Backends that are transparently being picked up when they are used.
868
869These will be used if they are already loaded when the first watcher
870is created, in which case it is assumed that the application is using
871them. This means that AnyEvent will automatically pick the right backend
872when the main program loads an event module before anything starts to
873create watchers. Nothing special needs to be done by the main program.
874
875 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, very stable, few glitches.
876 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, slow but very stable.
877 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very broken.
878 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
879 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, very slow, some limitations.
880 AnyEvent::Impl::Irssi used when running within irssi.
881 AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync based on IO::Async.
882 AnyEvent::Impl::Cocoa based on Cocoa::EventLoop.
883 AnyEvent::Impl::FLTK2 based on FLTK (fltk 2 binding).
884
885=item Backends with special needs.
886
887Qt requires the Qt::Application to be instantiated first, but will
888otherwise be picked up automatically. As long as the main program
889instantiates the application before any AnyEvent watchers are created,
890everything should just work.
891
892 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt.
893
894=item Event loops that are indirectly supported via other backends.
895
896Some event loops can be supported via other modules:
897
898There is no direct support for WxWidgets (L<Wx>) or L<Prima>.
899
900B<WxWidgets> has no support for watching file handles. However, you can
901use WxWidgets through the POE adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply
902polls 20 times per second, which was considered to be too horrible to even
903consider for AnyEvent.
904
905B<Prima> is not supported as nobody seems to be using it, but it has a POE
906backend, so it can be supported through POE.
907
908AnyEvent knows about both L<Prima> and L<Wx>, however, and will try to
909load L<POE> when detecting them, in the hope that POE will pick them up,
910in which case everything will be automatic.
911
912=back
913
635=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS 914=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS
636 915
916These are not normally required to use AnyEvent, but can be useful to
917write AnyEvent extension modules.
918
637=over 4 919=over 4
638 920
639=item $AnyEvent::MODEL 921=item $AnyEvent::MODEL
640 922
641Contains C<undef> until the first watcher is being created. Then it 923Contains C<undef> until the first watcher is being created, before the
924backend has been autodetected.
925
642contains the event model that is being used, which is the name of the 926Afterwards it contains the event model that is being used, which is the
643Perl class implementing the model. This class is usually one of the 927name of the Perl class implementing the model. This class is usually one
644C<AnyEvent::Impl:xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the case 928of the C<AnyEvent::Impl::xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the
645AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode>). 929case AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode> it
646 930will be C<urxvt::anyevent>).
647The known classes so far are:
648
649 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (an interface to libev, best choice).
650 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, second best choice.
651 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl implementation, fast and portable.
652 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, third-best choice.
653 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very bad choice.
654 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt, cannot be autoprobed (see its docs).
655 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
656 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, not generic enough for full support.
657
658There is no support for WxWidgets, as WxWidgets has no support for
659watching file handles. However, you can use WxWidgets through the
660POE Adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply polls 20 times per
661second, which was considered to be too horrible to even consider for
662AnyEvent. Likewise, other POE backends can be used by AnyEvent by using
663it's adaptor.
664
665AnyEvent knows about L<Prima> and L<Wx> and will try to use L<POE> when
666autodetecting them.
667 931
668=item AnyEvent::detect 932=item AnyEvent::detect
669 933
670Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model 934Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model
671if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would 935if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would
672have created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, as late as possible at 936have created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, as late as possible at
673runtime. 937runtime, and not e.g. during initialisation of your module.
938
939If you need to do some initialisation before AnyEvent watchers are
940created, use C<post_detect>.
674 941
675=item $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK } 942=item $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }
676 943
677Arranges for the code block to be executed as soon as the event model is 944Arranges for the code block to be executed as soon as the event model is
678autodetected (or immediately if this has already happened). 945autodetected (or immediately if that has already happened).
946
947The block will be executed I<after> the actual backend has been detected
948(C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> is set), but I<before> any watchers have been
949created, so it is possible to e.g. patch C<@AnyEvent::ISA> or do
950other initialisations - see the sources of L<AnyEvent::Strict> or
951L<AnyEvent::AIO> to see how this is used.
952
953The most common usage is to create some global watchers, without forcing
954event module detection too early, for example, L<AnyEvent::AIO> creates
955and installs the global L<IO::AIO> watcher in a C<post_detect> block to
956avoid autodetecting the event module at load time.
679 957
680If called in scalar or list context, then it creates and returns an object 958If called in scalar or list context, then it creates and returns an object
681that automatically removes the callback again when it is destroyed. See 959that automatically removes the callback again when it is destroyed (or
960C<undef> when the hook was immediately executed). See L<AnyEvent::AIO> for
682L<Coro::BDB> for a case where this is useful. 961a case where this is useful.
962
963Example: Create a watcher for the IO::AIO module and store it in
964C<$WATCHER>, but do so only do so after the event loop is initialised.
965
966 our WATCHER;
967
968 my $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect {
969 $WATCHER = AnyEvent->io (fh => IO::AIO::poll_fileno, poll => 'r', cb => \&IO::AIO::poll_cb);
970 };
971
972 # the ||= is important in case post_detect immediately runs the block,
973 # as to not clobber the newly-created watcher. assigning both watcher and
974 # post_detect guard to the same variable has the advantage of users being
975 # able to just C<undef $WATCHER> if the watcher causes them grief.
976
977 $WATCHER ||= $guard;
683 978
684=item @AnyEvent::post_detect 979=item @AnyEvent::post_detect
685 980
686If there are any code references in this array (you can C<push> to it 981If there are any code references in this array (you can C<push> to it
687before or after loading AnyEvent), then they will called directly after 982before or after loading AnyEvent), then they will be called directly
688the event loop has been chosen. 983after the event loop has been chosen.
689 984
690You should check C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> before adding to this array, though: 985You should check C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> before adding to this array, though:
691if it contains a true value then the event loop has already been detected, 986if it is defined then the event loop has already been detected, and the
692and the array will be ignored. 987array will be ignored.
693 988
694Best use C<AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }> instead. 989Best use C<AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }> when your application allows
990it, as it takes care of these details.
991
992This variable is mainly useful for modules that can do something useful
993when AnyEvent is used and thus want to know when it is initialised, but do
994not need to even load it by default. This array provides the means to hook
995into AnyEvent passively, without loading it.
996
997Example: To load Coro::AnyEvent whenever Coro and AnyEvent are used
998together, you could put this into Coro (this is the actual code used by
999Coro to accomplish this):
1000
1001 if (defined $AnyEvent::MODEL) {
1002 # AnyEvent already initialised, so load Coro::AnyEvent
1003 require Coro::AnyEvent;
1004 } else {
1005 # AnyEvent not yet initialised, so make sure to load Coro::AnyEvent
1006 # as soon as it is
1007 push @AnyEvent::post_detect, sub { require Coro::AnyEvent };
1008 }
1009
1010=item AnyEvent::postpone { BLOCK }
1011
1012Arranges for the block to be executed as soon as possible, but not before
1013the call itself returns. In practise, the block will be executed just
1014before the event loop polls for new events, or shortly afterwards.
1015
1016This function never returns anything (to make the C<return postpone { ...
1017}> idiom more useful.
1018
1019To understand the usefulness of this function, consider a function that
1020asynchronously does something for you and returns some transaction
1021object or guard to let you cancel the operation. For example,
1022C<AnyEvent::Socket::tcp_connect>:
1023
1024 # start a conenction attempt unless one is active
1025 $self->{connect_guard} ||= AnyEvent::Socket::tcp_connect "www.example.net", 80, sub {
1026 delete $self->{connect_guard};
1027 ...
1028 };
1029
1030Imagine that this function could instantly call the callback, for
1031example, because it detects an obvious error such as a negative port
1032number. Invoking the callback before the function returns causes problems
1033however: the callback will be called and will try to delete the guard
1034object. But since the function hasn't returned yet, there is nothing to
1035delete. When the function eventually returns it will assign the guard
1036object to C<< $self->{connect_guard} >>, where it will likely never be
1037deleted, so the program thinks it is still trying to connect.
1038
1039This is where C<AnyEvent::postpone> should be used. Instead of calling the
1040callback directly on error:
1041
1042 $cb->(undef), return # signal error to callback, BAD!
1043 if $some_error_condition;
1044
1045It should use C<postpone>:
1046
1047 AnyEvent::postpone { $cb->(undef) }, return # signal error to callback, later
1048 if $some_error_condition;
695 1049
696=back 1050=back
697 1051
698=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE 1052=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE
699 1053
710because it will stall the whole program, and the whole point of using 1064because it will stall the whole program, and the whole point of using
711events is to stay interactive. 1065events is to stay interactive.
712 1066
713It is fine, however, to call C<< ->recv >> when the user of your module 1067It is fine, however, to call C<< ->recv >> when the user of your module
714requests it (i.e. if you create a http request object ad have a method 1068requests it (i.e. if you create a http request object ad have a method
715called C<results> that returns the results, it should call C<< ->recv >> 1069called C<results> that returns the results, it may call C<< ->recv >>
716freely, as the user of your module knows what she is doing. always). 1070freely, as the user of your module knows what she is doing. Always).
717 1071
718=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM 1072=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM
719 1073
720There will always be a single main program - the only place that should 1074There will always be a single main program - the only place that should
721dictate which event model to use. 1075dictate which event model to use.
722 1076
723If it doesn't care, it can just "use AnyEvent" and use it itself, or not 1077If the program is not event-based, it need not do anything special, even
724do anything special (it does not need to be event-based) and let AnyEvent 1078when it depends on a module that uses an AnyEvent. If the program itself
725decide which implementation to chose if some module relies on it. 1079uses AnyEvent, but does not care which event loop is used, all it needs
1080to do is C<use AnyEvent>. In either case, AnyEvent will choose the best
1081available loop implementation.
726 1082
727If the main program relies on a specific event model - for example, in 1083If the main program relies on a specific event model - for example, in
728Gtk2 programs you have to rely on the Glib module - you should load the 1084Gtk2 programs you have to rely on the Glib module - you should load the
729event module before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it: generally 1085event module before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it: generally
730speaking, you should load it as early as possible. The reason is that 1086speaking, you should load it as early as possible. The reason is that
731modules might create watchers when they are loaded, and AnyEvent will 1087modules might create watchers when they are loaded, and AnyEvent will
732decide on the event model to use as soon as it creates watchers, and it 1088decide on the event model to use as soon as it creates watchers, and it
733might chose the wrong one unless you load the correct one yourself. 1089might choose the wrong one unless you load the correct one yourself.
734 1090
735You can chose to use a pure-perl implementation by loading the 1091You can chose to use a pure-perl implementation by loading the
736C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl> module, which gives you similar behaviour 1092C<AnyEvent::Loop> module, which gives you similar behaviour
737everywhere, but letting AnyEvent chose the model is generally better. 1093everywhere, but letting AnyEvent chose the model is generally better.
738 1094
739=head2 MAINLOOP EMULATION 1095=head2 MAINLOOP EMULATION
740 1096
741Sometimes (often for short test scripts, or even standalone programs who 1097Sometimes (often for short test scripts, or even standalone programs who
754 1110
755 1111
756=head1 OTHER MODULES 1112=head1 OTHER MODULES
757 1113
758The following is a non-exhaustive list of additional modules that use 1114The following is a non-exhaustive list of additional modules that use
759AnyEvent and can therefore be mixed easily with other AnyEvent modules 1115AnyEvent as a client and can therefore be mixed easily with other AnyEvent
760in the same program. Some of the modules come with AnyEvent, some are 1116modules and other event loops in the same program. Some of the modules
761available via CPAN. 1117come as part of AnyEvent, the others are available via CPAN.
762 1118
763=over 4 1119=over 4
764 1120
765=item L<AnyEvent::Util> 1121=item L<AnyEvent::Util>
766 1122
767Contains various utility functions that replace often-used but blocking 1123Contains various utility functions that replace often-used blocking
768functions such as C<inet_aton> by event-/callback-based versions. 1124functions such as C<inet_aton> with event/callback-based versions.
769 1125
770=item L<AnyEvent::Socket> 1126=item L<AnyEvent::Socket>
771 1127
772Provides various utility functions for (internet protocol) sockets, 1128Provides various utility functions for (internet protocol) sockets,
773addresses and name resolution. Also functions to create non-blocking tcp 1129addresses and name resolution. Also functions to create non-blocking tcp
775 1131
776=item L<AnyEvent::Handle> 1132=item L<AnyEvent::Handle>
777 1133
778Provide read and write buffers, manages watchers for reads and writes, 1134Provide read and write buffers, manages watchers for reads and writes,
779supports raw and formatted I/O, I/O queued and fully transparent and 1135supports raw and formatted I/O, I/O queued and fully transparent and
780non-blocking SSL/TLS. 1136non-blocking SSL/TLS (via L<AnyEvent::TLS>).
781 1137
782=item L<AnyEvent::DNS> 1138=item L<AnyEvent::DNS>
783 1139
784Provides rich asynchronous DNS resolver capabilities. 1140Provides rich asynchronous DNS resolver capabilities.
785 1141
1142=item L<AnyEvent::HTTP>, L<AnyEvent::IRC>, L<AnyEvent::XMPP>, L<AnyEvent::GPSD>, L<AnyEvent::IGS>, L<AnyEvent::FCP>
1143
1144Implement event-based interfaces to the protocols of the same name (for
1145the curious, IGS is the International Go Server and FCP is the Freenet
1146Client Protocol).
1147
1148=item L<AnyEvent::Handle::UDP>
1149
1150Here be danger!
1151
1152As Pauli would put it, "Not only is it not right, it's not even wrong!" -
1153there are so many things wrong with AnyEvent::Handle::UDP, most notably
1154its use of a stream-based API with a protocol that isn't streamable, that
1155the only way to improve it is to delete it.
1156
1157It features data corruption (but typically only under load) and general
1158confusion. On top, the author is not only clueless about UDP but also
1159fact-resistant - some gems of his understanding: "connect doesn't work
1160with UDP", "UDP packets are not IP packets", "UDP only has datagrams, not
1161packets", "I don't need to implement proper error checking as UDP doesn't
1162support error checking" and so on - he doesn't even understand what's
1163wrong with his module when it is explained to him.
1164
786=item L<AnyEvent::HTTP> 1165=item L<AnyEvent::DBI>
787 1166
788A simple-to-use HTTP library that is capable of making a lot of concurrent 1167Executes L<DBI> requests asynchronously in a proxy process for you,
789HTTP requests. 1168notifying you in an event-based way when the operation is finished.
1169
1170=item L<AnyEvent::AIO>
1171
1172Truly asynchronous (as opposed to non-blocking) I/O, should be in the
1173toolbox of every event programmer. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses
1174L<IO::AIO> and AnyEvent together, giving AnyEvent access to event-based
1175file I/O, and much more.
790 1176
791=item L<AnyEvent::HTTPD> 1177=item L<AnyEvent::HTTPD>
792 1178
793Provides a simple web application server framework. 1179A simple embedded webserver.
794 1180
795=item L<AnyEvent::FastPing> 1181=item L<AnyEvent::FastPing>
796 1182
797The fastest ping in the west. 1183The fastest ping in the west.
798 1184
799=item L<AnyEvent::DBI>
800
801Executes L<DBI> requests asynchronously in a proxy process.
802
803=item L<AnyEvent::AIO>
804
805Truly asynchronous I/O, should be in the toolbox of every event
806programmer. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses L<IO::AIO> and AnyEvent
807together.
808
809=item L<AnyEvent::BDB>
810
811Truly asynchronous Berkeley DB access. AnyEvent::BDB transparently fuses
812L<BDB> and AnyEvent together.
813
814=item L<AnyEvent::GPSD>
815
816A non-blocking interface to gpsd, a daemon delivering GPS information.
817
818=item L<AnyEvent::IGS>
819
820A non-blocking interface to the Internet Go Server protocol (used by
821L<App::IGS>).
822
823=item L<Net::IRC3>
824
825AnyEvent based IRC client module family.
826
827=item L<Net::XMPP2>
828
829AnyEvent based XMPP (Jabber protocol) module family.
830
831=item L<Net::FCP>
832
833AnyEvent-based implementation of the Freenet Client Protocol, birthplace
834of AnyEvent.
835
836=item L<Event::ExecFlow>
837
838High level API for event-based execution flow control.
839
840=item L<Coro> 1185=item L<Coro>
841 1186
842Has special support for AnyEvent via L<Coro::AnyEvent>. 1187Has special support for AnyEvent via L<Coro::AnyEvent>.
843 1188
844=item L<IO::Lambda>
845
846The lambda approach to I/O - don't ask, look there. Can use AnyEvent.
847
848=back 1189=back
849 1190
850=cut 1191=cut
851 1192
852package AnyEvent; 1193package AnyEvent;
853 1194
854no warnings; 1195# basically a tuned-down version of common::sense
855use strict; 1196sub common_sense {
1197 # from common:.sense 3.4
1198 ${^WARNING_BITS} ^= ${^WARNING_BITS} ^ "\x3c\x3f\x33\x00\x0f\xf0\x0f\xc0\xf0\xfc\x33\x00";
1199 # use strict vars subs - NO UTF-8, as Util.pm doesn't like this atm. (uts46data.pl)
1200 $^H |= 0x00000600;
1201}
856 1202
1203BEGIN { AnyEvent::common_sense }
1204
857use Carp; 1205use Carp ();
858 1206
859our $VERSION = 4.233; 1207our $VERSION = '5.34';
860our $MODEL; 1208our $MODEL;
861 1209
862our $AUTOLOAD;
863our @ISA; 1210our @ISA;
864 1211
865our @REGISTRY; 1212our @REGISTRY;
866 1213
867our $WIN32; 1214our $VERBOSE;
868 1215
869BEGIN { 1216BEGIN {
870 my $win32 = ! ! ($^O =~ /mswin32/i); 1217 require "AnyEvent/constants.pl";
871 eval "sub WIN32(){ $win32 }";
872}
873 1218
1219 eval "sub TAINT (){" . (${^TAINT}*1) . "}";
1220
1221 delete @ENV{grep /^PERL_ANYEVENT_/, keys %ENV}
1222 if ${^TAINT};
1223
874our $verbose = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1; 1224 $VERBOSE = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1;
1225
1226}
1227
1228our $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY = 10;
875 1229
876our %PROTOCOL; # (ipv4|ipv6) => (1|2), higher numbers are preferred 1230our %PROTOCOL; # (ipv4|ipv6) => (1|2), higher numbers are preferred
877 1231
878{ 1232{
879 my $idx; 1233 my $idx;
880 $PROTOCOL{$_} = ++$idx 1234 $PROTOCOL{$_} = ++$idx
881 for reverse split /\s*,\s*/, 1235 for reverse split /\s*,\s*/,
882 $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS} || "ipv4,ipv6"; 1236 $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS} || "ipv4,ipv6";
883} 1237}
884 1238
1239our @post_detect;
1240
1241sub post_detect(&) {
1242 my ($cb) = @_;
1243
1244 push @post_detect, $cb;
1245
1246 defined wantarray
1247 ? bless \$cb, "AnyEvent::Util::postdetect"
1248 : ()
1249}
1250
1251sub AnyEvent::Util::postdetect::DESTROY {
1252 @post_detect = grep $_ != ${$_[0]}, @post_detect;
1253}
1254
1255our $POSTPONE_W;
1256our @POSTPONE;
1257
1258sub _postpone_exec {
1259 undef $POSTPONE_W;
1260
1261 &{ shift @POSTPONE }
1262 while @POSTPONE;
1263}
1264
1265sub postpone(&) {
1266 push @POSTPONE, shift;
1267
1268 $POSTPONE_W ||= AE::timer (0, 0, \&_postpone_exec);
1269
1270 ()
1271}
1272
885my @models = ( 1273our @models = (
886 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV::], 1274 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV:: , 1],
887 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::], 1275 [AnyEvent::Loop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: , 1],
888 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl::],
889 # everything below here will not be autoprobed 1276 # everything below here will not (normally) be autoprobed
890 # as the pureperl backend should work everywhere 1277 # as the pure perl backend should work everywhere
891 # and is usually faster 1278 # and is usually faster
1279 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::, 1],
1280 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib:: , 1], # becomes extremely slow with many watchers
1281 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy
1282 [Irssi:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Irssi::], # Irssi has a bogus "Event" package
892 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], # crashes with many handles 1283 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], # crashes with many handles
893 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib::], # becomes extremely slow with many watchers
894 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy
895 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program 1284 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program
896 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza 1285 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza
897 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], 1286 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
898 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], 1287 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
1288 [IO::Async::Loop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # a bitch to autodetect
1289 [Cocoa::EventLoop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Cocoa::],
1290 [FLTK:: => AnyEvent::Impl::FLTK2::],
899); 1291);
900 1292
901our %method = map +($_ => 1), qw(io timer time now signal child condvar one_event DESTROY); 1293# all autoloaded methods reserve the complete glob, not just the method slot.
1294# due to bugs in perls method cache implementation.
1295our @methods = qw(io timer time now now_update signal child idle condvar);
902 1296
903our @post_detect;
904
905sub post_detect(&) { 1297sub detect() {
906 my ($cb) = @_; 1298 local $!; # for good measure
1299 local $SIG{__DIE__}; # we use eval
907 1300
908 if ($MODEL) { 1301 # free some memory
909 $cb->(); 1302 *detect = sub () { $MODEL };
1303 # undef &func doesn't correctly update the method cache. grmbl.
1304 # so we delete the whole glob. grmbl.
1305 # otoh, perl doesn't let me undef an active usb, but it lets me free
1306 # a glob with an active sub. hrm. i hope it works, but perl is
1307 # usually buggy in this department. sigh.
1308 delete @{"AnyEvent::"}{@methods};
1309 undef @methods;
910 1310
911 1 1311 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z0-9:]+)$/) {
1312 my $model = $1;
1313 $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$model" unless $model =~ s/::$//;
1314 if (eval "require $model") {
1315 $MODEL = $model;
1316 warn "AnyEvent: loaded model '$model' (forced by \$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}), using it.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 2;
912 } else { 1317 } else {
913 push @post_detect, $cb; 1318 warn "AnyEvent: unable to load model '$model' (from \$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}):\n$@" if $VERBOSE;
914 1319 }
915 defined wantarray
916 ? bless \$cb, "AnyEvent::Util::PostDetect"
917 : ()
918 } 1320 }
919}
920 1321
921sub AnyEvent::Util::PostDetect::DESTROY { 1322 # check for already loaded models
922 @post_detect = grep $_ != ${$_[0]}, @post_detect;
923}
924
925sub detect() {
926 unless ($MODEL) { 1323 unless ($MODEL) {
927 no strict 'refs'; 1324 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
928 local $SIG{__DIE__}; 1325 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
929 1326 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) {
930 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z]+)$/) {
931 my $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$1";
932 if (eval "require $model") { 1327 if (eval "require $model") {
933 $MODEL = $model; 1328 $MODEL = $model;
934 warn "AnyEvent: loaded model '$model' (forced by \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1329 warn "AnyEvent: autodetected model '$model', using it.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 2;
935 } else { 1330 last;
936 warn "AnyEvent: unable to load model '$model' (from \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL):\n$@" if $verbose; 1331 }
937 } 1332 }
938 } 1333 }
939 1334
940 # check for already loaded models
941 unless ($MODEL) { 1335 unless ($MODEL) {
1336 # try to autoload a model
942 for (@REGISTRY, @models) { 1337 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
943 my ($package, $model) = @$_; 1338 my ($package, $model, $autoload) = @$_;
1339 if (
1340 $autoload
1341 and eval "require $package"
944 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) { 1342 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0
945 if (eval "require $model") { 1343 and eval "require $model"
1344 ) {
946 $MODEL = $model; 1345 $MODEL = $model;
947 warn "AnyEvent: autodetected model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1346 warn "AnyEvent: autoloaded model '$model', using it.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 2;
948 last; 1347 last;
949 }
950 } 1348 }
951 } 1349 }
952 1350
953 unless ($MODEL) {
954 # try to load a model
955
956 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
957 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
958 if (eval "require $package"
959 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0
960 and eval "require $model") {
961 $MODEL = $model;
962 warn "AnyEvent: autoprobed model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1;
963 last;
964 }
965 }
966
967 $MODEL 1351 $MODEL
968 or die "No event module selected for AnyEvent and autodetect failed. Install any one of these modules: EV, Event or Glib."; 1352 or die "AnyEvent: backend autodetection failed - did you properly install AnyEvent?\n";
969 }
970 } 1353 }
971
972 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base";
973
974 unshift @ISA, $MODEL;
975
976 require AnyEvent::Strict if $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT};
977
978 (shift @post_detect)->() while @post_detect;
979 } 1354 }
980 1355
1356 # free memory only needed for probing
1357 undef @models;
1358 undef @REGISTRY;
1359
1360 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base";
1361 unshift @ISA, $MODEL;
1362
1363 # now nuke some methods that are overridden by the backend.
1364 # SUPER usage is not allowed in these.
1365 for (qw(time signal child idle)) {
1366 undef &{"AnyEvent::Base::$_"}
1367 if defined &{"$MODEL\::$_"};
1368 }
1369
1370 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT}) {
1371 require AnyEvent::Strict;
1372 }
1373
1374 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_WRAP}) {
1375 require AnyEvent::Debug;
1376 AnyEvent::Debug::wrap ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_WRAP});
1377 }
1378
1379 if (exists $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_SHELL}) {
1380 require AnyEvent::Debug;
1381 #d#
1382 }
1383
1384 (shift @post_detect)->() while @post_detect;
1385 undef @post_detect;
1386
1387 *post_detect = sub(&) {
1388 shift->();
1389
1390 undef
1391 };
1392
981 $MODEL 1393 $MODEL
982} 1394}
983 1395
984sub AUTOLOAD { 1396for my $name (@methods) {
985 (my $func = $AUTOLOAD) =~ s/.*://; 1397 *$name = sub {
986 1398 detect;
987 $method{$func} 1399 # we use goto because
988 or croak "$func: not a valid method for AnyEvent objects"; 1400 # a) it makes the thunk more transparent
989 1401 # b) it allows us to delete the thunk later
990 detect unless $MODEL; 1402 goto &{ UNIVERSAL::can AnyEvent => "SUPER::$name" }
991 1403 };
992 my $class = shift;
993 $class->$func (@_);
994} 1404}
995 1405
996# utility function to dup a filehandle. this is used by many backends 1406# utility function to dup a filehandle. this is used by many backends
997# to support binding more than one watcher per filehandle (they usually 1407# to support binding more than one watcher per filehandle (they usually
998# allow only one watcher per fd, so we dup it to get a different one). 1408# allow only one watcher per fd, so we dup it to get a different one).
999sub _dupfh($$$$) { 1409sub _dupfh($$;$$) {
1000 my ($poll, $fh, $r, $w) = @_; 1410 my ($poll, $fh, $r, $w) = @_;
1001 1411
1002 require Fcntl;
1003
1004 # cygwin requires the fh mode to be matching, unix doesn't 1412 # cygwin requires the fh mode to be matching, unix doesn't
1005 my ($rw, $mode) = $poll eq "r" ? ($r, "<") 1413 my ($rw, $mode) = $poll eq "r" ? ($r, "<&") : ($w, ">&");
1006 : $poll eq "w" ? ($w, ">")
1007 : Carp::croak "AnyEvent->io requires poll set to either 'r' or 'w'";
1008 1414
1009 open my $fh2, "$mode&" . fileno $fh 1415 open my $fh2, $mode, $fh
1010 or die "cannot dup() filehandle: $!"; 1416 or die "AnyEvent->io: cannot dup() filehandle in mode '$poll': $!,";
1011 1417
1012 # we assume CLOEXEC is already set by perl in all important cases 1418 # we assume CLOEXEC is already set by perl in all important cases
1013 1419
1014 ($fh2, $rw) 1420 ($fh2, $rw)
1015} 1421}
1016 1422
1423=head1 SIMPLIFIED AE API
1424
1425Starting with version 5.0, AnyEvent officially supports a second, much
1426simpler, API that is designed to reduce the calling, typing and memory
1427overhead by using function call syntax and a fixed number of parameters.
1428
1429See the L<AE> manpage for details.
1430
1431=cut
1432
1433package AE;
1434
1435our $VERSION = $AnyEvent::VERSION;
1436
1437sub _reset() {
1438 eval q{
1439 # fall back to the main API by default - backends and AnyEvent::Base
1440 # implementations can overwrite these.
1441
1442 sub io($$$) {
1443 AnyEvent->io (fh => $_[0], poll => $_[1] ? "w" : "r", cb => $_[2])
1444 }
1445
1446 sub timer($$$) {
1447 AnyEvent->timer (after => $_[0], interval => $_[1], cb => $_[2])
1448 }
1449
1450 sub signal($$) {
1451 AnyEvent->signal (signal => $_[0], cb => $_[1])
1452 }
1453
1454 sub child($$) {
1455 AnyEvent->child (pid => $_[0], cb => $_[1])
1456 }
1457
1458 sub idle($) {
1459 AnyEvent->idle (cb => $_[0]);
1460 }
1461
1462 sub cv(;&) {
1463 AnyEvent->condvar (@_ ? (cb => $_[0]) : ())
1464 }
1465
1466 sub now() {
1467 AnyEvent->now
1468 }
1469
1470 sub now_update() {
1471 AnyEvent->now_update
1472 }
1473
1474 sub time() {
1475 AnyEvent->time
1476 }
1477
1478 *postpone = \&AnyEvent::postpone;
1479 };
1480 die if $@;
1481}
1482
1483BEGIN { _reset }
1484
1017package AnyEvent::Base; 1485package AnyEvent::Base;
1018 1486
1019# default implementation for now and time 1487# default implementations for many methods
1020 1488
1021BEGIN { 1489sub time {
1490 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1491 # probe for availability of Time::HiRes
1022 if (eval "use Time::HiRes (); time (); 1") { 1492 if (eval "use Time::HiRes (); Time::HiRes::time (); 1") {
1493 warn "AnyEvent: using Time::HiRes for sub-second timing accuracy.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 8;
1023 *_time = \&Time::HiRes::time; 1494 *AE::time = \&Time::HiRes::time;
1024 # if (eval "use POSIX (); (POSIX::times())... 1495 # if (eval "use POSIX (); (POSIX::times())...
1025 } else { 1496 } else {
1026 *_time = \&CORE::time; # epic fail 1497 warn "AnyEvent: using built-in time(), WARNING, no sub-second resolution!\n" if $VERBOSE;
1498 *AE::time = sub (){ time }; # epic fail
1499 }
1500
1501 *time = sub { AE::time }; # different prototypes
1502 };
1503 die if $@;
1504
1505 &time
1506}
1507
1508*now = \&time;
1509
1510sub now_update { }
1511
1512sub _poll {
1513 Carp::croak "$AnyEvent::MODEL does not support blocking waits. Caught";
1514}
1515
1516# default implementation for ->condvar
1517# in fact, the default should not be overwritten
1518
1519sub condvar {
1520 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1521 *condvar = sub {
1522 bless { @_ == 3 ? (_ae_cb => $_[2]) : () }, "AnyEvent::CondVar"
1523 };
1524
1525 *AE::cv = sub (;&) {
1526 bless { @_ ? (_ae_cb => shift) : () }, "AnyEvent::CondVar"
1527 };
1528 };
1529 die if $@;
1530
1531 &condvar
1532}
1533
1534# default implementation for ->signal
1535
1536our $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT;
1537
1538sub _have_async_interrupt() {
1539 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT = 1*(!$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_ASYNC_INTERRUPT}
1540 && eval "use Async::Interrupt 1.02 (); 1")
1541 unless defined $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT;
1542
1543 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1544}
1545
1546our ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W, %SIG_CB, %SIG_EV, $SIG_IO);
1547our (%SIG_ASY, %SIG_ASY_W);
1548our ($SIG_COUNT, $SIG_TW);
1549
1550# install a dummy wakeup watcher to reduce signal catching latency
1551# used by Impls
1552sub _sig_add() {
1553 unless ($SIG_COUNT++) {
1554 # try to align timer on a full-second boundary, if possible
1555 my $NOW = AE::now;
1556
1557 $SIG_TW = AE::timer
1558 $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY - ($NOW - int $NOW),
1559 $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY,
1560 sub { } # just for the PERL_ASYNC_CHECK
1561 ;
1027 } 1562 }
1028} 1563}
1029 1564
1030sub time { _time } 1565sub _sig_del {
1031sub now { _time } 1566 undef $SIG_TW
1032 1567 unless --$SIG_COUNT;
1033# default implementation for ->condvar
1034
1035sub condvar {
1036 bless { @_ == 3 ? (_ae_cb => $_[2]) : () }, AnyEvent::CondVar::
1037} 1568}
1038 1569
1039# default implementation for ->signal 1570our $_sig_name_init; $_sig_name_init = sub {
1571 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1572 undef $_sig_name_init;
1040 1573
1041our %SIG_CB; 1574 if (_have_async_interrupt) {
1575 *sig2num = \&Async::Interrupt::sig2num;
1576 *sig2name = \&Async::Interrupt::sig2name;
1577 } else {
1578 require Config;
1579
1580 my %signame2num;
1581 @signame2num{ split ' ', $Config::Config{sig_name} }
1582 = split ' ', $Config::Config{sig_num};
1583
1584 my @signum2name;
1585 @signum2name[values %signame2num] = keys %signame2num;
1586
1587 *sig2num = sub($) {
1588 $_[0] > 0 ? shift : $signame2num{+shift}
1589 };
1590 *sig2name = sub ($) {
1591 $_[0] > 0 ? $signum2name[+shift] : shift
1592 };
1593 }
1594 };
1595 die if $@;
1596};
1597
1598sub sig2num ($) { &$_sig_name_init; &sig2num }
1599sub sig2name($) { &$_sig_name_init; &sig2name }
1042 1600
1043sub signal { 1601sub signal {
1602 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1603 # probe for availability of Async::Interrupt
1604 if (_have_async_interrupt) {
1605 warn "AnyEvent: using Async::Interrupt for race-free signal handling.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 8;
1606
1607 $SIGPIPE_R = new Async::Interrupt::EventPipe;
1608 $SIG_IO = AE::io $SIGPIPE_R->fileno, 0, \&_signal_exec;
1609
1610 } else {
1611 warn "AnyEvent: using emulated perl signal handling with latency timer.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 8;
1612
1613 if (AnyEvent::WIN32) {
1614 require AnyEvent::Util;
1615
1616 ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W) = AnyEvent::Util::portable_pipe ();
1617 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_R, 1) if $SIGPIPE_R;
1618 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_W, 1) if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case
1619 } else {
1620 pipe $SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W;
1621 fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, AnyEvent::F_SETFL, AnyEvent::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_R;
1622 fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, AnyEvent::F_SETFL, AnyEvent::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case
1623
1624 # not strictly required, as $^F is normally 2, but let's make sure...
1625 fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, AnyEvent::F_SETFD, AnyEvent::FD_CLOEXEC;
1626 fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, AnyEvent::F_SETFD, AnyEvent::FD_CLOEXEC;
1627 }
1628
1629 $SIGPIPE_R
1630 or Carp::croak "AnyEvent: unable to create a signal reporting pipe: $!\n";
1631
1632 $SIG_IO = AE::io $SIGPIPE_R, 0, \&_signal_exec;
1633 }
1634
1635 *signal = $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1636 ? sub {
1044 my (undef, %arg) = @_; 1637 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1045 1638
1639 # async::interrupt
1046 my $signal = uc $arg{signal} 1640 my $signal = sig2num $arg{signal};
1047 or Carp::croak "required option 'signal' is missing";
1048
1049 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb}; 1641 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1642
1643 $SIG_ASY{$signal} ||= new Async::Interrupt
1644 cb => sub { undef $SIG_EV{$signal} },
1645 signal => $signal,
1646 pipe => [$SIGPIPE_R->filenos],
1647 pipe_autodrain => 0,
1648 ;
1649
1650 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::signal"
1651 }
1652 : sub {
1653 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1654
1655 # pure perl
1656 my $signal = sig2name $arg{signal};
1657 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1658
1050 $SIG{$signal} ||= sub { 1659 $SIG{$signal} ||= sub {
1660 local $!;
1661 syswrite $SIGPIPE_W, "\x00", 1 unless %SIG_EV;
1662 undef $SIG_EV{$signal};
1663 };
1664
1665 # can't do signal processing without introducing races in pure perl,
1666 # so limit the signal latency.
1667 _sig_add;
1668
1669 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::signal"
1670 }
1671 ;
1672
1673 *AnyEvent::Base::signal::DESTROY = sub {
1674 my ($signal, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
1675
1676 _sig_del;
1677
1678 delete $SIG_CB{$signal}{$cb};
1679
1680 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1681 ? delete $SIG_ASY{$signal}
1682 : # delete doesn't work with older perls - they then
1683 # print weird messages, or just unconditionally exit
1684 # instead of getting the default action.
1685 undef $SIG{$signal}
1686 unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} };
1687 };
1688
1689 *_signal_exec = sub {
1690 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1691 ? $SIGPIPE_R->drain
1692 : sysread $SIGPIPE_R, (my $dummy), 9;
1693
1694 while (%SIG_EV) {
1695 for (keys %SIG_EV) {
1696 delete $SIG_EV{$_};
1051 $_->() for values %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} || {} }; 1697 &$_ for values %{ $SIG_CB{$_} || {} };
1698 }
1699 }
1700 };
1052 }; 1701 };
1702 die if $@;
1053 1703
1054 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Signal" 1704 &signal
1055}
1056
1057sub AnyEvent::Base::Signal::DESTROY {
1058 my ($signal, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
1059
1060 delete $SIG_CB{$signal}{$cb};
1061
1062 delete $SIG{$signal} unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} };
1063} 1705}
1064 1706
1065# default implementation for ->child 1707# default implementation for ->child
1066 1708
1067our %PID_CB; 1709our %PID_CB;
1068our $CHLD_W; 1710our $CHLD_W;
1069our $CHLD_DELAY_W; 1711our $CHLD_DELAY_W;
1070our $PID_IDLE;
1071our $WNOHANG;
1072 1712
1073sub _child_wait { 1713# used by many Impl's
1074 while (0 < (my $pid = waitpid -1, $WNOHANG)) { 1714sub _emit_childstatus($$) {
1715 my (undef, $rpid, $rstatus) = @_;
1716
1717 $_->($rpid, $rstatus)
1075 $_->($pid, $?) for (values %{ $PID_CB{$pid} || {} }), 1718 for values %{ $PID_CB{$rpid} || {} },
1076 (values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} }); 1719 values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} };
1077 }
1078
1079 undef $PID_IDLE;
1080}
1081
1082sub _sigchld {
1083 # make sure we deliver these changes "synchronous" with the event loop.
1084 $CHLD_DELAY_W ||= AnyEvent->timer (after => 0, cb => sub {
1085 undef $CHLD_DELAY_W;
1086 &_child_wait;
1087 });
1088} 1720}
1089 1721
1090sub child { 1722sub child {
1723 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1724 *_sigchld = sub {
1725 my $pid;
1726
1727 AnyEvent->_emit_childstatus ($pid, $?)
1728 while ($pid = waitpid -1, WNOHANG) > 0;
1729 };
1730
1731 *child = sub {
1091 my (undef, %arg) = @_; 1732 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1092 1733
1093 defined (my $pid = $arg{pid} + 0) 1734 my $pid = $arg{pid};
1094 or Carp::croak "required option 'pid' is missing"; 1735 my $cb = $arg{cb};
1095 1736
1096 $PID_CB{$pid}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb}; 1737 $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb+0} = $cb;
1097 1738
1098 unless ($WNOHANG) {
1099 $WNOHANG = eval { local $SIG{__DIE__}; require POSIX; &POSIX::WNOHANG } || 1;
1100 }
1101
1102 unless ($CHLD_W) { 1739 unless ($CHLD_W) {
1103 $CHLD_W = AnyEvent->signal (signal => 'CHLD', cb => \&_sigchld); 1740 $CHLD_W = AE::signal CHLD => \&_sigchld;
1104 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round 1741 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round
1105 &_sigchld; 1742 &_sigchld;
1106 } 1743 }
1107 1744
1108 bless [$pid, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Child" 1745 bless [$pid, $cb+0], "AnyEvent::Base::child"
1109} 1746 };
1110 1747
1111sub AnyEvent::Base::Child::DESTROY { 1748 *AnyEvent::Base::child::DESTROY = sub {
1112 my ($pid, $cb) = @{$_[0]}; 1749 my ($pid, $icb) = @{$_[0]};
1113 1750
1114 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb}; 1751 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$icb};
1115 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} }; 1752 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} };
1116 1753
1117 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB; 1754 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB;
1755 };
1756 };
1757 die if $@;
1758
1759 &child
1760}
1761
1762# idle emulation is done by simply using a timer, regardless
1763# of whether the process is idle or not, and not letting
1764# the callback use more than 50% of the time.
1765sub idle {
1766 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1767 *idle = sub {
1768 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1769
1770 my ($cb, $w, $rcb) = $arg{cb};
1771
1772 $rcb = sub {
1773 if ($cb) {
1774 $w = AE::time;
1775 &$cb;
1776 $w = AE::time - $w;
1777
1778 # never use more then 50% of the time for the idle watcher,
1779 # within some limits
1780 $w = 0.0001 if $w < 0.0001;
1781 $w = 5 if $w > 5;
1782
1783 $w = AE::timer $w, 0, $rcb;
1784 } else {
1785 # clean up...
1786 undef $w;
1787 undef $rcb;
1788 }
1789 };
1790
1791 $w = AE::timer 0.05, 0, $rcb;
1792
1793 bless \\$cb, "AnyEvent::Base::idle"
1794 };
1795
1796 *AnyEvent::Base::idle::DESTROY = sub {
1797 undef $${$_[0]};
1798 };
1799 };
1800 die if $@;
1801
1802 &idle
1118} 1803}
1119 1804
1120package AnyEvent::CondVar; 1805package AnyEvent::CondVar;
1121 1806
1122our @ISA = AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::; 1807our @ISA = AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::;
1123 1808
1809# only to be used for subclassing
1810sub new {
1811 my $class = shift;
1812 bless AnyEvent->condvar (@_), $class
1813}
1814
1124package AnyEvent::CondVar::Base; 1815package AnyEvent::CondVar::Base;
1125 1816
1126use overload 1817#use overload
1127 '&{}' => sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } }, 1818# '&{}' => sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } },
1128 fallback => 1; 1819# fallback => 1;
1820
1821# save 300+ kilobytes by dirtily hardcoding overloading
1822${"AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::OVERLOAD"}{dummy}++; # Register with magic by touching.
1823*{'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::()'} = sub { }; # "Make it findable via fetchmethod."
1824*{'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::(&{}'} = sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } }; # &{}
1825${'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::()'} = 1; # fallback
1826
1827our $WAITING;
1129 1828
1130sub _send { 1829sub _send {
1131 # nop 1830 # nop
1831}
1832
1833sub _wait {
1834 AnyEvent->_poll until $_[0]{_ae_sent};
1132} 1835}
1133 1836
1134sub send { 1837sub send {
1135 my $cv = shift; 1838 my $cv = shift;
1136 $cv->{_ae_sent} = [@_]; 1839 $cv->{_ae_sent} = [@_];
1145 1848
1146sub ready { 1849sub ready {
1147 $_[0]{_ae_sent} 1850 $_[0]{_ae_sent}
1148} 1851}
1149 1852
1150sub _wait {
1151 AnyEvent->one_event while !$_[0]{_ae_sent};
1152}
1153
1154sub recv { 1853sub recv {
1854 unless ($_[0]{_ae_sent}) {
1855 $WAITING
1856 and Carp::croak "AnyEvent::CondVar: recursive blocking wait attempted";
1857
1858 local $WAITING = 1;
1155 $_[0]->_wait; 1859 $_[0]->_wait;
1860 }
1156 1861
1157 Carp::croak $_[0]{_ae_croak} if $_[0]{_ae_croak}; 1862 $_[0]{_ae_croak}
1158 wantarray ? @{ $_[0]{_ae_sent} } : $_[0]{_ae_sent}[0] 1863 and Carp::croak $_[0]{_ae_croak};
1864
1865 wantarray
1866 ? @{ $_[0]{_ae_sent} }
1867 : $_[0]{_ae_sent}[0]
1159} 1868}
1160 1869
1161sub cb { 1870sub cb {
1162 $_[0]{_ae_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1; 1871 my $cv = shift;
1872
1873 @_
1874 and $cv->{_ae_cb} = shift
1875 and $cv->{_ae_sent}
1876 and (delete $cv->{_ae_cb})->($cv);
1877
1163 $_[0]{_ae_cb} 1878 $cv->{_ae_cb}
1164} 1879}
1165 1880
1166sub begin { 1881sub begin {
1167 ++$_[0]{_ae_counter}; 1882 ++$_[0]{_ae_counter};
1168 $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1; 1883 $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1;
1173 &{ $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} || sub { $_[0]->send } }; 1888 &{ $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} || sub { $_[0]->send } };
1174} 1889}
1175 1890
1176# undocumented/compatibility with pre-3.4 1891# undocumented/compatibility with pre-3.4
1177*broadcast = \&send; 1892*broadcast = \&send;
1178*wait = \&_wait; 1893*wait = \&recv;
1894
1895=head1 ERROR AND EXCEPTION HANDLING
1896
1897In general, AnyEvent does not do any error handling - it relies on the
1898caller to do that if required. The L<AnyEvent::Strict> module (see also
1899the C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT> environment variable, below) provides strict
1900checking of all AnyEvent methods, however, which is highly useful during
1901development.
1902
1903As for exception handling (i.e. runtime errors and exceptions thrown while
1904executing a callback), this is not only highly event-loop specific, but
1905also not in any way wrapped by this module, as this is the job of the main
1906program.
1907
1908The pure perl event loop simply re-throws the exception (usually
1909within C<< condvar->recv >>), the L<Event> and L<EV> modules call C<<
1910$Event/EV::DIED->() >>, L<Glib> uses C<< install_exception_handler >> and
1911so on.
1912
1913=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
1914
1915The following environment variables are used by this module or its
1916submodules.
1917
1918Note that AnyEvent will remove I<all> environment variables starting with
1919C<PERL_ANYEVENT_> from C<%ENV> when it is loaded while taint mode is
1920enabled.
1921
1922=over 4
1923
1924=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
1925
1926By default, AnyEvent will be completely silent except in fatal
1927conditions. You can set this environment variable to make AnyEvent more
1928talkative.
1929
1930When set to C<1> or higher, causes AnyEvent to warn about unexpected
1931conditions, such as not being able to load the event model specified by
1932C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>.
1933
1934When set to C<2> or higher, cause AnyEvent to report to STDERR which event
1935model it chooses.
1936
1937When set to C<8> or higher, then AnyEvent will report extra information on
1938which optional modules it loads and how it implements certain features.
1939
1940=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT>
1941
1942AnyEvent does not do much argument checking by default, as thorough
1943argument checking is very costly. Setting this variable to a true value
1944will cause AnyEvent to load C<AnyEvent::Strict> and then to thoroughly
1945check the arguments passed to most method calls. If it finds any problems,
1946it will croak.
1947
1948In other words, enables "strict" mode.
1949
1950Unlike C<use strict> (or its modern cousin, C<< use L<common::sense>
1951>>, it is definitely recommended to keep it off in production. Keeping
1952C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT=1> in your environment while developing programs
1953can be very useful, however.
1954
1955=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
1956
1957This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
1958auto detection and -probing kicks in.
1959
1960It normally is a string consisting entirely of ASCII letters (e.g. C<EV>
1961or C<IOAsync>). The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended and the
1962resulting module name is loaded and - if the load was successful - used as
1963event model backend. If it fails to load then AnyEvent will proceed with
1964auto detection and -probing.
1965
1966If the string ends with C<::> instead (e.g. C<AnyEvent::Impl::EV::>) then
1967nothing gets prepended and the module name is used as-is (hint: C<::> at
1968the end of a string designates a module name and quotes it appropriately).
1969
1970For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Loop::Perl>) you
1971could start your program like this:
1972
1973 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
1974
1975=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS>
1976
1977Used by both L<AnyEvent::DNS> and L<AnyEvent::Socket> to determine preferences
1978for IPv4 or IPv6. The default is unspecified (and might change, or be the result
1979of auto probing).
1980
1981Must be set to a comma-separated list of protocols or address families,
1982current supported: C<ipv4> and C<ipv6>. Only protocols mentioned will be
1983used, and preference will be given to protocols mentioned earlier in the
1984list.
1985
1986This variable can effectively be used for denial-of-service attacks
1987against local programs (e.g. when setuid), although the impact is likely
1988small, as the program has to handle conenction and other failures anyways.
1989
1990Examples: C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4,ipv6> - prefer IPv4 over IPv6,
1991but support both and try to use both. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4>
1992- only support IPv4, never try to resolve or contact IPv6
1993addresses. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv6,ipv4> support either IPv4 or
1994IPv6, but prefer IPv6 over IPv4.
1995
1996=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_EDNS0>
1997
1998Used by L<AnyEvent::DNS> to decide whether to use the EDNS0 extension
1999for DNS. This extension is generally useful to reduce DNS traffic, but
2000some (broken) firewalls drop such DNS packets, which is why it is off by
2001default.
2002
2003Setting this variable to C<1> will cause L<AnyEvent::DNS> to announce
2004EDNS0 in its DNS requests.
2005
2006=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_FORKS>
2007
2008The maximum number of child processes that C<AnyEvent::Util::fork_call>
2009will create in parallel.
2010
2011=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_OUTSTANDING_DNS>
2012
2013The default value for the C<max_outstanding> parameter for the default DNS
2014resolver - this is the maximum number of parallel DNS requests that are
2015sent to the DNS server.
2016
2017=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_RESOLV_CONF>
2018
2019The file to use instead of F</etc/resolv.conf> (or OS-specific
2020configuration) in the default resolver. When set to the empty string, no
2021default config will be used.
2022
2023=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_CA_FILE>, C<PERL_ANYEVENT_CA_PATH>.
2024
2025When neither C<ca_file> nor C<ca_path> was specified during
2026L<AnyEvent::TLS> context creation, and either of these environment
2027variables exist, they will be used to specify CA certificate locations
2028instead of a system-dependent default.
2029
2030=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_GUARD> and C<PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_ASYNC_INTERRUPT>
2031
2032When these are set to C<1>, then the respective modules are not
2033loaded. Mostly good for testing AnyEvent itself.
2034
2035=back
1179 2036
1180=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE 2037=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE
1181 2038
1182This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in 2039This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in
1183a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to 2040a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to
1217 2074
1218I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to 2075I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to
1219condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will 2076condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will
1220C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must 2077C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must
1221not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense. 2078not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense.
1222
1223=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
1224
1225The following environment variables are used by this module:
1226
1227=over 4
1228
1229=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
1230
1231By default, AnyEvent will be completely silent except in fatal
1232conditions. You can set this environment variable to make AnyEvent more
1233talkative.
1234
1235When set to C<1> or higher, causes AnyEvent to warn about unexpected
1236conditions, such as not being able to load the event model specified by
1237C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>.
1238
1239When set to C<2> or higher, cause AnyEvent to report to STDERR which event
1240model it chooses.
1241
1242=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT>
1243
1244AnyEvent does not do much argument checking by default, as thorough
1245argument checking is very costly. Setting this variable to a true value
1246will cause AnyEvent to load C<AnyEvent::Strict> and then to thoroughly
1247check the arguments passed to most method calls. If it finds any problems
1248it will croak.
1249
1250In other words, enables "strict" mode.
1251
1252Unlike C<use strict> it is definitely recommended ot keep it off in
1253production.
1254
1255=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
1256
1257This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
1258auto detection and -probing kicks in. It must be a string consisting
1259entirely of ASCII letters. The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended
1260and the resulting module name is loaded and if the load was successful,
1261used as event model. If it fails to load AnyEvent will proceed with
1262auto detection and -probing.
1263
1264This functionality might change in future versions.
1265
1266For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) you
1267could start your program like this:
1268
1269 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
1270
1271=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS>
1272
1273Used by both L<AnyEvent::DNS> and L<AnyEvent::Socket> to determine preferences
1274for IPv4 or IPv6. The default is unspecified (and might change, or be the result
1275of auto probing).
1276
1277Must be set to a comma-separated list of protocols or address families,
1278current supported: C<ipv4> and C<ipv6>. Only protocols mentioned will be
1279used, and preference will be given to protocols mentioned earlier in the
1280list.
1281
1282This variable can effectively be used for denial-of-service attacks
1283against local programs (e.g. when setuid), although the impact is likely
1284small, as the program has to handle connection errors already-
1285
1286Examples: C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4,ipv6> - prefer IPv4 over IPv6,
1287but support both and try to use both. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4>
1288- only support IPv4, never try to resolve or contact IPv6
1289addresses. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv6,ipv4> support either IPv4 or
1290IPv6, but prefer IPv6 over IPv4.
1291
1292=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_EDNS0>
1293
1294Used by L<AnyEvent::DNS> to decide whether to use the EDNS0 extension
1295for DNS. This extension is generally useful to reduce DNS traffic, but
1296some (broken) firewalls drop such DNS packets, which is why it is off by
1297default.
1298
1299Setting this variable to C<1> will cause L<AnyEvent::DNS> to announce
1300EDNS0 in its DNS requests.
1301
1302=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_FORKS>
1303
1304The maximum number of child processes that C<AnyEvent::Util::fork_call>
1305will create in parallel.
1306
1307=back
1308 2079
1309=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM 2080=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM
1310 2081
1311The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer 2082The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer
1312to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the 2083to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the
1325 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read 2096 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read
1326 $cv->send if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i 2097 $cv->send if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i
1327 }, 2098 },
1328 ); 2099 );
1329 2100
1330 my $time_watcher; # can only be used once
1331
1332 sub new_timer {
1333 $timer = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => sub { 2101 my $time_watcher = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, interval => 1, cb => sub {
1334 warn "timeout\n"; # print 'timeout' about every second 2102 warn "timeout\n"; # print 'timeout' at most every second
1335 &new_timer; # and restart the time
1336 }); 2103 });
1337 }
1338
1339 new_timer; # create first timer
1340 2104
1341 $cv->recv; # wait until user enters /^q/i 2105 $cv->recv; # wait until user enters /^q/i
1342 2106
1343=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE 2107=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE
1344 2108
1417 2181
1418The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions) 2182The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions)
1419that occurred during request processing. The C<result> method detects 2183that occurred during request processing. The C<result> method detects
1420whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object) 2184whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object)
1421and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other 2185and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other
1422problems get reported tot he code that tries to use the result, not in a 2186problems get reported to the code that tries to use the result, not in a
1423random callback. 2187random callback.
1424 2188
1425All of this enables the following usage styles: 2189All of this enables the following usage styles:
1426 2190
14271. Blocking: 21911. Blocking:
1475through AnyEvent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero 2239through AnyEvent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero
1476timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable, 2240timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable,
1477which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again. 2241which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again.
1478 2242
1479Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent 2243Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent
1480distribution. 2244distribution. It uses the L<AE> interface, which makes a real difference
2245for the EV and Perl backends only.
1481 2246
1482=head3 Explanation of the columns 2247=head3 Explanation of the columns
1483 2248
1484I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since 2249I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since
1485different event models feature vastly different performances, each event 2250different event models feature vastly different performances, each event
1506watcher. 2271watcher.
1507 2272
1508=head3 Results 2273=head3 Results
1509 2274
1510 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment 2275 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment
1511 EV/EV 400000 244 0.56 0.46 0.31 EV native interface 2276 EV/EV 100000 223 0.47 0.43 0.27 EV native interface
1512 EV/Any 100000 244 2.50 0.46 0.29 EV + AnyEvent watchers 2277 EV/Any 100000 223 0.48 0.42 0.26 EV + AnyEvent watchers
1513 CoroEV/Any 100000 244 2.49 0.44 0.29 coroutines + Coro::Signal 2278 Coro::EV/Any 100000 223 0.47 0.42 0.26 coroutines + Coro::Signal
1514 Perl/Any 100000 513 4.92 0.87 1.12 pure perl implementation 2279 Perl/Any 100000 431 2.70 0.74 0.92 pure perl implementation
1515 Event/Event 16000 516 31.88 31.30 0.85 Event native interface 2280 Event/Event 16000 516 31.16 31.84 0.82 Event native interface
1516 Event/Any 16000 590 35.75 31.42 1.08 Event + AnyEvent watchers 2281 Event/Any 16000 1203 42.61 34.79 1.80 Event + AnyEvent watchers
2282 IOAsync/Any 16000 1911 41.92 27.45 16.81 via IO::Async::Loop::IO_Poll
2283 IOAsync/Any 16000 1726 40.69 26.37 15.25 via IO::Async::Loop::Epoll
1517 Glib/Any 16000 1357 98.22 12.41 54.00 quadratic behaviour 2284 Glib/Any 16000 1118 89.00 12.57 51.17 quadratic behaviour
1518 Tk/Any 2000 1860 26.97 67.98 14.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers 2285 Tk/Any 2000 1346 20.96 10.75 8.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers
1519 POE/Event 2000 6644 108.64 736.02 14.73 via POE::Loop::Event 2286 POE/Any 2000 6951 108.97 795.32 14.24 via POE::Loop::Event
1520 POE/Select 2000 6343 94.13 809.12 565.96 via POE::Loop::Select 2287 POE/Any 2000 6648 94.79 774.40 575.51 via POE::Loop::Select
1521 2288
1522=head3 Discussion 2289=head3 Discussion
1523 2290
1524The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very 2291The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very
1525well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one) 2292well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one)
1537benchmark machine, handling an event takes roughly 1600 CPU cycles with 2304benchmark machine, handling an event takes roughly 1600 CPU cycles with
1538EV, 3100 CPU cycles with AnyEvent's pure perl loop and almost 3000000 CPU 2305EV, 3100 CPU cycles with AnyEvent's pure perl loop and almost 3000000 CPU
1539cycles with POE. 2306cycles with POE.
1540 2307
1541C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both 2308C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both
1542maximal/minimal, respectively. Even when going through AnyEvent, it uses 2309maximal/minimal, respectively. When using the L<AE> API there is zero
2310overhead (when going through the AnyEvent API create is about 5-6 times
2311slower, with other times being equal, so still uses far less memory than
1543far less memory than any other event loop and is still faster than Event 2312any other event loop and is still faster than Event natively).
1544natively.
1545 2313
1546The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the 2314The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the
1547constant timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl 2315constant timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl
1548interpreter and the backend itself). Nevertheless this shows that it 2316interpreter and the backend itself). Nevertheless this shows that it
1549adds very little overhead in itself. Like any select-based backend its 2317adds very little overhead in itself. Like any select-based backend its
1550performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of 2318performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of
1551them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark. 2319them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark.
1552 2320
1553The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation 2321The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation
1554cost, but overall scores in on the third place. 2322cost, but overall scores in on the third place.
2323
2324C<IO::Async> performs admirably well, about on par with C<Event>, even
2325when using its pure perl backend.
1555 2326
1556C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a 2327C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a
1557faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as 2328faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as
1558C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of 2329C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of
1559watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four, 2330watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four,
1620In this benchmark, we use 10000 socket pairs (20000 sockets), of which 100 2391In this benchmark, we use 10000 socket pairs (20000 sockets), of which 100
1621(1%) are active. This mirrors the activity of large servers with many 2392(1%) are active. This mirrors the activity of large servers with many
1622connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time. 2393connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time.
1623 2394
1624Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent 2395Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent
1625distribution. 2396distribution. It uses the L<AE> interface, which makes a real difference
2397for the EV and Perl backends only.
1626 2398
1627=head3 Explanation of the columns 2399=head3 Explanation of the columns
1628 2400
1629I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as 2401I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as
1630each server has a read and write socket end). 2402each server has a read and write socket end).
1637it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating 2409it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating
1638a new one that moves the timeout into the future. 2410a new one that moves the timeout into the future.
1639 2411
1640=head3 Results 2412=head3 Results
1641 2413
1642 name sockets create request 2414 name sockets create request
1643 EV 20000 69.01 11.16 2415 EV 20000 62.66 7.99
1644 Perl 20000 73.32 35.87 2416 Perl 20000 68.32 32.64
1645 Event 20000 212.62 257.32 2417 IOAsync 20000 174.06 101.15 epoll
1646 Glib 20000 651.16 1896.30 2418 IOAsync 20000 174.67 610.84 poll
2419 Event 20000 202.69 242.91
2420 Glib 20000 557.01 1689.52
1647 POE 20000 349.67 12317.24 uses POE::Loop::Event 2421 POE 20000 341.54 12086.32 uses POE::Loop::Event
1648 2422
1649=head3 Discussion 2423=head3 Discussion
1650 2424
1651This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the 2425This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the
1652particular event loop. 2426particular event loop.
1654EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time 2428EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time
1655is relatively high, though. 2429is relatively high, though.
1656 2430
1657Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event 2431Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event
1658loops Event and Glib. 2432loops Event and Glib.
2433
2434IO::Async performs very well when using its epoll backend, and still quite
2435good compared to Glib when using its pure perl backend.
1659 2436
1660Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will 2437Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will
1661understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to 2438understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to
1662the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event 2439the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event
1663uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations. 2440uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations.
1726=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of 2503=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of
1727watchers, as the management overhead dominates. 2504watchers, as the management overhead dominates.
1728 2505
1729=back 2506=back
1730 2507
2508=head2 THE IO::Lambda BENCHMARK
2509
2510Recently I was told about the benchmark in the IO::Lambda manpage, which
2511could be misinterpreted to make AnyEvent look bad. In fact, the benchmark
2512simply compares IO::Lambda with POE, and IO::Lambda looks better (which
2513shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody). As such, the benchmark is
2514fine, and mostly shows that the AnyEvent backend from IO::Lambda isn't
2515very optimal. But how would AnyEvent compare when used without the extra
2516baggage? To explore this, I wrote the equivalent benchmark for AnyEvent.
2517
2518The benchmark itself creates an echo-server, and then, for 500 times,
2519connects to the echo server, sends a line, waits for the reply, and then
2520creates the next connection. This is a rather bad benchmark, as it doesn't
2521test the efficiency of the framework or much non-blocking I/O, but it is a
2522benchmark nevertheless.
2523
2524 name runtime
2525 Lambda/select 0.330 sec
2526 + optimized 0.122 sec
2527 Lambda/AnyEvent 0.327 sec
2528 + optimized 0.138 sec
2529 Raw sockets/select 0.077 sec
2530 POE/select, components 0.662 sec
2531 POE/select, raw sockets 0.226 sec
2532 POE/select, optimized 0.404 sec
2533
2534 AnyEvent/select/nb 0.085 sec
2535 AnyEvent/EV/nb 0.068 sec
2536 +state machine 0.134 sec
2537
2538The benchmark is also a bit unfair (my fault): the IO::Lambda/POE
2539benchmarks actually make blocking connects and use 100% blocking I/O,
2540defeating the purpose of an event-based solution. All of the newly
2541written AnyEvent benchmarks use 100% non-blocking connects (using
2542AnyEvent::Socket::tcp_connect and the asynchronous pure perl DNS
2543resolver), so AnyEvent is at a disadvantage here, as non-blocking connects
2544generally require a lot more bookkeeping and event handling than blocking
2545connects (which involve a single syscall only).
2546
2547The last AnyEvent benchmark additionally uses L<AnyEvent::Handle>, which
2548offers similar expressive power as POE and IO::Lambda, using conventional
2549Perl syntax. This means that both the echo server and the client are 100%
2550non-blocking, further placing it at a disadvantage.
2551
2552As you can see, the AnyEvent + EV combination even beats the
2553hand-optimised "raw sockets benchmark", while AnyEvent + its pure perl
2554backend easily beats IO::Lambda and POE.
2555
2556And even the 100% non-blocking version written using the high-level (and
2557slow :) L<AnyEvent::Handle> abstraction beats both POE and IO::Lambda
2558higher level ("unoptimised") abstractions by a large margin, even though
2559it does all of DNS, tcp-connect and socket I/O in a non-blocking way.
2560
2561The two AnyEvent benchmarks programs can be found as F<eg/ae0.pl> and
2562F<eg/ae2.pl> in the AnyEvent distribution, the remaining benchmarks are
2563part of the IO::Lambda distribution and were used without any changes.
2564
2565
2566=head1 SIGNALS
2567
2568AnyEvent currently installs handlers for these signals:
2569
2570=over 4
2571
2572=item SIGCHLD
2573
2574A handler for C<SIGCHLD> is installed by AnyEvent's child watcher
2575emulation for event loops that do not support them natively. Also, some
2576event loops install a similar handler.
2577
2578Additionally, when AnyEvent is loaded and SIGCHLD is set to IGNORE, then
2579AnyEvent will reset it to default, to avoid losing child exit statuses.
2580
2581=item SIGPIPE
2582
2583A no-op handler is installed for C<SIGPIPE> when C<$SIG{PIPE}> is C<undef>
2584when AnyEvent gets loaded.
2585
2586The rationale for this is that AnyEvent users usually do not really depend
2587on SIGPIPE delivery (which is purely an optimisation for shell use, or
2588badly-written programs), but C<SIGPIPE> can cause spurious and rare
2589program exits as a lot of people do not expect C<SIGPIPE> when writing to
2590some random socket.
2591
2592The rationale for installing a no-op handler as opposed to ignoring it is
2593that this way, the handler will be restored to defaults on exec.
2594
2595Feel free to install your own handler, or reset it to defaults.
2596
2597=back
2598
2599=cut
2600
2601undef $SIG{CHLD}
2602 if $SIG{CHLD} eq 'IGNORE';
2603
2604$SIG{PIPE} = sub { }
2605 unless defined $SIG{PIPE};
2606
2607=head1 RECOMMENDED/OPTIONAL MODULES
2608
2609One of AnyEvent's main goals is to be 100% Pure-Perl(tm): only perl (and
2610its built-in modules) are required to use it.
2611
2612That does not mean that AnyEvent won't take advantage of some additional
2613modules if they are installed.
2614
2615This section explains which additional modules will be used, and how they
2616affect AnyEvent's operation.
2617
2618=over 4
2619
2620=item L<Async::Interrupt>
2621
2622This slightly arcane module is used to implement fast signal handling: To
2623my knowledge, there is no way to do completely race-free and quick
2624signal handling in pure perl. To ensure that signals still get
2625delivered, AnyEvent will start an interval timer to wake up perl (and
2626catch the signals) with some delay (default is 10 seconds, look for
2627C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>).
2628
2629If this module is available, then it will be used to implement signal
2630catching, which means that signals will not be delayed, and the event loop
2631will not be interrupted regularly, which is more efficient (and good for
2632battery life on laptops).
2633
2634This affects not just the pure-perl event loop, but also other event loops
2635that have no signal handling on their own (e.g. Glib, Tk, Qt).
2636
2637Some event loops (POE, Event, Event::Lib) offer signal watchers natively,
2638and either employ their own workarounds (POE) or use AnyEvent's workaround
2639(using C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>). Installing L<Async::Interrupt>
2640does nothing for those backends.
2641
2642=item L<EV>
2643
2644This module isn't really "optional", as it is simply one of the backend
2645event loops that AnyEvent can use. However, it is simply the best event
2646loop available in terms of features, speed and stability: It supports
2647the AnyEvent API optimally, implements all the watcher types in XS, does
2648automatic timer adjustments even when no monotonic clock is available,
2649can take avdantage of advanced kernel interfaces such as C<epoll> and
2650C<kqueue>, and is the fastest backend I<by far>. You can even embed
2651L<Glib>/L<Gtk2> in it (or vice versa, see L<EV::Glib> and L<Glib::EV>).
2652
2653If you only use backends that rely on another event loop (e.g. C<Tk>),
2654then this module will do nothing for you.
2655
2656=item L<Guard>
2657
2658The guard module, when used, will be used to implement
2659C<AnyEvent::Util::guard>. This speeds up guards considerably (and uses a
2660lot less memory), but otherwise doesn't affect guard operation much. It is
2661purely used for performance.
2662
2663=item L<JSON> and L<JSON::XS>
2664
2665One of these modules is required when you want to read or write JSON data
2666via L<AnyEvent::Handle>. L<JSON> is also written in pure-perl, but can take
2667advantage of the ultra-high-speed L<JSON::XS> module when it is installed.
2668
2669=item L<Net::SSLeay>
2670
2671Implementing TLS/SSL in Perl is certainly interesting, but not very
2672worthwhile: If this module is installed, then L<AnyEvent::Handle> (with
2673the help of L<AnyEvent::TLS>), gains the ability to do TLS/SSL.
2674
2675=item L<Time::HiRes>
2676
2677This module is part of perl since release 5.008. It will be used when the
2678chosen event library does not come with a timing source of its own. The
2679pure-perl event loop (L<AnyEvent::Loop>) will additionally load it to
2680try to use a monotonic clock for timing stability.
2681
2682=back
2683
1731 2684
1732=head1 FORK 2685=head1 FORK
1733 2686
1734Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are 2687Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are
1735because they rely on inefficient but fork-safe C<select> or C<poll> 2688because they rely on inefficient but fork-safe C<select> or C<poll> calls
1736calls. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware. 2689- higher performance APIs such as BSD's kqueue or the dreaded Linux epoll
2690are usually badly thought-out hacks that are incompatible with fork in
2691one way or another. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware and ensures that you
2692continue event-processing in both parent and child (or both, if you know
2693what you are doing).
2694
2695This means that, in general, you cannot fork and do event processing in
2696the child if the event library was initialised before the fork (which
2697usually happens when the first AnyEvent watcher is created, or the library
2698is loaded).
1737 2699
1738If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first 2700If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first
1739watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child. 2701watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child OR you must do
2702something completely out of the scope of AnyEvent.
2703
2704The problem of doing event processing in the parent I<and> the child
2705is much more complicated: even for backends that I<are> fork-aware or
2706fork-safe, their behaviour is not usually what you want: fork clones all
2707watchers, that means all timers, I/O watchers etc. are active in both
2708parent and child, which is almost never what you want. USing C<exec>
2709to start worker children from some kind of manage rprocess is usually
2710preferred, because it is much easier and cleaner, at the expense of having
2711to have another binary.
1740 2712
1741 2713
1742=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS 2714=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
1743 2715
1744AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via 2716AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via
1756 use AnyEvent; 2728 use AnyEvent;
1757 2729
1758Similar considerations apply to $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}, as that can 2730Similar considerations apply to $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}, as that can
1759be used to probe what backend is used and gain other information (which is 2731be used to probe what backend is used and gain other information (which is
1760probably even less useful to an attacker than PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), and 2732probably even less useful to an attacker than PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), and
1761$ENV{PERL_ANYEGENT_STRICT}. 2733$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT}.
2734
2735Note that AnyEvent will remove I<all> environment variables starting with
2736C<PERL_ANYEVENT_> from C<%ENV> when it is loaded while taint mode is
2737enabled.
1762 2738
1763 2739
1764=head1 BUGS 2740=head1 BUGS
1765 2741
1766Perl 5.8 has numerous memleaks that sometimes hit this module and are hard 2742Perl 5.8 has numerous memleaks that sometimes hit this module and are hard
1767to work around. If you suffer from memleaks, first upgrade to Perl 5.10 2743to work around. If you suffer from memleaks, first upgrade to Perl 5.10
1768and check wether the leaks still show up. (Perl 5.10.0 has other annoying 2744and check wether the leaks still show up. (Perl 5.10.0 has other annoying
1769mamleaks, such as leaking on C<map> and C<grep> but it is usually not as 2745memleaks, such as leaking on C<map> and C<grep> but it is usually not as
1770pronounced). 2746pronounced).
1771 2747
1772 2748
1773=head1 SEE ALSO 2749=head1 SEE ALSO
1774 2750
2751Tutorial/Introduction: L<AnyEvent::Intro>.
2752
2753FAQ: L<AnyEvent::FAQ>.
2754
1775Utility functions: L<AnyEvent::Util>. 2755Utility functions: L<AnyEvent::Util>.
1776 2756
1777Event modules: L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>, L<Glib::EV>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>, 2757Event modules: L<AnyEvent::Loop>, L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>, L<Glib::EV>,
1778L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>. 2758L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>, L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>.
1779 2759
1780Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>, 2760Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>,
1781L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, 2761L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>,
1782L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>, 2762L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>,
1783L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>. 2763L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync>, L<Anyevent::Impl::Irssi>.
1784 2764
1785Non-blocking file handles, sockets, TCP clients and 2765Non-blocking file handles, sockets, TCP clients and
1786servers: L<AnyEvent::Handle>, L<AnyEvent::Socket>. 2766servers: L<AnyEvent::Handle>, L<AnyEvent::Socket>, L<AnyEvent::TLS>.
1787 2767
1788Asynchronous DNS: L<AnyEvent::DNS>. 2768Asynchronous DNS: L<AnyEvent::DNS>.
1789 2769
1790Coroutine support: L<Coro>, L<Coro::AnyEvent>, L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>, 2770Thread support: L<Coro>, L<Coro::AnyEvent>, L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>.
1791 2771
1792Nontrivial usage examples: L<Net::FCP>, L<Net::XMPP2>, L<AnyEvent::DNS>. 2772Nontrivial usage examples: L<AnyEvent::GPSD>, L<AnyEvent::IRC>,
2773L<AnyEvent::HTTP>.
1793 2774
1794 2775
1795=head1 AUTHOR 2776=head1 AUTHOR
1796 2777
1797 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 2778 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>

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