ViewVC Help
View File | Revision Log | Show Annotations | Download File
/cvs/AnyEvent/lib/AnyEvent.pm
(Generate patch)

Comparing AnyEvent/lib/AnyEvent.pm (file contents):
Revision 1.94 by root, Sat Apr 26 04:33:51 2008 UTC vs.
Revision 1.247 by root, Sat Jul 18 22:24:17 2009 UTC

1=head1 NAME 1=head1 NAME
2 2
3AnyEvent - provide framework for multiple event loops 3AnyEvent - provide framework for multiple event loops
4 4
5EV, Event, Coro::EV, Coro::Event, Glib, Tk, Perl, Event::Lib, Qt, POE - various supported event loops 5EV, Event, Glib, Tk, Perl, Event::Lib, Qt and POE are various supported
6event loops.
6 7
7=head1 SYNOPSIS 8=head1 SYNOPSIS
8 9
9 use AnyEvent; 10 use AnyEvent;
10 11
12 # file descriptor readable
11 my $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh, poll => "r|w", cb => sub { 13 my $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh, poll => "r", cb => sub { ... });
14
15 # one-shot or repeating timers
16 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, cb => sub { ... });
17 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, interval => $seconds, cb => ...
18
19 print AnyEvent->now; # prints current event loop time
20 print AnyEvent->time; # think Time::HiRes::time or simply CORE::time.
21
22 # POSIX signal
23 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "TERM", cb => sub { ... });
24
25 # child process exit
26 my $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => $pid, cb => sub {
27 my ($pid, $status) = @_;
12 ... 28 ...
13 }); 29 });
14 30
15 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, cb => sub { 31 # called when event loop idle (if applicable)
16 ... 32 my $w = AnyEvent->idle (cb => sub { ... });
17 });
18 33
19 my $w = AnyEvent->condvar; # stores whether a condition was flagged 34 my $w = AnyEvent->condvar; # stores whether a condition was flagged
35 $w->send; # wake up current and all future recv's
20 $w->wait; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->broadcast 36 $w->recv; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->send
21 $w->broadcast; # wake up current and all future wait's 37 # use a condvar in callback mode:
38 $w->cb (sub { $_[0]->recv });
39
40=head1 INTRODUCTION/TUTORIAL
41
42This manpage is mainly a reference manual. If you are interested
43in a tutorial or some gentle introduction, have a look at the
44L<AnyEvent::Intro> manpage.
22 45
23=head1 WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS MODULE (OR NOT) 46=head1 WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS MODULE (OR NOT)
24 47
25Glib, POE, IO::Async, Event... CPAN offers event models by the dozen 48Glib, POE, IO::Async, Event... CPAN offers event models by the dozen
26nowadays. So what is different about AnyEvent? 49nowadays. So what is different about AnyEvent?
27 50
28Executive Summary: AnyEvent is I<compatible>, AnyEvent is I<free of 51Executive Summary: AnyEvent is I<compatible>, AnyEvent is I<free of
29policy> and AnyEvent is I<small and efficient>. 52policy> and AnyEvent is I<small and efficient>.
30 53
31First and foremost, I<AnyEvent is not an event model> itself, it only 54First and foremost, I<AnyEvent is not an event model> itself, it only
32interfaces to whatever event model the main program happens to use in a 55interfaces to whatever event model the main program happens to use, in a
33pragmatic way. For event models and certain classes of immortals alike, 56pragmatic way. For event models and certain classes of immortals alike,
34the statement "there can only be one" is a bitter reality: In general, 57the statement "there can only be one" is a bitter reality: In general,
35only one event loop can be active at the same time in a process. AnyEvent 58only one event loop can be active at the same time in a process. AnyEvent
36helps hiding the differences between those event loops. 59cannot change this, but it can hide the differences between those event
60loops.
37 61
38The goal of AnyEvent is to offer module authors the ability to do event 62The goal of AnyEvent is to offer module authors the ability to do event
39programming (waiting for I/O or timer events) without subscribing to a 63programming (waiting for I/O or timer events) without subscribing to a
40religion, a way of living, and most importantly: without forcing your 64religion, a way of living, and most importantly: without forcing your
41module users into the same thing by forcing them to use the same event 65module users into the same thing by forcing them to use the same event
42model you use. 66model you use.
43 67
44For modules like POE or IO::Async (which is a total misnomer as it is 68For modules like POE or IO::Async (which is a total misnomer as it is
45actually doing all I/O I<synchronously>...), using them in your module is 69actually doing all I/O I<synchronously>...), using them in your module is
46like joining a cult: After you joined, you are dependent on them and you 70like joining a cult: After you joined, you are dependent on them and you
47cannot use anything else, as it is simply incompatible to everything that 71cannot use anything else, as they are simply incompatible to everything
48isn't itself. What's worse, all the potential users of your module are 72that isn't them. What's worse, all the potential users of your
49I<also> forced to use the same event loop you use. 73module are I<also> forced to use the same event loop you use.
50 74
51AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works 75AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works
52fine. AnyEvent + Tk works fine etc. etc. but none of these work together 76fine. AnyEvent + Tk works fine etc. etc. but none of these work together
53with the rest: POE + IO::Async? no go. Tk + Event? no go. Again: if 77with the rest: POE + IO::Async? No go. Tk + Event? No go. Again: if
54your module uses one of those, every user of your module has to use it, 78your module uses one of those, every user of your module has to use it,
55too. But if your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all 79too. But if your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all
56event models it supports (including stuff like POE and IO::Async, as long 80event models it supports (including stuff like IO::Async, as long as those
57as those use one of the supported event loops. It is trivial to add new 81use one of the supported event loops. It is trivial to add new event loops
58event loops to AnyEvent, too, so it is future-proof). 82to AnyEvent, too, so it is future-proof).
59 83
60In addition to being free of having to use I<the one and only true event 84In addition to being free of having to use I<the one and only true event
61model>, AnyEvent also is free of bloat and policy: with POE or similar 85model>, AnyEvent also is free of bloat and policy: with POE or similar
62modules, you get an enourmous amount of code and strict rules you have to 86modules, you get an enormous amount of code and strict rules you have to
63follow. AnyEvent, on the other hand, is lean and up to the point, by only 87follow. AnyEvent, on the other hand, is lean and up to the point, by only
64offering the functionality that is necessary, in as thin as a wrapper as 88offering the functionality that is necessary, in as thin as a wrapper as
65technically possible. 89technically possible.
66 90
91Of course, AnyEvent comes with a big (and fully optional!) toolbox
92of useful functionality, such as an asynchronous DNS resolver, 100%
93non-blocking connects (even with TLS/SSL, IPv6 and on broken platforms
94such as Windows) and lots of real-world knowledge and workarounds for
95platform bugs and differences.
96
67Of course, if you want lots of policy (this can arguably be somewhat 97Now, if you I<do want> lots of policy (this can arguably be somewhat
68useful) and you want to force your users to use the one and only event 98useful) and you want to force your users to use the one and only event
69model, you should I<not> use this module. 99model, you should I<not> use this module.
70
71 100
72=head1 DESCRIPTION 101=head1 DESCRIPTION
73 102
74L<AnyEvent> provides an identical interface to multiple event loops. This 103L<AnyEvent> provides an identical interface to multiple event loops. This
75allows module authors to utilise an event loop without forcing module 104allows module authors to utilise an event loop without forcing module
79The interface itself is vaguely similar, but not identical to the L<Event> 108The interface itself is vaguely similar, but not identical to the L<Event>
80module. 109module.
81 110
82During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries 111During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries
83to detect the currently loaded event loop by probing whether one of the 112to detect the currently loaded event loop by probing whether one of the
84following modules is already loaded: L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>, L<EV>, 113following modules is already loaded: L<EV>,
85L<Event>, L<Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, 114L<Event>, L<Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>,
86L<POE>. The first one found is used. If none are found, the module tries 115L<POE>. The first one found is used. If none are found, the module tries
87to load these modules (excluding Tk, Event::Lib, Qt and POE as the pure perl 116to load these modules (excluding Tk, Event::Lib, Qt and POE as the pure perl
88adaptor should always succeed) in the order given. The first one that can 117adaptor should always succeed) in the order given. The first one that can
89be successfully loaded will be used. If, after this, still none could be 118be successfully loaded will be used. If, after this, still none could be
103starts using it, all bets are off. Maybe you should tell their authors to 132starts using it, all bets are off. Maybe you should tell their authors to
104use AnyEvent so their modules work together with others seamlessly... 133use AnyEvent so their modules work together with others seamlessly...
105 134
106The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called 135The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called
107C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>. Like other event modules you can load it 136C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>. Like other event modules you can load it
108explicitly. 137explicitly and enjoy the high availability of that event loop :)
109 138
110=head1 WATCHERS 139=head1 WATCHERS
111 140
112AnyEvent has the central concept of a I<watcher>, which is an object that 141AnyEvent has the central concept of a I<watcher>, which is an object that
113stores relevant data for each kind of event you are waiting for, such as 142stores relevant data for each kind of event you are waiting for, such as
114the callback to call, the filehandle to watch, etc. 143the callback to call, the file handle to watch, etc.
115 144
116These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After 145These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After
117creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the 146creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the
118callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model 147callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model
119is in control). 148is in control).
120 149
150Note that B<callbacks must not permanently change global variables>
151potentially in use by the event loop (such as C<$_> or C<$[>) and that B<<
152callbacks must not C<die> >>. The former is good programming practise in
153Perl and the latter stems from the fact that exception handling differs
154widely between event loops.
155
121To disable the watcher you have to destroy it (e.g. by setting the 156To disable the watcher you have to destroy it (e.g. by setting the
122variable you store it in to C<undef> or otherwise deleting all references 157variable you store it in to C<undef> or otherwise deleting all references
123to it). 158to it).
124 159
125All watchers are created by calling a method on the C<AnyEvent> class. 160All watchers are created by calling a method on the C<AnyEvent> class.
127Many watchers either are used with "recursion" (repeating timers for 162Many watchers either are used with "recursion" (repeating timers for
128example), or need to refer to their watcher object in other ways. 163example), or need to refer to their watcher object in other ways.
129 164
130An any way to achieve that is this pattern: 165An any way to achieve that is this pattern:
131 166
132 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->type (arg => value ..., cb => sub { 167 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->type (arg => value ..., cb => sub {
133 # you can use $w here, for example to undef it 168 # you can use $w here, for example to undef it
134 undef $w; 169 undef $w;
135 }); 170 });
136 171
137Note that C<my $w; $w => combination. This is necessary because in Perl, 172Note that C<my $w; $w => combination. This is necessary because in Perl,
138my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are 173my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are
139declared. 174declared.
140 175
141=head2 I/O WATCHERS 176=head2 I/O WATCHERS
142 177
143You can create an I/O watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->io >> method 178You can create an I/O watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->io >> method
144with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments: 179with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments:
145 180
146C<fh> the Perl I<file handle> (I<not> file descriptor) to watch 181C<fh> is the Perl I<file handle> (or a naked file descriptor) to watch
182for events (AnyEvent might or might not keep a reference to this file
183handle). Note that only file handles pointing to things for which
184non-blocking operation makes sense are allowed. This includes sockets,
185most character devices, pipes, fifos and so on, but not for example files
186or block devices.
187
147for events. C<poll> must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>, 188C<poll> must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>, which creates a
148which creates a watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, 189watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, respectively.
190
149respectively. C<cb> is the callback to invoke each time the file handle 191C<cb> is the callback to invoke each time the file handle becomes ready.
150becomes ready.
151 192
152Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 193Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
153presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 194presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
154callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks. 195callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks.
155 196
159 200
160Some event loops issue spurious readyness notifications, so you should 201Some event loops issue spurious readyness notifications, so you should
161always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file 202always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file
162handles. 203handles.
163 204
164Example:
165
166 # wait for readability of STDIN, then read a line and disable the watcher 205Example: wait for readability of STDIN, then read a line and disable the
206watcher.
207
167 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub { 208 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub {
168 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); 209 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>);
169 warn "read: $input\n"; 210 warn "read: $input\n";
170 undef $w; 211 undef $w;
171 }); 212 });
181 222
182Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 223Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
183presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 224presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
184callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks. 225callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks.
185 226
186The timer callback will be invoked at most once: if you want a repeating 227The callback will normally be invoked once only. If you specify another
187timer you have to create a new watcher (this is a limitation by both Tk 228parameter, C<interval>, as a strictly positive number (> 0), then the
188and Glib). 229callback will be invoked regularly at that interval (in fractional
230seconds) after the first invocation. If C<interval> is specified with a
231false value, then it is treated as if it were missing.
189 232
190Example: 233The callback will be rescheduled before invoking the callback, but no
234attempt is done to avoid timer drift in most backends, so the interval is
235only approximate.
191 236
192 # fire an event after 7.7 seconds 237Example: fire an event after 7.7 seconds.
238
193 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub { 239 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub {
194 warn "timeout\n"; 240 warn "timeout\n";
195 }); 241 });
196 242
197 # to cancel the timer: 243 # to cancel the timer:
198 undef $w; 244 undef $w;
199 245
200Example 2:
201
202 # fire an event after 0.5 seconds, then roughly every second 246Example 2: fire an event after 0.5 seconds, then roughly every second.
203 my $w;
204 247
205 my $cb = sub {
206 # cancel the old timer while creating a new one
207 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => $cb); 248 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.5, interval => 1, cb => sub {
249 warn "timeout\n";
208 }; 250 };
209
210 # start the "loop" by creating the first watcher
211 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.5, cb => $cb);
212 251
213=head3 TIMING ISSUES 252=head3 TIMING ISSUES
214 253
215There are two ways to handle timers: based on real time (relative, "fire 254There are two ways to handle timers: based on real time (relative, "fire
216in 10 seconds") and based on wallclock time (absolute, "fire at 12 255in 10 seconds") and based on wallclock time (absolute, "fire at 12
228timers. 267timers.
229 268
230AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the 269AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the
231AnyEvent API. 270AnyEvent API.
232 271
272AnyEvent has two additional methods that return the "current time":
273
274=over 4
275
276=item AnyEvent->time
277
278This returns the "current wallclock time" as a fractional number of
279seconds since the Epoch (the same thing as C<time> or C<Time::HiRes::time>
280return, and the result is guaranteed to be compatible with those).
281
282It progresses independently of any event loop processing, i.e. each call
283will check the system clock, which usually gets updated frequently.
284
285=item AnyEvent->now
286
287This also returns the "current wallclock time", but unlike C<time>, above,
288this value might change only once per event loop iteration, depending on
289the event loop (most return the same time as C<time>, above). This is the
290time that AnyEvent's timers get scheduled against.
291
292I<In almost all cases (in all cases if you don't care), this is the
293function to call when you want to know the current time.>
294
295This function is also often faster then C<< AnyEvent->time >>, and
296thus the preferred method if you want some timestamp (for example,
297L<AnyEvent::Handle> uses this to update it's activity timeouts).
298
299The rest of this section is only of relevance if you try to be very exact
300with your timing, you can skip it without bad conscience.
301
302For a practical example of when these times differ, consider L<Event::Lib>
303and L<EV> and the following set-up:
304
305The event loop is running and has just invoked one of your callback at
306time=500 (assume no other callbacks delay processing). In your callback,
307you wait a second by executing C<sleep 1> (blocking the process for a
308second) and then (at time=501) you create a relative timer that fires
309after three seconds.
310
311With L<Event::Lib>, C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> will
312both return C<501>, because that is the current time, and the timer will
313be scheduled to fire at time=504 (C<501> + C<3>).
314
315With L<EV>, C<< AnyEvent->time >> returns C<501> (as that is the current
316time), but C<< AnyEvent->now >> returns C<500>, as that is the time the
317last event processing phase started. With L<EV>, your timer gets scheduled
318to run at time=503 (C<500> + C<3>).
319
320In one sense, L<Event::Lib> is more exact, as it uses the current time
321regardless of any delays introduced by event processing. However, most
322callbacks do not expect large delays in processing, so this causes a
323higher drift (and a lot more system calls to get the current time).
324
325In another sense, L<EV> is more exact, as your timer will be scheduled at
326the same time, regardless of how long event processing actually took.
327
328In either case, if you care (and in most cases, you don't), then you
329can get whatever behaviour you want with any event loop, by taking the
330difference between C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> into
331account.
332
333=item AnyEvent->now_update
334
335Some event loops (such as L<EV> or L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) cache
336the current time for each loop iteration (see the discussion of L<<
337AnyEvent->now >>, above).
338
339When a callback runs for a long time (or when the process sleeps), then
340this "current" time will differ substantially from the real time, which
341might affect timers and time-outs.
342
343When this is the case, you can call this method, which will update the
344event loop's idea of "current time".
345
346Note that updating the time I<might> cause some events to be handled.
347
348=back
349
233=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS 350=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS
234 351
235You can watch for signals using a signal watcher, C<signal> is the signal 352You can watch for signals using a signal watcher, C<signal> is the signal
236I<name> without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl callback to 353I<name> in uppercase and without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl
237be invoked whenever a signal occurs. 354callback to be invoked whenever a signal occurs.
238 355
239Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 356Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
240presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 357presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
241callbacks cannot use arguments passed to signal watcher callbacks. 358callbacks cannot use arguments passed to signal watcher callbacks.
242 359
243Multiple signal occurances can be clumped together into one callback 360Multiple signal occurrences can be clumped together into one callback
244invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. synchronous means 361invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. Synchronous means
245that it might take a while until the signal gets handled by the process, 362that it might take a while until the signal gets handled by the process,
246but it is guarenteed not to interrupt any other callbacks. 363but it is guaranteed not to interrupt any other callbacks.
247 364
248The main advantage of using these watchers is that you can share a signal 365The main advantage of using these watchers is that you can share a signal
249between multiple watchers. 366between multiple watchers, and AnyEvent will ensure that signals will not
367interrupt your program at bad times.
250 368
251This watcher might use C<%SIG>, so programs overwriting those signals 369This watcher might use C<%SIG> (depending on the event loop used),
252directly will likely not work correctly. 370so programs overwriting those signals directly will likely not work
371correctly.
253 372
254Example: exit on SIGINT 373Example: exit on SIGINT
255 374
256 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 }); 375 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 });
257 376
377=head3 Signal Races, Delays and Workarounds
378
379Many event loops (e.g. Glib, Tk, Qt, IO::Async) do not support attaching
380callbacks to signals in a generic way, which is a pity, as you cannot do
381race-free signal handling in perl. AnyEvent will try to do it's best, but
382in some cases, signals will be delayed. The maximum time a signal might
383be delayed is specified in C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY> (default: 10
384seconds). This variable can be changed only before the first signal
385watcher is created, and should be left alone otherwise. Higher values
386will cause fewer spurious wake-ups, which is better for power and CPU
387saving. All these problems can be avoided by installing the optional
388L<Async::Interrupt> module. This will not work with inherently broken
389event loops such as L<Event> or L<Event::Lib> (and not with L<POE>
390currently, as POE does it's own workaround with one-second latency). With
391those, you just have to suffer the delays.
392
258=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS 393=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS
259 394
260You can also watch on a child process exit and catch its exit status. 395You can also watch on a child process exit and catch its exit status.
261 396
262The child process is specified by the C<pid> argument (if set to C<0>, it 397The child process is specified by the C<pid> argument (if set to C<0>, it
263watches for any child process exit). The watcher will trigger as often 398watches for any child process exit). The watcher will triggered only when
264as status change for the child are received. This works by installing a 399the child process has finished and an exit status is available, not on
265signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>. The callback will be called with the pid 400any trace events (stopped/continued).
266and exit status (as returned by waitpid), so unlike other watcher types, 401
267you I<can> rely on child watcher callback arguments. 402The callback will be called with the pid and exit status (as returned by
403waitpid), so unlike other watcher types, you I<can> rely on child watcher
404callback arguments.
405
406This watcher type works by installing a signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>,
407and since it cannot be shared, nothing else should use SIGCHLD or reap
408random child processes (waiting for specific child processes, e.g. inside
409C<system>, is just fine).
268 410
269There is a slight catch to child watchers, however: you usually start them 411There is a slight catch to child watchers, however: you usually start them
270I<after> the child process was created, and this means the process could 412I<after> the child process was created, and this means the process could
271have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore). 413have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore).
272 414
273Not all event models handle this correctly (POE doesn't), but even for 415Not all event models handle this correctly (neither POE nor IO::Async do,
416see their AnyEvent::Impl manpages for details), but even for event models
274event models that I<do> handle this correctly, they usually need to be 417that I<do> handle this correctly, they usually need to be loaded before
275loaded before the process exits (i.e. before you fork in the first place). 418the process exits (i.e. before you fork in the first place). AnyEvent's
419pure perl event loop handles all cases correctly regardless of when you
420start the watcher.
276 421
277This means you cannot create a child watcher as the very first thing in an 422This means you cannot create a child watcher as the very first
278AnyEvent program, you I<have> to create at least one watcher before you 423thing in an AnyEvent program, you I<have> to create at least one
279C<fork> the child (alternatively, you can call C<AnyEvent::detect>). 424watcher before you C<fork> the child (alternatively, you can call
425C<AnyEvent::detect>).
426
427As most event loops do not support waiting for child events, they will be
428emulated by AnyEvent in most cases, in which the latency and race problems
429mentioned in the description of signal watchers apply.
280 430
281Example: fork a process and wait for it 431Example: fork a process and wait for it
282 432
283 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar; 433 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
284 434
285 AnyEvent::detect; # force event module to be initialised
286
287 my $pid = fork or exit 5; 435 my $pid = fork or exit 5;
288 436
289 my $w = AnyEvent->child ( 437 my $w = AnyEvent->child (
290 pid => $pid, 438 pid => $pid,
291 cb => sub { 439 cb => sub {
292 my ($pid, $status) = @_; 440 my ($pid, $status) = @_;
293 warn "pid $pid exited with status $status"; 441 warn "pid $pid exited with status $status";
294 $done->broadcast; 442 $done->send;
295 }, 443 },
296 ); 444 );
297 445
298 # do something else, then wait for process exit 446 # do something else, then wait for process exit
299 $done->wait; 447 $done->recv;
448
449=head2 IDLE WATCHERS
450
451Sometimes there is a need to do something, but it is not so important
452to do it instantly, but only when there is nothing better to do. This
453"nothing better to do" is usually defined to be "no other events need
454attention by the event loop".
455
456Idle watchers ideally get invoked when the event loop has nothing
457better to do, just before it would block the process to wait for new
458events. Instead of blocking, the idle watcher is invoked.
459
460Most event loops unfortunately do not really support idle watchers (only
461EV, Event and Glib do it in a usable fashion) - for the rest, AnyEvent
462will simply call the callback "from time to time".
463
464Example: read lines from STDIN, but only process them when the
465program is otherwise idle:
466
467 my @lines; # read data
468 my $idle_w;
469 my $io_w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub {
470 push @lines, scalar <STDIN>;
471
472 # start an idle watcher, if not already done
473 $idle_w ||= AnyEvent->idle (cb => sub {
474 # handle only one line, when there are lines left
475 if (my $line = shift @lines) {
476 print "handled when idle: $line";
477 } else {
478 # otherwise disable the idle watcher again
479 undef $idle_w;
480 }
481 });
482 });
300 483
301=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES 484=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES
302 485
486If you are familiar with some event loops you will know that all of them
487require you to run some blocking "loop", "run" or similar function that
488will actively watch for new events and call your callbacks.
489
490AnyEvent is slightly different: it expects somebody else to run the event
491loop and will only block when necessary (usually when told by the user).
492
493The instrument to do that is called a "condition variable", so called
494because they represent a condition that must become true.
495
496Now is probably a good time to look at the examples further below.
497
303Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar >> 498Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar
304method without any arguments. 499>> method, usually without arguments. The only argument pair allowed is
500C<cb>, which specifies a callback to be called when the condition variable
501becomes true, with the condition variable as the first argument (but not
502the results).
305 503
306A condition variable waits for a condition - precisely that the C<< 504After creation, the condition variable is "false" until it becomes "true"
307->broadcast >> method has been called. 505by calling the C<send> method (or calling the condition variable as if it
506were a callback, read about the caveats in the description for the C<<
507->send >> method).
308 508
309They are very useful to signal that a condition has been fulfilled, for 509Condition variables are similar to callbacks, except that you can
510optionally wait for them. They can also be called merge points - points
511in time where multiple outstanding events have been processed. And yet
512another way to call them is transactions - each condition variable can be
513used to represent a transaction, which finishes at some point and delivers
514a result.
515
516Condition variables are very useful to signal that something has finished,
310example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests, 517for example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests,
311then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the 518then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the
312availability of results. 519availability of results. The user can either act when the callback is
520called or can synchronously C<< ->recv >> for the results.
313 521
314You can also use condition variables to block your main program until 522You can also use them to simulate traditional event loops - for example,
315an event occurs - for example, you could C<< ->wait >> in your main 523you can block your main program until an event occurs - for example, you
316program until the user clicks the Quit button in your app, which would C<< 524could C<< ->recv >> in your main program until the user clicks the Quit
317->broadcast >> the "quit" event. 525button of your app, which would C<< ->send >> the "quit" event.
318 526
319Note that condition variables recurse into the event loop - if you have 527Note that condition variables recurse into the event loop - if you have
320two pirces of code that call C<< ->wait >> in a round-robbin fashion, you 528two pieces of code that call C<< ->recv >> in a round-robin fashion, you
321lose. Therefore, condition variables are good to export to your caller, but 529lose. Therefore, condition variables are good to export to your caller, but
322you should avoid making a blocking wait yourself, at least in callbacks, 530you should avoid making a blocking wait yourself, at least in callbacks,
323as this asks for trouble. 531as this asks for trouble.
324 532
325This object has two methods: 533Condition variables are represented by hash refs in perl, and the keys
534used by AnyEvent itself are all named C<_ae_XXX> to make subclassing
535easy (it is often useful to build your own transaction class on top of
536AnyEvent). To subclass, use C<AnyEvent::CondVar> as base class and call
537it's C<new> method in your own C<new> method.
326 538
327=over 4 539There are two "sides" to a condition variable - the "producer side" which
540eventually calls C<< -> send >>, and the "consumer side", which waits
541for the send to occur.
328 542
329=item $cv->wait 543Example: wait for a timer.
330
331Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->broadcast >> method has been
332called on c<$cv>, while servicing other watchers normally.
333
334You can only wait once on a condition - additional calls will return
335immediately.
336
337Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case
338(programs might want to do that to stay interactive), so I<if you are
339using this from a module, never require a blocking wait>, but let the
340caller decide whether the call will block or not (for example, by coupling
341condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting
342callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block,
343while still suppporting blocking waits if the caller so desires).
344
345Another reason I<never> to C<< ->wait >> in a module is that you cannot
346sensibly have two C<< ->wait >>'s in parallel, as that would require
347multiple interpreters or coroutines/threads, none of which C<AnyEvent>
348can supply (the coroutine-aware backends L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV> and
349L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent> explicitly support concurrent C<< ->wait >>'s
350from different coroutines, however).
351
352=item $cv->broadcast
353
354Flag the condition as ready - a running C<< ->wait >> and all further
355calls to C<wait> will (eventually) return after this method has been
356called. If nobody is waiting the broadcast will be remembered..
357
358=back
359
360Example:
361 544
362 # wait till the result is ready 545 # wait till the result is ready
363 my $result_ready = AnyEvent->condvar; 546 my $result_ready = AnyEvent->condvar;
364 547
365 # do something such as adding a timer 548 # do something such as adding a timer
366 # or socket watcher the calls $result_ready->broadcast 549 # or socket watcher the calls $result_ready->send
367 # when the "result" is ready. 550 # when the "result" is ready.
368 # in this case, we simply use a timer: 551 # in this case, we simply use a timer:
369 my $w = AnyEvent->timer ( 552 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (
370 after => 1, 553 after => 1,
371 cb => sub { $result_ready->broadcast }, 554 cb => sub { $result_ready->send },
372 ); 555 );
373 556
374 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the watcher 557 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the callback
375 # calls broadcast 558 # calls -<send
376 $result_ready->wait; 559 $result_ready->recv;
560
561Example: wait for a timer, but take advantage of the fact that condition
562variables are also callable directly.
563
564 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
565 my $delay = AnyEvent->timer (after => 5, cb => $done);
566 $done->recv;
567
568Example: Imagine an API that returns a condvar and doesn't support
569callbacks. This is how you make a synchronous call, for example from
570the main program:
571
572 use AnyEvent::CouchDB;
573
574 ...
575
576 my @info = $couchdb->info->recv;
577
578And this is how you would just set a callback to be called whenever the
579results are available:
580
581 $couchdb->info->cb (sub {
582 my @info = $_[0]->recv;
583 });
584
585=head3 METHODS FOR PRODUCERS
586
587These methods should only be used by the producing side, i.e. the
588code/module that eventually sends the signal. Note that it is also
589the producer side which creates the condvar in most cases, but it isn't
590uncommon for the consumer to create it as well.
591
592=over 4
593
594=item $cv->send (...)
595
596Flag the condition as ready - a running C<< ->recv >> and all further
597calls to C<recv> will (eventually) return after this method has been
598called. If nobody is waiting the send will be remembered.
599
600If a callback has been set on the condition variable, it is called
601immediately from within send.
602
603Any arguments passed to the C<send> call will be returned by all
604future C<< ->recv >> calls.
605
606Condition variables are overloaded so one can call them directly (as if
607they were a code reference). Calling them directly is the same as calling
608C<send>.
609
610=item $cv->croak ($error)
611
612Similar to send, but causes all call's to C<< ->recv >> to invoke
613C<Carp::croak> with the given error message/object/scalar.
614
615This can be used to signal any errors to the condition variable
616user/consumer. Doing it this way instead of calling C<croak> directly
617delays the error detetcion, but has the overwhelmign advantage that it
618diagnoses the error at the place where the result is expected, and not
619deep in some event clalback without connection to the actual code causing
620the problem.
621
622=item $cv->begin ([group callback])
623
624=item $cv->end
625
626These two methods can be used to combine many transactions/events into
627one. For example, a function that pings many hosts in parallel might want
628to use a condition variable for the whole process.
629
630Every call to C<< ->begin >> will increment a counter, and every call to
631C<< ->end >> will decrement it. If the counter reaches C<0> in C<< ->end
632>>, the (last) callback passed to C<begin> will be executed. That callback
633is I<supposed> to call C<< ->send >>, but that is not required. If no
634callback was set, C<send> will be called without any arguments.
635
636You can think of C<< $cv->send >> giving you an OR condition (one call
637sends), while C<< $cv->begin >> and C<< $cv->end >> giving you an AND
638condition (all C<begin> calls must be C<end>'ed before the condvar sends).
639
640Let's start with a simple example: you have two I/O watchers (for example,
641STDOUT and STDERR for a program), and you want to wait for both streams to
642close before activating a condvar:
643
644 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
645
646 $cv->begin; # first watcher
647 my $w1 = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh1, cb => sub {
648 defined sysread $fh1, my $buf, 4096
649 or $cv->end;
650 });
651
652 $cv->begin; # second watcher
653 my $w2 = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh2, cb => sub {
654 defined sysread $fh2, my $buf, 4096
655 or $cv->end;
656 });
657
658 $cv->recv;
659
660This works because for every event source (EOF on file handle), there is
661one call to C<begin>, so the condvar waits for all calls to C<end> before
662sending.
663
664The ping example mentioned above is slightly more complicated, as the
665there are results to be passwd back, and the number of tasks that are
666begung can potentially be zero:
667
668 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
669
670 my %result;
671 $cv->begin (sub { $cv->send (\%result) });
672
673 for my $host (@list_of_hosts) {
674 $cv->begin;
675 ping_host_then_call_callback $host, sub {
676 $result{$host} = ...;
677 $cv->end;
678 };
679 }
680
681 $cv->end;
682
683This code fragment supposedly pings a number of hosts and calls
684C<send> after results for all then have have been gathered - in any
685order. To achieve this, the code issues a call to C<begin> when it starts
686each ping request and calls C<end> when it has received some result for
687it. Since C<begin> and C<end> only maintain a counter, the order in which
688results arrive is not relevant.
689
690There is an additional bracketing call to C<begin> and C<end> outside the
691loop, which serves two important purposes: first, it sets the callback
692to be called once the counter reaches C<0>, and second, it ensures that
693C<send> is called even when C<no> hosts are being pinged (the loop
694doesn't execute once).
695
696This is the general pattern when you "fan out" into multiple (but
697potentially none) subrequests: use an outer C<begin>/C<end> pair to set
698the callback and ensure C<end> is called at least once, and then, for each
699subrequest you start, call C<begin> and for each subrequest you finish,
700call C<end>.
701
702=back
703
704=head3 METHODS FOR CONSUMERS
705
706These methods should only be used by the consuming side, i.e. the
707code awaits the condition.
708
709=over 4
710
711=item $cv->recv
712
713Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->send >> or C<< ->croak
714>> methods have been called on c<$cv>, while servicing other watchers
715normally.
716
717You can only wait once on a condition - additional calls are valid but
718will return immediately.
719
720If an error condition has been set by calling C<< ->croak >>, then this
721function will call C<croak>.
722
723In list context, all parameters passed to C<send> will be returned,
724in scalar context only the first one will be returned.
725
726Note that doing a blocking wait in a callback is not supported by any
727event loop, that is, recursive invocation of a blocking C<< ->recv
728>> is not allowed, and the C<recv> call will C<croak> if such a
729condition is detected. This condition can be slightly loosened by using
730L<Coro::AnyEvent>, which allows you to do a blocking C<< ->recv >> from
731any thread that doesn't run the event loop itself.
732
733Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case
734(programs might want to do that to stay interactive), so I<if you are
735using this from a module, never require a blocking wait>. Instead, let the
736caller decide whether the call will block or not (for example, by coupling
737condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting
738callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block,
739while still supporting blocking waits if the caller so desires).
740
741You can ensure that C<< -recv >> never blocks by setting a callback and
742only calling C<< ->recv >> from within that callback (or at a later
743time). This will work even when the event loop does not support blocking
744waits otherwise.
745
746=item $bool = $cv->ready
747
748Returns true when the condition is "true", i.e. whether C<send> or
749C<croak> have been called.
750
751=item $cb = $cv->cb ($cb->($cv))
752
753This is a mutator function that returns the callback set and optionally
754replaces it before doing so.
755
756The callback will be called when the condition becomes "true", i.e. when
757C<send> or C<croak> are called, with the only argument being the condition
758variable itself. Calling C<recv> inside the callback or at any later time
759is guaranteed not to block.
760
761=back
762
763=head1 SUPPORTED EVENT LOOPS/BACKENDS
764
765The available backend classes are (every class has its own manpage):
766
767=over 4
768
769=item Backends that are autoprobed when no other event loop can be found.
770
771EV is the preferred backend when no other event loop seems to be in
772use. If EV is not installed, then AnyEvent will try Event, and, failing
773that, will fall back to its own pure-perl implementation, which is
774available everywhere as it comes with AnyEvent itself.
775
776 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (interface to libev, best choice).
777 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, very stable, few glitches.
778 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl implementation, fast and portable.
779
780=item Backends that are transparently being picked up when they are used.
781
782These will be used when they are currently loaded when the first watcher
783is created, in which case it is assumed that the application is using
784them. This means that AnyEvent will automatically pick the right backend
785when the main program loads an event module before anything starts to
786create watchers. Nothing special needs to be done by the main program.
787
788 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, slow but very stable.
789 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very broken.
790 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
791 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, very slow, some limitations.
792
793=item Backends with special needs.
794
795Qt requires the Qt::Application to be instantiated first, but will
796otherwise be picked up automatically. As long as the main program
797instantiates the application before any AnyEvent watchers are created,
798everything should just work.
799
800 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt.
801
802Support for IO::Async can only be partial, as it is too broken and
803architecturally limited to even support the AnyEvent API. It also
804is the only event loop that needs the loop to be set explicitly, so
805it can only be used by a main program knowing about AnyEvent. See
806L<AnyEvent::Impl::Async> for the gory details.
807
808 AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync based on IO::Async, cannot be autoprobed.
809
810=item Event loops that are indirectly supported via other backends.
811
812Some event loops can be supported via other modules:
813
814There is no direct support for WxWidgets (L<Wx>) or L<Prima>.
815
816B<WxWidgets> has no support for watching file handles. However, you can
817use WxWidgets through the POE adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply
818polls 20 times per second, which was considered to be too horrible to even
819consider for AnyEvent.
820
821B<Prima> is not supported as nobody seems to be using it, but it has a POE
822backend, so it can be supported through POE.
823
824AnyEvent knows about both L<Prima> and L<Wx>, however, and will try to
825load L<POE> when detecting them, in the hope that POE will pick them up,
826in which case everything will be automatic.
827
828=back
377 829
378=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS 830=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS
379 831
832These are not normally required to use AnyEvent, but can be useful to
833write AnyEvent extension modules.
834
380=over 4 835=over 4
381 836
382=item $AnyEvent::MODEL 837=item $AnyEvent::MODEL
383 838
384Contains C<undef> until the first watcher is being created. Then it 839Contains C<undef> until the first watcher is being created, before the
840backend has been autodetected.
841
385contains the event model that is being used, which is the name of the 842Afterwards it contains the event model that is being used, which is the
386Perl class implementing the model. This class is usually one of the 843name of the Perl class implementing the model. This class is usually one
387C<AnyEvent::Impl:xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the case 844of the C<AnyEvent::Impl:xxx> modules, but can be any other class in the
388AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode>). 845case AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode> it
389 846will be C<urxvt::anyevent>).
390The known classes so far are:
391
392 AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV based on Coro::EV, best choice.
393 AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent based on Coro::Event, second best choice.
394 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (an interface to libev, best choice).
395 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, second best choice.
396 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, third-best choice.
397 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl implementation, inefficient but portable.
398 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very bad choice.
399 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt, cannot be autoprobed (see its docs).
400 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
401 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, not generic enough for full support.
402
403There is no support for WxWidgets, as WxWidgets has no support for
404watching file handles. However, you can use WxWidgets through the
405POE Adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply polls 20 times per
406second, which was considered to be too horrible to even consider for
407AnyEvent. Likewise, other POE backends can be used by AnyEvent by using
408it's adaptor.
409
410AnyEvent knows about L<Prima> and L<Wx> and will try to use L<POE> when
411autodetecting them.
412 847
413=item AnyEvent::detect 848=item AnyEvent::detect
414 849
415Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model 850Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model
416if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would 851if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would
417have created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, as late as possible at 852have created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, as late as possible at
418runtime. 853runtime, and not e.g. while initialising of your module.
854
855If you need to do some initialisation before AnyEvent watchers are
856created, use C<post_detect>.
857
858=item $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }
859
860Arranges for the code block to be executed as soon as the event model is
861autodetected (or immediately if this has already happened).
862
863The block will be executed I<after> the actual backend has been detected
864(C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> is set), but I<before> any watchers have been
865created, so it is possible to e.g. patch C<@AnyEvent::ISA> or do
866other initialisations - see the sources of L<AnyEvent::Strict> or
867L<AnyEvent::AIO> to see how this is used.
868
869The most common usage is to create some global watchers, without forcing
870event module detection too early, for example, L<AnyEvent::AIO> creates
871and installs the global L<IO::AIO> watcher in a C<post_detect> block to
872avoid autodetecting the event module at load time.
873
874If called in scalar or list context, then it creates and returns an object
875that automatically removes the callback again when it is destroyed. See
876L<Coro::BDB> for a case where this is useful.
877
878=item @AnyEvent::post_detect
879
880If there are any code references in this array (you can C<push> to it
881before or after loading AnyEvent), then they will called directly after
882the event loop has been chosen.
883
884You should check C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> before adding to this array, though:
885if it is defined then the event loop has already been detected, and the
886array will be ignored.
887
888Best use C<AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }> when your application allows
889it,as it takes care of these details.
890
891This variable is mainly useful for modules that can do something useful
892when AnyEvent is used and thus want to know when it is initialised, but do
893not need to even load it by default. This array provides the means to hook
894into AnyEvent passively, without loading it.
419 895
420=back 896=back
421 897
422=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE 898=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE
423 899
427Be careful when you create watchers in the module body - AnyEvent will 903Be careful when you create watchers in the module body - AnyEvent will
428decide which event module to use as soon as the first method is called, so 904decide which event module to use as soon as the first method is called, so
429by calling AnyEvent in your module body you force the user of your module 905by calling AnyEvent in your module body you force the user of your module
430to load the event module first. 906to load the event module first.
431 907
432Never call C<< ->wait >> on a condition variable unless you I<know> that 908Never call C<< ->recv >> on a condition variable unless you I<know> that
433the C<< ->broadcast >> method has been called on it already. This is 909the C<< ->send >> method has been called on it already. This is
434because it will stall the whole program, and the whole point of using 910because it will stall the whole program, and the whole point of using
435events is to stay interactive. 911events is to stay interactive.
436 912
437It is fine, however, to call C<< ->wait >> when the user of your module 913It is fine, however, to call C<< ->recv >> when the user of your module
438requests it (i.e. if you create a http request object ad have a method 914requests it (i.e. if you create a http request object ad have a method
439called C<results> that returns the results, it should call C<< ->wait >> 915called C<results> that returns the results, it should call C<< ->recv >>
440freely, as the user of your module knows what she is doing. always). 916freely, as the user of your module knows what she is doing. always).
441 917
442=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM 918=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM
443 919
444There will always be a single main program - the only place that should 920There will always be a single main program - the only place that should
446 922
447If it doesn't care, it can just "use AnyEvent" and use it itself, or not 923If it doesn't care, it can just "use AnyEvent" and use it itself, or not
448do anything special (it does not need to be event-based) and let AnyEvent 924do anything special (it does not need to be event-based) and let AnyEvent
449decide which implementation to chose if some module relies on it. 925decide which implementation to chose if some module relies on it.
450 926
451If the main program relies on a specific event model. For example, in 927If the main program relies on a specific event model - for example, in
452Gtk2 programs you have to rely on the Glib module. You should load the 928Gtk2 programs you have to rely on the Glib module - you should load the
453event module before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it: generally 929event module before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it: generally
454speaking, you should load it as early as possible. The reason is that 930speaking, you should load it as early as possible. The reason is that
455modules might create watchers when they are loaded, and AnyEvent will 931modules might create watchers when they are loaded, and AnyEvent will
456decide on the event model to use as soon as it creates watchers, and it 932decide on the event model to use as soon as it creates watchers, and it
457might chose the wrong one unless you load the correct one yourself. 933might chose the wrong one unless you load the correct one yourself.
458 934
459You can chose to use a rather inefficient pure-perl implementation by 935You can chose to use a pure-perl implementation by loading the
460loading the C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl> module, which gives you similar 936C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl> module, which gives you similar behaviour
461behaviour everywhere, but letting AnyEvent chose is generally better. 937everywhere, but letting AnyEvent chose the model is generally better.
938
939=head2 MAINLOOP EMULATION
940
941Sometimes (often for short test scripts, or even standalone programs who
942only want to use AnyEvent), you do not want to run a specific event loop.
943
944In that case, you can use a condition variable like this:
945
946 AnyEvent->condvar->recv;
947
948This has the effect of entering the event loop and looping forever.
949
950Note that usually your program has some exit condition, in which case
951it is better to use the "traditional" approach of storing a condition
952variable somewhere, waiting for it, and sending it when the program should
953exit cleanly.
954
955
956=head1 OTHER MODULES
957
958The following is a non-exhaustive list of additional modules that use
959AnyEvent as a client and can therefore be mixed easily with other AnyEvent
960modules and other event loops in the same program. Some of the modules
961come with AnyEvent, most are available via CPAN.
962
963=over 4
964
965=item L<AnyEvent::Util>
966
967Contains various utility functions that replace often-used but blocking
968functions such as C<inet_aton> by event-/callback-based versions.
969
970=item L<AnyEvent::Socket>
971
972Provides various utility functions for (internet protocol) sockets,
973addresses and name resolution. Also functions to create non-blocking tcp
974connections or tcp servers, with IPv6 and SRV record support and more.
975
976=item L<AnyEvent::Handle>
977
978Provide read and write buffers, manages watchers for reads and writes,
979supports raw and formatted I/O, I/O queued and fully transparent and
980non-blocking SSL/TLS (via L<AnyEvent::TLS>.
981
982=item L<AnyEvent::DNS>
983
984Provides rich asynchronous DNS resolver capabilities.
985
986=item L<AnyEvent::HTTP>
987
988A simple-to-use HTTP library that is capable of making a lot of concurrent
989HTTP requests.
990
991=item L<AnyEvent::HTTPD>
992
993Provides a simple web application server framework.
994
995=item L<AnyEvent::FastPing>
996
997The fastest ping in the west.
998
999=item L<AnyEvent::DBI>
1000
1001Executes L<DBI> requests asynchronously in a proxy process.
1002
1003=item L<AnyEvent::AIO>
1004
1005Truly asynchronous I/O, should be in the toolbox of every event
1006programmer. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses L<IO::AIO> and AnyEvent
1007together.
1008
1009=item L<AnyEvent::BDB>
1010
1011Truly asynchronous Berkeley DB access. AnyEvent::BDB transparently fuses
1012L<BDB> and AnyEvent together.
1013
1014=item L<AnyEvent::GPSD>
1015
1016A non-blocking interface to gpsd, a daemon delivering GPS information.
1017
1018=item L<AnyEvent::IRC>
1019
1020AnyEvent based IRC client module family (replacing the older Net::IRC3).
1021
1022=item L<AnyEvent::XMPP>
1023
1024AnyEvent based XMPP (Jabber protocol) module family (replacing the older
1025Net::XMPP2>.
1026
1027=item L<AnyEvent::IGS>
1028
1029A non-blocking interface to the Internet Go Server protocol (used by
1030L<App::IGS>).
1031
1032=item L<Net::FCP>
1033
1034AnyEvent-based implementation of the Freenet Client Protocol, birthplace
1035of AnyEvent.
1036
1037=item L<Event::ExecFlow>
1038
1039High level API for event-based execution flow control.
1040
1041=item L<Coro>
1042
1043Has special support for AnyEvent via L<Coro::AnyEvent>.
1044
1045=back
462 1046
463=cut 1047=cut
464 1048
465package AnyEvent; 1049package AnyEvent;
466 1050
1051# basically a tuned-down version of common::sense
1052sub common_sense {
467no warnings; 1053 # no warnings
468use strict; 1054 ${^WARNING_BITS} ^= ${^WARNING_BITS};
1055 # use strict vars subs
1056 $^H |= 0x00000600;
1057}
469 1058
1059BEGIN { AnyEvent::common_sense }
1060
470use Carp; 1061use Carp ();
471 1062
472our $VERSION = '3.3'; 1063our $VERSION = 4.85;
473our $MODEL; 1064our $MODEL;
474 1065
475our $AUTOLOAD; 1066our $AUTOLOAD;
476our @ISA; 1067our @ISA;
477 1068
478our $verbose = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1;
479
480our @REGISTRY; 1069our @REGISTRY;
481 1070
1071our $WIN32;
1072
1073our $VERBOSE;
1074
1075BEGIN {
1076 eval "sub WIN32(){ " . (($^O =~ /mswin32/i)*1) ." }";
1077 eval "sub TAINT(){ " . (${^TAINT}*1) . " }";
1078
1079 delete @ENV{grep /^PERL_ANYEVENT_/, keys %ENV}
1080 if ${^TAINT};
1081
1082 $VERBOSE = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1;
1083
1084}
1085
1086our $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY = 10;
1087
1088our %PROTOCOL; # (ipv4|ipv6) => (1|2), higher numbers are preferred
1089
1090{
1091 my $idx;
1092 $PROTOCOL{$_} = ++$idx
1093 for reverse split /\s*,\s*/,
1094 $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS} || "ipv4,ipv6";
1095}
1096
482my @models = ( 1097my @models = (
483 [Coro::EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV::],
484 [Coro::Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent::],
485 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV::], 1098 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV::],
486 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::], 1099 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::],
487 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib::], 1100 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl::],
1101 # everything below here will not be autoprobed
1102 # as the pureperl backend should work everywhere
1103 # and is usually faster
1104 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib::], # becomes extremely slow with many watchers
1105 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy
488 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], 1106 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], # crashes with many handles
1107 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program
1108 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza
489 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], 1109 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
490 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], 1110 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
491 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl::], 1111 # IO::Async is just too broken - we would need workarounds for its
492 # everything below here will not be autoprobed as the pureperl backend should work everywhere 1112 # byzantine signal and broken child handling, among others.
493 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy 1113 # IO::Async is rather hard to detect, as it doesn't have any
1114 # obvious default class.
494 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program 1115# [IO::Async:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program
495 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza 1116# [IO::Async::Loop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program
1117# [IO::Async::Notifier:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # requires special main program
496); 1118);
497 1119
498our %method = map +($_ => 1), qw(io timer signal child condvar broadcast wait one_event DESTROY); 1120our %method = map +($_ => 1),
1121 qw(io timer time now now_update signal child idle condvar one_event DESTROY);
1122
1123our @post_detect;
1124
1125sub post_detect(&) {
1126 my ($cb) = @_;
1127
1128 if ($MODEL) {
1129 $cb->();
1130
1131 1
1132 } else {
1133 push @post_detect, $cb;
1134
1135 defined wantarray
1136 ? bless \$cb, "AnyEvent::Util::postdetect"
1137 : ()
1138 }
1139}
1140
1141sub AnyEvent::Util::postdetect::DESTROY {
1142 @post_detect = grep $_ != ${$_[0]}, @post_detect;
1143}
499 1144
500sub detect() { 1145sub detect() {
501 unless ($MODEL) { 1146 unless ($MODEL) {
502 no strict 'refs'; 1147 local $SIG{__DIE__};
503 1148
504 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z]+)$/) { 1149 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z]+)$/) {
505 my $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$1"; 1150 my $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$1";
506 if (eval "require $model") { 1151 if (eval "require $model") {
507 $MODEL = $model; 1152 $MODEL = $model;
508 warn "AnyEvent: loaded model '$model' (forced by \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1153 warn "AnyEvent: loaded model '$model' (forced by \$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}), using it.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 2;
509 } else { 1154 } else {
510 warn "AnyEvent: unable to load model '$model' (from \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL):\n$@" if $verbose; 1155 warn "AnyEvent: unable to load model '$model' (from \$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}):\n$@" if $VERBOSE;
511 } 1156 }
512 } 1157 }
513 1158
514 # check for already loaded models 1159 # check for already loaded models
515 unless ($MODEL) { 1160 unless ($MODEL) {
516 for (@REGISTRY, @models) { 1161 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
517 my ($package, $model) = @$_; 1162 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
518 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) { 1163 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) {
519 if (eval "require $model") { 1164 if (eval "require $model") {
520 $MODEL = $model; 1165 $MODEL = $model;
521 warn "AnyEvent: autodetected model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1166 warn "AnyEvent: autodetected model '$model', using it.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 2;
522 last; 1167 last;
523 } 1168 }
524 } 1169 }
525 } 1170 }
526 1171
531 my ($package, $model) = @$_; 1176 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
532 if (eval "require $package" 1177 if (eval "require $package"
533 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0 1178 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0
534 and eval "require $model") { 1179 and eval "require $model") {
535 $MODEL = $model; 1180 $MODEL = $model;
536 warn "AnyEvent: autoprobed model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1181 warn "AnyEvent: autoprobed model '$model', using it.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 2;
537 last; 1182 last;
538 } 1183 }
539 } 1184 }
540 1185
541 $MODEL 1186 $MODEL
542 or die "No event module selected for AnyEvent and autodetect failed. Install any one of these modules: EV (or Coro+EV), Event (or Coro+Event) or Glib."; 1187 or die "No event module selected for AnyEvent and autodetect failed. Install any one of these modules: EV, Event or Glib.\n";
543 } 1188 }
544 } 1189 }
545 1190
1191 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base";
1192
546 unshift @ISA, $MODEL; 1193 unshift @ISA, $MODEL;
547 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base"; 1194
1195 require AnyEvent::Strict if $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT};
1196
1197 (shift @post_detect)->() while @post_detect;
548 } 1198 }
549 1199
550 $MODEL 1200 $MODEL
551} 1201}
552 1202
553sub AUTOLOAD { 1203sub AUTOLOAD {
554 (my $func = $AUTOLOAD) =~ s/.*://; 1204 (my $func = $AUTOLOAD) =~ s/.*://;
555 1205
556 $method{$func} 1206 $method{$func}
557 or croak "$func: not a valid method for AnyEvent objects"; 1207 or Carp::croak "$func: not a valid method for AnyEvent objects";
558 1208
559 detect unless $MODEL; 1209 detect unless $MODEL;
560 1210
561 my $class = shift; 1211 my $class = shift;
562 $class->$func (@_); 1212 $class->$func (@_);
563} 1213}
564 1214
1215# utility function to dup a filehandle. this is used by many backends
1216# to support binding more than one watcher per filehandle (they usually
1217# allow only one watcher per fd, so we dup it to get a different one).
1218sub _dupfh($$;$$) {
1219 my ($poll, $fh, $r, $w) = @_;
1220
1221 # cygwin requires the fh mode to be matching, unix doesn't
1222 my ($rw, $mode) = $poll eq "r" ? ($r, "<&") : ($w, ">&");
1223
1224 open my $fh2, $mode, $fh
1225 or die "AnyEvent->io: cannot dup() filehandle in mode '$poll': $!,";
1226
1227 # we assume CLOEXEC is already set by perl in all important cases
1228
1229 ($fh2, $rw)
1230}
1231
565package AnyEvent::Base; 1232package AnyEvent::Base;
566 1233
1234# default implementations for many methods
1235
1236sub _time {
1237 # probe for availability of Time::HiRes
1238 if (eval "use Time::HiRes (); Time::HiRes::time (); 1") {
1239 warn "AnyEvent: using Time::HiRes for sub-second timing accuracy.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 8;
1240 *_time = \&Time::HiRes::time;
1241 # if (eval "use POSIX (); (POSIX::times())...
1242 } else {
1243 warn "AnyEvent: using built-in time(), WARNING, no sub-second resolution!\n" if $VERBOSE;
1244 *_time = sub { time }; # epic fail
1245 }
1246
1247 &_time
1248}
1249
1250sub time { _time }
1251sub now { _time }
1252sub now_update { }
1253
567# default implementation for ->condvar, ->wait, ->broadcast 1254# default implementation for ->condvar
568 1255
569sub condvar { 1256sub condvar {
570 bless \my $flag, "AnyEvent::Base::CondVar" 1257 bless { @_ == 3 ? (_ae_cb => $_[2]) : () }, "AnyEvent::CondVar"
571}
572
573sub AnyEvent::Base::CondVar::broadcast {
574 ${$_[0]}++;
575}
576
577sub AnyEvent::Base::CondVar::wait {
578 AnyEvent->one_event while !${$_[0]};
579} 1258}
580 1259
581# default implementation for ->signal 1260# default implementation for ->signal
582 1261
583our %SIG_CB; 1262our $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT;
1263our ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W, %SIG_CB, %SIG_EV, $SIG_IO);
1264our (%SIG_ASY, %SIG_ASY_W);
1265our ($SIG_COUNT, $SIG_TW);
584 1266
1267sub _signal_exec {
1268 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1269 ? $SIGPIPE_R->drain
1270 : sysread $SIGPIPE_R, my $dummy, 9;
1271
1272 while (%SIG_EV) {
1273 for (keys %SIG_EV) {
1274 delete $SIG_EV{$_};
1275 $_->() for values %{ $SIG_CB{$_} || {} };
1276 }
1277 }
1278}
1279
1280# install a dumym wakeupw atcher to reduce signal catching latency
1281sub _sig_add() {
1282 unless ($SIG_COUNT++) {
1283 # try to align timer on a full-second boundary, if possible
1284 my $NOW = AnyEvent->now;
1285
1286 $SIG_TW = AnyEvent->timer (
1287 after => $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY - ($NOW - int $NOW),
1288 interval => $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY,
1289 cb => sub { }, # just for the PERL_ASYNC_CHECK
1290 );
1291 }
1292}
1293
1294sub _sig_del {
1295 undef $SIG_TW
1296 unless --$SIG_COUNT;
1297}
1298
585sub signal { 1299sub _signal {
586 my (undef, %arg) = @_; 1300 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
587 1301
588 my $signal = uc $arg{signal} 1302 my $signal = uc $arg{signal}
589 or Carp::croak "required option 'signal' is missing"; 1303 or Carp::croak "required option 'signal' is missing";
590 1304
591 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb}; 1305 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1306
1307 if ($HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT) {
1308 # async::interrupt
1309
1310 $SIG_ASY{$signal} ||= do {
1311 my $asy = new Async::Interrupt
1312 cb => sub { undef $SIG_EV{$signal} },
1313 signal => $signal,
1314 pipe => [$SIGPIPE_R->filenos],
1315 ;
1316 $asy->pipe_autodrain (0);
1317
1318 $asy
1319 };
1320
1321 } else {
1322 # pure perl
1323
592 $SIG{$signal} ||= sub { 1324 $SIG{$signal} ||= sub {
593 $_->() for values %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} || {} }; 1325 local $!;
1326 syswrite $SIGPIPE_W, "\x00", 1 unless %SIG_EV;
1327 undef $SIG_EV{$signal};
1328 };
1329
1330 # can't do signal processing without introducing races in pure perl,
1331 # so limit the signal latency.
1332 _sig_add;
594 }; 1333 }
595 1334
596 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Signal" 1335 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::signal"
597} 1336}
598 1337
1338sub signal {
1339 # probe for availability of Async::Interrupt
1340 if (!$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_ASYNC_INTERRUPT} && eval "use Async::Interrupt 0.6 (); 1") {
1341 warn "AnyEvent: using Async::Interrupt for race-free signal handling.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 8;
1342
1343 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT = 1;
1344 $SIGPIPE_R = new Async::Interrupt::EventPipe;
1345 $SIG_IO = AnyEvent->io (fh => $SIGPIPE_R->fileno, poll => "r", cb => \&_signal_exec);
1346
1347 } else {
1348 warn "AnyEvent: using emulated perl signal handling with latency timer.\n" if $VERBOSE >= 8;
1349
1350 require Fcntl;
1351
1352 if (AnyEvent::WIN32) {
1353 require AnyEvent::Util;
1354
1355 ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W) = AnyEvent::Util::portable_pipe ();
1356 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_R) if $SIGPIPE_R;
1357 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_W) if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case
1358 } else {
1359 pipe $SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W;
1360 fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, &Fcntl::F_SETFL, &Fcntl::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_R;
1361 fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, &Fcntl::F_SETFL, &Fcntl::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case
1362
1363 # not strictly required, as $^F is normally 2, but let's make sure...
1364 fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, &Fcntl::F_SETFD, &Fcntl::FD_CLOEXEC;
1365 fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, &Fcntl::F_SETFD, &Fcntl::FD_CLOEXEC;
1366 }
1367
1368 $SIGPIPE_R
1369 or Carp::croak "AnyEvent: unable to create a signal reporting pipe: $!\n";
1370
1371 $SIG_IO = AnyEvent->io (fh => $SIGPIPE_R, poll => "r", cb => \&_signal_exec);
1372 }
1373
1374 *signal = \&_signal;
1375 &signal
1376}
1377
599sub AnyEvent::Base::Signal::DESTROY { 1378sub AnyEvent::Base::signal::DESTROY {
600 my ($signal, $cb) = @{$_[0]}; 1379 my ($signal, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
601 1380
1381 _sig_del;
1382
602 delete $SIG_CB{$signal}{$cb}; 1383 delete $SIG_CB{$signal}{$cb};
603 1384
604 $SIG{$signal} = 'DEFAULT' unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} }; 1385 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1386 ? delete $SIG_ASY{$signal}
1387 : # delete doesn't work with older perls - they then
1388 # print weird messages, or just unconditionally exit
1389 # instead of getting the default action.
1390 undef $SIG{$signal}
1391 unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} };
605} 1392}
606 1393
607# default implementation for ->child 1394# default implementation for ->child
608 1395
609our %PID_CB; 1396our %PID_CB;
610our $CHLD_W; 1397our $CHLD_W;
611our $CHLD_DELAY_W; 1398our $CHLD_DELAY_W;
612our $PID_IDLE;
613our $WNOHANG; 1399our $WNOHANG;
614 1400
615sub _child_wait { 1401sub _sigchld {
616 while (0 < (my $pid = waitpid -1, $WNOHANG)) { 1402 while (0 < (my $pid = waitpid -1, $WNOHANG)) {
1403 $_->($pid, $?)
617 $_->($pid, $?) for (values %{ $PID_CB{$pid} || {} }), 1404 for values %{ $PID_CB{$pid} || {} },
618 (values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} }); 1405 values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} };
619 } 1406 }
620
621 undef $PID_IDLE;
622}
623
624sub _sigchld {
625 # make sure we deliver these changes "synchronous" with the event loop.
626 $CHLD_DELAY_W ||= AnyEvent->timer (after => 0, cb => sub {
627 undef $CHLD_DELAY_W;
628 &_child_wait;
629 });
630} 1407}
631 1408
632sub child { 1409sub child {
633 my (undef, %arg) = @_; 1410 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
634 1411
635 defined (my $pid = $arg{pid} + 0) 1412 defined (my $pid = $arg{pid} + 0)
636 or Carp::croak "required option 'pid' is missing"; 1413 or Carp::croak "required option 'pid' is missing";
637 1414
638 $PID_CB{$pid}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb}; 1415 $PID_CB{$pid}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
639 1416
640 unless ($WNOHANG) { 1417 # WNOHANG is almost cetrainly 1 everywhere
641 $WNOHANG = eval { require POSIX; &POSIX::WNOHANG } || 1; 1418 $WNOHANG ||= $^O =~ /^(?:openbsd|netbsd|linux|freebsd|cygwin|MSWin32)$/
642 } 1419 ? 1
1420 : eval { local $SIG{__DIE__}; require POSIX; &POSIX::WNOHANG } || 1;
643 1421
644 unless ($CHLD_W) { 1422 unless ($CHLD_W) {
645 $CHLD_W = AnyEvent->signal (signal => 'CHLD', cb => \&_sigchld); 1423 $CHLD_W = AnyEvent->signal (signal => 'CHLD', cb => \&_sigchld);
646 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round 1424 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round
647 &_sigchld; 1425 &_sigchld;
648 } 1426 }
649 1427
650 bless [$pid, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Child" 1428 bless [$pid, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::child"
651} 1429}
652 1430
653sub AnyEvent::Base::Child::DESTROY { 1431sub AnyEvent::Base::child::DESTROY {
654 my ($pid, $cb) = @{$_[0]}; 1432 my ($pid, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
655 1433
656 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb}; 1434 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb};
657 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} }; 1435 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} };
658 1436
659 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB; 1437 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB;
660} 1438}
1439
1440# idle emulation is done by simply using a timer, regardless
1441# of whether the process is idle or not, and not letting
1442# the callback use more than 50% of the time.
1443sub idle {
1444 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1445
1446 my ($cb, $w, $rcb) = $arg{cb};
1447
1448 $rcb = sub {
1449 if ($cb) {
1450 $w = _time;
1451 &$cb;
1452 $w = _time - $w;
1453
1454 # never use more then 50% of the time for the idle watcher,
1455 # within some limits
1456 $w = 0.0001 if $w < 0.0001;
1457 $w = 5 if $w > 5;
1458
1459 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $w, cb => $rcb);
1460 } else {
1461 # clean up...
1462 undef $w;
1463 undef $rcb;
1464 }
1465 };
1466
1467 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.05, cb => $rcb);
1468
1469 bless \\$cb, "AnyEvent::Base::idle"
1470}
1471
1472sub AnyEvent::Base::idle::DESTROY {
1473 undef $${$_[0]};
1474}
1475
1476package AnyEvent::CondVar;
1477
1478our @ISA = AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::;
1479
1480package AnyEvent::CondVar::Base;
1481
1482#use overload
1483# '&{}' => sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } },
1484# fallback => 1;
1485
1486# save 300+ kilobytes by dirtily hardcoding overloading
1487${"AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::OVERLOAD"}{dummy}++; # Register with magic by touching.
1488*{'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::()'} = sub { }; # "Make it findable via fetchmethod."
1489*{'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::(&{}'} = sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } }; # &{}
1490${'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::()'} = 1; # fallback
1491
1492our $WAITING;
1493
1494sub _send {
1495 # nop
1496}
1497
1498sub send {
1499 my $cv = shift;
1500 $cv->{_ae_sent} = [@_];
1501 (delete $cv->{_ae_cb})->($cv) if $cv->{_ae_cb};
1502 $cv->_send;
1503}
1504
1505sub croak {
1506 $_[0]{_ae_croak} = $_[1];
1507 $_[0]->send;
1508}
1509
1510sub ready {
1511 $_[0]{_ae_sent}
1512}
1513
1514sub _wait {
1515 $WAITING
1516 and !$_[0]{_ae_sent}
1517 and Carp::croak "AnyEvent::CondVar: recursive blocking wait detected";
1518
1519 local $WAITING = 1;
1520 AnyEvent->one_event while !$_[0]{_ae_sent};
1521}
1522
1523sub recv {
1524 $_[0]->_wait;
1525
1526 Carp::croak $_[0]{_ae_croak} if $_[0]{_ae_croak};
1527 wantarray ? @{ $_[0]{_ae_sent} } : $_[0]{_ae_sent}[0]
1528}
1529
1530sub cb {
1531 $_[0]{_ae_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1;
1532 $_[0]{_ae_cb}
1533}
1534
1535sub begin {
1536 ++$_[0]{_ae_counter};
1537 $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1;
1538}
1539
1540sub end {
1541 return if --$_[0]{_ae_counter};
1542 &{ $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} || sub { $_[0]->send } };
1543}
1544
1545# undocumented/compatibility with pre-3.4
1546*broadcast = \&send;
1547*wait = \&_wait;
1548
1549=head1 ERROR AND EXCEPTION HANDLING
1550
1551In general, AnyEvent does not do any error handling - it relies on the
1552caller to do that if required. The L<AnyEvent::Strict> module (see also
1553the C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT> environment variable, below) provides strict
1554checking of all AnyEvent methods, however, which is highly useful during
1555development.
1556
1557As for exception handling (i.e. runtime errors and exceptions thrown while
1558executing a callback), this is not only highly event-loop specific, but
1559also not in any way wrapped by this module, as this is the job of the main
1560program.
1561
1562The pure perl event loop simply re-throws the exception (usually
1563within C<< condvar->recv >>), the L<Event> and L<EV> modules call C<<
1564$Event/EV::DIED->() >>, L<Glib> uses C<< install_exception_handler >> and
1565so on.
1566
1567=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
1568
1569The following environment variables are used by this module or its
1570submodules.
1571
1572Note that AnyEvent will remove I<all> environment variables starting with
1573C<PERL_ANYEVENT_> from C<%ENV> when it is loaded while taint mode is
1574enabled.
1575
1576=over 4
1577
1578=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
1579
1580By default, AnyEvent will be completely silent except in fatal
1581conditions. You can set this environment variable to make AnyEvent more
1582talkative.
1583
1584When set to C<1> or higher, causes AnyEvent to warn about unexpected
1585conditions, such as not being able to load the event model specified by
1586C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>.
1587
1588When set to C<2> or higher, cause AnyEvent to report to STDERR which event
1589model it chooses.
1590
1591When set to C<8> or higher, then AnyEvent will report extra information on
1592which optional modules it loads and how it implements certain features.
1593
1594=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT>
1595
1596AnyEvent does not do much argument checking by default, as thorough
1597argument checking is very costly. Setting this variable to a true value
1598will cause AnyEvent to load C<AnyEvent::Strict> and then to thoroughly
1599check the arguments passed to most method calls. If it finds any problems,
1600it will croak.
1601
1602In other words, enables "strict" mode.
1603
1604Unlike C<use strict> (or it's modern cousin, C<< use L<common::sense>
1605>>, it is definitely recommended to keep it off in production. Keeping
1606C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT=1> in your environment while developing programs
1607can be very useful, however.
1608
1609=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
1610
1611This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
1612auto detection and -probing kicks in. It must be a string consisting
1613entirely of ASCII letters. The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended
1614and the resulting module name is loaded and if the load was successful,
1615used as event model. If it fails to load AnyEvent will proceed with
1616auto detection and -probing.
1617
1618This functionality might change in future versions.
1619
1620For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) you
1621could start your program like this:
1622
1623 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
1624
1625=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS>
1626
1627Used by both L<AnyEvent::DNS> and L<AnyEvent::Socket> to determine preferences
1628for IPv4 or IPv6. The default is unspecified (and might change, or be the result
1629of auto probing).
1630
1631Must be set to a comma-separated list of protocols or address families,
1632current supported: C<ipv4> and C<ipv6>. Only protocols mentioned will be
1633used, and preference will be given to protocols mentioned earlier in the
1634list.
1635
1636This variable can effectively be used for denial-of-service attacks
1637against local programs (e.g. when setuid), although the impact is likely
1638small, as the program has to handle conenction and other failures anyways.
1639
1640Examples: C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4,ipv6> - prefer IPv4 over IPv6,
1641but support both and try to use both. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4>
1642- only support IPv4, never try to resolve or contact IPv6
1643addresses. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv6,ipv4> support either IPv4 or
1644IPv6, but prefer IPv6 over IPv4.
1645
1646=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_EDNS0>
1647
1648Used by L<AnyEvent::DNS> to decide whether to use the EDNS0 extension
1649for DNS. This extension is generally useful to reduce DNS traffic, but
1650some (broken) firewalls drop such DNS packets, which is why it is off by
1651default.
1652
1653Setting this variable to C<1> will cause L<AnyEvent::DNS> to announce
1654EDNS0 in its DNS requests.
1655
1656=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_FORKS>
1657
1658The maximum number of child processes that C<AnyEvent::Util::fork_call>
1659will create in parallel.
1660
1661=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_OUTSTANDING_DNS>
1662
1663The default value for the C<max_outstanding> parameter for the default DNS
1664resolver - this is the maximum number of parallel DNS requests that are
1665sent to the DNS server.
1666
1667=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_RESOLV_CONF>
1668
1669The file to use instead of F</etc/resolv.conf> (or OS-specific
1670configuration) in the default resolver. When set to the empty string, no
1671default config will be used.
1672
1673=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_CA_FILE>, C<PERL_ANYEVENT_CA_PATH>.
1674
1675When neither C<ca_file> nor C<ca_path> was specified during
1676L<AnyEvent::TLS> context creation, and either of these environment
1677variables exist, they will be used to specify CA certificate locations
1678instead of a system-dependent default.
1679
1680=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_GUARD> and C<PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_ASYNC_INTERRUPT>
1681
1682When these are set to C<1>, then the respective modules are not
1683loaded. Mostly good for testing AnyEvent itself.
1684
1685=back
661 1686
662=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE 1687=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE
663 1688
664This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in 1689This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in
665a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to 1690a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to
699 1724
700I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to 1725I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to
701condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will 1726condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will
702C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must 1727C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must
703not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense. 1728not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense.
704
705=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
706
707The following environment variables are used by this module:
708
709=over 4
710
711=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
712
713By default, AnyEvent will be completely silent except in fatal
714conditions. You can set this environment variable to make AnyEvent more
715talkative.
716
717When set to C<1> or higher, causes AnyEvent to warn about unexpected
718conditions, such as not being able to load the event model specified by
719C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>.
720
721When set to C<2> or higher, cause AnyEvent to report to STDERR which event
722model it chooses.
723
724=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
725
726This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
727autodetection and -probing kicks in. It must be a string consisting
728entirely of ASCII letters. The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended
729and the resulting module name is loaded and if the load was successful,
730used as event model. If it fails to load AnyEvent will proceed with
731autodetection and -probing.
732
733This functionality might change in future versions.
734
735For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) you
736could start your program like this:
737
738 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
739
740=back
741 1729
742=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM 1730=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM
743 1731
744The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer 1732The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer
745to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the 1733to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the
754 poll => 'r', 1742 poll => 'r',
755 cb => sub { 1743 cb => sub {
756 warn "io event <$_[0]>\n"; # will always output <r> 1744 warn "io event <$_[0]>\n"; # will always output <r>
757 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); # read a line 1745 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); # read a line
758 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read 1746 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read
759 $cv->broadcast if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i 1747 $cv->send if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i
760 }, 1748 },
761 ); 1749 );
762 1750
763 my $time_watcher; # can only be used once 1751 my $time_watcher; # can only be used once
764 1752
769 }); 1757 });
770 } 1758 }
771 1759
772 new_timer; # create first timer 1760 new_timer; # create first timer
773 1761
774 $cv->wait; # wait until user enters /^q/i 1762 $cv->recv; # wait until user enters /^q/i
775 1763
776=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE 1764=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE
777 1765
778Consider the L<Net::FCP> module. It features (among others) the following 1766Consider the L<Net::FCP> module. It features (among others) the following
779API calls, which are to freenet what HTTP GET requests are to http: 1767API calls, which are to freenet what HTTP GET requests are to http:
829 syswrite $txn->{fh}, $txn->{request} 1817 syswrite $txn->{fh}, $txn->{request}
830 or die "connection or write error"; 1818 or die "connection or write error";
831 $txn->{w} = AnyEvent->io (fh => $txn->{fh}, poll => 'r', cb => sub { $txn->fh_ready_r }); 1819 $txn->{w} = AnyEvent->io (fh => $txn->{fh}, poll => 'r', cb => sub { $txn->fh_ready_r });
832 1820
833Again, C<fh_ready_r> waits till all data has arrived, and then stores the 1821Again, C<fh_ready_r> waits till all data has arrived, and then stores the
834result and signals any possible waiters that the request ahs finished: 1822result and signals any possible waiters that the request has finished:
835 1823
836 sysread $txn->{fh}, $txn->{buf}, length $txn->{$buf}; 1824 sysread $txn->{fh}, $txn->{buf}, length $txn->{$buf};
837 1825
838 if (end-of-file or data complete) { 1826 if (end-of-file or data complete) {
839 $txn->{result} = $txn->{buf}; 1827 $txn->{result} = $txn->{buf};
840 $txn->{finished}->broadcast; 1828 $txn->{finished}->send;
841 $txb->{cb}->($txn) of $txn->{cb}; # also call callback 1829 $txb->{cb}->($txn) of $txn->{cb}; # also call callback
842 } 1830 }
843 1831
844The C<result> method, finally, just waits for the finished signal (if the 1832The C<result> method, finally, just waits for the finished signal (if the
845request was already finished, it doesn't wait, of course, and returns the 1833request was already finished, it doesn't wait, of course, and returns the
846data: 1834data:
847 1835
848 $txn->{finished}->wait; 1836 $txn->{finished}->recv;
849 return $txn->{result}; 1837 return $txn->{result};
850 1838
851The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions) 1839The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions)
852that occured during request processing. The C<result> method detects 1840that occurred during request processing. The C<result> method detects
853whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object) 1841whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object)
854and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other 1842and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other
855problems get reported tot he code that tries to use the result, not in a 1843problems get reported tot he code that tries to use the result, not in a
856random callback. 1844random callback.
857 1845
888 1876
889 my $quit = AnyEvent->condvar; 1877 my $quit = AnyEvent->condvar;
890 1878
891 $fcp->txn_client_get ($url)->cb (sub { 1879 $fcp->txn_client_get ($url)->cb (sub {
892 ... 1880 ...
893 $quit->broadcast; 1881 $quit->send;
894 }); 1882 });
895 1883
896 $quit->wait; 1884 $quit->recv;
897 1885
898 1886
899=head1 BENCHMARKS 1887=head1 BENCHMARKS
900 1888
901To give you an idea of the performance and overheads that AnyEvent adds 1889To give you an idea of the performance and overheads that AnyEvent adds
903of various event loops I prepared some benchmarks. 1891of various event loops I prepared some benchmarks.
904 1892
905=head2 BENCHMARKING ANYEVENT OVERHEAD 1893=head2 BENCHMARKING ANYEVENT OVERHEAD
906 1894
907Here is a benchmark of various supported event models used natively and 1895Here is a benchmark of various supported event models used natively and
908through anyevent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero 1896through AnyEvent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero
909timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable, 1897timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable,
910which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again. 1898which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again.
911 1899
912Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent 1900Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent
913distribution. 1901distribution.
930all watchers, to avoid adding memory overhead. That means closure creation 1918all watchers, to avoid adding memory overhead. That means closure creation
931and memory usage is not included in the figures. 1919and memory usage is not included in the figures.
932 1920
933I<invoke> is the time, in microseconds, used to invoke a simple 1921I<invoke> is the time, in microseconds, used to invoke a simple
934callback. The callback simply counts down a Perl variable and after it was 1922callback. The callback simply counts down a Perl variable and after it was
935invoked "watcher" times, it would C<< ->broadcast >> a condvar once to 1923invoked "watcher" times, it would C<< ->send >> a condvar once to
936signal the end of this phase. 1924signal the end of this phase.
937 1925
938I<destroy> is the time, in microseconds, that it takes to destroy a single 1926I<destroy> is the time, in microseconds, that it takes to destroy a single
939watcher. 1927watcher.
940 1928
941=head3 Results 1929=head3 Results
942 1930
943 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment 1931 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment
944 EV/EV 400000 244 0.56 0.46 0.31 EV native interface 1932 EV/EV 400000 224 0.47 0.35 0.27 EV native interface
945 EV/Any 100000 244 2.50 0.46 0.29 EV + AnyEvent watchers 1933 EV/Any 100000 224 2.88 0.34 0.27 EV + AnyEvent watchers
946 CoroEV/Any 100000 244 2.49 0.44 0.29 coroutines + Coro::Signal 1934 CoroEV/Any 100000 224 2.85 0.35 0.28 coroutines + Coro::Signal
947 Perl/Any 100000 513 4.92 0.87 1.12 pure perl implementation 1935 Perl/Any 100000 452 4.13 0.73 0.95 pure perl implementation
948 Event/Event 16000 516 31.88 31.30 0.85 Event native interface 1936 Event/Event 16000 517 32.20 31.80 0.81 Event native interface
949 Event/Any 16000 936 39.17 33.63 1.43 Event + AnyEvent watchers 1937 Event/Any 16000 590 35.85 31.55 1.06 Event + AnyEvent watchers
1938 IOAsync/Any 16000 989 38.10 32.77 11.13 via IO::Async::Loop::IO_Poll
1939 IOAsync/Any 16000 990 37.59 29.50 10.61 via IO::Async::Loop::Epoll
950 Glib/Any 16000 1357 98.22 12.41 54.00 quadratic behaviour 1940 Glib/Any 16000 1357 102.33 12.31 51.00 quadratic behaviour
951 Tk/Any 2000 1860 26.97 67.98 14.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers 1941 Tk/Any 2000 1860 27.20 66.31 14.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers
952 POE/Event 2000 6644 108.64 736.02 14.73 via POE::Loop::Event 1942 POE/Event 2000 6328 109.99 751.67 14.02 via POE::Loop::Event
953 POE/Select 2000 6343 94.13 809.12 565.96 via POE::Loop::Select 1943 POE/Select 2000 6027 94.54 809.13 579.80 via POE::Loop::Select
954 1944
955=head3 Discussion 1945=head3 Discussion
956 1946
957The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very 1947The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very
958well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one) 1948well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one)
959can never compete with an event loop that uses epoll when the number of 1949can never compete with an event loop that uses epoll when the number of
960file descriptors grows high. In this benchmark, all events become ready at 1950file descriptors grows high. In this benchmark, all events become ready at
961the same time, so select/poll-based implementations get an unnatural speed 1951the same time, so select/poll-based implementations get an unnatural speed
962boost. 1952boost.
963 1953
1954Also, note that the number of watchers usually has a nonlinear effect on
1955overall speed, that is, creating twice as many watchers doesn't take twice
1956the time - usually it takes longer. This puts event loops tested with a
1957higher number of watchers at a disadvantage.
1958
1959To put the range of results into perspective, consider that on the
1960benchmark machine, handling an event takes roughly 1600 CPU cycles with
1961EV, 3100 CPU cycles with AnyEvent's pure perl loop and almost 3000000 CPU
1962cycles with POE.
1963
964C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both 1964C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both
965maximal/minimal, respectively. Even when going through AnyEvent, it uses 1965maximal/minimal, respectively. Even when going through AnyEvent, it uses
966far less memory than any other event loop and is still faster than Event 1966far less memory than any other event loop and is still faster than Event
967natively. 1967natively.
968 1968
973performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of 1973performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of
974them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark. 1974them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark.
975 1975
976The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation 1976The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation
977cost, but overall scores in on the third place. 1977cost, but overall scores in on the third place.
1978
1979C<IO::Async> performs admirably well, about on par with C<Event>, even
1980when using its pure perl backend.
978 1981
979C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a 1982C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a
980faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as 1983faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as
981C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of 1984C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of
982watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four, 1985watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four,
990file descriptor is dup()ed for each watcher. This shows that the dup() 1993file descriptor is dup()ed for each watcher. This shows that the dup()
991employed by some adaptors is not a big performance issue (it does incur a 1994employed by some adaptors is not a big performance issue (it does incur a
992hidden memory cost inside the kernel which is not reflected in the figures 1995hidden memory cost inside the kernel which is not reflected in the figures
993above). 1996above).
994 1997
995C<POE>, regardless of underlying event loop (whether using its pure 1998C<POE>, regardless of underlying event loop (whether using its pure perl
996perl select-based backend or the Event module, the POE-EV backend 1999select-based backend or the Event module, the POE-EV backend couldn't
997couldn't be tested because it wasn't working) shows abysmal performance 2000be tested because it wasn't working) shows abysmal performance and
998and memory usage: Watchers use almost 30 times as much memory as 2001memory usage with AnyEvent: Watchers use almost 30 times as much memory
999EV watchers, and 10 times as much memory as Event (the high memory 2002as EV watchers, and 10 times as much memory as Event (the high memory
1000requirements are caused by requiring a session for each watcher). Watcher 2003requirements are caused by requiring a session for each watcher). Watcher
1001invocation speed is almost 900 times slower than with AnyEvent's pure perl 2004invocation speed is almost 900 times slower than with AnyEvent's pure perl
2005implementation.
2006
1002implementation. The design of the POE adaptor class in AnyEvent can not 2007The design of the POE adaptor class in AnyEvent can not really account
1003really account for this, as session creation overhead is small compared 2008for the performance issues, though, as session creation overhead is
1004to execution of the state machine, which is coded pretty optimally within 2009small compared to execution of the state machine, which is coded pretty
1005L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>. POE simply seems to be abysmally slow. 2010optimally within L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE> (and while everybody agrees that
2011using multiple sessions is not a good approach, especially regarding
2012memory usage, even the author of POE could not come up with a faster
2013design).
1006 2014
1007=head3 Summary 2015=head3 Summary
1008 2016
1009=over 4 2017=over 4
1010 2018
1021 2029
1022=back 2030=back
1023 2031
1024=head2 BENCHMARKING THE LARGE SERVER CASE 2032=head2 BENCHMARKING THE LARGE SERVER CASE
1025 2033
1026This benchmark atcually benchmarks the event loop itself. It works by 2034This benchmark actually benchmarks the event loop itself. It works by
1027creating a number of "servers": each server consists of a socketpair, a 2035creating a number of "servers": each server consists of a socket pair, a
1028timeout watcher that gets reset on activity (but never fires), and an I/O 2036timeout watcher that gets reset on activity (but never fires), and an I/O
1029watcher waiting for input on one side of the socket. Each time the socket 2037watcher waiting for input on one side of the socket. Each time the socket
1030watcher reads a byte it will write that byte to a random other "server". 2038watcher reads a byte it will write that byte to a random other "server".
1031 2039
1032The effect is that there will be a lot of I/O watchers, only part of which 2040The effect is that there will be a lot of I/O watchers, only part of which
1033are active at any one point (so there is a constant number of active 2041are active at any one point (so there is a constant number of active
1034fds for each loop iterstaion, but which fds these are is random). The 2042fds for each loop iteration, but which fds these are is random). The
1035timeout is reset each time something is read because that reflects how 2043timeout is reset each time something is read because that reflects how
1036most timeouts work (and puts extra pressure on the event loops). 2044most timeouts work (and puts extra pressure on the event loops).
1037 2045
1038In this benchmark, we use 10000 socketpairs (20000 sockets), of which 100 2046In this benchmark, we use 10000 socket pairs (20000 sockets), of which 100
1039(1%) are active. This mirrors the activity of large servers with many 2047(1%) are active. This mirrors the activity of large servers with many
1040connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time. 2048connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time.
1041 2049
1042Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent 2050Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent
1043distribution. 2051distribution.
1045=head3 Explanation of the columns 2053=head3 Explanation of the columns
1046 2054
1047I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as 2055I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as
1048each server has a read and write socket end). 2056each server has a read and write socket end).
1049 2057
1050I<create> is the time it takes to create a socketpair (which is 2058I<create> is the time it takes to create a socket pair (which is
1051nontrivial) and two watchers: an I/O watcher and a timeout watcher. 2059nontrivial) and two watchers: an I/O watcher and a timeout watcher.
1052 2060
1053I<request>, the most important value, is the time it takes to handle a 2061I<request>, the most important value, is the time it takes to handle a
1054single "request", that is, reading the token from the pipe and forwarding 2062single "request", that is, reading the token from the pipe and forwarding
1055it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating 2063it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating
1056a new one that moves the timeout into the future. 2064a new one that moves the timeout into the future.
1057 2065
1058=head3 Results 2066=head3 Results
1059 2067
1060 name sockets create request 2068 name sockets create request
1061 EV 20000 69.01 11.16 2069 EV 20000 69.01 11.16
1062 Perl 20000 75.28 112.76 2070 Perl 20000 73.32 35.87
2071 IOAsync 20000 157.00 98.14 epoll
2072 IOAsync 20000 159.31 616.06 poll
1063 Event 20000 212.62 257.32 2073 Event 20000 212.62 257.32
1064 Glib 20000 651.16 1896.30 2074 Glib 20000 651.16 1896.30
1065 POE 20000 349.67 12317.24 uses POE::Loop::Event 2075 POE 20000 349.67 12317.24 uses POE::Loop::Event
1066 2076
1067=head3 Discussion 2077=head3 Discussion
1068 2078
1069This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the 2079This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the
1070particular event loop. 2080particular event loop.
1072EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time 2082EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time
1073is relatively high, though. 2083is relatively high, though.
1074 2084
1075Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event 2085Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event
1076loops Event and Glib. 2086loops Event and Glib.
2087
2088IO::Async performs very well when using its epoll backend, and still quite
2089good compared to Glib when using its pure perl backend.
1077 2090
1078Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will 2091Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will
1079understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to 2092understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to
1080the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event 2093the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event
1081uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations. 2094uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations.
1089 2102
1090=head3 Summary 2103=head3 Summary
1091 2104
1092=over 4 2105=over 4
1093 2106
1094=item * The pure perl implementation performs extremely well, considering 2107=item * The pure perl implementation performs extremely well.
1095that it uses select.
1096 2108
1097=item * Avoid Glib or POE in large projects where performance matters. 2109=item * Avoid Glib or POE in large projects where performance matters.
1098 2110
1099=back 2111=back
1100 2112
1113 2125
1114=head3 Results 2126=head3 Results
1115 2127
1116 name sockets create request 2128 name sockets create request
1117 EV 16 20.00 6.54 2129 EV 16 20.00 6.54
2130 Perl 16 25.75 12.62
1118 Event 16 81.27 35.86 2131 Event 16 81.27 35.86
1119 Glib 16 32.63 15.48 2132 Glib 16 32.63 15.48
1120 Perl 16 24.62 162.37
1121 POE 16 261.87 276.28 uses POE::Loop::Event 2133 POE 16 261.87 276.28 uses POE::Loop::Event
1122 2134
1123=head3 Discussion 2135=head3 Discussion
1124 2136
1125The benchmark tries to test the performance of a typical small 2137The benchmark tries to test the performance of a typical small
1126server. While knowing how various event loops perform is interesting, keep 2138server. While knowing how various event loops perform is interesting, keep
1127in mind that their overhead in this case is usually not as important, due 2139in mind that their overhead in this case is usually not as important, due
1128to the small absolute number of watchers. 2140to the small absolute number of watchers (that is, you need efficiency and
2141speed most when you have lots of watchers, not when you only have a few of
2142them).
1129 2143
1130EV is again fastest. 2144EV is again fastest.
1131 2145
1132The C-based event loops Event and Glib come in second this time, as the 2146Perl again comes second. It is noticeably faster than the C-based event
1133overhead of running an iteration is much smaller in C than in Perl (little 2147loops Event and Glib, although the difference is too small to really
1134code to execute in the inner loop, and perl's function calling overhead is 2148matter.
1135high, and updating all the data structures is costly).
1136 2149
1137The pure perl event loop is much slower, but still competitive.
1138
1139POE also performs much better in this case, but is is stillf ar behind the 2150POE also performs much better in this case, but is is still far behind the
1140others. 2151others.
1141 2152
1142=head3 Summary 2153=head3 Summary
1143 2154
1144=over 4 2155=over 4
1146=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of 2157=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of
1147watchers, as the management overhead dominates. 2158watchers, as the management overhead dominates.
1148 2159
1149=back 2160=back
1150 2161
2162=head2 THE IO::Lambda BENCHMARK
2163
2164Recently I was told about the benchmark in the IO::Lambda manpage, which
2165could be misinterpreted to make AnyEvent look bad. In fact, the benchmark
2166simply compares IO::Lambda with POE, and IO::Lambda looks better (which
2167shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody). As such, the benchmark is
2168fine, and mostly shows that the AnyEvent backend from IO::Lambda isn't
2169very optimal. But how would AnyEvent compare when used without the extra
2170baggage? To explore this, I wrote the equivalent benchmark for AnyEvent.
2171
2172The benchmark itself creates an echo-server, and then, for 500 times,
2173connects to the echo server, sends a line, waits for the reply, and then
2174creates the next connection. This is a rather bad benchmark, as it doesn't
2175test the efficiency of the framework or much non-blocking I/O, but it is a
2176benchmark nevertheless.
2177
2178 name runtime
2179 Lambda/select 0.330 sec
2180 + optimized 0.122 sec
2181 Lambda/AnyEvent 0.327 sec
2182 + optimized 0.138 sec
2183 Raw sockets/select 0.077 sec
2184 POE/select, components 0.662 sec
2185 POE/select, raw sockets 0.226 sec
2186 POE/select, optimized 0.404 sec
2187
2188 AnyEvent/select/nb 0.085 sec
2189 AnyEvent/EV/nb 0.068 sec
2190 +state machine 0.134 sec
2191
2192The benchmark is also a bit unfair (my fault): the IO::Lambda/POE
2193benchmarks actually make blocking connects and use 100% blocking I/O,
2194defeating the purpose of an event-based solution. All of the newly
2195written AnyEvent benchmarks use 100% non-blocking connects (using
2196AnyEvent::Socket::tcp_connect and the asynchronous pure perl DNS
2197resolver), so AnyEvent is at a disadvantage here, as non-blocking connects
2198generally require a lot more bookkeeping and event handling than blocking
2199connects (which involve a single syscall only).
2200
2201The last AnyEvent benchmark additionally uses L<AnyEvent::Handle>, which
2202offers similar expressive power as POE and IO::Lambda, using conventional
2203Perl syntax. This means that both the echo server and the client are 100%
2204non-blocking, further placing it at a disadvantage.
2205
2206As you can see, the AnyEvent + EV combination even beats the
2207hand-optimised "raw sockets benchmark", while AnyEvent + its pure perl
2208backend easily beats IO::Lambda and POE.
2209
2210And even the 100% non-blocking version written using the high-level (and
2211slow :) L<AnyEvent::Handle> abstraction beats both POE and IO::Lambda by a
2212large margin, even though it does all of DNS, tcp-connect and socket I/O
2213in a non-blocking way.
2214
2215The two AnyEvent benchmarks programs can be found as F<eg/ae0.pl> and
2216F<eg/ae2.pl> in the AnyEvent distribution, the remaining benchmarks are
2217part of the IO::lambda distribution and were used without any changes.
2218
2219
2220=head1 SIGNALS
2221
2222AnyEvent currently installs handlers for these signals:
2223
2224=over 4
2225
2226=item SIGCHLD
2227
2228A handler for C<SIGCHLD> is installed by AnyEvent's child watcher
2229emulation for event loops that do not support them natively. Also, some
2230event loops install a similar handler.
2231
2232Additionally, when AnyEvent is loaded and SIGCHLD is set to IGNORE, then
2233AnyEvent will reset it to default, to avoid losing child exit statuses.
2234
2235=item SIGPIPE
2236
2237A no-op handler is installed for C<SIGPIPE> when C<$SIG{PIPE}> is C<undef>
2238when AnyEvent gets loaded.
2239
2240The rationale for this is that AnyEvent users usually do not really depend
2241on SIGPIPE delivery (which is purely an optimisation for shell use, or
2242badly-written programs), but C<SIGPIPE> can cause spurious and rare
2243program exits as a lot of people do not expect C<SIGPIPE> when writing to
2244some random socket.
2245
2246The rationale for installing a no-op handler as opposed to ignoring it is
2247that this way, the handler will be restored to defaults on exec.
2248
2249Feel free to install your own handler, or reset it to defaults.
2250
2251=back
2252
2253=cut
2254
2255undef $SIG{CHLD}
2256 if $SIG{CHLD} eq 'IGNORE';
2257
2258$SIG{PIPE} = sub { }
2259 unless defined $SIG{PIPE};
2260
2261=head1 RECOMMENDED/OPTIONAL MODULES
2262
2263One of AnyEvent's main goals is to be 100% Pure-Perl(tm): only perl (and
2264it's built-in modules) are required to use it.
2265
2266That does not mean that AnyEvent won't take advantage of some additional
2267modules if they are installed.
2268
2269This section epxlains which additional modules will be used, and how they
2270affect AnyEvent's operetion.
2271
2272=over 4
2273
2274=item L<Async::Interrupt>
2275
2276This slightly arcane module is used to implement fast signal handling: To
2277my knowledge, there is no way to do completely race-free and quick
2278signal handling in pure perl. To ensure that signals still get
2279delivered, AnyEvent will start an interval timer to wake up perl (and
2280catch the signals) with some delay (default is 10 seconds, look for
2281C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>).
2282
2283If this module is available, then it will be used to implement signal
2284catching, which means that signals will not be delayed, and the event loop
2285will not be interrupted regularly, which is more efficient (And good for
2286battery life on laptops).
2287
2288This affects not just the pure-perl event loop, but also other event loops
2289that have no signal handling on their own (e.g. Glib, Tk, Qt).
2290
2291Some event loops (POE, Event, Event::Lib) offer signal watchers natively,
2292and either employ their own workarounds (POE) or use AnyEvent's workaround
2293(using C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>). Installing L<Async::Interrupt>
2294does nothing for those backends.
2295
2296=item L<EV>
2297
2298This module isn't really "optional", as it is simply one of the backend
2299event loops that AnyEvent can use. However, it is simply the best event
2300loop available in terms of features, speed and stability: It supports
2301the AnyEvent API optimally, implements all the watcher types in XS, does
2302automatic timer adjustments even when no monotonic clock is available,
2303can take avdantage of advanced kernel interfaces such as C<epoll> and
2304C<kqueue>, and is the fastest backend I<by far>. You can even embed
2305L<Glib>/L<Gtk2> in it (or vice versa, see L<EV::Glib> and L<Glib::EV>).
2306
2307=item L<Guard>
2308
2309The guard module, when used, will be used to implement
2310C<AnyEvent::Util::guard>. This speeds up guards considerably (and uses a
2311lot less memory), but otherwise doesn't affect guard operation much. It is
2312purely used for performance.
2313
2314=item L<JSON> and L<JSON::XS>
2315
2316This module is required when you want to read or write JSON data via
2317L<AnyEvent::Handle>. It is also written in pure-perl, but can take
2318advantage of the ulta-high-speed L<JSON::XS> module when it is installed.
2319
2320In fact, L<AnyEvent::Handle> will use L<JSON::XS> by default if it is
2321installed.
2322
2323=item L<Net::SSLeay>
2324
2325Implementing TLS/SSL in Perl is certainly interesting, but not very
2326worthwhile: If this module is installed, then L<AnyEvent::Handle> (with
2327the help of L<AnyEvent::TLS>), gains the ability to do TLS/SSL.
2328
2329=item L<Time::HiRes>
2330
2331This module is part of perl since release 5.008. It will be used when the
2332chosen event library does not come with a timing source on it's own. The
2333pure-perl event loop (L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>) will additionally use it to
2334try to use a monotonic clock for timing stability.
2335
2336=back
2337
1151 2338
1152=head1 FORK 2339=head1 FORK
1153 2340
1154Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are 2341Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are
1155because they are so inefficient. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware. 2342because they rely on inefficient but fork-safe C<select> or C<poll>
2343calls. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware.
1156 2344
1157If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first 2345If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first
1158watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child. 2346watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child OR you must do
2347something completely out of the scope of AnyEvent.
1159 2348
1160 2349
1161=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS 2350=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
1162 2351
1163AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via 2352AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via
1168specified in the variable. 2357specified in the variable.
1169 2358
1170You can make AnyEvent completely ignore this variable by deleting it 2359You can make AnyEvent completely ignore this variable by deleting it
1171before the first watcher gets created, e.g. with a C<BEGIN> block: 2360before the first watcher gets created, e.g. with a C<BEGIN> block:
1172 2361
1173 BEGIN { delete $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} } 2362 BEGIN { delete $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} }
1174 2363
1175 use AnyEvent; 2364 use AnyEvent;
2365
2366Similar considerations apply to $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}, as that can
2367be used to probe what backend is used and gain other information (which is
2368probably even less useful to an attacker than PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), and
2369$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT}.
2370
2371Note that AnyEvent will remove I<all> environment variables starting with
2372C<PERL_ANYEVENT_> from C<%ENV> when it is loaded while taint mode is
2373enabled.
2374
2375
2376=head1 BUGS
2377
2378Perl 5.8 has numerous memleaks that sometimes hit this module and are hard
2379to work around. If you suffer from memleaks, first upgrade to Perl 5.10
2380and check wether the leaks still show up. (Perl 5.10.0 has other annoying
2381memleaks, such as leaking on C<map> and C<grep> but it is usually not as
2382pronounced).
1176 2383
1177 2384
1178=head1 SEE ALSO 2385=head1 SEE ALSO
1179 2386
1180Event modules: L<Coro::EV>, L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>, L<Glib::EV>, 2387Utility functions: L<AnyEvent::Util>.
1181L<Coro::Event>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>, L<Glib>, L<Coro>, L<Tk>, 2388
2389Event modules: L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>, L<Glib::EV>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>,
1182L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>. 2390L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>.
1183 2391
1184Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, 2392Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>,
1185L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, 2393L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>,
1186L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, 2394L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>,
1187L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>. 2395L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync>.
1188 2396
2397Non-blocking file handles, sockets, TCP clients and
2398servers: L<AnyEvent::Handle>, L<AnyEvent::Socket>, L<AnyEvent::TLS>.
2399
2400Asynchronous DNS: L<AnyEvent::DNS>.
2401
2402Coroutine support: L<Coro>, L<Coro::AnyEvent>, L<Coro::EV>,
2403L<Coro::Event>,
2404
1189Nontrivial usage examples: L<Net::FCP>, L<Net::XMPP2>. 2405Nontrivial usage examples: L<AnyEvent::GPSD>, L<AnyEvent::XMPP>,
2406L<AnyEvent::HTTP>.
1190 2407
1191 2408
1192=head1 AUTHOR 2409=head1 AUTHOR
1193 2410
1194 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 2411 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
1195 http://home.schmorp.de/ 2412 http://home.schmorp.de/
1196 2413
1197=cut 2414=cut
1198 2415
11991 24161
1200 2417

Diff Legend

Removed lines
+ Added lines
< Changed lines
> Changed lines