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1=head1 NAME 1=head1 NAME
2 2
3AnyEvent - provide framework for multiple event loops 3AnyEvent - the DBI of event loop programming
4 4
5EV, Event, Coro::EV, Coro::Event, Glib, Tk, Perl, Event::Lib, Qt, POE - various supported event loops 5EV, Event, Glib, Tk, Perl, Event::Lib, Irssi, rxvt-unicode, IO::Async, Qt,
6FLTK and POE are various supported event loops/environments.
6 7
7=head1 SYNOPSIS 8=head1 SYNOPSIS
8 9
9 use AnyEvent; 10 use AnyEvent;
10 11
12 # if you prefer function calls, look at the AE manpage for
13 # an alternative API.
14
15 # file handle or descriptor readable
11 my $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh, poll => "r|w", cb => sub { 16 my $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh, poll => "r", cb => sub { ... });
17
18 # one-shot or repeating timers
19 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, cb => sub { ... });
20 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, interval => $seconds, cb => ...);
21
22 print AnyEvent->now; # prints current event loop time
23 print AnyEvent->time; # think Time::HiRes::time or simply CORE::time.
24
25 # POSIX signal
26 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "TERM", cb => sub { ... });
27
28 # child process exit
29 my $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => $pid, cb => sub {
30 my ($pid, $status) = @_;
12 ... 31 ...
13 }); 32 });
14 33
15 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => $seconds, cb => sub { 34 # called when event loop idle (if applicable)
16 ... 35 my $w = AnyEvent->idle (cb => sub { ... });
17 });
18 36
19 my $w = AnyEvent->condvar; # stores whether a condition was flagged 37 my $w = AnyEvent->condvar; # stores whether a condition was flagged
38 $w->send; # wake up current and all future recv's
20 $w->wait; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->broadcast 39 $w->recv; # enters "main loop" till $condvar gets ->send
21 $w->broadcast; # wake up current and all future wait's 40 # use a condvar in callback mode:
41 $w->cb (sub { $_[0]->recv });
42
43=head1 INTRODUCTION/TUTORIAL
44
45This manpage is mainly a reference manual. If you are interested
46in a tutorial or some gentle introduction, have a look at the
47L<AnyEvent::Intro> manpage.
48
49=head1 SUPPORT
50
51An FAQ document is available as L<AnyEvent::FAQ>.
52
53There also is a mailinglist for discussing all things AnyEvent, and an IRC
54channel, too.
55
56See the AnyEvent project page at the B<Schmorpforge Ta-Sa Software
57Repository>, at L<http://anyevent.schmorp.de>, for more info.
22 58
23=head1 WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS MODULE (OR NOT) 59=head1 WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS MODULE (OR NOT)
24 60
25Glib, POE, IO::Async, Event... CPAN offers event models by the dozen 61Glib, POE, IO::Async, Event... CPAN offers event models by the dozen
26nowadays. So what is different about AnyEvent? 62nowadays. So what is different about AnyEvent?
27 63
28Executive Summary: AnyEvent is I<compatible>, AnyEvent is I<free of 64Executive Summary: AnyEvent is I<compatible>, AnyEvent is I<free of
29policy> and AnyEvent is I<small and efficient>. 65policy> and AnyEvent is I<small and efficient>.
30 66
31First and foremost, I<AnyEvent is not an event model> itself, it only 67First and foremost, I<AnyEvent is not an event model> itself, it only
32interfaces to whatever event model the main program happens to use in a 68interfaces to whatever event model the main program happens to use, in a
33pragmatic way. For event models and certain classes of immortals alike, 69pragmatic way. For event models and certain classes of immortals alike,
34the statement "there can only be one" is a bitter reality: In general, 70the statement "there can only be one" is a bitter reality: In general,
35only one event loop can be active at the same time in a process. AnyEvent 71only one event loop can be active at the same time in a process. AnyEvent
36helps hiding the differences between those event loops. 72cannot change this, but it can hide the differences between those event
73loops.
37 74
38The goal of AnyEvent is to offer module authors the ability to do event 75The goal of AnyEvent is to offer module authors the ability to do event
39programming (waiting for I/O or timer events) without subscribing to a 76programming (waiting for I/O or timer events) without subscribing to a
40religion, a way of living, and most importantly: without forcing your 77religion, a way of living, and most importantly: without forcing your
41module users into the same thing by forcing them to use the same event 78module users into the same thing by forcing them to use the same event
42model you use. 79model you use.
43 80
44For modules like POE or IO::Async (which is a total misnomer as it is 81For modules like POE or IO::Async (which is a total misnomer as it is
45actually doing all I/O I<synchronously>...), using them in your module is 82actually doing all I/O I<synchronously>...), using them in your module is
46like joining a cult: After you joined, you are dependent on them and you 83like joining a cult: After you join, you are dependent on them and you
47cannot use anything else, as it is simply incompatible to everything that 84cannot use anything else, as they are simply incompatible to everything
48isn't itself. What's worse, all the potential users of your module are 85that isn't them. What's worse, all the potential users of your
49I<also> forced to use the same event loop you use. 86module are I<also> forced to use the same event loop you use.
50 87
51AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works 88AnyEvent is different: AnyEvent + POE works fine. AnyEvent + Glib works
52fine. AnyEvent + Tk works fine etc. etc. but none of these work together 89fine. AnyEvent + Tk works fine etc. etc. but none of these work together
53with the rest: POE + IO::Async? no go. Tk + Event? no go. Again: if 90with the rest: POE + EV? No go. Tk + Event? No go. Again: if your module
54your module uses one of those, every user of your module has to use it, 91uses one of those, every user of your module has to use it, too. But if
55too. But if your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all 92your module uses AnyEvent, it works transparently with all event models it
56event models it supports (including stuff like POE and IO::Async, as long 93supports (including stuff like IO::Async, as long as those use one of the
57as those use one of the supported event loops. It is trivial to add new 94supported event loops. It is easy to add new event loops to AnyEvent, too,
58event loops to AnyEvent, too, so it is future-proof). 95so it is future-proof).
59 96
60In addition to being free of having to use I<the one and only true event 97In addition to being free of having to use I<the one and only true event
61model>, AnyEvent also is free of bloat and policy: with POE or similar 98model>, AnyEvent also is free of bloat and policy: with POE or similar
62modules, you get an enourmous amount of code and strict rules you have to 99modules, you get an enormous amount of code and strict rules you have to
63follow. AnyEvent, on the other hand, is lean and up to the point, by only 100follow. AnyEvent, on the other hand, is lean and to the point, by only
64offering the functionality that is necessary, in as thin as a wrapper as 101offering the functionality that is necessary, in as thin as a wrapper as
65technically possible. 102technically possible.
66 103
104Of course, AnyEvent comes with a big (and fully optional!) toolbox
105of useful functionality, such as an asynchronous DNS resolver, 100%
106non-blocking connects (even with TLS/SSL, IPv6 and on broken platforms
107such as Windows) and lots of real-world knowledge and workarounds for
108platform bugs and differences.
109
67Of course, if you want lots of policy (this can arguably be somewhat 110Now, if you I<do want> lots of policy (this can arguably be somewhat
68useful) and you want to force your users to use the one and only event 111useful) and you want to force your users to use the one and only event
69model, you should I<not> use this module. 112model, you should I<not> use this module.
70 113
71
72=head1 DESCRIPTION 114=head1 DESCRIPTION
73 115
74L<AnyEvent> provides an identical interface to multiple event loops. This 116L<AnyEvent> provides a uniform interface to various event loops. This
75allows module authors to utilise an event loop without forcing module 117allows module authors to use event loop functionality without forcing
76users to use the same event loop (as only a single event loop can coexist 118module users to use a specific event loop implementation (since more
77peacefully at any one time). 119than one event loop cannot coexist peacefully).
78 120
79The interface itself is vaguely similar, but not identical to the L<Event> 121The interface itself is vaguely similar, but not identical to the L<Event>
80module. 122module.
81 123
82During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries 124During the first call of any watcher-creation method, the module tries
83to detect the currently loaded event loop by probing whether one of the 125to detect the currently loaded event loop by probing whether one of the
84following modules is already loaded: L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>, L<EV>, 126following modules is already loaded: L<EV>, L<AnyEvent::Loop>,
85L<Event>, L<Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, 127L<Event>, L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>. The first one
86L<POE>. The first one found is used. If none are found, the module tries 128found is used. If none are detected, the module tries to load the first
87to load these modules (excluding Tk, Event::Lib, Qt and POE as the pure perl 129four modules in the order given; but note that if L<EV> is not
88adaptor should always succeed) in the order given. The first one that can 130available, the pure-perl L<AnyEvent::Loop> should always work, so
89be successfully loaded will be used. If, after this, still none could be 131the other two are not normally tried.
90found, AnyEvent will fall back to a pure-perl event loop, which is not
91very efficient, but should work everywhere.
92 132
93Because AnyEvent first checks for modules that are already loaded, loading 133Because AnyEvent first checks for modules that are already loaded, loading
94an event model explicitly before first using AnyEvent will likely make 134an event model explicitly before first using AnyEvent will likely make
95that model the default. For example: 135that model the default. For example:
96 136
98 use AnyEvent; 138 use AnyEvent;
99 139
100 # .. AnyEvent will likely default to Tk 140 # .. AnyEvent will likely default to Tk
101 141
102The I<likely> means that, if any module loads another event model and 142The I<likely> means that, if any module loads another event model and
103starts using it, all bets are off. Maybe you should tell their authors to 143starts using it, all bets are off - this case should be very rare though,
104use AnyEvent so their modules work together with others seamlessly... 144as very few modules hardcode event loops without announcing this very
145loudly.
105 146
106The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called 147The pure-perl implementation of AnyEvent is called C<AnyEvent::Loop>. Like
107C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>. Like other event modules you can load it 148other event modules you can load it explicitly and enjoy the high
108explicitly. 149availability of that event loop :)
109 150
110=head1 WATCHERS 151=head1 WATCHERS
111 152
112AnyEvent has the central concept of a I<watcher>, which is an object that 153AnyEvent has the central concept of a I<watcher>, which is an object that
113stores relevant data for each kind of event you are waiting for, such as 154stores relevant data for each kind of event you are waiting for, such as
114the callback to call, the filehandle to watch, etc. 155the callback to call, the file handle to watch, etc.
115 156
116These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After 157These watchers are normal Perl objects with normal Perl lifetime. After
117creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the 158creating a watcher it will immediately "watch" for events and invoke the
118callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model 159callback when the event occurs (of course, only when the event model
119is in control). 160is in control).
120 161
162Note that B<callbacks must not permanently change global variables>
163potentially in use by the event loop (such as C<$_> or C<$[>) and that B<<
164callbacks must not C<die> >>. The former is good programming practice in
165Perl and the latter stems from the fact that exception handling differs
166widely between event loops.
167
121To disable the watcher you have to destroy it (e.g. by setting the 168To disable a watcher you have to destroy it (e.g. by setting the
122variable you store it in to C<undef> or otherwise deleting all references 169variable you store it in to C<undef> or otherwise deleting all references
123to it). 170to it).
124 171
125All watchers are created by calling a method on the C<AnyEvent> class. 172All watchers are created by calling a method on the C<AnyEvent> class.
126 173
127Many watchers either are used with "recursion" (repeating timers for 174Many watchers either are used with "recursion" (repeating timers for
128example), or need to refer to their watcher object in other ways. 175example), or need to refer to their watcher object in other ways.
129 176
130An any way to achieve that is this pattern: 177One way to achieve that is this pattern:
131 178
132 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->type (arg => value ..., cb => sub { 179 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->type (arg => value ..., cb => sub {
133 # you can use $w here, for example to undef it 180 # you can use $w here, for example to undef it
134 undef $w; 181 undef $w;
135 }); 182 });
136 183
137Note that C<my $w; $w => combination. This is necessary because in Perl, 184Note that C<my $w; $w => combination. This is necessary because in Perl,
138my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are 185my variables are only visible after the statement in which they are
139declared. 186declared.
140 187
141=head2 I/O WATCHERS 188=head2 I/O WATCHERS
142 189
190 $w = AnyEvent->io (
191 fh => <filehandle_or_fileno>,
192 poll => <"r" or "w">,
193 cb => <callback>,
194 );
195
143You can create an I/O watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->io >> method 196You can create an I/O watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->io >> method
144with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments: 197with the following mandatory key-value pairs as arguments:
145 198
146C<fh> the Perl I<file handle> (I<not> file descriptor) to watch 199C<fh> is the Perl I<file handle> (or a naked file descriptor) to watch
200for events (AnyEvent might or might not keep a reference to this file
201handle). Note that only file handles pointing to things for which
202non-blocking operation makes sense are allowed. This includes sockets,
203most character devices, pipes, fifos and so on, but not for example files
204or block devices.
205
147for events. C<poll> must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>, 206C<poll> must be a string that is either C<r> or C<w>, which creates a
148which creates a watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, 207watcher waiting for "r"eadable or "w"ritable events, respectively.
208
149respectively. C<cb> is the callback to invoke each time the file handle 209C<cb> is the callback to invoke each time the file handle becomes ready.
150becomes ready.
151 210
152Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 211Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
153presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 212presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
154callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks. 213callbacks cannot use arguments passed to I/O watcher callbacks.
155 214
156The I/O watcher might use the underlying file descriptor or a copy of it. 215The I/O watcher might use the underlying file descriptor or a copy of it.
157You must not close a file handle as long as any watcher is active on the 216You must not close a file handle as long as any watcher is active on the
158underlying file descriptor. 217underlying file descriptor.
159 218
160Some event loops issue spurious readyness notifications, so you should 219Some event loops issue spurious readiness notifications, so you should
161always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file 220always use non-blocking calls when reading/writing from/to your file
162handles. 221handles.
163 222
164Example:
165
166 # wait for readability of STDIN, then read a line and disable the watcher 223Example: wait for readability of STDIN, then read a line and disable the
224watcher.
225
167 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub { 226 my $w; $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub {
168 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); 227 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>);
169 warn "read: $input\n"; 228 warn "read: $input\n";
170 undef $w; 229 undef $w;
171 }); 230 });
172 231
173=head2 TIME WATCHERS 232=head2 TIME WATCHERS
174 233
234 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => <seconds>, cb => <callback>);
235
236 $w = AnyEvent->timer (
237 after => <fractional_seconds>,
238 interval => <fractional_seconds>,
239 cb => <callback>,
240 );
241
175You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >> 242You can create a time watcher by calling the C<< AnyEvent->timer >>
176method with the following mandatory arguments: 243method with the following mandatory arguments:
177 244
178C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are 245C<after> specifies after how many seconds (fractional values are
179supported) the callback should be invoked. C<cb> is the callback to invoke 246supported) the callback should be invoked. C<cb> is the callback to invoke
181 248
182Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 249Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
183presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 250presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
184callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks. 251callbacks cannot use arguments passed to time watcher callbacks.
185 252
186The timer callback will be invoked at most once: if you want a repeating 253The callback will normally be invoked only once. If you specify another
187timer you have to create a new watcher (this is a limitation by both Tk 254parameter, C<interval>, as a strictly positive number (> 0), then the
188and Glib). 255callback will be invoked regularly at that interval (in fractional
256seconds) after the first invocation. If C<interval> is specified with a
257false value, then it is treated as if it were not specified at all.
189 258
190Example: 259The callback will be rescheduled before invoking the callback, but no
260attempt is made to avoid timer drift in most backends, so the interval is
261only approximate.
191 262
192 # fire an event after 7.7 seconds 263Example: fire an event after 7.7 seconds.
264
193 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub { 265 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 7.7, cb => sub {
194 warn "timeout\n"; 266 warn "timeout\n";
195 }); 267 });
196 268
197 # to cancel the timer: 269 # to cancel the timer:
198 undef $w; 270 undef $w;
199 271
200Example 2:
201
202 # fire an event after 0.5 seconds, then roughly every second 272Example 2: fire an event after 0.5 seconds, then roughly every second.
203 my $w;
204 273
205 my $cb = sub {
206 # cancel the old timer while creating a new one
207 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => $cb); 274 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.5, interval => 1, cb => sub {
275 warn "timeout\n";
208 }; 276 };
209
210 # start the "loop" by creating the first watcher
211 $w = AnyEvent->timer (after => 0.5, cb => $cb);
212 277
213=head3 TIMING ISSUES 278=head3 TIMING ISSUES
214 279
215There are two ways to handle timers: based on real time (relative, "fire 280There are two ways to handle timers: based on real time (relative, "fire
216in 10 seconds") and based on wallclock time (absolute, "fire at 12 281in 10 seconds") and based on wallclock time (absolute, "fire at 12
218 283
219While most event loops expect timers to specified in a relative way, they 284While most event loops expect timers to specified in a relative way, they
220use absolute time internally. This makes a difference when your clock 285use absolute time internally. This makes a difference when your clock
221"jumps", for example, when ntp decides to set your clock backwards from 286"jumps", for example, when ntp decides to set your clock backwards from
222the wrong date of 2014-01-01 to 2008-01-01, a watcher that is supposed to 287the wrong date of 2014-01-01 to 2008-01-01, a watcher that is supposed to
223fire "after" a second might actually take six years to finally fire. 288fire "after a second" might actually take six years to finally fire.
224 289
225AnyEvent cannot compensate for this. The only event loop that is conscious 290AnyEvent cannot compensate for this. The only event loop that is conscious
226about these issues is L<EV>, which offers both relative (ev_timer, based 291of these issues is L<EV>, which offers both relative (ev_timer, based
227on true relative time) and absolute (ev_periodic, based on wallclock time) 292on true relative time) and absolute (ev_periodic, based on wallclock time)
228timers. 293timers.
229 294
230AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the 295AnyEvent always prefers relative timers, if available, matching the
231AnyEvent API. 296AnyEvent API.
232 297
298AnyEvent has two additional methods that return the "current time":
299
300=over 4
301
302=item AnyEvent->time
303
304This returns the "current wallclock time" as a fractional number of
305seconds since the Epoch (the same thing as C<time> or C<Time::HiRes::time>
306return, and the result is guaranteed to be compatible with those).
307
308It progresses independently of any event loop processing, i.e. each call
309will check the system clock, which usually gets updated frequently.
310
311=item AnyEvent->now
312
313This also returns the "current wallclock time", but unlike C<time>, above,
314this value might change only once per event loop iteration, depending on
315the event loop (most return the same time as C<time>, above). This is the
316time that AnyEvent's timers get scheduled against.
317
318I<In almost all cases (in all cases if you don't care), this is the
319function to call when you want to know the current time.>
320
321This function is also often faster then C<< AnyEvent->time >>, and
322thus the preferred method if you want some timestamp (for example,
323L<AnyEvent::Handle> uses this to update its activity timeouts).
324
325The rest of this section is only of relevance if you try to be very exact
326with your timing; you can skip it without a bad conscience.
327
328For a practical example of when these times differ, consider L<Event::Lib>
329and L<EV> and the following set-up:
330
331The event loop is running and has just invoked one of your callbacks at
332time=500 (assume no other callbacks delay processing). In your callback,
333you wait a second by executing C<sleep 1> (blocking the process for a
334second) and then (at time=501) you create a relative timer that fires
335after three seconds.
336
337With L<Event::Lib>, C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> will
338both return C<501>, because that is the current time, and the timer will
339be scheduled to fire at time=504 (C<501> + C<3>).
340
341With L<EV>, C<< AnyEvent->time >> returns C<501> (as that is the current
342time), but C<< AnyEvent->now >> returns C<500>, as that is the time the
343last event processing phase started. With L<EV>, your timer gets scheduled
344to run at time=503 (C<500> + C<3>).
345
346In one sense, L<Event::Lib> is more exact, as it uses the current time
347regardless of any delays introduced by event processing. However, most
348callbacks do not expect large delays in processing, so this causes a
349higher drift (and a lot more system calls to get the current time).
350
351In another sense, L<EV> is more exact, as your timer will be scheduled at
352the same time, regardless of how long event processing actually took.
353
354In either case, if you care (and in most cases, you don't), then you
355can get whatever behaviour you want with any event loop, by taking the
356difference between C<< AnyEvent->time >> and C<< AnyEvent->now >> into
357account.
358
359=item AnyEvent->now_update
360
361Some event loops (such as L<EV> or L<AnyEvent::Loop>) cache the current
362time for each loop iteration (see the discussion of L<< AnyEvent->now >>,
363above).
364
365When a callback runs for a long time (or when the process sleeps), then
366this "current" time will differ substantially from the real time, which
367might affect timers and time-outs.
368
369When this is the case, you can call this method, which will update the
370event loop's idea of "current time".
371
372A typical example would be a script in a web server (e.g. C<mod_perl>) -
373when mod_perl executes the script, then the event loop will have the wrong
374idea about the "current time" (being potentially far in the past, when the
375script ran the last time). In that case you should arrange a call to C<<
376AnyEvent->now_update >> each time the web server process wakes up again
377(e.g. at the start of your script, or in a handler).
378
379Note that updating the time I<might> cause some events to be handled.
380
381=back
382
233=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS 383=head2 SIGNAL WATCHERS
234 384
385 $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => <uppercase_signal_name>, cb => <callback>);
386
235You can watch for signals using a signal watcher, C<signal> is the signal 387You can watch for signals using a signal watcher, C<signal> is the signal
236I<name> without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl callback to 388I<name> in uppercase and without any C<SIG> prefix, C<cb> is the Perl
237be invoked whenever a signal occurs. 389callback to be invoked whenever a signal occurs.
238 390
239Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and 391Although the callback might get passed parameters, their value and
240presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent 392presence is undefined and you cannot rely on them. Portable AnyEvent
241callbacks cannot use arguments passed to signal watcher callbacks. 393callbacks cannot use arguments passed to signal watcher callbacks.
242 394
243Multiple signal occurances can be clumped together into one callback 395Multiple signal occurrences can be clumped together into one callback
244invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. synchronous means 396invocation, and callback invocation will be synchronous. Synchronous means
245that it might take a while until the signal gets handled by the process, 397that it might take a while until the signal gets handled by the process,
246but it is guarenteed not to interrupt any other callbacks. 398but it is guaranteed not to interrupt any other callbacks.
247 399
248The main advantage of using these watchers is that you can share a signal 400The main advantage of using these watchers is that you can share a signal
249between multiple watchers. 401between multiple watchers, and AnyEvent will ensure that signals will not
402interrupt your program at bad times.
250 403
251This watcher might use C<%SIG>, so programs overwriting those signals 404This watcher might use C<%SIG> (depending on the event loop used),
252directly will likely not work correctly. 405so programs overwriting those signals directly will likely not work
406correctly.
253 407
254Example: exit on SIGINT 408Example: exit on SIGINT
255 409
256 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 }); 410 my $w = AnyEvent->signal (signal => "INT", cb => sub { exit 1 });
257 411
412=head3 Restart Behaviour
413
414While restart behaviour is up to the event loop implementation, most will
415not restart syscalls (that includes L<Async::Interrupt> and AnyEvent's
416pure perl implementation).
417
418=head3 Safe/Unsafe Signals
419
420Perl signals can be either "safe" (synchronous to opcode handling) or
421"unsafe" (asynchronous) - the former might get delayed indefinitely, the
422latter might corrupt your memory.
423
424AnyEvent signal handlers are, in addition, synchronous to the event loop,
425i.e. they will not interrupt your running perl program but will only be
426called as part of the normal event handling (just like timer, I/O etc.
427callbacks, too).
428
429=head3 Signal Races, Delays and Workarounds
430
431Many event loops (e.g. Glib, Tk, Qt, IO::Async) do not support attaching
432callbacks to signals in a generic way, which is a pity, as you cannot
433do race-free signal handling in perl, requiring C libraries for
434this. AnyEvent will try to do its best, which means in some cases,
435signals will be delayed. The maximum time a signal might be delayed is
436specified in C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY> (default: 10 seconds). This
437variable can be changed only before the first signal watcher is created,
438and should be left alone otherwise. This variable determines how often
439AnyEvent polls for signals (in case a wake-up was missed). Higher values
440will cause fewer spurious wake-ups, which is better for power and CPU
441saving.
442
443All these problems can be avoided by installing the optional
444L<Async::Interrupt> module, which works with most event loops. It will not
445work with inherently broken event loops such as L<Event> or L<Event::Lib>
446(and not with L<POE> currently, as POE does its own workaround with
447one-second latency). For those, you just have to suffer the delays.
448
258=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS 449=head2 CHILD PROCESS WATCHERS
259 450
451 $w = AnyEvent->child (pid => <process id>, cb => <callback>);
452
260You can also watch on a child process exit and catch its exit status. 453You can also watch for a child process exit and catch its exit status.
261 454
262The child process is specified by the C<pid> argument (if set to C<0>, it 455The child process is specified by the C<pid> argument (on some backends,
263watches for any child process exit). The watcher will trigger as often 456using C<0> watches for any child process exit, on others this will
264as status change for the child are received. This works by installing a 457croak). The watcher will be triggered only when the child process has
265signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>. The callback will be called with the pid 458finished and an exit status is available, not on any trace events
266and exit status (as returned by waitpid), so unlike other watcher types, 459(stopped/continued).
267you I<can> rely on child watcher callback arguments. 460
461The callback will be called with the pid and exit status (as returned by
462waitpid), so unlike other watcher types, you I<can> rely on child watcher
463callback arguments.
464
465This watcher type works by installing a signal handler for C<SIGCHLD>,
466and since it cannot be shared, nothing else should use SIGCHLD or reap
467random child processes (waiting for specific child processes, e.g. inside
468C<system>, is just fine).
268 469
269There is a slight catch to child watchers, however: you usually start them 470There is a slight catch to child watchers, however: you usually start them
270I<after> the child process was created, and this means the process could 471I<after> the child process was created, and this means the process could
271have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore). 472have exited already (and no SIGCHLD will be sent anymore).
272 473
273Not all event models handle this correctly (POE doesn't), but even for 474Not all event models handle this correctly (neither POE nor IO::Async do,
475see their AnyEvent::Impl manpages for details), but even for event models
274event models that I<do> handle this correctly, they usually need to be 476that I<do> handle this correctly, they usually need to be loaded before
275loaded before the process exits (i.e. before you fork in the first place). 477the process exits (i.e. before you fork in the first place). AnyEvent's
478pure perl event loop handles all cases correctly regardless of when you
479start the watcher.
276 480
277This means you cannot create a child watcher as the very first thing in an 481This means you cannot create a child watcher as the very first
278AnyEvent program, you I<have> to create at least one watcher before you 482thing in an AnyEvent program, you I<have> to create at least one
279C<fork> the child (alternatively, you can call C<AnyEvent::detect>). 483watcher before you C<fork> the child (alternatively, you can call
484C<AnyEvent::detect>).
485
486As most event loops do not support waiting for child events, they will be
487emulated by AnyEvent in most cases, in which case the latency and race
488problems mentioned in the description of signal watchers apply.
280 489
281Example: fork a process and wait for it 490Example: fork a process and wait for it
282 491
283 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar; 492 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
284 493
285 AnyEvent::detect; # force event module to be initialised
286
287 my $pid = fork or exit 5; 494 my $pid = fork or exit 5;
288 495
289 my $w = AnyEvent->child ( 496 my $w = AnyEvent->child (
290 pid => $pid, 497 pid => $pid,
291 cb => sub { 498 cb => sub {
292 my ($pid, $status) = @_; 499 my ($pid, $status) = @_;
293 warn "pid $pid exited with status $status"; 500 warn "pid $pid exited with status $status";
294 $done->broadcast; 501 $done->send;
295 }, 502 },
296 ); 503 );
297 504
298 # do something else, then wait for process exit 505 # do something else, then wait for process exit
299 $done->wait; 506 $done->recv;
507
508=head2 IDLE WATCHERS
509
510 $w = AnyEvent->idle (cb => <callback>);
511
512This will repeatedly invoke the callback after the process becomes idle,
513until either the watcher is destroyed or new events have been detected.
514
515Idle watchers are useful when there is a need to do something, but it
516is not so important (or wise) to do it instantly. The callback will be
517invoked only when there is "nothing better to do", which is usually
518defined as "all outstanding events have been handled and no new events
519have been detected". That means that idle watchers ideally get invoked
520when the event loop has just polled for new events but none have been
521detected. Instead of blocking to wait for more events, the idle watchers
522will be invoked.
523
524Unfortunately, most event loops do not really support idle watchers (only
525EV, Event and Glib do it in a usable fashion) - for the rest, AnyEvent
526will simply call the callback "from time to time".
527
528Example: read lines from STDIN, but only process them when the
529program is otherwise idle:
530
531 my @lines; # read data
532 my $idle_w;
533 my $io_w = AnyEvent->io (fh => \*STDIN, poll => 'r', cb => sub {
534 push @lines, scalar <STDIN>;
535
536 # start an idle watcher, if not already done
537 $idle_w ||= AnyEvent->idle (cb => sub {
538 # handle only one line, when there are lines left
539 if (my $line = shift @lines) {
540 print "handled when idle: $line";
541 } else {
542 # otherwise disable the idle watcher again
543 undef $idle_w;
544 }
545 });
546 });
300 547
301=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES 548=head2 CONDITION VARIABLES
302 549
550 $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
551
552 $cv->send (<list>);
553 my @res = $cv->recv;
554
555If you are familiar with some event loops you will know that all of them
556require you to run some blocking "loop", "run" or similar function that
557will actively watch for new events and call your callbacks.
558
559AnyEvent is slightly different: it expects somebody else to run the event
560loop and will only block when necessary (usually when told by the user).
561
562The tool to do that is called a "condition variable", so called because
563they represent a condition that must become true.
564
565Now is probably a good time to look at the examples further below.
566
303Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar >> 567Condition variables can be created by calling the C<< AnyEvent->condvar
304method without any arguments. 568>> method, usually without arguments. The only argument pair allowed is
569C<cb>, which specifies a callback to be called when the condition variable
570becomes true, with the condition variable as the first argument (but not
571the results).
305 572
306A condition variable waits for a condition - precisely that the C<< 573After creation, the condition variable is "false" until it becomes "true"
307->broadcast >> method has been called. 574by calling the C<send> method (or calling the condition variable as if it
575were a callback, read about the caveats in the description for the C<<
576->send >> method).
308 577
309They are very useful to signal that a condition has been fulfilled, for 578Since condition variables are the most complex part of the AnyEvent API, here are
579some different mental models of what they are - pick the ones you can connect to:
580
581=over 4
582
583=item * Condition variables are like callbacks - you can call them (and pass them instead
584of callbacks). Unlike callbacks however, you can also wait for them to be called.
585
586=item * Condition variables are signals - one side can emit or send them,
587the other side can wait for them, or install a handler that is called when
588the signal fires.
589
590=item * Condition variables are like "Merge Points" - points in your program
591where you merge multiple independent results/control flows into one.
592
593=item * Condition variables represent a transaction - functions that start
594some kind of transaction can return them, leaving the caller the choice
595between waiting in a blocking fashion, or setting a callback.
596
597=item * Condition variables represent future values, or promises to deliver
598some result, long before the result is available.
599
600=back
601
602Condition variables are very useful to signal that something has finished,
310example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests, 603for example, if you write a module that does asynchronous http requests,
311then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the 604then a condition variable would be the ideal candidate to signal the
312availability of results. 605availability of results. The user can either act when the callback is
606called or can synchronously C<< ->recv >> for the results.
313 607
314You can also use condition variables to block your main program until 608You can also use them to simulate traditional event loops - for example,
315an event occurs - for example, you could C<< ->wait >> in your main 609you 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<< 610could C<< ->recv >> in your main program until the user clicks the Quit
317->broadcast >> the "quit" event. 611button of your app, which would C<< ->send >> the "quit" event.
318 612
319Note that condition variables recurse into the event loop - if you have 613Note 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 614two 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 615lose. Therefore, condition variables are good to export to your caller, but
322you should avoid making a blocking wait yourself, at least in callbacks, 616you should avoid making a blocking wait yourself, at least in callbacks,
323as this asks for trouble. 617as this asks for trouble.
324 618
325This object has two methods: 619Condition variables are represented by hash refs in perl, and the keys
620used by AnyEvent itself are all named C<_ae_XXX> to make subclassing
621easy (it is often useful to build your own transaction class on top of
622AnyEvent). To subclass, use C<AnyEvent::CondVar> as base class and call
623its C<new> method in your own C<new> method.
624
625There are two "sides" to a condition variable - the "producer side" which
626eventually calls C<< -> send >>, and the "consumer side", which waits
627for the send to occur.
628
629Example: wait for a timer.
630
631 # condition: "wait till the timer is fired"
632 my $timer_fired = AnyEvent->condvar;
633
634 # create the timer - we could wait for, say
635 # a handle becomign ready, or even an
636 # AnyEvent::HTTP request to finish, but
637 # in this case, we simply use a timer:
638 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (
639 after => 1,
640 cb => sub { $timer_fired->send },
641 );
642
643 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the callback
644 # calls ->send
645 $timer_fired->recv;
646
647Example: wait for a timer, but take advantage of the fact that condition
648variables are also callable directly.
649
650 my $done = AnyEvent->condvar;
651 my $delay = AnyEvent->timer (after => 5, cb => $done);
652 $done->recv;
653
654Example: Imagine an API that returns a condvar and doesn't support
655callbacks. This is how you make a synchronous call, for example from
656the main program:
657
658 use AnyEvent::CouchDB;
659
660 ...
661
662 my @info = $couchdb->info->recv;
663
664And this is how you would just set a callback to be called whenever the
665results are available:
666
667 $couchdb->info->cb (sub {
668 my @info = $_[0]->recv;
669 });
670
671=head3 METHODS FOR PRODUCERS
672
673These methods should only be used by the producing side, i.e. the
674code/module that eventually sends the signal. Note that it is also
675the producer side which creates the condvar in most cases, but it isn't
676uncommon for the consumer to create it as well.
326 677
327=over 4 678=over 4
328 679
680=item $cv->send (...)
681
682Flag the condition as ready - a running C<< ->recv >> and all further
683calls to C<recv> will (eventually) return after this method has been
684called. If nobody is waiting the send will be remembered.
685
686If a callback has been set on the condition variable, it is called
687immediately from within send.
688
689Any arguments passed to the C<send> call will be returned by all
690future C<< ->recv >> calls.
691
692Condition variables are overloaded so one can call them directly (as if
693they were a code reference). Calling them directly is the same as calling
694C<send>.
695
696=item $cv->croak ($error)
697
698Similar to send, but causes all calls to C<< ->recv >> to invoke
699C<Carp::croak> with the given error message/object/scalar.
700
701This can be used to signal any errors to the condition variable
702user/consumer. Doing it this way instead of calling C<croak> directly
703delays the error detection, but has the overwhelming advantage that it
704diagnoses the error at the place where the result is expected, and not
705deep in some event callback with no connection to the actual code causing
706the problem.
707
708=item $cv->begin ([group callback])
709
329=item $cv->wait 710=item $cv->end
330 711
331Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->broadcast >> method has been 712These two methods can be used to combine many transactions/events into
332called on c<$cv>, while servicing other watchers normally. 713one. For example, a function that pings many hosts in parallel might want
714to use a condition variable for the whole process.
333 715
716Every call to C<< ->begin >> will increment a counter, and every call to
717C<< ->end >> will decrement it. If the counter reaches C<0> in C<< ->end
718>>, the (last) callback passed to C<begin> will be executed, passing the
719condvar as first argument. That callback is I<supposed> to call C<< ->send
720>>, but that is not required. If no group callback was set, C<send> will
721be called without any arguments.
722
723You can think of C<< $cv->send >> giving you an OR condition (one call
724sends), while C<< $cv->begin >> and C<< $cv->end >> giving you an AND
725condition (all C<begin> calls must be C<end>'ed before the condvar sends).
726
727Let's start with a simple example: you have two I/O watchers (for example,
728STDOUT and STDERR for a program), and you want to wait for both streams to
729close before activating a condvar:
730
731 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
732
733 $cv->begin; # first watcher
734 my $w1 = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh1, cb => sub {
735 defined sysread $fh1, my $buf, 4096
736 or $cv->end;
737 });
738
739 $cv->begin; # second watcher
740 my $w2 = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh2, cb => sub {
741 defined sysread $fh2, my $buf, 4096
742 or $cv->end;
743 });
744
745 $cv->recv;
746
747This works because for every event source (EOF on file handle), there is
748one call to C<begin>, so the condvar waits for all calls to C<end> before
749sending.
750
751The ping example mentioned above is slightly more complicated, as the
752there are results to be passwd back, and the number of tasks that are
753begun can potentially be zero:
754
755 my $cv = AnyEvent->condvar;
756
757 my %result;
758 $cv->begin (sub { shift->send (\%result) });
759
760 for my $host (@list_of_hosts) {
761 $cv->begin;
762 ping_host_then_call_callback $host, sub {
763 $result{$host} = ...;
764 $cv->end;
765 };
766 }
767
768 $cv->end;
769
770This code fragment supposedly pings a number of hosts and calls
771C<send> after results for all then have have been gathered - in any
772order. To achieve this, the code issues a call to C<begin> when it starts
773each ping request and calls C<end> when it has received some result for
774it. Since C<begin> and C<end> only maintain a counter, the order in which
775results arrive is not relevant.
776
777There is an additional bracketing call to C<begin> and C<end> outside the
778loop, which serves two important purposes: first, it sets the callback
779to be called once the counter reaches C<0>, and second, it ensures that
780C<send> is called even when C<no> hosts are being pinged (the loop
781doesn't execute once).
782
783This is the general pattern when you "fan out" into multiple (but
784potentially zero) subrequests: use an outer C<begin>/C<end> pair to set
785the callback and ensure C<end> is called at least once, and then, for each
786subrequest you start, call C<begin> and for each subrequest you finish,
787call C<end>.
788
789=back
790
791=head3 METHODS FOR CONSUMERS
792
793These methods should only be used by the consuming side, i.e. the
794code awaits the condition.
795
796=over 4
797
798=item $cv->recv
799
800Wait (blocking if necessary) until the C<< ->send >> or C<< ->croak
801>> methods have been called on C<$cv>, while servicing other watchers
802normally.
803
334You can only wait once on a condition - additional calls will return 804You can only wait once on a condition - additional calls are valid but
335immediately. 805will return immediately.
806
807If an error condition has been set by calling C<< ->croak >>, then this
808function will call C<croak>.
809
810In list context, all parameters passed to C<send> will be returned,
811in scalar context only the first one will be returned.
812
813Note that doing a blocking wait in a callback is not supported by any
814event loop, that is, recursive invocation of a blocking C<< ->recv
815>> is not allowed, and the C<recv> call will C<croak> if such a
816condition is detected. This condition can be slightly loosened by using
817L<Coro::AnyEvent>, which allows you to do a blocking C<< ->recv >> from
818any thread that doesn't run the event loop itself.
336 819
337Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case 820Not all event models support a blocking wait - some die in that case
338(programs might want to do that to stay interactive), so I<if you are 821(programs might want to do that to stay interactive), so I<if you are
339using this from a module, never require a blocking wait>, but let the 822using this from a module, never require a blocking wait>. Instead, let the
340caller decide whether the call will block or not (for example, by coupling 823caller decide whether the call will block or not (for example, by coupling
341condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting 824condition variables with some kind of request results and supporting
342callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block, 825callbacks so the caller knows that getting the result will not block,
343while still suppporting blocking waits if the caller so desires). 826while still supporting blocking waits if the caller so desires).
344 827
345Another reason I<never> to C<< ->wait >> in a module is that you cannot 828You can ensure that C<< ->recv >> never blocks by setting a callback and
346sensibly have two C<< ->wait >>'s in parallel, as that would require 829only calling C<< ->recv >> from within that callback (or at a later
347multiple interpreters or coroutines/threads, none of which C<AnyEvent> 830time). This will work even when the event loop does not support blocking
348can supply (the coroutine-aware backends L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV> and 831waits otherwise.
349L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent> explicitly support concurrent C<< ->wait >>'s
350from different coroutines, however).
351 832
352=item $cv->broadcast 833=item $bool = $cv->ready
353 834
354Flag the condition as ready - a running C<< ->wait >> and all further 835Returns true when the condition is "true", i.e. whether C<send> or
355calls to C<wait> will (eventually) return after this method has been 836C<croak> have been called.
356called. If nobody is waiting the broadcast will be remembered.. 837
838=item $cb = $cv->cb ($cb->($cv))
839
840This is a mutator function that returns the callback set and optionally
841replaces it before doing so.
842
843The callback will be called when the condition becomes "true", i.e. when
844C<send> or C<croak> are called, with the only argument being the
845condition variable itself. If the condition is already true, the
846callback is called immediately when it is set. Calling C<recv> inside
847the callback or at any later time is guaranteed not to block.
357 848
358=back 849=back
359 850
360Example: 851=head1 SUPPORTED EVENT LOOPS/BACKENDS
361 852
362 # wait till the result is ready 853The available backend classes are (every class has its own manpage):
363 my $result_ready = AnyEvent->condvar;
364 854
365 # do something such as adding a timer 855=over 4
366 # or socket watcher the calls $result_ready->broadcast
367 # when the "result" is ready.
368 # in this case, we simply use a timer:
369 my $w = AnyEvent->timer (
370 after => 1,
371 cb => sub { $result_ready->broadcast },
372 );
373 856
374 # this "blocks" (while handling events) till the watcher 857=item Backends that are autoprobed when no other event loop can be found.
375 # calls broadcast 858
376 $result_ready->wait; 859EV is the preferred backend when no other event loop seems to be in
860use. If EV is not installed, then AnyEvent will fall back to its own
861pure-perl implementation, which is available everywhere as it comes with
862AnyEvent itself.
863
864 AnyEvent::Impl::EV based on EV (interface to libev, best choice).
865 AnyEvent::Impl::Perl pure-perl AnyEvent::Loop, fast and portable.
866
867=item Backends that are transparently being picked up when they are used.
868
869These will be used if they are already loaded when the first watcher
870is created, in which case it is assumed that the application is using
871them. This means that AnyEvent will automatically pick the right backend
872when the main program loads an event module before anything starts to
873create watchers. Nothing special needs to be done by the main program.
874
875 AnyEvent::Impl::Event based on Event, very stable, few glitches.
876 AnyEvent::Impl::Glib based on Glib, slow but very stable.
877 AnyEvent::Impl::Tk based on Tk, very broken.
878 AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib based on Event::Lib, leaks memory and worse.
879 AnyEvent::Impl::POE based on POE, very slow, some limitations.
880 AnyEvent::Impl::Irssi used when running within irssi.
881 AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync based on IO::Async.
882 AnyEvent::Impl::Cocoa based on Cocoa::EventLoop.
883 AnyEvent::Impl::FLTK based on FLTK (fltk 2 binding).
884
885=item Backends with special needs.
886
887Qt requires the Qt::Application to be instantiated first, but will
888otherwise be picked up automatically. As long as the main program
889instantiates the application before any AnyEvent watchers are created,
890everything should just work.
891
892 AnyEvent::Impl::Qt based on Qt.
893
894=item Event loops that are indirectly supported via other backends.
895
896Some event loops can be supported via other modules:
897
898There is no direct support for WxWidgets (L<Wx>) or L<Prima>.
899
900B<WxWidgets> has no support for watching file handles. However, you can
901use WxWidgets through the POE adaptor, as POE has a Wx backend that simply
902polls 20 times per second, which was considered to be too horrible to even
903consider for AnyEvent.
904
905B<Prima> is not supported as nobody seems to be using it, but it has a POE
906backend, so it can be supported through POE.
907
908AnyEvent knows about both L<Prima> and L<Wx>, however, and will try to
909load L<POE> when detecting them, in the hope that POE will pick them up,
910in which case everything will be automatic.
911
912=back
377 913
378=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS 914=head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES AND FUNCTIONS
379 915
916These are not normally required to use AnyEvent, but can be useful to
917write AnyEvent extension modules.
918
380=over 4 919=over 4
381 920
382=item $AnyEvent::MODEL 921=item $AnyEvent::MODEL
383 922
384Contains C<undef> until the first watcher is being created. Then it 923Contains C<undef> until the first watcher is being created, before the
924backend has been autodetected.
925
385contains the event model that is being used, which is the name of the 926Afterwards it contains the event model that is being used, which is the
386Perl class implementing the model. This class is usually one of the 927name 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 928of 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>). 929case AnyEvent has been extended at runtime (e.g. in I<rxvt-unicode> it
389 930will 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.
412 931
413=item AnyEvent::detect 932=item AnyEvent::detect
414 933
415Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model 934Returns C<$AnyEvent::MODEL>, forcing autodetection of the event model
416if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would 935if necessary. You should only call this function right before you would
417have created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, as late as possible at 936have created an AnyEvent watcher anyway, that is, as late as possible at
418runtime. 937runtime, and not e.g. during initialisation of your module.
938
939The effect of calling this function is as if a watcher had been created
940(specifically, actions that happen "when the first watcher is created"
941happen when calling detetc as well).
942
943If you need to do some initialisation before AnyEvent watchers are
944created, use C<post_detect>.
945
946=item $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }
947
948Arranges for the code block to be executed as soon as the event model is
949autodetected (or immediately if that has already happened).
950
951The block will be executed I<after> the actual backend has been detected
952(C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> is set), but I<before> any watchers have been
953created, so it is possible to e.g. patch C<@AnyEvent::ISA> or do
954other initialisations - see the sources of L<AnyEvent::Strict> or
955L<AnyEvent::AIO> to see how this is used.
956
957The most common usage is to create some global watchers, without forcing
958event module detection too early, for example, L<AnyEvent::AIO> creates
959and installs the global L<IO::AIO> watcher in a C<post_detect> block to
960avoid autodetecting the event module at load time.
961
962If called in scalar or list context, then it creates and returns an object
963that automatically removes the callback again when it is destroyed (or
964C<undef> when the hook was immediately executed). See L<AnyEvent::AIO> for
965a case where this is useful.
966
967Example: Create a watcher for the IO::AIO module and store it in
968C<$WATCHER>, but do so only do so after the event loop is initialised.
969
970 our WATCHER;
971
972 my $guard = AnyEvent::post_detect {
973 $WATCHER = AnyEvent->io (fh => IO::AIO::poll_fileno, poll => 'r', cb => \&IO::AIO::poll_cb);
974 };
975
976 # the ||= is important in case post_detect immediately runs the block,
977 # as to not clobber the newly-created watcher. assigning both watcher and
978 # post_detect guard to the same variable has the advantage of users being
979 # able to just C<undef $WATCHER> if the watcher causes them grief.
980
981 $WATCHER ||= $guard;
982
983=item @AnyEvent::post_detect
984
985If there are any code references in this array (you can C<push> to it
986before or after loading AnyEvent), then they will be called directly
987after the event loop has been chosen.
988
989You should check C<$AnyEvent::MODEL> before adding to this array, though:
990if it is defined then the event loop has already been detected, and the
991array will be ignored.
992
993Best use C<AnyEvent::post_detect { BLOCK }> when your application allows
994it, as it takes care of these details.
995
996This variable is mainly useful for modules that can do something useful
997when AnyEvent is used and thus want to know when it is initialised, but do
998not need to even load it by default. This array provides the means to hook
999into AnyEvent passively, without loading it.
1000
1001Example: To load Coro::AnyEvent whenever Coro and AnyEvent are used
1002together, you could put this into Coro (this is the actual code used by
1003Coro to accomplish this):
1004
1005 if (defined $AnyEvent::MODEL) {
1006 # AnyEvent already initialised, so load Coro::AnyEvent
1007 require Coro::AnyEvent;
1008 } else {
1009 # AnyEvent not yet initialised, so make sure to load Coro::AnyEvent
1010 # as soon as it is
1011 push @AnyEvent::post_detect, sub { require Coro::AnyEvent };
1012 }
1013
1014=item AnyEvent::postpone { BLOCK }
1015
1016Arranges for the block to be executed as soon as possible, but not before
1017the call itself returns. In practise, the block will be executed just
1018before the event loop polls for new events, or shortly afterwards.
1019
1020This function never returns anything (to make the C<return postpone { ...
1021}> idiom more useful.
1022
1023To understand the usefulness of this function, consider a function that
1024asynchronously does something for you and returns some transaction
1025object or guard to let you cancel the operation. For example,
1026C<AnyEvent::Socket::tcp_connect>:
1027
1028 # start a conenction attempt unless one is active
1029 $self->{connect_guard} ||= AnyEvent::Socket::tcp_connect "www.example.net", 80, sub {
1030 delete $self->{connect_guard};
1031 ...
1032 };
1033
1034Imagine that this function could instantly call the callback, for
1035example, because it detects an obvious error such as a negative port
1036number. Invoking the callback before the function returns causes problems
1037however: the callback will be called and will try to delete the guard
1038object. But since the function hasn't returned yet, there is nothing to
1039delete. When the function eventually returns it will assign the guard
1040object to C<< $self->{connect_guard} >>, where it will likely never be
1041deleted, so the program thinks it is still trying to connect.
1042
1043This is where C<AnyEvent::postpone> should be used. Instead of calling the
1044callback directly on error:
1045
1046 $cb->(undef), return # signal error to callback, BAD!
1047 if $some_error_condition;
1048
1049It should use C<postpone>:
1050
1051 AnyEvent::postpone { $cb->(undef) }, return # signal error to callback, later
1052 if $some_error_condition;
1053
1054=item AnyEvent::log $level, $msg[, @args]
1055
1056Log the given C<$msg> at the given C<$level>.
1057
1058If L<AnyEvent::Log> is not loaded then this function makes a simple test
1059to see whether the message will be logged. If the test succeeds it will
1060load AnyEvent::Log and call C<AnyEvent::Log::log> - consequently, look at
1061the L<AnyEvent::Log> documentation for details.
1062
1063If the test fails it will simply return. Right now this happens when a
1064numerical loglevel is used and it is larger than the level specified via
1065C<$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}>.
1066
1067If you want to sprinkle loads of logging calls around your code, consider
1068creating a logger callback with the C<AnyEvent::Log::logger> function,
1069which can reduce typing, codesize and can reduce the logging overhead
1070enourmously.
419 1071
420=back 1072=back
421 1073
422=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE 1074=head1 WHAT TO DO IN A MODULE
423 1075
427Be careful when you create watchers in the module body - AnyEvent will 1079Be 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 1080decide 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 1081by calling AnyEvent in your module body you force the user of your module
430to load the event module first. 1082to load the event module first.
431 1083
432Never call C<< ->wait >> on a condition variable unless you I<know> that 1084Never call C<< ->recv >> on a condition variable unless you I<know> that
433the C<< ->broadcast >> method has been called on it already. This is 1085the C<< ->send >> method has been called on it already. This is
434because it will stall the whole program, and the whole point of using 1086because it will stall the whole program, and the whole point of using
435events is to stay interactive. 1087events is to stay interactive.
436 1088
437It is fine, however, to call C<< ->wait >> when the user of your module 1089It 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 1090requests 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 >> 1091called C<results> that returns the results, it may call C<< ->recv >>
440freely, as the user of your module knows what she is doing. always). 1092freely, as the user of your module knows what she is doing. Always).
441 1093
442=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM 1094=head1 WHAT TO DO IN THE MAIN PROGRAM
443 1095
444There will always be a single main program - the only place that should 1096There will always be a single main program - the only place that should
445dictate which event model to use. 1097dictate which event model to use.
446 1098
447If it doesn't care, it can just "use AnyEvent" and use it itself, or not 1099If the program is not event-based, it need not do anything special, even
448do anything special (it does not need to be event-based) and let AnyEvent 1100when it depends on a module that uses an AnyEvent. If the program itself
449decide which implementation to chose if some module relies on it. 1101uses AnyEvent, but does not care which event loop is used, all it needs
1102to do is C<use AnyEvent>. In either case, AnyEvent will choose the best
1103available loop implementation.
450 1104
451If the main program relies on a specific event model. For example, in 1105If the main program relies on a specific event model - for example, in
452Gtk2 programs you have to rely on the Glib module. You should load the 1106Gtk2 programs you have to rely on the Glib module - you should load the
453event module before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it: generally 1107event module before loading AnyEvent or any module that uses it: generally
454speaking, you should load it as early as possible. The reason is that 1108speaking, you should load it as early as possible. The reason is that
455modules might create watchers when they are loaded, and AnyEvent will 1109modules 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 1110decide 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. 1111might choose the wrong one unless you load the correct one yourself.
458 1112
459You can chose to use a rather inefficient pure-perl implementation by 1113You can chose to use a pure-perl implementation by loading the
460loading the C<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl> module, which gives you similar 1114C<AnyEvent::Loop> module, which gives you similar behaviour
461behaviour everywhere, but letting AnyEvent chose is generally better. 1115everywhere, but letting AnyEvent chose the model is generally better.
1116
1117=head2 MAINLOOP EMULATION
1118
1119Sometimes (often for short test scripts, or even standalone programs who
1120only want to use AnyEvent), you do not want to run a specific event loop.
1121
1122In that case, you can use a condition variable like this:
1123
1124 AnyEvent->condvar->recv;
1125
1126This has the effect of entering the event loop and looping forever.
1127
1128Note that usually your program has some exit condition, in which case
1129it is better to use the "traditional" approach of storing a condition
1130variable somewhere, waiting for it, and sending it when the program should
1131exit cleanly.
1132
1133
1134=head1 OTHER MODULES
1135
1136The following is a non-exhaustive list of additional modules that use
1137AnyEvent as a client and can therefore be mixed easily with other
1138AnyEvent modules and other event loops in the same program. Some of the
1139modules come as part of AnyEvent, the others are available via CPAN (see
1140L<http://search.cpan.org/search?m=module&q=anyevent%3A%3A*> for
1141a longer non-exhaustive list), and the list is heavily biased towards
1142modules of the AnyEvent author himself :)
1143
1144=over 4
1145
1146=item L<AnyEvent::Util>
1147
1148Contains various utility functions that replace often-used blocking
1149functions such as C<inet_aton> with event/callback-based versions.
1150
1151=item L<AnyEvent::Socket>
1152
1153Provides various utility functions for (internet protocol) sockets,
1154addresses and name resolution. Also functions to create non-blocking tcp
1155connections or tcp servers, with IPv6 and SRV record support and more.
1156
1157=item L<AnyEvent::Handle>
1158
1159Provide read and write buffers, manages watchers for reads and writes,
1160supports raw and formatted I/O, I/O queued and fully transparent and
1161non-blocking SSL/TLS (via L<AnyEvent::TLS>).
1162
1163=item L<AnyEvent::DNS>
1164
1165Provides rich asynchronous DNS resolver capabilities.
1166
1167=item L<AnyEvent::HTTP>, L<AnyEvent::IRC>, L<AnyEvent::XMPP>, L<AnyEvent::GPSD>, L<AnyEvent::IGS>, L<AnyEvent::FCP>
1168
1169Implement event-based interfaces to the protocols of the same name (for
1170the curious, IGS is the International Go Server and FCP is the Freenet
1171Client Protocol).
1172
1173=item L<AnyEvent::AIO>
1174
1175Truly asynchronous (as opposed to non-blocking) I/O, should be in the
1176toolbox of every event programmer. AnyEvent::AIO transparently fuses
1177L<IO::AIO> and AnyEvent together, giving AnyEvent access to event-based
1178file I/O, and much more.
1179
1180=item L<AnyEvent::Filesys::Notify>
1181
1182AnyEvent is good for non-blocking stuff, but it can't detect file or
1183path changes (e.g. "watch this directory for new files", "watch this
1184file for changes"). The L<AnyEvent::Filesys::Notify> module promises to
1185do just that in a portbale fashion, supporting inotify on GNU/Linux and
1186some weird, without doubt broken, stuff on OS X to monitor files. It can
1187fall back to blocking scans at regular intervals transparently on other
1188platforms, so it's about as portable as it gets.
1189
1190(I haven't used it myself, but I haven't heard anybody complaining about
1191it yet).
1192
1193=item L<AnyEvent::DBI>
1194
1195Executes L<DBI> requests asynchronously in a proxy process for you,
1196notifying you in an event-based way when the operation is finished.
1197
1198=item L<AnyEvent::HTTPD>
1199
1200A simple embedded webserver.
1201
1202=item L<AnyEvent::FastPing>
1203
1204The fastest ping in the west.
1205
1206=item L<Coro>
1207
1208Has special support for AnyEvent via L<Coro::AnyEvent>, which allows you
1209to simply invert the flow control - don't call us, we will call you:
1210
1211 async {
1212 Coro::AnyEvent::sleep 5; # creates a 5s timer and waits for it
1213 print "5 seconds later!\n";
1214
1215 Coro::AnyEvent::readable *STDIN; # uses an I/O watcher
1216 my $line = <STDIN>; # works for ttys
1217
1218 AnyEvent::HTTP::http_get "url", Coro::rouse_cb;
1219 my ($body, $hdr) = Coro::rouse_wait;
1220 };
1221
1222=back
462 1223
463=cut 1224=cut
464 1225
465package AnyEvent; 1226package AnyEvent;
466 1227
467no warnings; 1228# basically a tuned-down version of common::sense
468use strict; 1229sub common_sense {
1230 # from common:.sense 3.4
1231 ${^WARNING_BITS} ^= ${^WARNING_BITS} ^ "\x3c\x3f\x33\x00\x0f\xf0\x0f\xc0\xf0\xfc\x33\x00";
1232 # use strict vars subs - NO UTF-8, as Util.pm doesn't like this atm. (uts46data.pl)
1233 $^H |= 0x00000600;
1234}
469 1235
1236BEGIN { AnyEvent::common_sense }
1237
470use Carp; 1238use Carp ();
471 1239
472our $VERSION = '3.3'; 1240our $VERSION = '6.02';
473our $MODEL; 1241our $MODEL;
474
475our $AUTOLOAD;
476our @ISA; 1242our @ISA;
477
478our $verbose = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1;
479
480our @REGISTRY; 1243our @REGISTRY;
1244our $VERBOSE;
1245our $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY = 10;
1246our %PROTOCOL; # (ipv4|ipv6) => (1|2), higher numbers are preferred
481 1247
1248BEGIN {
1249 require "AnyEvent/constants.pl";
1250
1251 eval "sub TAINT (){" . (${^TAINT}*1) . "}";
1252
1253 delete @ENV{grep /^PERL_ANYEVENT_/, keys %ENV}
1254 if ${^TAINT};
1255
1256 $ENV{"PERL_ANYEVENT_$_"} = $ENV{"AE_$_"}
1257 for grep s/^AE_// && !exists $ENV{"PERL_ANYEVENT_$_"}, keys %ENV;
1258
1259 @ENV{grep /^PERL_ANYEVENT_/, keys %ENV} = ()
1260 if ${^TAINT};
1261
1262 # $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_xxx} now valid
1263
1264 $VERBOSE = length $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE} ? $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}*1 : 3;
1265
1266 my $idx;
1267 $PROTOCOL{$_} = ++$idx
1268 for reverse split /\s*,\s*/,
1269 $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS} || "ipv4,ipv6";
1270}
1271
1272our @post_detect;
1273
1274sub post_detect(&) {
1275 my ($cb) = @_;
1276
1277 push @post_detect, $cb;
1278
1279 defined wantarray
1280 ? bless \$cb, "AnyEvent::Util::postdetect"
1281 : ()
1282}
1283
1284sub AnyEvent::Util::postdetect::DESTROY {
1285 @post_detect = grep $_ != ${$_[0]}, @post_detect;
1286}
1287
1288our $POSTPONE_W;
1289our @POSTPONE;
1290
1291sub _postpone_exec {
1292 undef $POSTPONE_W;
1293
1294 &{ shift @POSTPONE }
1295 while @POSTPONE;
1296}
1297
1298sub postpone(&) {
1299 push @POSTPONE, shift;
1300
1301 $POSTPONE_W ||= AE::timer (0, 0, \&_postpone_exec);
1302
1303 ()
1304}
1305
1306sub log($$;@) {
1307 # only load the big bloated module when we actually are about to log something
1308 if ($_[0] <= $VERBOSE) { # also catches non-numeric levels(!)
1309 require AnyEvent::Log;
1310 # AnyEvent::Log overwrites this function
1311 goto &log;
1312 }
1313
1314 0 # not logged
1315}
1316
1317if (length $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_LOG}) {
1318 require AnyEvent::Log; # AnyEvent::Log does the thing for us
1319}
1320
482my @models = ( 1321our @models = (
483 [Coro::EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV::],
484 [Coro::Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent::],
485 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV::], 1322 [EV:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EV:: , 1],
1323 [AnyEvent::Loop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: , 1],
1324 # everything below here will not (normally) be autoprobed
1325 # as the pure perl backend should work everywhere
1326 # and is usually faster
486 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::], 1327 [Event:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Event::, 1],
487 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib::], 1328 [Glib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Glib:: , 1], # becomes extremely slow with many watchers
1329 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy
1330 [Irssi:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Irssi::], # Irssi has a bogus "Event" package
488 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], 1331 [Tk:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Tk::], # crashes with many handles
1332 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program
1333 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza
489 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], 1334 [Wx:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
490 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], 1335 [Prima:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::],
491 [AnyEvent::Impl::Perl:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Perl::], 1336 [IO::Async::Loop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync::], # a bitch to autodetect
492 # everything below here will not be autoprobed as the pureperl backend should work everywhere 1337 [Cocoa::EventLoop:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Cocoa::],
493 [Event::Lib:: => AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib::], # too buggy 1338 [FLTK:: => AnyEvent::Impl::FLTK::],
494 [Qt:: => AnyEvent::Impl::Qt::], # requires special main program
495 [POE::Kernel:: => AnyEvent::Impl::POE::], # lasciate ogni speranza
496); 1339);
497 1340
498our %method = map +($_ => 1), qw(io timer signal child condvar broadcast wait one_event DESTROY); 1341our @isa_hook;
1342
1343sub _isa_set {
1344 my @pkg = ("AnyEvent", (map $_->[0], grep defined, @isa_hook), $MODEL);
1345
1346 @{"$pkg[$_-1]::ISA"} = $pkg[$_]
1347 for 1 .. $#pkg;
1348
1349 grep $_ && $_->[1], @isa_hook
1350 and AE::_reset ();
1351}
1352
1353# used for hooking AnyEvent::Strict and AnyEvent::Debug::Wrap into the class hierarchy
1354sub _isa_hook($$;$) {
1355 my ($i, $pkg, $reset_ae) = @_;
1356
1357 $isa_hook[$i] = $pkg ? [$pkg, $reset_ae] : undef;
1358
1359 _isa_set;
1360}
1361
1362# all autoloaded methods reserve the complete glob, not just the method slot.
1363# due to bugs in perls method cache implementation.
1364our @methods = qw(io timer time now now_update signal child idle condvar);
499 1365
500sub detect() { 1366sub detect() {
1367 return $MODEL if $MODEL; # some programs keep references to detect
1368
1369 local $!; # for good measure
1370 local $SIG{__DIE__}; # we use eval
1371
1372 # free some memory
1373 *detect = sub () { $MODEL };
1374 # undef &func doesn't correctly update the method cache. grmbl.
1375 # so we delete the whole glob. grmbl.
1376 # otoh, perl doesn't let me undef an active usb, but it lets me free
1377 # a glob with an active sub. hrm. i hope it works, but perl is
1378 # usually buggy in this department. sigh.
1379 delete @{"AnyEvent::"}{@methods};
1380 undef @methods;
1381
1382 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z0-9:]+)$/) {
1383 my $model = $1;
1384 $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$model" unless $model =~ s/::$//;
1385 if (eval "require $model") {
1386 AnyEvent::log 7 => "loaded model '$model' (forced by \$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}), using it.";
1387 $MODEL = $model;
1388 } else {
1389 AnyEvent::log 5 => "unable to load model '$model' (from \$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL}):\n$@";
1390 }
1391 }
1392
1393 # check for already loaded models
501 unless ($MODEL) { 1394 unless ($MODEL) {
502 no strict 'refs'; 1395 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
503 1396 my ($package, $model) = @$_;
504 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} =~ /^([a-zA-Z]+)$/) { 1397 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) {
505 my $model = "AnyEvent::Impl::$1";
506 if (eval "require $model") { 1398 if (eval "require $model") {
1399 AnyEvent::log 7 => "autodetected model '$model', using it.";
507 $MODEL = $model; 1400 $MODEL = $model;
508 warn "AnyEvent: loaded model '$model' (forced by \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1401 last;
509 } else { 1402 }
510 warn "AnyEvent: unable to load model '$model' (from \$PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL):\n$@" if $verbose;
511 } 1403 }
512 } 1404 }
513 1405
514 # check for already loaded models
515 unless ($MODEL) { 1406 unless ($MODEL) {
1407 # try to autoload a model
516 for (@REGISTRY, @models) { 1408 for (@REGISTRY, @models) {
517 my ($package, $model) = @$_; 1409 my ($package, $model, $autoload) = @$_;
1410 if (
1411 $autoload
1412 and eval "require $package"
518 if (${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0) { 1413 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0
519 if (eval "require $model") { 1414 and eval "require $model"
1415 ) {
1416 AnyEvent::log 7 => "autoloaded model '$model', using it.";
520 $MODEL = $model; 1417 $MODEL = $model;
521 warn "AnyEvent: autodetected model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1;
522 last; 1418 last;
523 }
524 } 1419 }
525 } 1420 }
526 1421
527 unless ($MODEL) { 1422 $MODEL
528 # try to load a model 1423 or die "AnyEvent: backend autodetection failed - did you properly install AnyEvent?";
1424 }
1425 }
529 1426
530 for (@REGISTRY, @models) { 1427 # free memory only needed for probing
531 my ($package, $model) = @$_; 1428 undef @models;
532 if (eval "require $package" 1429 undef @REGISTRY;
533 and ${"$package\::VERSION"} > 0 1430
534 and eval "require $model") { 1431 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base";
535 $MODEL = $model; 1432
536 warn "AnyEvent: autoprobed model '$model', using it.\n" if $verbose > 1; 1433 # now nuke some methods that are overridden by the backend.
1434 # SUPER usage is not allowed in these.
1435 for (qw(time signal child idle)) {
1436 undef &{"AnyEvent::Base::$_"}
1437 if defined &{"$MODEL\::$_"};
1438 }
1439
1440 _isa_set;
1441
1442 # we're officially open!
1443
1444 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT}) {
1445 require AnyEvent::Strict;
1446 }
1447
1448 if ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_WRAP}) {
1449 require AnyEvent::Debug;
1450 AnyEvent::Debug::wrap ($ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_WRAP});
1451 }
1452
1453 if (length $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_SHELL}) {
1454 require AnyEvent::Socket;
1455 require AnyEvent::Debug;
1456
1457 my $shell = $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_SHELL};
1458 $shell =~ s/\$\$/$$/g;
1459
1460 my ($host, $service) = AnyEvent::Socket::parse_hostport ($shell);
1461 $AnyEvent::Debug::SHELL = AnyEvent::Debug::shell ($host, $service);
1462 }
1463
1464 # now the anyevent environment is set up as the user told us to, so
1465 # call the actual user code - post detects
1466
1467 (shift @post_detect)->() while @post_detect;
1468 undef @post_detect;
1469
1470 *post_detect = sub(&) {
1471 shift->();
1472
1473 undef
1474 };
1475
1476 $MODEL
1477}
1478
1479for my $name (@methods) {
1480 *$name = sub {
1481 detect;
1482 # we use goto because
1483 # a) it makes the thunk more transparent
1484 # b) it allows us to delete the thunk later
1485 goto &{ UNIVERSAL::can AnyEvent => "SUPER::$name" }
1486 };
1487}
1488
1489# utility function to dup a filehandle. this is used by many backends
1490# to support binding more than one watcher per filehandle (they usually
1491# allow only one watcher per fd, so we dup it to get a different one).
1492sub _dupfh($$;$$) {
1493 my ($poll, $fh, $r, $w) = @_;
1494
1495 # cygwin requires the fh mode to be matching, unix doesn't
1496 my ($rw, $mode) = $poll eq "r" ? ($r, "<&") : ($w, ">&");
1497
1498 open my $fh2, $mode, $fh
1499 or die "AnyEvent->io: cannot dup() filehandle in mode '$poll': $!,";
1500
1501 # we assume CLOEXEC is already set by perl in all important cases
1502
1503 ($fh2, $rw)
1504}
1505
1506=head1 SIMPLIFIED AE API
1507
1508Starting with version 5.0, AnyEvent officially supports a second, much
1509simpler, API that is designed to reduce the calling, typing and memory
1510overhead by using function call syntax and a fixed number of parameters.
1511
1512See the L<AE> manpage for details.
1513
1514=cut
1515
1516package AE;
1517
1518our $VERSION = $AnyEvent::VERSION;
1519
1520sub _reset() {
1521 eval q{
1522 # fall back to the main API by default - backends and AnyEvent::Base
1523 # implementations can overwrite these.
1524
1525 sub io($$$) {
1526 AnyEvent->io (fh => $_[0], poll => $_[1] ? "w" : "r", cb => $_[2])
1527 }
1528
1529 sub timer($$$) {
1530 AnyEvent->timer (after => $_[0], interval => $_[1], cb => $_[2])
1531 }
1532
1533 sub signal($$) {
1534 AnyEvent->signal (signal => $_[0], cb => $_[1])
1535 }
1536
1537 sub child($$) {
1538 AnyEvent->child (pid => $_[0], cb => $_[1])
1539 }
1540
1541 sub idle($) {
1542 AnyEvent->idle (cb => $_[0]);
1543 }
1544
1545 sub cv(;&) {
1546 AnyEvent->condvar (@_ ? (cb => $_[0]) : ())
1547 }
1548
1549 sub now() {
1550 AnyEvent->now
1551 }
1552
1553 sub now_update() {
1554 AnyEvent->now_update
1555 }
1556
1557 sub time() {
1558 AnyEvent->time
1559 }
1560
1561 *postpone = \&AnyEvent::postpone;
1562 *log = \&AnyEvent::log;
1563 };
1564 die if $@;
1565}
1566
1567BEGIN { _reset }
1568
1569package AnyEvent::Base;
1570
1571# default implementations for many methods
1572
1573sub time {
1574 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1575 # probe for availability of Time::HiRes
1576 if (eval "use Time::HiRes (); Time::HiRes::time (); 1") {
1577 *time = sub { Time::HiRes::time () };
1578 *AE::time = \& Time::HiRes::time ;
1579 *now = \&time;
1580 AnyEvent::log 8 => "AnyEvent: using Time::HiRes for sub-second timing accuracy.";
1581 # if (eval "use POSIX (); (POSIX::times())...
1582 } else {
1583 *time = sub { CORE::time };
1584 *AE::time = sub (){ CORE::time };
1585 *now = \&time;
1586 AnyEvent::log 3 => "using built-in time(), WARNING, no sub-second resolution!";
1587 }
1588 };
1589 die if $@;
1590
1591 &time
1592}
1593
1594*now = \&time;
1595sub now_update { }
1596
1597sub _poll {
1598 Carp::croak "$AnyEvent::MODEL does not support blocking waits. Caught";
1599}
1600
1601# default implementation for ->condvar
1602# in fact, the default should not be overwritten
1603
1604sub condvar {
1605 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1606 *condvar = sub {
1607 bless { @_ == 3 ? (_ae_cb => $_[2]) : () }, "AnyEvent::CondVar"
1608 };
1609
1610 *AE::cv = sub (;&) {
1611 bless { @_ ? (_ae_cb => shift) : () }, "AnyEvent::CondVar"
1612 };
1613 };
1614 die if $@;
1615
1616 &condvar
1617}
1618
1619# default implementation for ->signal
1620
1621our $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT;
1622
1623sub _have_async_interrupt() {
1624 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT = 1*(!$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_ASYNC_INTERRUPT}
1625 && eval "use Async::Interrupt 1.02 (); 1")
1626 unless defined $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT;
1627
1628 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1629}
1630
1631our ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W, %SIG_CB, %SIG_EV, $SIG_IO);
1632our (%SIG_ASY, %SIG_ASY_W);
1633our ($SIG_COUNT, $SIG_TW);
1634
1635# install a dummy wakeup watcher to reduce signal catching latency
1636# used by Impls
1637sub _sig_add() {
1638 unless ($SIG_COUNT++) {
1639 # try to align timer on a full-second boundary, if possible
1640 my $NOW = AE::now;
1641
1642 $SIG_TW = AE::timer
1643 $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY - ($NOW - int $NOW),
1644 $MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY,
1645 sub { } # just for the PERL_ASYNC_CHECK
1646 ;
1647 }
1648}
1649
1650sub _sig_del {
1651 undef $SIG_TW
1652 unless --$SIG_COUNT;
1653}
1654
1655our $_sig_name_init; $_sig_name_init = sub {
1656 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1657 undef $_sig_name_init;
1658
1659 if (_have_async_interrupt) {
1660 *sig2num = \&Async::Interrupt::sig2num;
1661 *sig2name = \&Async::Interrupt::sig2name;
1662 } else {
1663 require Config;
1664
1665 my %signame2num;
1666 @signame2num{ split ' ', $Config::Config{sig_name} }
1667 = split ' ', $Config::Config{sig_num};
1668
1669 my @signum2name;
1670 @signum2name[values %signame2num] = keys %signame2num;
1671
1672 *sig2num = sub($) {
1673 $_[0] > 0 ? shift : $signame2num{+shift}
1674 };
1675 *sig2name = sub ($) {
1676 $_[0] > 0 ? $signum2name[+shift] : shift
1677 };
1678 }
1679 };
1680 die if $@;
1681};
1682
1683sub sig2num ($) { &$_sig_name_init; &sig2num }
1684sub sig2name($) { &$_sig_name_init; &sig2name }
1685
1686sub signal {
1687 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1688 # probe for availability of Async::Interrupt
1689 if (_have_async_interrupt) {
1690 AnyEvent::log 8 => "using Async::Interrupt for race-free signal handling.";
1691
1692 $SIGPIPE_R = new Async::Interrupt::EventPipe;
1693 $SIG_IO = AE::io $SIGPIPE_R->fileno, 0, \&_signal_exec;
1694
1695 } else {
1696 AnyEvent::log 8 => "using emulated perl signal handling with latency timer.";
1697
1698 if (AnyEvent::WIN32) {
1699 require AnyEvent::Util;
1700
1701 ($SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W) = AnyEvent::Util::portable_pipe ();
1702 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_R, 1) if $SIGPIPE_R;
1703 AnyEvent::Util::fh_nonblocking ($SIGPIPE_W, 1) if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case
1704 } else {
1705 pipe $SIGPIPE_R, $SIGPIPE_W;
1706 fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, AnyEvent::F_SETFL, AnyEvent::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_R;
1707 fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, AnyEvent::F_SETFL, AnyEvent::O_NONBLOCK if $SIGPIPE_W; # just in case
1708
1709 # not strictly required, as $^F is normally 2, but let's make sure...
1710 fcntl $SIGPIPE_R, AnyEvent::F_SETFD, AnyEvent::FD_CLOEXEC;
1711 fcntl $SIGPIPE_W, AnyEvent::F_SETFD, AnyEvent::FD_CLOEXEC;
1712 }
1713
1714 $SIGPIPE_R
1715 or Carp::croak "AnyEvent: unable to create a signal reporting pipe: $!\n";
1716
1717 $SIG_IO = AE::io $SIGPIPE_R, 0, \&_signal_exec;
1718 }
1719
1720 *signal = $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1721 ? sub {
1722 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1723
1724 # async::interrupt
1725 my $signal = sig2num $arg{signal};
1726 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1727
1728 $SIG_ASY{$signal} ||= new Async::Interrupt
1729 cb => sub { undef $SIG_EV{$signal} },
1730 signal => $signal,
1731 pipe => [$SIGPIPE_R->filenos],
1732 pipe_autodrain => 0,
1733 ;
1734
1735 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::signal"
1736 }
1737 : sub {
1738 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1739
1740 # pure perl
1741 my $signal = sig2name $arg{signal};
1742 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
1743
1744 $SIG{$signal} ||= sub {
537 last; 1745 local $!;
1746 syswrite $SIGPIPE_W, "\x00", 1 unless %SIG_EV;
1747 undef $SIG_EV{$signal};
538 } 1748 };
1749
1750 # can't do signal processing without introducing races in pure perl,
1751 # so limit the signal latency.
1752 _sig_add;
1753
1754 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::signal"
1755 }
1756 ;
1757
1758 *AnyEvent::Base::signal::DESTROY = sub {
1759 my ($signal, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
1760
1761 _sig_del;
1762
1763 delete $SIG_CB{$signal}{$cb};
1764
1765 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1766 ? delete $SIG_ASY{$signal}
1767 : # delete doesn't work with older perls - they then
1768 # print weird messages, or just unconditionally exit
1769 # instead of getting the default action.
1770 undef $SIG{$signal}
1771 unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} };
1772 };
1773
1774 *_signal_exec = sub {
1775 $HAVE_ASYNC_INTERRUPT
1776 ? $SIGPIPE_R->drain
1777 : sysread $SIGPIPE_R, (my $dummy), 9;
1778
1779 while (%SIG_EV) {
1780 for (keys %SIG_EV) {
1781 delete $SIG_EV{$_};
1782 &$_ for values %{ $SIG_CB{$_} || {} };
539 } 1783 }
540
541 $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.";
543 } 1784 }
544 } 1785 };
545
546 unshift @ISA, $MODEL;
547 push @{"$MODEL\::ISA"}, "AnyEvent::Base";
548 }
549
550 $MODEL
551}
552
553sub AUTOLOAD {
554 (my $func = $AUTOLOAD) =~ s/.*://;
555
556 $method{$func}
557 or croak "$func: not a valid method for AnyEvent objects";
558
559 detect unless $MODEL;
560
561 my $class = shift;
562 $class->$func (@_);
563}
564
565package AnyEvent::Base;
566
567# default implementation for ->condvar, ->wait, ->broadcast
568
569sub condvar {
570 bless \my $flag, "AnyEvent::Base::CondVar"
571}
572
573sub AnyEvent::Base::CondVar::broadcast {
574 ${$_[0]}++;
575}
576
577sub AnyEvent::Base::CondVar::wait {
578 AnyEvent->one_event while !${$_[0]};
579}
580
581# default implementation for ->signal
582
583our %SIG_CB;
584
585sub signal {
586 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
587
588 my $signal = uc $arg{signal}
589 or Carp::croak "required option 'signal' is missing";
590
591 $SIG_CB{$signal}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb};
592 $SIG{$signal} ||= sub {
593 $_->() for values %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} || {} };
594 }; 1786 };
1787 die if $@;
595 1788
596 bless [$signal, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Signal" 1789 &signal
597}
598
599sub AnyEvent::Base::Signal::DESTROY {
600 my ($signal, $cb) = @{$_[0]};
601
602 delete $SIG_CB{$signal}{$cb};
603
604 $SIG{$signal} = 'DEFAULT' unless keys %{ $SIG_CB{$signal} };
605} 1790}
606 1791
607# default implementation for ->child 1792# default implementation for ->child
608 1793
609our %PID_CB; 1794our %PID_CB;
610our $CHLD_W; 1795our $CHLD_W;
611our $CHLD_DELAY_W; 1796our $CHLD_DELAY_W;
612our $PID_IDLE;
613our $WNOHANG;
614 1797
615sub _child_wait { 1798# used by many Impl's
616 while (0 < (my $pid = waitpid -1, $WNOHANG)) { 1799sub _emit_childstatus($$) {
1800 my (undef, $rpid, $rstatus) = @_;
1801
1802 $_->($rpid, $rstatus)
617 $_->($pid, $?) for (values %{ $PID_CB{$pid} || {} }), 1803 for values %{ $PID_CB{$rpid} || {} },
618 (values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} }); 1804 values %{ $PID_CB{0} || {} };
1805}
1806
1807sub child {
1808 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1809 *_sigchld = sub {
1810 my $pid;
1811
1812 AnyEvent->_emit_childstatus ($pid, $?)
1813 while ($pid = waitpid -1, WNOHANG) > 0;
1814 };
1815
1816 *child = sub {
1817 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1818
1819 my $pid = $arg{pid};
1820 my $cb = $arg{cb};
1821
1822 $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb+0} = $cb;
1823
1824 unless ($CHLD_W) {
1825 $CHLD_W = AE::signal CHLD => \&_sigchld;
1826 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round
1827 &_sigchld;
1828 }
1829
1830 bless [$pid, $cb+0], "AnyEvent::Base::child"
1831 };
1832
1833 *AnyEvent::Base::child::DESTROY = sub {
1834 my ($pid, $icb) = @{$_[0]};
1835
1836 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$icb};
1837 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} };
1838
1839 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB;
1840 };
1841 };
1842 die if $@;
1843
1844 &child
1845}
1846
1847# idle emulation is done by simply using a timer, regardless
1848# of whether the process is idle or not, and not letting
1849# the callback use more than 50% of the time.
1850sub idle {
1851 eval q{ # poor man's autoloading {}
1852 *idle = sub {
1853 my (undef, %arg) = @_;
1854
1855 my ($cb, $w, $rcb) = $arg{cb};
1856
1857 $rcb = sub {
1858 if ($cb) {
1859 $w = AE::time;
1860 &$cb;
1861 $w = AE::time - $w;
1862
1863 # never use more then 50% of the time for the idle watcher,
1864 # within some limits
1865 $w = 0.0001 if $w < 0.0001;
1866 $w = 5 if $w > 5;
1867
1868 $w = AE::timer $w, 0, $rcb;
1869 } else {
1870 # clean up...
1871 undef $w;
1872 undef $rcb;
1873 }
1874 };
1875
1876 $w = AE::timer 0.05, 0, $rcb;
1877
1878 bless \\$cb, "AnyEvent::Base::idle"
1879 };
1880
1881 *AnyEvent::Base::idle::DESTROY = sub {
1882 undef $${$_[0]};
1883 };
1884 };
1885 die if $@;
1886
1887 &idle
1888}
1889
1890package AnyEvent::CondVar;
1891
1892our @ISA = AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::;
1893
1894# only to be used for subclassing
1895sub new {
1896 my $class = shift;
1897 bless AnyEvent->condvar (@_), $class
1898}
1899
1900package AnyEvent::CondVar::Base;
1901
1902#use overload
1903# '&{}' => sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } },
1904# fallback => 1;
1905
1906# save 300+ kilobytes by dirtily hardcoding overloading
1907${"AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::OVERLOAD"}{dummy}++; # Register with magic by touching.
1908*{'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::()'} = sub { }; # "Make it findable via fetchmethod."
1909*{'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::(&{}'} = sub { my $self = shift; sub { $self->send (@_) } }; # &{}
1910${'AnyEvent::CondVar::Base::()'} = 1; # fallback
1911
1912our $WAITING;
1913
1914sub _send {
1915 # nop
1916}
1917
1918sub _wait {
1919 AnyEvent->_poll until $_[0]{_ae_sent};
1920}
1921
1922sub send {
1923 my $cv = shift;
1924 $cv->{_ae_sent} = [@_];
1925 (delete $cv->{_ae_cb})->($cv) if $cv->{_ae_cb};
1926 $cv->_send;
1927}
1928
1929sub croak {
1930 $_[0]{_ae_croak} = $_[1];
1931 $_[0]->send;
1932}
1933
1934sub ready {
1935 $_[0]{_ae_sent}
1936}
1937
1938sub recv {
1939 unless ($_[0]{_ae_sent}) {
1940 $WAITING
1941 and Carp::croak "AnyEvent::CondVar: recursive blocking wait attempted";
1942
1943 local $WAITING = 1;
1944 $_[0]->_wait;
619 } 1945 }
620 1946
621 undef $PID_IDLE; 1947 $_[0]{_ae_croak}
622} 1948 and Carp::croak $_[0]{_ae_croak};
623 1949
624sub _sigchld { 1950 wantarray
625 # make sure we deliver these changes "synchronous" with the event loop. 1951 ? @{ $_[0]{_ae_sent} }
626 $CHLD_DELAY_W ||= AnyEvent->timer (after => 0, cb => sub { 1952 : $_[0]{_ae_sent}[0]
627 undef $CHLD_DELAY_W;
628 &_child_wait;
629 });
630} 1953}
631 1954
632sub child { 1955sub cb {
633 my (undef, %arg) = @_; 1956 my $cv = shift;
634 1957
635 defined (my $pid = $arg{pid} + 0) 1958 @_
636 or Carp::croak "required option 'pid' is missing"; 1959 and $cv->{_ae_cb} = shift
1960 and $cv->{_ae_sent}
1961 and (delete $cv->{_ae_cb})->($cv);
637 1962
638 $PID_CB{$pid}{$arg{cb}} = $arg{cb}; 1963 $cv->{_ae_cb}
639
640 unless ($WNOHANG) {
641 $WNOHANG = eval { require POSIX; &POSIX::WNOHANG } || 1;
642 }
643
644 unless ($CHLD_W) {
645 $CHLD_W = AnyEvent->signal (signal => 'CHLD', cb => \&_sigchld);
646 # child could be a zombie already, so make at least one round
647 &_sigchld;
648 }
649
650 bless [$pid, $arg{cb}], "AnyEvent::Base::Child"
651} 1964}
652 1965
653sub AnyEvent::Base::Child::DESTROY { 1966sub begin {
654 my ($pid, $cb) = @{$_[0]}; 1967 ++$_[0]{_ae_counter};
655 1968 $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} = $_[1] if @_ > 1;
656 delete $PID_CB{$pid}{$cb};
657 delete $PID_CB{$pid} unless keys %{ $PID_CB{$pid} };
658
659 undef $CHLD_W unless keys %PID_CB;
660} 1969}
1970
1971sub end {
1972 return if --$_[0]{_ae_counter};
1973 &{ $_[0]{_ae_end_cb} || sub { $_[0]->send } };
1974}
1975
1976# undocumented/compatibility with pre-3.4
1977*broadcast = \&send;
1978*wait = \&recv;
1979
1980=head1 ERROR AND EXCEPTION HANDLING
1981
1982In general, AnyEvent does not do any error handling - it relies on the
1983caller to do that if required. The L<AnyEvent::Strict> module (see also
1984the C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT> environment variable, below) provides strict
1985checking of all AnyEvent methods, however, which is highly useful during
1986development.
1987
1988As for exception handling (i.e. runtime errors and exceptions thrown while
1989executing a callback), this is not only highly event-loop specific, but
1990also not in any way wrapped by this module, as this is the job of the main
1991program.
1992
1993The pure perl event loop simply re-throws the exception (usually
1994within C<< condvar->recv >>), the L<Event> and L<EV> modules call C<<
1995$Event/EV::DIED->() >>, L<Glib> uses C<< install_exception_handler >> and
1996so on.
1997
1998=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
1999
2000AnyEvent supports a number of environment variables that tune the
2001runtime behaviour. They are usually evaluated when AnyEvent is
2002loaded, initialised, or a submodule that uses them is loaded. Many of
2003them also cause AnyEvent to load additional modules - for example,
2004C<PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_WRAP> causes the L<AnyEvent::Debug> module to be
2005loaded.
2006
2007All the environment variables documented here start with
2008C<PERL_ANYEVENT_>, which is what AnyEvent considers its own
2009namespace. Other modules are encouraged (but by no means required) to use
2010C<PERL_ANYEVENT_SUBMODULE> if they have registered the AnyEvent::Submodule
2011namespace on CPAN, for any submodule. For example, L<AnyEvent::HTTP> could
2012be expected to use C<PERL_ANYEVENT_HTTP_PROXY> (it should not access env
2013variables starting with C<AE_>, see below).
2014
2015All variables can also be set via the C<AE_> prefix, that is, instead
2016of setting C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE> you can also set C<AE_VERBOSE>. In
2017case there is a clash btween anyevent and another program that uses
2018C<AE_something> you can set the corresponding C<PERL_ANYEVENT_something>
2019variable to the empty string, as those variables take precedence.
2020
2021When AnyEvent is first loaded, it copies all C<AE_xxx> env variables
2022to their C<PERL_ANYEVENT_xxx> counterpart unless that variable already
2023exists. If taint mode is on, then AnyEvent will remove I<all> environment
2024variables starting with C<PERL_ANYEVENT_> from C<%ENV> (or replace them
2025with C<undef> or the empty string, if the corresaponding C<AE_> variable
2026is set).
2027
2028The exact algorithm is currently:
2029
2030 1. if taint mode enabled, delete all PERL_ANYEVENT_xyz variables from %ENV
2031 2. copy over AE_xyz to PERL_ANYEVENT_xyz unless the latter alraedy exists
2032 3. if taint mode enabled, set all PERL_ANYEVENT_xyz variables to undef.
2033
2034This ensures that child processes will not see the C<AE_> variables.
2035
2036The following environment variables are currently known to AnyEvent:
2037
2038=over 4
2039
2040=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE>
2041
2042By default, AnyEvent will only log messages with loglevel C<3>
2043(C<critical>) or higher (see L<AnyEvent::Log>). You can set this
2044environment variable to a numerical loglevel to make AnyEvent more (or
2045less) talkative.
2046
2047If you want to do more than just set the global logging level
2048you should have a look at C<PERL_ANYEVENT_LOG>, which allows much more
2049complex specifications.
2050
2051When set to C<0> (C<off>), then no messages whatsoever will be logged with
2052the default logging settings.
2053
2054When set to C<5> or higher (C<warn>), causes AnyEvent to warn about
2055unexpected conditions, such as not being able to load the event model
2056specified by C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>, or a guard callback throwing an
2057exception - this is the minimum recommended level.
2058
2059When set to C<7> or higher (info), cause AnyEvent to report which event model it
2060chooses.
2061
2062When set to C<8> or higher (debug), then AnyEvent will report extra information on
2063which optional modules it loads and how it implements certain features.
2064
2065=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_LOG>
2066
2067Accepts rather complex logging specifications. For example, you could log
2068all C<debug> messages of some module to stderr, warnings and above to
2069stderr, and errors and above to syslog, with:
2070
2071 PERL_ANYEVENT_LOG=Some::Module=debug,+log:filter=warn,+%syslog:%syslog=error,syslog
2072
2073For the rather extensive details, see L<AnyEvent::Log>.
2074
2075This variable is evaluated when AnyEvent (or L<AnyEvent::Log>) is loaded,
2076so will take effect even before AnyEvent has initialised itself.
2077
2078Note that specifying this environment variable causes the L<AnyEvent::Log>
2079module to be loaded, while C<PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE> does not, so only
2080using the latter saves a few hundred kB of memory until the first message
2081is being logged.
2082
2083=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT>
2084
2085AnyEvent does not do much argument checking by default, as thorough
2086argument checking is very costly. Setting this variable to a true value
2087will cause AnyEvent to load C<AnyEvent::Strict> and then to thoroughly
2088check the arguments passed to most method calls. If it finds any problems,
2089it will croak.
2090
2091In other words, enables "strict" mode.
2092
2093Unlike C<use strict> (or its modern cousin, C<< use L<common::sense>
2094>>, it is definitely recommended to keep it off in production. Keeping
2095C<PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT=1> in your environment while developing programs
2096can be very useful, however.
2097
2098=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_SHELL>
2099
2100If this env variable is nonempty, then its contents will be interpreted by
2101C<AnyEvent::Socket::parse_hostport> and C<AnyEvent::Debug::shell> (after
2102replacing every occurance of C<$$> by the process pid). The shell object
2103is saved in C<$AnyEvent::Debug::SHELL>.
2104
2105This happens when the first watcher is created.
2106
2107For example, to bind a debug shell on a unix domain socket in
2108F<< /tmp/debug<pid>.sock >>, you could use this:
2109
2110 PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_SHELL=/tmp/debug\$\$.sock perlprog
2111 # connect with e.g.: socat readline /tmp/debug123.sock
2112
2113Or to bind to tcp port 4545 on localhost:
2114
2115 PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_SHELL=127.0.0.1:4545 perlprog
2116 # connect with e.g.: telnet localhost 4545
2117
2118Note that creating sockets in F</tmp> or on localhost is very unsafe on
2119multiuser systems.
2120
2121=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_DEBUG_WRAP>
2122
2123Can be set to C<0>, C<1> or C<2> and enables wrapping of all watchers for
2124debugging purposes. See C<AnyEvent::Debug::wrap> for details.
2125
2126=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL>
2127
2128This can be used to specify the event model to be used by AnyEvent, before
2129auto detection and -probing kicks in.
2130
2131It normally is a string consisting entirely of ASCII letters (e.g. C<EV>
2132or C<IOAsync>). The string C<AnyEvent::Impl::> gets prepended and the
2133resulting module name is loaded and - if the load was successful - used as
2134event model backend. If it fails to load then AnyEvent will proceed with
2135auto detection and -probing.
2136
2137If the string ends with C<::> instead (e.g. C<AnyEvent::Impl::EV::>) then
2138nothing gets prepended and the module name is used as-is (hint: C<::> at
2139the end of a string designates a module name and quotes it appropriately).
2140
2141For example, to force the pure perl model (L<AnyEvent::Loop::Perl>) you
2142could start your program like this:
2143
2144 PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL=Perl perl ...
2145
2146=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS>
2147
2148Used by both L<AnyEvent::DNS> and L<AnyEvent::Socket> to determine preferences
2149for IPv4 or IPv6. The default is unspecified (and might change, or be the result
2150of auto probing).
2151
2152Must be set to a comma-separated list of protocols or address families,
2153current supported: C<ipv4> and C<ipv6>. Only protocols mentioned will be
2154used, and preference will be given to protocols mentioned earlier in the
2155list.
2156
2157This variable can effectively be used for denial-of-service attacks
2158against local programs (e.g. when setuid), although the impact is likely
2159small, as the program has to handle conenction and other failures anyways.
2160
2161Examples: C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4,ipv6> - prefer IPv4 over IPv6,
2162but support both and try to use both. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv4>
2163- only support IPv4, never try to resolve or contact IPv6
2164addresses. C<PERL_ANYEVENT_PROTOCOLS=ipv6,ipv4> support either IPv4 or
2165IPv6, but prefer IPv6 over IPv4.
2166
2167=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_HOSTS>
2168
2169This variable, if specified, overrides the F</etc/hosts> file used by
2170L<AnyEvent::Socket>C<::resolve_sockaddr>, i.e. hosts aliases will be read
2171from that file instead.
2172
2173=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_EDNS0>
2174
2175Used by L<AnyEvent::DNS> to decide whether to use the EDNS0 extension for
2176DNS. This extension is generally useful to reduce DNS traffic, especially
2177when DNSSEC is involved, but some (broken) firewalls drop such DNS
2178packets, which is why it is off by default.
2179
2180Setting this variable to C<1> will cause L<AnyEvent::DNS> to announce
2181EDNS0 in its DNS requests.
2182
2183=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_FORKS>
2184
2185The maximum number of child processes that C<AnyEvent::Util::fork_call>
2186will create in parallel.
2187
2188=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_MAX_OUTSTANDING_DNS>
2189
2190The default value for the C<max_outstanding> parameter for the default DNS
2191resolver - this is the maximum number of parallel DNS requests that are
2192sent to the DNS server.
2193
2194=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_RESOLV_CONF>
2195
2196The absolute path to a F<resolv.conf>-style file to use instead of
2197F</etc/resolv.conf> (or the OS-specific configuration) in the default
2198resolver, or the empty string to select the default configuration.
2199
2200=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_CA_FILE>, C<PERL_ANYEVENT_CA_PATH>.
2201
2202When neither C<ca_file> nor C<ca_path> was specified during
2203L<AnyEvent::TLS> context creation, and either of these environment
2204variables are nonempty, they will be used to specify CA certificate
2205locations instead of a system-dependent default.
2206
2207=item C<PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_GUARD> and C<PERL_ANYEVENT_AVOID_ASYNC_INTERRUPT>
2208
2209When these are set to C<1>, then the respective modules are not
2210loaded. Mostly good for testing AnyEvent itself.
2211
2212=back
661 2213
662=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE 2214=head1 SUPPLYING YOUR OWN EVENT MODEL INTERFACE
663 2215
664This is an advanced topic that you do not normally need to use AnyEvent in 2216This 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 2217a module. This section is only of use to event loop authors who want to
699 2251
700I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to 2252I<rxvt-unicode> also cheats a bit by not providing blocking access to
701condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will 2253condition variables: code blocking while waiting for a condition will
702C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must 2254C<die>. This still works with most modules/usages, and blocking calls must
703not be done in an interactive application, so it makes sense. 2255not 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 2256
742=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM 2257=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM
743 2258
744The following program uses an I/O watcher to read data from STDIN, a timer 2259The 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 2260to display a message once per second, and a condition variable to quit the
754 poll => 'r', 2269 poll => 'r',
755 cb => sub { 2270 cb => sub {
756 warn "io event <$_[0]>\n"; # will always output <r> 2271 warn "io event <$_[0]>\n"; # will always output <r>
757 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); # read a line 2272 chomp (my $input = <STDIN>); # read a line
758 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read 2273 warn "read: $input\n"; # output what has been read
759 $cv->broadcast if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i 2274 $cv->send if $input =~ /^q/i; # quit program if /^q/i
760 }, 2275 },
761 ); 2276 );
762 2277
763 my $time_watcher; # can only be used once
764
765 sub new_timer {
766 $timer = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, cb => sub { 2278 my $time_watcher = AnyEvent->timer (after => 1, interval => 1, cb => sub {
767 warn "timeout\n"; # print 'timeout' about every second 2279 warn "timeout\n"; # print 'timeout' at most every second
768 &new_timer; # and restart the time
769 }); 2280 });
770 }
771 2281
772 new_timer; # create first timer
773
774 $cv->wait; # wait until user enters /^q/i 2282 $cv->recv; # wait until user enters /^q/i
775 2283
776=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE 2284=head1 REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE
777 2285
778Consider the L<Net::FCP> module. It features (among others) the following 2286Consider the L<Net::FCP> module. It features (among others) the following
779API calls, which are to freenet what HTTP GET requests are to http: 2287API calls, which are to freenet what HTTP GET requests are to http:
829 syswrite $txn->{fh}, $txn->{request} 2337 syswrite $txn->{fh}, $txn->{request}
830 or die "connection or write error"; 2338 or die "connection or write error";
831 $txn->{w} = AnyEvent->io (fh => $txn->{fh}, poll => 'r', cb => sub { $txn->fh_ready_r }); 2339 $txn->{w} = AnyEvent->io (fh => $txn->{fh}, poll => 'r', cb => sub { $txn->fh_ready_r });
832 2340
833Again, C<fh_ready_r> waits till all data has arrived, and then stores the 2341Again, 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: 2342result and signals any possible waiters that the request has finished:
835 2343
836 sysread $txn->{fh}, $txn->{buf}, length $txn->{$buf}; 2344 sysread $txn->{fh}, $txn->{buf}, length $txn->{$buf};
837 2345
838 if (end-of-file or data complete) { 2346 if (end-of-file or data complete) {
839 $txn->{result} = $txn->{buf}; 2347 $txn->{result} = $txn->{buf};
840 $txn->{finished}->broadcast; 2348 $txn->{finished}->send;
841 $txb->{cb}->($txn) of $txn->{cb}; # also call callback 2349 $txb->{cb}->($txn) of $txn->{cb}; # also call callback
842 } 2350 }
843 2351
844The C<result> method, finally, just waits for the finished signal (if the 2352The 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 2353request was already finished, it doesn't wait, of course, and returns the
846data: 2354data:
847 2355
848 $txn->{finished}->wait; 2356 $txn->{finished}->recv;
849 return $txn->{result}; 2357 return $txn->{result};
850 2358
851The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions) 2359The actual code goes further and collects all errors (C<die>s, exceptions)
852that occured during request processing. The C<result> method detects 2360that occurred during request processing. The C<result> method detects
853whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object) 2361whether an exception as thrown (it is stored inside the $txn object)
854and just throws the exception, which means connection errors and other 2362and 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 2363problems get reported to the code that tries to use the result, not in a
856random callback. 2364random callback.
857 2365
858All of this enables the following usage styles: 2366All of this enables the following usage styles:
859 2367
8601. Blocking: 23681. Blocking:
888 2396
889 my $quit = AnyEvent->condvar; 2397 my $quit = AnyEvent->condvar;
890 2398
891 $fcp->txn_client_get ($url)->cb (sub { 2399 $fcp->txn_client_get ($url)->cb (sub {
892 ... 2400 ...
893 $quit->broadcast; 2401 $quit->send;
894 }); 2402 });
895 2403
896 $quit->wait; 2404 $quit->recv;
897 2405
898 2406
899=head1 BENCHMARKS 2407=head1 BENCHMARKS
900 2408
901To give you an idea of the performance and overheads that AnyEvent adds 2409To give you an idea of the performance and overheads that AnyEvent adds
903of various event loops I prepared some benchmarks. 2411of various event loops I prepared some benchmarks.
904 2412
905=head2 BENCHMARKING ANYEVENT OVERHEAD 2413=head2 BENCHMARKING ANYEVENT OVERHEAD
906 2414
907Here is a benchmark of various supported event models used natively and 2415Here is a benchmark of various supported event models used natively and
908through anyevent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero 2416through AnyEvent. The benchmark creates a lot of timers (with a zero
909timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable, 2417timeout) and I/O watchers (watching STDOUT, a pty, to become writable,
910which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again. 2418which it is), lets them fire exactly once and destroys them again.
911 2419
912Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent 2420Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench> in the AnyEvent
913distribution. 2421distribution. It uses the L<AE> interface, which makes a real difference
2422for the EV and Perl backends only.
914 2423
915=head3 Explanation of the columns 2424=head3 Explanation of the columns
916 2425
917I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since 2426I<watcher> is the number of event watchers created/destroyed. Since
918different event models feature vastly different performances, each event 2427different event models feature vastly different performances, each event
930all watchers, to avoid adding memory overhead. That means closure creation 2439all watchers, to avoid adding memory overhead. That means closure creation
931and memory usage is not included in the figures. 2440and memory usage is not included in the figures.
932 2441
933I<invoke> is the time, in microseconds, used to invoke a simple 2442I<invoke> is the time, in microseconds, used to invoke a simple
934callback. The callback simply counts down a Perl variable and after it was 2443callback. The callback simply counts down a Perl variable and after it was
935invoked "watcher" times, it would C<< ->broadcast >> a condvar once to 2444invoked "watcher" times, it would C<< ->send >> a condvar once to
936signal the end of this phase. 2445signal the end of this phase.
937 2446
938I<destroy> is the time, in microseconds, that it takes to destroy a single 2447I<destroy> is the time, in microseconds, that it takes to destroy a single
939watcher. 2448watcher.
940 2449
941=head3 Results 2450=head3 Results
942 2451
943 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment 2452 name watchers bytes create invoke destroy comment
944 EV/EV 400000 244 0.56 0.46 0.31 EV native interface 2453 EV/EV 100000 223 0.47 0.43 0.27 EV native interface
945 EV/Any 100000 244 2.50 0.46 0.29 EV + AnyEvent watchers 2454 EV/Any 100000 223 0.48 0.42 0.26 EV + AnyEvent watchers
946 CoroEV/Any 100000 244 2.49 0.44 0.29 coroutines + Coro::Signal 2455 Coro::EV/Any 100000 223 0.47 0.42 0.26 coroutines + Coro::Signal
947 Perl/Any 100000 513 4.92 0.87 1.12 pure perl implementation 2456 Perl/Any 100000 431 2.70 0.74 0.92 pure perl implementation
948 Event/Event 16000 516 31.88 31.30 0.85 Event native interface 2457 Event/Event 16000 516 31.16 31.84 0.82 Event native interface
949 Event/Any 16000 936 39.17 33.63 1.43 Event + AnyEvent watchers 2458 Event/Any 16000 1203 42.61 34.79 1.80 Event + AnyEvent watchers
2459 IOAsync/Any 16000 1911 41.92 27.45 16.81 via IO::Async::Loop::IO_Poll
2460 IOAsync/Any 16000 1726 40.69 26.37 15.25 via IO::Async::Loop::Epoll
950 Glib/Any 16000 1357 98.22 12.41 54.00 quadratic behaviour 2461 Glib/Any 16000 1118 89.00 12.57 51.17 quadratic behaviour
951 Tk/Any 2000 1860 26.97 67.98 14.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers 2462 Tk/Any 2000 1346 20.96 10.75 8.00 SEGV with >> 2000 watchers
952 POE/Event 2000 6644 108.64 736.02 14.73 via POE::Loop::Event 2463 POE/Any 2000 6951 108.97 795.32 14.24 via POE::Loop::Event
953 POE/Select 2000 6343 94.13 809.12 565.96 via POE::Loop::Select 2464 POE/Any 2000 6648 94.79 774.40 575.51 via POE::Loop::Select
954 2465
955=head3 Discussion 2466=head3 Discussion
956 2467
957The benchmark does I<not> measure scalability of the event loop very 2468The 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) 2469well. For example, a select-based event loop (such as the pure perl one)
970benchmark machine, handling an event takes roughly 1600 CPU cycles with 2481benchmark machine, handling an event takes roughly 1600 CPU cycles with
971EV, 3100 CPU cycles with AnyEvent's pure perl loop and almost 3000000 CPU 2482EV, 3100 CPU cycles with AnyEvent's pure perl loop and almost 3000000 CPU
972cycles with POE. 2483cycles with POE.
973 2484
974C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both 2485C<EV> is the sole leader regarding speed and memory use, which are both
975maximal/minimal, respectively. Even when going through AnyEvent, it uses 2486maximal/minimal, respectively. When using the L<AE> API there is zero
2487overhead (when going through the AnyEvent API create is about 5-6 times
2488slower, with other times being equal, so still uses far less memory than
976far less memory than any other event loop and is still faster than Event 2489any other event loop and is still faster than Event natively).
977natively.
978 2490
979The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the 2491The pure perl implementation is hit in a few sweet spots (both the
980constant timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl 2492constant timeout and the use of a single fd hit optimisations in the perl
981interpreter and the backend itself). Nevertheless this shows that it 2493interpreter and the backend itself). Nevertheless this shows that it
982adds very little overhead in itself. Like any select-based backend its 2494adds very little overhead in itself. Like any select-based backend its
983performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of 2495performance becomes really bad with lots of file descriptors (and few of
984them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark. 2496them active), of course, but this was not subject of this benchmark.
985 2497
986The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation 2498The C<Event> module has a relatively high setup and callback invocation
987cost, but overall scores in on the third place. 2499cost, but overall scores in on the third place.
2500
2501C<IO::Async> performs admirably well, about on par with C<Event>, even
2502when using its pure perl backend.
988 2503
989C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a 2504C<Glib>'s memory usage is quite a bit higher, but it features a
990faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as 2505faster callback invocation and overall ends up in the same class as
991C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of 2506C<Event>. However, Glib scales extremely badly, doubling the number of
992watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four, 2507watchers increases the processing time by more than a factor of four,
1000file descriptor is dup()ed for each watcher. This shows that the dup() 2515file descriptor is dup()ed for each watcher. This shows that the dup()
1001employed by some adaptors is not a big performance issue (it does incur a 2516employed by some adaptors is not a big performance issue (it does incur a
1002hidden memory cost inside the kernel which is not reflected in the figures 2517hidden memory cost inside the kernel which is not reflected in the figures
1003above). 2518above).
1004 2519
1005C<POE>, regardless of underlying event loop (whether using its pure 2520C<POE>, regardless of underlying event loop (whether using its pure perl
1006perl select-based backend or the Event module, the POE-EV backend 2521select-based backend or the Event module, the POE-EV backend couldn't
1007couldn't be tested because it wasn't working) shows abysmal performance 2522be tested because it wasn't working) shows abysmal performance and
1008and memory usage: Watchers use almost 30 times as much memory as 2523memory usage with AnyEvent: Watchers use almost 30 times as much memory
1009EV watchers, and 10 times as much memory as Event (the high memory 2524as EV watchers, and 10 times as much memory as Event (the high memory
1010requirements are caused by requiring a session for each watcher). Watcher 2525requirements are caused by requiring a session for each watcher). Watcher
1011invocation speed is almost 900 times slower than with AnyEvent's pure perl 2526invocation speed is almost 900 times slower than with AnyEvent's pure perl
2527implementation.
2528
1012implementation. The design of the POE adaptor class in AnyEvent can not 2529The design of the POE adaptor class in AnyEvent can not really account
1013really account for this, as session creation overhead is small compared 2530for the performance issues, though, as session creation overhead is
1014to execution of the state machine, which is coded pretty optimally within 2531small compared to execution of the state machine, which is coded pretty
1015L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>. POE simply seems to be abysmally slow. 2532optimally within L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE> (and while everybody agrees that
2533using multiple sessions is not a good approach, especially regarding
2534memory usage, even the author of POE could not come up with a faster
2535design).
1016 2536
1017=head3 Summary 2537=head3 Summary
1018 2538
1019=over 4 2539=over 4
1020 2540
1022(even when used without AnyEvent), but most event loops have acceptable 2542(even when used without AnyEvent), but most event loops have acceptable
1023performance with or without AnyEvent. 2543performance with or without AnyEvent.
1024 2544
1025=item * The overhead AnyEvent adds is usually much smaller than the overhead of 2545=item * The overhead AnyEvent adds is usually much smaller than the overhead of
1026the actual event loop, only with extremely fast event loops such as EV 2546the actual event loop, only with extremely fast event loops such as EV
1027adds AnyEvent significant overhead. 2547does AnyEvent add significant overhead.
1028 2548
1029=item * You should avoid POE like the plague if you want performance or 2549=item * You should avoid POE like the plague if you want performance or
1030reasonable memory usage. 2550reasonable memory usage.
1031 2551
1032=back 2552=back
1033 2553
1034=head2 BENCHMARKING THE LARGE SERVER CASE 2554=head2 BENCHMARKING THE LARGE SERVER CASE
1035 2555
1036This benchmark atcually benchmarks the event loop itself. It works by 2556This benchmark actually benchmarks the event loop itself. It works by
1037creating a number of "servers": each server consists of a socketpair, a 2557creating a number of "servers": each server consists of a socket pair, a
1038timeout watcher that gets reset on activity (but never fires), and an I/O 2558timeout watcher that gets reset on activity (but never fires), and an I/O
1039watcher waiting for input on one side of the socket. Each time the socket 2559watcher waiting for input on one side of the socket. Each time the socket
1040watcher reads a byte it will write that byte to a random other "server". 2560watcher reads a byte it will write that byte to a random other "server".
1041 2561
1042The effect is that there will be a lot of I/O watchers, only part of which 2562The effect is that there will be a lot of I/O watchers, only part of which
1043are active at any one point (so there is a constant number of active 2563are active at any one point (so there is a constant number of active
1044fds for each loop iterstaion, but which fds these are is random). The 2564fds for each loop iteration, but which fds these are is random). The
1045timeout is reset each time something is read because that reflects how 2565timeout is reset each time something is read because that reflects how
1046most timeouts work (and puts extra pressure on the event loops). 2566most timeouts work (and puts extra pressure on the event loops).
1047 2567
1048In this benchmark, we use 10000 socketpairs (20000 sockets), of which 100 2568In this benchmark, we use 10000 socket pairs (20000 sockets), of which 100
1049(1%) are active. This mirrors the activity of large servers with many 2569(1%) are active. This mirrors the activity of large servers with many
1050connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time. 2570connections, most of which are idle at any one point in time.
1051 2571
1052Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent 2572Source code for this benchmark is found as F<eg/bench2> in the AnyEvent
1053distribution. 2573distribution. It uses the L<AE> interface, which makes a real difference
2574for the EV and Perl backends only.
1054 2575
1055=head3 Explanation of the columns 2576=head3 Explanation of the columns
1056 2577
1057I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as 2578I<sockets> is the number of sockets, and twice the number of "servers" (as
1058each server has a read and write socket end). 2579each server has a read and write socket end).
1059 2580
1060I<create> is the time it takes to create a socketpair (which is 2581I<create> is the time it takes to create a socket pair (which is
1061nontrivial) and two watchers: an I/O watcher and a timeout watcher. 2582nontrivial) and two watchers: an I/O watcher and a timeout watcher.
1062 2583
1063I<request>, the most important value, is the time it takes to handle a 2584I<request>, the most important value, is the time it takes to handle a
1064single "request", that is, reading the token from the pipe and forwarding 2585single "request", that is, reading the token from the pipe and forwarding
1065it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating 2586it to another server. This includes deleting the old timeout and creating
1066a new one that moves the timeout into the future. 2587a new one that moves the timeout into the future.
1067 2588
1068=head3 Results 2589=head3 Results
1069 2590
1070 name sockets create request 2591 name sockets create request
1071 EV 20000 69.01 11.16 2592 EV 20000 62.66 7.99
1072 Perl 20000 75.28 112.76 2593 Perl 20000 68.32 32.64
1073 Event 20000 212.62 257.32 2594 IOAsync 20000 174.06 101.15 epoll
1074 Glib 20000 651.16 1896.30 2595 IOAsync 20000 174.67 610.84 poll
2596 Event 20000 202.69 242.91
2597 Glib 20000 557.01 1689.52
1075 POE 20000 349.67 12317.24 uses POE::Loop::Event 2598 POE 20000 341.54 12086.32 uses POE::Loop::Event
1076 2599
1077=head3 Discussion 2600=head3 Discussion
1078 2601
1079This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the 2602This benchmark I<does> measure scalability and overall performance of the
1080particular event loop. 2603particular event loop.
1082EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time 2605EV is again fastest. Since it is using epoll on my system, the setup time
1083is relatively high, though. 2606is relatively high, though.
1084 2607
1085Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event 2608Perl surprisingly comes second. It is much faster than the C-based event
1086loops Event and Glib. 2609loops Event and Glib.
2610
2611IO::Async performs very well when using its epoll backend, and still quite
2612good compared to Glib when using its pure perl backend.
1087 2613
1088Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will 2614Event suffers from high setup time as well (look at its code and you will
1089understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to 2615understand why). Callback invocation also has a high overhead compared to
1090the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event 2616the C<< $_->() for .. >>-style loop that the Perl event loop uses. Event
1091uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations. 2617uses select or poll in basically all documented configurations.
1099 2625
1100=head3 Summary 2626=head3 Summary
1101 2627
1102=over 4 2628=over 4
1103 2629
1104=item * The pure perl implementation performs extremely well, considering 2630=item * The pure perl implementation performs extremely well.
1105that it uses select.
1106 2631
1107=item * Avoid Glib or POE in large projects where performance matters. 2632=item * Avoid Glib or POE in large projects where performance matters.
1108 2633
1109=back 2634=back
1110 2635
1123 2648
1124=head3 Results 2649=head3 Results
1125 2650
1126 name sockets create request 2651 name sockets create request
1127 EV 16 20.00 6.54 2652 EV 16 20.00 6.54
2653 Perl 16 25.75 12.62
1128 Event 16 81.27 35.86 2654 Event 16 81.27 35.86
1129 Glib 16 32.63 15.48 2655 Glib 16 32.63 15.48
1130 Perl 16 24.62 162.37
1131 POE 16 261.87 276.28 uses POE::Loop::Event 2656 POE 16 261.87 276.28 uses POE::Loop::Event
1132 2657
1133=head3 Discussion 2658=head3 Discussion
1134 2659
1135The benchmark tries to test the performance of a typical small 2660The benchmark tries to test the performance of a typical small
1136server. While knowing how various event loops perform is interesting, keep 2661server. While knowing how various event loops perform is interesting, keep
1137in mind that their overhead in this case is usually not as important, due 2662in mind that their overhead in this case is usually not as important, due
1138to the small absolute number of watchers. 2663to the small absolute number of watchers (that is, you need efficiency and
2664speed most when you have lots of watchers, not when you only have a few of
2665them).
1139 2666
1140EV is again fastest. 2667EV is again fastest.
1141 2668
1142The C-based event loops Event and Glib come in second this time, as the 2669Perl again comes second. It is noticeably faster than the C-based event
1143overhead of running an iteration is much smaller in C than in Perl (little 2670loops Event and Glib, although the difference is too small to really
1144code to execute in the inner loop, and perl's function calling overhead is 2671matter.
1145high, and updating all the data structures is costly).
1146 2672
1147The pure perl event loop is much slower, but still competitive.
1148
1149POE also performs much better in this case, but is is stillf ar behind the 2673POE also performs much better in this case, but is is still far behind the
1150others. 2674others.
1151 2675
1152=head3 Summary 2676=head3 Summary
1153 2677
1154=over 4 2678=over 4
1156=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of 2680=item * C-based event loops perform very well with small number of
1157watchers, as the management overhead dominates. 2681watchers, as the management overhead dominates.
1158 2682
1159=back 2683=back
1160 2684
2685=head2 THE IO::Lambda BENCHMARK
2686
2687Recently I was told about the benchmark in the IO::Lambda manpage, which
2688could be misinterpreted to make AnyEvent look bad. In fact, the benchmark
2689simply compares IO::Lambda with POE, and IO::Lambda looks better (which
2690shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody). As such, the benchmark is
2691fine, and mostly shows that the AnyEvent backend from IO::Lambda isn't
2692very optimal. But how would AnyEvent compare when used without the extra
2693baggage? To explore this, I wrote the equivalent benchmark for AnyEvent.
2694
2695The benchmark itself creates an echo-server, and then, for 500 times,
2696connects to the echo server, sends a line, waits for the reply, and then
2697creates the next connection. This is a rather bad benchmark, as it doesn't
2698test the efficiency of the framework or much non-blocking I/O, but it is a
2699benchmark nevertheless.
2700
2701 name runtime
2702 Lambda/select 0.330 sec
2703 + optimized 0.122 sec
2704 Lambda/AnyEvent 0.327 sec
2705 + optimized 0.138 sec
2706 Raw sockets/select 0.077 sec
2707 POE/select, components 0.662 sec
2708 POE/select, raw sockets 0.226 sec
2709 POE/select, optimized 0.404 sec
2710
2711 AnyEvent/select/nb 0.085 sec
2712 AnyEvent/EV/nb 0.068 sec
2713 +state machine 0.134 sec
2714
2715The benchmark is also a bit unfair (my fault): the IO::Lambda/POE
2716benchmarks actually make blocking connects and use 100% blocking I/O,
2717defeating the purpose of an event-based solution. All of the newly
2718written AnyEvent benchmarks use 100% non-blocking connects (using
2719AnyEvent::Socket::tcp_connect and the asynchronous pure perl DNS
2720resolver), so AnyEvent is at a disadvantage here, as non-blocking connects
2721generally require a lot more bookkeeping and event handling than blocking
2722connects (which involve a single syscall only).
2723
2724The last AnyEvent benchmark additionally uses L<AnyEvent::Handle>, which
2725offers similar expressive power as POE and IO::Lambda, using conventional
2726Perl syntax. This means that both the echo server and the client are 100%
2727non-blocking, further placing it at a disadvantage.
2728
2729As you can see, the AnyEvent + EV combination even beats the
2730hand-optimised "raw sockets benchmark", while AnyEvent + its pure perl
2731backend easily beats IO::Lambda and POE.
2732
2733And even the 100% non-blocking version written using the high-level (and
2734slow :) L<AnyEvent::Handle> abstraction beats both POE and IO::Lambda
2735higher level ("unoptimised") abstractions by a large margin, even though
2736it does all of DNS, tcp-connect and socket I/O in a non-blocking way.
2737
2738The two AnyEvent benchmarks programs can be found as F<eg/ae0.pl> and
2739F<eg/ae2.pl> in the AnyEvent distribution, the remaining benchmarks are
2740part of the IO::Lambda distribution and were used without any changes.
2741
2742
2743=head1 SIGNALS
2744
2745AnyEvent currently installs handlers for these signals:
2746
2747=over 4
2748
2749=item SIGCHLD
2750
2751A handler for C<SIGCHLD> is installed by AnyEvent's child watcher
2752emulation for event loops that do not support them natively. Also, some
2753event loops install a similar handler.
2754
2755Additionally, when AnyEvent is loaded and SIGCHLD is set to IGNORE, then
2756AnyEvent will reset it to default, to avoid losing child exit statuses.
2757
2758=item SIGPIPE
2759
2760A no-op handler is installed for C<SIGPIPE> when C<$SIG{PIPE}> is C<undef>
2761when AnyEvent gets loaded.
2762
2763The rationale for this is that AnyEvent users usually do not really depend
2764on SIGPIPE delivery (which is purely an optimisation for shell use, or
2765badly-written programs), but C<SIGPIPE> can cause spurious and rare
2766program exits as a lot of people do not expect C<SIGPIPE> when writing to
2767some random socket.
2768
2769The rationale for installing a no-op handler as opposed to ignoring it is
2770that this way, the handler will be restored to defaults on exec.
2771
2772Feel free to install your own handler, or reset it to defaults.
2773
2774=back
2775
2776=cut
2777
2778undef $SIG{CHLD}
2779 if $SIG{CHLD} eq 'IGNORE';
2780
2781$SIG{PIPE} = sub { }
2782 unless defined $SIG{PIPE};
2783
2784=head1 RECOMMENDED/OPTIONAL MODULES
2785
2786One of AnyEvent's main goals is to be 100% Pure-Perl(tm): only perl (and
2787its built-in modules) are required to use it.
2788
2789That does not mean that AnyEvent won't take advantage of some additional
2790modules if they are installed.
2791
2792This section explains which additional modules will be used, and how they
2793affect AnyEvent's operation.
2794
2795=over 4
2796
2797=item L<Async::Interrupt>
2798
2799This slightly arcane module is used to implement fast signal handling: To
2800my knowledge, there is no way to do completely race-free and quick
2801signal handling in pure perl. To ensure that signals still get
2802delivered, AnyEvent will start an interval timer to wake up perl (and
2803catch the signals) with some delay (default is 10 seconds, look for
2804C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>).
2805
2806If this module is available, then it will be used to implement signal
2807catching, which means that signals will not be delayed, and the event loop
2808will not be interrupted regularly, which is more efficient (and good for
2809battery life on laptops).
2810
2811This affects not just the pure-perl event loop, but also other event loops
2812that have no signal handling on their own (e.g. Glib, Tk, Qt).
2813
2814Some event loops (POE, Event, Event::Lib) offer signal watchers natively,
2815and either employ their own workarounds (POE) or use AnyEvent's workaround
2816(using C<$AnyEvent::MAX_SIGNAL_LATENCY>). Installing L<Async::Interrupt>
2817does nothing for those backends.
2818
2819=item L<EV>
2820
2821This module isn't really "optional", as it is simply one of the backend
2822event loops that AnyEvent can use. However, it is simply the best event
2823loop available in terms of features, speed and stability: It supports
2824the AnyEvent API optimally, implements all the watcher types in XS, does
2825automatic timer adjustments even when no monotonic clock is available,
2826can take avdantage of advanced kernel interfaces such as C<epoll> and
2827C<kqueue>, and is the fastest backend I<by far>. You can even embed
2828L<Glib>/L<Gtk2> in it (or vice versa, see L<EV::Glib> and L<Glib::EV>).
2829
2830If you only use backends that rely on another event loop (e.g. C<Tk>),
2831then this module will do nothing for you.
2832
2833=item L<Guard>
2834
2835The guard module, when used, will be used to implement
2836C<AnyEvent::Util::guard>. This speeds up guards considerably (and uses a
2837lot less memory), but otherwise doesn't affect guard operation much. It is
2838purely used for performance.
2839
2840=item L<JSON> and L<JSON::XS>
2841
2842One of these modules is required when you want to read or write JSON data
2843via L<AnyEvent::Handle>. L<JSON> is also written in pure-perl, but can take
2844advantage of the ultra-high-speed L<JSON::XS> module when it is installed.
2845
2846=item L<Net::SSLeay>
2847
2848Implementing TLS/SSL in Perl is certainly interesting, but not very
2849worthwhile: If this module is installed, then L<AnyEvent::Handle> (with
2850the help of L<AnyEvent::TLS>), gains the ability to do TLS/SSL.
2851
2852=item L<Time::HiRes>
2853
2854This module is part of perl since release 5.008. It will be used when the
2855chosen event library does not come with a timing source of its own. The
2856pure-perl event loop (L<AnyEvent::Loop>) will additionally load it to
2857try to use a monotonic clock for timing stability.
2858
2859=back
2860
1161 2861
1162=head1 FORK 2862=head1 FORK
1163 2863
1164Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are 2864Most event libraries are not fork-safe. The ones who are usually are
1165because they are so inefficient. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware. 2865because they rely on inefficient but fork-safe C<select> or C<poll> calls
2866- higher performance APIs such as BSD's kqueue or the dreaded Linux epoll
2867are usually badly thought-out hacks that are incompatible with fork in
2868one way or another. Only L<EV> is fully fork-aware and ensures that you
2869continue event-processing in both parent and child (or both, if you know
2870what you are doing).
2871
2872This means that, in general, you cannot fork and do event processing in
2873the child if the event library was initialised before the fork (which
2874usually happens when the first AnyEvent watcher is created, or the library
2875is loaded).
1166 2876
1167If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first 2877If you have to fork, you must either do so I<before> creating your first
1168watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child. 2878watcher OR you must not use AnyEvent at all in the child OR you must do
2879something completely out of the scope of AnyEvent.
2880
2881The problem of doing event processing in the parent I<and> the child
2882is much more complicated: even for backends that I<are> fork-aware or
2883fork-safe, their behaviour is not usually what you want: fork clones all
2884watchers, that means all timers, I/O watchers etc. are active in both
2885parent and child, which is almost never what you want. USing C<exec>
2886to start worker children from some kind of manage rprocess is usually
2887preferred, because it is much easier and cleaner, at the expense of having
2888to have another binary.
1169 2889
1170 2890
1171=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS 2891=head1 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
1172 2892
1173AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via 2893AnyEvent can be forced to load any event model via
1178specified in the variable. 2898specified in the variable.
1179 2899
1180You can make AnyEvent completely ignore this variable by deleting it 2900You can make AnyEvent completely ignore this variable by deleting it
1181before the first watcher gets created, e.g. with a C<BEGIN> block: 2901before the first watcher gets created, e.g. with a C<BEGIN> block:
1182 2902
1183 BEGIN { delete $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} } 2903 BEGIN { delete $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL} }
1184 2904
1185 use AnyEvent; 2905 use AnyEvent;
2906
2907Similar considerations apply to $ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_VERBOSE}, as that can
2908be used to probe what backend is used and gain other information (which is
2909probably even less useful to an attacker than PERL_ANYEVENT_MODEL), and
2910$ENV{PERL_ANYEVENT_STRICT}.
2911
2912Note that AnyEvent will remove I<all> environment variables starting with
2913C<PERL_ANYEVENT_> from C<%ENV> when it is loaded while taint mode is
2914enabled.
2915
2916
2917=head1 BUGS
2918
2919Perl 5.8 has numerous memleaks that sometimes hit this module and are hard
2920to work around. If you suffer from memleaks, first upgrade to Perl 5.10
2921and check wether the leaks still show up. (Perl 5.10.0 has other annoying
2922memleaks, such as leaking on C<map> and C<grep> but it is usually not as
2923pronounced).
1186 2924
1187 2925
1188=head1 SEE ALSO 2926=head1 SEE ALSO
1189 2927
1190Event modules: L<Coro::EV>, L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>, L<Glib::EV>, 2928Tutorial/Introduction: L<AnyEvent::Intro>.
1191L<Coro::Event>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>, L<Glib>, L<Coro>, L<Tk>,
1192L<Event::Lib>, L<Qt>, L<POE>.
1193 2929
1194Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, 2930FAQ: L<AnyEvent::FAQ>.
2931
2932Utility functions: L<AnyEvent::Util> (misc. grab-bag), L<AnyEvent::Log>
2933(simply logging).
2934
2935Development/Debugging: L<AnyEvent::Strict> (stricter checking),
2936L<AnyEvent::Debug> (interactive shell, watcher tracing).
2937
2938Supported event modules: L<AnyEvent::Loop>, L<EV>, L<EV::Glib>,
2939L<Glib::EV>, L<Event>, L<Glib::Event>, L<Glib>, L<Tk>, L<Event::Lib>,
2940L<Qt>, L<POE>, L<FLTK>.
2941
2942Implementations: L<AnyEvent::Impl::EV>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>,
2943L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>,
2944L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>,
1195L<AnyEvent::Impl::CoroEvent>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Event>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Glib>, 2945L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::IOAsync>, L<Anyevent::Impl::Irssi>,
1196L<AnyEvent::Impl::Tk>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::Perl>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::EventLib>, 2946L<AnyEvent::Impl::FLTK>.
1197L<AnyEvent::Impl::Qt>, L<AnyEvent::Impl::POE>.
1198 2947
2948Non-blocking handles, pipes, stream sockets, TCP clients and
2949servers: L<AnyEvent::Handle>, L<AnyEvent::Socket>, L<AnyEvent::TLS>.
2950
2951Asynchronous DNS: L<AnyEvent::DNS>.
2952
2953Thread support: L<Coro>, L<Coro::AnyEvent>, L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>.
2954
1199Nontrivial usage examples: L<Net::FCP>, L<Net::XMPP2>. 2955Nontrivial usage examples: L<AnyEvent::GPSD>, L<AnyEvent::IRC>,
2956L<AnyEvent::HTTP>.
1200 2957
1201 2958
1202=head1 AUTHOR 2959=head1 AUTHOR
1203 2960
1204 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 2961 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
1205 http://home.schmorp.de/ 2962 http://home.schmorp.de/
1206 2963
1207=cut 2964=cut
1208 2965
12091 29661
1210 2967

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