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Revision: 1.7
Committed: Sun Mar 30 06:29:07 2008 UTC (16 years, 1 month ago) by root
Branch: MAIN
CVS Tags: rel-1_44
Changes since 1.6: +14 -4 lines
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File Contents

# User Rev Content
1 root 1.3 NAME
2     BDB - Asynchronous Berkeley DB access
3    
4     SYNOPSIS
5     use BDB;
6    
7 root 1.4 my $env = db_env_create;
8    
9     mkdir "bdtest", 0700;
10     db_env_open
11     $env,
12     "bdtest",
13     BDB::INIT_LOCK | BDB::INIT_LOG | BDB::INIT_MPOOL
14     | BDB::INIT_TXN | BDB::RECOVER | BDB::USE_ENVIRON | BDB::CREATE,
15     0600;
16    
17     $env->set_flags (BDB::AUTO_COMMIT | BDB::TXN_NOSYNC, 1);
18    
19     my $db = db_create $env;
20     db_open $db, undef, "table", undef, BDB::BTREE, BDB::AUTO_COMMIT | BDB::CREATE
21     | BDB::READ_UNCOMMITTED, 0600;
22     db_put $db, undef, "key", "data", 0, sub {
23     db_del $db, undef, "key";
24     };
25     db_sync $db;
26    
27 root 1.6 # when you also use Coro, management is easy:
28     use Coro::BDB;
29    
30 root 1.4 # automatic result processing with AnyEvent:
31     our $FH; open $FH, "<&=" . BDB::poll_fileno;
32     our $WATCHER = AnyEvent->io (fh => $FH, poll => 'r', cb => \&BDB::poll_cb);
33    
34     # automatic result processing with EV:
35     my $WATCHER = EV::io BDB::poll_fileno, EV::READ, \&BDB::poll_cb;
36    
37     # with Glib:
38     add_watch Glib::IO BDB::poll_fileno,
39     in => sub { BDB::poll_cb; 1 };
40    
41     # or simply flush manually
42     BDB::flush;
43    
44 root 1.3 DESCRIPTION
45     See the BerkeleyDB documentation
46     (<http://www.oracle.com/technology/documentation/berkeley-db/db/index.ht
47     ml>). The BDB API is very similar to the C API (the translation has been
48     very faithful).
49    
50     See also the example sections in the document below and possibly the eg/
51     subdirectory of the BDB distribution. Last not least see the IO::AIO
52     documentation, as that module uses almost the same asynchronous request
53     model as this module.
54    
55     I know this is woefully inadequate documentation. Send a patch!
56    
57     REQUEST ANATOMY AND LIFETIME
58     Every request method creates a request. which is a C data structure not
59     directly visible to Perl.
60    
61     During their existance, bdb requests travel through the following
62     states, in order:
63    
64     ready
65     Immediately after a request is created it is put into the ready
66     state, waiting for a thread to execute it.
67    
68     execute
69     A thread has accepted the request for processing and is currently
70     executing it (e.g. blocking in read).
71    
72     pending
73     The request has been executed and is waiting for result processing.
74    
75     While request submission and execution is fully asynchronous, result
76     processing is not and relies on the perl interpreter calling
77     "poll_cb" (or another function with the same effect).
78    
79     result
80     The request results are processed synchronously by "poll_cb".
81    
82     The "poll_cb" function will process all outstanding aio requests by
83     calling their callbacks, freeing memory associated with them and
84     managing any groups they are contained in.
85    
86     done
87     Request has reached the end of its lifetime and holds no resources
88     anymore (except possibly for the Perl object, but its connection to
89     the actual aio request is severed and calling its methods will
90     either do nothing or result in a runtime error).
91    
92 root 1.7 FILENAMES/DATABASE NAMES
93     The BDB expects "binary" filenames (octet strings) for pathnames on
94     POSIX systems, and "unicode" filenames (strings with characters
95     potentially >255) on Win32 (expecting a Unicode win32 build - win32 is a
96     total mess).
97    
98 root 1.3 BERKELEYDB FUNCTIONS
99     All of these are functions. The create functions simply return a new
100 root 1.7 object and never block. All the remaining functions take an optional
101 root 1.5 callback as last argument. If it is missing, then the function will be
102     executed synchronously. In both cases, $! will reflect the return value
103     of the function.
104 root 1.3
105     BDB functions that cannot block (mostly functions that manipulate
106     settings) are method calls on the relevant objects, so the rule of thumb
107 root 1.7 is: if it's a method, it's not blocking, if it's a function, it takes a
108 root 1.3 callback as last argument.
109    
110     In the following, $int signifies an integer return value, "octetstring"
111     is a "binary string" (i.e. a perl string with no character indices
112     >255), "U32" is an unsigned 32 bit integer, "int" is some integer, "NV"
113     is a floating point value.
114    
115     The "SV *" types are generic perl scalars (for input and output of data
116     values), and the "SV *callback" is the optional callback function to
117     call when the request is completed.
118    
119     The various "DB_ENV" etc. arguments are handles return by
120     "db_env_create", "db_create", "txn_begin" and so on. If they have an
121     appended "_ornull" this means they are optional and you can pass "undef"
122     for them, resulting a NULL pointer on the C level.
123    
124     BDB functions
125     Functions in the BDB namespace, exported by default:
126    
127     $env = db_env_create (U32 env_flags = 0)
128     flags: RPCCLIENT
129    
130     db_env_open (DB_ENV *env, octetstring db_home, U32 open_flags, int mode, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
131     open_flags: INIT_CDB INIT_LOCK INIT_LOG INIT_MPOOL INIT_REP INIT_TXN RECOVER RECOVER_FATAL USE_ENVIRON USE_ENVIRON_ROOT CREATE LOCKDOWN PRIVATE REGISTER SYSTEM_MEM
132     db_env_close (DB_ENV *env, U32 flags = 0, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
133     db_env_txn_checkpoint (DB_ENV *env, U32 kbyte = 0, U32 min = 0, U32 flags = 0, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
134     flags: FORCE
135     db_env_lock_detect (DB_ENV *env, U32 flags = 0, U32 atype = DB_LOCK_DEFAULT, SV *dummy = 0, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
136     atype: LOCK_DEFAULT LOCK_EXPIRE LOCK_MAXLOCKS LOCK_MAXWRITE LOCK_MINLOCKS LOCK_MINWRITE LOCK_OLDEST LOCK_RANDOM LOCK_YOUNGEST
137     db_env_memp_sync (DB_ENV *env, SV *dummy = 0, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
138     db_env_memp_trickle (DB_ENV *env, int percent, SV *dummy = 0, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
139    
140     $db = db_create (DB_ENV *env = 0, U32 flags = 0)
141     flags: XA_CREATE
142    
143     db_open (DB *db, DB_TXN_ornull *txnid, octetstring file, octetstring database, int type, U32 flags, int mode, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
144     flags: AUTO_COMMIT CREATE EXCL MULTIVERSION NOMMAP RDONLY READ_UNCOMMITTED THREAD TRUNCATE
145     db_close (DB *db, U32 flags = 0, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
146     flags: DB_NOSYNC
147 root 1.5 db_upgrade (DB *db, octetstring file, U32 flags = 0, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
148 root 1.3 db_compact (DB *db, DB_TXN_ornull *txn = 0, SV *start = 0, SV *stop = 0, SV *unused1 = 0, U32 flags = DB_FREE_SPACE, SV *unused2 = 0, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
149     flags: FREELIST_ONLY FREE_SPACE
150     db_sync (DB *db, U32 flags = 0, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
151     db_key_range (DB *db, DB_TXN_ornull *txn, SV *key, SV *key_range, U32 flags = 0, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
152     db_put (DB *db, DB_TXN_ornull *txn, SV *key, SV *data, U32 flags = 0, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
153     flags: APPEND NODUPDATA NOOVERWRITE
154     db_get (DB *db, DB_TXN_ornull *txn, SV *key, SV *data, U32 flags = 0, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
155     flags: CONSUME CONSUME_WAIT GET_BOTH SET_RECNO MULTIPLE READ_COMMITTED READ_UNCOMMITTED RMW
156     db_pget (DB *db, DB_TXN_ornull *txn, SV *key, SV *pkey, SV *data, U32 flags = 0, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
157     flags: CONSUME CONSUME_WAIT GET_BOTH SET_RECNO MULTIPLE READ_COMMITTED READ_UNCOMMITTED RMW
158     db_del (DB *db, DB_TXN_ornull *txn, SV *key, U32 flags = 0, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
159     db_txn_commit (DB_TXN *txn, U32 flags = 0, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
160     flags: TXN_NOSYNC TXN_SYNC
161     db_txn_abort (DB_TXN *txn, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
162    
163     db_c_close (DBC *dbc, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
164     db_c_count (DBC *dbc, SV *count, U32 flags = 0, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
165     db_c_put (DBC *dbc, SV *key, SV *data, U32 flags = 0, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
166     flags: AFTER BEFORE CURRENT KEYFIRST KEYLAST NODUPDATA
167     db_c_get (DBC *dbc, SV *key, SV *data, U32 flags = 0, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
168     flags: CURRENT FIRST GET_BOTH GET_BOTH_RANGE GET_RECNO JOIN_ITEM LAST NEXT NEXT_DUP NEXT_NODUP PREV PREV_DUP PREV_NODUP SET SET_RANGE SET_RECNO READ_UNCOMMITTED MULTIPLE MULTIPLE_KEY RMW
169     db_c_pget (DBC *dbc, SV *key, SV *pkey, SV *data, U32 flags = 0, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
170     db_c_del (DBC *dbc, U32 flags = 0, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
171    
172     db_sequence_open (DB_SEQUENCE *seq, DB_TXN_ornull *txnid, SV *key, U32 flags = 0, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
173     flags: CREATE EXCL
174     db_sequence_close (DB_SEQUENCE *seq, U32 flags = 0, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
175     db_sequence_get (DB_SEQUENCE *seq, DB_TXN_ornull *txnid, int delta, SV *seq_value, U32 flags = DB_TXN_NOSYNC, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
176     flags: TXN_NOSYNC
177     db_sequence_remove (DB_SEQUENCE *seq, DB_TXN_ornull *txnid = 0, U32 flags = 0, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
178     flags: TXN_NOSYNC
179    
180     db_txn_finish (DB_TXN *txn, U32 flags = 0, SV *callback = &PL_sv_undef)
181     This is not actually a Berkeley DB function but a BDB module extension.
182     The background for this exytension is: It is very annoying to have to
183     check every single BDB function for error returns and provide a codepath
184     out of your transaction. While the BDB module still makes this possible,
185     it contains the following extensions:
186    
187     When a transaction-protected function returns any operating system error
188     (errno > 0), BDB will set the "TXN_DEADLOCK" flag on the transaction.
189     This flag is also set by Berkeley DB functions themselves when an
190     operation fails with LOCK_DEADLOCK, and it causes all further operations
191     on that transaction (including "db_txn_commit") to fail.
192    
193     The "db_txn_finish" request will look at this flag, and, if it is set,
194     will automatically call "db_txn_abort" (setting errno to "LOCK_DEADLOCK"
195     if it isn't set to something else yet). If it isn't set, it will call
196     "db_txn_commit" and return the error normally.
197    
198     How to use this? Easy: just write your transaction normally:
199    
200     my $txn = $db_env->txn_begin;
201     db_get $db, $txn, "key", my $data;
202     db_put $db, $txn, "key", $data + 1 unless $! == BDB::NOTFOUND;
203     db_txn_finish $txn;
204     die "transaction failed" if $!;
205    
206     That is, handle only the expected errors. If something unexpected
207     happens (EIO, LOCK_NOTGRANTED or a deadlock in either db_get or db_put),
208     then the remaining requests (db_put in this case) will simply be skipped
209     (they will fail with LOCK_DEADLOCK) and the transaction will be aborted.
210    
211     You can use the "$txn->failed" method to check wether a transaction has
212     failed in this way and abort further processing (excluding
213     "db_txn_finish").
214    
215     DB_ENV/database environment methods
216     Methods available on DB_ENV/$env handles:
217    
218     DESTROY (DB_ENV_ornull *env)
219     CODE:
220     if (env)
221     env->close (env, 0);
222    
223     $int = $env->set_data_dir (const char *dir)
224     $int = $env->set_tmp_dir (const char *dir)
225     $int = $env->set_lg_dir (const char *dir)
226     $int = $env->set_shm_key (long shm_key)
227     $int = $env->set_cachesize (U32 gbytes, U32 bytes, int ncache = 0)
228     $int = $env->set_flags (U32 flags, int onoff)
229     $env->set_errfile (FILE *errfile = 0)
230     $env->set_msgfile (FILE *msgfile = 0)
231     $int = $env->set_verbose (U32 which, int onoff = 1)
232     $int = $env->set_encrypt (const char *password, U32 flags = 0)
233     $int = $env->set_timeout (NV timeout_seconds, U32 flags = SET_TXN_TIMEOUT)
234     $int = $env->set_mp_max_openfd (int maxopenfd);
235     $int = $env->set_mp_max_write (int maxwrite, int maxwrite_sleep);
236     $int = $env->set_mp_mmapsize (int mmapsize_mb)
237     $int = $env->set_lk_detect (U32 detect = DB_LOCK_DEFAULT)
238     $int = $env->set_lk_max_lockers (U32 max)
239     $int = $env->set_lk_max_locks (U32 max)
240     $int = $env->set_lk_max_objects (U32 max)
241     $int = $env->set_lg_bsize (U32 max)
242     $int = $env->set_lg_max (U32 max)
243 root 1.4 $int = $env->mutex_set_increment (U32 increment)
244     $int = $env->mutex_set_tas_spins (U32 tas_spins)
245     $int = $env->mutex_set_max (U32 max)
246     $int = $env->mutex_set_align (U32 align)
247 root 1.3
248     $txn = $env->txn_begin (DB_TXN_ornull *parent = 0, U32 flags = 0)
249     flags: READ_COMMITTED READ_UNCOMMITTED TXN_NOSYNC TXN_NOWAIT TXN_SNAPSHOT TXN_SYNC TXN_WAIT TXN_WRITE_NOSYNC
250    
251     Example:
252     use AnyEvent;
253     use BDB;
254    
255     our $FH; open $FH, "<&=" . BDB::poll_fileno;
256     our $WATCHER = AnyEvent->io (fh => $FH, poll => 'r', cb => \&BDB::poll_cb);
257    
258     BDB::min_parallel 8;
259    
260     my $env = db_env_create;
261    
262     mkdir "bdtest", 0700;
263     db_env_open
264     $env,
265     "bdtest",
266     BDB::INIT_LOCK | BDB::INIT_LOG | BDB::INIT_MPOOL | BDB::INIT_TXN | BDB::RECOVER | BDB::USE_ENVIRON | BDB::CREATE,
267     0600;
268    
269     $env->set_flags (BDB::AUTO_COMMIT | BDB::TXN_NOSYNC, 1);
270    
271     DB/database methods
272     Methods available on DB/$db handles:
273    
274     DESTROY (DB_ornull *db)
275     CODE:
276     if (db)
277     {
278     SV *env = (SV *)db->app_private;
279     db->close (db, 0);
280     SvREFCNT_dec (env);
281     }
282    
283     $int = $db->set_cachesize (U32 gbytes, U32 bytes, int ncache = 0)
284     $int = $db->set_flags (U32 flags)
285     flags: CHKSUM ENCRYPT TXN_NOT_DURABLE
286     Btree: DUP DUPSORT RECNUM REVSPLITOFF
287     Hash: DUP DUPSORT
288     Queue: INORDER
289     Recno: RENUMBER SNAPSHOT
290    
291     $int = $db->set_encrypt (const char *password, U32 flags)
292     $int = $db->set_lorder (int lorder)
293     $int = $db->set_bt_minkey (U32 minkey)
294     $int = $db->set_re_delim (int delim)
295     $int = $db->set_re_pad (int re_pad)
296     $int = $db->set_re_source (char *source)
297     $int = $db->set_re_len (U32 re_len)
298     $int = $db->set_h_ffactor (U32 h_ffactor)
299     $int = $db->set_h_nelem (U32 h_nelem)
300     $int = $db->set_q_extentsize (U32 extentsize)
301    
302     $dbc = $db->cursor (DB_TXN_ornull *txn = 0, U32 flags = 0)
303     flags: READ_COMMITTED READ_UNCOMMITTED WRITECURSOR TXN_SNAPSHOT
304     $seq = $db->sequence (U32 flags = 0)
305    
306     Example:
307     my $db = db_create $env;
308     db_open $db, undef, "table", undef, BDB::BTREE, BDB::AUTO_COMMIT | BDB::CREATE | BDB::READ_UNCOMMITTED, 0600;
309    
310     for (1..1000) {
311     db_put $db, undef, "key $_", "data $_";
312    
313     db_key_range $db, undef, "key $_", my $keyrange;
314     my ($lt, $eq, $gt) = @$keyrange;
315     }
316    
317     db_del $db, undef, "key $_" for 1..1000;
318    
319     db_sync $db;
320    
321     DB_TXN/transaction methods
322     Methods available on DB_TXN/$txn handles:
323    
324     DESTROY (DB_TXN_ornull *txn)
325     CODE:
326     if (txn)
327     txn->abort (txn);
328    
329     $int = $txn->set_timeout (NV timeout_seconds, U32 flags = SET_TXN_TIMEOUT)
330     flags: SET_LOCK_TIMEOUT SET_TXN_TIMEOUT
331    
332     $bool = $txn->failed
333     # see db_txn_finish documentation, above
334    
335     DBC/cursor methods
336     Methods available on DBC/$dbc handles:
337    
338     DESTROY (DBC_ornull *dbc)
339     CODE:
340     if (dbc)
341     dbc->c_close (dbc);
342    
343 root 1.6 $int = $cursor->set_priority ($priority = PRIORITY_*)
344    
345 root 1.3 Example:
346     my $c = $db->cursor;
347    
348     for (;;) {
349     db_c_get $c, my $key, my $data, BDB::NEXT;
350     warn "<$!,$key,$data>";
351     last if $!;
352     }
353    
354     db_c_close $c;
355    
356     DB_SEQUENCE/sequence methods
357     Methods available on DB_SEQUENCE/$seq handles:
358    
359     DESTROY (DB_SEQUENCE_ornull *seq)
360     CODE:
361     if (seq)
362     seq->close (seq, 0);
363    
364     $int = $seq->initial_value (db_seq_t value)
365     $int = $seq->set_cachesize (U32 size)
366     $int = $seq->set_flags (U32 flags)
367     flags: SEQ_DEC SEQ_INC SEQ_WRAP
368     $int = $seq->set_range (db_seq_t min, db_seq_t max)
369    
370     Example:
371     my $seq = $db->sequence;
372 root 1.7
373     db_sequence_open $seq, undef, "seq", BDB::CREATE;
374 root 1.3 db_sequence_get $seq, undef, 1, my $value;
375    
376     SUPPORT FUNCTIONS
377     EVENT PROCESSING AND EVENT LOOP INTEGRATION
378 root 1.5 $msg = BDB::strerror [$errno]
379     Returns the string corresponding to the given errno value. If no
380     argument is given, use $!.
381    
382 root 1.7 Note that the BDB module also patches the $! variable directly, so
383     you should be able to get a bdb error string by simply stringifying
384     $!.
385    
386 root 1.3 $fileno = BDB::poll_fileno
387     Return the *request result pipe file descriptor*. This filehandle
388     must be polled for reading by some mechanism outside this module
389     (e.g. Event or select, see below or the SYNOPSIS). If the pipe
390     becomes readable you have to call "poll_cb" to check the results.
391    
392     See "poll_cb" for an example.
393    
394     BDB::poll_cb
395     Process some outstanding events on the result pipe. You have to call
396     this regularly. Returns the number of events processed. Returns
397     immediately when no events are outstanding. The amount of events
398     processed depends on the settings of "BDB::max_poll_req" and
399     "BDB::max_poll_time".
400    
401     If not all requests were processed for whatever reason, the
402     filehandle will still be ready when "poll_cb" returns.
403    
404     Example: Install an Event watcher that automatically calls
405     BDB::poll_cb with high priority:
406    
407     Event->io (fd => BDB::poll_fileno,
408     poll => 'r', async => 1,
409     cb => \&BDB::poll_cb);
410    
411     BDB::max_poll_reqs $nreqs
412     BDB::max_poll_time $seconds
413     These set the maximum number of requests (default 0, meaning
414     infinity) that are being processed by "BDB::poll_cb" in one call,
415     respectively the maximum amount of time (default 0, meaning
416     infinity) spent in "BDB::poll_cb" to process requests (more
417     correctly the mininum amount of time "poll_cb" is allowed to use).
418    
419     Setting "max_poll_time" to a non-zero value creates an overhead of
420     one syscall per request processed, which is not normally a problem
421     unless your callbacks are really really fast or your OS is really
422     really slow (I am not mentioning Solaris here). Using
423     "max_poll_reqs" incurs no overhead.
424    
425     Setting these is useful if you want to ensure some level of
426     interactiveness when perl is not fast enough to process all requests
427     in time.
428    
429     For interactive programs, values such as 0.01 to 0.1 should be fine.
430    
431 root 1.4 Example: Install an EV watcher that automatically calls BDB::poll_cb
432     with low priority, to ensure that other parts of the program get the
433     CPU sometimes even under high load.
434 root 1.3
435     # try not to spend much more than 0.1s in poll_cb
436     BDB::max_poll_time 0.1;
437    
438 root 1.4 my $bdb_poll = EV::io BDB::poll_fileno, EV::READ, \&BDB::poll_cb);
439 root 1.3
440     BDB::poll_wait
441     If there are any outstanding requests and none of them in the result
442     phase, wait till the result filehandle becomes ready for reading
443     (simply does a "select" on the filehandle. This is useful if you
444     want to synchronously wait for some requests to finish).
445    
446     See "nreqs" for an example.
447    
448     BDB::poll
449     Waits until some requests have been handled.
450    
451     Returns the number of requests processed, but is otherwise strictly
452     equivalent to:
453    
454     BDB::poll_wait, BDB::poll_cb
455    
456     BDB::flush
457 root 1.4 Wait till all outstanding BDB requests have been handled.
458 root 1.3
459     Strictly equivalent to:
460    
461     BDB::poll_wait, BDB::poll_cb
462     while BDB::nreqs;
463    
464     CONTROLLING THE NUMBER OF THREADS
465     BDB::min_parallel $nthreads
466 root 1.4 Set the minimum number of BDB threads to $nthreads. The current
467 root 1.3 default is 8, which means eight asynchronous operations can execute
468     concurrently at any one time (the number of outstanding requests,
469     however, is unlimited).
470    
471 root 1.4 BDB starts threads only on demand, when an BDB request is queued and
472 root 1.3 no free thread exists. Please note that queueing up a hundred
473     requests can create demand for a hundred threads, even if it turns
474     out that everything is in the cache and could have been processed
475     faster by a single thread.
476    
477     It is recommended to keep the number of threads relatively low, as
478     some Linux kernel versions will scale negatively with the number of
479     threads (higher parallelity => MUCH higher latency). With current
480     Linux 2.6 versions, 4-32 threads should be fine.
481    
482     Under most circumstances you don't need to call this function, as
483     the module selects a default that is suitable for low to moderate
484     load.
485    
486     BDB::max_parallel $nthreads
487 root 1.4 Sets the maximum number of BDB threads to $nthreads. If more than
488 root 1.3 the specified number of threads are currently running, this function
489     kills them. This function blocks until the limit is reached.
490    
491     While $nthreads are zero, aio requests get queued but not executed
492     until the number of threads has been increased again.
493    
494     This module automatically runs "max_parallel 0" at program end, to
495     ensure that all threads are killed and that there are no outstanding
496     requests.
497    
498     Under normal circumstances you don't need to call this function.
499    
500     BDB::max_idle $nthreads
501     Limit the number of threads (default: 4) that are allowed to idle
502     (i.e., threads that did not get a request to process within 10
503     seconds). That means if a thread becomes idle while $nthreads other
504     threads are also idle, it will free its resources and exit.
505    
506     This is useful when you allow a large number of threads (e.g. 100 or
507     1000) to allow for extremely high load situations, but want to free
508     resources under normal circumstances (1000 threads can easily
509     consume 30MB of RAM).
510    
511     The default is probably ok in most situations, especially if thread
512     creation is fast. If thread creation is very slow on your system you
513     might want to use larger values.
514    
515     $oldmaxreqs = BDB::max_outstanding $maxreqs
516     This is a very bad function to use in interactive programs because
517     it blocks, and a bad way to reduce concurrency because it is
518     inexact: Better use an "aio_group" together with a feed callback.
519    
520     Sets the maximum number of outstanding requests to $nreqs. If you to
521     queue up more than this number of requests, the next call to the
522     "poll_cb" (and "poll_some" and other functions calling "poll_cb")
523     function will block until the limit is no longer exceeded.
524    
525     The default value is very large, so there is no practical limit on
526     the number of outstanding requests.
527    
528     You can still queue as many requests as you want. Therefore,
529     "max_oustsanding" is mainly useful in simple scripts (with low
530     values) or as a stop gap to shield against fatal memory overflow
531     (with large values).
532    
533     BDB::set_sync_prepare $cb
534     Sets a callback that is called whenever a request is created without
535     an explicit callback. It has to return two code references. The
536     first is used as the request callback, and the second is called to
537     wait until the first callback has been called. The default
538     implementation works like this:
539    
540     sub {
541     my $status;
542     (
543     sub { $status = $! },
544     sub { BDB::poll while !defined $status; $! = $status },
545     )
546     }
547    
548     STATISTICAL INFORMATION
549     BDB::nreqs
550     Returns the number of requests currently in the ready, execute or
551     pending states (i.e. for which their callback has not been invoked
552     yet).
553    
554     Example: wait till there are no outstanding requests anymore:
555    
556     BDB::poll_wait, BDB::poll_cb
557     while BDB::nreqs;
558    
559     BDB::nready
560     Returns the number of requests currently in the ready state (not yet
561     executed).
562    
563     BDB::npending
564     Returns the number of requests currently in the pending state
565     (executed, but not yet processed by poll_cb).
566    
567     FORK BEHAVIOUR
568     This module should do "the right thing" when the process using it forks:
569    
570 root 1.4 Before the fork, BDB enters a quiescent state where no requests can be
571     added in other threads and no results will be processed. After the fork
572     the parent simply leaves the quiescent state and continues
573 root 1.3 request/result processing, while the child frees the request/result
574     queue (so that the requests started before the fork will only be handled
575     in the parent). Threads will be started on demand until the limit set in
576     the parent process has been reached again.
577    
578     In short: the parent will, after a short pause, continue as if fork had
579 root 1.4 not been called, while the child will act as if BDB has not been used
580     yet.
581 root 1.3
582 root 1.5 Win32 note: there is no fork on win32, and perls emulation of it is too
583     broken to be supported, so do not use BDB in a windows pseudo-fork,
584     better yet, switch to a more capable platform.
585    
586 root 1.3 MEMORY USAGE
587     Per-request usage:
588    
589     Each aio request uses - depending on your architecture - around 100-200
590     bytes of memory. In addition, stat requests need a stat buffer (possibly
591     a few hundred bytes), readdir requires a result buffer and so on. Perl
592     scalars and other data passed into aio requests will also be locked and
593     will consume memory till the request has entered the done state.
594    
595     This is not awfully much, so queuing lots of requests is not usually a
596     problem.
597    
598     Per-thread usage:
599    
600     In the execution phase, some aio requests require more memory for
601     temporary buffers, and each thread requires a stack and other data
602     structures (usually around 16k-128k, depending on the OS).
603    
604     KNOWN BUGS
605     Known bugs will be fixed in the next release, except:
606    
607     If you use a transaction in any request, and the request returns
608     with an operating system error or DB_LOCK_NOTGRANTED, the internal
609     TXN_DEADLOCK flag will be set on the transaction. See C<db_txn_finish>,
610     above.
611    
612     SEE ALSO
613 root 1.4 Coro::BDB, IO::AIO.
614 root 1.3
615     AUTHOR
616     Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
617     http://home.schmorp.de/
618