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# Content
1 =head1 NAME
2
3 Coro - the only real threads in perl
4
5 =head1 SYNOPSIS
6
7 use Coro;
8
9 async {
10 # some asynchronous thread of execution
11 print "2\n";
12 cede; # yield back to main
13 print "4\n";
14 };
15 print "1\n";
16 cede; # yield to coro
17 print "3\n";
18 cede; # and again
19
20 # use locking
21 use Coro::Semaphore;
22 my $lock = new Coro::Semaphore;
23 my $locked;
24
25 $lock->down;
26 $locked = 1;
27 $lock->up;
28
29 =head1 DESCRIPTION
30
31 For a tutorial-style introduction, please read the L<Coro::Intro>
32 manpage. This manpage mainly contains reference information.
33
34 This module collection manages continuations in general, most often in
35 the form of cooperative threads (also called coros, or simply "coro"
36 in the documentation). They are similar to kernel threads but don't (in
37 general) run in parallel at the same time even on SMP machines. The
38 specific flavor of thread offered by this module also guarantees you that
39 it will not switch between threads unless necessary, at easily-identified
40 points in your program, so locking and parallel access are rarely an
41 issue, making thread programming much safer and easier than using other
42 thread models.
43
44 Unlike the so-called "Perl threads" (which are not actually real threads
45 but only the windows process emulation ported to unix, and as such act
46 as processes), Coro provides a full shared address space, which makes
47 communication between threads very easy. And Coro's threads are fast,
48 too: disabling the Windows process emulation code in your perl and using
49 Coro can easily result in a two to four times speed increase for your
50 programs. A parallel matrix multiplication benchmark runs over 300 times
51 faster on a single core than perl's pseudo-threads on a quad core using
52 all four cores.
53
54 Coro achieves that by supporting multiple running interpreters that share
55 data, which is especially useful to code pseudo-parallel processes and
56 for event-based programming, such as multiple HTTP-GET requests running
57 concurrently. See L<Coro::AnyEvent> to learn more on how to integrate Coro
58 into an event-based environment.
59
60 In this module, a thread is defined as "callchain + lexical variables +
61 some package variables + C stack), that is, a thread has its own callchain,
62 its own set of lexicals and its own set of perls most important global
63 variables (see L<Coro::State> for more configuration and background info).
64
65 See also the C<SEE ALSO> section at the end of this document - the Coro
66 module family is quite large.
67
68 =cut
69
70 package Coro;
71
72 use strict qw(vars subs);
73 no warnings "uninitialized";
74
75 use Guard ();
76
77 use Coro::State;
78
79 use base qw(Coro::State Exporter);
80
81 our $idle; # idle handler
82 our $main; # main coro
83 our $current; # current coro
84
85 our $VERSION = 5.161;
86
87 our @EXPORT = qw(async async_pool cede schedule terminate current unblock_sub);
88 our %EXPORT_TAGS = (
89 prio => [qw(PRIO_MAX PRIO_HIGH PRIO_NORMAL PRIO_LOW PRIO_IDLE PRIO_MIN)],
90 );
91 our @EXPORT_OK = (@{$EXPORT_TAGS{prio}}, qw(nready));
92
93 =head1 GLOBAL VARIABLES
94
95 =over 4
96
97 =item $Coro::main
98
99 This variable stores the Coro object that represents the main
100 program. While you cna C<ready> it and do most other things you can do to
101 coro, it is mainly useful to compare again C<$Coro::current>, to see
102 whether you are running in the main program or not.
103
104 =cut
105
106 # $main is now being initialised by Coro::State
107
108 =item $Coro::current
109
110 The Coro object representing the current coro (the last
111 coro that the Coro scheduler switched to). The initial value is
112 C<$Coro::main> (of course).
113
114 This variable is B<strictly> I<read-only>. You can take copies of the
115 value stored in it and use it as any other Coro object, but you must
116 not otherwise modify the variable itself.
117
118 =cut
119
120 sub current() { $current } # [DEPRECATED]
121
122 =item $Coro::idle
123
124 This variable is mainly useful to integrate Coro into event loops. It is
125 usually better to rely on L<Coro::AnyEvent> or L<Coro::EV>, as this is
126 pretty low-level functionality.
127
128 This variable stores either a Coro object or a callback.
129
130 If it is a callback, the it is called whenever the scheduler finds no
131 ready coros to run. The default implementation prints "FATAL:
132 deadlock detected" and exits, because the program has no other way to
133 continue.
134
135 If it is a coro object, then this object will be readied (without
136 invoking any ready hooks, however) when the scheduler finds no other ready
137 coros to run.
138
139 This hook is overwritten by modules such as C<Coro::EV> and
140 C<Coro::AnyEvent> to wait on an external event that hopefully wake up a
141 coro so the scheduler can run it.
142
143 Note that the callback I<must not>, under any circumstances, block
144 the current coro. Normally, this is achieved by having an "idle
145 coro" that calls the event loop and then blocks again, and then
146 readying that coro in the idle handler, or by simply placing the idle
147 coro in this variable.
148
149 See L<Coro::Event> or L<Coro::AnyEvent> for examples of using this
150 technique.
151
152 Please note that if your callback recursively invokes perl (e.g. for event
153 handlers), then it must be prepared to be called recursively itself.
154
155 =cut
156
157 $idle = sub {
158 require Carp;
159 Carp::croak ("FATAL: deadlock detected");
160 };
161
162 # this coro is necessary because a coro
163 # cannot destroy itself.
164 our @destroy;
165 our $manager;
166
167 $manager = new Coro sub {
168 while () {
169 Coro::State::cancel shift @destroy
170 while @destroy;
171
172 &schedule;
173 }
174 };
175 $manager->{desc} = "[coro manager]";
176 $manager->prio (PRIO_MAX);
177
178 =back
179
180 =head1 SIMPLE CORO CREATION
181
182 =over 4
183
184 =item async { ... } [@args...]
185
186 Create a new coro and return its Coro object (usually
187 unused). The coro will be put into the ready queue, so
188 it will start running automatically on the next scheduler run.
189
190 The first argument is a codeblock/closure that should be executed in the
191 coro. When it returns argument returns the coro is automatically
192 terminated.
193
194 The remaining arguments are passed as arguments to the closure.
195
196 See the C<Coro::State::new> constructor for info about the coro
197 environment in which coro are executed.
198
199 Calling C<exit> in a coro will do the same as calling exit outside
200 the coro. Likewise, when the coro dies, the program will exit,
201 just as it would in the main program.
202
203 If you do not want that, you can provide a default C<die> handler, or
204 simply avoid dieing (by use of C<eval>).
205
206 Example: Create a new coro that just prints its arguments.
207
208 async {
209 print "@_\n";
210 } 1,2,3,4;
211
212 =cut
213
214 sub async(&@) {
215 my $coro = new Coro @_;
216 $coro->ready;
217 $coro
218 }
219
220 =item async_pool { ... } [@args...]
221
222 Similar to C<async>, but uses a coro pool, so you should not call
223 terminate or join on it (although you are allowed to), and you get a
224 coro that might have executed other code already (which can be good
225 or bad :).
226
227 On the plus side, this function is about twice as fast as creating (and
228 destroying) a completely new coro, so if you need a lot of generic
229 coros in quick successsion, use C<async_pool>, not C<async>.
230
231 The code block is executed in an C<eval> context and a warning will be
232 issued in case of an exception instead of terminating the program, as
233 C<async> does. As the coro is being reused, stuff like C<on_destroy>
234 will not work in the expected way, unless you call terminate or cancel,
235 which somehow defeats the purpose of pooling (but is fine in the
236 exceptional case).
237
238 The priority will be reset to C<0> after each run, tracing will be
239 disabled, the description will be reset and the default output filehandle
240 gets restored, so you can change all these. Otherwise the coro will
241 be re-used "as-is": most notably if you change other per-coro global
242 stuff such as C<$/> you I<must needs> revert that change, which is most
243 simply done by using local as in: C<< local $/ >>.
244
245 The idle pool size is limited to C<8> idle coros (this can be
246 adjusted by changing $Coro::POOL_SIZE), but there can be as many non-idle
247 coros as required.
248
249 If you are concerned about pooled coros growing a lot because a
250 single C<async_pool> used a lot of stackspace you can e.g. C<async_pool
251 { terminate }> once per second or so to slowly replenish the pool. In
252 addition to that, when the stacks used by a handler grows larger than 32kb
253 (adjustable via $Coro::POOL_RSS) it will also be destroyed.
254
255 =cut
256
257 our $POOL_SIZE = 8;
258 our $POOL_RSS = 32 * 1024;
259 our @async_pool;
260
261 sub pool_handler {
262 while () {
263 eval {
264 &{&_pool_handler} while 1;
265 };
266
267 warn $@ if $@;
268 }
269 }
270
271 =back
272
273 =head1 STATIC METHODS
274
275 Static methods are actually functions that implicitly operate on the
276 current coro.
277
278 =over 4
279
280 =item schedule
281
282 Calls the scheduler. The scheduler will find the next coro that is
283 to be run from the ready queue and switches to it. The next coro
284 to be run is simply the one with the highest priority that is longest
285 in its ready queue. If there is no coro ready, it will clal the
286 C<$Coro::idle> hook.
287
288 Please note that the current coro will I<not> be put into the ready
289 queue, so calling this function usually means you will never be called
290 again unless something else (e.g. an event handler) calls C<< ->ready >>,
291 thus waking you up.
292
293 This makes C<schedule> I<the> generic method to use to block the current
294 coro and wait for events: first you remember the current coro in
295 a variable, then arrange for some callback of yours to call C<< ->ready
296 >> on that once some event happens, and last you call C<schedule> to put
297 yourself to sleep. Note that a lot of things can wake your coro up,
298 so you need to check whether the event indeed happened, e.g. by storing the
299 status in a variable.
300
301 See B<HOW TO WAIT FOR A CALLBACK>, below, for some ways to wait for callbacks.
302
303 =item cede
304
305 "Cede" to other coros. This function puts the current coro into
306 the ready queue and calls C<schedule>, which has the effect of giving
307 up the current "timeslice" to other coros of the same or higher
308 priority. Once your coro gets its turn again it will automatically be
309 resumed.
310
311 This function is often called C<yield> in other languages.
312
313 =item Coro::cede_notself
314
315 Works like cede, but is not exported by default and will cede to I<any>
316 coro, regardless of priority. This is useful sometimes to ensure
317 progress is made.
318
319 =item terminate [arg...]
320
321 Terminates the current coro with the given status values (see L<cancel>).
322
323 =item Coro::on_enter BLOCK, Coro::on_leave BLOCK
324
325 These function install enter and leave winders in the current scope. The
326 enter block will be executed when on_enter is called and whenever the
327 current coro is re-entered by the scheduler, while the leave block is
328 executed whenever the current coro is blocked by the scheduler, and
329 also when the containing scope is exited (by whatever means, be it exit,
330 die, last etc.).
331
332 I<Neither invoking the scheduler, nor exceptions, are allowed within those
333 BLOCKs>. That means: do not even think about calling C<die> without an
334 eval, and do not even think of entering the scheduler in any way.
335
336 Since both BLOCKs are tied to the current scope, they will automatically
337 be removed when the current scope exits.
338
339 These functions implement the same concept as C<dynamic-wind> in scheme
340 does, and are useful when you want to localise some resource to a specific
341 coro.
342
343 They slow down thread switching considerably for coros that use them
344 (about 40% for a BLOCK with a single assignment, so thread switching is
345 still reasonably fast if the handlers are fast).
346
347 These functions are best understood by an example: The following function
348 will change the current timezone to "Antarctica/South_Pole", which
349 requires a call to C<tzset>, but by using C<on_enter> and C<on_leave>,
350 which remember/change the current timezone and restore the previous
351 value, respectively, the timezone is only changed for the coro that
352 installed those handlers.
353
354 use POSIX qw(tzset);
355
356 async {
357 my $old_tz; # store outside TZ value here
358
359 Coro::on_enter {
360 $old_tz = $ENV{TZ}; # remember the old value
361
362 $ENV{TZ} = "Antarctica/South_Pole";
363 tzset; # enable new value
364 };
365
366 Coro::on_leave {
367 $ENV{TZ} = $old_tz;
368 tzset; # restore old value
369 };
370
371 # at this place, the timezone is Antarctica/South_Pole,
372 # without disturbing the TZ of any other coro.
373 };
374
375 This can be used to localise about any resource (locale, uid, current
376 working directory etc.) to a block, despite the existance of other
377 coros.
378
379 Another interesting example implements time-sliced multitasking using
380 interval timers (this could obviously be optimised, but does the job):
381
382 # "timeslice" the given block
383 sub timeslice(&) {
384 use Time::HiRes ();
385
386 Coro::on_enter {
387 # on entering the thread, we set an VTALRM handler to cede
388 $SIG{VTALRM} = sub { cede };
389 # and then start the interval timer
390 Time::HiRes::setitimer &Time::HiRes::ITIMER_VIRTUAL, 0.01, 0.01;
391 };
392 Coro::on_leave {
393 # on leaving the thread, we stop the interval timer again
394 Time::HiRes::setitimer &Time::HiRes::ITIMER_VIRTUAL, 0, 0;
395 };
396
397 &{+shift};
398 }
399
400 # use like this:
401 timeslice {
402 # The following is an endless loop that would normally
403 # monopolise the process. Since it runs in a timesliced
404 # environment, it will regularly cede to other threads.
405 while () { }
406 };
407
408
409 =item killall
410
411 Kills/terminates/cancels all coros except the currently running one.
412
413 Note that while this will try to free some of the main interpreter
414 resources if the calling coro isn't the main coro, but one
415 cannot free all of them, so if a coro that is not the main coro
416 calls this function, there will be some one-time resource leak.
417
418 =cut
419
420 sub killall {
421 for (Coro::State::list) {
422 $_->cancel
423 if $_ != $current && UNIVERSAL::isa $_, "Coro";
424 }
425 }
426
427 =back
428
429 =head1 CORO OBJECT METHODS
430
431 These are the methods you can call on coro objects (or to create
432 them).
433
434 =over 4
435
436 =item new Coro \&sub [, @args...]
437
438 Create a new coro and return it. When the sub returns, the coro
439 automatically terminates as if C<terminate> with the returned values were
440 called. To make the coro run you must first put it into the ready
441 queue by calling the ready method.
442
443 See C<async> and C<Coro::State::new> for additional info about the
444 coro environment.
445
446 =cut
447
448 sub _coro_run {
449 terminate &{+shift};
450 }
451
452 =item $success = $coro->ready
453
454 Put the given coro into the end of its ready queue (there is one
455 queue for each priority) and return true. If the coro is already in
456 the ready queue, do nothing and return false.
457
458 This ensures that the scheduler will resume this coro automatically
459 once all the coro of higher priority and all coro of the same
460 priority that were put into the ready queue earlier have been resumed.
461
462 =item $coro->suspend
463
464 Suspends the specified coro. A suspended coro works just like any other
465 coro, except that the scheduler will not select a suspended coro for
466 execution.
467
468 Suspending a coro can be useful when you want to keep the coro from
469 running, but you don't want to destroy it, or when you want to temporarily
470 freeze a coro (e.g. for debugging) to resume it later.
471
472 A scenario for the former would be to suspend all (other) coros after a
473 fork and keep them alive, so their destructors aren't called, but new
474 coros can be created.
475
476 =item $coro->resume
477
478 If the specified coro was suspended, it will be resumed. Note that when
479 the coro was in the ready queue when it was suspended, it might have been
480 unreadied by the scheduler, so an activation might have been lost.
481
482 To avoid this, it is best to put a suspended coro into the ready queue
483 unconditionally, as every synchronisation mechanism must protect itself
484 against spurious wakeups, and the one in the Coro family certainly do
485 that.
486
487 =item $is_ready = $coro->is_ready
488
489 Returns true iff the Coro object is in the ready queue. Unless the Coro
490 object gets destroyed, it will eventually be scheduled by the scheduler.
491
492 =item $is_running = $coro->is_running
493
494 Returns true iff the Coro object is currently running. Only one Coro object
495 can ever be in the running state (but it currently is possible to have
496 multiple running Coro::States).
497
498 =item $is_suspended = $coro->is_suspended
499
500 Returns true iff this Coro object has been suspended. Suspended Coros will
501 not ever be scheduled.
502
503 =item $coro->cancel (arg...)
504
505 Terminates the given Coro and makes it return the given arguments as
506 status (default: the empty list). Never returns if the Coro is the
507 current Coro.
508
509 =cut
510
511 sub cancel {
512 my $self = shift;
513
514 if ($current == $self) {
515 terminate @_;
516 } else {
517 $self->{_status} = [@_];
518 Coro::State::cancel $self;
519 }
520 }
521
522 =item $coro->schedule_to
523
524 Puts the current coro to sleep (like C<Coro::schedule>), but instead
525 of continuing with the next coro from the ready queue, always switch to
526 the given coro object (regardless of priority etc.). The readyness
527 state of that coro isn't changed.
528
529 This is an advanced method for special cases - I'd love to hear about any
530 uses for this one.
531
532 =item $coro->cede_to
533
534 Like C<schedule_to>, but puts the current coro into the ready
535 queue. This has the effect of temporarily switching to the given
536 coro, and continuing some time later.
537
538 This is an advanced method for special cases - I'd love to hear about any
539 uses for this one.
540
541 =item $coro->throw ([$scalar])
542
543 If C<$throw> is specified and defined, it will be thrown as an exception
544 inside the coro at the next convenient point in time. Otherwise
545 clears the exception object.
546
547 Coro will check for the exception each time a schedule-like-function
548 returns, i.e. after each C<schedule>, C<cede>, C<< Coro::Semaphore->down
549 >>, C<< Coro::Handle->readable >> and so on. Most of these functions
550 detect this case and return early in case an exception is pending.
551
552 The exception object will be thrown "as is" with the specified scalar in
553 C<$@>, i.e. if it is a string, no line number or newline will be appended
554 (unlike with C<die>).
555
556 This can be used as a softer means than C<cancel> to ask a coro to
557 end itself, although there is no guarantee that the exception will lead to
558 termination, and if the exception isn't caught it might well end the whole
559 program.
560
561 You might also think of C<throw> as being the moral equivalent of
562 C<kill>ing a coro with a signal (in this case, a scalar).
563
564 =item $coro->join
565
566 Wait until the coro terminates and return any values given to the
567 C<terminate> or C<cancel> functions. C<join> can be called concurrently
568 from multiple coro, and all will be resumed and given the status
569 return once the C<$coro> terminates.
570
571 =cut
572
573 sub join {
574 my $self = shift;
575
576 unless ($self->{_status}) {
577 my $current = $current;
578
579 push @{$self->{_on_destroy}}, sub {
580 $current->ready;
581 undef $current;
582 };
583
584 &schedule while $current;
585 }
586
587 wantarray ? @{$self->{_status}} : $self->{_status}[0];
588 }
589
590 =item $coro->on_destroy (\&cb)
591
592 Registers a callback that is called when this coro gets destroyed,
593 but before it is joined. The callback gets passed the terminate arguments,
594 if any, and I<must not> die, under any circumstances.
595
596 =cut
597
598 sub on_destroy {
599 my ($self, $cb) = @_;
600
601 push @{ $self->{_on_destroy} }, $cb;
602 }
603
604 =item $oldprio = $coro->prio ($newprio)
605
606 Sets (or gets, if the argument is missing) the priority of the
607 coro. Higher priority coro get run before lower priority
608 coro. Priorities are small signed integers (currently -4 .. +3),
609 that you can refer to using PRIO_xxx constants (use the import tag :prio
610 to get then):
611
612 PRIO_MAX > PRIO_HIGH > PRIO_NORMAL > PRIO_LOW > PRIO_IDLE > PRIO_MIN
613 3 > 1 > 0 > -1 > -3 > -4
614
615 # set priority to HIGH
616 current->prio (PRIO_HIGH);
617
618 The idle coro ($Coro::idle) always has a lower priority than any
619 existing coro.
620
621 Changing the priority of the current coro will take effect immediately,
622 but changing the priority of coro in the ready queue (but not
623 running) will only take effect after the next schedule (of that
624 coro). This is a bug that will be fixed in some future version.
625
626 =item $newprio = $coro->nice ($change)
627
628 Similar to C<prio>, but subtract the given value from the priority (i.e.
629 higher values mean lower priority, just as in unix).
630
631 =item $olddesc = $coro->desc ($newdesc)
632
633 Sets (or gets in case the argument is missing) the description for this
634 coro. This is just a free-form string you can associate with a
635 coro.
636
637 This method simply sets the C<< $coro->{desc} >> member to the given
638 string. You can modify this member directly if you wish.
639
640 =cut
641
642 sub desc {
643 my $old = $_[0]{desc};
644 $_[0]{desc} = $_[1] if @_ > 1;
645 $old;
646 }
647
648 sub transfer {
649 require Carp;
650 Carp::croak ("You must not call ->transfer on Coro objects. Use Coro::State objects or the ->schedule_to method. Caught");
651 }
652
653 =back
654
655 =head1 GLOBAL FUNCTIONS
656
657 =over 4
658
659 =item Coro::nready
660
661 Returns the number of coro that are currently in the ready state,
662 i.e. that can be switched to by calling C<schedule> directory or
663 indirectly. The value C<0> means that the only runnable coro is the
664 currently running one, so C<cede> would have no effect, and C<schedule>
665 would cause a deadlock unless there is an idle handler that wakes up some
666 coro.
667
668 =item my $guard = Coro::guard { ... }
669
670 This function still exists, but is deprecated. Please use the
671 C<Guard::guard> function instead.
672
673 =cut
674
675 BEGIN { *guard = \&Guard::guard }
676
677 =item unblock_sub { ... }
678
679 This utility function takes a BLOCK or code reference and "unblocks" it,
680 returning a new coderef. Unblocking means that calling the new coderef
681 will return immediately without blocking, returning nothing, while the
682 original code ref will be called (with parameters) from within another
683 coro.
684
685 The reason this function exists is that many event libraries (such as the
686 venerable L<Event|Event> module) are not thread-safe (a weaker form
687 of reentrancy). This means you must not block within event callbacks,
688 otherwise you might suffer from crashes or worse. The only event library
689 currently known that is safe to use without C<unblock_sub> is L<EV>.
690
691 This function allows your callbacks to block by executing them in another
692 coro where it is safe to block. One example where blocking is handy
693 is when you use the L<Coro::AIO|Coro::AIO> functions to save results to
694 disk, for example.
695
696 In short: simply use C<unblock_sub { ... }> instead of C<sub { ... }> when
697 creating event callbacks that want to block.
698
699 If your handler does not plan to block (e.g. simply sends a message to
700 another coro, or puts some other coro into the ready queue), there is
701 no reason to use C<unblock_sub>.
702
703 Note that you also need to use C<unblock_sub> for any other callbacks that
704 are indirectly executed by any C-based event loop. For example, when you
705 use a module that uses L<AnyEvent> (and you use L<Coro::AnyEvent>) and it
706 provides callbacks that are the result of some event callback, then you
707 must not block either, or use C<unblock_sub>.
708
709 =cut
710
711 our @unblock_queue;
712
713 # we create a special coro because we want to cede,
714 # to reduce pressure on the coro pool (because most callbacks
715 # return immediately and can be reused) and because we cannot cede
716 # inside an event callback.
717 our $unblock_scheduler = new Coro sub {
718 while () {
719 while (my $cb = pop @unblock_queue) {
720 &async_pool (@$cb);
721
722 # for short-lived callbacks, this reduces pressure on the coro pool
723 # as the chance is very high that the async_poll coro will be back
724 # in the idle state when cede returns
725 cede;
726 }
727 schedule; # sleep well
728 }
729 };
730 $unblock_scheduler->{desc} = "[unblock_sub scheduler]";
731
732 sub unblock_sub(&) {
733 my $cb = shift;
734
735 sub {
736 unshift @unblock_queue, [$cb, @_];
737 $unblock_scheduler->ready;
738 }
739 }
740
741 =item $cb = Coro::rouse_cb
742
743 Create and return a "rouse callback". That's a code reference that,
744 when called, will remember a copy of its arguments and notify the owner
745 coro of the callback.
746
747 See the next function.
748
749 =item @args = Coro::rouse_wait [$cb]
750
751 Wait for the specified rouse callback (or the last one that was created in
752 this coro).
753
754 As soon as the callback is invoked (or when the callback was invoked
755 before C<rouse_wait>), it will return the arguments originally passed to
756 the rouse callback. In scalar context, that means you get the I<last>
757 argument, just as if C<rouse_wait> had a C<return ($a1, $a2, $a3...)>
758 statement at the end.
759
760 See the section B<HOW TO WAIT FOR A CALLBACK> for an actual usage example.
761
762 =back
763
764 =cut
765
766 1;
767
768 =head1 HOW TO WAIT FOR A CALLBACK
769
770 It is very common for a coro to wait for some callback to be
771 called. This occurs naturally when you use coro in an otherwise
772 event-based program, or when you use event-based libraries.
773
774 These typically register a callback for some event, and call that callback
775 when the event occured. In a coro, however, you typically want to
776 just wait for the event, simplyifying things.
777
778 For example C<< AnyEvent->child >> registers a callback to be called when
779 a specific child has exited:
780
781 my $child_watcher = AnyEvent->child (pid => $pid, cb => sub { ... });
782
783 But from within a coro, you often just want to write this:
784
785 my $status = wait_for_child $pid;
786
787 Coro offers two functions specifically designed to make this easy,
788 C<Coro::rouse_cb> and C<Coro::rouse_wait>.
789
790 The first function, C<rouse_cb>, generates and returns a callback that,
791 when invoked, will save its arguments and notify the coro that
792 created the callback.
793
794 The second function, C<rouse_wait>, waits for the callback to be called
795 (by calling C<schedule> to go to sleep) and returns the arguments
796 originally passed to the callback.
797
798 Using these functions, it becomes easy to write the C<wait_for_child>
799 function mentioned above:
800
801 sub wait_for_child($) {
802 my ($pid) = @_;
803
804 my $watcher = AnyEvent->child (pid => $pid, cb => Coro::rouse_cb);
805
806 my ($rpid, $rstatus) = Coro::rouse_wait;
807 $rstatus
808 }
809
810 In the case where C<rouse_cb> and C<rouse_wait> are not flexible enough,
811 you can roll your own, using C<schedule>:
812
813 sub wait_for_child($) {
814 my ($pid) = @_;
815
816 # store the current coro in $current,
817 # and provide result variables for the closure passed to ->child
818 my $current = $Coro::current;
819 my ($done, $rstatus);
820
821 # pass a closure to ->child
822 my $watcher = AnyEvent->child (pid => $pid, cb => sub {
823 $rstatus = $_[1]; # remember rstatus
824 $done = 1; # mark $rstatus as valud
825 });
826
827 # wait until the closure has been called
828 schedule while !$done;
829
830 $rstatus
831 }
832
833
834 =head1 BUGS/LIMITATIONS
835
836 =over 4
837
838 =item fork with pthread backend
839
840 When Coro is compiled using the pthread backend (which isn't recommended
841 but required on many BSDs as their libcs are completely broken), then
842 coro will not survive a fork. There is no known workaround except to
843 fix your libc and use a saner backend.
844
845 =item perl process emulation ("threads")
846
847 This module is not perl-pseudo-thread-safe. You should only ever use this
848 module from the first thread (this requirement might be removed in the
849 future to allow per-thread schedulers, but Coro::State does not yet allow
850 this). I recommend disabling thread support and using processes, as having
851 the windows process emulation enabled under unix roughly halves perl
852 performance, even when not used.
853
854 =item coro switching is not signal safe
855
856 You must not switch to another coro from within a signal handler
857 (only relevant with %SIG - most event libraries provide safe signals).
858
859 That means you I<MUST NOT> call any function that might "block" the
860 current coro - C<cede>, C<schedule> C<< Coro::Semaphore->down >> or
861 anything that calls those. Everything else, including calling C<ready>,
862 works.
863
864 =back
865
866
867 =head1 SEE ALSO
868
869 Event-Loop integration: L<Coro::AnyEvent>, L<Coro::EV>, L<Coro::Event>.
870
871 Debugging: L<Coro::Debug>.
872
873 Support/Utility: L<Coro::Specific>, L<Coro::Util>.
874
875 Locking and IPC: L<Coro::Signal>, L<Coro::Channel>, L<Coro::Semaphore>,
876 L<Coro::SemaphoreSet>, L<Coro::RWLock>.
877
878 I/O and Timers: L<Coro::Timer>, L<Coro::Handle>, L<Coro::Socket>, L<Coro::AIO>.
879
880 Compatibility with other modules: L<Coro::LWP> (but see also L<AnyEvent::HTTP> for
881 a better-working alternative), L<Coro::BDB>, L<Coro::Storable>,
882 L<Coro::Select>.
883
884 XS API: L<Coro::MakeMaker>.
885
886 Low level Configuration, Thread Environment, Continuations: L<Coro::State>.
887
888 =head1 AUTHOR
889
890 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
891 http://home.schmorp.de/
892
893 =cut
894