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Revision: 1.66
Committed: Sat Dec 8 14:31:45 2007 UTC (16 years, 5 months ago) by root
Branch: MAIN
CVS Tags: rel-1_72
Changes since 1.65: +1 -1 lines
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File Contents

# User Rev Content
1 root 1.1 =head1 NAME
2    
3 root 1.20 EV - perl interface to libev, a high performance full-featured event loop
4 root 1.1
5     =head1 SYNOPSIS
6    
7 root 1.11 use EV;
8    
9 root 1.20 # TIMERS
10 root 1.11
11     my $w = EV::timer 2, 0, sub {
12     warn "is called after 2s";
13     };
14    
15 root 1.35 my $w = EV::timer 2, 2, sub {
16     warn "is called roughly every 2s (repeat = 2)";
17 root 1.11 };
18    
19     undef $w; # destroy event watcher again
20    
21 root 1.30 my $w = EV::periodic 0, 60, 0, sub {
22 root 1.11 warn "is called every minute, on the minute, exactly";
23     };
24    
25     # IO
26    
27 root 1.20 my $w = EV::io *STDIN, EV::READ, sub {
28 root 1.35 my ($w, $revents) = @_; # all callbacks receive the watcher and event mask
29 root 1.20 warn "stdin is readable, you entered: ", <STDIN>;
30 root 1.11 };
31    
32     # SIGNALS
33    
34     my $w = EV::signal 'QUIT', sub {
35     warn "sigquit received\n";
36     };
37    
38 root 1.16 # CHILD/PID STATUS CHANGES
39    
40     my $w = EV::child 666, sub {
41 root 1.27 my ($w, $revents) = @_;
42     my $status = $w->rstatus;
43 root 1.16 };
44 root 1.54
45     # STAT CHANGES
46     my $w = EV::stat "/etc/passwd", 10, sub {
47     my ($w, $revents) = @_;
48     warn $w->path, " has changed somehow.\n";
49     };
50 root 1.11
51     # MAINLOOP
52 root 1.39 EV::loop; # loop until EV::unloop is called or all watchers stop
53 root 1.20 EV::loop EV::LOOP_ONESHOT; # block until at least one event could be handled
54     EV::loop EV::LOOP_NONBLOCK; # try to handle same events, but do not block
55 root 1.2
56 root 1.1 =head1 DESCRIPTION
57    
58 root 1.16 This module provides an interface to libev
59 root 1.52 (L<http://software.schmorp.de/pkg/libev.html>). While the documentation
60     below is comprehensive, one might also consult the documentation of libev
61     itself (L<http://cvs.schmorp.de/libev/ev.html>) for more subtle details on
62     watcher semantics or some discussion on the available backends, or how to
63 root 1.62 force a specific backend with C<LIBEV_FLAGS>, or just about in any case
64     because it has much more detailed information.
65 root 1.1
66     =cut
67    
68     package EV;
69    
70     use strict;
71    
72     BEGIN {
73 root 1.66 our $VERSION = '1.72';
74 root 1.1 use XSLoader;
75     XSLoader::load "EV", $VERSION;
76     }
77    
78 root 1.49 @EV::IO::ISA =
79 root 1.18 @EV::Timer::ISA =
80     @EV::Periodic::ISA =
81     @EV::Signal::ISA =
82 root 1.56 @EV::Child::ISA =
83     @EV::Stat::ISA =
84 root 1.18 @EV::Idle::ISA =
85     @EV::Prepare::ISA =
86     @EV::Check::ISA =
87 root 1.54 @EV::Embed::ISA =
88 root 1.56 @EV::Fork::ISA =
89     "EV::Watcher";
90 root 1.15
91 root 1.8 =head1 BASIC INTERFACE
92 root 1.1
93     =over 4
94    
95 root 1.8 =item $EV::DIED
96    
97     Must contain a reference to a function that is called when a callback
98     throws an exception (with $@ containing thr error). The default prints an
99     informative message and continues.
100    
101     If this callback throws an exception it will be silently ignored.
102    
103 root 1.20 =item $time = EV::time
104    
105     Returns the current time in (fractional) seconds since the epoch.
106    
107 root 1.2 =item $time = EV::now
108    
109 root 1.20 Returns the time the last event loop iteration has been started. This
110     is the time that (relative) timers are based on, and refering to it is
111     usually faster then calling EV::time.
112    
113 root 1.41 =item $method = EV::method
114 root 1.20
115     Returns an integer describing the backend used by libev (EV::METHOD_SELECT
116     or EV::METHOD_EPOLL).
117    
118     =item EV::loop [$flags]
119 root 1.2
120 root 1.20 Begin checking for events and calling callbacks. It returns when a
121 root 1.39 callback calls EV::unloop.
122 root 1.2
123 root 1.20 The $flags argument can be one of the following:
124 root 1.2
125 root 1.20 0 as above
126     EV::LOOP_ONESHOT block at most once (wait, but do not loop)
127     EV::LOOP_NONBLOCK do not block at all (fetch/handle events but do not wait)
128 root 1.2
129 root 1.39 =item EV::unloop [$how]
130 root 1.2
131 root 1.39 When called with no arguments or an argument of EV::UNLOOP_ONE, makes the
132     innermost call to EV::loop return.
133 root 1.2
134 root 1.39 When called with an argument of EV::UNLOOP_ALL, all calls to EV::loop will return as
135 root 1.20 fast as possible.
136 root 1.2
137 root 1.60 =item $count = EV::loop_count
138    
139     Return the number of times the event loop has polled for new
140     events. Sometiems useful as a generation counter.
141    
142 root 1.48 =item EV::once $fh_or_undef, $events, $timeout, $cb->($revents)
143 root 1.47
144     This function rolls together an I/O and a timer watcher for a single
145     one-shot event without the need for managing a watcher object.
146    
147     If C<$fh_or_undef> is a filehandle or file descriptor, then C<$events>
148     must be a bitset containing either C<EV::READ>, C<EV::WRITE> or C<EV::READ
149     | EV::WRITE>, indicating the type of I/O event you want to wait for. If
150     you do not want to wait for some I/O event, specify C<undef> for
151     C<$fh_or_undef> and C<0> for C<$events>).
152    
153     If timeout is C<undef> or negative, then there will be no
154     timeout. Otherwise a EV::timer with this value will be started.
155    
156     When an error occurs or either the timeout or I/O watcher triggers, then
157     the callback will be called with the received event set (in general
158     you can expect it to be a combination of C<EV:ERROR>, C<EV::READ>,
159     C<EV::WRITE> and C<EV::TIMEOUT>).
160    
161     EV::once doesn't return anything: the watchers stay active till either
162     of them triggers, then they will be stopped and freed, and the callback
163     invoked.
164    
165 root 1.65 =item EV::feed_fd_event ($fd, $revents)
166    
167     Feed an event on a file descriptor into EV. EV will react to this call as
168     if the readyness notifications specified by C<$revents> (a combination of
169     C<EV::READ> and C<EV::WRITE>) happened on the file descriptor C<$fd>.
170    
171     =item EV::feed_signal_event ($signal)
172    
173     Feed a signal event into EV. EV will react to this call as if the signal
174     specified by C<$signal> had occured.
175    
176 root 1.20 =back
177    
178 root 1.65
179 root 1.54 =head2 WATCHER OBJECTS
180 root 1.2
181 root 1.20 A watcher is an object that gets created to record your interest in some
182     event. For instance, if you want to wait for STDIN to become readable, you
183     would create an EV::io watcher for that:
184    
185     my $watcher = EV::io *STDIN, EV::READ, sub {
186     my ($watcher, $revents) = @_;
187     warn "yeah, STDIN should not be readable without blocking!\n"
188     };
189 root 1.2
190 root 1.20 All watchers can be active (waiting for events) or inactive (paused). Only
191     active watchers will have their callbacks invoked. All callbacks will be
192     called with at least two arguments: the watcher and a bitmask of received
193     events.
194    
195     Each watcher type has its associated bit in revents, so you can use the
196     same callback for multiple watchers. The event mask is named after the
197     type, i..e. EV::child sets EV::CHILD, EV::prepare sets EV::PREPARE,
198 root 1.62 EV::periodic sets EV::PERIODIC and so on, with the exception of I/O events
199 root 1.20 (which can set both EV::READ and EV::WRITE bits), and EV::timer (which
200     uses EV::TIMEOUT).
201    
202     In the rare case where one wants to create a watcher but not start it at
203     the same time, each constructor has a variant with a trailing C<_ns> in
204     its name, e.g. EV::io has a non-starting variant EV::io_ns and so on.
205    
206     Please note that a watcher will automatically be stopped when the watcher
207 root 1.23 object is destroyed, so you I<need> to keep the watcher objects returned by
208 root 1.20 the constructors.
209    
210 root 1.23 Also, all methods changing some aspect of a watcher (->set, ->priority,
211     ->fh and so on) automatically stop and start it again if it is active,
212     which means pending events get lost.
213    
214 root 1.54 =head2 COMMON WATCHER METHODS
215 root 1.20
216 root 1.54 This section lists methods common to all watchers.
217 root 1.20
218     =over 4
219 root 1.2
220 root 1.20 =item $w->start
221    
222     Starts a watcher if it isn't active already. Does nothing to an already
223     active watcher. By default, all watchers start out in the active state
224     (see the description of the C<_ns> variants if you need stopped watchers).
225    
226     =item $w->stop
227 root 1.2
228 root 1.20 Stop a watcher if it is active. Also clear any pending events (events that
229     have been received but that didn't yet result in a callback invocation),
230 root 1.62 regardless of whether the watcher was active or not.
231 root 1.2
232 root 1.20 =item $bool = $w->is_active
233 root 1.2
234 root 1.20 Returns true if the watcher is active, false otherwise.
235    
236 root 1.30 =item $current_data = $w->data
237    
238     =item $old_data = $w->data ($new_data)
239    
240     Queries a freely usable data scalar on the watcher and optionally changes
241     it. This is a way to associate custom data with a watcher:
242    
243     my $w = EV::timer 60, 0, sub {
244     warn $_[0]->data;
245     };
246     $w->data ("print me!");
247    
248 root 1.20 =item $current_cb = $w->cb
249    
250     =item $old_cb = $w->cb ($new_cb)
251    
252 root 1.23 Queries the callback on the watcher and optionally changes it. You can do
253     this at any time without the watcher restarting.
254    
255     =item $current_priority = $w->priority
256    
257     =item $old_priority = $w->priority ($new_priority)
258    
259     Queries the priority on the watcher and optionally changes it. Pending
260     watchers with higher priority will be invoked first. The valid range of
261 root 1.24 priorities lies between EV::MAXPRI (default 2) and EV::MINPRI (default
262     -2). If the priority is outside this range it will automatically be
263 root 1.23 normalised to the nearest valid priority.
264    
265 root 1.50 The default priority of any newly-created watcher is 0.
266    
267     Note that the priority semantics have not yet been fleshed out and are
268     subject to almost certain change.
269 root 1.20
270 root 1.65 =item $w->invoke ($revents)
271 root 1.20
272     Call the callback *now* with the given event mask.
273    
274 root 1.65 =item $w->feed_event ($revents)
275    
276     Feed some events on this watcher into EV. EV will react to this call as if
277     the watcher had received the given C<$revents> mask.
278    
279     =item $revents = $w->clear_pending
280    
281     If the watcher is pending, this function returns clears its pending status
282     and returns its C<$revents> bitset (as if its callback was invoked). If the
283     watcher isn't pending it does nothing and returns C<0>.
284    
285 root 1.50 =item $previous_state = $w->keepalive ($bool)
286    
287     Normally, C<EV::loop> will return when there are no active watchers
288     (which is a "deadlock" because no progress can be made anymore). This is
289     convinient because it allows you to start your watchers (and your jobs),
290     call C<EV::loop> once and when it returns you know that all your jobs are
291     finished (or they forgot to register some watchers for their task :).
292    
293     Sometimes, however, this gets in your way, for example when you the module
294     that calls C<EV::loop> (usually the main program) is not the same module
295     as a long-living watcher (for example a DNS client module written by
296     somebody else even). Then you might want any outstanding requests to be
297     handled, but you would not want to keep C<EV::loop> from returning just
298     because you happen to have this long-running UDP port watcher.
299    
300     In this case you can clear the keepalive status, which means that even
301     though your watcher is active, it won't keep C<EV::loop> from returning.
302    
303     The initial value for keepalive is true (enabled), and you cna change it
304     any time.
305    
306 root 1.62 Example: Register an I/O watcher for some UDP socket but do not keep the
307 root 1.50 event loop from running just because of that watcher.
308    
309     my $udp_socket = ...
310     my $udp_watcher = EV::io $udp_socket, EV::READ, sub { ... };
311     $udp_watcher->keepalive (0);
312 root 1.20
313 root 1.54 =back
314    
315    
316     =head2 WATCHER TYPES
317    
318     Each of the following subsections describes a single watcher type.
319    
320 root 1.62 =head3 I/O WATCHERS - is this file descriptor readable or writable?
321 root 1.54
322     =over 4
323    
324 root 1.20 =item $w = EV::io $fileno_or_fh, $eventmask, $callback
325 root 1.2
326 root 1.20 =item $w = EV::io_ns $fileno_or_fh, $eventmask, $callback
327 root 1.7
328 root 1.20 As long as the returned watcher object is alive, call the C<$callback>
329 root 1.54 when at least one of events specified in C<$eventmask> occurs.
330 root 1.2
331 root 1.20 The $eventmask can be one or more of these constants ORed together:
332 root 1.2
333     EV::READ wait until read() wouldn't block anymore
334     EV::WRITE wait until write() wouldn't block anymore
335 root 1.7
336 root 1.20 The C<io_ns> variant doesn't start (activate) the newly created watcher.
337 root 1.2
338 root 1.20 =item $w->set ($fileno_or_fh, $eventmask)
339 root 1.10
340 root 1.20 Reconfigures the watcher, see the constructor above for details. Can be
341     called at any time.
342 root 1.10
343 root 1.20 =item $current_fh = $w->fh
344    
345     =item $old_fh = $w->fh ($new_fh)
346    
347     Returns the previously set filehandle and optionally set a new one.
348 root 1.10
349 root 1.20 =item $current_eventmask = $w->events
350    
351     =item $old_eventmask = $w->events ($new_eventmask)
352 root 1.10
353 root 1.20 Returns the previously set event mask and optionally set a new one.
354 root 1.10
355 root 1.54 =back
356    
357    
358     =head3 TIMER WATCHERS - relative and optionally repeating timeouts
359    
360     =over 4
361 root 1.10
362 root 1.20 =item $w = EV::timer $after, $repeat, $callback
363 root 1.2
364 root 1.20 =item $w = EV::timer_ns $after, $repeat, $callback
365 root 1.2
366 root 1.53 Calls the callback after C<$after> seconds (which may be fractional). If
367     C<$repeat> is non-zero, the timer will be restarted (with the $repeat
368     value as $after) after the callback returns.
369 root 1.2
370 root 1.20 This means that the callback would be called roughly after C<$after>
371 root 1.39 seconds, and then every C<$repeat> seconds. The timer does his best not
372     to drift, but it will not invoke the timer more often then once per event
373     loop iteration, and might drift in other cases. If that isn't acceptable,
374     look at EV::periodic, which can provide long-term stable timers.
375 root 1.2
376 root 1.39 The timer is based on a monotonic clock, that is, if somebody is sitting
377 root 1.20 in front of the machine while the timer is running and changes the system
378     clock, the timer will nevertheless run (roughly) the same time.
379 root 1.2
380 root 1.20 The C<timer_ns> variant doesn't start (activate) the newly created watcher.
381    
382     =item $w->set ($after, $repeat)
383    
384 root 1.54 Reconfigures the watcher, see the constructor above for details. Can be called at
385 root 1.20 any time.
386    
387     =item $w->again
388    
389     Similar to the C<start> method, but has special semantics for repeating timers:
390    
391 root 1.39 If the timer is active and non-repeating, it will be stopped.
392    
393 root 1.20 If the timer is active and repeating, reset the timeout to occur
394     C<$repeat> seconds after now.
395    
396 root 1.39 If the timer is inactive and repeating, start it using the repeat value.
397 root 1.20
398     Otherwise do nothing.
399    
400     This behaviour is useful when you have a timeout for some IO
401     operation. You create a timer object with the same value for C<$after> and
402     C<$repeat>, and then, in the read/write watcher, run the C<again> method
403     on the timeout.
404    
405 root 1.54 =back
406    
407    
408     =head3 PERIODIC WATCHERS - to cron or not to cron?
409    
410     =over 4
411 root 1.20
412 root 1.30 =item $w = EV::periodic $at, $interval, $reschedule_cb, $callback
413 root 1.20
414 root 1.30 =item $w = EV::periodic_ns $at, $interval, $reschedule_cb, $callback
415    
416     Similar to EV::timer, but is not based on relative timeouts but on
417     absolute times. Apart from creating "simple" timers that trigger "at" the
418     specified time, it can also be used for non-drifting absolute timers and
419     more complex, cron-like, setups that are not adversely affected by time
420     jumps (i.e. when the system clock is changed by explicit date -s or other
421     means such as ntpd). It is also the most complex watcher type in EV.
422    
423     It has three distinct "modes":
424    
425     =over 4
426 root 1.2
427 root 1.30 =item * absolute timer ($interval = $reschedule_cb = 0)
428 root 1.2
429 root 1.30 This time simply fires at the wallclock time C<$at> and doesn't repeat. It
430     will not adjust when a time jump occurs, that is, if it is to be run
431     at January 1st 2011 then it will run when the system time reaches or
432     surpasses this time.
433 root 1.2
434 root 1.30 =item * non-repeating interval timer ($interval > 0, $reschedule_cb = 0)
435 root 1.2
436 root 1.30 In this mode the watcher will always be scheduled to time out at the
437     next C<$at + N * $interval> time (for some integer N) and then repeat,
438     regardless of any time jumps.
439    
440     This can be used to create timers that do not drift with respect to system
441     time:
442    
443     my $hourly = EV::periodic 0, 3600, 0, sub { print "once/hour\n" };
444    
445     That doesn't mean there will always be 3600 seconds in between triggers,
446     but only that the the clalback will be called when the system time shows a
447     full hour (UTC).
448 root 1.2
449 root 1.7 Another way to think about it (for the mathematically inclined) is that
450 root 1.30 EV::periodic will try to run the callback in this mode at the next
451     possible time where C<$time = $at (mod $interval)>, regardless of any time
452     jumps.
453    
454     =item * manual reschedule mode ($reschedule_cb = coderef)
455    
456 root 1.37 In this mode $interval and $at are both being ignored. Instead, each
457     time the periodic watcher gets scheduled, the reschedule callback
458     ($reschedule_cb) will be called with the watcher as first, and the current
459     time as second argument.
460 root 1.30
461 root 1.31 I<This callback MUST NOT stop or destroy this or any other periodic
462     watcher, ever>. If you need to stop it, return 1e30 and stop it
463     afterwards.
464 root 1.30
465     It must return the next time to trigger, based on the passed time value
466     (that is, the lowest time value larger than to the second argument). It
467     will usually be called just before the callback will be triggered, but
468     might be called at other times, too.
469    
470     This can be used to create very complex timers, such as a timer that
471     triggers on each midnight, local time (actually 24 hours after the last
472     midnight, to keep the example simple. If you know a way to do it correctly
473     in about the same space (without requiring elaborate modules), drop me a
474     note :):
475    
476     my $daily = EV::periodic 0, 0, sub {
477     my ($w, $now) = @_;
478    
479     use Time::Local ();
480     my (undef, undef, undef, $d, $m, $y) = localtime $now;
481     86400 + Time::Local::timelocal 0, 0, 0, $d, $m, $y
482     }, sub {
483     print "it's midnight or likely shortly after, now\n";
484     };
485 root 1.7
486 root 1.30 =back
487 root 1.20
488     The C<periodic_ns> variant doesn't start (activate) the newly created watcher.
489 root 1.2
490 root 1.30 =item $w->set ($at, $interval, $reschedule_cb)
491 root 1.11
492 root 1.54 Reconfigures the watcher, see the constructor above for details. Can be called at
493 root 1.20 any time.
494    
495 root 1.30 =item $w->again
496    
497     Simply stops and starts the watcher again.
498    
499 root 1.54 =back
500    
501    
502     =head3 SIGNAL WATCHERS - signal me when a signal gets signalled!
503    
504     =over 4
505 root 1.20
506     =item $w = EV::signal $signal, $callback
507    
508     =item $w = EV::signal_ns $signal, $callback
509 root 1.11
510 root 1.54 Call the callback when $signal is received (the signal can be specified by
511     number or by name, just as with C<kill> or C<%SIG>).
512 root 1.2
513 root 1.11 EV will grab the signal for the process (the kernel only allows one
514 root 1.20 component to receive a signal at a time) when you start a signal watcher,
515     and removes it again when you stop it. Perl does the same when you
516 root 1.54 add/remove callbacks to C<%SIG>, so watch out.
517 root 1.20
518     You can have as many signal watchers per signal as you want.
519 root 1.2
520 root 1.20 The C<signal_ns> variant doesn't start (activate) the newly created watcher.
521 root 1.2
522 root 1.20 =item $w->set ($signal)
523 root 1.2
524 root 1.54 Reconfigures the watcher, see the constructor above for details. Can be
525     called at any time.
526 root 1.20
527 root 1.22 =item $current_signum = $w->signal
528    
529     =item $old_signum = $w->signal ($new_signal)
530    
531     Returns the previously set signal (always as a number not name) and
532     optionally set a new one.
533    
534 root 1.54 =back
535    
536    
537     =head3 CHILD WATCHERS - watch out for process status changes
538    
539     =over 4
540 root 1.20
541     =item $w = EV::child $pid, $callback
542    
543     =item $w = EV::child_ns $pid, $callback
544    
545 root 1.54 Call the callback when a status change for pid C<$pid> (or any pid if
546     C<$pid> is 0) has been received. More precisely: when the process receives
547     a C<SIGCHLD>, EV will fetch the outstanding exit/wait status for all
548 root 1.20 changed/zombie children and call the callback.
549    
550 root 1.54 It is valid (and fully supported) to install a child watcher after a child
551     has exited but before the event loop has started its next iteration (for
552     example, first you C<fork>, then the new child process might exit, and
553     only then do you install a child watcher in the parent for the new pid).
554    
555     You can access both exit (or tracing) status and pid by using the
556     C<rstatus> and C<rpid> methods on the watcher object.
557 root 1.20
558 root 1.54 You can have as many pid watchers per pid as you want, they will all be
559     called.
560 root 1.20
561     The C<child_ns> variant doesn't start (activate) the newly created watcher.
562    
563     =item $w->set ($pid)
564 root 1.1
565 root 1.54 Reconfigures the watcher, see the constructor above for details. Can be called at
566 root 1.20 any time.
567 root 1.2
568 root 1.22 =item $current_pid = $w->pid
569    
570     =item $old_pid = $w->pid ($new_pid)
571    
572     Returns the previously set process id and optionally set a new one.
573    
574 root 1.27 =item $exit_status = $w->rstatus
575    
576     Return the exit/wait status (as returned by waitpid, see the waitpid entry
577     in perlfunc).
578    
579     =item $pid = $w->rpid
580    
581     Return the pid of the awaited child (useful when you have installed a
582     watcher for all pids).
583    
584 root 1.54 =back
585    
586    
587 root 1.56 =head3 STAT WATCHERS - did the file attributes just change?
588    
589     =over 4
590    
591     =item $w = EV::stat $path, $interval, $callback
592    
593     =item $w = EV::stat_ns $path, $interval, $callback
594    
595     Call the callback when a file status change has been detected on
596     C<$path>. The C<$path> does not need to exist, changing from "path exists"
597     to "path does not exist" is a status change like any other.
598    
599     The C<$interval> is a recommended polling interval for systems where
600     OS-supported change notifications don't exist or are not supported. If
601     you use C<0> then an unspecified default is used (which is highly
602     recommended!), which is to be expected to be around five seconds usually.
603    
604     This watcher type is not meant for massive numbers of stat watchers,
605     as even with OS-supported change notifications, this can be
606     resource-intensive.
607    
608     The C<stat_ns> variant doesn't start (activate) the newly created watcher.
609    
610 root 1.57 =item ... = $w->stat
611    
612     This call is very similar to the perl C<stat> built-in: It stats (using
613     C<lstat>) the path specified in the watcher and sets perls stat cache (as
614     well as EV's idea of the current stat values) to the values found.
615    
616     In scalar context, a boolean is return indicating success or failure of
617     the stat. In list context, the same 13-value list as with stat is returned
618     (except that the blksize and blocks fields are not reliable).
619    
620     In the case of an error, errno is set to C<ENOENT> (regardless of the
621     actual error value) and the C<nlink> value is forced to zero (if the stat
622     was successful then nlink is guaranteed to be non-zero).
623    
624     See also the next two entries for more info.
625    
626     =item ... = $w->attr
627    
628     Just like C<< $w->stat >>, but without the initial stat'ing: this returns
629     the values most recently detected by EV. See the next entry for more info.
630    
631     =item ... = $w->prev
632    
633     Just like C<< $w->stat >>, but without the initial stat'ing: this returns
634     the previous set of values, before the change.
635    
636     That is, when the watcher callback is invoked, C<< $w->prev >> will be set
637     to the values found I<before> a change was detected, while C<< $w->attr >>
638     returns the values found leading to the change detection. The difference (if any)
639     between C<prev> and C<attr> is what triggered the callback.
640    
641     If you did something to the filesystem object and do not want to trigger
642     yet another change, you can call C<stat> to update EV's idea of what the
643     current attributes are.
644    
645 root 1.56 =item $w->set ($path, $interval)
646    
647     Reconfigures the watcher, see the constructor above for details. Can be
648     called at any time.
649    
650     =item $current_path = $w->path
651    
652     =item $old_path = $w->path ($new_path)
653    
654     Returns the previously set path and optionally set a new one.
655    
656     =item $current_interval = $w->interval
657    
658     =item $old_interval = $w->interval ($new_interval)
659    
660     Returns the previously set interval and optionally set a new one. Can be
661     used to query the actual interval used.
662    
663     =back
664    
665    
666 root 1.54 =head3 IDLE WATCHERS - when you've got nothing better to do...
667    
668     =over 4
669 root 1.2
670 root 1.20 =item $w = EV::idle $callback
671 root 1.2
672 root 1.20 =item $w = EV::idle_ns $callback
673 root 1.2
674 root 1.62 Call the callback when there are no other pending watchers of the same or
675     higher priority (excluding check, prepare and other idle watchers of the
676     same or lower priority, of course). They are called idle watchers because
677     when the watcher is the highest priority pending event in the process, the
678     process is considered to be idle at that priority.
679    
680     If you want a watcher that is only ever called when I<no> other events are
681     outstanding you have to set the priority to C<EV::MINPRI>.
682 root 1.2
683 root 1.20 The process will not block as long as any idle watchers are active, and
684     they will be called repeatedly until stopped.
685 root 1.2
686 root 1.62 For example, if you have idle watchers at priority C<0> and C<1>, and
687     an I/O watcher at priority C<0>, then the idle watcher at priority C<1>
688     and the I/O watcher will always run when ready. Only when the idle watcher
689     at priority C<1> is stopped and the I/O watcher at priority C<0> is not
690     pending with the C<0>-priority idle watcher be invoked.
691    
692 root 1.20 The C<idle_ns> variant doesn't start (activate) the newly created watcher.
693 root 1.2
694 root 1.54 =back
695    
696    
697     =head3 PREPARE WATCHERS - customise your event loop!
698    
699     =over 4
700 root 1.2
701 root 1.20 =item $w = EV::prepare $callback
702 root 1.1
703 root 1.20 =item $w = EV::prepare_ns $callback
704 root 1.1
705 root 1.20 Call the callback just before the process would block. You can still
706     create/modify any watchers at this point.
707 root 1.1
708 root 1.20 See the EV::check watcher, below, for explanations and an example.
709 root 1.2
710 root 1.20 The C<prepare_ns> variant doesn't start (activate) the newly created watcher.
711 root 1.2
712 root 1.54 =back
713    
714    
715     =head3 CHECK WATCHERS - customise your event loop even more!
716    
717     =over 4
718 root 1.2
719 root 1.20 =item $w = EV::check $callback
720 root 1.2
721 root 1.20 =item $w = EV::check_ns $callback
722 root 1.10
723 root 1.20 Call the callback just after the process wakes up again (after it has
724     gathered events), but before any other callbacks have been invoked.
725 root 1.10
726 root 1.20 This is used to integrate other event-based software into the EV
727     mainloop: You register a prepare callback and in there, you create io and
728     timer watchers as required by the other software. Here is a real-world
729     example of integrating Net::SNMP (with some details left out):
730 root 1.10
731 root 1.20 our @snmp_watcher;
732 root 1.2
733 root 1.20 our $snmp_prepare = EV::prepare sub {
734     # do nothing unless active
735     $dispatcher->{_event_queue_h}
736     or return;
737 root 1.2
738 root 1.20 # make the dispatcher handle any outstanding stuff
739 root 1.45 ... not shown
740 root 1.2
741 root 1.62 # create an I/O watcher for each and every socket
742 root 1.20 @snmp_watcher = (
743     (map { EV::io $_, EV::READ, sub { } }
744     keys %{ $dispatcher->{_descriptors} }),
745 root 1.45
746     EV::timer +($event->[Net::SNMP::Dispatcher::_ACTIVE]
747     ? $event->[Net::SNMP::Dispatcher::_TIME] - EV::now : 0),
748     0, sub { },
749 root 1.20 );
750     };
751 root 1.2
752 root 1.45 The callbacks are irrelevant (and are not even being called), the
753     only purpose of those watchers is to wake up the process as soon as
754     one of those events occurs (socket readable, or timer timed out). The
755     corresponding EV::check watcher will then clean up:
756 root 1.2
757 root 1.20 our $snmp_check = EV::check sub {
758     # destroy all watchers
759     @snmp_watcher = ();
760 root 1.2
761 root 1.20 # make the dispatcher handle any new stuff
762 root 1.45 ... not shown
763 root 1.20 };
764 root 1.2
765 root 1.20 The callbacks of the created watchers will not be called as the watchers
766     are destroyed before this cna happen (remember EV::check gets called
767     first).
768 root 1.2
769 root 1.20 The C<check_ns> variant doesn't start (activate) the newly created watcher.
770 root 1.1
771     =back
772    
773 root 1.54
774 root 1.56 =head3 FORK WATCHERS - the audacity to resume the event loop after a fork
775 root 1.54
776 root 1.56 Fork watchers are called when a C<fork ()> was detected. The invocation
777     is done before the event loop blocks next and before C<check> watchers
778     are being called, and only in the child after the fork.
779 root 1.54
780 root 1.56 =over 4
781 root 1.54
782 root 1.56 =item $w = EV::fork $callback
783 root 1.54
784 root 1.56 =item $w = EV::fork_ns $callback
785 root 1.54
786 root 1.56 Call the callback before the event loop is resumed in the child process
787     after a fork.
788 root 1.54
789 root 1.56 The C<fork_ns> variant doesn't start (activate) the newly created watcher.
790 root 1.54
791     =back
792    
793    
794 root 1.61 =head1 PERL SIGNALS
795    
796     While Perl signal handling (C<%SIG>) is not affected by EV, the behaviour
797     with EV is as the same as any other C library: Perl-signals will only be
798     handled when Perl runs, which means your signal handler might be invoked
799     only the next time an event callback is invoked.
800    
801     The solution is to use EV signal watchers (see C<EV::signal>), which will
802     ensure proper operations with regards to other event watchers.
803    
804     If you cannot do this for whatever reason, you can also force a watcher
805     to be called on every event loop iteration by installing a C<EV::check>
806     watcher:
807    
808     my $async_check = EV::check sub { };
809    
810     This ensures that perl shortly gets into control for a short time, and
811     also ensures slower overall operation.
812    
813 root 1.13 =head1 THREADS
814    
815 root 1.45 Threads are not supported by this module in any way. Perl pseudo-threads
816 root 1.46 is evil stuff and must die. As soon as Perl gains real threads I will work
817     on thread support for it.
818    
819     =head1 FORK
820    
821     Most of the "improved" event delivering mechanisms of modern operating
822     systems have quite a few problems with fork(2) (to put it bluntly: it is
823     not supported and usually destructive). Libev makes it possible to work
824     around this by having a function that recreates the kernel state after
825     fork in the child.
826    
827     On non-win32 platforms, this module requires the pthread_atfork
828     functionality to do this automatically for you. This function is quite
829     buggy on most BSDs, though, so YMMV. The overhead for this is quite
830     negligible, because everything the function currently does is set a flag
831     that is checked only when the event loop gets used the next time, so when
832     you do fork but not use EV, the overhead is minimal.
833    
834     On win32, there is no notion of fork so all this doesn't apply, of course.
835 root 1.13
836 root 1.1 =cut
837    
838 root 1.8 our $DIED = sub {
839     warn "EV: error in callback (ignoring): $@";
840     };
841    
842 root 1.28 default_loop
843 root 1.26 or die 'EV: cannot initialise libev backend. bad $ENV{LIBEV_METHODS}?';
844 root 1.1
845     1;
846    
847 root 1.3 =head1 SEE ALSO
848    
849 root 1.59 L<EV::ADNS> (asynchronous dns), L<Glib::EV> (makes Glib/Gtk2 use EV as
850     event loop), L<Coro::EV> (efficient coroutines with EV).
851 root 1.3
852 root 1.1 =head1 AUTHOR
853    
854     Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
855     http://home.schmorp.de/
856    
857     =cut
858