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Revision: 1.20
Committed: Thu Nov 1 17:17:32 2007 UTC (16 years, 6 months ago) by root
Branch: MAIN
Changes since 1.19: +258 -129 lines
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File Contents

# Content
1 =head1 NAME
2
3 EV - perl interface to libev, a high performance full-featured event loop
4
5 =head1 SYNOPSIS
6
7 use EV;
8
9 # TIMERS
10
11 my $w = EV::timer 2, 0, sub {
12 warn "is called after 2s";
13 };
14
15 my $w = EV::timer 2, 1, sub {
16 warn "is called roughly every 2s (repeat = 1)";
17 };
18
19 undef $w; # destroy event watcher again
20
21 my $w = EV::periodic 0, 60, sub {
22 warn "is called every minute, on the minute, exactly";
23 };
24
25 # IO
26
27 my $w = EV::io *STDIN, EV::READ, sub {
28 my ($w, $revents) = @_; # all callbacks get the watcher object and event mask
29 warn "stdin is readable, you entered: ", <STDIN>;
30 };
31
32 # SIGNALS
33
34 my $w = EV::signal 'QUIT', sub {
35 warn "sigquit received\n";
36 };
37
38 my $w = EV::signal 3, sub {
39 warn "sigquit received (this is GNU/Linux, right?)\n";
40 };
41
42 # CHILD/PID STATUS CHANGES
43
44 my $w = EV::child 666, sub {
45 my ($w, $revents, $status) = @_;
46 };
47
48 # MAINLOOP
49 EV::loop; # loop until EV::loop_done is called
50 EV::loop EV::LOOP_ONESHOT; # block until at least one event could be handled
51 EV::loop EV::LOOP_NONBLOCK; # try to handle same events, but do not block
52
53 =head1 DESCRIPTION
54
55 This module provides an interface to libev
56 (L<http://software.schmorp.de/pkg/libev.html>).
57
58 =cut
59
60 package EV;
61
62 use strict;
63
64 BEGIN {
65 our $VERSION = '0.1';
66 use XSLoader;
67 XSLoader::load "EV", $VERSION;
68 }
69
70 @EV::Io::ISA =
71 @EV::Timer::ISA =
72 @EV::Periodic::ISA =
73 @EV::Signal::ISA =
74 @EV::Idle::ISA =
75 @EV::Prepare::ISA =
76 @EV::Check::ISA =
77 @EV::Child::ISA = "EV::Watcher";
78
79 =head1 BASIC INTERFACE
80
81 =over 4
82
83 =item $EV::DIED
84
85 Must contain a reference to a function that is called when a callback
86 throws an exception (with $@ containing thr error). The default prints an
87 informative message and continues.
88
89 If this callback throws an exception it will be silently ignored.
90
91 =item $time = EV::time
92
93 Returns the current time in (fractional) seconds since the epoch.
94
95 =item $time = EV::now
96
97 Returns the time the last event loop iteration has been started. This
98 is the time that (relative) timers are based on, and refering to it is
99 usually faster then calling EV::time.
100
101 =item $method = EV::ev_method
102
103 Returns an integer describing the backend used by libev (EV::METHOD_SELECT
104 or EV::METHOD_EPOLL).
105
106 =item EV::loop [$flags]
107
108 Begin checking for events and calling callbacks. It returns when a
109 callback calls EV::loop_done.
110
111 The $flags argument can be one of the following:
112
113 0 as above
114 EV::LOOP_ONESHOT block at most once (wait, but do not loop)
115 EV::LOOP_NONBLOCK do not block at all (fetch/handle events but do not wait)
116
117 =item EV::loop_done [$how]
118
119 When called with no arguments or an argument of 1, makes the innermost
120 call to EV::loop return.
121
122 When called with an agrument of 2, all calls to EV::loop will return as
123 fast as possible.
124
125 =back
126
127 =head2 WATCHER
128
129 A watcher is an object that gets created to record your interest in some
130 event. For instance, if you want to wait for STDIN to become readable, you
131 would create an EV::io watcher for that:
132
133 my $watcher = EV::io *STDIN, EV::READ, sub {
134 my ($watcher, $revents) = @_;
135 warn "yeah, STDIN should not be readable without blocking!\n"
136 };
137
138 All watchers can be active (waiting for events) or inactive (paused). Only
139 active watchers will have their callbacks invoked. All callbacks will be
140 called with at least two arguments: the watcher and a bitmask of received
141 events.
142
143 Each watcher type has its associated bit in revents, so you can use the
144 same callback for multiple watchers. The event mask is named after the
145 type, i..e. EV::child sets EV::CHILD, EV::prepare sets EV::PREPARE,
146 EV::periodic sets EV::PERIODIC and so on, with the exception of IO events
147 (which can set both EV::READ and EV::WRITE bits), and EV::timer (which
148 uses EV::TIMEOUT).
149
150 In the rare case where one wants to create a watcher but not start it at
151 the same time, each constructor has a variant with a trailing C<_ns> in
152 its name, e.g. EV::io has a non-starting variant EV::io_ns and so on.
153
154 Please note that a watcher will automatically be stopped when the watcher
155 object is returned, so you I<need> to keep the watcher objects returned by
156 the constructors.
157
158 =head2 WATCHER TYPES
159
160 Now lets move to the existing watcher types and asociated methods.
161
162 The following methods are available for all watchers. Then followes a
163 description of each watcher constructor (EV::io, EV::timer, EV::periodic,
164 EV::signal, EV::child, EV::idle, EV::prepare and EV::check), followed by
165 any type-specific methods (if any).
166
167 =over 4
168
169 =item $w->start
170
171 Starts a watcher if it isn't active already. Does nothing to an already
172 active watcher. By default, all watchers start out in the active state
173 (see the description of the C<_ns> variants if you need stopped watchers).
174
175 =item $w->stop
176
177 Stop a watcher if it is active. Also clear any pending events (events that
178 have been received but that didn't yet result in a callback invocation),
179 regardless of wether the watcher was active or not.
180
181 =item $bool = $w->is_active
182
183 Returns true if the watcher is active, false otherwise.
184
185 =item $current_cb = $w->cb
186
187 =item $old_cb = $w->cb ($new_cb)
188
189 Queries the callback on the watcher and optionally changes it. You cna do
190 this at any time.
191
192 =item $w->trigger ($revents)
193
194 Call the callback *now* with the given event mask.
195
196
197 =item $w = EV::io $fileno_or_fh, $eventmask, $callback
198
199 =item $w = EV::io_ns $fileno_or_fh, $eventmask, $callback
200
201 As long as the returned watcher object is alive, call the C<$callback>
202 when the events specified in C<$eventmask>.
203
204 The $eventmask can be one or more of these constants ORed together:
205
206 EV::READ wait until read() wouldn't block anymore
207 EV::WRITE wait until write() wouldn't block anymore
208
209 The C<io_ns> variant doesn't start (activate) the newly created watcher.
210
211 =item $w->set ($fileno_or_fh, $eventmask)
212
213 Reconfigures the watcher, see the constructor above for details. Can be
214 called at any time.
215
216 =item $current_fh = $w->fh
217
218 =item $old_fh = $w->fh ($new_fh)
219
220 Returns the previously set filehandle and optionally set a new one.
221
222 =item $current_eventmask = $w->events
223
224 =item $old_eventmask = $w->events ($new_eventmask)
225
226 Returns the previously set event mask and optionally set a new one.
227
228
229 =item $w = EV::timer $after, $repeat, $callback
230
231 =item $w = EV::timer_ns $after, $repeat, $callback
232
233 Calls the callback after C<$after> seconds. If C<$repeat> is non-zero,
234 the timer will be restarted (with the $repeat value as $after) after the
235 callback returns.
236
237 This means that the callback would be called roughly after C<$after>
238 seconds, and then every C<$repeat> seconds. "Roughly" because the time of
239 callback processing is not taken into account, so the timer will slowly
240 drift. If that isn't acceptable, look at EV::periodic.
241
242 The timer is based on a monotonic clock, that is if somebody is sitting
243 in front of the machine while the timer is running and changes the system
244 clock, the timer will nevertheless run (roughly) the same time.
245
246 The C<timer_ns> variant doesn't start (activate) the newly created watcher.
247
248 =item $w->set ($after, $repeat)
249
250 Reconfigures the watcher, see the constructor above for details. Can be at
251 any time.
252
253 =item $w->again
254
255 Similar to the C<start> method, but has special semantics for repeating timers:
256
257 If the timer is active and repeating, reset the timeout to occur
258 C<$repeat> seconds after now.
259
260 If the timer is active and non-repeating, it will be stopped.
261
262 If the timer is in active and repeating, start it.
263
264 Otherwise do nothing.
265
266 This behaviour is useful when you have a timeout for some IO
267 operation. You create a timer object with the same value for C<$after> and
268 C<$repeat>, and then, in the read/write watcher, run the C<again> method
269 on the timeout.
270
271
272 =item $w = EV::periodic $at, $interval, $callback
273
274 =item $w = EV::periodic_ns $at, $interval, $callback
275
276 Similar to EV::timer, but the time is given as an absolute point in time
277 (C<$at>), plus an optional C<$interval>.
278
279 If the C<$interval> is zero, then the callback will be called at the time
280 C<$at> if that is in the future, or as soon as possible if it is in the
281 past. It will not automatically repeat.
282
283 If the C<$interval> is nonzero, then the watcher will always be scheduled
284 to time out at the next C<$at + N * $interval> time.
285
286 This can be used to schedule a callback to run at very regular intervals,
287 as long as the processing time is less then the interval (otherwise
288 obviously events will be skipped).
289
290 Another way to think about it (for the mathematically inclined) is that
291 EV::periodic will try to run the callback at the next possible time where
292 C<$time = $at (mod $interval)>, regardless of any time jumps.
293
294 This periodic timer is based on "wallclock time", that is, if the clock
295 changes (C<ntp>, C<date -s> etc.), then the timer will nevertheless run at
296 the specified time.
297
298 The C<periodic_ns> variant doesn't start (activate) the newly created watcher.
299
300 =item $w->set ($at, $interval)
301
302 Reconfigures the watcher, see the constructor above for details. Can be at
303 any time.
304
305
306 =item $w = EV::signal $signal, $callback
307
308 =item $w = EV::signal_ns $signal, $callback
309
310 Call the callback when $signal is received (the signal can be specified
311 by number or by name, just as with kill or %SIG).
312
313 EV will grab the signal for the process (the kernel only allows one
314 component to receive a signal at a time) when you start a signal watcher,
315 and removes it again when you stop it. Perl does the same when you
316 add/remove callbacks to %SIG, so watch out.
317
318 You can have as many signal watchers per signal as you want.
319
320 The C<signal_ns> variant doesn't start (activate) the newly created watcher.
321
322 =item $w->set ($signal)
323
324 Reconfigures the watcher, see the constructor above for details. Can be at
325 any time.
326
327
328 =item $w = EV::child $pid, $callback
329
330 =item $w = EV::child_ns $pid, $callback
331
332 Call the callback when a status change for pid C<$pid> (or any pid
333 if C<$pid> is 0) has been received. More precisely: when the process
334 receives a SIGCHLD, EV will fetch the outstanding exit/wait status for all
335 changed/zombie children and call the callback.
336
337 Unlike all other callbacks, this callback will be called with an
338 additional third argument which is the exit status. See the C<waitpid>
339 function for details.
340
341 You can have as many pid watchers per pid as you want.
342
343 The C<child_ns> variant doesn't start (activate) the newly created watcher.
344
345 =item $w->set ($pid)
346
347 Reconfigures the watcher, see the constructor above for details. Can be at
348 any time.
349
350
351 =item $w = EV::idle $callback
352
353 =item $w = EV::idle_ns $callback
354
355 Call the callback when there are no pending io, timer/periodic, signal or
356 child events, i.e. when the process is idle.
357
358 The process will not block as long as any idle watchers are active, and
359 they will be called repeatedly until stopped.
360
361 The C<idle_ns> variant doesn't start (activate) the newly created watcher.
362
363
364 =item $w = EV::prepare $callback
365
366 =item $w = EV::prepare_ns $callback
367
368 Call the callback just before the process would block. You can still
369 create/modify any watchers at this point.
370
371 See the EV::check watcher, below, for explanations and an example.
372
373 The C<prepare_ns> variant doesn't start (activate) the newly created watcher.
374
375
376 =item $w = EV::check $callback
377
378 =item $w = EV::check_ns $callback
379
380 Call the callback just after the process wakes up again (after it has
381 gathered events), but before any other callbacks have been invoked.
382
383 This is used to integrate other event-based software into the EV
384 mainloop: You register a prepare callback and in there, you create io and
385 timer watchers as required by the other software. Here is a real-world
386 example of integrating Net::SNMP (with some details left out):
387
388 our @snmp_watcher;
389
390 our $snmp_prepare = EV::prepare sub {
391 # do nothing unless active
392 $dispatcher->{_event_queue_h}
393 or return;
394
395 # make the dispatcher handle any outstanding stuff
396
397 # create an IO watcher for each and every socket
398 @snmp_watcher = (
399 (map { EV::io $_, EV::READ, sub { } }
400 keys %{ $dispatcher->{_descriptors} }),
401 );
402
403 # if there are any timeouts, also create a timer
404 push @snmp_watcher, EV::timer $event->[Net::SNMP::Dispatcher::_TIME] - EV::now, 0, sub { }
405 if $event->[Net::SNMP::Dispatcher::_ACTIVE];
406 };
407
408 The callbacks are irrelevant, the only purpose of those watchers is
409 to wake up the process as soon as one of those events occurs (socket
410 readable, or timer timed out). The corresponding EV::check watcher will then
411 clean up:
412
413 our $snmp_check = EV::check sub {
414 # destroy all watchers
415 @snmp_watcher = ();
416
417 # make the dispatcher handle any new stuff
418 };
419
420 The callbacks of the created watchers will not be called as the watchers
421 are destroyed before this cna happen (remember EV::check gets called
422 first).
423
424 The C<check_ns> variant doesn't start (activate) the newly created watcher.
425
426 =back
427
428 =head1 THREADS
429
430 Threads are not supported by this in any way. Perl pseudo-threads is evil
431 stuff and must die.
432
433 =cut
434
435 our $DIED = sub {
436 warn "EV: error in callback (ignoring): $@";
437 };
438
439 init;
440
441 push @AnyEvent::REGISTRY, [EV => "EV::AnyEvent"];
442
443 1;
444
445 =head1 SEE ALSO
446
447 L<EV::DNS>, L<EV::AnyEvent>.
448
449 =head1 AUTHOR
450
451 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
452 http://home.schmorp.de/
453
454 =cut
455