--- IO-AIO/AIO.pm 2006/10/24 03:40:25 1.69 +++ IO-AIO/AIO.pm 2006/10/24 16:35:04 1.73 @@ -53,19 +53,70 @@ This module implements asynchronous I/O using whatever means your operating system supports. -Currently, a number of threads are started that execute your read/writes -and signal their completion. You don't need thread support in perl, and -the threads created by this module will not be visible to perl. In the -future, this module might make use of the native aio functions available -on many operating systems. However, they are often not well-supported -(Linux doesn't allow them on normal files currently, for example), -and they would only support aio_read and aio_write, so the remaining -functionality would have to be implemented using threads anyway. - -Although the module will work with in the presence of other threads, -it is currently not reentrant in any way, so use appropriate locking -yourself, always call C from within the same thread, or never -call C (or other C functions) recursively. +In this version, a number of threads are started that execute your +requests and signal their completion. You don't need thread support +in perl, and the threads created by this module will not be visible +to perl. In the future, this module might make use of the native aio +functions available on many operating systems. However, they are often +not well-supported or restricted (Linux doesn't allow them on normal +files currently, for example), and they would only support aio_read and +aio_write, so the remaining functionality would have to be implemented +using threads anyway. + +Although the module will work with in the presence of other (Perl-) +threads, it is currently not reentrant in any way, so use appropriate +locking yourself, always call C from within the same thread, or +never call C (or other C functions) recursively. + +=head1 REQUEST ANATOMY AND LIFETIME + +Every C function creates a request. which is a C data structure not +directly visible to Perl. + +If called in non-void context, every request function returns a Perl +object representing the request. In void context, nothing is returned, +which saves a bit of memory. + +The perl object is a fairly standard ref-to-hash object. The hash contents +are not used by IO::AIO so you are free to store anything you like in it. + +During their existance, aio requests travel through the following states, +in order: + +=over 4 + +=item ready + +Immediately after a request is created it is put into the ready state, +waiting for a thread to execute it. + +=item execute + +A thread has accepted the request for processing and is currently +executing it (e.g. blocking in read). + +=item pending + +The request has been executed and is waiting for result processing. + +While request submission and execution is fully asynchronous, result +processing is not and relies on the perl interpreter calling C +(or another function with the same effect). + +=item result + +The request results are processed synchronously by C. + +The C function will process all outstanding aio requests by +calling their callbacks, freeing memory associated with them and managing +any groups they are contained in. + +=item done + +Request has reached the end of its lifetime and holds no resources anymore +(except possibly for the Perl object, but its connection to the actual +aio request is severed and calling its methods will either do nothing or +result in a runtime error). =cut @@ -83,7 +134,7 @@ aio_lstat aio_unlink aio_rmdir aio_readdir aio_scandir aio_symlink aio_fsync aio_fdatasync aio_readahead aio_rename aio_link aio_move aio_group aio_nop); - our @EXPORT = (@AIO_REQ, qw(aioreq_pri)); + our @EXPORT = (@AIO_REQ, qw(aioreq_pri aioreq_nice)); our @EXPORT_OK = qw(poll_fileno poll_cb poll_wait flush min_parallel max_parallel max_outstanding nreqs); @@ -215,8 +266,6 @@ =item aio_move $srcpath, $dstpath, $callback->($status) -[EXPERIMENTAL due to internal aio_group use] - Try to move the I (directories not supported as either source or destination) from C<$srcpath> to C<$dstpath> and call the callback with the C<0> (error) or C<-1> ok. @@ -378,8 +427,6 @@ =item aio_scandir $path, $maxreq, $callback->($dirs, $nondirs) -[EXPERIMENTAL due to internal aio_group use] - Scans a directory (similar to C) but additionally tries to separate the entries of directory C<$path> into two sets of names, ones you can recurse into (directories or links to them), and ones you cannot @@ -550,7 +597,8 @@ This is a very special aio request: Instead of doing something, it is a container for other aio requests, which is useful if you want to bundle -many requests into a single, composite, request. +many requests into a single, composite, request with a definite callback +and the ability to cancel the whole request with its subrequests. Returns an object of class L. See its documentation below for more info. @@ -579,15 +627,15 @@ entered their execution phase. This can be used to measure request latency. -=item IO::AIO::aio_sleep $fractional_seconds, $callback->() *NOT EXPORTED* +=item IO::AIO::aio_busy $fractional_seconds, $callback->() *NOT EXPORTED* Mainly used for debugging and benchmarking, this aio request puts one of the request workers to sleep for the given time. While it is theoretically handy to have simple I/O scheduling requests -like sleep and file handle readable/writable, the overhead this creates -is immense, so do not use this function except to put your application -under artificial I/O pressure. +like sleep and file handle readable/writable, the overhead this creates is +immense (it blocks a thread for a long time) so do not use this function +except to put your application under artificial I/O pressure. =back @@ -596,14 +644,6 @@ All non-aggregate C functions return an object of this class when called in non-void context. -A request always moves through the following five states in its lifetime, -in order: B (request has been created, but has not been executed -yet), B (request is currently being executed), B -(request has been executed but callback has not been called yet), -B (results are being processed synchronously, includes calling the -callback) and B (request has reached the end of its lifetime and -holds no resources anymore). - =over 4 =item cancel $req @@ -893,9 +933,9 @@ Before the fork, IO::AIO enters a quiescent state where no requests can be added in other threads and no results will be processed. After the fork the parent simply leaves the quiescent state and continues -request/result processing, while the child clears the request/result -queue (so the requests started before the fork will only be handled in -the parent). Threads will be started on demand until the limit ste in the +request/result processing, while the child frees the request/result queue +(so that the requests started before the fork will only be handled in the +parent). Threads will be started on demand until the limit set in the parent process has been reached again. In short: the parent will, after a short pause, continue as if fork had @@ -904,16 +944,26 @@ =head2 MEMORY USAGE -Each aio request uses - depending on your architecture - around 128 bytes -of memory. In addition, stat requests need a stat buffer (possibly a few -hundred bytes). Perl scalars and other data passed into aio requests will -also be locked. +Per-request usage: + +Each aio request uses - depending on your architecture - around 100-200 +bytes of memory. In addition, stat requests need a stat buffer (possibly +a few hundred bytes), readdir requires a result buffer and so on. Perl +scalars and other data passed into aio requests will also be locked and +will consume memory till the request has entered the done state. This is now awfully much, so queuing lots of requests is not usually a problem. -Each thread needs a stack area which is usually around 16k, sometimes much -larger, depending on the OS. +Per-thread usage: + +In the execution phase, some aio requests require more memory for +temporary buffers, and each thread requires a stack and other data +structures (usually around 16k-128k, depending on the OS). + +=head1 KNOWN BUGS + +Known bugs will be fixed in the next release. =head1 SEE ALSO