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3 3
4SYNOPSIS 4SYNOPSIS
5 use IO::AIO; 5 use IO::AIO;
6 6
7 aio_open "/etc/passwd", O_RDONLY, 0, sub { 7 aio_open "/etc/passwd", O_RDONLY, 0, sub {
8 my ($fh) = @_; 8 my $fh = shift
9 or die "/etc/passwd: $!";
9 ... 10 ...
10 }; 11 };
11 12
12 aio_unlink "/tmp/file", sub { }; 13 aio_unlink "/tmp/file", sub { };
13 14
23 $req->cancel; # cancel request if still in queue 24 $req->cancel; # cancel request if still in queue
24 25
25 my $grp = aio_group sub { print "all stats done\n" }; 26 my $grp = aio_group sub { print "all stats done\n" };
26 add $grp aio_stat "..." for ...; 27 add $grp aio_stat "..." for ...;
27 28
29 # AnyEvent integration (EV, Event, Glib, Tk, POE, urxvt, pureperl...)
30 use AnyEvent::AIO;
31
28 # AnyEvent integration 32 # EV integration
29 open my $fh, "<&=" . IO::AIO::poll_fileno or die "$!"; 33 my $aio_w = EV::io IO::AIO::poll_fileno, EV::READ, \&IO::AIO::poll_cb;
30 my $w = AnyEvent->io (fh => $fh, poll => 'r', cb => sub { IO::AIO::poll_cb });
31 34
32 # Event integration 35 # Event integration
33 Event->io (fd => IO::AIO::poll_fileno, 36 Event->io (fd => IO::AIO::poll_fileno,
34 poll => 'r', 37 poll => 'r',
35 cb => \&IO::AIO::poll_cb); 38 cb => \&IO::AIO::poll_cb);
46 Danga::Socket->AddOtherFds (IO::AIO::poll_fileno => 49 Danga::Socket->AddOtherFds (IO::AIO::poll_fileno =>
47 \&IO::AIO::poll_cb); 50 \&IO::AIO::poll_cb);
48 51
49DESCRIPTION 52DESCRIPTION
50 This module implements asynchronous I/O using whatever means your 53 This module implements asynchronous I/O using whatever means your
51 operating system supports. 54 operating system supports. It is implemented as an interface to "libeio"
55 (<http://software.schmorp.de/pkg/libeio.html>).
56
57 Asynchronous means that operations that can normally block your program
58 (e.g. reading from disk) will be done asynchronously: the operation will
59 still block, but you can do something else in the meantime. This is
60 extremely useful for programs that need to stay interactive even when
61 doing heavy I/O (GUI programs, high performance network servers etc.),
62 but can also be used to easily do operations in parallel that are
63 normally done sequentially, e.g. stat'ing many files, which is much
64 faster on a RAID volume or over NFS when you do a number of stat
65 operations concurrently.
66
67 While most of this works on all types of file descriptors (for example
68 sockets), using these functions on file descriptors that support
69 nonblocking operation (again, sockets, pipes etc.) is very inefficient.
70 Use an event loop for that (such as the EV module): IO::AIO will
71 naturally fit into such an event loop itself.
52 72
53 In this version, a number of threads are started that execute your 73 In this version, a number of threads are started that execute your
54 requests and signal their completion. You don't need thread support in 74 requests and signal their completion. You don't need thread support in
55 perl, and the threads created by this module will not be visible to 75 perl, and the threads created by this module will not be visible to
56 perl. In the future, this module might make use of the native aio 76 perl. In the future, this module might make use of the native aio
57 functions available on many operating systems. However, they are often 77 functions available on many operating systems. However, they are often
58 not well-supported or restricted (Linux doesn't allow them on normal 78 not well-supported or restricted (GNU/Linux doesn't allow them on normal
59 files currently, for example), and they would only support aio_read and 79 files currently, for example), and they would only support aio_read and
60 aio_write, so the remaining functionality would have to be implemented 80 aio_write, so the remaining functionality would have to be implemented
61 using threads anyway. 81 using threads anyway.
62 82
63 Although the module will work with in the presence of other (Perl-) 83 Although the module will work in the presence of other (Perl-) threads,
64 threads, it is currently not reentrant in any way, so use appropriate 84 it is currently not reentrant in any way, so use appropriate locking
65 locking yourself, always call "poll_cb" from within the same thread, or 85 yourself, always call "poll_cb" from within the same thread, or never
66 never call "poll_cb" (or other "aio_" functions) recursively. 86 call "poll_cb" (or other "aio_" functions) recursively.
87
88 EXAMPLE
89 This is a simple example that uses the EV module and loads /etc/passwd
90 asynchronously:
91
92 use Fcntl;
93 use EV;
94 use IO::AIO;
95
96 # register the IO::AIO callback with EV
97 my $aio_w = EV::io IO::AIO::poll_fileno, EV::READ, \&IO::AIO::poll_cb;
98
99 # queue the request to open /etc/passwd
100 aio_open "/etc/passwd", O_RDONLY, 0, sub {
101 my $fh = shift
102 or die "error while opening: $!";
103
104 # stat'ing filehandles is generally non-blocking
105 my $size = -s $fh;
106
107 # queue a request to read the file
108 my $contents;
109 aio_read $fh, 0, $size, $contents, 0, sub {
110 $_[0] == $size
111 or die "short read: $!";
112
113 close $fh;
114
115 # file contents now in $contents
116 print $contents;
117
118 # exit event loop and program
119 EV::unloop;
120 };
121 };
122
123 # possibly queue up other requests, or open GUI windows,
124 # check for sockets etc. etc.
125
126 # process events as long as there are some:
127 EV::loop;
67 128
68REQUEST ANATOMY AND LIFETIME 129REQUEST ANATOMY AND LIFETIME
69 Every "aio_*" function creates a request. which is a C data structure 130 Every "aio_*" function creates a request. which is a C data structure
70 not directly visible to Perl. 131 not directly visible to Perl.
71 132
107 anymore (except possibly for the Perl object, but its connection to 168 anymore (except possibly for the Perl object, but its connection to
108 the actual aio request is severed and calling its methods will 169 the actual aio request is severed and calling its methods will
109 either do nothing or result in a runtime error). 170 either do nothing or result in a runtime error).
110 171
111FUNCTIONS 172FUNCTIONS
112 AIO FUNCTIONS 173 AIO REQUEST FUNCTIONS
113 All the "aio_*" calls are more or less thin wrappers around the 174 All the "aio_*" calls are more or less thin wrappers around the syscall
114 syscall with the same name (sans "aio_"). The arguments are similar 175 with the same name (sans "aio_"). The arguments are similar or
115 or identical, and they all accept an additional (and optional) 176 identical, and they all accept an additional (and optional) $callback
116 $callback argument which must be a code reference. This code 177 argument which must be a code reference. This code reference will get
117 reference will get called with the syscall return code (e.g. most 178 called with the syscall return code (e.g. most syscalls return -1 on
118 syscalls return -1 on error, unlike perl, which usually delivers 179 error, unlike perl, which usually delivers "false") as its sole argument
119 "false") as it's sole argument when the given syscall has been 180 after the given syscall has been executed asynchronously.
120 executed asynchronously.
121 181
122 All functions expecting a filehandle keep a copy of the filehandle 182 All functions expecting a filehandle keep a copy of the filehandle
123 internally until the request has finished. 183 internally until the request has finished.
124 184
125 All requests return objects of type IO::AIO::REQ that allow further 185 All functions return request objects of type IO::AIO::REQ that allow
126 manipulation of those requests while they are in-flight. 186 further manipulation of those requests while they are in-flight.
127 187
128 The pathnames you pass to these routines *must* be absolute and 188 The pathnames you pass to these routines *must* be absolute and encoded
129 encoded in byte form. The reason for the former is that at the time 189 as octets. The reason for the former is that at the time the request is
130 the request is being executed, the current working directory could 190 being executed, the current working directory could have changed.
131 have changed. Alternatively, you can make sure that you never change 191 Alternatively, you can make sure that you never change the current
132 the current working directory. 192 working directory anywhere in the program and then use relative paths.
133 193
134 To encode pathnames to byte form, either make sure you either: a) 194 To encode pathnames as octets, either make sure you either: a) always
135 always pass in filenames you got from outside (command line, readdir 195 pass in filenames you got from outside (command line, readdir etc.)
136 etc.), b) are ASCII or ISO 8859-1, c) use the Encode module and 196 without tinkering, b) are ASCII or ISO 8859-1, c) use the Encode module
137 encode your pathnames to the locale (or other) encoding in effect in 197 and encode your pathnames to the locale (or other) encoding in effect in
138 the user environment, d) use Glib::filename_from_unicode on unicode 198 the user environment, d) use Glib::filename_from_unicode on unicode
139 filenames or e) use something else. 199 filenames or e) use something else to ensure your scalar has the correct
200 contents.
140 201
202 This works, btw. independent of the internal UTF-8 bit, which IO::AIO
203 handles correctly whether it is set or not.
204
141 $prev_pri = aioreq_pri [$pri] 205 $prev_pri = aioreq_pri [$pri]
142 Returns the priority value that would be used for the next 206 Returns the priority value that would be used for the next request
143 request and, if $pri is given, sets the priority for the next 207 and, if $pri is given, sets the priority for the next aio request.
144 aio request.
145 208
146 The default priority is 0, the minimum and maximum priorities 209 The default priority is 0, the minimum and maximum priorities are -4
147 are -4 and 4, respectively. Requests with higher priority will 210 and 4, respectively. Requests with higher priority will be serviced
148 be serviced first. 211 first.
149 212
150 The priority will be reset to 0 after each call to one of the 213 The priority will be reset to 0 after each call to one of the
151 "aio_*" functions. 214 "aio_*" functions.
152 215
153 Example: open a file with low priority, then read something from 216 Example: open a file with low priority, then read something from it
154 it with higher priority so the read request is serviced before 217 with higher priority so the read request is serviced before other
155 other low priority open requests (potentially spamming the 218 low priority open requests (potentially spamming the cache):
156 cache):
157 219
220 aioreq_pri -3;
221 aio_open ..., sub {
222 return unless $_[0];
223
158 aioreq_pri -3; 224 aioreq_pri -2;
159 aio_open ..., sub {
160 return unless $_[0];
161
162 aioreq_pri -2;
163 aio_read $_[0], ..., sub { 225 aio_read $_[0], ..., sub {
164 ...
165 };
166 };
167
168 aioreq_nice $pri_adjust
169 Similar to "aioreq_pri", but subtracts the given value from the
170 current priority, so effects are cumulative.
171
172 aio_open $pathname, $flags, $mode, $callback->($fh)
173 Asynchronously open or create a file and call the callback with
174 a newly created filehandle for the file.
175
176 The pathname passed to "aio_open" must be absolute. See API
177 NOTES, above, for an explanation.
178
179 The $flags argument is a bitmask. See the "Fcntl" module for a
180 list. They are the same as used by "sysopen".
181
182 Likewise, $mode specifies the mode of the newly created file, if
183 it didn't exist and "O_CREAT" has been given, just like perl's
184 "sysopen", except that it is mandatory (i.e. use 0 if you don't
185 create new files, and 0666 or 0777 if you do).
186
187 Example:
188
189 aio_open "/etc/passwd", O_RDONLY, 0, sub {
190 if ($_[0]) {
191 print "open successful, fh is $_[0]\n";
192 ...
193 } else {
194 die "open failed: $!\n";
195 }
196 };
197
198 aio_close $fh, $callback->($status)
199 Asynchronously close a file and call the callback with the
200 result code. *WARNING:* although accepted, you should not pass
201 in a perl filehandle here, as perl will likely close the file
202 descriptor another time when the filehandle is destroyed.
203 Normally, you can safely call perls "close" or just let
204 filehandles go out of scope.
205
206 This is supposed to be a bug in the API, so that might change.
207 It's therefore best to avoid this function.
208
209 aio_read $fh,$offset,$length, $data,$dataoffset,
210 $callback->($retval)
211 aio_write $fh,$offset,$length, $data,$dataoffset,
212 $callback->($retval)
213 Reads or writes "length" bytes from the specified "fh" and
214 "offset" into the scalar given by "data" and offset "dataoffset"
215 and calls the callback without the actual number of bytes read
216 (or -1 on error, just like the syscall).
217
218 The $data scalar *MUST NOT* be modified in any way while the
219 request is outstanding. Modifying it can result in segfaults or
220 WW3 (if the necessary/optional hardware is installed).
221
222 Example: Read 15 bytes at offset 7 into scalar $buffer, starting
223 at offset 0 within the scalar:
224
225 aio_read $fh, 7, 15, $buffer, 0, sub {
226 $_[0] > 0 or die "read error: $!";
227 print "read $_[0] bytes: <$buffer>\n";
228 };
229
230 aio_move $srcpath, $dstpath, $callback->($status)
231 Try to move the *file* (directories not supported as either
232 source or destination) from $srcpath to $dstpath and call the
233 callback with the 0 (error) or -1 ok.
234
235 This is a composite request that tries to rename(2) the file
236 first. If rename files with "EXDEV", it creates the destination
237 file with mode 0200 and copies the contents of the source file
238 into it using "aio_sendfile", followed by restoring atime,
239 mtime, access mode and uid/gid, in that order, and unlinking the
240 $srcpath.
241
242 If an error occurs, the partial destination file will be
243 unlinked, if possible, except when setting atime, mtime, access
244 mode and uid/gid, where errors are being ignored.
245
246 aio_sendfile $out_fh, $in_fh, $in_offset, $length,
247 $callback->($retval)
248 Tries to copy $length bytes from $in_fh to $out_fh. It starts
249 reading at byte offset $in_offset, and starts writing at the
250 current file offset of $out_fh. Because of that, it is not safe
251 to issue more than one "aio_sendfile" per $out_fh, as they will
252 interfere with each other.
253
254 This call tries to make use of a native "sendfile" syscall to
255 provide zero-copy operation. For this to work, $out_fh should
256 refer to a socket, and $in_fh should refer to mmap'able file.
257
258 If the native sendfile call fails or is not implemented, it will
259 be emulated, so you can call "aio_sendfile" on any type of
260 filehandle regardless of the limitations of the operating
261 system.
262
263 Please note, however, that "aio_sendfile" can read more bytes
264 from $in_fh than are written, and there is no way to find out
265 how many bytes have been read from "aio_sendfile" alone, as
266 "aio_sendfile" only provides the number of bytes written to
267 $out_fh. Only if the result value equals $length one can assume
268 that $length bytes have been read.
269
270 aio_readahead $fh,$offset,$length, $callback->($retval)
271 "aio_readahead" populates the page cache with data from a file
272 so that subsequent reads from that file will not block on disk
273 I/O. The $offset argument specifies the starting point from
274 which data is to be read and $length specifies the number of
275 bytes to be read. I/O is performed in whole pages, so that
276 offset is effectively rounded down to a page boundary and bytes
277 are read up to the next page boundary greater than or equal to
278 (off-set+length). "aio_readahead" does not read beyond the end
279 of the file. The current file offset of the file is left
280 unchanged.
281
282 If that syscall doesn't exist (likely if your OS isn't Linux) it
283 will be emulated by simply reading the data, which would have a
284 similar effect.
285
286 aio_stat $fh_or_path, $callback->($status)
287 aio_lstat $fh, $callback->($status)
288 Works like perl's "stat" or "lstat" in void context. The
289 callback will be called after the stat and the results will be
290 available using "stat _" or "-s _" etc...
291
292 The pathname passed to "aio_stat" must be absolute. See API
293 NOTES, above, for an explanation.
294
295 Currently, the stats are always 64-bit-stats, i.e. instead of
296 returning an error when stat'ing a large file, the results will
297 be silently truncated unless perl itself is compiled with large
298 file support.
299
300 Example: Print the length of /etc/passwd:
301
302 aio_stat "/etc/passwd", sub {
303 $_[0] and die "stat failed: $!";
304 print "size is ", -s _, "\n";
305 };
306
307 aio_unlink $pathname, $callback->($status)
308 Asynchronously unlink (delete) a file and call the callback with
309 the result code.
310
311 aio_link $srcpath, $dstpath, $callback->($status)
312 Asynchronously create a new link to the existing object at
313 $srcpath at the path $dstpath and call the callback with the
314 result code.
315
316 aio_symlink $srcpath, $dstpath, $callback->($status)
317 Asynchronously create a new symbolic link to the existing object
318 at $srcpath at the path $dstpath and call the callback with the
319 result code.
320
321 aio_rename $srcpath, $dstpath, $callback->($status)
322 Asynchronously rename the object at $srcpath to $dstpath, just
323 as rename(2) and call the callback with the result code.
324
325 aio_rmdir $pathname, $callback->($status)
326 Asynchronously rmdir (delete) a directory and call the callback
327 with the result code.
328
329 aio_readdir $pathname, $callback->($entries)
330 Unlike the POSIX call of the same name, "aio_readdir" reads an
331 entire directory (i.e. opendir + readdir + closedir). The
332 entries will not be sorted, and will NOT include the "." and
333 ".." entries.
334
335 The callback a single argument which is either "undef" or an
336 array-ref with the filenames.
337
338 aio_scandir $path, $maxreq, $callback->($dirs, $nondirs)
339 Scans a directory (similar to "aio_readdir") but additionally
340 tries to efficiently separate the entries of directory $path
341 into two sets of names, directories you can recurse into
342 (directories), and ones you cannot recurse into (everything
343 else, including symlinks to directories).
344
345 "aio_scandir" is a composite request that creates of many sub
346 requests_ $maxreq specifies the maximum number of outstanding
347 aio requests that this function generates. If it is "<= 0", then
348 a suitable default will be chosen (currently 6).
349
350 On error, the callback is called without arguments, otherwise it
351 receives two array-refs with path-relative entry names.
352
353 Example:
354
355 aio_scandir $dir, 0, sub {
356 my ($dirs, $nondirs) = @_;
357 print "real directories: @$dirs\n";
358 print "everything else: @$nondirs\n";
359 };
360
361 Implementation notes.
362
363 The "aio_readdir" cannot be avoided, but "stat()"'ing every
364 entry can.
365
366 After reading the directory, the modification time, size etc. of
367 the directory before and after the readdir is checked, and if
368 they match (and isn't the current time), the link count will be
369 used to decide how many entries are directories (if >= 2).
370 Otherwise, no knowledge of the number of subdirectories will be
371 assumed.
372
373 Then entries will be sorted into likely directories (everything
374 without a non-initial dot currently) and likely non-directories
375 (everything else). Then every entry plus an appended "/." will
376 be "stat"'ed, likely directories first. If that succeeds, it
377 assumes that the entry is a directory or a symlink to directory
378 (which will be checked seperately). This is often faster than
379 stat'ing the entry itself because filesystems might detect the
380 type of the entry without reading the inode data (e.g. ext2fs
381 filetype feature).
382
383 If the known number of directories (link count - 2) has been
384 reached, the rest of the entries is assumed to be
385 non-directories.
386
387 This only works with certainty on POSIX (= UNIX) filesystems,
388 which fortunately are the vast majority of filesystems around.
389
390 It will also likely work on non-POSIX filesystems with reduced
391 efficiency as those tend to return 0 or 1 as link counts, which
392 disables the directory counting heuristic.
393
394 aio_fsync $fh, $callback->($status)
395 Asynchronously call fsync on the given filehandle and call the
396 callback with the fsync result code.
397
398 aio_fdatasync $fh, $callback->($status)
399 Asynchronously call fdatasync on the given filehandle and call
400 the callback with the fdatasync result code.
401
402 If this call isn't available because your OS lacks it or it
403 couldn't be detected, it will be emulated by calling "fsync"
404 instead.
405
406 aio_group $callback->(...)
407 This is a very special aio request: Instead of doing something,
408 it is a container for other aio requests, which is useful if you
409 want to bundle many requests into a single, composite, request
410 with a definite callback and the ability to cancel the whole
411 request with its subrequests.
412
413 Returns an object of class IO::AIO::GRP. See its documentation
414 below for more info.
415
416 Example:
417
418 my $grp = aio_group sub {
419 print "all stats done\n";
420 };
421
422 add $grp
423 (aio_stat ...),
424 (aio_stat ...),
425 ...; 226 ...
426
427 aio_nop $callback->()
428 This is a special request - it does nothing in itself and is
429 only used for side effects, such as when you want to add a dummy
430 request to a group so that finishing the requests in the group
431 depends on executing the given code.
432
433 While this request does nothing, it still goes through the
434 execution phase and still requires a worker thread. Thus, the
435 callback will not be executed immediately but only after other
436 requests in the queue have entered their execution phase. This
437 can be used to measure request latency.
438
439 IO::AIO::aio_busy $fractional_seconds, $callback->() *NOT EXPORTED*
440 Mainly used for debugging and benchmarking, this aio request
441 puts one of the request workers to sleep for the given time.
442
443 While it is theoretically handy to have simple I/O scheduling
444 requests like sleep and file handle readable/writable, the
445 overhead this creates is immense (it blocks a thread for a long
446 time) so do not use this function except to put your application
447 under artificial I/O pressure.
448
449 IO::AIO::REQ CLASS
450 All non-aggregate "aio_*" functions return an object of this class
451 when called in non-void context.
452
453 cancel $req
454 Cancels the request, if possible. Has the effect of skipping
455 execution when entering the execute state and skipping calling
456 the callback when entering the the result state, but will leave
457 the request otherwise untouched. That means that requests that
458 currently execute will not be stopped and resources held by the
459 request will not be freed prematurely.
460
461 cb $req $callback->(...)
462 Replace (or simply set) the callback registered to the request.
463
464 IO::AIO::GRP CLASS
465 This class is a subclass of IO::AIO::REQ, so all its methods apply
466 to objects of this class, too.
467
468 A IO::AIO::GRP object is a special request that can contain multiple
469 other aio requests.
470
471 You create one by calling the "aio_group" constructing function with
472 a callback that will be called when all contained requests have
473 entered the "done" state:
474
475 my $grp = aio_group sub {
476 print "all requests are done\n";
477 };
478
479 You add requests by calling the "add" method with one or more
480 "IO::AIO::REQ" objects:
481
482 $grp->add (aio_unlink "...");
483
484 add $grp aio_stat "...", sub {
485 $_[0] or return $grp->result ("error");
486
487 # add another request dynamically, if first succeeded
488 add $grp aio_open "...", sub {
489 $grp->result ("ok");
490 }; 227 };
491 }; 228 };
492 229
230 aioreq_nice $pri_adjust
231 Similar to "aioreq_pri", but subtracts the given value from the
232 current priority, so the effect is cumulative.
233
234 aio_open $pathname, $flags, $mode, $callback->($fh)
235 Asynchronously open or create a file and call the callback with a
236 newly created filehandle for the file.
237
238 The pathname passed to "aio_open" must be absolute. See API NOTES,
239 above, for an explanation.
240
241 The $flags argument is a bitmask. See the "Fcntl" module for a list.
242 They are the same as used by "sysopen".
243
244 Likewise, $mode specifies the mode of the newly created file, if it
245 didn't exist and "O_CREAT" has been given, just like perl's
246 "sysopen", except that it is mandatory (i.e. use 0 if you don't
247 create new files, and 0666 or 0777 if you do). Note that the $mode
248 will be modified by the umask in effect then the request is being
249 executed, so better never change the umask.
250
251 Example:
252
253 aio_open "/etc/passwd", O_RDONLY, 0, sub {
254 if ($_[0]) {
255 print "open successful, fh is $_[0]\n";
256 ...
257 } else {
258 die "open failed: $!\n";
259 }
260 };
261
262 aio_close $fh, $callback->($status)
263 Asynchronously close a file and call the callback with the result
264 code.
265
266 Unfortunately, you can't do this to perl. Perl *insists* very
267 strongly on closing the file descriptor associated with the
268 filehandle itself.
269
270 Therefore, "aio_close" will not close the filehandle - instead it
271 will use dup2 to overwrite the file descriptor with the write-end of
272 a pipe (the pipe fd will be created on demand and will be cached).
273
274 Or in other words: the file descriptor will be closed, but it will
275 not be free for reuse until the perl filehandle is closed.
276
277 aio_read $fh,$offset,$length, $data,$dataoffset, $callback->($retval)
278 aio_write $fh,$offset,$length, $data,$dataoffset, $callback->($retval)
279 Reads or writes $length bytes from or to the specified $fh and
280 $offset into the scalar given by $data and offset $dataoffset and
281 calls the callback without the actual number of bytes read (or -1 on
282 error, just like the syscall).
283
284 "aio_read" will, like "sysread", shrink or grow the $data scalar to
285 offset plus the actual number of bytes read.
286
287 If $offset is undefined, then the current file descriptor offset
288 will be used (and updated), otherwise the file descriptor offset
289 will not be changed by these calls.
290
291 If $length is undefined in "aio_write", use the remaining length of
292 $data.
293
294 If $dataoffset is less than zero, it will be counted from the end of
295 $data.
296
297 The $data scalar *MUST NOT* be modified in any way while the request
298 is outstanding. Modifying it can result in segfaults or World War
299 III (if the necessary/optional hardware is installed).
300
301 Example: Read 15 bytes at offset 7 into scalar $buffer, starting at
302 offset 0 within the scalar:
303
304 aio_read $fh, 7, 15, $buffer, 0, sub {
305 $_[0] > 0 or die "read error: $!";
306 print "read $_[0] bytes: <$buffer>\n";
307 };
308
309 aio_sendfile $out_fh, $in_fh, $in_offset, $length, $callback->($retval)
310 Tries to copy $length bytes from $in_fh to $out_fh. It starts
311 reading at byte offset $in_offset, and starts writing at the current
312 file offset of $out_fh. Because of that, it is not safe to issue
313 more than one "aio_sendfile" per $out_fh, as they will interfere
314 with each other.
315
316 This call tries to make use of a native "sendfile" syscall to
317 provide zero-copy operation. For this to work, $out_fh should refer
318 to a socket, and $in_fh should refer to mmap'able file.
319
320 If the native sendfile call fails or is not implemented, it will be
321 emulated, so you can call "aio_sendfile" on any type of filehandle
322 regardless of the limitations of the operating system.
323
324 Please note, however, that "aio_sendfile" can read more bytes from
325 $in_fh than are written, and there is no way to find out how many
326 bytes have been read from "aio_sendfile" alone, as "aio_sendfile"
327 only provides the number of bytes written to $out_fh. Only if the
328 result value equals $length one can assume that $length bytes have
329 been read.
330
331 aio_readahead $fh,$offset,$length, $callback->($retval)
332 "aio_readahead" populates the page cache with data from a file so
333 that subsequent reads from that file will not block on disk I/O. The
334 $offset argument specifies the starting point from which data is to
335 be read and $length specifies the number of bytes to be read. I/O is
336 performed in whole pages, so that offset is effectively rounded down
337 to a page boundary and bytes are read up to the next page boundary
338 greater than or equal to (off-set+length). "aio_readahead" does not
339 read beyond the end of the file. The current file offset of the file
340 is left unchanged.
341
342 If that syscall doesn't exist (likely if your OS isn't Linux) it
343 will be emulated by simply reading the data, which would have a
344 similar effect.
345
346 aio_stat $fh_or_path, $callback->($status)
347 aio_lstat $fh, $callback->($status)
348 Works like perl's "stat" or "lstat" in void context. The callback
349 will be called after the stat and the results will be available
350 using "stat _" or "-s _" etc...
351
352 The pathname passed to "aio_stat" must be absolute. See API NOTES,
353 above, for an explanation.
354
355 Currently, the stats are always 64-bit-stats, i.e. instead of
356 returning an error when stat'ing a large file, the results will be
357 silently truncated unless perl itself is compiled with large file
358 support.
359
360 Example: Print the length of /etc/passwd:
361
362 aio_stat "/etc/passwd", sub {
363 $_[0] and die "stat failed: $!";
364 print "size is ", -s _, "\n";
365 };
366
367 aio_utime $fh_or_path, $atime, $mtime, $callback->($status)
368 Works like perl's "utime" function (including the special case of
369 $atime and $mtime being undef). Fractional times are supported if
370 the underlying syscalls support them.
371
372 When called with a pathname, uses utimes(2) if available, otherwise
373 utime(2). If called on a file descriptor, uses futimes(2) if
374 available, otherwise returns ENOSYS, so this is not portable.
375
376 Examples:
377
378 # set atime and mtime to current time (basically touch(1)):
379 aio_utime "path", undef, undef;
380 # set atime to current time and mtime to beginning of the epoch:
381 aio_utime "path", time, undef; # undef==0
382
383 aio_chown $fh_or_path, $uid, $gid, $callback->($status)
384 Works like perl's "chown" function, except that "undef" for either
385 $uid or $gid is being interpreted as "do not change" (but -1 can
386 also be used).
387
388 Examples:
389
390 # same as "chown root path" in the shell:
391 aio_chown "path", 0, -1;
392 # same as above:
393 aio_chown "path", 0, undef;
394
395 aio_truncate $fh_or_path, $offset, $callback->($status)
396 Works like truncate(2) or ftruncate(2).
397
398 aio_chmod $fh_or_path, $mode, $callback->($status)
399 Works like perl's "chmod" function.
400
401 aio_unlink $pathname, $callback->($status)
402 Asynchronously unlink (delete) a file and call the callback with the
403 result code.
404
405 aio_mknod $path, $mode, $dev, $callback->($status)
406 [EXPERIMENTAL]
407
408 Asynchronously create a device node (or fifo). See mknod(2).
409
410 The only (POSIX-) portable way of calling this function is:
411
412 aio_mknod $path, IO::AIO::S_IFIFO | $mode, 0, sub { ...
413
414 aio_link $srcpath, $dstpath, $callback->($status)
415 Asynchronously create a new link to the existing object at $srcpath
416 at the path $dstpath and call the callback with the result code.
417
418 aio_symlink $srcpath, $dstpath, $callback->($status)
419 Asynchronously create a new symbolic link to the existing object at
420 $srcpath at the path $dstpath and call the callback with the result
421 code.
422
423 aio_readlink $path, $callback->($link)
424 Asynchronously read the symlink specified by $path and pass it to
425 the callback. If an error occurs, nothing or undef gets passed to
426 the callback.
427
428 aio_rename $srcpath, $dstpath, $callback->($status)
429 Asynchronously rename the object at $srcpath to $dstpath, just as
430 rename(2) and call the callback with the result code.
431
432 aio_mkdir $pathname, $mode, $callback->($status)
433 Asynchronously mkdir (create) a directory and call the callback with
434 the result code. $mode will be modified by the umask at the time the
435 request is executed, so do not change your umask.
436
437 aio_rmdir $pathname, $callback->($status)
438 Asynchronously rmdir (delete) a directory and call the callback with
439 the result code.
440
441 aio_readdir $pathname, $callback->($entries)
442 Unlike the POSIX call of the same name, "aio_readdir" reads an
443 entire directory (i.e. opendir + readdir + closedir). The entries
444 will not be sorted, and will NOT include the "." and ".." entries.
445
446 The callback is passed a single argument which is either "undef" or
447 an array-ref with the filenames.
448
449 aio_readdirx $pathname, $flags, $callback->($entries, $flags)
450 Quite similar to "aio_readdir", but the $flags argument allows to
451 tune behaviour and output format. In case of an error, $entries will
452 be "undef".
453
454 The flags are a combination of the following constants, ORed
455 together (the flags will also be passed to the callback, possibly
456 modified):
457
458 IO::AIO::READDIR_DENTS
459 When this flag is off, then the callback gets an arrayref with
460 of names only (as with "aio_readdir"), otherwise it gets an
461 arrayref with "[$name, $type, $inode]" arrayrefs, each
462 describing a single directory entry in more detail.
463
464 $name is the name of the entry.
465
466 $type is one of the "IO::AIO::DT_xxx" constants:
467
468 "IO::AIO::DT_UNKNOWN", "IO::AIO::DT_FIFO", "IO::AIO::DT_CHR",
469 "IO::AIO::DT_DIR", "IO::AIO::DT_BLK", "IO::AIO::DT_REG",
470 "IO::AIO::DT_LNK", "IO::AIO::DT_SOCK", "IO::AIO::DT_WHT".
471
472 "IO::AIO::DT_UNKNOWN" means just that: readdir does not know. If
473 you need to know, you have to run stat yourself. Also, for speed
474 reasons, the $type scalars are read-only: you can not modify
475 them.
476
477 $inode is the inode number (which might not be exact on systems
478 with 64 bit inode numbers and 32 bit perls). This field has
479 unspecified content on systems that do not deliver the inode
480 information.
481
482 IO::AIO::READDIR_DIRS_FIRST
483 When this flag is set, then the names will be returned in an
484 order where likely directories come first. This is useful when
485 you need to quickly find directories, or you want to find all
486 directories while avoiding to stat() each entry.
487
488 If the system returns type information in readdir, then this is
489 used to find directories directly. Otherwise, likely directories
490 are files beginning with ".", or otherwise files with no dots,
491 of which files with short names are tried first.
492
493 IO::AIO::READDIR_STAT_ORDER
494 When this flag is set, then the names will be returned in an
495 order suitable for stat()'ing each one. That is, when you plan
496 to stat() all files in the given directory, then the returned
497 order will likely be fastest.
498
499 If both this flag and "IO::AIO::READDIR_DIRS_FIRST" are
500 specified, then the likely dirs come first, resulting in a less
501 optimal stat order.
502
503 IO::AIO::READDIR_FOUND_UNKNOWN
504 This flag should not be set when calling "aio_readdirx".
505 Instead, it is being set by "aio_readdirx", when any of the
506 $type's found were "IO::AIO::DT_UNKNOWN". The absense of this
507 flag therefore indicates that all $type's are known, which can
508 be used to speed up some algorithms.
509
510 aio_load $path, $data, $callback->($status)
511 This is a composite request that tries to fully load the given file
512 into memory. Status is the same as with aio_read.
513
514 aio_copy $srcpath, $dstpath, $callback->($status)
515 Try to copy the *file* (directories not supported as either source
516 or destination) from $srcpath to $dstpath and call the callback with
517 the 0 (error) or -1 ok.
518
519 This is a composite request that creates the destination file with
520 mode 0200 and copies the contents of the source file into it using
521 "aio_sendfile", followed by restoring atime, mtime, access mode and
522 uid/gid, in that order.
523
524 If an error occurs, the partial destination file will be unlinked,
525 if possible, except when setting atime, mtime, access mode and
526 uid/gid, where errors are being ignored.
527
528 aio_move $srcpath, $dstpath, $callback->($status)
529 Try to move the *file* (directories not supported as either source
530 or destination) from $srcpath to $dstpath and call the callback with
531 the 0 (error) or -1 ok.
532
533 This is a composite request that tries to rename(2) the file first;
534 if rename fails with "EXDEV", it copies the file with "aio_copy"
535 and, if that is successful, unlinks the $srcpath.
536
537 aio_scandir $path, $maxreq, $callback->($dirs, $nondirs)
538 Scans a directory (similar to "aio_readdir") but additionally tries
539 to efficiently separate the entries of directory $path into two sets
540 of names, directories you can recurse into (directories), and ones
541 you cannot recurse into (everything else, including symlinks to
542 directories).
543
544 "aio_scandir" is a composite request that creates of many sub
545 requests_ $maxreq specifies the maximum number of outstanding aio
546 requests that this function generates. If it is "<= 0", then a
547 suitable default will be chosen (currently 4).
548
549 On error, the callback is called without arguments, otherwise it
550 receives two array-refs with path-relative entry names.
551
552 Example:
553
554 aio_scandir $dir, 0, sub {
555 my ($dirs, $nondirs) = @_;
556 print "real directories: @$dirs\n";
557 print "everything else: @$nondirs\n";
558 };
559
560 Implementation notes.
561
562 The "aio_readdir" cannot be avoided, but "stat()"'ing every entry
563 can.
564
565 If readdir returns file type information, then this is used directly
566 to find directories.
567
568 Otherwise, after reading the directory, the modification time, size
569 etc. of the directory before and after the readdir is checked, and
570 if they match (and isn't the current time), the link count will be
571 used to decide how many entries are directories (if >= 2).
572 Otherwise, no knowledge of the number of subdirectories will be
573 assumed.
574
575 Then entries will be sorted into likely directories a non-initial
576 dot currently) and likely non-directories (see "aio_readdirx"). Then
577 every entry plus an appended "/." will be "stat"'ed, likely
578 directories first, in order of their inode numbers. If that
579 succeeds, it assumes that the entry is a directory or a symlink to
580 directory (which will be checked seperately). This is often faster
581 than stat'ing the entry itself because filesystems might detect the
582 type of the entry without reading the inode data (e.g. ext2fs
583 filetype feature), even on systems that cannot return the filetype
584 information on readdir.
585
586 If the known number of directories (link count - 2) has been
587 reached, the rest of the entries is assumed to be non-directories.
588
589 This only works with certainty on POSIX (= UNIX) filesystems, which
590 fortunately are the vast majority of filesystems around.
591
592 It will also likely work on non-POSIX filesystems with reduced
593 efficiency as those tend to return 0 or 1 as link counts, which
594 disables the directory counting heuristic.
595
596 aio_rmtree $path, $callback->($status)
597 Delete a directory tree starting (and including) $path, return the
598 status of the final "rmdir" only. This is a composite request that
599 uses "aio_scandir" to recurse into and rmdir directories, and unlink
600 everything else.
601
602 aio_sync $callback->($status)
603 Asynchronously call sync and call the callback when finished.
604
605 aio_fsync $fh, $callback->($status)
606 Asynchronously call fsync on the given filehandle and call the
607 callback with the fsync result code.
608
609 aio_fdatasync $fh, $callback->($status)
610 Asynchronously call fdatasync on the given filehandle and call the
611 callback with the fdatasync result code.
612
613 If this call isn't available because your OS lacks it or it couldn't
614 be detected, it will be emulated by calling "fsync" instead.
615
616 aio_sync_file_range $fh, $offset, $nbytes, $flags, $callback->($status)
617 Sync the data portion of the file specified by $offset and $length
618 to disk (but NOT the metadata), by calling the Linux-specific
619 sync_file_range call. If sync_file_range is not available or it
620 returns ENOSYS, then fdatasync or fsync is being substituted.
621
622 $flags can be a combination of
623 "IO::AIO::SYNC_FILE_RANGE_WAIT_BEFORE",
624 "IO::AIO::SYNC_FILE_RANGE_WRITE" and
625 "IO::AIO::SYNC_FILE_RANGE_WAIT_AFTER": refer to the sync_file_range
626 manpage for details.
627
628 aio_pathsync $path, $callback->($status)
629 This request tries to open, fsync and close the given path. This is
630 a composite request intended to sync directories after directory
631 operations (E.g. rename). This might not work on all operating
632 systems or have any specific effect, but usually it makes sure that
633 directory changes get written to disc. It works for anything that
634 can be opened for read-only, not just directories.
635
636 Future versions of this function might fall back to other methods
637 when "fsync" on the directory fails (such as calling "sync").
638
639 Passes 0 when everything went ok, and -1 on error.
640
641 aio_group $callback->(...)
642 This is a very special aio request: Instead of doing something, it
643 is a container for other aio requests, which is useful if you want
644 to bundle many requests into a single, composite, request with a
645 definite callback and the ability to cancel the whole request with
646 its subrequests.
647
648 Returns an object of class IO::AIO::GRP. See its documentation below
649 for more info.
650
651 Example:
652
653 my $grp = aio_group sub {
654 print "all stats done\n";
655 };
656
657 add $grp
658 (aio_stat ...),
659 (aio_stat ...),
660 ...;
661
662 aio_nop $callback->()
663 This is a special request - it does nothing in itself and is only
664 used for side effects, such as when you want to add a dummy request
665 to a group so that finishing the requests in the group depends on
666 executing the given code.
667
668 While this request does nothing, it still goes through the execution
669 phase and still requires a worker thread. Thus, the callback will
670 not be executed immediately but only after other requests in the
671 queue have entered their execution phase. This can be used to
672 measure request latency.
673
674 IO::AIO::aio_busy $fractional_seconds, $callback->() *NOT EXPORTED*
675 Mainly used for debugging and benchmarking, this aio request puts
676 one of the request workers to sleep for the given time.
677
678 While it is theoretically handy to have simple I/O scheduling
679 requests like sleep and file handle readable/writable, the overhead
680 this creates is immense (it blocks a thread for a long time) so do
681 not use this function except to put your application under
682 artificial I/O pressure.
683
684 IO::AIO::REQ CLASS
685 All non-aggregate "aio_*" functions return an object of this class when
686 called in non-void context.
687
688 cancel $req
689 Cancels the request, if possible. Has the effect of skipping
690 execution when entering the execute state and skipping calling the
691 callback when entering the the result state, but will leave the
692 request otherwise untouched (with the exception of readdir). That
693 means that requests that currently execute will not be stopped and
694 resources held by the request will not be freed prematurely.
695
696 cb $req $callback->(...)
697 Replace (or simply set) the callback registered to the request.
698
699 IO::AIO::GRP CLASS
700 This class is a subclass of IO::AIO::REQ, so all its methods apply to
701 objects of this class, too.
702
703 A IO::AIO::GRP object is a special request that can contain multiple
704 other aio requests.
705
706 You create one by calling the "aio_group" constructing function with a
707 callback that will be called when all contained requests have entered
708 the "done" state:
709
710 my $grp = aio_group sub {
711 print "all requests are done\n";
712 };
713
714 You add requests by calling the "add" method with one or more
715 "IO::AIO::REQ" objects:
716
717 $grp->add (aio_unlink "...");
718
719 add $grp aio_stat "...", sub {
720 $_[0] or return $grp->result ("error");
721
722 # add another request dynamically, if first succeeded
723 add $grp aio_open "...", sub {
724 $grp->result ("ok");
725 };
726 };
727
493 This makes it very easy to create composite requests (see the source 728 This makes it very easy to create composite requests (see the source of
494 of "aio_move" for an application) that work and feel like simple 729 "aio_move" for an application) that work and feel like simple requests.
730
731 * The IO::AIO::GRP objects will be cleaned up during calls to
732 "IO::AIO::poll_cb", just like any other request.
733
734 * They can be canceled like any other request. Canceling will cancel
735 not only the request itself, but also all requests it contains.
736
737 * They can also can also be added to other IO::AIO::GRP objects.
738
739 * You must not add requests to a group from within the group callback
740 (or any later time).
741
742 Their lifetime, simplified, looks like this: when they are empty, they
743 will finish very quickly. If they contain only requests that are in the
744 "done" state, they will also finish. Otherwise they will continue to
745 exist.
746
747 That means after creating a group you have some time to add requests
748 (precisely before the callback has been invoked, which is only done
749 within the "poll_cb"). And in the callbacks of those requests, you can
750 add further requests to the group. And only when all those requests have
751 finished will the the group itself finish.
752
753 add $grp ...
754 $grp->add (...)
755 Add one or more requests to the group. Any type of IO::AIO::REQ can
756 be added, including other groups, as long as you do not create
757 circular dependencies.
758
759 Returns all its arguments.
760
761 $grp->cancel_subs
762 Cancel all subrequests and clears any feeder, but not the group
763 request itself. Useful when you queued a lot of events but got a
764 result early.
765
766 $grp->result (...)
767 Set the result value(s) that will be passed to the group callback
768 when all subrequests have finished and set the groups errno to the
769 current value of errno (just like calling "errno" without an error
770 number). By default, no argument will be passed and errno is zero.
771
772 $grp->errno ([$errno])
773 Sets the group errno value to $errno, or the current value of errno
774 when the argument is missing.
775
776 Every aio request has an associated errno value that is restored
777 when the callback is invoked. This method lets you change this value
778 from its default (0).
779
780 Calling "result" will also set errno, so make sure you either set $!
781 before the call to "result", or call c<errno> after it.
782
783 feed $grp $callback->($grp)
784 Sets a feeder/generator on this group: every group can have an
785 attached generator that generates requests if idle. The idea behind
786 this is that, although you could just queue as many requests as you
787 want in a group, this might starve other requests for a potentially
788 long time. For example, "aio_scandir" might generate hundreds of
789 thousands "aio_stat" requests, delaying any later requests for a
790 long time.
791
792 To avoid this, and allow incremental generation of requests, you can
793 instead a group and set a feeder on it that generates those
794 requests. The feed callback will be called whenever there are few
795 enough (see "limit", below) requests active in the group itself and
796 is expected to queue more requests.
797
798 The feed callback can queue as many requests as it likes (i.e. "add"
799 does not impose any limits).
800
801 If the feed does not queue more requests when called, it will be
802 automatically removed from the group.
803
804 If the feed limit is 0 when this method is called, it will be set to
805 2 automatically.
806
807 Example:
808
809 # stat all files in @files, but only ever use four aio requests concurrently:
810
811 my $grp = aio_group sub { print "finished\n" };
812 limit $grp 4;
813 feed $grp sub {
814 my $file = pop @files
815 or return;
816
817 add $grp aio_stat $file, sub { ... };
818 };
819
820 limit $grp $num
821 Sets the feeder limit for the group: The feeder will be called
822 whenever the group contains less than this many requests.
823
824 Setting the limit to 0 will pause the feeding process.
825
826 The default value for the limit is 0, but note that setting a feeder
827 automatically bumps it up to 2.
828
829 SUPPORT FUNCTIONS
830 EVENT PROCESSING AND EVENT LOOP INTEGRATION
831 $fileno = IO::AIO::poll_fileno
832 Return the *request result pipe file descriptor*. This filehandle
833 must be polled for reading by some mechanism outside this module
834 (e.g. EV, Glib, select and so on, see below or the SYNOPSIS). If the
835 pipe becomes readable you have to call "poll_cb" to check the
836 results.
837
838 See "poll_cb" for an example.
839
840 IO::AIO::poll_cb
841 Process some outstanding events on the result pipe. You have to call
842 this regularly. Returns 0 if all events could be processed, or -1 if
843 it returned earlier for whatever reason. Returns immediately when no
844 events are outstanding. The amount of events processed depends on
845 the settings of "IO::AIO::max_poll_req" and
846 "IO::AIO::max_poll_time".
847
848 If not all requests were processed for whatever reason, the
849 filehandle will still be ready when "poll_cb" returns, so normally
850 you don't have to do anything special to have it called later.
851
852 Example: Install an Event watcher that automatically calls
853 IO::AIO::poll_cb with high priority (more examples can be found in
854 the SYNOPSIS section, at the top of this document):
855
856 Event->io (fd => IO::AIO::poll_fileno,
857 poll => 'r', async => 1,
858 cb => \&IO::AIO::poll_cb);
859
860 IO::AIO::max_poll_reqs $nreqs
861 IO::AIO::max_poll_time $seconds
862 These set the maximum number of requests (default 0, meaning
863 infinity) that are being processed by "IO::AIO::poll_cb" in one
864 call, respectively the maximum amount of time (default 0, meaning
865 infinity) spent in "IO::AIO::poll_cb" to process requests (more
866 correctly the mininum amount of time "poll_cb" is allowed to use).
867
868 Setting "max_poll_time" to a non-zero value creates an overhead of
869 one syscall per request processed, which is not normally a problem
870 unless your callbacks are really really fast or your OS is really
871 really slow (I am not mentioning Solaris here). Using
872 "max_poll_reqs" incurs no overhead.
873
874 Setting these is useful if you want to ensure some level of
875 interactiveness when perl is not fast enough to process all requests
876 in time.
877
878 For interactive programs, values such as 0.01 to 0.1 should be fine.
879
880 Example: Install an Event watcher that automatically calls
881 IO::AIO::poll_cb with low priority, to ensure that other parts of
882 the program get the CPU sometimes even under high AIO load.
883
884 # try not to spend much more than 0.1s in poll_cb
885 IO::AIO::max_poll_time 0.1;
886
887 # use a low priority so other tasks have priority
888 Event->io (fd => IO::AIO::poll_fileno,
889 poll => 'r', nice => 1,
890 cb => &IO::AIO::poll_cb);
891
892 IO::AIO::poll_wait
893 If there are any outstanding requests and none of them in the result
894 phase, wait till the result filehandle becomes ready for reading
895 (simply does a "select" on the filehandle. This is useful if you
896 want to synchronously wait for some requests to finish).
897
898 See "nreqs" for an example.
899
900 IO::AIO::poll
901 Waits until some requests have been handled.
902
903 Returns the number of requests processed, but is otherwise strictly
904 equivalent to:
905
906 IO::AIO::poll_wait, IO::AIO::poll_cb
907
908 IO::AIO::flush
909 Wait till all outstanding AIO requests have been handled.
910
911 Strictly equivalent to:
912
913 IO::AIO::poll_wait, IO::AIO::poll_cb
914 while IO::AIO::nreqs;
915
916 CONTROLLING THE NUMBER OF THREADS
917 IO::AIO::min_parallel $nthreads
918 Set the minimum number of AIO threads to $nthreads. The current
919 default is 8, which means eight asynchronous operations can execute
920 concurrently at any one time (the number of outstanding requests,
921 however, is unlimited).
922
923 IO::AIO starts threads only on demand, when an AIO request is queued
924 and no free thread exists. Please note that queueing up a hundred
925 requests can create demand for a hundred threads, even if it turns
926 out that everything is in the cache and could have been processed
927 faster by a single thread.
928
929 It is recommended to keep the number of threads relatively low, as
930 some Linux kernel versions will scale negatively with the number of
931 threads (higher parallelity => MUCH higher latency). With current
932 Linux 2.6 versions, 4-32 threads should be fine.
933
934 Under most circumstances you don't need to call this function, as
935 the module selects a default that is suitable for low to moderate
936 load.
937
938 IO::AIO::max_parallel $nthreads
939 Sets the maximum number of AIO threads to $nthreads. If more than
940 the specified number of threads are currently running, this function
941 kills them. This function blocks until the limit is reached.
942
943 While $nthreads are zero, aio requests get queued but not executed
944 until the number of threads has been increased again.
945
946 This module automatically runs "max_parallel 0" at program end, to
947 ensure that all threads are killed and that there are no outstanding
495 requests. 948 requests.
496 949
497 * The IO::AIO::GRP objects will be cleaned up during calls to
498 "IO::AIO::poll_cb", just like any other request.
499 * They can be canceled like any other request. Canceling will cancel
500 not only the request itself, but also all requests it contains.
501 * They can also can also be added to other IO::AIO::GRP objects.
502 * You must not add requests to a group from within the group
503 callback (or any later time).
504
505 Their lifetime, simplified, looks like this: when they are empty,
506 they will finish very quickly. If they contain only requests that
507 are in the "done" state, they will also finish. Otherwise they will
508 continue to exist.
509
510 That means after creating a group you have some time to add
511 requests. And in the callbacks of those requests, you can add
512 further requests to the group. And only when all those requests have
513 finished will the the group itself finish.
514
515 add $grp ...
516 $grp->add (...)
517 Add one or more requests to the group. Any type of IO::AIO::REQ
518 can be added, including other groups, as long as you do not
519 create circular dependencies.
520
521 Returns all its arguments.
522
523 $grp->cancel_subs
524 Cancel all subrequests and clears any feeder, but not the group
525 request itself. Useful when you queued a lot of events but got a
526 result early.
527
528 $grp->result (...)
529 Set the result value(s) that will be passed to the group
530 callback when all subrequests have finished and set thre groups
531 errno to the current value of errno (just like calling "errno"
532 without an error number). By default, no argument will be passed
533 and errno is zero.
534
535 $grp->errno ([$errno])
536 Sets the group errno value to $errno, or the current value of
537 errno when the argument is missing.
538
539 Every aio request has an associated errno value that is restored
540 when the callback is invoked. This method lets you change this
541 value from its default (0).
542
543 Calling "result" will also set errno, so make sure you either
544 set $! before the call to "result", or call c<errno> after it.
545
546 feed $grp $callback->($grp)
547 Sets a feeder/generator on this group: every group can have an
548 attached generator that generates requests if idle. The idea
549 behind this is that, although you could just queue as many
550 requests as you want in a group, this might starve other
551 requests for a potentially long time. For example, "aio_scandir"
552 might generate hundreds of thousands "aio_stat" requests,
553 delaying any later requests for a long time.
554
555 To avoid this, and allow incremental generation of requests, you
556 can instead a group and set a feeder on it that generates those
557 requests. The feed callback will be called whenever there are
558 few enough (see "limit", below) requests active in the group
559 itself and is expected to queue more requests.
560
561 The feed callback can queue as many requests as it likes (i.e.
562 "add" does not impose any limits).
563
564 If the feed does not queue more requests when called, it will be
565 automatically removed from the group.
566
567 If the feed limit is 0, it will be set to 2 automatically.
568
569 Example:
570
571 # stat all files in @files, but only ever use four aio requests concurrently:
572
573 my $grp = aio_group sub { print "finished\n" };
574 limit $grp 4;
575 feed $grp sub {
576 my $file = pop @files
577 or return;
578
579 add $grp aio_stat $file, sub { ... };
580 };
581
582 limit $grp $num
583 Sets the feeder limit for the group: The feeder will be called
584 whenever the group contains less than this many requests.
585
586 Setting the limit to 0 will pause the feeding process.
587
588 SUPPORT FUNCTIONS
589 $fileno = IO::AIO::poll_fileno
590 Return the *request result pipe file descriptor*. This
591 filehandle must be polled for reading by some mechanism outside
592 this module (e.g. Event or select, see below or the SYNOPSIS).
593 If the pipe becomes readable you have to call "poll_cb" to check
594 the results.
595
596 See "poll_cb" for an example.
597
598 IO::AIO::poll_cb
599 Process all outstanding events on the result pipe. You have to
600 call this regularly. Returns the number of events processed.
601 Returns immediately when no events are outstanding.
602
603 If not all requests were processed for whatever reason, the
604 filehandle will still be ready when "poll_cb" returns.
605
606 Example: Install an Event watcher that automatically calls
607 IO::AIO::poll_cb with high priority:
608
609 Event->io (fd => IO::AIO::poll_fileno,
610 poll => 'r', async => 1,
611 cb => \&IO::AIO::poll_cb);
612
613 IO::AIO::poll_some $max_requests
614 Similar to "poll_cb", but only processes up to $max_requests
615 requests at a time.
616
617 Useful if you want to ensure some level of interactiveness when
618 perl is not fast enough to process all requests in time.
619
620 Example: Install an Event watcher that automatically calls
621 IO::AIO::poll_some with low priority, to ensure that other parts
622 of the program get the CPU sometimes even under high AIO load.
623
624 Event->io (fd => IO::AIO::poll_fileno,
625 poll => 'r', nice => 1,
626 cb => sub { IO::AIO::poll_some 256 });
627
628 IO::AIO::poll_wait
629 Wait till the result filehandle becomes ready for reading
630 (simply does a "select" on the filehandle. This is useful if you
631 want to synchronously wait for some requests to finish).
632
633 See "nreqs" for an example.
634
635 IO::AIO::nreqs
636 Returns the number of requests currently in the ready, execute
637 or pending states (i.e. for which their callback has not been
638 invoked yet).
639
640 Example: wait till there are no outstanding requests anymore:
641
642 IO::AIO::poll_wait, IO::AIO::poll_cb
643 while IO::AIO::nreqs;
644
645 IO::AIO::nready
646 Returns the number of requests currently in the ready state (not
647 yet executed).
648
649 IO::AIO::npending
650 Returns the number of requests currently in the pending state
651 (executed, but not yet processed by poll_cb).
652
653 IO::AIO::flush
654 Wait till all outstanding AIO requests have been handled.
655
656 Strictly equivalent to:
657
658 IO::AIO::poll_wait, IO::AIO::poll_cb
659 while IO::AIO::nreqs;
660
661 IO::AIO::poll
662 Waits until some requests have been handled.
663
664 Strictly equivalent to:
665
666 IO::AIO::poll_wait, IO::AIO::poll_cb
667 if IO::AIO::nreqs;
668
669 IO::AIO::min_parallel $nthreads
670 Set the minimum number of AIO threads to $nthreads. The current
671 default is 8, which means eight asynchronous operations can
672 execute concurrently at any one time (the number of outstanding
673 requests, however, is unlimited).
674
675 IO::AIO starts threads only on demand, when an AIO request is
676 queued and no free thread exists.
677
678 It is recommended to keep the number of threads relatively low,
679 as some Linux kernel versions will scale negatively with the
680 number of threads (higher parallelity => MUCH higher latency).
681 With current Linux 2.6 versions, 4-32 threads should be fine.
682
683 Under most circumstances you don't need to call this function,
684 as the module selects a default that is suitable for low to
685 moderate load.
686
687 IO::AIO::max_parallel $nthreads
688 Sets the maximum number of AIO threads to $nthreads. If more
689 than the specified number of threads are currently running, this
690 function kills them. This function blocks until the limit is
691 reached.
692
693 While $nthreads are zero, aio requests get queued but not
694 executed until the number of threads has been increased again.
695
696 This module automatically runs "max_parallel 0" at program end,
697 to ensure that all threads are killed and that there are no
698 outstanding requests.
699
700 Under normal circumstances you don't need to call this function. 950 Under normal circumstances you don't need to call this function.
701 951
952 IO::AIO::max_idle $nthreads
953 Limit the number of threads (default: 4) that are allowed to idle
954 (i.e., threads that did not get a request to process within 10
955 seconds). That means if a thread becomes idle while $nthreads other
956 threads are also idle, it will free its resources and exit.
957
958 This is useful when you allow a large number of threads (e.g. 100 or
959 1000) to allow for extremely high load situations, but want to free
960 resources under normal circumstances (1000 threads can easily
961 consume 30MB of RAM).
962
963 The default is probably ok in most situations, especially if thread
964 creation is fast. If thread creation is very slow on your system you
965 might want to use larger values.
966
702 $oldmaxreqs = IO::AIO::max_outstanding $maxreqs 967 IO::AIO::max_outstanding $maxreqs
703 This is a very bad function to use in interactive programs 968 This is a very bad function to use in interactive programs because
704 because it blocks, and a bad way to reduce concurrency because 969 it blocks, and a bad way to reduce concurrency because it is
705 it is inexact: Better use an "aio_group" together with a feed 970 inexact: Better use an "aio_group" together with a feed callback.
706 callback.
707 971
708 Sets the maximum number of outstanding requests to $nreqs. If 972 Sets the maximum number of outstanding requests to $nreqs. If you do
709 you to queue up more than this number of requests, the next call 973 queue up more than this number of requests, the next call to the
710 to the "poll_cb" (and "poll_some" and other functions calling 974 "poll_cb" (and "poll_some" and other functions calling "poll_cb")
711 "poll_cb") function will block until the limit is no longer 975 function will block until the limit is no longer exceeded.
712 exceeded.
713 976
714 The default value is very large, so there is no practical limit 977 The default value is very large, so there is no practical limit on
715 on the number of outstanding requests. 978 the number of outstanding requests.
716 979
717 You can still queue as many requests as you want. Therefore, 980 You can still queue as many requests as you want. Therefore,
718 "max_oustsanding" is mainly useful in simple scripts (with low 981 "max_outstanding" is mainly useful in simple scripts (with low
719 values) or as a stop gap to shield against fatal memory overflow 982 values) or as a stop gap to shield against fatal memory overflow
720 (with large values). 983 (with large values).
984
985 STATISTICAL INFORMATION
986 IO::AIO::nreqs
987 Returns the number of requests currently in the ready, execute or
988 pending states (i.e. for which their callback has not been invoked
989 yet).
990
991 Example: wait till there are no outstanding requests anymore:
992
993 IO::AIO::poll_wait, IO::AIO::poll_cb
994 while IO::AIO::nreqs;
995
996 IO::AIO::nready
997 Returns the number of requests currently in the ready state (not yet
998 executed).
999
1000 IO::AIO::npending
1001 Returns the number of requests currently in the pending state
1002 (executed, but not yet processed by poll_cb).
1003
1004 MISCELLANEOUS FUNCTIONS
1005 IO::AIO implements some functions that might be useful, but are not
1006 asynchronous.
1007
1008 IO::AIO::sendfile $ofh, $ifh, $offset, $count
1009 Calls the "eio_sendfile_sync" function, which is like
1010 "aio_sendfile", but is blocking (this makes most sense if you know
1011 the input data is likely cached already and the output filehandle is
1012 set to non-blocking operations).
1013
1014 Returns the number of bytes copied, or -1 on error.
1015
1016 IO::AIO::fadvise $fh, $offset, $len, $advice
1017 Simply calls the "posix_fadvise" function (see it's manpage for
1018 details). The following advice constants are avaiable:
1019 "IO::AIO::FADV_NORMAL", "IO::AIO::FADV_SEQUENTIAL",
1020 "IO::AIO::FADV_RANDOM", "IO::AIO::FADV_NOREUSE",
1021 "IO::AIO::FADV_WILLNEED", "IO::AIO::FADV_DONTNEED".
1022
1023 On systems that do not implement "posix_fadvise", this function
1024 returns ENOSYS, otherwise the return value of "posix_fadvise".
721 1025
722 FORK BEHAVIOUR 1026 FORK BEHAVIOUR
723 This module should do "the right thing" when the process using it 1027 This module should do "the right thing" when the process using it forks:
724 forks:
725 1028
726 Before the fork, IO::AIO enters a quiescent state where no requests 1029 Before the fork, IO::AIO enters a quiescent state where no requests can
727 can be added in other threads and no results will be processed. 1030 be added in other threads and no results will be processed. After the
728 After the fork the parent simply leaves the quiescent state and 1031 fork the parent simply leaves the quiescent state and continues
729 continues request/result processing, while the child frees the 1032 request/result processing, while the child frees the request/result
730 request/result queue (so that the requests started before the fork 1033 queue (so that the requests started before the fork will only be handled
731 will only be handled in the parent). Threads will be started on 1034 in the parent). Threads will be started on demand until the limit set in
732 demand until the limit set in the parent process has been reached 1035 the parent process has been reached again.
733 again.
734 1036
735 In short: the parent will, after a short pause, continue as if fork 1037 In short: the parent will, after a short pause, continue as if fork had
736 had not been called, while the child will act as if IO::AIO has not 1038 not been called, while the child will act as if IO::AIO has not been
737 been used yet. 1039 used yet.
738 1040
739 MEMORY USAGE 1041 MEMORY USAGE
740 Per-request usage: 1042 Per-request usage:
741 1043
742 Each aio request uses - depending on your architecture - around 1044 Each aio request uses - depending on your architecture - around 100-200
743 100-200 bytes of memory. In addition, stat requests need a stat 1045 bytes of memory. In addition, stat requests need a stat buffer (possibly
744 buffer (possibly a few hundred bytes), readdir requires a result 1046 a few hundred bytes), readdir requires a result buffer and so on. Perl
745 buffer and so on. Perl scalars and other data passed into aio 1047 scalars and other data passed into aio requests will also be locked and
746 requests will also be locked and will consume memory till the 1048 will consume memory till the request has entered the done state.
747 request has entered the done state.
748 1049
749 This is now awfully much, so queuing lots of requests is not usually 1050 This is not awfully much, so queuing lots of requests is not usually a
750 a problem. 1051 problem.
751 1052
752 Per-thread usage: 1053 Per-thread usage:
753 1054
754 In the execution phase, some aio requests require more memory for 1055 In the execution phase, some aio requests require more memory for
755 temporary buffers, and each thread requires a stack and other data 1056 temporary buffers, and each thread requires a stack and other data
756 structures (usually around 16k-128k, depending on the OS). 1057 structures (usually around 16k-128k, depending on the OS).
757 1058
758KNOWN BUGS 1059KNOWN BUGS
759 Known bugs will be fixed in the next release. 1060 Known bugs will be fixed in the next release.
760 1061
761SEE ALSO 1062SEE ALSO
762 Coro::AIO. 1063 AnyEvent::AIO for easy integration into event loops, Coro::AIO for a
1064 more natural syntax.
763 1065
764AUTHOR 1066AUTHOR
765 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de> 1067 Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>
766 http://home.schmorp.de/ 1068 http://home.schmorp.de/
767 1069

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