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Revision 1.68 by root, Fri Aug 28 23:06:33 2009 UTC

4 4
5=head1 SYNOPSIS 5=head1 SYNOPSIS
6 6
7 use AnyEvent::MP; 7 use AnyEvent::MP;
8 8
9 NODE # returns this node identifier
10 $NODE # contains this node identifier 9 $NODE # contains this node's noderef
10 NODE # returns this node's noderef
11 NODE $port # returns the noderef of the port
11 12
13 $SELF # receiving/own port id in rcv callbacks
14
15 # initialise the node so it can send/receive messages
16 initialise_node;
17
18 # ports are message endpoints
19
20 # sending messages
12 snd $port, type => data...; 21 snd $port, type => data...;
22 snd $port, @msg;
23 snd @msg_with_first_element_being_a_port;
13 24
14 rcv $port, smartmatch => $cb->($port, @msg); 25 # creating/using ports, the simple way
26 my $simple_port = port { my @msg = @_; 0 };
15 27
16 # examples: 28 # creating/using ports, tagged message matching
29 my $port = port;
17 rcv $port2, ping => sub { snd $_[0], "pong"; 0 }; 30 rcv $port, ping => sub { snd $_[0], "pong"; 0 };
18 rcv $port1, pong => sub { warn "pong received\n" }; 31 rcv $port, pong => sub { warn "pong received\n"; 0 };
19 snd $port2, ping => $port1;
20 32
21 # more, smarter, matches (_any_ is exported by this module) 33 # create a port on another node
22 rcv $port, [child_died => $pid] => sub { ... 34 my $port = spawn $node, $initfunc, @initdata;
23 rcv $port, [_any_, _any_, 3] => sub { .. $_[2] is 3 35
36 # monitoring
37 mon $port, $cb->(@msg) # callback is invoked on death
38 mon $port, $otherport # kill otherport on abnormal death
39 mon $port, $otherport, @msg # send message on death
40
41=head1 CURRENT STATUS
42
43 AnyEvent::MP - stable API, should work
44 AnyEvent::MP::Intro - outdated
45 AnyEvent::MP::Kernel - mostly stable
46 AnyEvent::MP::Global - mostly stable
47 AnyEvent::MP::Node - mostly stable, but internal anyways
48 AnyEvent::MP::Transport - mostly stable, but internal anyways
49
50 stay tuned.
24 51
25=head1 DESCRIPTION 52=head1 DESCRIPTION
26 53
27This module (-family) implements a simple message passing framework. 54This module (-family) implements a simple message passing framework.
28 55
29Despite its simplicity, you can securely message other processes running 56Despite its simplicity, you can securely message other processes running
30on the same or other hosts. 57on the same or other hosts, and you can supervise entities remotely.
31 58
59For an introduction to this module family, see the L<AnyEvent::MP::Intro>
60manual page and the examples under F<eg/>.
61
32At the moment, this module family is severly brokena nd underdocumented, 62At the moment, this module family is a bit underdocumented.
33so do not use. This was uploaded mainly to resreve the CPAN namespace -
34stay tuned!
35 63
36=head1 CONCEPTS 64=head1 CONCEPTS
37 65
38=over 4 66=over 4
39 67
40=item port 68=item port
41 69
42A port is something you can send messages to with the C<snd> function, and 70A port is something you can send messages to (with the C<snd> function).
43you can register C<rcv> handlers with. All C<rcv> handlers will receive
44messages they match, messages will not be queued.
45 71
72Ports allow you to register C<rcv> handlers that can match all or just
73some messages. Messages send to ports will not be queued, regardless of
74anything was listening for them or not.
75
46=item port id - C<noderef#portname> 76=item port ID - C<nodeid#portname>
47 77
48A port id is always the noderef, a hash-mark (C<#>) as separator, followed 78A port ID is the concatenation of a node ID, a hash-mark (C<#>) as
49by a port name (a printable string of unspecified format). 79separator, and a port name (a printable string of unspecified format).
50 80
51=item node 81=item node
52 82
53A node is a single process containing at least one port - the node 83A node is a single process containing at least one port - the node port,
54port. You can send messages to node ports to let them create new ports, 84which enables nodes to manage each other remotely, and to create new
55among other things. 85ports.
56 86
57Initially, nodes are either private (single-process only) or hidden 87Nodes are either public (have one or more listening ports) or private
58(connected to a master node only). Only when they epxlicitly "become 88(no listening ports). Private nodes cannot talk to other private nodes
59public" can you send them messages from unrelated other nodes. 89currently.
60 90
61=item noderef - C<host:port,host:port...>, C<id@noderef>, C<id> 91=item node ID - C<[a-za-Z0-9_\-.:]+>
62 92
63A noderef is a string that either uniquely identifies a given node (for 93A node ID is a string that uniquely identifies the node within a
64private and hidden nodes), or contains a recipe on how to reach a given 94network. Depending on the configuration used, node IDs can look like a
65node (for public nodes). 95hostname, a hostname and a port, or a random string. AnyEvent::MP itself
96doesn't interpret node IDs in any way.
97
98=item binds - C<ip:port>
99
100Nodes can only talk to each other by creating some kind of connection to
101each other. To do this, nodes should listen on one or more local transport
102endpoints - binds. Currently, only standard C<ip:port> specifications can
103be used, which specify TCP ports to listen on.
104
105=item seeds - C<host:port>
106
107When a node starts, it knows nothing about the network. To teach the node
108about the network it first has to contact some other node within the
109network. This node is called a seed.
110
111Seeds are transport endpoint(s) of as many nodes as one wants. Those nodes
112are expected to be long-running, and at least one of those should always
113be available. When nodes run out of connections (e.g. due to a network
114error), they try to re-establish connections to some seednodes again to
115join the network.
116
117Apart from being sued for seeding, seednodes are not special in any way -
118every public node can be a seednode.
66 119
67=back 120=back
68 121
69=head1 VARIABLES/FUNCTIONS 122=head1 VARIABLES/FUNCTIONS
70 123
72 125
73=cut 126=cut
74 127
75package AnyEvent::MP; 128package AnyEvent::MP;
76 129
77use AnyEvent::MP::Base; 130use AnyEvent::MP::Kernel;
78 131
79use common::sense; 132use common::sense;
80 133
81use Carp (); 134use Carp ();
82 135
83use AE (); 136use AE ();
84 137
85use base "Exporter"; 138use base "Exporter";
86 139
87our $VERSION = '0.02'; 140our $VERSION = $AnyEvent::MP::Kernel::VERSION;
141
88our @EXPORT = qw( 142our @EXPORT = qw(
89 NODE $NODE $PORT snd rcv _any_ 143 NODE $NODE *SELF node_of after
90 create_port create_port_on 144 initialise_node
91 become_slave become_public 145 snd rcv mon mon_guard kil reg psub spawn
146 port
92); 147);
93 148
149our $SELF;
150
151sub _self_die() {
152 my $msg = $@;
153 $msg =~ s/\n+$// unless ref $msg;
154 kil $SELF, die => $msg;
155}
156
94=item NODE / $NODE 157=item $thisnode = NODE / $NODE
95 158
96The C<NODE ()> function and the C<$NODE> variable contain the noderef of 159The C<NODE> function returns, and the C<$NODE> variable contains, the node
97the local node. The value is initialised by a call to C<become_public> or 160ID of the node running in the current process. This value is initialised by
98C<become_slave>, after which all local port identifiers become invalid. 161a call to C<initialise_node>.
99 162
163=item $nodeid = node_of $port
164
165Extracts and returns the node ID from a port ID or a node ID.
166
167=item initialise_node $profile_name
168
169Before a node can talk to other nodes on the network (i.e. enter
170"distributed mode") it has to initialise itself - the minimum a node needs
171to know is its own name, and optionally it should know the addresses of
172some other nodes in the network to discover other nodes.
173
174This function initialises a node - it must be called exactly once (or
175never) before calling other AnyEvent::MP functions.
176
177The first argument is a profile name. If it is C<undef> or missing, then
178the current nodename will be used instead (i.e. F<uname -n>).
179
180The function then looks up the profile in the aemp configuration (see the
181L<aemp> commandline utility).
182
183If the profile specifies a node ID, then this will become the node ID of
184this process. If not, then the profile name will be used as node ID. The
185special node ID of C<anon/> will be replaced by a random node ID.
186
187The next step is to look up the binds in the profile, followed by binding
188aemp protocol listeners on all binds specified (it is possible and valid
189to have no binds, meaning that the node cannot be contacted form the
190outside. This means the node cannot talk to other nodes that also have no
191binds, but it can still talk to all "normal" nodes).
192
193If the profile does not specify a binds list, then the node ID will be
194treated as if it were of the form C<host:port>, which will be resolved and
195used as binds list.
196
197Lastly, the seeds list from the profile is passed to the
198L<AnyEvent::MP::Global> module, which will then use it to keep
199connectivity with at least on of those seed nodes at any point in time.
200
201Example: become a distributed node listening on the guessed noderef, or
202the one specified via C<aemp> for the current node. This should be the
203most common form of invocation for "daemon"-type nodes.
204
205 initialise_node;
206
207Example: become an anonymous node. This form is often used for commandline
208clients.
209
210 initialise_node "anon/";
211
212Example: become a distributed node. If there is no profile of the given
213name, or no binds list was specified, resolve C<localhost:4044> and bind
214on the resulting addresses.
215
216 initialise_node "localhost:4044";
217
218=item $SELF
219
220Contains the current port id while executing C<rcv> callbacks or C<psub>
221blocks.
222
223=item *SELF, SELF, %SELF, @SELF...
224
225Due to some quirks in how perl exports variables, it is impossible to
226just export C<$SELF>, all the symbols named C<SELF> are exported by this
227module, but only C<$SELF> is currently used.
228
100=item snd $portid, type => @data 229=item snd $port, type => @data
101 230
102=item snd $portid, @msg 231=item snd $port, @msg
103 232
104Send the given message to the given port ID, which can identify either 233Send the given message to the given port, which can identify either a
105a local or a remote port, and can be either a string or soemthignt hat 234local or a remote port, and must be a port ID.
106stringifies a sa port ID (such as a port object :).
107 235
108While the message can be about anything, it is highly recommended to use a 236While the message can be almost anything, it is highly recommended to
109string as first element (a portid, or some word that indicates a request 237use a string as first element (a port ID, or some word that indicates a
110type etc.). 238request type etc.) and to consist if only simple perl values (scalars,
239arrays, hashes) - if you think you need to pass an object, think again.
111 240
112The message data effectively becomes read-only after a call to this 241The message data logically becomes read-only after a call to this
113function: modifying any argument is not allowed and can cause many 242function: modifying any argument (or values referenced by them) is
114problems. 243forbidden, as there can be considerable time between the call to C<snd>
244and the time the message is actually being serialised - in fact, it might
245never be copied as within the same process it is simply handed to the
246receiving port.
115 247
116The type of data you can transfer depends on the transport protocol: when 248The type of data you can transfer depends on the transport protocol: when
117JSON is used, then only strings, numbers and arrays and hashes consisting 249JSON is used, then only strings, numbers and arrays and hashes consisting
118of those are allowed (no objects). When Storable is used, then anything 250of those are allowed (no objects). When Storable is used, then anything
119that Storable can serialise and deserialise is allowed, and for the local 251that Storable can serialise and deserialise is allowed, and for the local
120node, anything can be passed. 252node, anything can be passed. Best rely only on the common denominator of
253these.
121 254
122=item $local_port = create_port 255=item $local_port = port
123 256
124Create a new local port object. See the next section for allowed methods. 257Create a new local port object and returns its port ID. Initially it has
258no callbacks set and will throw an error when it receives messages.
125 259
126=cut 260=item $local_port = port { my @msg = @_ }
127 261
128sub create_port { 262Creates a new local port, and returns its ID. Semantically the same as
129 my $id = "$AnyEvent::MP::Base::UNIQ." . ++$AnyEvent::MP::Base::ID; 263creating a port and calling C<rcv $port, $callback> on it.
130 264
131 my $self = bless { 265The block will be called for every message received on the port, with the
132 id => "$NODE#$id", 266global variable C<$SELF> set to the port ID. Runtime errors will cause the
133 names => [$id], 267port to be C<kil>ed. The message will be passed as-is, no extra argument
134 }, "AnyEvent::MP::Port"; 268(i.e. no port ID) will be passed to the callback.
135 269
136 $AnyEvent::MP::Base::PORT{$id} = sub { 270If you want to stop/destroy the port, simply C<kil> it:
137 unshift @_, $self;
138 271
139 for (@{ $self->{rc0}{$_[1]} }) { 272 my $port = port {
140 $_ && &{$_->[0]} 273 my @msg = @_;
141 && undef $_; 274 ...
275 kil $SELF;
276 };
277
278=cut
279
280sub rcv($@);
281
282sub _kilme {
283 die "received message on port without callback";
284}
285
286sub port(;&) {
287 my $id = "$UNIQ." . $ID++;
288 my $port = "$NODE#$id";
289
290 rcv $port, shift || \&_kilme;
291
292 $port
293}
294
295=item rcv $local_port, $callback->(@msg)
296
297Replaces the default callback on the specified port. There is no way to
298remove the default callback: use C<sub { }> to disable it, or better
299C<kil> the port when it is no longer needed.
300
301The global C<$SELF> (exported by this module) contains C<$port> while
302executing the callback. Runtime errors during callback execution will
303result in the port being C<kil>ed.
304
305The default callback received all messages not matched by a more specific
306C<tag> match.
307
308=item rcv $local_port, tag => $callback->(@msg_without_tag), ...
309
310Register (or replace) callbacks to be called on messages starting with the
311given tag on the given port (and return the port), or unregister it (when
312C<$callback> is C<$undef> or missing). There can only be one callback
313registered for each tag.
314
315The original message will be passed to the callback, after the first
316element (the tag) has been removed. The callback will use the same
317environment as the default callback (see above).
318
319Example: create a port and bind receivers on it in one go.
320
321 my $port = rcv port,
322 msg1 => sub { ... },
323 msg2 => sub { ... },
324 ;
325
326Example: create a port, bind receivers and send it in a message elsewhere
327in one go:
328
329 snd $otherport, reply =>
330 rcv port,
331 msg1 => sub { ... },
332 ...
333 ;
334
335Example: temporarily register a rcv callback for a tag matching some port
336(e.g. for a rpc reply) and unregister it after a message was received.
337
338 rcv $port, $otherport => sub {
339 my @reply = @_;
340
341 rcv $SELF, $otherport;
342 };
343
344=cut
345
346sub rcv($@) {
347 my $port = shift;
348 my ($noderef, $portid) = split /#/, $port, 2;
349
350 $NODE{$noderef} == $NODE{""}
351 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on local ports, caught";
352
353 while (@_) {
354 if (ref $_[0]) {
355 if (my $self = $PORT_DATA{$portid}) {
356 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
357 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
358
359 $self->[2] = shift;
360 } else {
361 my $cb = shift;
362 $PORT{$portid} = sub {
363 local $SELF = $port;
364 eval { &$cb }; _self_die if $@;
365 };
366 }
367 } elsif (defined $_[0]) {
368 my $self = $PORT_DATA{$portid} ||= do {
369 my $self = bless [$PORT{$port} || sub { }, { }, $port], "AnyEvent::MP::Port";
370
371 $PORT{$portid} = sub {
372 local $SELF = $port;
373
374 if (my $cb = $self->[1]{$_[0]}) {
375 shift;
376 eval { &$cb }; _self_die if $@;
377 } else {
378 &{ $self->[0] };
379 }
380 };
381
382 $self
383 };
384
385 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
386 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
387
388 my ($tag, $cb) = splice @_, 0, 2;
389
390 if (defined $cb) {
391 $self->[1]{$tag} = $cb;
392 } else {
393 delete $self->[1]{$tag};
394 }
142 } 395 }
396 }
143 397
144 for (@{ $self->{rcv}{$_[1]} }) { 398 $port
145 $_ && [@_[1 .. @{$_->[1]}]] ~~ $_->[1] 399}
146 && &{$_->[0]} 400
147 && undef $_; 401=item $closure = psub { BLOCK }
402
403Remembers C<$SELF> and creates a closure out of the BLOCK. When the
404closure is executed, sets up the environment in the same way as in C<rcv>
405callbacks, i.e. runtime errors will cause the port to get C<kil>ed.
406
407This is useful when you register callbacks from C<rcv> callbacks:
408
409 rcv delayed_reply => sub {
410 my ($delay, @reply) = @_;
411 my $timer = AE::timer $delay, 0, psub {
412 snd @reply, $SELF;
413 };
414 };
415
416=cut
417
418sub psub(&) {
419 my $cb = shift;
420
421 my $port = $SELF
422 or Carp::croak "psub can only be called from within rcv or psub callbacks, not";
423
424 sub {
425 local $SELF = $port;
426
427 if (wantarray) {
428 my @res = eval { &$cb };
429 _self_die if $@;
430 @res
431 } else {
432 my $res = eval { &$cb };
433 _self_die if $@;
434 $res
148 } 435 }
436 }
437}
149 438
150 for (@{ $self->{any} }) { 439=item $guard = mon $port, $cb->(@reason) # call $cb when $port dies
151 $_ && [@_[0 .. $#{$_->[1]}]] ~~ $_->[1] 440
152 && &{$_->[0]} 441=item $guard = mon $port, $rcvport # kill $rcvport when $port dies
153 && undef $_; 442
443=item $guard = mon $port # kill $SELF when $port dies
444
445=item $guard = mon $port, $rcvport, @msg # send a message when $port dies
446
447Monitor the given port and do something when the port is killed or
448messages to it were lost, and optionally return a guard that can be used
449to stop monitoring again.
450
451C<mon> effectively guarantees that, in the absence of hardware failures,
452after starting the monitor, either all messages sent to the port will
453arrive, or the monitoring action will be invoked after possible message
454loss has been detected. No messages will be lost "in between" (after
455the first lost message no further messages will be received by the
456port). After the monitoring action was invoked, further messages might get
457delivered again.
458
459Note that monitoring-actions are one-shot: once messages are lost (and a
460monitoring alert was raised), they are removed and will not trigger again.
461
462In the first form (callback), the callback is simply called with any
463number of C<@reason> elements (no @reason means that the port was deleted
464"normally"). Note also that I<< the callback B<must> never die >>, so use
465C<eval> if unsure.
466
467In the second form (another port given), the other port (C<$rcvport>)
468will be C<kil>'ed with C<@reason>, iff a @reason was specified, i.e. on
469"normal" kils nothing happens, while under all other conditions, the other
470port is killed with the same reason.
471
472The third form (kill self) is the same as the second form, except that
473C<$rvport> defaults to C<$SELF>.
474
475In the last form (message), a message of the form C<@msg, @reason> will be
476C<snd>.
477
478As a rule of thumb, monitoring requests should always monitor a port from
479a local port (or callback). The reason is that kill messages might get
480lost, just like any other message. Another less obvious reason is that
481even monitoring requests can get lost (for exmaple, when the connection
482to the other node goes down permanently). When monitoring a port locally
483these problems do not exist.
484
485Example: call a given callback when C<$port> is killed.
486
487 mon $port, sub { warn "port died because of <@_>\n" };
488
489Example: kill ourselves when C<$port> is killed abnormally.
490
491 mon $port;
492
493Example: send us a restart message when another C<$port> is killed.
494
495 mon $port, $self => "restart";
496
497=cut
498
499sub mon {
500 my ($noderef, $port) = split /#/, shift, 2;
501
502 my $node = $NODE{$noderef} || add_node $noderef;
503
504 my $cb = @_ ? shift : $SELF || Carp::croak 'mon: called with one argument only, but $SELF not set,';
505
506 unless (ref $cb) {
507 if (@_) {
508 # send a kill info message
509 my (@msg) = ($cb, @_);
510 $cb = sub { snd @msg, @_ };
511 } else {
512 # simply kill other port
513 my $port = $cb;
514 $cb = sub { kil $port, @_ if @_ };
154 } 515 }
516 }
517
518 $node->monitor ($port, $cb);
519
520 defined wantarray
521 and AnyEvent::Util::guard { $node->unmonitor ($port, $cb) }
522}
523
524=item $guard = mon_guard $port, $ref, $ref...
525
526Monitors the given C<$port> and keeps the passed references. When the port
527is killed, the references will be freed.
528
529Optionally returns a guard that will stop the monitoring.
530
531This function is useful when you create e.g. timers or other watchers and
532want to free them when the port gets killed (note the use of C<psub>):
533
534 $port->rcv (start => sub {
535 my $timer; $timer = mon_guard $port, AE::timer 1, 1, psub {
536 undef $timer if 0.9 < rand;
537 });
538 });
539
540=cut
541
542sub mon_guard {
543 my ($port, @refs) = @_;
544
545 #TODO: mon-less form?
546
547 mon $port, sub { 0 && @refs }
548}
549
550=item kil $port[, @reason]
551
552Kill the specified port with the given C<@reason>.
553
554If no C<@reason> is specified, then the port is killed "normally" (ports
555monitoring other ports will not necessarily die because a port dies
556"normally").
557
558Otherwise, linked ports get killed with the same reason (second form of
559C<mon>, see above).
560
561Runtime errors while evaluating C<rcv> callbacks or inside C<psub> blocks
562will be reported as reason C<< die => $@ >>.
563
564Transport/communication errors are reported as C<< transport_error =>
565$message >>.
566
567=cut
568
569=item $port = spawn $node, $initfunc[, @initdata]
570
571Creates a port on the node C<$node> (which can also be a port ID, in which
572case it's the node where that port resides).
573
574The port ID of the newly created port is returned immediately, and it is
575possible to immediately start sending messages or to monitor the port.
576
577After the port has been created, the init function is called on the remote
578node, in the same context as a C<rcv> callback. This function must be a
579fully-qualified function name (e.g. C<MyApp::Chat::Server::init>). To
580specify a function in the main program, use C<::name>.
581
582If the function doesn't exist, then the node tries to C<require>
583the package, then the package above the package and so on (e.g.
584C<MyApp::Chat::Server>, C<MyApp::Chat>, C<MyApp>) until the function
585exists or it runs out of package names.
586
587The init function is then called with the newly-created port as context
588object (C<$SELF>) and the C<@initdata> values as arguments.
589
590A common idiom is to pass a local port, immediately monitor the spawned
591port, and in the remote init function, immediately monitor the passed
592local port. This two-way monitoring ensures that both ports get cleaned up
593when there is a problem.
594
595Example: spawn a chat server port on C<$othernode>.
596
597 # this node, executed from within a port context:
598 my $server = spawn $othernode, "MyApp::Chat::Server::connect", $SELF;
599 mon $server;
600
601 # init function on C<$othernode>
602 sub connect {
603 my ($srcport) = @_;
604
605 mon $srcport;
606
607 rcv $SELF, sub {
608 ...
609 };
610 }
611
612=cut
613
614sub _spawn {
615 my $port = shift;
616 my $init = shift;
617
618 local $SELF = "$NODE#$port";
619 eval {
620 &{ load_func $init }
155 }; 621 };
156 622 _self_die if $@;
157 $self
158} 623}
159 624
160=item $portid = create_miniport { } 625sub spawn(@) {
626 my ($noderef, undef) = split /#/, shift, 2;
161 627
162Creates a "mini port", that is, a port without much #TODO 628 my $id = "$RUNIQ." . $ID++;
163 629
164=cut 630 $_[0] =~ /::/
631 or Carp::croak "spawn init function must be a fully-qualified name, caught";
165 632
166sub create_miniport(&) { 633 snd_to_func $noderef, "AnyEvent::MP::_spawn" => $id, @_;
167 my $cb = shift;
168 my $id = "$AnyEvent::MP::Base::UNIQ." . ++$AnyEvent::MP::Base::ID;
169 634
170 $AnyEvent::MP::Base::PORT{$id} = sub { 635 "$noderef#$id"
171 &$cb 636}
172 and delete $AnyEvent::MP::Base::PORT{$id}; 637
638=item after $timeout, @msg
639
640=item after $timeout, $callback
641
642Either sends the given message, or call the given callback, after the
643specified number of seconds.
644
645This is simply a utility function that comes in handy at times - the
646AnyEvent::MP author is not convinced of the wisdom of having it, though,
647so it may go away in the future.
648
649=cut
650
651sub after($@) {
652 my ($timeout, @action) = @_;
653
654 my $t; $t = AE::timer $timeout, 0, sub {
655 undef $t;
656 ref $action[0]
657 ? $action[0]()
658 : snd @action;
173 }; 659 };
174
175 "$NODE#$id"
176} 660}
177
178package AnyEvent::MP::Port;
179 661
180=back 662=back
181 663
182=head1 METHODS FOR PORT OBJECTS 664=head1 AnyEvent::MP vs. Distributed Erlang
665
666AnyEvent::MP got lots of its ideas from distributed Erlang (Erlang node
667== aemp node, Erlang process == aemp port), so many of the documents and
668programming techniques employed by Erlang apply to AnyEvent::MP. Here is a
669sample:
670
671 http://www.Erlang.se/doc/programming_rules.shtml
672 http://Erlang.org/doc/getting_started/part_frame.html # chapters 3 and 4
673 http://Erlang.org/download/Erlang-book-part1.pdf # chapters 5 and 6
674 http://Erlang.org/download/armstrong_thesis_2003.pdf # chapters 4 and 5
675
676Despite the similarities, there are also some important differences:
183 677
184=over 4 678=over 4
185 679
186=item "$port" 680=item * Node IDs are arbitrary strings in AEMP.
187 681
188A port object stringifies to its port ID, so can be used directly for 682Erlang relies on special naming and DNS to work everywhere in the same
189C<snd> operations. 683way. AEMP relies on each node somehow knowing its own address(es) (e.g. by
684configuraiton or DNS), but will otherwise discover other odes itself.
190 685
191=cut 686=item * Erlang has a "remote ports are like local ports" philosophy, AEMP
687uses "local ports are like remote ports".
192 688
193use overload 689The failure modes for local ports are quite different (runtime errors
194 '""' => sub { $_[0]{id} }, 690only) then for remote ports - when a local port dies, you I<know> it dies,
195 fallback => 1; 691when a connection to another node dies, you know nothing about the other
692port.
196 693
197=item $port->rcv (type => $callback->($port, @msg)) 694Erlang pretends remote ports are as reliable as local ports, even when
695they are not.
198 696
199=item $port->rcv ($smartmatch => $callback->($port, @msg)) 697AEMP encourages a "treat remote ports differently" philosophy, with local
698ports being the special case/exception, where transport errors cannot
699occur.
200 700
201=item $port->rcv ([$smartmatch...] => $callback->($port, @msg)) 701=item * Erlang uses processes and a mailbox, AEMP does not queue.
202 702
203Register a callback on the given port. 703Erlang uses processes that selectively receive messages, and therefore
704needs a queue. AEMP is event based, queuing messages would serve no
705useful purpose. For the same reason the pattern-matching abilities of
706AnyEvent::MP are more limited, as there is little need to be able to
707filter messages without dequeing them.
204 708
205The callback has to return a true value when its work is done, after 709(But see L<Coro::MP> for a more Erlang-like process model on top of AEMP).
206which is will be removed, or a false value in which case it will stay
207registered.
208 710
209If the match is an array reference, then it will be matched against the 711=item * Erlang sends are synchronous, AEMP sends are asynchronous.
210first elements of the message, otherwise only the first element is being
211matched.
212 712
213Any element in the match that is specified as C<_any_> (a function 713Sending messages in Erlang is synchronous and blocks the process (and
214exported by this module) matches any single element of the message. 714so does not need a queue that can overflow). AEMP sends are immediate,
715connection establishment is handled in the background.
215 716
216While not required, it is highly recommended that the first matching 717=item * Erlang suffers from silent message loss, AEMP does not.
217element is a string identifying the message. The one-string-only match is
218also the most efficient match (by far).
219 718
220=cut 719Erlang makes few guarantees on messages delivery - messages can get lost
720without any of the processes realising it (i.e. you send messages a, b,
721and c, and the other side only receives messages a and c).
221 722
222sub rcv($@) { 723AEMP guarantees correct ordering, and the guarantee that after one message
223 my ($self, $match, $cb) = @_; 724is lost, all following ones sent to the same port are lost as well, until
725monitoring raises an error, so there are no silent "holes" in the message
726sequence.
224 727
225 if (!ref $match) { 728=item * Erlang can send messages to the wrong port, AEMP does not.
226 push @{ $self->{rc0}{$match} }, [$cb];
227 } elsif (("ARRAY" eq ref $match && !ref $match->[0])) {
228 my ($type, @match) = @$match;
229 @match
230 ? push @{ $self->{rcv}{$match->[0]} }, [$cb, \@match]
231 : push @{ $self->{rc0}{$match->[0]} }, [$cb];
232 } else {
233 push @{ $self->{any} }, [$cb, $match];
234 }
235}
236 729
237=item $port->register ($name) 730In Erlang it is quite likely that a node that restarts reuses a process ID
731known to other nodes for a completely different process, causing messages
732destined for that process to end up in an unrelated process.
238 733
239Registers the given port under the well known name C<$name>. If the name 734AEMP never reuses port IDs, so old messages or old port IDs floating
240already exists it is replaced. 735around in the network will not be sent to an unrelated port.
241 736
242A port can only be registered under one well known name. 737=item * Erlang uses unprotected connections, AEMP uses secure
738authentication and can use TLS.
243 739
244=cut 740AEMP can use a proven protocol - TLS - to protect connections and
741securely authenticate nodes.
245 742
246sub register { 743=item * The AEMP protocol is optimised for both text-based and binary
247 my ($self, $name) = @_; 744communications.
248 745
249 $self->{wkname} = $name; 746The AEMP protocol, unlike the Erlang protocol, supports both programming
250 $AnyEvent::MP::Base::WKP{$name} = "$self"; 747language independent text-only protocols (good for debugging) and binary,
251} 748language-specific serialisers (e.g. Storable). By default, unless TLS is
749used, the protocol is actually completely text-based.
252 750
253=item $port->destroy 751It has also been carefully designed to be implementable in other languages
752with a minimum of work while gracefully degrading functionality to make the
753protocol simple.
254 754
255Explicitly destroy/remove/nuke/vaporise the port. 755=item * AEMP has more flexible monitoring options than Erlang.
256 756
257Ports are normally kept alive by there mere existance alone, and need to 757In Erlang, you can chose to receive I<all> exit signals as messages
258be destroyed explicitly. 758or I<none>, there is no in-between, so monitoring single processes is
759difficult to implement. Monitoring in AEMP is more flexible than in
760Erlang, as one can choose between automatic kill, exit message or callback
761on a per-process basis.
259 762
260=cut 763=item * Erlang tries to hide remote/local connections, AEMP does not.
261 764
262sub destroy { 765Monitoring in Erlang is not an indicator of process death/crashes, in the
263 my ($self) = @_; 766same way as linking is (except linking is unreliable in Erlang).
264 767
265 delete $AnyEvent::MP::Base::WKP{ $self->{wkname} }; 768In AEMP, you don't "look up" registered port names or send to named ports
769that might or might not be persistent. Instead, you normally spawn a port
770on the remote node. The init function monitors you, and you monitor the
771remote port. Since both monitors are local to the node, they are much more
772reliable (no need for C<spawn_link>).
266 773
267 delete $AnyEvent::MP::Base::PORT{$_} 774This also saves round-trips and avoids sending messages to the wrong port
268 for @{ $self->{names} }; 775(hard to do in Erlang).
269}
270 776
271=back 777=back
272 778
273=head1 FUNCTIONS FOR NODES 779=head1 RATIONALE
274 780
275=over 4 781=over 4
276 782
277=item mon $noderef, $callback->($noderef, $status, $) 783=item Why strings for port and node IDs, why not objects?
278 784
279Monitors the given noderef. 785We considered "objects", but found that the actual number of methods
786that can be called are quite low. Since port and node IDs travel over
787the network frequently, the serialising/deserialising would add lots of
788overhead, as well as having to keep a proxy object everywhere.
280 789
281=item become_public endpoint... 790Strings can easily be printed, easily serialised etc. and need no special
791procedures to be "valid".
282 792
283Tells the node to become a public node, i.e. reachable from other nodes. 793And as a result, a miniport consists of a single closure stored in a
794global hash - it can't become much cheaper.
284 795
285If no arguments are given, or the first argument is C<undef>, then 796=item Why favour JSON, why not a real serialising format such as Storable?
286AnyEvent::MP tries to bind on port C<4040> on all IP addresses that the
287local nodename resolves to.
288 797
289Otherwise the first argument must be an array-reference with transport 798In fact, any AnyEvent::MP node will happily accept Storable as framing
290endpoints ("ip:port", "hostname:port") or port numbers (in which case the 799format, but currently there is no way to make a node use Storable by
291local nodename is used as hostname). The endpoints are all resolved and 800default (although all nodes will accept it).
292will become the node reference.
293 801
294=cut 802The default framing protocol is JSON because a) JSON::XS is many times
803faster for small messages and b) most importantly, after years of
804experience we found that object serialisation is causing more problems
805than it solves: Just like function calls, objects simply do not travel
806easily over the network, mostly because they will always be a copy, so you
807always have to re-think your design.
808
809Keeping your messages simple, concentrating on data structures rather than
810objects, will keep your messages clean, tidy and efficient.
295 811
296=back 812=back
297 813
298=head1 NODE MESSAGES
299
300Nodes understand the following messages sent to them. Many of them take
301arguments called C<@reply>, which will simply be used to compose a reply
302message - C<$reply[0]> is the port to reply to, C<$reply[1]> the type and
303the remaining arguments are simply the message data.
304
305=over 4
306
307=cut
308
309=item wkp => $name, @reply
310
311Replies with the port ID of the specified well-known port, or C<undef>.
312
313=item devnull => ...
314
315Generic data sink/CPU heat conversion.
316
317=item relay => $port, @msg
318
319Simply forwards the message to the given port.
320
321=item eval => $string[ @reply]
322
323Evaluates the given string. If C<@reply> is given, then a message of the
324form C<@reply, $@, @evalres> is sent.
325
326Example: crash another node.
327
328 snd $othernode, eval => "exit";
329
330=item time => @reply
331
332Replies the the current node time to C<@reply>.
333
334Example: tell the current node to send the current time to C<$myport> in a
335C<timereply> message.
336
337 snd $NODE, time => $myport, timereply => 1, 2;
338 # => snd $myport, timereply => 1, 2, <time>
339
340=back
341
342=head1 SEE ALSO 814=head1 SEE ALSO
815
816L<AnyEvent::MP::Intro> - a gentle introduction.
817
818L<AnyEvent::MP::Kernel> - more, lower-level, stuff.
819
820L<AnyEvent::MP::Global> - network maintainance and port groups, to find
821your applications.
343 822
344L<AnyEvent>. 823L<AnyEvent>.
345 824
346=head1 AUTHOR 825=head1 AUTHOR
347 826

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