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Revision 1.3 by root, Sat Aug 1 07:11:45 2009 UTC vs.
Revision 1.70 by root, Sun Aug 30 19:49:47 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44 AnyEvent::MP::Intro - outdated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.
58
59For an introduction to this module family, see the L<AnyEvent::MP::Intro>
60manual page and the examples under F<eg/>.
61
62At the moment, this module family is a bit underdocumented.
31 63
32=head1 CONCEPTS 64=head1 CONCEPTS
33 65
34=over 4 66=over 4
35 67
36=item port 68=item port
37 69
38A 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).
39you can register C<rcv> handlers with. All C<rcv> handlers will receive
40messages they match, messages will not be queued.
41 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
42=item port id - C<noderef#portname> 76=item port ID - C<nodeid#portname>
43 77
44A 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
45by a port name (a printable string of unspecified format). 79separator, and a port name (a printable string of unspecified format).
46 80
47=item node 81=item node
48 82
49A 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,
50port. 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
51among other things. 85ports.
52 86
53Initially, nodes are either private (single-process only) or hidden 87Nodes are either public (have one or more listening ports) or private
54(connected to a master node only). Only when they epxlicitly "become 88(no listening ports). Private nodes cannot talk to other private nodes
55public" can you send them messages from unrelated other nodes. 89currently.
56 90
57=item noderef - C<host:port,host:port...>, C<id@noderef, C<id> 91=item node ID - C<[a-za-Z0-9_\-.:]+>
58 92
59A 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
60private 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
61node (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.
62 119
63=back 120=back
64 121
65=head1 VARIABLES/FUNCTIONS 122=head1 VARIABLES/FUNCTIONS
66 123
68 125
69=cut 126=cut
70 127
71package AnyEvent::MP; 128package AnyEvent::MP;
72 129
73use AnyEvent::MP::Util ();
74use AnyEvent::MP::Node; 130use AnyEvent::MP::Kernel;
75use AnyEvent::MP::Transport;
76 131
77use utf8;
78use common::sense; 132use common::sense;
79 133
80use Carp (); 134use Carp ();
81 135
82use AE (); 136use AE ();
83 137
84use base "Exporter"; 138use base "Exporter";
85 139
86our $VERSION = '0.0'; 140our $VERSION = $AnyEvent::MP::Kernel::VERSION;
87our @EXPORT = qw(NODE $NODE $PORT snd rcv _any_);
88 141
89our $DEFAULT_SECRET; 142our @EXPORT = qw(
90our $DEFAULT_PORT = "4040"; 143 NODE $NODE *SELF node_of after
144 initialise_node
145 snd rcv mon mon_guard kil reg psub spawn
146 port
147);
91 148
92our $CONNECT_INTERVAL = 5; # new connect every 5s, at least 149our $SELF;
93our $CONNECT_TIMEOUT = 30; # includes handshake
94 150
95sub default_secret { 151sub _self_die() {
96 unless (defined $DEFAULT_SECRET) { 152 my $msg = $@;
97 if (open my $fh, "<$ENV{HOME}/.aemp-secret") { 153 $msg =~ s/\n+$// unless ref $msg;
98 sysread $fh, $DEFAULT_SECRET, -s $fh; 154 kil $SELF, die => $msg;
99 } else {
100 $DEFAULT_SECRET = AnyEvent::MP::Util::nonce 32;
101 }
102 }
103
104 $DEFAULT_SECRET
105} 155}
106 156
107=item NODE / $NODE 157=item $thisnode = NODE / $NODE
108 158
109The C<NODE ()> function and the C<$NODE> variable contain the noderef of 159The C<NODE> function returns, and the C<$NODE> variable contains, the node
110the 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
111C<become_slave>, after which all local port identifiers become invalid. 161a call to C<initialise_node>.
112 162
113=cut 163=item $nodeid = node_of $port
114 164
115our $UNIQ = sprintf "%x.%x", $$, time; # per-process/node unique cookie 165Extracts and returns the node ID from a port ID or a node ID.
116our $PUBLIC = 0;
117our $NODE;
118our $PORT;
119 166
120our %NODE; # node id to transport mapping, or "undef", for local node 167=item initialise_node $profile_name, key => value...
121our %PORT; # local ports
122our %LISTENER; # local transports
123 168
124sub NODE() { $NODE } 169Before a node can talk to other nodes on the network (i.e. enter
170"distributed mode") it has to initialise itself - the minimum a node needs
171to know is its own name, and optionally it should know the addresses of
172some other nodes in the network to discover other nodes.
125 173
126{ 174This function initialises a node - it must be called exactly once (or
127 use POSIX (); 175never) before calling other AnyEvent::MP functions.
128 my $nodename = (POSIX::uname)[1];
129 $NODE = "$$\@$nodename";
130}
131 176
132sub _ANY_() { 1 } 177The first argument is a profile name. If it is C<undef> or missing, then
133sub _any_() { \&_ANY_ } 178the current nodename will be used instead (i.e. F<uname -n>).
134 179
135sub add_node { 180The function first looks up the profile in the aemp configuration (see the
136 my ($noderef) = @_; 181L<aemp> commandline utility). the profile is calculated as follows:
137 182
138 return $NODE{$noderef} 183First, all remaining key => value pairs (all of which are conviniently
139 if exists $NODE{$noderef}; 184undocumented at the moment) will be used. Then they will be overwritten by
185any values specified in the global default configuration (see the F<aemp>
186utility), then the chain of profiles selected, if any. That means that
187the values specified in the profile have highest priority and the values
188specified via C<initialise_node> have lowest priority.
140 189
141 for (split /,/, $noderef) { 190If the profile specifies a node ID, then this will become the node ID of
142 return $NODE{$noderef} = $NODE{$_} 191this process. If not, then the profile name will be used as node ID. The
143 if exists $NODE{$_}; 192special node ID of C<anon/> will be replaced by a random node ID.
144 }
145 193
146 # for indirect sends, use a different class 194The next step is to look up the binds in the profile, followed by binding
147 my $node = new AnyEvent::MP::Node::Direct $noderef; 195aemp protocol listeners on all binds specified (it is possible and valid
196to have no binds, meaning that the node cannot be contacted form the
197outside. This means the node cannot talk to other nodes that also have no
198binds, but it can still talk to all "normal" nodes).
148 199
149 $NODE{$_} = $node 200If the profile does not specify a binds list, then a default of C<*> is
150 for $noderef, split /,/, $noderef; 201used.
151 202
152 $node 203Lastly, the seeds list from the profile is passed to the
153} 204L<AnyEvent::MP::Global> module, which will then use it to keep
205connectivity with at least on of those seed nodes at any point in time.
154 206
207Example: become a distributed node listening on the guessed noderef, or
208the one specified via C<aemp> for the current node. This should be the
209most common form of invocation for "daemon"-type nodes.
210
211 initialise_node;
212
213Example: become an anonymous node. This form is often used for commandline
214clients.
215
216 initialise_node "anon/";
217
218Example: become a distributed node. If there is no profile of the given
219name, or no binds list was specified, resolve C<localhost:4044> and bind
220on the resulting addresses.
221
222 initialise_node "localhost:4044";
223
224=item $SELF
225
226Contains the current port id while executing C<rcv> callbacks or C<psub>
227blocks.
228
229=item *SELF, SELF, %SELF, @SELF...
230
231Due to some quirks in how perl exports variables, it is impossible to
232just export C<$SELF>, all the symbols named C<SELF> are exported by this
233module, but only C<$SELF> is currently used.
234
155=item snd $portid, type => @data 235=item snd $port, type => @data
156 236
157=item snd $portid, @msg 237=item snd $port, @msg
158 238
159Send the given message to the given port ID, which can identify either a 239Send the given message to the given port, which can identify either a
160local or a remote port. 240local or a remote port, and must be a port ID.
161 241
162While the message can be about anything, it is highly recommended to use 242While the message can be almost anything, it is highly recommended to
163a constant string as first element. 243use a string as first element (a port ID, or some word that indicates a
244request type etc.) and to consist if only simple perl values (scalars,
245arrays, hashes) - if you think you need to pass an object, think again.
164 246
165The message data effectively becomes read-only after a call to this 247The message data logically becomes read-only after a call to this
166function: modifying any argument is not allowed and can cause many 248function: modifying any argument (or values referenced by them) is
167problems. 249forbidden, as there can be considerable time between the call to C<snd>
250and the time the message is actually being serialised - in fact, it might
251never be copied as within the same process it is simply handed to the
252receiving port.
168 253
169The type of data you can transfer depends on the transport protocol: when 254The type of data you can transfer depends on the transport protocol: when
170JSON is used, then only strings, numbers and arrays and hashes consisting 255JSON is used, then only strings, numbers and arrays and hashes consisting
171of those are allowed (no objects). When Storable is used, then anything 256of those are allowed (no objects). When Storable is used, then anything
172that Storable can serialise and deserialise is allowed, and for the local 257that Storable can serialise and deserialise is allowed, and for the local
173node, anything can be passed. 258node, anything can be passed. Best rely only on the common denominator of
259these.
174 260
175=cut 261=item $local_port = port
176 262
177sub snd($@) { 263Create a new local port object and returns its port ID. Initially it has
178 my ($noderef, $port) = split /#/, shift, 2; 264no callbacks set and will throw an error when it receives messages.
179 265
180 add_node $noderef 266=item $local_port = port { my @msg = @_ }
181 unless exists $NODE{$noderef};
182 267
183 $NODE{$noderef}->send (["$port", [@_]]); 268Creates a new local port, and returns its ID. Semantically the same as
184} 269creating a port and calling C<rcv $port, $callback> on it.
185 270
271The block will be called for every message received on the port, with the
272global variable C<$SELF> set to the port ID. Runtime errors will cause the
273port to be C<kil>ed. The message will be passed as-is, no extra argument
274(i.e. no port ID) will be passed to the callback.
275
276If you want to stop/destroy the port, simply C<kil> it:
277
278 my $port = port {
279 my @msg = @_;
280 ...
281 kil $SELF;
282 };
283
284=cut
285
286sub rcv($@);
287
288sub _kilme {
289 die "received message on port without callback";
290}
291
292sub port(;&) {
293 my $id = "$UNIQ." . $ID++;
294 my $port = "$NODE#$id";
295
296 rcv $port, shift || \&_kilme;
297
298 $port
299}
300
186=item rcv $portid, type => $callback->(@msg) 301=item rcv $local_port, $callback->(@msg)
187 302
188=item rcv $portid, $smartmatch => $callback->(@msg) 303Replaces the default callback on the specified port. There is no way to
304remove the default callback: use C<sub { }> to disable it, or better
305C<kil> the port when it is no longer needed.
189 306
190=item rcv $portid, [$smartmatch...] => $callback->(@msg) 307The global C<$SELF> (exported by this module) contains C<$port> while
308executing the callback. Runtime errors during callback execution will
309result in the port being C<kil>ed.
191 310
192Register a callback on the port identified by C<$portid>, which I<must> be 311The default callback received all messages not matched by a more specific
193a local port. 312C<tag> match.
194 313
195The callback has to return a true value when its work is done, after 314=item rcv $local_port, tag => $callback->(@msg_without_tag), ...
196which is will be removed, or a false value in which case it will stay
197registered.
198 315
199If the match is an array reference, then it will be matched against the 316Register (or replace) callbacks to be called on messages starting with the
200first elements of the message, otherwise only the first element is being 317given tag on the given port (and return the port), or unregister it (when
201matched. 318C<$callback> is C<$undef> or missing). There can only be one callback
319registered for each tag.
202 320
203Any element in the match that is specified as C<_any_> (a function 321The original message will be passed to the callback, after the first
204exported by this module) matches any single element of the message. 322element (the tag) has been removed. The callback will use the same
323environment as the default callback (see above).
205 324
206While not required, it is highly recommended that the first matching 325Example: create a port and bind receivers on it in one go.
207element is a string identifying the message. The one-string-only match is 326
208also the most efficient match (by far). 327 my $port = rcv port,
328 msg1 => sub { ... },
329 msg2 => sub { ... },
330 ;
331
332Example: create a port, bind receivers and send it in a message elsewhere
333in one go:
334
335 snd $otherport, reply =>
336 rcv port,
337 msg1 => sub { ... },
338 ...
339 ;
340
341Example: temporarily register a rcv callback for a tag matching some port
342(e.g. for a rpc reply) and unregister it after a message was received.
343
344 rcv $port, $otherport => sub {
345 my @reply = @_;
346
347 rcv $SELF, $otherport;
348 };
209 349
210=cut 350=cut
211 351
212sub rcv($@) { 352sub rcv($@) {
213 my ($port, $match, $cb) = @_; 353 my $port = shift;
214
215 my $port = $PORT{$port}
216 or do {
217 my ($noderef, $lport) = split /#/, $port; 354 my ($noderef, $portid) = split /#/, $port, 2;
218 "AnyEvent::MP::Node::Self" eq ref $NODE{$noderef} 355
356 $NODE{$noderef} == $NODE{""}
219 or Carp::croak "$port: can only rcv on local ports"; 357 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on local ports, caught";
220 358
221 $PORT{$lport} 359 while (@_) {
222 or Carp::croak "$port: port does not exist"; 360 if (ref $_[0]) {
223 361 if (my $self = $PORT_DATA{$portid}) {
224 $PORT{$port} = $PORT{$lport} # also return 362 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
225 }; 363 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
226 364
227 if (!ref $match) { 365 $self->[2] = shift;
228 push @{ $port->{rc0}{$match} }, [$cb];
229 } elsif (("ARRAY" eq ref $match && !ref $match->[0])) {
230 my ($type, @match) = @$match;
231 @match
232 ? push @{ $port->{rcv}{$match->[0]} }, [$cb, \@match]
233 : push @{ $port->{rc0}{$match->[0]} }, [$cb];
234 } else { 366 } else {
235 push @{ $port->{any} }, [$cb, $match]; 367 my $cb = shift;
236 } 368 $PORT{$portid} = sub {
237} 369 local $SELF = $port;
238 370 eval { &$cb }; _self_die if $@;
239sub _inject {
240 my ($port, $msg) = @{+shift};
241
242 $port = $PORT{$port}
243 or return;
244
245 @_ = @$msg;
246
247 for (@{ $port->{rc0}{$msg->[0]} }) {
248 $_ && &{$_->[0]}
249 && undef $_;
250 }
251
252 for (@{ $port->{rcv}{$msg->[0]} }) {
253 $_ && [@_[1..$#{$_->[1]}]] ~~ $_->[1]
254 && &{$_->[0]}
255 && undef $_;
256 }
257
258 for (@{ $port->{any} }) {
259 $_ && [@_[0..$#{$_->[1]}]] ~~ $_->[1]
260 && &{$_->[0]}
261 && undef $_;
262 }
263}
264
265sub normalise_noderef($) {
266 my ($noderef) = @_;
267
268 my $cv = AE::cv;
269 my @res;
270
271 $cv->begin (sub {
272 my %seen;
273 my @refs;
274 for (sort { $a->[0] <=> $b->[0] } @res) {
275 push @refs, $_->[1] unless $seen{$_->[1]}++
276 }
277 shift->send (join ",", @refs);
278 });
279
280 $noderef = $DEFAULT_PORT unless length $noderef;
281
282 my $idx;
283 for my $t (split /,/, $noderef) {
284 my $pri = ++$idx;
285
286 #TODO: this should be outside normalise_noderef and in become_public
287 if ($t =~ /^\d*$/) {
288 my $nodename = (POSIX::uname)[1];
289
290 $cv->begin;
291 AnyEvent::Socket::resolve_sockaddr $nodename, $t || "aemp=$DEFAULT_PORT", "tcp", 0, undef, sub {
292 for (@_) {
293 my ($service, $host) = AnyEvent::Socket::unpack_sockaddr $_->[3];
294 push @res, [
295 $pri += 1e-5,
296 AnyEvent::Socket::format_hostport AnyEvent::Socket::format_address $host, $service
297 ];
298 } 371 };
299 $cv->end; 372 }
373 } elsif (defined $_[0]) {
374 my $self = $PORT_DATA{$portid} ||= do {
375 my $self = bless [$PORT{$port} || sub { }, { }, $port], "AnyEvent::MP::Port";
376
377 $PORT{$portid} = sub {
378 local $SELF = $port;
379
380 if (my $cb = $self->[1]{$_[0]}) {
381 shift;
382 eval { &$cb }; _self_die if $@;
383 } else {
384 &{ $self->[0] };
385 }
386 };
387
388 $self
300 }; 389 };
301 390
302# my (undef, undef, undef, undef, @ipv4) = gethostbyname $nodename; 391 "AnyEvent::MP::Port" eq ref $self
303# 392 or Carp::croak "$port: rcv can only be called on message matching ports, caught";
304# for (@ipv4) { 393
305# push @res, [ 394 my ($tag, $cb) = splice @_, 0, 2;
306# $pri, 395
307# AnyEvent::Socket::format_hostport AnyEvent::Socket::format_address $_, $t || $DEFAULT_PORT, 396 if (defined $cb) {
308# ]; 397 $self->[1]{$tag} = $cb;
309# }
310 } else { 398 } else {
311 my ($host, $port) = AnyEvent::Socket::parse_hostport $t, "aemp=$DEFAULT_PORT" 399 delete $self->[1]{$tag};
312 or Carp::croak "$t: unparsable transport descriptor";
313
314 $cv->begin;
315 AnyEvent::Socket::resolve_sockaddr $host, $port, "tcp", 0, undef, sub {
316 for (@_) {
317 my ($service, $host) = AnyEvent::Socket::unpack_sockaddr $_->[3];
318 push @res, [
319 $pri += 1e-5,
320 AnyEvent::Socket::format_hostport AnyEvent::Socket::format_address $host, $service
321 ];
322 }
323 $cv->end;
324 } 400 }
325 } 401 }
326 } 402 }
327 403
328 $cv->end; 404 $port
329
330 $cv
331} 405}
332 406
333sub become_public { 407=item $closure = psub { BLOCK }
334 return if $PUBLIC;
335 408
336 my $noderef = join ",", ref $_[0] ? @{+shift} : shift; 409Remembers C<$SELF> and creates a closure out of the BLOCK. When the
337 my @args = @_; 410closure is executed, sets up the environment in the same way as in C<rcv>
411callbacks, i.e. runtime errors will cause the port to get C<kil>ed.
338 412
339 $NODE = (normalise_noderef $noderef)->recv; 413This is useful when you register callbacks from C<rcv> callbacks:
340 414
341 for my $t (split /,/, $NODE) { 415 rcv delayed_reply => sub {
342 $NODE{$t} = $NODE{""}; 416 my ($delay, @reply) = @_;
343 417 my $timer = AE::timer $delay, 0, psub {
344 my ($host, $port) = AnyEvent::Socket::parse_hostport $t; 418 snd @reply, $SELF;
345
346 $LISTENER{$t} = AnyEvent::MP::Transport::mp_server $host, $port,
347 @args,
348 on_error => sub {
349 die "on_error<@_>\n";#d#
350 },
351 on_connect => sub {
352 my ($tp) = @_;
353
354 $NODE{$tp->{remote_id}} = $_[0];
355 },
356 sub {
357 my ($tp) = @_;
358
359 $NODE{"$tp->{peerhost}:$tp->{peerport}"} = $tp;
360 },
361 ; 419 };
420 };
421
422=cut
423
424sub psub(&) {
425 my $cb = shift;
426
427 my $port = $SELF
428 or Carp::croak "psub can only be called from within rcv or psub callbacks, not";
429
430 sub {
431 local $SELF = $port;
432
433 if (wantarray) {
434 my @res = eval { &$cb };
435 _self_die if $@;
436 @res
437 } else {
438 my $res = eval { &$cb };
439 _self_die if $@;
440 $res
441 }
362 } 442 }
363
364 $PUBLIC = 1;
365} 443}
366 444
367############################################################################# 445=item $guard = mon $port, $cb->(@reason) # call $cb when $port dies
368# self node code
369 446
370sub _new_port($) { 447=item $guard = mon $port, $rcvport # kill $rcvport when $port dies
371 my ($name) = @_;
372 448
449=item $guard = mon $port # kill $SELF when $port dies
450
451=item $guard = mon $port, $rcvport, @msg # send a message when $port dies
452
453Monitor the given port and do something when the port is killed or
454messages to it were lost, and optionally return a guard that can be used
455to stop monitoring again.
456
457C<mon> effectively guarantees that, in the absence of hardware failures,
458after starting the monitor, either all messages sent to the port will
459arrive, or the monitoring action will be invoked after possible message
460loss has been detected. No messages will be lost "in between" (after
461the first lost message no further messages will be received by the
462port). After the monitoring action was invoked, further messages might get
463delivered again.
464
465Note that monitoring-actions are one-shot: once messages are lost (and a
466monitoring alert was raised), they are removed and will not trigger again.
467
468In the first form (callback), the callback is simply called with any
469number of C<@reason> elements (no @reason means that the port was deleted
470"normally"). Note also that I<< the callback B<must> never die >>, so use
471C<eval> if unsure.
472
473In the second form (another port given), the other port (C<$rcvport>)
474will be C<kil>'ed with C<@reason>, iff a @reason was specified, i.e. on
475"normal" kils nothing happens, while under all other conditions, the other
476port is killed with the same reason.
477
478The third form (kill self) is the same as the second form, except that
479C<$rvport> defaults to C<$SELF>.
480
481In the last form (message), a message of the form C<@msg, @reason> will be
482C<snd>.
483
484As a rule of thumb, monitoring requests should always monitor a port from
485a local port (or callback). The reason is that kill messages might get
486lost, just like any other message. Another less obvious reason is that
487even monitoring requests can get lost (for exmaple, when the connection
488to the other node goes down permanently). When monitoring a port locally
489these problems do not exist.
490
491Example: call a given callback when C<$port> is killed.
492
493 mon $port, sub { warn "port died because of <@_>\n" };
494
495Example: kill ourselves when C<$port> is killed abnormally.
496
497 mon $port;
498
499Example: send us a restart message when another C<$port> is killed.
500
501 mon $port, $self => "restart";
502
503=cut
504
505sub mon {
373 my ($noderef, $portname) = split /#/, $name; 506 my ($noderef, $port) = split /#/, shift, 2;
374 507
375 $PORT{$name} = 508 my $node = $NODE{$noderef} || add_node $noderef;
376 $PORT{$portname} = { 509
377 names => [$name, $portname], 510 my $cb = @_ ? shift : $SELF || Carp::croak 'mon: called with one argument only, but $SELF not set,';
511
512 unless (ref $cb) {
513 if (@_) {
514 # send a kill info message
515 my (@msg) = ($cb, @_);
516 $cb = sub { snd @msg, @_ };
517 } else {
518 # simply kill other port
519 my $port = $cb;
520 $cb = sub { kil $port, @_ if @_ };
521 }
522 }
523
524 $node->monitor ($port, $cb);
525
526 defined wantarray
527 and AnyEvent::Util::guard { $node->unmonitor ($port, $cb) }
528}
529
530=item $guard = mon_guard $port, $ref, $ref...
531
532Monitors the given C<$port> and keeps the passed references. When the port
533is killed, the references will be freed.
534
535Optionally returns a guard that will stop the monitoring.
536
537This function is useful when you create e.g. timers or other watchers and
538want to free them when the port gets killed (note the use of C<psub>):
539
540 $port->rcv (start => sub {
541 my $timer; $timer = mon_guard $port, AE::timer 1, 1, psub {
542 undef $timer if 0.9 < rand;
543 });
544 });
545
546=cut
547
548sub mon_guard {
549 my ($port, @refs) = @_;
550
551 #TODO: mon-less form?
552
553 mon $port, sub { 0 && @refs }
554}
555
556=item kil $port[, @reason]
557
558Kill the specified port with the given C<@reason>.
559
560If no C<@reason> is specified, then the port is killed "normally" (ports
561monitoring other ports will not necessarily die because a port dies
562"normally").
563
564Otherwise, linked ports get killed with the same reason (second form of
565C<mon>, see above).
566
567Runtime errors while evaluating C<rcv> callbacks or inside C<psub> blocks
568will be reported as reason C<< die => $@ >>.
569
570Transport/communication errors are reported as C<< transport_error =>
571$message >>.
572
573=cut
574
575=item $port = spawn $node, $initfunc[, @initdata]
576
577Creates a port on the node C<$node> (which can also be a port ID, in which
578case it's the node where that port resides).
579
580The port ID of the newly created port is returned immediately, and it is
581possible to immediately start sending messages or to monitor the port.
582
583After the port has been created, the init function is called on the remote
584node, in the same context as a C<rcv> callback. This function must be a
585fully-qualified function name (e.g. C<MyApp::Chat::Server::init>). To
586specify a function in the main program, use C<::name>.
587
588If the function doesn't exist, then the node tries to C<require>
589the package, then the package above the package and so on (e.g.
590C<MyApp::Chat::Server>, C<MyApp::Chat>, C<MyApp>) until the function
591exists or it runs out of package names.
592
593The init function is then called with the newly-created port as context
594object (C<$SELF>) and the C<@initdata> values as arguments.
595
596A common idiom is to pass a local port, immediately monitor the spawned
597port, and in the remote init function, immediately monitor the passed
598local port. This two-way monitoring ensures that both ports get cleaned up
599when there is a problem.
600
601Example: spawn a chat server port on C<$othernode>.
602
603 # this node, executed from within a port context:
604 my $server = spawn $othernode, "MyApp::Chat::Server::connect", $SELF;
605 mon $server;
606
607 # init function on C<$othernode>
608 sub connect {
609 my ($srcport) = @_;
610
611 mon $srcport;
612
613 rcv $SELF, sub {
614 ...
615 };
616 }
617
618=cut
619
620sub _spawn {
621 my $port = shift;
622 my $init = shift;
623
624 local $SELF = "$NODE#$port";
625 eval {
626 &{ load_func $init }
378 }; 627 };
628 _self_die if $@;
379} 629}
380 630
381$NODE{""} = new AnyEvent::MP::Node::Self noderef => $NODE; 631sub spawn(@) {
382_new_port ""; 632 my ($noderef, undef) = split /#/, shift, 2;
383 633
384rcv "", relay => \&snd; 634 my $id = "$RUNIQ." . $ID++;
635
636 $_[0] =~ /::/
637 or Carp::croak "spawn init function must be a fully-qualified name, caught";
638
639 snd_to_func $noderef, "AnyEvent::MP::_spawn" => $id, @_;
640
641 "$noderef#$id"
642}
643
644=item after $timeout, @msg
645
646=item after $timeout, $callback
647
648Either sends the given message, or call the given callback, after the
649specified number of seconds.
650
651This is simply a utility function that comes in handy at times - the
652AnyEvent::MP author is not convinced of the wisdom of having it, though,
653so it may go away in the future.
654
655=cut
656
657sub after($@) {
658 my ($timeout, @action) = @_;
659
660 my $t; $t = AE::timer $timeout, 0, sub {
661 undef $t;
662 ref $action[0]
663 ? $action[0]()
664 : snd @action;
665 };
666}
385 667
386=back 668=back
387 669
670=head1 AnyEvent::MP vs. Distributed Erlang
671
672AnyEvent::MP got lots of its ideas from distributed Erlang (Erlang node
673== aemp node, Erlang process == aemp port), so many of the documents and
674programming techniques employed by Erlang apply to AnyEvent::MP. Here is a
675sample:
676
677 http://www.Erlang.se/doc/programming_rules.shtml
678 http://Erlang.org/doc/getting_started/part_frame.html # chapters 3 and 4
679 http://Erlang.org/download/Erlang-book-part1.pdf # chapters 5 and 6
680 http://Erlang.org/download/armstrong_thesis_2003.pdf # chapters 4 and 5
681
682Despite the similarities, there are also some important differences:
683
684=over 4
685
686=item * Node IDs are arbitrary strings in AEMP.
687
688Erlang relies on special naming and DNS to work everywhere in the same
689way. AEMP relies on each node somehow knowing its own address(es) (e.g. by
690configuraiton or DNS), but will otherwise discover other odes itself.
691
692=item * Erlang has a "remote ports are like local ports" philosophy, AEMP
693uses "local ports are like remote ports".
694
695The failure modes for local ports are quite different (runtime errors
696only) then for remote ports - when a local port dies, you I<know> it dies,
697when a connection to another node dies, you know nothing about the other
698port.
699
700Erlang pretends remote ports are as reliable as local ports, even when
701they are not.
702
703AEMP encourages a "treat remote ports differently" philosophy, with local
704ports being the special case/exception, where transport errors cannot
705occur.
706
707=item * Erlang uses processes and a mailbox, AEMP does not queue.
708
709Erlang uses processes that selectively receive messages, and therefore
710needs a queue. AEMP is event based, queuing messages would serve no
711useful purpose. For the same reason the pattern-matching abilities of
712AnyEvent::MP are more limited, as there is little need to be able to
713filter messages without dequeing them.
714
715(But see L<Coro::MP> for a more Erlang-like process model on top of AEMP).
716
717=item * Erlang sends are synchronous, AEMP sends are asynchronous.
718
719Sending messages in Erlang is synchronous and blocks the process (and
720so does not need a queue that can overflow). AEMP sends are immediate,
721connection establishment is handled in the background.
722
723=item * Erlang suffers from silent message loss, AEMP does not.
724
725Erlang makes few guarantees on messages delivery - messages can get lost
726without any of the processes realising it (i.e. you send messages a, b,
727and c, and the other side only receives messages a and c).
728
729AEMP guarantees correct ordering, and the guarantee that after one message
730is lost, all following ones sent to the same port are lost as well, until
731monitoring raises an error, so there are no silent "holes" in the message
732sequence.
733
734=item * Erlang can send messages to the wrong port, AEMP does not.
735
736In Erlang it is quite likely that a node that restarts reuses a process ID
737known to other nodes for a completely different process, causing messages
738destined for that process to end up in an unrelated process.
739
740AEMP never reuses port IDs, so old messages or old port IDs floating
741around in the network will not be sent to an unrelated port.
742
743=item * Erlang uses unprotected connections, AEMP uses secure
744authentication and can use TLS.
745
746AEMP can use a proven protocol - TLS - to protect connections and
747securely authenticate nodes.
748
749=item * The AEMP protocol is optimised for both text-based and binary
750communications.
751
752The AEMP protocol, unlike the Erlang protocol, supports both programming
753language independent text-only protocols (good for debugging) and binary,
754language-specific serialisers (e.g. Storable). By default, unless TLS is
755used, the protocol is actually completely text-based.
756
757It has also been carefully designed to be implementable in other languages
758with a minimum of work while gracefully degrading functionality to make the
759protocol simple.
760
761=item * AEMP has more flexible monitoring options than Erlang.
762
763In Erlang, you can chose to receive I<all> exit signals as messages
764or I<none>, there is no in-between, so monitoring single processes is
765difficult to implement. Monitoring in AEMP is more flexible than in
766Erlang, as one can choose between automatic kill, exit message or callback
767on a per-process basis.
768
769=item * Erlang tries to hide remote/local connections, AEMP does not.
770
771Monitoring in Erlang is not an indicator of process death/crashes, in the
772same way as linking is (except linking is unreliable in Erlang).
773
774In AEMP, you don't "look up" registered port names or send to named ports
775that might or might not be persistent. Instead, you normally spawn a port
776on the remote node. The init function monitors you, and you monitor the
777remote port. Since both monitors are local to the node, they are much more
778reliable (no need for C<spawn_link>).
779
780This also saves round-trips and avoids sending messages to the wrong port
781(hard to do in Erlang).
782
783=back
784
785=head1 RATIONALE
786
787=over 4
788
789=item Why strings for port and node IDs, why not objects?
790
791We considered "objects", but found that the actual number of methods
792that can be called are quite low. Since port and node IDs travel over
793the network frequently, the serialising/deserialising would add lots of
794overhead, as well as having to keep a proxy object everywhere.
795
796Strings can easily be printed, easily serialised etc. and need no special
797procedures to be "valid".
798
799And as a result, a miniport consists of a single closure stored in a
800global hash - it can't become much cheaper.
801
802=item Why favour JSON, why not a real serialising format such as Storable?
803
804In fact, any AnyEvent::MP node will happily accept Storable as framing
805format, but currently there is no way to make a node use Storable by
806default (although all nodes will accept it).
807
808The default framing protocol is JSON because a) JSON::XS is many times
809faster for small messages and b) most importantly, after years of
810experience we found that object serialisation is causing more problems
811than it solves: Just like function calls, objects simply do not travel
812easily over the network, mostly because they will always be a copy, so you
813always have to re-think your design.
814
815Keeping your messages simple, concentrating on data structures rather than
816objects, will keep your messages clean, tidy and efficient.
817
818=back
819
388=head1 SEE ALSO 820=head1 SEE ALSO
821
822L<AnyEvent::MP::Intro> - a gentle introduction.
823
824L<AnyEvent::MP::Kernel> - more, lower-level, stuff.
825
826L<AnyEvent::MP::Global> - network maintainance and port groups, to find
827your applications.
389 828
390L<AnyEvent>. 829L<AnyEvent>.
391 830
392=head1 AUTHOR 831=head1 AUTHOR
393 832

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