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Revision: 1.3
Committed: Thu Nov 22 12:28:27 2007 UTC (16 years, 5 months ago) by root
Branch: MAIN
Changes since 1.2: +62 -24 lines
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# User Rev Content
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131     .IX Title ""<STANDARD INPUT>" 1"
132 root 1.3 .TH "<STANDARD INPUT>" 1 "2007-11-22" "perl v5.8.8" "User Contributed Perl Documentation"
133 root 1.1 .SH "NAME"
134     libev \- a high performance full\-featured event loop written in C
135     .SH "SYNOPSIS"
136     .IX Header "SYNOPSIS"
137     .Vb 1
138     \& #include <ev.h>
139     .Ve
140     .SH "DESCRIPTION"
141     .IX Header "DESCRIPTION"
142     Libev is an event loop: you register interest in certain events (such as a
143     file descriptor being readable or a timeout occuring), and it will manage
144     these event sources and provide your program with events.
145     .PP
146     To do this, it must take more or less complete control over your process
147     (or thread) by executing the \fIevent loop\fR handler, and will then
148     communicate events via a callback mechanism.
149     .PP
150     You register interest in certain events by registering so-called \fIevent
151     watchers\fR, which are relatively small C structures you initialise with the
152     details of the event, and then hand it over to libev by \fIstarting\fR the
153     watcher.
154     .SH "FEATURES"
155     .IX Header "FEATURES"
156     Libev supports select, poll, the linux-specific epoll and the bsd-specific
157     kqueue mechanisms for file descriptor events, relative timers, absolute
158     timers with customised rescheduling, signal events, process status change
159     events (related to \s-1SIGCHLD\s0), and event watchers dealing with the event
160     loop mechanism itself (idle, prepare and check watchers). It also is quite
161     fast (see this benchmark comparing
162     it to libevent for example).
163     .SH "CONVENTIONS"
164     .IX Header "CONVENTIONS"
165     Libev is very configurable. In this manual the default configuration
166     will be described, which supports multiple event loops. For more info
167     about various configuration options please have a look at the file
168     \&\fI\s-1README\s0.embed\fR in the libev distribution. If libev was configured without
169     support for multiple event loops, then all functions taking an initial
170     argument of name \f(CW\*(C`loop\*(C'\fR (which is always of type \f(CW\*(C`struct ev_loop *\*(C'\fR)
171     will not have this argument.
172     .SH "TIME REPRESENTATION"
173     .IX Header "TIME REPRESENTATION"
174     Libev represents time as a single floating point number, representing the
175     (fractional) number of seconds since the (\s-1POSIX\s0) epoch (somewhere near
176     the beginning of 1970, details are complicated, don't ask). This type is
177     called \f(CW\*(C`ev_tstamp\*(C'\fR, which is what you should use too. It usually aliases
178     to the double type in C.
179     .SH "GLOBAL FUNCTIONS"
180     .IX Header "GLOBAL FUNCTIONS"
181     These functions can be called anytime, even before initialising the
182     library in any way.
183     .IP "ev_tstamp ev_time ()" 4
184     .IX Item "ev_tstamp ev_time ()"
185 root 1.2 Returns the current time as libev would use it. Please note that the
186     \&\f(CW\*(C`ev_now\*(C'\fR function is usually faster and also often returns the timestamp
187     you actually want to know.
188 root 1.1 .IP "int ev_version_major ()" 4
189     .IX Item "int ev_version_major ()"
190     .PD 0
191     .IP "int ev_version_minor ()" 4
192     .IX Item "int ev_version_minor ()"
193     .PD
194     You can find out the major and minor version numbers of the library
195     you linked against by calling the functions \f(CW\*(C`ev_version_major\*(C'\fR and
196     \&\f(CW\*(C`ev_version_minor\*(C'\fR. If you want, you can compare against the global
197     symbols \f(CW\*(C`EV_VERSION_MAJOR\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`EV_VERSION_MINOR\*(C'\fR, which specify the
198     version of the library your program was compiled against.
199     .Sp
200     Usually, it's a good idea to terminate if the major versions mismatch,
201     as this indicates an incompatible change. Minor versions are usually
202     compatible to older versions, so a larger minor version alone is usually
203     not a problem.
204     .IP "ev_set_allocator (void *(*cb)(void *ptr, long size))" 4
205     .IX Item "ev_set_allocator (void *(*cb)(void *ptr, long size))"
206     Sets the allocation function to use (the prototype is similar to the
207     realloc C function, the semantics are identical). It is used to allocate
208     and free memory (no surprises here). If it returns zero when memory
209     needs to be allocated, the library might abort or take some potentially
210     destructive action. The default is your system realloc function.
211     .Sp
212     You could override this function in high-availability programs to, say,
213     free some memory if it cannot allocate memory, to use a special allocator,
214     or even to sleep a while and retry until some memory is available.
215     .IP "ev_set_syserr_cb (void (*cb)(const char *msg));" 4
216     .IX Item "ev_set_syserr_cb (void (*cb)(const char *msg));"
217     Set the callback function to call on a retryable syscall error (such
218     as failed select, poll, epoll_wait). The message is a printable string
219     indicating the system call or subsystem causing the problem. If this
220     callback is set, then libev will expect it to remedy the sitution, no
221     matter what, when it returns. That is, libev will generally retry the
222     requested operation, or, if the condition doesn't go away, do bad stuff
223     (such as abort).
224     .SH "FUNCTIONS CONTROLLING THE EVENT LOOP"
225     .IX Header "FUNCTIONS CONTROLLING THE EVENT LOOP"
226     An event loop is described by a \f(CW\*(C`struct ev_loop *\*(C'\fR. The library knows two
227     types of such loops, the \fIdefault\fR loop, which supports signals and child
228     events, and dynamically created loops which do not.
229     .PP
230     If you use threads, a common model is to run the default event loop
231     in your main thread (or in a separate thread) and for each thread you
232     create, you also create another event loop. Libev itself does no locking
233     whatsoever, so if you mix calls to the same event loop in different
234     threads, make sure you lock (this is usually a bad idea, though, even if
235     done correctly, because it's hideous and inefficient).
236     .IP "struct ev_loop *ev_default_loop (unsigned int flags)" 4
237     .IX Item "struct ev_loop *ev_default_loop (unsigned int flags)"
238     This will initialise the default event loop if it hasn't been initialised
239     yet and return it. If the default loop could not be initialised, returns
240     false. If it already was initialised it simply returns it (and ignores the
241     flags).
242     .Sp
243     If you don't know what event loop to use, use the one returned from this
244     function.
245     .Sp
246     The flags argument can be used to specify special behaviour or specific
247     backends to use, and is usually specified as 0 (or \s-1EVFLAG_AUTO\s0).
248     .Sp
249     It supports the following flags:
250     .RS 4
251     .ie n .IP """EVFLAG_AUTO""" 4
252     .el .IP "\f(CWEVFLAG_AUTO\fR" 4
253     .IX Item "EVFLAG_AUTO"
254     The default flags value. Use this if you have no clue (it's the right
255     thing, believe me).
256     .ie n .IP """EVFLAG_NOENV""" 4
257     .el .IP "\f(CWEVFLAG_NOENV\fR" 4
258     .IX Item "EVFLAG_NOENV"
259     If this flag bit is ored into the flag value (or the program runs setuid
260     or setgid) then libev will \fInot\fR look at the environment variable
261     \&\f(CW\*(C`LIBEV_FLAGS\*(C'\fR. Otherwise (the default), this environment variable will
262     override the flags completely if it is found in the environment. This is
263     useful to try out specific backends to test their performance, or to work
264     around bugs.
265 root 1.3 .ie n .IP """EVMETHOD_SELECT"" (value 1, portable select backend)" 4
266     .el .IP "\f(CWEVMETHOD_SELECT\fR (value 1, portable select backend)" 4
267     .IX Item "EVMETHOD_SELECT (value 1, portable select backend)"
268     This is your standard \fIselect\fR\|(2) backend. Not \fIcompletely\fR standard, as
269     libev tries to roll its own fd_set with no limits on the number of fds,
270     but if that fails, expect a fairly low limit on the number of fds when
271     using this backend. It doesn't scale too well (O(highest_fd)), but its usually
272     the fastest backend for a low number of fds.
273     .ie n .IP """EVMETHOD_POLL"" (value 2, poll backend, available everywhere except on windows)" 4
274     .el .IP "\f(CWEVMETHOD_POLL\fR (value 2, poll backend, available everywhere except on windows)" 4
275     .IX Item "EVMETHOD_POLL (value 2, poll backend, available everywhere except on windows)"
276     And this is your standard \fIpoll\fR\|(2) backend. It's more complicated than
277     select, but handles sparse fds better and has no artificial limit on the
278     number of fds you can use (except it will slow down considerably with a
279     lot of inactive fds). It scales similarly to select, i.e. O(total_fds).
280     .ie n .IP """EVMETHOD_EPOLL"" (value 4, Linux)" 4
281     .el .IP "\f(CWEVMETHOD_EPOLL\fR (value 4, Linux)" 4
282     .IX Item "EVMETHOD_EPOLL (value 4, Linux)"
283     For few fds, this backend is a bit little slower than poll and select,
284     but it scales phenomenally better. While poll and select usually scale like
285     O(total_fds) where n is the total number of fds (or the highest fd), epoll scales
286     either O(1) or O(active_fds).
287     .Sp
288     While stopping and starting an I/O watcher in the same iteration will
289     result in some caching, there is still a syscall per such incident
290     (because the fd could point to a different file description now), so its
291     best to avoid that. Also, \fIdup()\fRed file descriptors might not work very
292     well if you register events for both fds.
293     .ie n .IP """EVMETHOD_KQUEUE"" (value 8, most \s-1BSD\s0 clones)" 4
294     .el .IP "\f(CWEVMETHOD_KQUEUE\fR (value 8, most \s-1BSD\s0 clones)" 4
295     .IX Item "EVMETHOD_KQUEUE (value 8, most BSD clones)"
296     Kqueue deserves special mention, as at the time of this writing, it
297     was broken on all BSDs except NetBSD (usually it doesn't work with
298     anything but sockets and pipes, except on Darwin, where of course its
299     completely useless). For this reason its not being \*(L"autodetected\*(R" unless
300     you explicitly specify the flags (i.e. you don't use \s-1EVFLAG_AUTO\s0).
301     .Sp
302     It scales in the same way as the epoll backend, but the interface to the
303     kernel is more efficient (which says nothing about its actual speed, of
304     course). While starting and stopping an I/O watcher does not cause an
305     extra syscall as with epoll, it still adds up to four event changes per
306     incident, so its best to avoid that.
307     .ie n .IP """EVMETHOD_DEVPOLL"" (value 16, Solaris 8)" 4
308     .el .IP "\f(CWEVMETHOD_DEVPOLL\fR (value 16, Solaris 8)" 4
309     .IX Item "EVMETHOD_DEVPOLL (value 16, Solaris 8)"
310     This is not implemented yet (and might never be).
311     .ie n .IP """EVMETHOD_PORT"" (value 32, Solaris 10)" 4
312     .el .IP "\f(CWEVMETHOD_PORT\fR (value 32, Solaris 10)" 4
313     .IX Item "EVMETHOD_PORT (value 32, Solaris 10)"
314     This uses the Solaris 10 port mechanism. As with everything on Solaris,
315     it's really slow, but it still scales very well (O(active_fds)).
316     .ie n .IP """EVMETHOD_ALL""" 4
317     .el .IP "\f(CWEVMETHOD_ALL\fR" 4
318     .IX Item "EVMETHOD_ALL"
319     Try all backends (even potentially broken ones). Since this is a mask, you
320     can do stuff like \f(CW\*(C`EVMETHOD_ALL & ~EVMETHOD_KQUEUE\*(C'\fR.
321 root 1.1 .RE
322     .RS 4
323 root 1.3 .Sp
324     If one or more of these are ored into the flags value, then only these
325     backends will be tried (in the reverse order as given here). If none are
326     specified, most compiled-in backend will be tried, usually in reverse
327     order of their flag values :)
328 root 1.1 .RE
329     .IP "struct ev_loop *ev_loop_new (unsigned int flags)" 4
330     .IX Item "struct ev_loop *ev_loop_new (unsigned int flags)"
331     Similar to \f(CW\*(C`ev_default_loop\*(C'\fR, but always creates a new event loop that is
332     always distinct from the default loop. Unlike the default loop, it cannot
333     handle signal and child watchers, and attempts to do so will be greeted by
334     undefined behaviour (or a failed assertion if assertions are enabled).
335     .IP "ev_default_destroy ()" 4
336     .IX Item "ev_default_destroy ()"
337     Destroys the default loop again (frees all memory and kernel state
338     etc.). This stops all registered event watchers (by not touching them in
339     any way whatsoever, although you cannot rely on this :).
340     .IP "ev_loop_destroy (loop)" 4
341     .IX Item "ev_loop_destroy (loop)"
342     Like \f(CW\*(C`ev_default_destroy\*(C'\fR, but destroys an event loop created by an
343     earlier call to \f(CW\*(C`ev_loop_new\*(C'\fR.
344     .IP "ev_default_fork ()" 4
345     .IX Item "ev_default_fork ()"
346     This function reinitialises the kernel state for backends that have
347     one. Despite the name, you can call it anytime, but it makes most sense
348     after forking, in either the parent or child process (or both, but that
349     again makes little sense).
350     .Sp
351     You \fImust\fR call this function after forking if and only if you want to
352     use the event library in both processes. If you just fork+exec, you don't
353     have to call it.
354     .Sp
355     The function itself is quite fast and it's usually not a problem to call
356     it just in case after a fork. To make this easy, the function will fit in
357     quite nicely into a call to \f(CW\*(C`pthread_atfork\*(C'\fR:
358     .Sp
359     .Vb 1
360     \& pthread_atfork (0, 0, ev_default_fork);
361     .Ve
362     .IP "ev_loop_fork (loop)" 4
363     .IX Item "ev_loop_fork (loop)"
364     Like \f(CW\*(C`ev_default_fork\*(C'\fR, but acts on an event loop created by
365     \&\f(CW\*(C`ev_loop_new\*(C'\fR. Yes, you have to call this on every allocated event loop
366     after fork, and how you do this is entirely your own problem.
367     .IP "unsigned int ev_method (loop)" 4
368     .IX Item "unsigned int ev_method (loop)"
369     Returns one of the \f(CW\*(C`EVMETHOD_*\*(C'\fR flags indicating the event backend in
370     use.
371     .IP "ev_tstamp ev_now (loop)" 4
372     .IX Item "ev_tstamp ev_now (loop)"
373     Returns the current \*(L"event loop time\*(R", which is the time the event loop
374     got events and started processing them. This timestamp does not change
375     as long as callbacks are being processed, and this is also the base time
376     used for relative timers. You can treat it as the timestamp of the event
377     occuring (or more correctly, the mainloop finding out about it).
378     .IP "ev_loop (loop, int flags)" 4
379     .IX Item "ev_loop (loop, int flags)"
380     Finally, this is it, the event handler. This function usually is called
381     after you initialised all your watchers and you want to start handling
382     events.
383     .Sp
384     If the flags argument is specified as 0, it will not return until either
385     no event watchers are active anymore or \f(CW\*(C`ev_unloop\*(C'\fR was called.
386     .Sp
387     A flags value of \f(CW\*(C`EVLOOP_NONBLOCK\*(C'\fR will look for new events, will handle
388     those events and any outstanding ones, but will not block your process in
389     case there are no events and will return after one iteration of the loop.
390     .Sp
391     A flags value of \f(CW\*(C`EVLOOP_ONESHOT\*(C'\fR will look for new events (waiting if
392     neccessary) and will handle those and any outstanding ones. It will block
393     your process until at least one new event arrives, and will return after
394     one iteration of the loop.
395     .Sp
396     This flags value could be used to implement alternative looping
397     constructs, but the \f(CW\*(C`prepare\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`check\*(C'\fR watchers provide a better and
398     more generic mechanism.
399 root 1.2 .Sp
400     Here are the gory details of what ev_loop does:
401     .Sp
402     .Vb 15
403     \& 1. If there are no active watchers (reference count is zero), return.
404     \& 2. Queue and immediately call all prepare watchers.
405     \& 3. If we have been forked, recreate the kernel state.
406     \& 4. Update the kernel state with all outstanding changes.
407     \& 5. Update the "event loop time".
408     \& 6. Calculate for how long to block.
409     \& 7. Block the process, waiting for events.
410     \& 8. Update the "event loop time" and do time jump handling.
411     \& 9. Queue all outstanding timers.
412     \& 10. Queue all outstanding periodics.
413     \& 11. If no events are pending now, queue all idle watchers.
414     \& 12. Queue all check watchers.
415     \& 13. Call all queued watchers in reverse order (i.e. check watchers first).
416     \& 14. If ev_unloop has been called or EVLOOP_ONESHOT or EVLOOP_NONBLOCK
417     \& was used, return, otherwise continue with step #1.
418     .Ve
419 root 1.1 .IP "ev_unloop (loop, how)" 4
420     .IX Item "ev_unloop (loop, how)"
421     Can be used to make a call to \f(CW\*(C`ev_loop\*(C'\fR return early (but only after it
422     has processed all outstanding events). The \f(CW\*(C`how\*(C'\fR argument must be either
423     \&\f(CW\*(C`EVUNLOOP_ONE\*(C'\fR, which will make the innermost \f(CW\*(C`ev_loop\*(C'\fR call return, or
424     \&\f(CW\*(C`EVUNLOOP_ALL\*(C'\fR, which will make all nested \f(CW\*(C`ev_loop\*(C'\fR calls return.
425     .IP "ev_ref (loop)" 4
426     .IX Item "ev_ref (loop)"
427     .PD 0
428     .IP "ev_unref (loop)" 4
429     .IX Item "ev_unref (loop)"
430     .PD
431     Ref/unref can be used to add or remove a reference count on the event
432     loop: Every watcher keeps one reference, and as long as the reference
433     count is nonzero, \f(CW\*(C`ev_loop\*(C'\fR will not return on its own. If you have
434     a watcher you never unregister that should not keep \f(CW\*(C`ev_loop\*(C'\fR from
435     returning, \fIev_unref()\fR after starting, and \fIev_ref()\fR before stopping it. For
436     example, libev itself uses this for its internal signal pipe: It is not
437     visible to the libev user and should not keep \f(CW\*(C`ev_loop\*(C'\fR from exiting if
438     no event watchers registered by it are active. It is also an excellent
439     way to do this for generic recurring timers or from within third-party
440     libraries. Just remember to \fIunref after start\fR and \fIref before stop\fR.
441     .SH "ANATOMY OF A WATCHER"
442     .IX Header "ANATOMY OF A WATCHER"
443     A watcher is a structure that you create and register to record your
444     interest in some event. For instance, if you want to wait for \s-1STDIN\s0 to
445     become readable, you would create an \f(CW\*(C`ev_io\*(C'\fR watcher for that:
446     .PP
447     .Vb 5
448     \& static void my_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w, int revents)
449     \& {
450     \& ev_io_stop (w);
451     \& ev_unloop (loop, EVUNLOOP_ALL);
452     \& }
453     .Ve
454     .PP
455     .Vb 6
456     \& struct ev_loop *loop = ev_default_loop (0);
457     \& struct ev_io stdin_watcher;
458     \& ev_init (&stdin_watcher, my_cb);
459     \& ev_io_set (&stdin_watcher, STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ);
460     \& ev_io_start (loop, &stdin_watcher);
461     \& ev_loop (loop, 0);
462     .Ve
463     .PP
464     As you can see, you are responsible for allocating the memory for your
465     watcher structures (and it is usually a bad idea to do this on the stack,
466     although this can sometimes be quite valid).
467     .PP
468     Each watcher structure must be initialised by a call to \f(CW\*(C`ev_init
469     (watcher *, callback)\*(C'\fR, which expects a callback to be provided. This
470     callback gets invoked each time the event occurs (or, in the case of io
471     watchers, each time the event loop detects that the file descriptor given
472     is readable and/or writable).
473     .PP
474     Each watcher type has its own \f(CW\*(C`ev_<type>_set (watcher *, ...)\*(C'\fR macro
475     with arguments specific to this watcher type. There is also a macro
476     to combine initialisation and setting in one call: \f(CW\*(C`ev_<type>_init
477     (watcher *, callback, ...)\*(C'\fR.
478     .PP
479     To make the watcher actually watch out for events, you have to start it
480     with a watcher-specific start function (\f(CW\*(C`ev_<type>_start (loop, watcher
481     *)\*(C'\fR), and you can stop watching for events at any time by calling the
482     corresponding stop function (\f(CW\*(C`ev_<type>_stop (loop, watcher *)\*(C'\fR.
483     .PP
484     As long as your watcher is active (has been started but not stopped) you
485     must not touch the values stored in it. Most specifically you must never
486     reinitialise it or call its set method.
487     .PP
488     You can check whether an event is active by calling the \f(CW\*(C`ev_is_active
489     (watcher *)\*(C'\fR macro. To see whether an event is outstanding (but the
490     callback for it has not been called yet) you can use the \f(CW\*(C`ev_is_pending
491     (watcher *)\*(C'\fR macro.
492     .PP
493     Each and every callback receives the event loop pointer as first, the
494     registered watcher structure as second, and a bitset of received events as
495     third argument.
496     .PP
497     The received events usually include a single bit per event type received
498     (you can receive multiple events at the same time). The possible bit masks
499     are:
500     .ie n .IP """EV_READ""" 4
501     .el .IP "\f(CWEV_READ\fR" 4
502     .IX Item "EV_READ"
503     .PD 0
504     .ie n .IP """EV_WRITE""" 4
505     .el .IP "\f(CWEV_WRITE\fR" 4
506     .IX Item "EV_WRITE"
507     .PD
508     The file descriptor in the \f(CW\*(C`ev_io\*(C'\fR watcher has become readable and/or
509     writable.
510     .ie n .IP """EV_TIMEOUT""" 4
511     .el .IP "\f(CWEV_TIMEOUT\fR" 4
512     .IX Item "EV_TIMEOUT"
513     The \f(CW\*(C`ev_timer\*(C'\fR watcher has timed out.
514     .ie n .IP """EV_PERIODIC""" 4
515     .el .IP "\f(CWEV_PERIODIC\fR" 4
516     .IX Item "EV_PERIODIC"
517     The \f(CW\*(C`ev_periodic\*(C'\fR watcher has timed out.
518     .ie n .IP """EV_SIGNAL""" 4
519     .el .IP "\f(CWEV_SIGNAL\fR" 4
520     .IX Item "EV_SIGNAL"
521     The signal specified in the \f(CW\*(C`ev_signal\*(C'\fR watcher has been received by a thread.
522     .ie n .IP """EV_CHILD""" 4
523     .el .IP "\f(CWEV_CHILD\fR" 4
524     .IX Item "EV_CHILD"
525     The pid specified in the \f(CW\*(C`ev_child\*(C'\fR watcher has received a status change.
526     .ie n .IP """EV_IDLE""" 4
527     .el .IP "\f(CWEV_IDLE\fR" 4
528     .IX Item "EV_IDLE"
529     The \f(CW\*(C`ev_idle\*(C'\fR watcher has determined that you have nothing better to do.
530     .ie n .IP """EV_PREPARE""" 4
531     .el .IP "\f(CWEV_PREPARE\fR" 4
532     .IX Item "EV_PREPARE"
533     .PD 0
534     .ie n .IP """EV_CHECK""" 4
535     .el .IP "\f(CWEV_CHECK\fR" 4
536     .IX Item "EV_CHECK"
537     .PD
538     All \f(CW\*(C`ev_prepare\*(C'\fR watchers are invoked just \fIbefore\fR \f(CW\*(C`ev_loop\*(C'\fR starts
539     to gather new events, and all \f(CW\*(C`ev_check\*(C'\fR watchers are invoked just after
540     \&\f(CW\*(C`ev_loop\*(C'\fR has gathered them, but before it invokes any callbacks for any
541     received events. Callbacks of both watcher types can start and stop as
542     many watchers as they want, and all of them will be taken into account
543     (for example, a \f(CW\*(C`ev_prepare\*(C'\fR watcher might start an idle watcher to keep
544     \&\f(CW\*(C`ev_loop\*(C'\fR from blocking).
545     .ie n .IP """EV_ERROR""" 4
546     .el .IP "\f(CWEV_ERROR\fR" 4
547     .IX Item "EV_ERROR"
548     An unspecified error has occured, the watcher has been stopped. This might
549     happen because the watcher could not be properly started because libev
550     ran out of memory, a file descriptor was found to be closed or any other
551     problem. You best act on it by reporting the problem and somehow coping
552     with the watcher being stopped.
553     .Sp
554     Libev will usually signal a few \*(L"dummy\*(R" events together with an error,
555     for example it might indicate that a fd is readable or writable, and if
556     your callbacks is well-written it can just attempt the operation and cope
557     with the error from \fIread()\fR or \fIwrite()\fR. This will not work in multithreaded
558     programs, though, so beware.
559     .Sh "\s-1ASSOCIATING\s0 \s-1CUSTOM\s0 \s-1DATA\s0 \s-1WITH\s0 A \s-1WATCHER\s0"
560     .IX Subsection "ASSOCIATING CUSTOM DATA WITH A WATCHER"
561     Each watcher has, by default, a member \f(CW\*(C`void *data\*(C'\fR that you can change
562     and read at any time, libev will completely ignore it. This can be used
563     to associate arbitrary data with your watcher. If you need more data and
564     don't want to allocate memory and store a pointer to it in that data
565     member, you can also \*(L"subclass\*(R" the watcher type and provide your own
566     data:
567     .PP
568     .Vb 7
569     \& struct my_io
570     \& {
571     \& struct ev_io io;
572     \& int otherfd;
573     \& void *somedata;
574     \& struct whatever *mostinteresting;
575     \& }
576     .Ve
577     .PP
578     And since your callback will be called with a pointer to the watcher, you
579     can cast it back to your own type:
580     .PP
581     .Vb 5
582     \& static void my_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w_, int revents)
583     \& {
584     \& struct my_io *w = (struct my_io *)w_;
585     \& ...
586     \& }
587     .Ve
588     .PP
589     More interesting and less C\-conformant ways of catsing your callback type
590     have been omitted....
591     .SH "WATCHER TYPES"
592     .IX Header "WATCHER TYPES"
593     This section describes each watcher in detail, but will not repeat
594     information given in the last section.
595     .ie n .Sh """ev_io"" \- is this file descriptor readable or writable"
596     .el .Sh "\f(CWev_io\fP \- is this file descriptor readable or writable"
597     .IX Subsection "ev_io - is this file descriptor readable or writable"
598     I/O watchers check whether a file descriptor is readable or writable
599     in each iteration of the event loop (This behaviour is called
600     level-triggering because you keep receiving events as long as the
601     condition persists. Remember you can stop the watcher if you don't want to
602     act on the event and neither want to receive future events).
603     .PP
604     In general you can register as many read and/or write event watchers per
605     fd as you want (as long as you don't confuse yourself). Setting all file
606     descriptors to non-blocking mode is also usually a good idea (but not
607     required if you know what you are doing).
608     .PP
609     You have to be careful with dup'ed file descriptors, though. Some backends
610     (the linux epoll backend is a notable example) cannot handle dup'ed file
611     descriptors correctly if you register interest in two or more fds pointing
612     to the same underlying file/socket etc. description (that is, they share
613     the same underlying \*(L"file open\*(R").
614     .PP
615     If you must do this, then force the use of a known-to-be-good backend
616     (at the time of this writing, this includes only \s-1EVMETHOD_SELECT\s0 and
617     \&\s-1EVMETHOD_POLL\s0).
618     .IP "ev_io_init (ev_io *, callback, int fd, int events)" 4
619     .IX Item "ev_io_init (ev_io *, callback, int fd, int events)"
620     .PD 0
621     .IP "ev_io_set (ev_io *, int fd, int events)" 4
622     .IX Item "ev_io_set (ev_io *, int fd, int events)"
623     .PD
624     Configures an \f(CW\*(C`ev_io\*(C'\fR watcher. The fd is the file descriptor to rceeive
625     events for and events is either \f(CW\*(C`EV_READ\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`EV_WRITE\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`EV_READ |
626     EV_WRITE\*(C'\fR to receive the given events.
627     .ie n .Sh """ev_timer"" \- relative and optionally recurring timeouts"
628     .el .Sh "\f(CWev_timer\fP \- relative and optionally recurring timeouts"
629     .IX Subsection "ev_timer - relative and optionally recurring timeouts"
630     Timer watchers are simple relative timers that generate an event after a
631     given time, and optionally repeating in regular intervals after that.
632     .PP
633     The timers are based on real time, that is, if you register an event that
634     times out after an hour and you reset your system clock to last years
635     time, it will still time out after (roughly) and hour. \*(L"Roughly\*(R" because
636 root 1.2 detecting time jumps is hard, and some inaccuracies are unavoidable (the
637 root 1.1 monotonic clock option helps a lot here).
638     .PP
639     The relative timeouts are calculated relative to the \f(CW\*(C`ev_now ()\*(C'\fR
640     time. This is usually the right thing as this timestamp refers to the time
641 root 1.2 of the event triggering whatever timeout you are modifying/starting. If
642     you suspect event processing to be delayed and you \fIneed\fR to base the timeout
643 root 1.1 on the current time, use something like this to adjust for this:
644     .PP
645     .Vb 1
646     \& ev_timer_set (&timer, after + ev_now () - ev_time (), 0.);
647     .Ve
648 root 1.2 .PP
649     The callback is guarenteed to be invoked only when its timeout has passed,
650     but if multiple timers become ready during the same loop iteration then
651     order of execution is undefined.
652 root 1.1 .IP "ev_timer_init (ev_timer *, callback, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)" 4
653     .IX Item "ev_timer_init (ev_timer *, callback, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)"
654     .PD 0
655     .IP "ev_timer_set (ev_timer *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)" 4
656     .IX Item "ev_timer_set (ev_timer *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)"
657     .PD
658     Configure the timer to trigger after \f(CW\*(C`after\*(C'\fR seconds. If \f(CW\*(C`repeat\*(C'\fR is
659     \&\f(CW0.\fR, then it will automatically be stopped. If it is positive, then the
660     timer will automatically be configured to trigger again \f(CW\*(C`repeat\*(C'\fR seconds
661     later, again, and again, until stopped manually.
662     .Sp
663     The timer itself will do a best-effort at avoiding drift, that is, if you
664     configure a timer to trigger every 10 seconds, then it will trigger at
665     exactly 10 second intervals. If, however, your program cannot keep up with
666     the timer (because it takes longer than those 10 seconds to do stuff) the
667     timer will not fire more than once per event loop iteration.
668     .IP "ev_timer_again (loop)" 4
669     .IX Item "ev_timer_again (loop)"
670     This will act as if the timer timed out and restart it again if it is
671     repeating. The exact semantics are:
672     .Sp
673     If the timer is started but nonrepeating, stop it.
674     .Sp
675     If the timer is repeating, either start it if necessary (with the repeat
676     value), or reset the running timer to the repeat value.
677     .Sp
678     This sounds a bit complicated, but here is a useful and typical
679     example: Imagine you have a tcp connection and you want a so-called idle
680     timeout, that is, you want to be called when there have been, say, 60
681     seconds of inactivity on the socket. The easiest way to do this is to
682     configure an \f(CW\*(C`ev_timer\*(C'\fR with after=repeat=60 and calling ev_timer_again each
683     time you successfully read or write some data. If you go into an idle
684     state where you do not expect data to travel on the socket, you can stop
685     the timer, and again will automatically restart it if need be.
686     .ie n .Sh """ev_periodic"" \- to cron or not to cron"
687     .el .Sh "\f(CWev_periodic\fP \- to cron or not to cron"
688     .IX Subsection "ev_periodic - to cron or not to cron"
689     Periodic watchers are also timers of a kind, but they are very versatile
690     (and unfortunately a bit complex).
691     .PP
692     Unlike \f(CW\*(C`ev_timer\*(C'\fR's, they are not based on real time (or relative time)
693     but on wallclock time (absolute time). You can tell a periodic watcher
694     to trigger \*(L"at\*(R" some specific point in time. For example, if you tell a
695     periodic watcher to trigger in 10 seconds (by specifiying e.g. c<ev_now ()
696     + 10.>) and then reset your system clock to the last year, then it will
697     take a year to trigger the event (unlike an \f(CW\*(C`ev_timer\*(C'\fR, which would trigger
698     roughly 10 seconds later and of course not if you reset your system time
699     again).
700     .PP
701     They can also be used to implement vastly more complex timers, such as
702     triggering an event on eahc midnight, local time.
703 root 1.2 .PP
704     As with timers, the callback is guarenteed to be invoked only when the
705     time (\f(CW\*(C`at\*(C'\fR) has been passed, but if multiple periodic timers become ready
706     during the same loop iteration then order of execution is undefined.
707 root 1.1 .IP "ev_periodic_init (ev_periodic *, callback, ev_tstamp at, ev_tstamp interval, reschedule_cb)" 4
708     .IX Item "ev_periodic_init (ev_periodic *, callback, ev_tstamp at, ev_tstamp interval, reschedule_cb)"
709     .PD 0
710     .IP "ev_periodic_set (ev_periodic *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat, reschedule_cb)" 4
711     .IX Item "ev_periodic_set (ev_periodic *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat, reschedule_cb)"
712     .PD
713     Lots of arguments, lets sort it out... There are basically three modes of
714     operation, and we will explain them from simplest to complex:
715     .RS 4
716     .IP "* absolute timer (interval = reschedule_cb = 0)" 4
717     .IX Item "absolute timer (interval = reschedule_cb = 0)"
718     In this configuration the watcher triggers an event at the wallclock time
719     \&\f(CW\*(C`at\*(C'\fR and doesn't repeat. It will not adjust when a time jump occurs,
720     that is, if it is to be run at January 1st 2011 then it will run when the
721     system time reaches or surpasses this time.
722     .IP "* non-repeating interval timer (interval > 0, reschedule_cb = 0)" 4
723     .IX Item "non-repeating interval timer (interval > 0, reschedule_cb = 0)"
724     In this mode the watcher will always be scheduled to time out at the next
725     \&\f(CW\*(C`at + N * interval\*(C'\fR time (for some integer N) and then repeat, regardless
726     of any time jumps.
727     .Sp
728     This can be used to create timers that do not drift with respect to system
729     time:
730     .Sp
731     .Vb 1
732     \& ev_periodic_set (&periodic, 0., 3600., 0);
733     .Ve
734     .Sp
735     This doesn't mean there will always be 3600 seconds in between triggers,
736     but only that the the callback will be called when the system time shows a
737     full hour (\s-1UTC\s0), or more correctly, when the system time is evenly divisible
738     by 3600.
739     .Sp
740     Another way to think about it (for the mathematically inclined) is that
741     \&\f(CW\*(C`ev_periodic\*(C'\fR will try to run the callback in this mode at the next possible
742     time where \f(CW\*(C`time = at (mod interval)\*(C'\fR, regardless of any time jumps.
743     .IP "* manual reschedule mode (reschedule_cb = callback)" 4
744     .IX Item "manual reschedule mode (reschedule_cb = callback)"
745     In this mode the values for \f(CW\*(C`interval\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`at\*(C'\fR are both being
746     ignored. Instead, each time the periodic watcher gets scheduled, the
747     reschedule callback will be called with the watcher as first, and the
748     current time as second argument.
749     .Sp
750     \&\s-1NOTE:\s0 \fIThis callback \s-1MUST\s0 \s-1NOT\s0 stop or destroy any periodic watcher,
751     ever, or make any event loop modifications\fR. If you need to stop it,
752     return \f(CW\*(C`now + 1e30\*(C'\fR (or so, fudge fudge) and stop it afterwards (e.g. by
753     starting a prepare watcher).
754     .Sp
755     Its prototype is \f(CW\*(C`ev_tstamp (*reschedule_cb)(struct ev_periodic *w,
756     ev_tstamp now)\*(C'\fR, e.g.:
757     .Sp
758     .Vb 4
759     \& static ev_tstamp my_rescheduler (struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now)
760     \& {
761     \& return now + 60.;
762     \& }
763     .Ve
764     .Sp
765     It must return the next time to trigger, based on the passed time value
766     (that is, the lowest time value larger than to the second argument). It
767     will usually be called just before the callback will be triggered, but
768     might be called at other times, too.
769     .Sp
770     \&\s-1NOTE:\s0 \fIThis callback must always return a time that is later than the
771     passed \f(CI\*(C`now\*(C'\fI value\fR. Not even \f(CW\*(C`now\*(C'\fR itself will do, it \fImust\fR be larger.
772     .Sp
773     This can be used to create very complex timers, such as a timer that
774     triggers on each midnight, local time. To do this, you would calculate the
775     next midnight after \f(CW\*(C`now\*(C'\fR and return the timestamp value for this. How
776     you do this is, again, up to you (but it is not trivial, which is the main
777     reason I omitted it as an example).
778     .RE
779     .RS 4
780     .RE
781     .IP "ev_periodic_again (loop, ev_periodic *)" 4
782     .IX Item "ev_periodic_again (loop, ev_periodic *)"
783     Simply stops and restarts the periodic watcher again. This is only useful
784     when you changed some parameters or the reschedule callback would return
785     a different time than the last time it was called (e.g. in a crond like
786     program when the crontabs have changed).
787     .ie n .Sh """ev_signal"" \- signal me when a signal gets signalled"
788     .el .Sh "\f(CWev_signal\fP \- signal me when a signal gets signalled"
789     .IX Subsection "ev_signal - signal me when a signal gets signalled"
790     Signal watchers will trigger an event when the process receives a specific
791     signal one or more times. Even though signals are very asynchronous, libev
792     will try it's best to deliver signals synchronously, i.e. as part of the
793     normal event processing, like any other event.
794     .PP
795     You can configure as many watchers as you like per signal. Only when the
796     first watcher gets started will libev actually register a signal watcher
797     with the kernel (thus it coexists with your own signal handlers as long
798     as you don't register any with libev). Similarly, when the last signal
799     watcher for a signal is stopped libev will reset the signal handler to
800     \&\s-1SIG_DFL\s0 (regardless of what it was set to before).
801     .IP "ev_signal_init (ev_signal *, callback, int signum)" 4
802     .IX Item "ev_signal_init (ev_signal *, callback, int signum)"
803     .PD 0
804     .IP "ev_signal_set (ev_signal *, int signum)" 4
805     .IX Item "ev_signal_set (ev_signal *, int signum)"
806     .PD
807     Configures the watcher to trigger on the given signal number (usually one
808     of the \f(CW\*(C`SIGxxx\*(C'\fR constants).
809     .ie n .Sh """ev_child"" \- wait for pid status changes"
810     .el .Sh "\f(CWev_child\fP \- wait for pid status changes"
811     .IX Subsection "ev_child - wait for pid status changes"
812     Child watchers trigger when your process receives a \s-1SIGCHLD\s0 in response to
813     some child status changes (most typically when a child of yours dies).
814     .IP "ev_child_init (ev_child *, callback, int pid)" 4
815     .IX Item "ev_child_init (ev_child *, callback, int pid)"
816     .PD 0
817     .IP "ev_child_set (ev_child *, int pid)" 4
818     .IX Item "ev_child_set (ev_child *, int pid)"
819     .PD
820     Configures the watcher to wait for status changes of process \f(CW\*(C`pid\*(C'\fR (or
821     \&\fIany\fR process if \f(CW\*(C`pid\*(C'\fR is specified as \f(CW0\fR). The callback can look
822     at the \f(CW\*(C`rstatus\*(C'\fR member of the \f(CW\*(C`ev_child\*(C'\fR watcher structure to see
823     the status word (use the macros from \f(CW\*(C`sys/wait.h\*(C'\fR and see your systems
824     \&\f(CW\*(C`waitpid\*(C'\fR documentation). The \f(CW\*(C`rpid\*(C'\fR member contains the pid of the
825     process causing the status change.
826     .ie n .Sh """ev_idle"" \- when you've got nothing better to do"
827     .el .Sh "\f(CWev_idle\fP \- when you've got nothing better to do"
828     .IX Subsection "ev_idle - when you've got nothing better to do"
829     Idle watchers trigger events when there are no other events are pending
830     (prepare, check and other idle watchers do not count). That is, as long
831     as your process is busy handling sockets or timeouts (or even signals,
832     imagine) it will not be triggered. But when your process is idle all idle
833     watchers are being called again and again, once per event loop iteration \-
834     until stopped, that is, or your process receives more events and becomes
835     busy.
836     .PP
837     The most noteworthy effect is that as long as any idle watchers are
838     active, the process will not block when waiting for new events.
839     .PP
840     Apart from keeping your process non-blocking (which is a useful
841     effect on its own sometimes), idle watchers are a good place to do
842     \&\*(L"pseudo\-background processing\*(R", or delay processing stuff to after the
843     event loop has handled all outstanding events.
844     .IP "ev_idle_init (ev_signal *, callback)" 4
845     .IX Item "ev_idle_init (ev_signal *, callback)"
846     Initialises and configures the idle watcher \- it has no parameters of any
847     kind. There is a \f(CW\*(C`ev_idle_set\*(C'\fR macro, but using it is utterly pointless,
848     believe me.
849     .ie n .Sh """ev_prepare""\fP and \f(CW""ev_check"" \- customise your event loop"
850     .el .Sh "\f(CWev_prepare\fP and \f(CWev_check\fP \- customise your event loop"
851     .IX Subsection "ev_prepare and ev_check - customise your event loop"
852     Prepare and check watchers are usually (but not always) used in tandem:
853     prepare watchers get invoked before the process blocks and check watchers
854     afterwards.
855     .PP
856     Their main purpose is to integrate other event mechanisms into libev. This
857     could be used, for example, to track variable changes, implement your own
858     watchers, integrate net-snmp or a coroutine library and lots more.
859     .PP
860     This is done by examining in each prepare call which file descriptors need
861     to be watched by the other library, registering \f(CW\*(C`ev_io\*(C'\fR watchers for
862     them and starting an \f(CW\*(C`ev_timer\*(C'\fR watcher for any timeouts (many libraries
863     provide just this functionality). Then, in the check watcher you check for
864     any events that occured (by checking the pending status of all watchers
865     and stopping them) and call back into the library. The I/O and timer
866     callbacks will never actually be called (but must be valid nevertheless,
867     because you never know, you know?).
868     .PP
869     As another example, the Perl Coro module uses these hooks to integrate
870     coroutines into libev programs, by yielding to other active coroutines
871     during each prepare and only letting the process block if no coroutines
872     are ready to run (it's actually more complicated: it only runs coroutines
873     with priority higher than or equal to the event loop and one coroutine
874     of lower priority, but only once, using idle watchers to keep the event
875     loop from blocking if lower-priority coroutines are active, thus mapping
876     low-priority coroutines to idle/background tasks).
877     .IP "ev_prepare_init (ev_prepare *, callback)" 4
878     .IX Item "ev_prepare_init (ev_prepare *, callback)"
879     .PD 0
880     .IP "ev_check_init (ev_check *, callback)" 4
881     .IX Item "ev_check_init (ev_check *, callback)"
882     .PD
883     Initialises and configures the prepare or check watcher \- they have no
884     parameters of any kind. There are \f(CW\*(C`ev_prepare_set\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`ev_check_set\*(C'\fR
885     macros, but using them is utterly, utterly and completely pointless.
886     .SH "OTHER FUNCTIONS"
887     .IX Header "OTHER FUNCTIONS"
888     There are some other functions of possible interest. Described. Here. Now.
889     .IP "ev_once (loop, int fd, int events, ev_tstamp timeout, callback)" 4
890     .IX Item "ev_once (loop, int fd, int events, ev_tstamp timeout, callback)"
891     This function combines a simple timer and an I/O watcher, calls your
892     callback on whichever event happens first and automatically stop both
893     watchers. This is useful if you want to wait for a single event on an fd
894     or timeout without having to allocate/configure/start/stop/free one or
895     more watchers yourself.
896     .Sp
897     If \f(CW\*(C`fd\*(C'\fR is less than 0, then no I/O watcher will be started and events
898     is being ignored. Otherwise, an \f(CW\*(C`ev_io\*(C'\fR watcher for the given \f(CW\*(C`fd\*(C'\fR and
899     \&\f(CW\*(C`events\*(C'\fR set will be craeted and started.
900     .Sp
901     If \f(CW\*(C`timeout\*(C'\fR is less than 0, then no timeout watcher will be
902     started. Otherwise an \f(CW\*(C`ev_timer\*(C'\fR watcher with after = \f(CW\*(C`timeout\*(C'\fR (and
903     repeat = 0) will be started. While \f(CW0\fR is a valid timeout, it is of
904     dubious value.
905     .Sp
906     The callback has the type \f(CW\*(C`void (*cb)(int revents, void *arg)\*(C'\fR and gets
907     passed an \f(CW\*(C`revents\*(C'\fR set like normal event callbacks (a combination of
908     \&\f(CW\*(C`EV_ERROR\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`EV_READ\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`EV_WRITE\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`EV_TIMEOUT\*(C'\fR) and the \f(CW\*(C`arg\*(C'\fR
909     value passed to \f(CW\*(C`ev_once\*(C'\fR:
910     .Sp
911     .Vb 7
912     \& static void stdin_ready (int revents, void *arg)
913     \& {
914     \& if (revents & EV_TIMEOUT)
915     \& /* doh, nothing entered */;
916     \& else if (revents & EV_READ)
917     \& /* stdin might have data for us, joy! */;
918     \& }
919     .Ve
920     .Sp
921     .Vb 1
922     \& ev_once (STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ, 10., stdin_ready, 0);
923     .Ve
924     .IP "ev_feed_event (loop, watcher, int events)" 4
925     .IX Item "ev_feed_event (loop, watcher, int events)"
926     Feeds the given event set into the event loop, as if the specified event
927     had happened for the specified watcher (which must be a pointer to an
928     initialised but not necessarily started event watcher).
929     .IP "ev_feed_fd_event (loop, int fd, int revents)" 4
930     .IX Item "ev_feed_fd_event (loop, int fd, int revents)"
931     Feed an event on the given fd, as if a file descriptor backend detected
932     the given events it.
933     .IP "ev_feed_signal_event (loop, int signum)" 4
934     .IX Item "ev_feed_signal_event (loop, int signum)"
935     Feed an event as if the given signal occured (loop must be the default loop!).
936     .SH "LIBEVENT EMULATION"
937     .IX Header "LIBEVENT EMULATION"
938     Libev offers a compatibility emulation layer for libevent. It cannot
939     emulate the internals of libevent, so here are some usage hints:
940     .IP "* Use it by including <event.h>, as usual." 4
941     .IX Item "Use it by including <event.h>, as usual."
942     .PD 0
943     .IP "* The following members are fully supported: ev_base, ev_callback, ev_arg, ev_fd, ev_res, ev_events." 4
944     .IX Item "The following members are fully supported: ev_base, ev_callback, ev_arg, ev_fd, ev_res, ev_events."
945     .IP "* Avoid using ev_flags and the EVLIST_*\-macros, while it is maintained by libev, it does not work exactly the same way as in libevent (consider it a private \s-1API\s0)." 4
946     .IX Item "Avoid using ev_flags and the EVLIST_*-macros, while it is maintained by libev, it does not work exactly the same way as in libevent (consider it a private API)."
947     .IP "* Priorities are not currently supported. Initialising priorities will fail and all watchers will have the same priority, even though there is an ev_pri field." 4
948     .IX Item "Priorities are not currently supported. Initialising priorities will fail and all watchers will have the same priority, even though there is an ev_pri field."
949     .IP "* Other members are not supported." 4
950     .IX Item "Other members are not supported."
951     .IP "* The libev emulation is \fInot\fR \s-1ABI\s0 compatible to libevent, you need to use the libev header file and library." 4
952     .IX Item "The libev emulation is not ABI compatible to libevent, you need to use the libev header file and library."
953     .PD
954     .SH "\*(C+ SUPPORT"
955     .IX Header " SUPPORT"
956     \&\s-1TBD\s0.
957     .SH "AUTHOR"
958     .IX Header "AUTHOR"
959     Marc Lehmann <libev@schmorp.de>.