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Revision: 1.5
Committed: Fri Nov 23 04:36:03 2007 UTC (16 years, 5 months ago) by root
Branch: MAIN
Changes since 1.4: +4 -4 lines
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131     .IX Title ""<STANDARD INPUT>" 1"
132 root 1.5 .TH "<STANDARD INPUT>" 1 "2007-11-23" "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 root 1.4 Try all backends (even potentially broken ones that wouldn't be tried
320     with \f(CW\*(C`EVFLAG_AUTO\*(C'\fR). Since this is a mask, you can do stuff such as
321     \&\f(CW\*(C`EVMETHOD_ALL & ~EVMETHOD_KQUEUE\*(C'\fR.
322 root 1.1 .RE
323     .RS 4
324 root 1.3 .Sp
325     If one or more of these are ored into the flags value, then only these
326     backends will be tried (in the reverse order as given here). If none are
327     specified, most compiled-in backend will be tried, usually in reverse
328     order of their flag values :)
329 root 1.1 .RE
330     .IP "struct ev_loop *ev_loop_new (unsigned int flags)" 4
331     .IX Item "struct ev_loop *ev_loop_new (unsigned int flags)"
332     Similar to \f(CW\*(C`ev_default_loop\*(C'\fR, but always creates a new event loop that is
333     always distinct from the default loop. Unlike the default loop, it cannot
334     handle signal and child watchers, and attempts to do so will be greeted by
335     undefined behaviour (or a failed assertion if assertions are enabled).
336     .IP "ev_default_destroy ()" 4
337     .IX Item "ev_default_destroy ()"
338     Destroys the default loop again (frees all memory and kernel state
339     etc.). This stops all registered event watchers (by not touching them in
340     any way whatsoever, although you cannot rely on this :).
341     .IP "ev_loop_destroy (loop)" 4
342     .IX Item "ev_loop_destroy (loop)"
343     Like \f(CW\*(C`ev_default_destroy\*(C'\fR, but destroys an event loop created by an
344     earlier call to \f(CW\*(C`ev_loop_new\*(C'\fR.
345     .IP "ev_default_fork ()" 4
346     .IX Item "ev_default_fork ()"
347     This function reinitialises the kernel state for backends that have
348     one. Despite the name, you can call it anytime, but it makes most sense
349     after forking, in either the parent or child process (or both, but that
350     again makes little sense).
351     .Sp
352 root 1.5 You \fImust\fR call this function in the child process after forking if and
353     only if you want to use the event library in both processes. If you just
354     fork+exec, you don't have to call it.
355 root 1.1 .Sp
356     The function itself is quite fast and it's usually not a problem to call
357     it just in case after a fork. To make this easy, the function will fit in
358     quite nicely into a call to \f(CW\*(C`pthread_atfork\*(C'\fR:
359     .Sp
360     .Vb 1
361     \& pthread_atfork (0, 0, ev_default_fork);
362     .Ve
363     .IP "ev_loop_fork (loop)" 4
364     .IX Item "ev_loop_fork (loop)"
365     Like \f(CW\*(C`ev_default_fork\*(C'\fR, but acts on an event loop created by
366     \&\f(CW\*(C`ev_loop_new\*(C'\fR. Yes, you have to call this on every allocated event loop
367     after fork, and how you do this is entirely your own problem.
368     .IP "unsigned int ev_method (loop)" 4
369     .IX Item "unsigned int ev_method (loop)"
370     Returns one of the \f(CW\*(C`EVMETHOD_*\*(C'\fR flags indicating the event backend in
371     use.
372     .IP "ev_tstamp ev_now (loop)" 4
373     .IX Item "ev_tstamp ev_now (loop)"
374     Returns the current \*(L"event loop time\*(R", which is the time the event loop
375     got events and started processing them. This timestamp does not change
376     as long as callbacks are being processed, and this is also the base time
377     used for relative timers. You can treat it as the timestamp of the event
378     occuring (or more correctly, the mainloop finding out about it).
379     .IP "ev_loop (loop, int flags)" 4
380     .IX Item "ev_loop (loop, int flags)"
381     Finally, this is it, the event handler. This function usually is called
382     after you initialised all your watchers and you want to start handling
383     events.
384     .Sp
385     If the flags argument is specified as 0, it will not return until either
386     no event watchers are active anymore or \f(CW\*(C`ev_unloop\*(C'\fR was called.
387     .Sp
388     A flags value of \f(CW\*(C`EVLOOP_NONBLOCK\*(C'\fR will look for new events, will handle
389     those events and any outstanding ones, but will not block your process in
390     case there are no events and will return after one iteration of the loop.
391     .Sp
392     A flags value of \f(CW\*(C`EVLOOP_ONESHOT\*(C'\fR will look for new events (waiting if
393     neccessary) and will handle those and any outstanding ones. It will block
394     your process until at least one new event arrives, and will return after
395     one iteration of the loop.
396     .Sp
397     This flags value could be used to implement alternative looping
398     constructs, but the \f(CW\*(C`prepare\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`check\*(C'\fR watchers provide a better and
399     more generic mechanism.
400 root 1.2 .Sp
401     Here are the gory details of what ev_loop does:
402     .Sp
403     .Vb 15
404     \& 1. If there are no active watchers (reference count is zero), return.
405     \& 2. Queue and immediately call all prepare watchers.
406     \& 3. If we have been forked, recreate the kernel state.
407     \& 4. Update the kernel state with all outstanding changes.
408     \& 5. Update the "event loop time".
409     \& 6. Calculate for how long to block.
410     \& 7. Block the process, waiting for events.
411     \& 8. Update the "event loop time" and do time jump handling.
412     \& 9. Queue all outstanding timers.
413     \& 10. Queue all outstanding periodics.
414     \& 11. If no events are pending now, queue all idle watchers.
415     \& 12. Queue all check watchers.
416     \& 13. Call all queued watchers in reverse order (i.e. check watchers first).
417     \& 14. If ev_unloop has been called or EVLOOP_ONESHOT or EVLOOP_NONBLOCK
418     \& was used, return, otherwise continue with step #1.
419     .Ve
420 root 1.1 .IP "ev_unloop (loop, how)" 4
421     .IX Item "ev_unloop (loop, how)"
422     Can be used to make a call to \f(CW\*(C`ev_loop\*(C'\fR return early (but only after it
423     has processed all outstanding events). The \f(CW\*(C`how\*(C'\fR argument must be either
424     \&\f(CW\*(C`EVUNLOOP_ONE\*(C'\fR, which will make the innermost \f(CW\*(C`ev_loop\*(C'\fR call return, or
425     \&\f(CW\*(C`EVUNLOOP_ALL\*(C'\fR, which will make all nested \f(CW\*(C`ev_loop\*(C'\fR calls return.
426     .IP "ev_ref (loop)" 4
427     .IX Item "ev_ref (loop)"
428     .PD 0
429     .IP "ev_unref (loop)" 4
430     .IX Item "ev_unref (loop)"
431     .PD
432     Ref/unref can be used to add or remove a reference count on the event
433     loop: Every watcher keeps one reference, and as long as the reference
434     count is nonzero, \f(CW\*(C`ev_loop\*(C'\fR will not return on its own. If you have
435     a watcher you never unregister that should not keep \f(CW\*(C`ev_loop\*(C'\fR from
436     returning, \fIev_unref()\fR after starting, and \fIev_ref()\fR before stopping it. For
437     example, libev itself uses this for its internal signal pipe: It is not
438     visible to the libev user and should not keep \f(CW\*(C`ev_loop\*(C'\fR from exiting if
439     no event watchers registered by it are active. It is also an excellent
440     way to do this for generic recurring timers or from within third-party
441     libraries. Just remember to \fIunref after start\fR and \fIref before stop\fR.
442     .SH "ANATOMY OF A WATCHER"
443     .IX Header "ANATOMY OF A WATCHER"
444     A watcher is a structure that you create and register to record your
445     interest in some event. For instance, if you want to wait for \s-1STDIN\s0 to
446     become readable, you would create an \f(CW\*(C`ev_io\*(C'\fR watcher for that:
447     .PP
448     .Vb 5
449     \& static void my_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w, int revents)
450     \& {
451     \& ev_io_stop (w);
452     \& ev_unloop (loop, EVUNLOOP_ALL);
453     \& }
454     .Ve
455     .PP
456     .Vb 6
457     \& struct ev_loop *loop = ev_default_loop (0);
458     \& struct ev_io stdin_watcher;
459     \& ev_init (&stdin_watcher, my_cb);
460     \& ev_io_set (&stdin_watcher, STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ);
461     \& ev_io_start (loop, &stdin_watcher);
462     \& ev_loop (loop, 0);
463     .Ve
464     .PP
465     As you can see, you are responsible for allocating the memory for your
466     watcher structures (and it is usually a bad idea to do this on the stack,
467     although this can sometimes be quite valid).
468     .PP
469     Each watcher structure must be initialised by a call to \f(CW\*(C`ev_init
470     (watcher *, callback)\*(C'\fR, which expects a callback to be provided. This
471     callback gets invoked each time the event occurs (or, in the case of io
472     watchers, each time the event loop detects that the file descriptor given
473     is readable and/or writable).
474     .PP
475     Each watcher type has its own \f(CW\*(C`ev_<type>_set (watcher *, ...)\*(C'\fR macro
476     with arguments specific to this watcher type. There is also a macro
477     to combine initialisation and setting in one call: \f(CW\*(C`ev_<type>_init
478     (watcher *, callback, ...)\*(C'\fR.
479     .PP
480     To make the watcher actually watch out for events, you have to start it
481     with a watcher-specific start function (\f(CW\*(C`ev_<type>_start (loop, watcher
482     *)\*(C'\fR), and you can stop watching for events at any time by calling the
483     corresponding stop function (\f(CW\*(C`ev_<type>_stop (loop, watcher *)\*(C'\fR.
484     .PP
485     As long as your watcher is active (has been started but not stopped) you
486     must not touch the values stored in it. Most specifically you must never
487     reinitialise it or call its set method.
488     .PP
489     You can check whether an event is active by calling the \f(CW\*(C`ev_is_active
490     (watcher *)\*(C'\fR macro. To see whether an event is outstanding (but the
491     callback for it has not been called yet) you can use the \f(CW\*(C`ev_is_pending
492     (watcher *)\*(C'\fR macro.
493     .PP
494     Each and every callback receives the event loop pointer as first, the
495     registered watcher structure as second, and a bitset of received events as
496     third argument.
497     .PP
498     The received events usually include a single bit per event type received
499     (you can receive multiple events at the same time). The possible bit masks
500     are:
501     .ie n .IP """EV_READ""" 4
502     .el .IP "\f(CWEV_READ\fR" 4
503     .IX Item "EV_READ"
504     .PD 0
505     .ie n .IP """EV_WRITE""" 4
506     .el .IP "\f(CWEV_WRITE\fR" 4
507     .IX Item "EV_WRITE"
508     .PD
509     The file descriptor in the \f(CW\*(C`ev_io\*(C'\fR watcher has become readable and/or
510     writable.
511     .ie n .IP """EV_TIMEOUT""" 4
512     .el .IP "\f(CWEV_TIMEOUT\fR" 4
513     .IX Item "EV_TIMEOUT"
514     The \f(CW\*(C`ev_timer\*(C'\fR watcher has timed out.
515     .ie n .IP """EV_PERIODIC""" 4
516     .el .IP "\f(CWEV_PERIODIC\fR" 4
517     .IX Item "EV_PERIODIC"
518     The \f(CW\*(C`ev_periodic\*(C'\fR watcher has timed out.
519     .ie n .IP """EV_SIGNAL""" 4
520     .el .IP "\f(CWEV_SIGNAL\fR" 4
521     .IX Item "EV_SIGNAL"
522     The signal specified in the \f(CW\*(C`ev_signal\*(C'\fR watcher has been received by a thread.
523     .ie n .IP """EV_CHILD""" 4
524     .el .IP "\f(CWEV_CHILD\fR" 4
525     .IX Item "EV_CHILD"
526     The pid specified in the \f(CW\*(C`ev_child\*(C'\fR watcher has received a status change.
527     .ie n .IP """EV_IDLE""" 4
528     .el .IP "\f(CWEV_IDLE\fR" 4
529     .IX Item "EV_IDLE"
530     The \f(CW\*(C`ev_idle\*(C'\fR watcher has determined that you have nothing better to do.
531     .ie n .IP """EV_PREPARE""" 4
532     .el .IP "\f(CWEV_PREPARE\fR" 4
533     .IX Item "EV_PREPARE"
534     .PD 0
535     .ie n .IP """EV_CHECK""" 4
536     .el .IP "\f(CWEV_CHECK\fR" 4
537     .IX Item "EV_CHECK"
538     .PD
539     All \f(CW\*(C`ev_prepare\*(C'\fR watchers are invoked just \fIbefore\fR \f(CW\*(C`ev_loop\*(C'\fR starts
540     to gather new events, and all \f(CW\*(C`ev_check\*(C'\fR watchers are invoked just after
541     \&\f(CW\*(C`ev_loop\*(C'\fR has gathered them, but before it invokes any callbacks for any
542     received events. Callbacks of both watcher types can start and stop as
543     many watchers as they want, and all of them will be taken into account
544     (for example, a \f(CW\*(C`ev_prepare\*(C'\fR watcher might start an idle watcher to keep
545     \&\f(CW\*(C`ev_loop\*(C'\fR from blocking).
546     .ie n .IP """EV_ERROR""" 4
547     .el .IP "\f(CWEV_ERROR\fR" 4
548     .IX Item "EV_ERROR"
549     An unspecified error has occured, the watcher has been stopped. This might
550     happen because the watcher could not be properly started because libev
551     ran out of memory, a file descriptor was found to be closed or any other
552     problem. You best act on it by reporting the problem and somehow coping
553     with the watcher being stopped.
554     .Sp
555     Libev will usually signal a few \*(L"dummy\*(R" events together with an error,
556     for example it might indicate that a fd is readable or writable, and if
557     your callbacks is well-written it can just attempt the operation and cope
558     with the error from \fIread()\fR or \fIwrite()\fR. This will not work in multithreaded
559     programs, though, so beware.
560     .Sh "\s-1ASSOCIATING\s0 \s-1CUSTOM\s0 \s-1DATA\s0 \s-1WITH\s0 A \s-1WATCHER\s0"
561     .IX Subsection "ASSOCIATING CUSTOM DATA WITH A WATCHER"
562     Each watcher has, by default, a member \f(CW\*(C`void *data\*(C'\fR that you can change
563     and read at any time, libev will completely ignore it. This can be used
564     to associate arbitrary data with your watcher. If you need more data and
565     don't want to allocate memory and store a pointer to it in that data
566     member, you can also \*(L"subclass\*(R" the watcher type and provide your own
567     data:
568     .PP
569     .Vb 7
570     \& struct my_io
571     \& {
572     \& struct ev_io io;
573     \& int otherfd;
574     \& void *somedata;
575     \& struct whatever *mostinteresting;
576     \& }
577     .Ve
578     .PP
579     And since your callback will be called with a pointer to the watcher, you
580     can cast it back to your own type:
581     .PP
582     .Vb 5
583     \& static void my_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w_, int revents)
584     \& {
585     \& struct my_io *w = (struct my_io *)w_;
586     \& ...
587     \& }
588     .Ve
589     .PP
590     More interesting and less C\-conformant ways of catsing your callback type
591     have been omitted....
592     .SH "WATCHER TYPES"
593     .IX Header "WATCHER TYPES"
594     This section describes each watcher in detail, but will not repeat
595     information given in the last section.
596     .ie n .Sh """ev_io"" \- is this file descriptor readable or writable"
597     .el .Sh "\f(CWev_io\fP \- is this file descriptor readable or writable"
598     .IX Subsection "ev_io - is this file descriptor readable or writable"
599     I/O watchers check whether a file descriptor is readable or writable
600     in each iteration of the event loop (This behaviour is called
601     level-triggering because you keep receiving events as long as the
602     condition persists. Remember you can stop the watcher if you don't want to
603     act on the event and neither want to receive future events).
604     .PP
605     In general you can register as many read and/or write event watchers per
606     fd as you want (as long as you don't confuse yourself). Setting all file
607     descriptors to non-blocking mode is also usually a good idea (but not
608     required if you know what you are doing).
609     .PP
610     You have to be careful with dup'ed file descriptors, though. Some backends
611     (the linux epoll backend is a notable example) cannot handle dup'ed file
612     descriptors correctly if you register interest in two or more fds pointing
613     to the same underlying file/socket etc. description (that is, they share
614     the same underlying \*(L"file open\*(R").
615     .PP
616     If you must do this, then force the use of a known-to-be-good backend
617     (at the time of this writing, this includes only \s-1EVMETHOD_SELECT\s0 and
618     \&\s-1EVMETHOD_POLL\s0).
619     .IP "ev_io_init (ev_io *, callback, int fd, int events)" 4
620     .IX Item "ev_io_init (ev_io *, callback, int fd, int events)"
621     .PD 0
622     .IP "ev_io_set (ev_io *, int fd, int events)" 4
623     .IX Item "ev_io_set (ev_io *, int fd, int events)"
624     .PD
625     Configures an \f(CW\*(C`ev_io\*(C'\fR watcher. The fd is the file descriptor to rceeive
626     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 |
627     EV_WRITE\*(C'\fR to receive the given events.
628     .ie n .Sh """ev_timer"" \- relative and optionally recurring timeouts"
629     .el .Sh "\f(CWev_timer\fP \- relative and optionally recurring timeouts"
630     .IX Subsection "ev_timer - relative and optionally recurring timeouts"
631     Timer watchers are simple relative timers that generate an event after a
632     given time, and optionally repeating in regular intervals after that.
633     .PP
634     The timers are based on real time, that is, if you register an event that
635     times out after an hour and you reset your system clock to last years
636     time, it will still time out after (roughly) and hour. \*(L"Roughly\*(R" because
637 root 1.2 detecting time jumps is hard, and some inaccuracies are unavoidable (the
638 root 1.1 monotonic clock option helps a lot here).
639     .PP
640     The relative timeouts are calculated relative to the \f(CW\*(C`ev_now ()\*(C'\fR
641     time. This is usually the right thing as this timestamp refers to the time
642 root 1.2 of the event triggering whatever timeout you are modifying/starting. If
643     you suspect event processing to be delayed and you \fIneed\fR to base the timeout
644 root 1.1 on the current time, use something like this to adjust for this:
645     .PP
646     .Vb 1
647     \& ev_timer_set (&timer, after + ev_now () - ev_time (), 0.);
648     .Ve
649 root 1.2 .PP
650     The callback is guarenteed to be invoked only when its timeout has passed,
651     but if multiple timers become ready during the same loop iteration then
652     order of execution is undefined.
653 root 1.1 .IP "ev_timer_init (ev_timer *, callback, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)" 4
654     .IX Item "ev_timer_init (ev_timer *, callback, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)"
655     .PD 0
656     .IP "ev_timer_set (ev_timer *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)" 4
657     .IX Item "ev_timer_set (ev_timer *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)"
658     .PD
659     Configure the timer to trigger after \f(CW\*(C`after\*(C'\fR seconds. If \f(CW\*(C`repeat\*(C'\fR is
660     \&\f(CW0.\fR, then it will automatically be stopped. If it is positive, then the
661     timer will automatically be configured to trigger again \f(CW\*(C`repeat\*(C'\fR seconds
662     later, again, and again, until stopped manually.
663     .Sp
664     The timer itself will do a best-effort at avoiding drift, that is, if you
665     configure a timer to trigger every 10 seconds, then it will trigger at
666     exactly 10 second intervals. If, however, your program cannot keep up with
667     the timer (because it takes longer than those 10 seconds to do stuff) the
668     timer will not fire more than once per event loop iteration.
669     .IP "ev_timer_again (loop)" 4
670     .IX Item "ev_timer_again (loop)"
671     This will act as if the timer timed out and restart it again if it is
672     repeating. The exact semantics are:
673     .Sp
674     If the timer is started but nonrepeating, stop it.
675     .Sp
676     If the timer is repeating, either start it if necessary (with the repeat
677     value), or reset the running timer to the repeat value.
678     .Sp
679     This sounds a bit complicated, but here is a useful and typical
680     example: Imagine you have a tcp connection and you want a so-called idle
681     timeout, that is, you want to be called when there have been, say, 60
682     seconds of inactivity on the socket. The easiest way to do this is to
683     configure an \f(CW\*(C`ev_timer\*(C'\fR with after=repeat=60 and calling ev_timer_again each
684     time you successfully read or write some data. If you go into an idle
685     state where you do not expect data to travel on the socket, you can stop
686     the timer, and again will automatically restart it if need be.
687     .ie n .Sh """ev_periodic"" \- to cron or not to cron"
688     .el .Sh "\f(CWev_periodic\fP \- to cron or not to cron"
689     .IX Subsection "ev_periodic - to cron or not to cron"
690     Periodic watchers are also timers of a kind, but they are very versatile
691     (and unfortunately a bit complex).
692     .PP
693     Unlike \f(CW\*(C`ev_timer\*(C'\fR's, they are not based on real time (or relative time)
694     but on wallclock time (absolute time). You can tell a periodic watcher
695     to trigger \*(L"at\*(R" some specific point in time. For example, if you tell a
696     periodic watcher to trigger in 10 seconds (by specifiying e.g. c<ev_now ()
697     + 10.>) and then reset your system clock to the last year, then it will
698     take a year to trigger the event (unlike an \f(CW\*(C`ev_timer\*(C'\fR, which would trigger
699     roughly 10 seconds later and of course not if you reset your system time
700     again).
701     .PP
702     They can also be used to implement vastly more complex timers, such as
703     triggering an event on eahc midnight, local time.
704 root 1.2 .PP
705     As with timers, the callback is guarenteed to be invoked only when the
706     time (\f(CW\*(C`at\*(C'\fR) has been passed, but if multiple periodic timers become ready
707     during the same loop iteration then order of execution is undefined.
708 root 1.1 .IP "ev_periodic_init (ev_periodic *, callback, ev_tstamp at, ev_tstamp interval, reschedule_cb)" 4
709     .IX Item "ev_periodic_init (ev_periodic *, callback, ev_tstamp at, ev_tstamp interval, reschedule_cb)"
710     .PD 0
711     .IP "ev_periodic_set (ev_periodic *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat, reschedule_cb)" 4
712     .IX Item "ev_periodic_set (ev_periodic *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat, reschedule_cb)"
713     .PD
714     Lots of arguments, lets sort it out... There are basically three modes of
715     operation, and we will explain them from simplest to complex:
716     .RS 4
717     .IP "* absolute timer (interval = reschedule_cb = 0)" 4
718     .IX Item "absolute timer (interval = reschedule_cb = 0)"
719     In this configuration the watcher triggers an event at the wallclock time
720     \&\f(CW\*(C`at\*(C'\fR and doesn't repeat. It will not adjust when a time jump occurs,
721     that is, if it is to be run at January 1st 2011 then it will run when the
722     system time reaches or surpasses this time.
723     .IP "* non-repeating interval timer (interval > 0, reschedule_cb = 0)" 4
724     .IX Item "non-repeating interval timer (interval > 0, reschedule_cb = 0)"
725     In this mode the watcher will always be scheduled to time out at the next
726     \&\f(CW\*(C`at + N * interval\*(C'\fR time (for some integer N) and then repeat, regardless
727     of any time jumps.
728     .Sp
729     This can be used to create timers that do not drift with respect to system
730     time:
731     .Sp
732     .Vb 1
733     \& ev_periodic_set (&periodic, 0., 3600., 0);
734     .Ve
735     .Sp
736     This doesn't mean there will always be 3600 seconds in between triggers,
737     but only that the the callback will be called when the system time shows a
738     full hour (\s-1UTC\s0), or more correctly, when the system time is evenly divisible
739     by 3600.
740     .Sp
741     Another way to think about it (for the mathematically inclined) is that
742     \&\f(CW\*(C`ev_periodic\*(C'\fR will try to run the callback in this mode at the next possible
743     time where \f(CW\*(C`time = at (mod interval)\*(C'\fR, regardless of any time jumps.
744     .IP "* manual reschedule mode (reschedule_cb = callback)" 4
745     .IX Item "manual reschedule mode (reschedule_cb = callback)"
746     In this mode the values for \f(CW\*(C`interval\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`at\*(C'\fR are both being
747     ignored. Instead, each time the periodic watcher gets scheduled, the
748     reschedule callback will be called with the watcher as first, and the
749     current time as second argument.
750     .Sp
751     \&\s-1NOTE:\s0 \fIThis callback \s-1MUST\s0 \s-1NOT\s0 stop or destroy any periodic watcher,
752     ever, or make any event loop modifications\fR. If you need to stop it,
753     return \f(CW\*(C`now + 1e30\*(C'\fR (or so, fudge fudge) and stop it afterwards (e.g. by
754     starting a prepare watcher).
755     .Sp
756     Its prototype is \f(CW\*(C`ev_tstamp (*reschedule_cb)(struct ev_periodic *w,
757     ev_tstamp now)\*(C'\fR, e.g.:
758     .Sp
759     .Vb 4
760     \& static ev_tstamp my_rescheduler (struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now)
761     \& {
762     \& return now + 60.;
763     \& }
764     .Ve
765     .Sp
766     It must return the next time to trigger, based on the passed time value
767     (that is, the lowest time value larger than to the second argument). It
768     will usually be called just before the callback will be triggered, but
769     might be called at other times, too.
770     .Sp
771     \&\s-1NOTE:\s0 \fIThis callback must always return a time that is later than the
772     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.
773     .Sp
774     This can be used to create very complex timers, such as a timer that
775     triggers on each midnight, local time. To do this, you would calculate the
776     next midnight after \f(CW\*(C`now\*(C'\fR and return the timestamp value for this. How
777     you do this is, again, up to you (but it is not trivial, which is the main
778     reason I omitted it as an example).
779     .RE
780     .RS 4
781     .RE
782     .IP "ev_periodic_again (loop, ev_periodic *)" 4
783     .IX Item "ev_periodic_again (loop, ev_periodic *)"
784     Simply stops and restarts the periodic watcher again. This is only useful
785     when you changed some parameters or the reschedule callback would return
786     a different time than the last time it was called (e.g. in a crond like
787     program when the crontabs have changed).
788     .ie n .Sh """ev_signal"" \- signal me when a signal gets signalled"
789     .el .Sh "\f(CWev_signal\fP \- signal me when a signal gets signalled"
790     .IX Subsection "ev_signal - signal me when a signal gets signalled"
791     Signal watchers will trigger an event when the process receives a specific
792     signal one or more times. Even though signals are very asynchronous, libev
793     will try it's best to deliver signals synchronously, i.e. as part of the
794     normal event processing, like any other event.
795     .PP
796     You can configure as many watchers as you like per signal. Only when the
797     first watcher gets started will libev actually register a signal watcher
798     with the kernel (thus it coexists with your own signal handlers as long
799     as you don't register any with libev). Similarly, when the last signal
800     watcher for a signal is stopped libev will reset the signal handler to
801     \&\s-1SIG_DFL\s0 (regardless of what it was set to before).
802     .IP "ev_signal_init (ev_signal *, callback, int signum)" 4
803     .IX Item "ev_signal_init (ev_signal *, callback, int signum)"
804     .PD 0
805     .IP "ev_signal_set (ev_signal *, int signum)" 4
806     .IX Item "ev_signal_set (ev_signal *, int signum)"
807     .PD
808     Configures the watcher to trigger on the given signal number (usually one
809     of the \f(CW\*(C`SIGxxx\*(C'\fR constants).
810     .ie n .Sh """ev_child"" \- wait for pid status changes"
811     .el .Sh "\f(CWev_child\fP \- wait for pid status changes"
812     .IX Subsection "ev_child - wait for pid status changes"
813     Child watchers trigger when your process receives a \s-1SIGCHLD\s0 in response to
814     some child status changes (most typically when a child of yours dies).
815     .IP "ev_child_init (ev_child *, callback, int pid)" 4
816     .IX Item "ev_child_init (ev_child *, callback, int pid)"
817     .PD 0
818     .IP "ev_child_set (ev_child *, int pid)" 4
819     .IX Item "ev_child_set (ev_child *, int pid)"
820     .PD
821     Configures the watcher to wait for status changes of process \f(CW\*(C`pid\*(C'\fR (or
822     \&\fIany\fR process if \f(CW\*(C`pid\*(C'\fR is specified as \f(CW0\fR). The callback can look
823     at the \f(CW\*(C`rstatus\*(C'\fR member of the \f(CW\*(C`ev_child\*(C'\fR watcher structure to see
824     the status word (use the macros from \f(CW\*(C`sys/wait.h\*(C'\fR and see your systems
825     \&\f(CW\*(C`waitpid\*(C'\fR documentation). The \f(CW\*(C`rpid\*(C'\fR member contains the pid of the
826     process causing the status change.
827     .ie n .Sh """ev_idle"" \- when you've got nothing better to do"
828     .el .Sh "\f(CWev_idle\fP \- when you've got nothing better to do"
829     .IX Subsection "ev_idle - when you've got nothing better to do"
830     Idle watchers trigger events when there are no other events are pending
831     (prepare, check and other idle watchers do not count). That is, as long
832     as your process is busy handling sockets or timeouts (or even signals,
833     imagine) it will not be triggered. But when your process is idle all idle
834     watchers are being called again and again, once per event loop iteration \-
835     until stopped, that is, or your process receives more events and becomes
836     busy.
837     .PP
838     The most noteworthy effect is that as long as any idle watchers are
839     active, the process will not block when waiting for new events.
840     .PP
841     Apart from keeping your process non-blocking (which is a useful
842     effect on its own sometimes), idle watchers are a good place to do
843     \&\*(L"pseudo\-background processing\*(R", or delay processing stuff to after the
844     event loop has handled all outstanding events.
845     .IP "ev_idle_init (ev_signal *, callback)" 4
846     .IX Item "ev_idle_init (ev_signal *, callback)"
847     Initialises and configures the idle watcher \- it has no parameters of any
848     kind. There is a \f(CW\*(C`ev_idle_set\*(C'\fR macro, but using it is utterly pointless,
849     believe me.
850     .ie n .Sh """ev_prepare""\fP and \f(CW""ev_check"" \- customise your event loop"
851     .el .Sh "\f(CWev_prepare\fP and \f(CWev_check\fP \- customise your event loop"
852     .IX Subsection "ev_prepare and ev_check - customise your event loop"
853     Prepare and check watchers are usually (but not always) used in tandem:
854     prepare watchers get invoked before the process blocks and check watchers
855     afterwards.
856     .PP
857     Their main purpose is to integrate other event mechanisms into libev. This
858     could be used, for example, to track variable changes, implement your own
859     watchers, integrate net-snmp or a coroutine library and lots more.
860     .PP
861     This is done by examining in each prepare call which file descriptors need
862     to be watched by the other library, registering \f(CW\*(C`ev_io\*(C'\fR watchers for
863     them and starting an \f(CW\*(C`ev_timer\*(C'\fR watcher for any timeouts (many libraries
864     provide just this functionality). Then, in the check watcher you check for
865     any events that occured (by checking the pending status of all watchers
866     and stopping them) and call back into the library. The I/O and timer
867     callbacks will never actually be called (but must be valid nevertheless,
868     because you never know, you know?).
869     .PP
870     As another example, the Perl Coro module uses these hooks to integrate
871     coroutines into libev programs, by yielding to other active coroutines
872     during each prepare and only letting the process block if no coroutines
873     are ready to run (it's actually more complicated: it only runs coroutines
874     with priority higher than or equal to the event loop and one coroutine
875     of lower priority, but only once, using idle watchers to keep the event
876     loop from blocking if lower-priority coroutines are active, thus mapping
877     low-priority coroutines to idle/background tasks).
878     .IP "ev_prepare_init (ev_prepare *, callback)" 4
879     .IX Item "ev_prepare_init (ev_prepare *, callback)"
880     .PD 0
881     .IP "ev_check_init (ev_check *, callback)" 4
882     .IX Item "ev_check_init (ev_check *, callback)"
883     .PD
884     Initialises and configures the prepare or check watcher \- they have no
885     parameters of any kind. There are \f(CW\*(C`ev_prepare_set\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`ev_check_set\*(C'\fR
886     macros, but using them is utterly, utterly and completely pointless.
887     .SH "OTHER FUNCTIONS"
888     .IX Header "OTHER FUNCTIONS"
889     There are some other functions of possible interest. Described. Here. Now.
890     .IP "ev_once (loop, int fd, int events, ev_tstamp timeout, callback)" 4
891     .IX Item "ev_once (loop, int fd, int events, ev_tstamp timeout, callback)"
892     This function combines a simple timer and an I/O watcher, calls your
893     callback on whichever event happens first and automatically stop both
894     watchers. This is useful if you want to wait for a single event on an fd
895     or timeout without having to allocate/configure/start/stop/free one or
896     more watchers yourself.
897     .Sp
898     If \f(CW\*(C`fd\*(C'\fR is less than 0, then no I/O watcher will be started and events
899     is being ignored. Otherwise, an \f(CW\*(C`ev_io\*(C'\fR watcher for the given \f(CW\*(C`fd\*(C'\fR and
900     \&\f(CW\*(C`events\*(C'\fR set will be craeted and started.
901     .Sp
902     If \f(CW\*(C`timeout\*(C'\fR is less than 0, then no timeout watcher will be
903     started. Otherwise an \f(CW\*(C`ev_timer\*(C'\fR watcher with after = \f(CW\*(C`timeout\*(C'\fR (and
904     repeat = 0) will be started. While \f(CW0\fR is a valid timeout, it is of
905     dubious value.
906     .Sp
907     The callback has the type \f(CW\*(C`void (*cb)(int revents, void *arg)\*(C'\fR and gets
908     passed an \f(CW\*(C`revents\*(C'\fR set like normal event callbacks (a combination of
909     \&\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
910     value passed to \f(CW\*(C`ev_once\*(C'\fR:
911     .Sp
912     .Vb 7
913     \& static void stdin_ready (int revents, void *arg)
914     \& {
915     \& if (revents & EV_TIMEOUT)
916     \& /* doh, nothing entered */;
917     \& else if (revents & EV_READ)
918     \& /* stdin might have data for us, joy! */;
919     \& }
920     .Ve
921     .Sp
922     .Vb 1
923     \& ev_once (STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ, 10., stdin_ready, 0);
924     .Ve
925     .IP "ev_feed_event (loop, watcher, int events)" 4
926     .IX Item "ev_feed_event (loop, watcher, int events)"
927     Feeds the given event set into the event loop, as if the specified event
928     had happened for the specified watcher (which must be a pointer to an
929     initialised but not necessarily started event watcher).
930     .IP "ev_feed_fd_event (loop, int fd, int revents)" 4
931     .IX Item "ev_feed_fd_event (loop, int fd, int revents)"
932     Feed an event on the given fd, as if a file descriptor backend detected
933     the given events it.
934     .IP "ev_feed_signal_event (loop, int signum)" 4
935     .IX Item "ev_feed_signal_event (loop, int signum)"
936     Feed an event as if the given signal occured (loop must be the default loop!).
937     .SH "LIBEVENT EMULATION"
938     .IX Header "LIBEVENT EMULATION"
939     Libev offers a compatibility emulation layer for libevent. It cannot
940     emulate the internals of libevent, so here are some usage hints:
941     .IP "* Use it by including <event.h>, as usual." 4
942     .IX Item "Use it by including <event.h>, as usual."
943     .PD 0
944     .IP "* The following members are fully supported: ev_base, ev_callback, ev_arg, ev_fd, ev_res, ev_events." 4
945     .IX Item "The following members are fully supported: ev_base, ev_callback, ev_arg, ev_fd, ev_res, ev_events."
946     .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
947     .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)."
948     .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
949     .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."
950     .IP "* Other members are not supported." 4
951     .IX Item "Other members are not supported."
952     .IP "* The libev emulation is \fInot\fR \s-1ABI\s0 compatible to libevent, you need to use the libev header file and library." 4
953     .IX Item "The libev emulation is not ABI compatible to libevent, you need to use the libev header file and library."
954     .PD
955     .SH "\*(C+ SUPPORT"
956     .IX Header " SUPPORT"
957     \&\s-1TBD\s0.
958     .SH "AUTHOR"
959     .IX Header "AUTHOR"
960     Marc Lehmann <libev@schmorp.de>.