[ViewVC] Diff of: cvs/libev/ev.3

Comparing libev/ev.3 (file contents):
Revision 1.60 by root, Mon Jan 28 12:23:02 2008 UTC vs.
Revision 1.67 by root, Fri May 23 16:43:45 2008 UTC

 .    ds Ae AE
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 .rm #[ #] #H #V #F C
 .\" ========================================================================
 .\"
-.IX Title "EV 1"
+.IX Title "LIBEV 3"
-.TH EV 1 "2008-01-28" "perl v5.10.0" "User Contributed Perl Documentation"
+.TH LIBEV 3 "2008-05-22" "libev-3.41" "libev - high perfromance full featured event loop"
 .\" For nroff, turn off justification.  Always turn off hyphenation; it makes
 .\" way too many mistakes in technical documents.
 .if n .ad l
 .nh
 .SH "NAME"
 .Vb 1
 \&  #include <ev.h>
 .Ve
 .Sh "\s-1EXAMPLE\s0 \s-1PROGRAM\s0"
 .IX Subsection "EXAMPLE PROGRAM"
-.Vb 1
+.Vb 2
+\&  // a single header file is required
 \&  #include <ev.h>
 \&
+\&  // every watcher type has its own typedef\*(Aqd struct
+\&  // with the name ev_<type>
 \&  ev_io stdin_watcher;
 \&  ev_timer timeout_watcher;
 \&
+\&  // all watcher callbacks have a similar signature
-\&  /* called when data readable on stdin */
+\&  // this callback is called when data is readable on stdin
 \&  static void
 \&  stdin_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_io *w, int revents)
 \&  {
-\&    /* puts ("stdin ready"); */
+\&    puts ("stdin ready");
-\&    ev_io_stop (EV_A_ w); /* just a syntax example */
+\&    // for one\-shot events, one must manually stop the watcher
-\&    ev_unloop (EV_A_ EVUNLOOP_ALL); /* leave all loop calls */
+\&    // with its corresponding stop function.
+\&    ev_io_stop (EV_A_ w);
+\&
+\&    // this causes all nested ev_loop\*(Aqs to stop iterating
+\&    ev_unloop (EV_A_ EVUNLOOP_ALL);
 \&  }
 \&
+\&  // another callback, this time for a time\-out
 \&  static void
 \&  timeout_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_timer *w, int revents)
 \&  {
-\&    /* puts ("timeout"); */
+\&    puts ("timeout");
-\&    ev_unloop (EV_A_ EVUNLOOP_ONE); /* leave one loop call */
+\&    // this causes the innermost ev_loop to stop iterating
+\&    ev_unloop (EV_A_ EVUNLOOP_ONE);
 \&  }
 \&
 \&  int
 \&  main (void)
 \&  {
+\&    // use the default event loop unless you have special needs
 \&    struct ev_loop *loop = ev_default_loop (0);
 \&
-\&    /* initialise an io watcher, then start it */
+\&    // initialise an io watcher, then start it
+\&    // this one will watch for stdin to become readable
 \&    ev_io_init (&stdin_watcher, stdin_cb, /*STDIN_FILENO*/ 0, EV_READ);
 \&    ev_io_start (loop, &stdin_watcher);
 \&
+\&    // initialise a timer watcher, then start it
-\&    /* simple non\-repeating 5.5 second timeout */
+\&    // simple non\-repeating 5.5 second timeout
 \&    ev_timer_init (&timeout_watcher, timeout_cb, 5.5, 0.);
 \&    ev_timer_start (loop, &timeout_watcher);
 \&
-\&    /* loop till timeout or data ready */
+\&    // now wait for events to arrive
 \&    ev_loop (loop, 0);
 \&
+\&    // unloop was called, so exit
 \&    return 0;
 \&  }
 .Ve
 .SH "DESCRIPTION"
 .IX Header "DESCRIPTION"
-The newest version of this document is also available as a html-formatted
+The newest version of this document is also available as an html-formatted
 web page you might find easier to navigate when reading it for the first
-time: <http://cvs.schmorp.de/libev/ev.html>.
+time: <http://pod.tst.eu/http://cvs.schmorp.de/libev/ev.pod>.
 .PP
 Libev is an event loop: you register interest in certain events (such as a
 file descriptor being readable or a timeout occurring), and it will manage
 these event sources and provide your program with events.
 .PP
 It also is quite fast (see this
 benchmark comparing it to libevent
 for example).
 .Sh "\s-1CONVENTIONS\s0"
 .IX Subsection "CONVENTIONS"
-Libev is very configurable. In this manual the default configuration will
+Libev is very configurable. In this manual the default (and most common)
-be described, which supports multiple event loops. For more info about
+configuration will be described, which supports multiple event loops. For
-various configuration options please have a look at \fB\s-1EMBED\s0\fR section in
+more info about various configuration options please have a look at
-this manual. If libev was configured without support for multiple event
+\&\fB\s-1EMBED\s0\fR section in this manual. If libev was configured without support
-loops, then all functions taking an initial argument of name \f(CW\*(C`loop\*(C'\fR
+for multiple event loops, then all functions taking an initial argument of
-(which is always of type \f(CW\*(C`struct ev_loop *\*(C'\fR) will not have this argument.
+name \f(CW\*(C`loop\*(C'\fR (which is always of type \f(CW\*(C`struct ev_loop *\*(C'\fR) will not have
+this argument.
 .Sh "\s-1TIME\s0 \s-1REPRESENTATION\s0"
 .IX Subsection "TIME REPRESENTATION"
 Libev represents time as a single floating point number, representing the
 (fractional) number of seconds since the (\s-1POSIX\s0) epoch (somewhere near
 the beginning of 1970, details are complicated, don't ask). This type is
 called \f(CW\*(C`ev_tstamp\*(C'\fR, which is what you should use too. It usually aliases
 to the \f(CW\*(C`double\*(C'\fR type in C, and when you need to do any calculations on
 it, you should treat it as some floatingpoint value. Unlike the name
 component \f(CW\*(C`stamp\*(C'\fR might indicate, it is also used for time differences
 throughout libev.
+.SH "ERROR HANDLING"
+.IX Header "ERROR HANDLING"
+Libev knows three classes of errors: operating system errors, usage errors
+and internal errors (bugs).
+.PP
+When libev catches an operating system error it cannot handle (for example
+a syscall indicating a condition libev cannot fix), it calls the callback
+set via \f(CW\*(C`ev_set_syserr_cb\*(C'\fR, which is supposed to fix the problem or
+abort. The default is to print a diagnostic message and to call \f(CW\*(C`abort
+()\*(C'\fR.
+.PP
+When libev detects a usage error such as a negative timer interval, then
+it will print a diagnostic message and abort (via the \f(CW\*(C`assert\*(C'\fR mechanism,
+so \f(CW\*(C`NDEBUG\*(C'\fR will disable this checking): these are programming errors in
+the libev caller and need to be fixed there.
+.PP
+Libev also has a few internal error-checking \f(CW\*(C`assert\*(C'\fRions, and also has
+extensive consistency checking code. These do not trigger under normal
+circumstances, as they indicate either a bug in libev or worse.
 .SH "GLOBAL FUNCTIONS"
 .IX Header "GLOBAL FUNCTIONS"
 These functions can be called anytime, even before initialising the
 library in any way.
 .IP "ev_tstamp ev_time ()" 4
 .Sp
 See the description of \f(CW\*(C`ev_embed\*(C'\fR watchers for more info.
 .IP "ev_set_allocator (void *(*cb)(void *ptr, long size))" 4
 .IX Item "ev_set_allocator (void *(*cb)(void *ptr, long size))"
 Sets the allocation function to use (the prototype is similar \- the
-semantics is identical \- to the realloc C function). It is used to
+semantics are identical to the \f(CW\*(C`realloc\*(C'\fR C89/SuS/POSIX function). It is
-allocate and free memory (no surprises here). If it returns zero when
+used to allocate and free memory (no surprises here). If it returns zero
-memory needs to be allocated, the library might abort or take some
+when memory needs to be allocated (\f(CW\*(C`size != 0\*(C'\fR), the library might abort
-potentially destructive action. The default is your system realloc
+or take some potentially destructive action.
-function.
+.Sp
+Since some systems (at least OpenBSD and Darwin) fail to implement
+correct \f(CW\*(C`realloc\*(C'\fR semantics, libev will use a wrapper around the system
+\&\f(CW\*(C`realloc\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`free\*(C'\fR functions by default.
 .Sp
 You could override this function in high-availability programs to, say,
 free some memory if it cannot allocate memory, to use a special allocator,
 or even to sleep a while and retry until some memory is available.
 .Sp
 Example: Replace the libev allocator with one that waits a bit and then
-retries).
+retries (example requires a standards-compliant \f(CW\*(C`realloc\*(C'\fR).
 .Sp
 .Vb 6
 \&   static void *
 \&   persistent_realloc (void *ptr, size_t size)
 \&   {
 .SH "FUNCTIONS CONTROLLING THE EVENT LOOP"
 .IX Header "FUNCTIONS CONTROLLING THE EVENT LOOP"
 An event loop is described by a \f(CW\*(C`struct ev_loop *\*(C'\fR. The library knows two
 types of such loops, the \fIdefault\fR loop, which supports signals and child
 events, and dynamically created loops which do not.
-.PP
-If you use threads, a common model is to run the default event loop
-in your main thread (or in a separate thread) and for each thread you
-create, you also create another event loop. Libev itself does no locking
-whatsoever, so if you mix calls to the same event loop in different
-threads, make sure you lock (this is usually a bad idea, though, even if
-done correctly, because it's hideous and inefficient).
 .IP "struct ev_loop *ev_default_loop (unsigned int flags)" 4
 .IX Item "struct ev_loop *ev_default_loop (unsigned int flags)"
 This will initialise the default event loop if it hasn't been initialised
 yet and return it. If the default loop could not be initialised, returns
 false. If it already was initialised it simply returns it (and ignores the
 flags. If that is troubling you, check \f(CW\*(C`ev_backend ()\*(C'\fR afterwards).
 .Sp
 If you don't know what event loop to use, use the one returned from this
 function.
+.Sp
+Note that this function is \fInot\fR thread-safe, so if you want to use it
+from multiple threads, you have to lock (note also that this is unlikely,
+as loops cannot bes hared easily between threads anyway).
 .Sp
 The default loop is the only loop that can handle \f(CW\*(C`ev_signal\*(C'\fR and
 \&\f(CW\*(C`ev_child\*(C'\fR watchers, and to do this, it always registers a handler
 for \f(CW\*(C`SIGCHLD\*(C'\fR. If this is a problem for your app you can either
 create a dynamic loop with \f(CW\*(C`ev_loop_new\*(C'\fR that doesn't do that, or you
 enabling this flag.
 .Sp
 This works by calling \f(CW\*(C`getpid ()\*(C'\fR on every iteration of the loop,
 and thus this might slow down your event loop if you do a lot of loop
 iterations and little real work, but is usually not noticeable (on my
-Linux system for example, \f(CW\*(C`getpid\*(C'\fR is actually a simple 5\-insn sequence
+GNU/Linux system for example, \f(CW\*(C`getpid\*(C'\fR is actually a simple 5\-insn sequence
-without a syscall and thus \fIvery\fR fast, but my Linux system also has
+without a syscall and thus \fIvery\fR fast, but my GNU/Linux system also has
 \&\f(CW\*(C`pthread_atfork\*(C'\fR which is even faster).
 .Sp
 The big advantage of this flag is that you can forget about fork (and
 forget about forgetting to tell libev about forking) when you use this
 flag.
 To get good performance out of this backend you need a high amount of
 parallelity (most of the file descriptors should be busy). If you are
 writing a server, you should \f(CW\*(C`accept ()\*(C'\fR in a loop to accept as many
 connections as possible during one iteration. You might also want to have
 a look at \f(CW\*(C`ev_set_io_collect_interval ()\*(C'\fR to increase the amount of
-readyness notifications you get per iteration.
+readiness notifications you get per iteration.
 .ie n .IP """EVBACKEND_POLL""    (value 2, poll backend, available everywhere except on windows)" 4
 .el .IP "\f(CWEVBACKEND_POLL\fR    (value 2, poll backend, available everywhere except on windows)" 4
 .IX Item "EVBACKEND_POLL    (value 2, poll backend, available everywhere except on windows)"
 And this is your standard \fIpoll\fR\|(2) backend. It's more complicated
 than select, but handles sparse fds better and has no artificial
 For few fds, this backend is a bit little slower than poll and select,
 but it scales phenomenally better. While poll and select usually scale
 like O(total_fds) where n is the total number of fds (or the highest fd),
 epoll scales either O(1) or O(active_fds). The epoll design has a number
 of shortcomings, such as silently dropping events in some hard-to-detect
-cases and rewiring a syscall per fd change, no fork support and bad
+cases and requiring a syscall per fd change, no fork support and bad
 support for dup.
 .Sp
 While stopping, setting and starting an I/O watcher in the same iteration
 will result in some caching, there is still a syscall per such incident
 (because the fd could point to a different file description now), so its
 While this backend scales well, it requires one system call per active
 file descriptor per loop iteration. For small and medium numbers of file
 descriptors a \*(L"slow\*(R" \f(CW\*(C`EVBACKEND_SELECT\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`EVBACKEND_POLL\*(C'\fR backend
 might perform better.
 .Sp
-On the positive side, ignoring the spurious readyness notifications, this
+On the positive side, ignoring the spurious readiness notifications, this
 backend actually performed to specification in all tests and is fully
 embeddable, which is a rare feat among the OS-specific backends.
 .ie n .IP """EVBACKEND_ALL""" 4
 .el .IP "\f(CWEVBACKEND_ALL\fR" 4
 .IX Item "EVBACKEND_ALL"
 .IX Item "struct ev_loop *ev_loop_new (unsigned int flags)"
 Similar to \f(CW\*(C`ev_default_loop\*(C'\fR, but always creates a new event loop that is
 always distinct from the default loop. Unlike the default loop, it cannot
 handle signal and child watchers, and attempts to do so will be greeted by
 undefined behaviour (or a failed assertion if assertions are enabled).
+.Sp
+Note that this function \fIis\fR thread-safe, and the recommended way to use
+libev with threads is indeed to create one loop per thread, and using the
+default loop in the \*(L"main\*(R" or \*(L"initial\*(R" thread.
 .Sp
 Example: Try to create a event loop that uses epoll and nothing else.
 .Sp
 .Vb 3
 \&  struct ev_loop *epoller = ev_loop_new (EVBACKEND_EPOLL | EVFLAG_NOENV);
 .IP "ev_loop_fork (loop)" 4
 .IX Item "ev_loop_fork (loop)"
 Like \f(CW\*(C`ev_default_fork\*(C'\fR, but acts on an event loop created by
 \&\f(CW\*(C`ev_loop_new\*(C'\fR. Yes, you have to call this on every allocated event loop
 after fork, and how you do this is entirely your own problem.
+.IP "int ev_is_default_loop (loop)" 4
+.IX Item "int ev_is_default_loop (loop)"
+Returns true when the given loop actually is the default loop, false otherwise.
 .IP "unsigned int ev_loop_count (loop)" 4
 .IX Item "unsigned int ev_loop_count (loop)"
 Returns the count of loop iterations for the loop, which is identical to
 the number of times libev did poll for new events. It starts at \f(CW0\fR and
 happily wraps around with enough iterations.
 Many (busy) programs can usually benefit by setting the io collect
 interval to a value near \f(CW0.1\fR or so, which is often enough for
 interactive servers (of course not for games), likewise for timeouts. It
 usually doesn't make much sense to set it to a lower value than \f(CW0.01\fR,
 as this approsaches the timing granularity of most systems.
+.IP "ev_loop_verify (loop)" 4
+.IX Item "ev_loop_verify (loop)"
+This function only does something when \f(CW\*(C`EV_VERIFY\*(C'\fR support has been
+compiled in. It tries to go through all internal structures and checks
+them for validity. If anything is found to be inconsistent, it will print
+an error message to standard error and call \f(CW\*(C`abort ()\*(C'\fR.
+.Sp
+This can be used to catch bugs inside libev itself: under normal
+circumstances, this function will never abort as of course libev keeps its
+data structures consistent.
 .SH "ANATOMY OF A WATCHER"
 .IX Header "ANATOMY OF A WATCHER"
 A watcher is a structure that you create and register to record your
 interest in some event. For instance, if you want to wait for \s-1STDIN\s0 to
 become readable, you would create an \f(CW\*(C`ev_io\*(C'\fR watcher for that:
 .ie n .IP """EV_FORK""" 4
 .el .IP "\f(CWEV_FORK\fR" 4
 .IX Item "EV_FORK"
 The event loop has been resumed in the child process after fork (see
 \&\f(CW\*(C`ev_fork\*(C'\fR).
+.ie n .IP """EV_ASYNC""" 4
+.el .IP "\f(CWEV_ASYNC\fR" 4
+.IX Item "EV_ASYNC"
+The given async watcher has been asynchronously notified (see \f(CW\*(C`ev_async\*(C'\fR).
 .ie n .IP """EV_ERROR""" 4
 .el .IP "\f(CWEV_ERROR\fR" 4
 .IX Item "EV_ERROR"
 An unspecified error has occured, the watcher has been stopped. This might
 happen because the watcher could not be properly started because libev
 If you must do this, then force the use of a known-to-be-good backend
 (at the time of this writing, this includes only \f(CW\*(C`EVBACKEND_SELECT\*(C'\fR and
 \&\f(CW\*(C`EVBACKEND_POLL\*(C'\fR).
 .PP
 Another thing you have to watch out for is that it is quite easy to
-receive \*(L"spurious\*(R" readyness notifications, that is your callback might
+receive \*(L"spurious\*(R" readiness notifications, that is your callback might
 be called with \f(CW\*(C`EV_READ\*(C'\fR but a subsequent \f(CW\*(C`read\*(C'\fR(2) will actually block
 because there is no data. Not only are some backends known to create a
 lot of those (for example solaris ports), it is very easy to get into
 this situation even with a relatively standard program structure. Thus
 it is best to always use non-blocking I/O: An extra \f(CW\*(C`read\*(C'\fR(2) returning
 .PP
 To support fork in your programs, you either have to call
 \&\f(CW\*(C`ev_default_fork ()\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`ev_loop_fork ()\*(C'\fR after a fork in the child,
 enable \f(CW\*(C`EVFLAG_FORKCHECK\*(C'\fR, or resort to \f(CW\*(C`EVBACKEND_SELECT\*(C'\fR or
 \&\f(CW\*(C`EVBACKEND_POLL\*(C'\fR.
+.PP
+\fIThe special problem of \s-1SIGPIPE\s0\fR
+.IX Subsection "The special problem of SIGPIPE"
+.PP
+While not really specific to libev, it is easy to forget about \s-1SIGPIPE:\s0
+when reading from a pipe whose other end has been closed, your program
+gets send a \s-1SIGPIPE\s0, which, by default, aborts your program. For most
+programs this is sensible behaviour, for daemons, this is usually
+undesirable.
+.PP
+So when you encounter spurious, unexplained daemon exits, make sure you
+ignore \s-1SIGPIPE\s0 (and maybe make sure you log the exit status of your daemon
+somewhere, as that would have given you a big clue).
 .PP
 \fIWatcher-Specific Functions\fR
 .IX Subsection "Watcher-Specific Functions"
 .IP "ev_io_init (ev_io *, callback, int fd, int events)" 4
 .IX Item "ev_io_init (ev_io *, callback, int fd, int events)"
 .IX Subsection "ev_timer - relative and optionally repeating timeouts"
 Timer watchers are simple relative timers that generate an event after a
 given time, and optionally repeating in regular intervals after that.
 .PP
 The timers are based on real time, that is, if you register an event that
-times out after an hour and you reset your system clock to last years
+times out after an hour and you reset your system clock to january last
-time, it will still time out after (roughly) and hour. \*(L"Roughly\*(R" because
+year, it will still time out after (roughly) and hour. \*(L"Roughly\*(R" because
 detecting time jumps is hard, and some inaccuracies are unavoidable (the
 monotonic clock option helps a lot here).
 .PP
 The relative timeouts are calculated relative to the \f(CW\*(C`ev_now ()\*(C'\fR
 time. This is usually the right thing as this timestamp refers to the time
 .PP
 .Vb 1
 \&   ev_timer_set (&timer, after + ev_now () \- ev_time (), 0.);
 .Ve
 .PP
-The callback is guarenteed to be invoked only when its timeout has passed,
+The callback is guarenteed to be invoked only after its timeout has passed,
 but if multiple timers become ready during the same loop iteration then
 order of execution is undefined.
 .PP
 \fIWatcher-Specific Functions and Data Members\fR
 .IX Subsection "Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members"
 .IX Item "ev_timer_init (ev_timer *, callback, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)"
 .PD 0
 .IP "ev_timer_set (ev_timer *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)" 4
 .IX Item "ev_timer_set (ev_timer *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)"
 .PD
-Configure the timer to trigger after \f(CW\*(C`after\*(C'\fR seconds. If \f(CW\*(C`repeat\*(C'\fR is
+Configure the timer to trigger after \f(CW\*(C`after\*(C'\fR seconds. If \f(CW\*(C`repeat\*(C'\fR
-\&\f(CW0.\fR, then it will automatically be stopped. If it is positive, then the
+is \f(CW0.\fR, then it will automatically be stopped once the timeout is
-timer will automatically be configured to trigger again \f(CW\*(C`repeat\*(C'\fR seconds
+reached. If it is positive, then the timer will automatically be
-later, again, and again, until stopped manually.
+configured to trigger again \f(CW\*(C`repeat\*(C'\fR seconds later, again, and again,
+until stopped manually.
 .Sp
-The timer itself will do a best-effort at avoiding drift, that is, if you
+The timer itself will do a best-effort at avoiding drift, that is, if
-configure a timer to trigger every 10 seconds, then it will trigger at
+you configure a timer to trigger every 10 seconds, then it will normally
-exactly 10 second intervals. If, however, your program cannot keep up with
+trigger at exactly 10 second intervals. If, however, your program cannot
-the timer (because it takes longer than those 10 seconds to do stuff) the
+keep up with the timer (because it takes longer than those 10 seconds to
-timer will not fire more than once per event loop iteration.
+do stuff) the timer will not fire more than once per event loop iteration.
-.IP "ev_timer_again (loop)" 4
+.IP "ev_timer_again (loop, ev_timer *)" 4
-.IX Item "ev_timer_again (loop)"
+.IX Item "ev_timer_again (loop, ev_timer *)"
 This will act as if the timer timed out and restart it again if it is
 repeating. The exact semantics are:
 .Sp
 If the timer is pending, its pending status is cleared.
 .Sp
 Periodic watchers are also timers of a kind, but they are very versatile
 (and unfortunately a bit complex).
 .PP
 Unlike \f(CW\*(C`ev_timer\*(C'\fR's, they are not based on real time (or relative time)
 but on wallclock time (absolute time). You can tell a periodic watcher
-to trigger \*(L"at\*(R" some specific point in time. For example, if you tell a
+to trigger after some specific point in time. For example, if you tell a
 periodic watcher to trigger in 10 seconds (by specifiying e.g. \f(CW\*(C`ev_now ()
-+ 10.\*(C'\fR) and then reset your system clock to the last year, then it will
++ 10.\*(C'\fR, that is, an absolute time not a delay) and then reset your system
+clock to january of the previous year, then it will take more than year
-take a year to trigger the event (unlike an \f(CW\*(C`ev_timer\*(C'\fR, which would trigger
+to trigger the event (unlike an \f(CW\*(C`ev_timer\*(C'\fR, which would still trigger
-roughly 10 seconds later).
+roughly 10 seconds later as it uses a relative timeout).
 .PP
-They can also be used to implement vastly more complex timers, such as
+\&\f(CW\*(C`ev_periodic\*(C'\fRs can also be used to implement vastly more complex timers,
-triggering an event on each midnight, local time or other, complicated,
+such as triggering an event on each \*(L"midnight, local time\*(R", or other
-rules.
+complicated, rules.
 .PP
 As with timers, the callback is guarenteed to be invoked only when the
-time (\f(CW\*(C`at\*(C'\fR) has been passed, but if multiple periodic timers become ready
+time (\f(CW\*(C`at\*(C'\fR) has passed, but if multiple periodic timers become ready
 during the same loop iteration then order of execution is undefined.
 .PP
 \fIWatcher-Specific Functions and Data Members\fR
 .IX Subsection "Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members"
 .IP "ev_periodic_init (ev_periodic *, callback, ev_tstamp at, ev_tstamp interval, reschedule_cb)" 4
 operation, and we will explain them from simplest to complex:
 .RS 4
 .IP "\(bu" 4
 absolute timer (at = time, interval = reschedule_cb = 0)
 .Sp
-In this configuration the watcher triggers an event at the wallclock time
+In this configuration the watcher triggers an event after the wallclock
-\&\f(CW\*(C`at\*(C'\fR and doesn't repeat. It will not adjust when a time jump occurs,
+time \f(CW\*(C`at\*(C'\fR has passed and doesn't repeat. It will not adjust when a time
-that is, if it is to be run at January 1st 2011 then it will run when the
+jump occurs, that is, if it is to be run at January 1st 2011 then it will
-system time reaches or surpasses this time.
+run when the system time reaches or surpasses this time.
 .IP "\(bu" 4
-non-repeating interval timer (at = offset, interval > 0, reschedule_cb = 0)
+repeating interval timer (at = offset, interval > 0, reschedule_cb = 0)
 .Sp
 In this mode the watcher will always be scheduled to time out at the next
 \&\f(CW\*(C`at + N * interval\*(C'\fR time (for some integer N, which can also be negative)
 and then repeat, regardless of any time jumps.
 .Sp
 This can be used to create timers that do not drift with respect to system
-time:
+time, for example, here is a \f(CW\*(C`ev_periodic\*(C'\fR that triggers each hour, on
+the hour:
 .Sp
 .Vb 1
 \&   ev_periodic_set (&periodic, 0., 3600., 0);
 .Ve
 .Sp
 \&\f(CW\*(C`ev_periodic\*(C'\fR will try to run the callback in this mode at the next possible
 time where \f(CW\*(C`time = at (mod interval)\*(C'\fR, regardless of any time jumps.
 .Sp
 For numerical stability it is preferable that the \f(CW\*(C`at\*(C'\fR value is near
 \&\f(CW\*(C`ev_now ()\*(C'\fR (the current time), but there is no range requirement for
-this value.
+this value, and in fact is often specified as zero.
+.Sp
+Note also that there is an upper limit to how often a timer can fire (cpu
+speed for example), so if \f(CW\*(C`interval\*(C'\fR is very small then timing stability
+will of course detoriate. Libev itself tries to be exact to be about one
+millisecond (if the \s-1OS\s0 supports it and the machine is fast enough).
 .IP "\(bu" 4
 manual reschedule mode (at and interval ignored, reschedule_cb = callback)
 .Sp
 In this mode the values for \f(CW\*(C`interval\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`at\*(C'\fR are both being
 ignored. Instead, each time the periodic watcher gets scheduled, the
 reschedule callback will be called with the watcher as first, and the
 current time as second argument.
 .Sp
 \&\s-1NOTE:\s0 \fIThis callback \s-1MUST\s0 \s-1NOT\s0 stop or destroy any periodic watcher,
-ever, or make any event loop modifications\fR. If you need to stop it,
+ever, or make \s-1ANY\s0 event loop modifications whatsoever\fR.
-return \f(CW\*(C`now + 1e30\*(C'\fR (or so, fudge fudge) and stop it afterwards (e.g. by
+.Sp
+If you need to stop it, return \f(CW\*(C`now + 1e30\*(C'\fR (or so, fudge fudge) and stop
-starting an \f(CW\*(C`ev_prepare\*(C'\fR watcher, which is legal).
+it afterwards (e.g. by starting an \f(CW\*(C`ev_prepare\*(C'\fR watcher, which is the
+only event loop modification you are allowed to do).
 .Sp
-Its prototype is \f(CW\*(C`ev_tstamp (*reschedule_cb)(struct ev_periodic *w,
+The callback prototype is \f(CW\*(C`ev_tstamp (*reschedule_cb)(struct ev_periodic
-ev_tstamp now)\*(C'\fR, e.g.:
+*w, ev_tstamp now)\*(C'\fR, e.g.:
 .Sp
 .Vb 4
 \&   static ev_tstamp my_rescheduler (struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now)
 \&   {
 \&     return now + 60.;
 It must return the next time to trigger, based on the passed time value
 (that is, the lowest time value larger than to the second argument). It
 will usually be called just before the callback will be triggered, but
 might be called at other times, too.
 .Sp
-\&\s-1NOTE:\s0 \fIThis callback must always return a time that is later than the
+\&\s-1NOTE:\s0 \fIThis callback must always return a time that is higher than or
-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.
+equal to the passed \f(CI\*(C`now\*(C'\fI value\fR.
 .Sp
 This can be used to create very complex timers, such as a timer that
-triggers on each midnight, local time. To do this, you would calculate the
+triggers on \*(L"next midnight, local time\*(R". To do this, you would calculate the
 next midnight after \f(CW\*(C`now\*(C'\fR and return the timestamp value for this. How
 you do this is, again, up to you (but it is not trivial, which is the main
 reason I omitted it as an example).
 .RE
 .RS 4
 .IX Item "ev_periodic_again (loop, ev_periodic *)"
 Simply stops and restarts the periodic watcher again. This is only useful
 when you changed some parameters or the reschedule callback would return
 a different time than the last time it was called (e.g. in a crond like
 program when the crontabs have changed).
+.IP "ev_tstamp ev_periodic_at (ev_periodic *)" 4
+.IX Item "ev_tstamp ev_periodic_at (ev_periodic *)"
+When active, returns the absolute time that the watcher is supposed to
+trigger next.
 .IP "ev_tstamp offset [read\-write]" 4
 .IX Item "ev_tstamp offset [read-write]"
 When repeating, this contains the offset value, otherwise this is the
 absolute point in time (the \f(CW\*(C`at\*(C'\fR value passed to \f(CW\*(C`ev_periodic_set\*(C'\fR).
 .Sp
 .IP "ev_tstamp (*reschedule_cb)(struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now) [read\-write]" 4
 .IX Item "ev_tstamp (*reschedule_cb)(struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now) [read-write]"
 The current reschedule callback, or \f(CW0\fR, if this functionality is
 switched off. Can be changed any time, but changes only take effect when
 the periodic timer fires or \f(CW\*(C`ev_periodic_again\*(C'\fR is being called.
-.IP "ev_tstamp at [read\-only]" 4
-.IX Item "ev_tstamp at [read-only]"
-When active, contains the absolute time that the watcher is supposed to
-trigger next.
 .PP
 \fIExamples\fR
 .IX Subsection "Examples"
 .PP
 Example: Call a callback every hour, or, more precisely, whenever the
 first watcher gets started will libev actually register a signal watcher
 with the kernel (thus it coexists with your own signal handlers as long
 as you don't register any with libev). Similarly, when the last signal
 watcher for a signal is stopped libev will reset the signal handler to
 \&\s-1SIG_DFL\s0 (regardless of what it was set to before).
+.PP
+If possible and supported, libev will install its handlers with
+\&\f(CW\*(C`SA_RESTART\*(C'\fR behaviour enabled, so syscalls should not be unduly
+interrupted. If you have a problem with syscalls getting interrupted by
+signals you can block all signals in an \f(CW\*(C`ev_check\*(C'\fR watcher and unblock
+them in an \f(CW\*(C`ev_prepare\*(C'\fR watcher.
 .PP
 \fIWatcher-Specific Functions and Data Members\fR
 .IX Subsection "Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members"
 .IP "ev_signal_init (ev_signal *, callback, int signum)" 4
 .IX Item "ev_signal_init (ev_signal *, callback, int signum)"
 Configures the watcher to trigger on the given signal number (usually one
 of the \f(CW\*(C`SIGxxx\*(C'\fR constants).
 .IP "int signum [read\-only]" 4
 .IX Item "int signum [read-only]"
 The signal the watcher watches out for.
+.PP
+\fIExamples\fR
+.IX Subsection "Examples"
+.PP
+Example: Try to exit cleanly on \s-1SIGINT\s0 and \s-1SIGTERM\s0.
+.PP
+.Vb 5
+\&  static void
+\&  sigint_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_signal *w, int revents)
+\&  {
+\&    ev_unloop (loop, EVUNLOOP_ALL);
+\&  }
+\&
+\&  struct ev_signal signal_watcher;
+\&  ev_signal_init (&signal_watcher, sigint_cb, SIGINT);
+\&  ev_signal_start (loop, &sigint_cb);
+.Ve
 .ie n .Sh """ev_child"" \- watch out for process status changes"
 .el .Sh "\f(CWev_child\fP \- watch out for process status changes"
 .IX Subsection "ev_child - watch out for process status changes"
 Child watchers trigger when your process receives a \s-1SIGCHLD\s0 in response to
-some child status changes (most typically when a child of yours dies).
+some child status changes (most typically when a child of yours dies). It
+is permissible to install a child watcher \fIafter\fR the child has been
+forked (which implies it might have already exited), as long as the event
+loop isn't entered (or is continued from a watcher).
+.PP
+Only the default event loop is capable of handling signals, and therefore
+you can only rgeister child watchers in the default event loop.
+.PP
+\fIProcess Interaction\fR
+.IX Subsection "Process Interaction"
+.PP
+Libev grabs \f(CW\*(C`SIGCHLD\*(C'\fR as soon as the default event loop is
+initialised. This is necessary to guarantee proper behaviour even if
+the first child watcher is started after the child exits. The occurance
+of \f(CW\*(C`SIGCHLD\*(C'\fR is recorded asynchronously, but child reaping is done
+synchronously as part of the event loop processing. Libev always reaps all
+children, even ones not watched.
+.PP
+\fIOverriding the Built-In Processing\fR
+.IX Subsection "Overriding the Built-In Processing"
+.PP
+Libev offers no special support for overriding the built-in child
+processing, but if your application collides with libev's default child
+handler, you can override it easily by installing your own handler for
+\&\f(CW\*(C`SIGCHLD\*(C'\fR after initialising the default loop, and making sure the
+default loop never gets destroyed. You are encouraged, however, to use an
+event-based approach to child reaping and thus use libev's support for
+that, so other libev users can use \f(CW\*(C`ev_child\*(C'\fR watchers freely.
 .PP
 \fIWatcher-Specific Functions and Data Members\fR
 .IX Subsection "Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members"
 .IP "ev_child_init (ev_child *, callback, int pid, int trace)" 4
 .IX Item "ev_child_init (ev_child *, callback, int pid, int trace)"
 \&\f(CW\*(C`waitpid\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`sys/wait.h\*(C'\fR documentation for details).
 .PP
 \fIExamples\fR
 .IX Subsection "Examples"
 .PP
-Example: Try to exit cleanly on \s-1SIGINT\s0 and \s-1SIGTERM\s0.
+Example: \f(CW\*(C`fork()\*(C'\fR a new process and install a child handler to wait for
+its completion.
 .PP
-.Vb 5
+.Vb 1
+\&  ev_child cw;
+\&
 \&  static void
-\&  sigint_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_signal *w, int revents)
+\&  child_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_child *w, int revents)
 \&  {
-\&    ev_unloop (loop, EVUNLOOP_ALL);
+\&    ev_child_stop (EV_A_ w);
+\&    printf ("process %d exited with status %x\en", w\->rpid, w\->rstatus);
 \&  }
 \&
-\&  struct ev_signal signal_watcher;
+\&  pid_t pid = fork ();
-\&  ev_signal_init (&signal_watcher, sigint_cb, SIGINT);
+\&
-\&  ev_signal_start (loop, &sigint_cb);
+\&  if (pid < 0)
+\&    // error
+\&  else if (pid == 0)
+\&    {
+\&      // the forked child executes here
+\&      exit (1);
+\&    }
+\&  else
+\&    {
+\&      ev_child_init (&cw, child_cb, pid, 0);
+\&      ev_child_start (EV_DEFAULT_ &cw);
+\&    }
 .Ve
 .ie n .Sh """ev_stat"" \- did the file attributes just change?"
 .el .Sh "\f(CWev_stat\fP \- did the file attributes just change?"
 .IX Subsection "ev_stat - did the file attributes just change?"
 This watches a filesystem path for attribute changes. That is, it calls
 as even with OS-supported change notifications, this can be
 resource-intensive.
 .PP
 At the time of this writing, only the Linux inotify interface is
 implemented (implementing kqueue support is left as an exercise for the
+reader, note, however, that the author sees no way of implementing ev_stat
-reader). Inotify will be used to give hints only and should not change the
+semantics with kqueue). Inotify will be used to give hints only and should
-semantics of \f(CW\*(C`ev_stat\*(C'\fR watchers, which means that libev sometimes needs
+not change the semantics of \f(CW\*(C`ev_stat\*(C'\fR watchers, which means that libev
-to fall back to regular polling again even with inotify, but changes are
+sometimes needs to fall back to regular polling again even with inotify,
-usually detected immediately, and if the file exists there will be no
+but changes are usually detected immediately, and if the file exists there
-polling.
+will be no polling.
+.PP
+\fI\s-1ABI\s0 Issues (Largefile Support)\fR
+.IX Subsection "ABI Issues (Largefile Support)"
+.PP
+Libev by default (unless the user overrides this) uses the default
+compilation environment, which means that on systems with optionally
+disabled large file support, you get the 32 bit version of the stat
+structure. When using the library from programs that change the \s-1ABI\s0 to
+use 64 bit file offsets the programs will fail. In that case you have to
+compile libev with the same flags to get binary compatibility. This is
+obviously the case with any flags that change the \s-1ABI\s0, but the problem is
+most noticably with ev_stat and largefile support.
 .PP
 \fIInotify\fR
 .IX Subsection "Inotify"
 .PP
 When \f(CW\*(C`inotify (7)\*(C'\fR support has been compiled into libev (generally only
 available on Linux) and present at runtime, it will be used to speed up
 change detection where possible. The inotify descriptor will be created lazily
 when the first \f(CW\*(C`ev_stat\*(C'\fR watcher is being started.
 .PP
-Inotify presense does not change the semantics of \f(CW\*(C`ev_stat\*(C'\fR watchers
+Inotify presence does not change the semantics of \f(CW\*(C`ev_stat\*(C'\fR watchers
 except that changes might be detected earlier, and in some cases, to avoid
-making regular \f(CW\*(C`stat\*(C'\fR calls. Even in the presense of inotify support
+making regular \f(CW\*(C`stat\*(C'\fR calls. Even in the presence of inotify support
 there are many cases where libev has to resort to regular \f(CW\*(C`stat\*(C'\fR polling.
 .PP
 (There is no support for kqueue, as apparently it cannot be used to
 implement this functionality, due to the requirement of having a file
 descriptor open on the object at all times).
 .PP
 The \f(CW\*(C`stat ()\*(C'\fR syscall only supports full-second resolution portably, and
 even on systems where the resolution is higher, many filesystems still
 only support whole seconds.
 .PP
-That means that, if the time is the only thing that changes, you might
+That means that, if the time is the only thing that changes, you can
-miss updates: on the first update, \f(CW\*(C`ev_stat\*(C'\fR detects a change and calls
+easily miss updates: on the first update, \f(CW\*(C`ev_stat\*(C'\fR detects a change and
-your callback, which does something. When there is another update within
+calls your callback, which does something. When there is another update
-the same second, \f(CW\*(C`ev_stat\*(C'\fR will be unable to detect it.
+within the same second, \f(CW\*(C`ev_stat\*(C'\fR will be unable to detect it as the stat
+data does not change.
 .PP
-The solution to this is to delay acting on a change for a second (or till
+The solution to this is to delay acting on a change for slightly more
-the next second boundary), using a roughly one-second delay \f(CW\*(C`ev_timer\*(C'\fR
+than a second (or till slightly after the next full second boundary), using
-(\f(CW\*(C`ev_timer_set (w, 0., 1.01); ev_timer_again (loop, w)\*(C'\fR). The \f(CW.01\fR
+a roughly one-second-delay \f(CW\*(C`ev_timer\*(C'\fR (e.g. \f(CW\*(C`ev_timer_set (w, 0., 1.02);
-is added to work around small timing inconsistencies of some operating
+ev_timer_again (loop, w)\*(C'\fR).
-systems.
+.PP
+The \f(CW.02\fR offset is added to work around small timing inconsistencies
+of some operating systems (where the second counter of the current time
+might be be delayed. One such system is the Linux kernel, where a call to
+\&\f(CW\*(C`gettimeofday\*(C'\fR might return a timestamp with a full second later than
+a subsequent \f(CW\*(C`time\*(C'\fR call \- if the equivalent of \f(CW\*(C`time ()\*(C'\fR is used to
+update file times then there will be a small window where the kernel uses
+the previous second to update file times but libev might already execute
+the timer callback).
 .PP
 \fIWatcher-Specific Functions and Data Members\fR
 .IX Subsection "Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members"
 .IP "ev_stat_init (ev_stat *, callback, const char *path, ev_tstamp interval)" 4
 .IX Item "ev_stat_init (ev_stat *, callback, const char *path, ev_tstamp interval)"
 \&\f(CW\*(C`path\*(C'\fR. The \f(CW\*(C`interval\*(C'\fR is a hint on how quickly a change is expected to
 be detected and should normally be specified as \f(CW0\fR to let libev choose
 a suitable value. The memory pointed to by \f(CW\*(C`path\*(C'\fR must point to the same
 path for as long as the watcher is active.
 .Sp
-The callback will be receive \f(CW\*(C`EV_STAT\*(C'\fR when a change was detected,
+The callback will receive \f(CW\*(C`EV_STAT\*(C'\fR when a change was detected, relative
-relative to the attributes at the time the watcher was started (or the
+to the attributes at the time the watcher was started (or the last change
-last change was detected).
+was detected).
-.IP "ev_stat_stat (ev_stat *)" 4
+.IP "ev_stat_stat (loop, ev_stat *)" 4
-.IX Item "ev_stat_stat (ev_stat *)"
+.IX Item "ev_stat_stat (loop, ev_stat *)"
 Updates the stat buffer immediately with new values. If you change the
-watched path in your callback, you could call this fucntion to avoid
+watched path in your callback, you could call this function to avoid
-detecting this change (while introducing a race condition). Can also be
+detecting this change (while introducing a race condition if you are not
-useful simply to find out the new values.
+the only one changing the path). Can also be useful simply to find out the
+new values.
 .IP "ev_statdata attr [read\-only]" 4
 .IX Item "ev_statdata attr [read-only]"
-The most-recently detected attributes of the file. Although the type is of
+The most-recently detected attributes of the file. Although the type is
 \&\f(CW\*(C`ev_statdata\*(C'\fR, this is usually the (or one of the) \f(CW\*(C`struct stat\*(C'\fR types
+suitable for your system, but you can only rely on the POSIX-standardised
-suitable for your system. If the \f(CW\*(C`st_nlink\*(C'\fR member is \f(CW0\fR, then there
+members to be present. If the \f(CW\*(C`st_nlink\*(C'\fR member is \f(CW0\fR, then there was
-was some error while \f(CW\*(C`stat\*(C'\fRing the file.
+some error while \f(CW\*(C`stat\*(C'\fRing the file.
 .IP "ev_statdata prev [read\-only]" 4
 .IX Item "ev_statdata prev [read-only]"
 The previous attributes of the file. The callback gets invoked whenever
-\&\f(CW\*(C`prev\*(C'\fR != \f(CW\*(C`attr\*(C'\fR.
+\&\f(CW\*(C`prev\*(C'\fR != \f(CW\*(C`attr\*(C'\fR, or, more precisely, one or more of these members
+differ: \f(CW\*(C`st_dev\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`st_ino\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`st_mode\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`st_nlink\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`st_uid\*(C'\fR,
+\&\f(CW\*(C`st_gid\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`st_rdev\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`st_size\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`st_atime\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`st_mtime\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`st_ctime\*(C'\fR.
 .IP "ev_tstamp interval [read\-only]" 4
 .IX Item "ev_tstamp interval [read-only]"
 The specified interval.
 .IP "const char *path [read\-only]" 4
 .IX Item "const char *path [read-only]"
 \&  }
 \&
 \&  ...
 \&  ev_stat_init (&passwd, stat_cb, "/etc/passwd", 0.);
 \&  ev_stat_start (loop, &passwd);
-\&  ev_timer_init (&timer, timer_cb, 0., 1.01);
+\&  ev_timer_init (&timer, timer_cb, 0., 1.02);
 .Ve
 .ie n .Sh """ev_idle"" \- when you've got nothing better to do..."
 .el .Sh "\f(CWev_idle\fP \- when you've got nothing better to do..."
 .IX Subsection "ev_idle - when you've got nothing better to do..."
 Idle watchers trigger events when no other events of the same or higher
 .PP
 It is recommended to give \f(CW\*(C`ev_check\*(C'\fR watchers highest (\f(CW\*(C`EV_MAXPRI\*(C'\fR)
 priority, to ensure that they are being run before any other watchers
 after the poll. Also, \f(CW\*(C`ev_check\*(C'\fR watchers (and \f(CW\*(C`ev_prepare\*(C'\fR watchers,
 too) should not activate (\*(L"feed\*(R") events into libev. While libev fully
-supports this, they will be called before other \f(CW\*(C`ev_check\*(C'\fR watchers
+supports this, they might get executed before other \f(CW\*(C`ev_check\*(C'\fR watchers
 did their job. As \f(CW\*(C`ev_check\*(C'\fR watchers are often used to embed other
 (non-libev) event loops those other event loops might be in an unusable
 state until their \f(CW\*(C`ev_check\*(C'\fR watcher ran (always remind yourself to
 coexist peacefully with others).
 .PP
 .IX Subsection "Examples"
 .PP
 There are a number of principal ways to embed other event loops or modules
 into libev. Here are some ideas on how to include libadns into libev
 (there is a Perl module named \f(CW\*(C`EV::ADNS\*(C'\fR that does this, which you could
-use for an actually working example. Another Perl module named \f(CW\*(C`EV::Glib\*(C'\fR
+use as a working example. Another Perl module named \f(CW\*(C`EV::Glib\*(C'\fR embeds a
-embeds a Glib main context into libev, and finally, \f(CW\*(C`Glib::EV\*(C'\fR embeds \s-1EV\s0
+Glib main context into libev, and finally, \f(CW\*(C`Glib::EV\*(C'\fR embeds \s-1EV\s0 into the
-into the Glib event loop).
+Glib event loop).
 .PP
 Method 1: Add \s-1IO\s0 watchers and a timeout watcher in a prepare handler,
 and in a check watcher, destroy them and call into libadns. What follows
 is pseudo-code only of course. This requires you to either use a low
 priority for the check watcher or use \f(CW\*(C`ev_clear_pending\*(C'\fR explicitly, as
 .IP "ev_fork_init (ev_signal *, callback)" 4
 .IX Item "ev_fork_init (ev_signal *, callback)"
 Initialises and configures the fork watcher \- it has no parameters of any
 kind. There is a \f(CW\*(C`ev_fork_set\*(C'\fR macro, but using it is utterly pointless,
 believe me.
+.ie n .Sh """ev_async"" \- how to wake up another event loop"
+.el .Sh "\f(CWev_async\fP \- how to wake up another event loop"
+.IX Subsection "ev_async - how to wake up another event loop"
+In general, you cannot use an \f(CW\*(C`ev_loop\*(C'\fR from multiple threads or other
+asynchronous sources such as signal handlers (as opposed to multiple event
+loops \- those are of course safe to use in different threads).
+.PP
+Sometimes, however, you need to wake up another event loop you do not
+control, for example because it belongs to another thread. This is what
+\&\f(CW\*(C`ev_async\*(C'\fR watchers do: as long as the \f(CW\*(C`ev_async\*(C'\fR watcher is active, you
+can signal it by calling \f(CW\*(C`ev_async_send\*(C'\fR, which is thread\- and signal
+safe.
+.PP
+This functionality is very similar to \f(CW\*(C`ev_signal\*(C'\fR watchers, as signals,
+too, are asynchronous in nature, and signals, too, will be compressed
+(i.e. the number of callback invocations may be less than the number of
+\&\f(CW\*(C`ev_async_sent\*(C'\fR calls).
+.PP
+Unlike \f(CW\*(C`ev_signal\*(C'\fR watchers, \f(CW\*(C`ev_async\*(C'\fR works with any event loop, not
+just the default loop.
+.PP
+\fIQueueing\fR
+.IX Subsection "Queueing"
+.PP
+\&\f(CW\*(C`ev_async\*(C'\fR does not support queueing of data in any way. The reason
+is that the author does not know of a simple (or any) algorithm for a
+multiple-writer-single-reader queue that works in all cases and doesn't
+need elaborate support such as pthreads.
+.PP
+That means that if you want to queue data, you have to provide your own
+queue. But at least I can tell you would implement locking around your
+queue:
+.IP "queueing from a signal handler context" 4
+.IX Item "queueing from a signal handler context"
+To implement race-free queueing, you simply add to the queue in the signal
+handler but you block the signal handler in the watcher callback. Here is an example that does that for
+some fictitiuous \s-1SIGUSR1\s0 handler:
+.Sp
+.Vb 1
+\&   static ev_async mysig;
+\&
+\&   static void
+\&   sigusr1_handler (void)
+\&   {
+\&     sometype data;
+\&
+\&     // no locking etc.
+\&     queue_put (data);
+\&     ev_async_send (EV_DEFAULT_ &mysig);
+\&   }
+\&
+\&   static void
+\&   mysig_cb (EV_P_ ev_async *w, int revents)
+\&   {
+\&     sometype data;
+\&     sigset_t block, prev;
+\&
+\&     sigemptyset (&block);
+\&     sigaddset (&block, SIGUSR1);
+\&     sigprocmask (SIG_BLOCK, &block, &prev);
+\&
+\&     while (queue_get (&data))
+\&       process (data);
+\&
+\&     if (sigismember (&prev, SIGUSR1)
+\&       sigprocmask (SIG_UNBLOCK, &block, 0);
+\&   }
+.Ve
+.Sp
+(Note: pthreads in theory requires you to use \f(CW\*(C`pthread_setmask\*(C'\fR
+instead of \f(CW\*(C`sigprocmask\*(C'\fR when you use threads, but libev doesn't do it
+either...).
+.IP "queueing from a thread context" 4
+.IX Item "queueing from a thread context"
+The strategy for threads is different, as you cannot (easily) block
+threads but you can easily preempt them, so to queue safely you need to
+employ a traditional mutex lock, such as in this pthread example:
+.Sp
+.Vb 2
+\&   static ev_async mysig;
+\&   static pthread_mutex_t mymutex = PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
+\&
+\&   static void
+\&   otherthread (void)
+\&   {
+\&     // only need to lock the actual queueing operation
+\&     pthread_mutex_lock (&mymutex);
+\&     queue_put (data);
+\&     pthread_mutex_unlock (&mymutex);
+\&
+\&     ev_async_send (EV_DEFAULT_ &mysig);
+\&   }
+\&
+\&   static void
+\&   mysig_cb (EV_P_ ev_async *w, int revents)
+\&   {
+\&     pthread_mutex_lock (&mymutex);
+\&
+\&     while (queue_get (&data))
+\&       process (data);
+\&
+\&     pthread_mutex_unlock (&mymutex);
+\&   }
+.Ve
+.PP
+\fIWatcher-Specific Functions and Data Members\fR
+.IX Subsection "Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members"
+.IP "ev_async_init (ev_async *, callback)" 4
+.IX Item "ev_async_init (ev_async *, callback)"
+Initialises and configures the async watcher \- it has no parameters of any
+kind. There is a \f(CW\*(C`ev_asynd_set\*(C'\fR macro, but using it is utterly pointless,
+believe me.
+.IP "ev_async_send (loop, ev_async *)" 4
+.IX Item "ev_async_send (loop, ev_async *)"
+Sends/signals/activates the given \f(CW\*(C`ev_async\*(C'\fR watcher, that is, feeds
+an \f(CW\*(C`EV_ASYNC\*(C'\fR event on the watcher into the event loop. Unlike
+\&\f(CW\*(C`ev_feed_event\*(C'\fR, this call is safe to do in other threads, signal or
+similar contexts (see the dicusssion of \f(CW\*(C`EV_ATOMIC_T\*(C'\fR in the embedding
+section below on what exactly this means).
+.Sp
+This call incurs the overhead of a syscall only once per loop iteration,
+so while the overhead might be noticable, it doesn't apply to repeated
+calls to \f(CW\*(C`ev_async_send\*(C'\fR.
+.IP "bool = ev_async_pending (ev_async *)" 4
+.IX Item "bool = ev_async_pending (ev_async *)"
+Returns a non-zero value when \f(CW\*(C`ev_async_send\*(C'\fR has been called on the
+watcher but the event has not yet been processed (or even noted) by the
+event loop.
+.Sp
+\&\f(CW\*(C`ev_async_send\*(C'\fR sets a flag in the watcher and wakes up the loop. When
+the loop iterates next and checks for the watcher to have become active,
+it will reset the flag again. \f(CW\*(C`ev_async_pending\*(C'\fR can be used to very
+quickly check wether invoking the loop might be a good idea.
+.Sp
+Not that this does \fInot\fR check wether the watcher itself is pending, only
+wether it has been requested to make this watcher pending.
 .SH "OTHER FUNCTIONS"
 .IX Header "OTHER FUNCTIONS"
 There are some other functions of possible interest. Described. Here. Now.
 .IP "ev_once (loop, int fd, int events, ev_tstamp timeout, callback)" 4
 .IX Item "ev_once (loop, int fd, int events, ev_tstamp timeout, callback)"
 it a private \s-1API\s0).
 .IP "\(bu" 4
 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.
+.IP "\(bu" 4
+In libevent, the last base created gets the signals, in libev, the
+first base created (== the default loop) gets the signals.
 .IP "\(bu" 4
 Other members are not supported.
 .IP "\(bu" 4
 The libev emulation is \fInot\fR \s-1ABI\s0 compatible to libevent, you need
 to use the libev header file and library.
 \&
 \&      io.start (fd, ev::READ);
 \&    }
 \&  };
 .Ve
+.SH "OTHER LANGUAGE BINDINGS"
+.IX Header "OTHER LANGUAGE BINDINGS"
+Libev does not offer other language bindings itself, but bindings for a
+numbe rof languages exist in the form of third-party packages. If you know
+any interesting language binding in addition to the ones listed here, drop
+me a note.
+.IP "Perl" 4
+.IX Item "Perl"
+The \s-1EV\s0 module implements the full libev \s-1API\s0 and is actually used to test
+libev. \s-1EV\s0 is developed together with libev. Apart from the \s-1EV\s0 core module,
+there are additional modules that implement libev-compatible interfaces
+to \f(CW\*(C`libadns\*(C'\fR (\f(CW\*(C`EV::ADNS\*(C'\fR), \f(CW\*(C`Net::SNMP\*(C'\fR (\f(CW\*(C`Net::SNMP::EV\*(C'\fR) and the
+\&\f(CW\*(C`libglib\*(C'\fR event core (\f(CW\*(C`Glib::EV\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`EV::Glib\*(C'\fR).
+.Sp
+It can be found and installed via \s-1CPAN\s0, its homepage is found at
+<http://software.schmorp.de/pkg/EV>.
+.IP "Ruby" 4
+.IX Item "Ruby"
+Tony Arcieri has written a ruby extension that offers access to a subset
+of the libev \s-1API\s0 and adds filehandle abstractions, asynchronous \s-1DNS\s0 and
+more on top of it. It can be found via gem servers. Its homepage is at
+<http://rev.rubyforge.org/>.
+.IP "D" 4
+.IX Item "D"
+Leandro Lucarella has written a D language binding (\fIev.d\fR) for libev, to
+be found at <http://git.llucax.com.ar/?p=software/ev.d.git;a=summary>.
 .SH "MACRO MAGIC"
 .IX Header "MACRO MAGIC"
 Libev can be compiled with a variety of options, the most fundamantal
 of which is \f(CW\*(C`EV_MULTIPLICITY\*(C'\fR. This option determines whether (most)
 functions and callbacks have an initial \f(CW\*(C`struct ev_loop *\*(C'\fR argument.
 .ie n .IP """EV_DEFAULT""\fR, \f(CW""EV_DEFAULT_""" 4
 .el .IP "\f(CWEV_DEFAULT\fR, \f(CWEV_DEFAULT_\fR" 4
 .IX Item "EV_DEFAULT, EV_DEFAULT_"
 Similar to the other two macros, this gives you the value of the default
 loop, if multiple loops are supported (\*(L"ev loop default\*(R").
+.ie n .IP """EV_DEFAULT_UC""\fR, \f(CW""EV_DEFAULT_UC_""" 4
+.el .IP "\f(CWEV_DEFAULT_UC\fR, \f(CWEV_DEFAULT_UC_\fR" 4
+.IX Item "EV_DEFAULT_UC, EV_DEFAULT_UC_"
+Usage identical to \f(CW\*(C`EV_DEFAULT\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`EV_DEFAULT_\*(C'\fR, but requires that the
+default loop has been initialised (\f(CW\*(C`UC\*(C'\fR == unchecked). Their behaviour
+is undefined when the default loop has not been initialised by a previous
+execution of \f(CW\*(C`EV_DEFAULT\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`EV_DEFAULT_\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`ev_default_init (...)\*(C'\fR.
+.Sp
+It is often prudent to use \f(CW\*(C`EV_DEFAULT\*(C'\fR when initialising the first
+watcher in a function but use \f(CW\*(C`EV_DEFAULT_UC\*(C'\fR afterwards.
 .PP
 Example: Declare and initialise a check watcher, utilising the above
 macros so it will work regardless of whether multiple loops are supported
 or not.
 .PP
 .Vb 1
 \&  libev.m4
 .Ve
 .Sh "\s-1PREPROCESSOR\s0 \s-1SYMBOLS/MACROS\s0"
 .IX Subsection "PREPROCESSOR SYMBOLS/MACROS"
-Libev can be configured via a variety of preprocessor symbols you have to define
+Libev can be configured via a variety of preprocessor symbols you have to
-before including any of its files. The default is not to build for multiplicity
+define before including any of its files. The default in the absense of
-and only include the select backend.
+autoconf is noted for every option.
 .IP "\s-1EV_STANDALONE\s0" 4
 .IX Item "EV_STANDALONE"
 Must always be \f(CW1\fR if you do not use autoconf configuration, which
 keeps libev from including \fIconfig.h\fR, and it also defines dummy
 implementations for some libevent functions (such as logging, which is not
 note about libraries in the description of \f(CW\*(C`EV_USE_MONOTONIC\*(C'\fR, though.
 .IP "\s-1EV_USE_NANOSLEEP\s0" 4
 .IX Item "EV_USE_NANOSLEEP"
 If defined to be \f(CW1\fR, libev will assume that \f(CW\*(C`nanosleep ()\*(C'\fR is available
 and will use it for delays. Otherwise it will use \f(CW\*(C`select ()\*(C'\fR.
+.IP "\s-1EV_USE_EVENTFD\s0" 4
+.IX Item "EV_USE_EVENTFD"
+If defined to be \f(CW1\fR, then libev will assume that \f(CW\*(C`eventfd ()\*(C'\fR is
+available and will probe for kernel support at runtime. This will improve
+\&\f(CW\*(C`ev_signal\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`ev_async\*(C'\fR performance and reduce resource consumption.
+If undefined, it will be enabled if the headers indicate GNU/Linux + Glibc
+2.7 or newer, otherwise disabled.
 .IP "\s-1EV_USE_SELECT\s0" 4
 .IX Item "EV_USE_SELECT"
 If undefined or defined to be \f(CW1\fR, libev will compile in support for the
 \&\f(CW\*(C`select\*(C'\fR(2) backend. No attempt at autodetection will be done: if no
 other method takes over, select will be it. Otherwise the select backend
 takes precedence over select.
 .IP "\s-1EV_USE_EPOLL\s0" 4
 .IX Item "EV_USE_EPOLL"
 If defined to be \f(CW1\fR, libev will compile in support for the Linux
 \&\f(CW\*(C`epoll\*(C'\fR(7) backend. Its availability will be detected at runtime,
-otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the
+otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the preferred
-preferred backend for GNU/Linux systems.
+backend for GNU/Linux systems. If undefined, it will be enabled if the
+headers indicate GNU/Linux + Glibc 2.4 or newer, otherwise disabled.
 .IP "\s-1EV_USE_KQUEUE\s0" 4
 .IX Item "EV_USE_KQUEUE"
 If defined to be \f(CW1\fR, libev will compile in support for the \s-1BSD\s0 style
 \&\f(CW\*(C`kqueue\*(C'\fR(2) backend. Its actual availability will be detected at runtime,
 otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the preferred
 reserved for future expansion, works like the \s-1USE\s0 symbols above.
 .IP "\s-1EV_USE_INOTIFY\s0" 4
 .IX Item "EV_USE_INOTIFY"
 If defined to be \f(CW1\fR, libev will compile in support for the Linux inotify
 interface to speed up \f(CW\*(C`ev_stat\*(C'\fR watchers. Its actual availability will
-be detected at runtime.
+be detected at runtime. If undefined, it will be enabled if the headers
+indicate GNU/Linux + Glibc 2.4 or newer, otherwise disabled.
+.IP "\s-1EV_ATOMIC_T\s0" 4
+.IX Item "EV_ATOMIC_T"
+Libev requires an integer type (suitable for storing \f(CW0\fR or \f(CW1\fR) whose
+access is atomic with respect to other threads or signal contexts. No such
+type is easily found in the C language, so you can provide your own type
+that you know is safe for your purposes. It is used both for signal handler \*(L"locking\*(R"
+as well as for signal and thread safety in \f(CW\*(C`ev_async\*(C'\fR watchers.
+.Sp
+In the absense of this define, libev will use \f(CW\*(C`sig_atomic_t volatile\*(C'\fR
+(from \fIsignal.h\fR), which is usually good enough on most platforms.
 .IP "\s-1EV_H\s0" 4
 .IX Item "EV_H"
 The name of the \fIev.h\fR header file used to include it. The default if
 undefined is \f(CW"ev.h"\fR in \fIevent.h\fR, \fIev.c\fR and \fIev++.h\fR. This can be
 used to virtually rename the \fIev.h\fR header file in case of conflicts.
 defined to be \f(CW0\fR, then they are not.
 .IP "\s-1EV_FORK_ENABLE\s0" 4
 .IX Item "EV_FORK_ENABLE"
 If undefined or defined to be \f(CW1\fR, then fork watchers are supported. If
 defined to be \f(CW0\fR, then they are not.
+.IP "\s-1EV_ASYNC_ENABLE\s0" 4
+.IX Item "EV_ASYNC_ENABLE"
+If undefined or defined to be \f(CW1\fR, then async watchers are supported. If
+defined to be \f(CW0\fR, then they are not.
 .IP "\s-1EV_MINIMAL\s0" 4
 .IX Item "EV_MINIMAL"
 If you need to shave off some kilobytes of code at the expense of some
-speed, define this symbol to \f(CW1\fR. Currently only used for gcc to override
+speed, define this symbol to \f(CW1\fR. Currently this is used to override some
-some inlining decisions, saves roughly 30% codesize of amd64.
+inlining decisions, saves roughly 30% codesize of amd64. It also selects a
+much smaller 2\-heap for timer management over the default 4\-heap.
 .IP "\s-1EV_PID_HASHSIZE\s0" 4
 .IX Item "EV_PID_HASHSIZE"
 \&\f(CW\*(C`ev_child\*(C'\fR watchers use a small hash table to distribute workload by
 pid. The default size is \f(CW16\fR (or \f(CW1\fR with \f(CW\*(C`EV_MINIMAL\*(C'\fR), usually more
 than enough. If you need to manage thousands of children you might want to
 \&\f(CW\*(C`ev_stat\*(C'\fR watchers use a small hash table to distribute workload by
 inotify watch id. The default size is \f(CW16\fR (or \f(CW1\fR with \f(CW\*(C`EV_MINIMAL\*(C'\fR),
 usually more than enough. If you need to manage thousands of \f(CW\*(C`ev_stat\*(C'\fR
 watchers you might want to increase this value (\fImust\fR be a power of
 two).
+.IP "\s-1EV_USE_4HEAP\s0" 4
+.IX Item "EV_USE_4HEAP"
+Heaps are not very cache-efficient. To improve the cache-efficiency of the
+timer and periodics heap, libev uses a 4\-heap when this symbol is defined
+to \f(CW1\fR. The 4\-heap uses more complicated (longer) code but has
+noticably faster performance with many (thousands) of watchers.
+.Sp
+The default is \f(CW1\fR unless \f(CW\*(C`EV_MINIMAL\*(C'\fR is set in which case it is \f(CW0\fR
+(disabled).
+.IP "\s-1EV_HEAP_CACHE_AT\s0" 4
+.IX Item "EV_HEAP_CACHE_AT"
+Heaps are not very cache-efficient. To improve the cache-efficiency of the
+timer and periodics heap, libev can cache the timestamp (\fIat\fR) within
+the heap structure (selected by defining \f(CW\*(C`EV_HEAP_CACHE_AT\*(C'\fR to \f(CW1\fR),
+which uses 8\-12 bytes more per watcher and a few hundred bytes more code,
+but avoids random read accesses on heap changes. This improves performance
+noticably with with many (hundreds) of watchers.
+.Sp
+The default is \f(CW1\fR unless \f(CW\*(C`EV_MINIMAL\*(C'\fR is set in which case it is \f(CW0\fR
+(disabled).
+.IP "\s-1EV_VERIFY\s0" 4
+.IX Item "EV_VERIFY"
+Controls how much internal verification (see \f(CW\*(C`ev_loop_verify ()\*(C'\fR) will
+be done: If set to \f(CW0\fR, no internal verification code will be compiled
+in. If set to \f(CW1\fR, then verification code will be compiled in, but not
+called. If set to \f(CW2\fR, then the internal verification code will be
+called once per loop, which can slow down libev. If set to \f(CW3\fR, then the
+verification code will be called very frequently, which will slow down
+libev considerably.
+.Sp
+The default is \f(CW1\fR, unless \f(CW\*(C`EV_MINIMAL\*(C'\fR is set, in which case it will be
+\&\f(CW0.\fR
 .IP "\s-1EV_COMMON\s0" 4
 .IX Item "EV_COMMON"
 By default, all watchers have a \f(CW\*(C`void *data\*(C'\fR member. By redefining
 this macro to a something else you can include more and other types of
 members. You have to define it each time you include one of the files,
 .PP
 .Vb 2
 \&  #include "ev_cpp.h"
 \&  #include "ev.c"
 .Ve
+.SH "THREADS AND COROUTINES"
+.IX Header "THREADS AND COROUTINES"
+.Sh "\s-1THREADS\s0"
+.IX Subsection "THREADS"
+Libev itself is completely threadsafe, but it uses no locking. This
+means that you can use as many loops as you want in parallel, as long as
+only one thread ever calls into one libev function with the same loop
+parameter.
+.PP
+Or put differently: calls with different loop parameters can be done in
+parallel from multiple threads, calls with the same loop parameter must be
+done serially (but can be done from different threads, as long as only one
+thread ever is inside a call at any point in time, e.g. by using a mutex
+per loop).
+.PP
+If you want to know which design is best for your problem, then I cannot
+help you but by giving some generic advice:
+.IP "\(bu" 4
+most applications have a main thread: use the default libev loop
+in that thread, or create a seperate thread running only the default loop.
+.Sp
+This helps integrating other libraries or software modules that use libev
+themselves and don't care/know about threading.
+.IP "\(bu" 4
+one loop per thread is usually a good model.
+.Sp
+Doing this is almost never wrong, sometimes a better-performance model
+exists, but it is always a good start.
+.IP "\(bu" 4
+other models exist, such as the leader/follower pattern, where one
+loop is handed through multiple threads in a kind of round-robbin fashion.
+.Sp
+Chosing a model is hard \- look around, learn, know that usually you cna do
+better than you currently do :\-)
+.IP "\(bu" 4
+often you need to talk to some other thread which blocks in the
+event loop \- \f(CW\*(C`ev_async\*(C'\fR watchers can be used to wake them up from other
+threads safely (or from signal contexts...).
+.Sh "\s-1COROUTINES\s0"
+.IX Subsection "COROUTINES"
+Libev is much more accomodating to coroutines (\*(L"cooperative threads\*(R"):
+libev fully supports nesting calls to it's functions from different
+coroutines (e.g. you can call \f(CW\*(C`ev_loop\*(C'\fR on the same loop from two
+different coroutines and switch freely between both coroutines running the
+loop, as long as you don't confuse yourself). The only exception is that
+you must not do this from \f(CW\*(C`ev_periodic\*(C'\fR reschedule callbacks.
+.PP
+Care has been invested into making sure that libev does not keep local
+state inside \f(CW\*(C`ev_loop\*(C'\fR, and other calls do not usually allow coroutine
+switches.
 .SH "COMPLEXITIES"
 .IX Header "COMPLEXITIES"
 In this section the complexities of (many of) the algorithms used inside
 libev will be explained. For complexity discussions about backends see the
 documentation for \f(CW\*(C`ev_default_init\*(C'\fR.
 have to skip roughly seven (\f(CW\*(C`ld 100\*(C'\fR) of these watchers.
 .IP "Changing timer/periodic watchers (by autorepeat or calling again): O(log skipped_other_timers)" 4
 .IX Item "Changing timer/periodic watchers (by autorepeat or calling again): O(log skipped_other_timers)"
 That means that changing a timer costs less than removing/adding them
 as only the relative motion in the event queue has to be paid for.
-.IP "Starting io/check/prepare/idle/signal/child watchers: O(1)" 4
+.IP "Starting io/check/prepare/idle/signal/child/fork/async watchers: O(1)" 4
-.IX Item "Starting io/check/prepare/idle/signal/child watchers: O(1)"
+.IX Item "Starting io/check/prepare/idle/signal/child/fork/async watchers: O(1)"
 These just add the watcher into an array or at the head of a list.
-.IP "Stopping check/prepare/idle watchers: O(1)" 4
+.IP "Stopping check/prepare/idle/fork/async watchers: O(1)" 4
-.IX Item "Stopping check/prepare/idle watchers: O(1)"
+.IX Item "Stopping check/prepare/idle/fork/async watchers: O(1)"
 .PD 0
 .IP "Stopping an io/signal/child watcher: O(number_of_watchers_for_this_(fd/signal/pid % \s-1EV_PID_HASHSIZE\s0))" 4
 .IX Item "Stopping an io/signal/child watcher: O(number_of_watchers_for_this_(fd/signal/pid % EV_PID_HASHSIZE))"
 .PD
 These watchers are stored in lists then need to be walked to find the
 correct watcher to remove. The lists are usually short (you don't usually
 have many watchers waiting for the same fd or signal).
 .IP "Finding the next timer in each loop iteration: O(1)" 4
 .IX Item "Finding the next timer in each loop iteration: O(1)"
-By virtue of using a binary heap, the next timer is always found at the
+By virtue of using a binary or 4\-heap, the next timer is always found at a
-beginning of the storage array.
+fixed position in the storage array.
 .IP "Each change on a file descriptor per loop iteration: O(number_of_watchers_for_this_fd)" 4
 .IX Item "Each change on a file descriptor per loop iteration: O(number_of_watchers_for_this_fd)"
 A change means an I/O watcher gets started or stopped, which requires
 libev to recalculate its status (and possibly tell the kernel, depending
 on backend and wether \f(CW\*(C`ev_io_set\*(C'\fR was used).
 .IX Item "Priority handling: O(number_of_priorities)"
 .PD
 Priorities are implemented by allocating some space for each
 priority. When doing priority-based operations, libev usually has to
 linearly search all the priorities, but starting/stopping and activating
-watchers becomes O(1) w.r.t. prioritiy handling.
+watchers becomes O(1) w.r.t. priority handling.
+.IP "Sending an ev_async: O(1)" 4
+.IX Item "Sending an ev_async: O(1)"
+.PD 0
+.IP "Processing ev_async_send: O(number_of_async_watchers)" 4
+.IX Item "Processing ev_async_send: O(number_of_async_watchers)"
+.IP "Processing signals: O(max_signal_number)" 4
+.IX Item "Processing signals: O(max_signal_number)"
+.PD
+Sending involves a syscall \fIiff\fR there were no other \f(CW\*(C`ev_async_send\*(C'\fR
+calls in the current loop iteration. Checking for async and signal events
+involves iterating over all running async watchers or all signal numbers.
 .SH "Win32 platform limitations and workarounds"
 .IX Header "Win32 platform limitations and workarounds"
 Win32 doesn't support any of the standards (e.g. \s-1POSIX\s0) that libev
 requires, and its I/O model is fundamentally incompatible with the \s-1POSIX\s0
 model. Libev still offers limited functionality on this platform in
 the form of the \f(CW\*(C`EVBACKEND_SELECT\*(C'\fR backend, and only supports socket
 descriptors. This only applies when using Win32 natively, not when using
 e.g. cygwin.
 .PP
+Lifting these limitations would basically require the full
+re-implementation of the I/O system. If you are into these kinds of
+things, then note that glib does exactly that for you in a very portable
+way (note also that glib is the slowest event library known to man).
+.PP
 There is no supported compilation method available on windows except
 embedding it into other applications.
 .PP
-Due to the many, low, and arbitrary limits on the win32 platform and the
+Due to the many, low, and arbitrary limits on the win32 platform and
-abysmal performance of winsockets, using a large number of sockets is not
+the abysmal performance of winsockets, using a large number of sockets
-recommended (and not reasonable). If your program needs to use more than
+is not recommended (and not reasonable). If your program needs to use
-a hundred or so sockets, then likely it needs to use a totally different
+more than a hundred or so sockets, then likely it needs to use a totally
-implementation for windows, as libev offers the \s-1POSIX\s0 model, which cannot
+different implementation for windows, as libev offers the \s-1POSIX\s0 readiness
-be implemented efficiently on windows (microsoft monopoly games).
+notification model, which cannot be implemented efficiently on windows
+(microsoft monopoly games).
 .IP "The winsocket select function" 4
 .IX Item "The winsocket select function"
-The winsocket \f(CW\*(C`select\*(C'\fR function doesn't follow \s-1POSIX\s0 in that it requires
+The winsocket \f(CW\*(C`select\*(C'\fR function doesn't follow \s-1POSIX\s0 in that it
-socket \fIhandles\fR and not socket \fIfile descriptors\fR. This makes select
+requires socket \fIhandles\fR and not socket \fIfile descriptors\fR (it is
-very inefficient, and also requires a mapping from file descriptors
+also extremely buggy). This makes select very inefficient, and also
-to socket handles. See the discussion of the \f(CW\*(C`EV_SELECT_USE_FD_SET\*(C'\fR,
+requires a mapping from file descriptors to socket handles. See the
-\&\f(CW\*(C`EV_SELECT_IS_WINSOCKET\*(C'\fR and \f(CW\*(C`EV_FD_TO_WIN32_HANDLE\*(C'\fR preprocessor
+discussion of the \f(CW\*(C`EV_SELECT_USE_FD_SET\*(C'\fR, \f(CW\*(C`EV_SELECT_IS_WINSOCKET\*(C'\fR and
-symbols for more info.
+\&\f(CW\*(C`EV_FD_TO_WIN32_HANDLE\*(C'\fR preprocessor symbols for more info.
 .Sp
 The configuration for a \*(L"naked\*(R" win32 using the microsoft runtime
 libraries and raw winsocket select is:
 .Sp
 .Vb 2
 .Sp
 Note that winsockets handling of fd sets is O(n), so you can easily get a
 complexity in the O(nA\*^X) range when using win32.
 .IP "Limited number of file descriptors" 4
 .IX Item "Limited number of file descriptors"
-Windows has numerous arbitrary (and low) limits on things. Early versions
+Windows has numerous arbitrary (and low) limits on things.
-of winsocket's select only supported waiting for a max. of \f(CW64\fR handles
+.Sp
-(probably owning to the fact that all windows kernels can only wait for
+Early versions of winsocket's select only supported waiting for a maximum
-\&\f(CW64\fR things at the same time internally; microsoft recommends spawning a
+of \f(CW64\fR handles (probably owning to the fact that all windows kernels
-chain of threads and wait for 63 handles and the previous thread in each).
+can only wait for \f(CW64\fR things at the same time internally; microsoft
+recommends spawning a chain of threads and wait for 63 handles and the
+previous thread in each. Great).
 .Sp
 Newer versions support more handles, but you need to define \f(CW\*(C`FD_SETSIZE\*(C'\fR
 to some high number (e.g. \f(CW2048\fR) before compiling the winsocket select
 call (which might be in libev or elsewhere, for example, perl does its own
 select emulation on windows).
 .Sp
 This might get you to about \f(CW512\fR or \f(CW2048\fR sockets (depending on
 windows version and/or the phase of the moon). To get more, you need to
 wrap all I/O functions and provide your own fd management, but the cost of
 calling select (O(nA\*^X)) will likely make this unworkable.
+.SH "PORTABILITY REQUIREMENTS"
+.IX Header "PORTABILITY REQUIREMENTS"
+In addition to a working ISO-C implementation, libev relies on a few
+additional extensions:
+.ie n .IP """sig_atomic_t volatile"" must be thread-atomic as well" 4
+.el .IP "\f(CWsig_atomic_t volatile\fR must be thread-atomic as well" 4
+.IX Item "sig_atomic_t volatile must be thread-atomic as well"
+The type \f(CW\*(C`sig_atomic_t volatile\*(C'\fR (or whatever is defined as
+\&\f(CW\*(C`EV_ATOMIC_T\*(C'\fR) must be atomic w.r.t. accesses from different
+threads. This is not part of the specification for \f(CW\*(C`sig_atomic_t\*(C'\fR, but is
+believed to be sufficiently portable.
+.ie n .IP """sigprocmask"" must work in a threaded environment" 4
+.el .IP "\f(CWsigprocmask\fR must work in a threaded environment" 4
+.IX Item "sigprocmask must work in a threaded environment"
+Libev uses \f(CW\*(C`sigprocmask\*(C'\fR to temporarily block signals. This is not
+allowed in a threaded program (\f(CW\*(C`pthread_sigmask\*(C'\fR has to be used). Typical
+pthread implementations will either allow \f(CW\*(C`sigprocmask\*(C'\fR in the \*(L"main
+thread\*(R" or will block signals process-wide, both behaviours would
+be compatible with libev. Interaction between \f(CW\*(C`sigprocmask\*(C'\fR and
+\&\f(CW\*(C`pthread_sigmask\*(C'\fR could complicate things, however.
+.Sp
+The most portable way to handle signals is to block signals in all threads
+except the initial one, and run the default loop in the initial thread as
+well.
+.ie n .IP """long"" must be large enough for common memory allocation sizes" 4
+.el .IP "\f(CWlong\fR must be large enough for common memory allocation sizes" 4
+.IX Item "long must be large enough for common memory allocation sizes"
+To improve portability and simplify using libev, libev uses \f(CW\*(C`long\*(C'\fR
+internally instead of \f(CW\*(C`size_t\*(C'\fR when allocating its data structures. On
+non-POSIX systems (Microsoft...) this might be unexpectedly low, but
+is still at least 31 bits everywhere, which is enough for hundreds of
+millions of watchers.
+.ie n .IP """double"" must hold a time value in seconds with enough accuracy" 4
+.el .IP "\f(CWdouble\fR must hold a time value in seconds with enough accuracy" 4
+.IX Item "double must hold a time value in seconds with enough accuracy"
+The type \f(CW\*(C`double\*(C'\fR is used to represent timestamps. It is required to
+have at least 51 bits of mantissa (and 9 bits of exponent), which is good
+enough for at least into the year 4000. This requirement is fulfilled by
+implementations implementing \s-1IEEE\s0 754 (basically all existing ones).
+.PP
+If you know of other additional requirements drop me a note.
+.SH "COMPILER WARNINGS"
+.IX Header "COMPILER WARNINGS"
+Depending on your compiler and compiler settings, you might get no or a
+lot of warnings when compiling libev code. Some people are apparently
+scared by this.
+.PP
+However, these are unavoidable for many reasons. For one, each compiler
+has different warnings, and each user has different tastes regarding
+warning options. \*(L"Warn-free\*(R" code therefore cannot be a goal except when
+targetting a specific compiler and compiler-version.
+.PP
+Another reason is that some compiler warnings require elaborate
+workarounds, or other changes to the code that make it less clear and less
+maintainable.
+.PP
+And of course, some compiler warnings are just plain stupid, or simply
+wrong (because they don't actually warn about the cindition their message
+seems to warn about).
+.PP
+While libev is written to generate as few warnings as possible,
+\&\*(L"warn-free\*(R" code is not a goal, and it is recommended not to build libev
+with any compiler warnings enabled unless you are prepared to cope with
+them (e.g. by ignoring them). Remember that warnings are just that:
+warnings, not errors, or proof of bugs.
+.SH "VALGRIND"
+.IX Header "VALGRIND"
+Valgrind has a special section here because it is a popular tool that is
+highly useful, but valgrind reports are very hard to interpret.
+.PP
+If you think you found a bug (memory leak, uninitialised data access etc.)
+in libev, then check twice: If valgrind reports something like:
+.PP
+.Vb 3
+\&   ==2274==    definitely lost: 0 bytes in 0 blocks.
+\&   ==2274==      possibly lost: 0 bytes in 0 blocks.
+\&   ==2274==    still reachable: 256 bytes in 1 blocks.
+.Ve
+.PP
+then there is no memory leak. Similarly, under some circumstances,
+valgrind might report kernel bugs as if it were a bug in libev, or it
+might be confused (it is a very good tool, but only a tool).
+.PP
+If you are unsure about something, feel free to contact the mailing list
+with the full valgrind report and an explanation on why you think this is
+a bug in libev. However, don't be annoyed when you get a brisk \*(L"this is
+no bug\*(R" answer and take the chance of learning how to interpret valgrind
+properly.
+.PP
+If you need, for some reason, empty reports from valgrind for your project
+I suggest using suppression lists.
 .SH "AUTHOR"
 .IX Header "AUTHOR"
 Marc Lehmann <libev@schmorp.de>.
 .SH "POD ERRORS"
 .IX Header "POD ERRORS"
 Hey! \fBThe above document had some coding errors, which are explained below:\fR
-.IP "Around line 2686:" 4
+.IP "Around line 3107:" 4
-.IX Item "Around line 2686:"
+.IX Item "Around line 3107:"
 You forgot a '=back' before '=head2'

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Comparing libev/ev.3 (file contents): Revision 1.60 by root, Mon Jan 28 12:23:02 2008 UTC vs. Revision 1.67 by root, Fri May 23 16:43:45 2008 UTC

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Comparing libev/ev.3 (file contents):
Revision 1.60 by root, Mon Jan 28 12:23:02 2008 UTC vs.
Revision 1.67 by root, Fri May 23 16:43:45 2008 UTC