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4<head> 4<head>
5 <title>libev</title> 5 <title>libev</title>
6 <meta name="description" content="Pod documentation for libev" /> 6 <meta name="description" content="Pod documentation for libev" />
7 <meta name="inputfile" content="&lt;standard input&gt;" /> 7 <meta name="inputfile" content="&lt;standard input&gt;" />
8 <meta name="outputfile" content="&lt;standard output&gt;" /> 8 <meta name="outputfile" content="&lt;standard output&gt;" />
9 <meta name="created" content="Mon Nov 12 09:57:02 2007" /> 9 <meta name="created" content="Sat Dec 8 23:11:11 2007" />
10 <meta name="generator" content="Pod::Xhtml 1.57" /> 10 <meta name="generator" content="Pod::Xhtml 1.57" />
11<link rel="stylesheet" href="http://res.tst.eu/pod.css"/></head> 11<link rel="stylesheet" href="http://res.tst.eu/pod.css"/></head>
12<body> 12<body>
13<div class="pod"> 13<div class="pod">
14<!-- INDEX START --> 14<!-- INDEX START -->
15<h3 id="TOP">Index</h3> 15<h3 id="TOP">Index</h3>
16 16
17<ul><li><a href="#NAME">NAME</a></li> 17<ul><li><a href="#NAME">NAME</a></li>
18<li><a href="#SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></li> 18<li><a href="#SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></li>
19<li><a href="#EXAMPLE_PROGRAM">EXAMPLE PROGRAM</a></li>
19<li><a href="#DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></li> 20<li><a href="#DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></li>
20<li><a href="#FEATURES">FEATURES</a></li> 21<li><a href="#FEATURES">FEATURES</a></li>
21<li><a href="#CONVENTIONS">CONVENTIONS</a></li> 22<li><a href="#CONVENTIONS">CONVENTIONS</a></li>
22<li><a href="#TIME_REPRESENTATION">TIME REPRESENTATION</a></li> 23<li><a href="#TIME_REPRESENTATION">TIME REPRESENTATION</a></li>
23<li><a href="#GLOBAL_FUNCTIONS">GLOBAL FUNCTIONS</a></li> 24<li><a href="#GLOBAL_FUNCTIONS">GLOBAL FUNCTIONS</a></li>
24<li><a href="#FUNCTIONS_CONTROLLING_THE_EVENT_LOOP">FUNCTIONS CONTROLLING THE EVENT LOOP</a></li> 25<li><a href="#FUNCTIONS_CONTROLLING_THE_EVENT_LOOP">FUNCTIONS CONTROLLING THE EVENT LOOP</a></li>
25<li><a href="#ANATOMY_OF_A_WATCHER">ANATOMY OF A WATCHER</a> 26<li><a href="#ANATOMY_OF_A_WATCHER">ANATOMY OF A WATCHER</a>
27<ul><li><a href="#GENERIC_WATCHER_FUNCTIONS">GENERIC WATCHER FUNCTIONS</a></li>
26<ul><li><a href="#ASSOCIATING_CUSTOM_DATA_WITH_A_WATCH">ASSOCIATING CUSTOM DATA WITH A WATCHER</a></li> 28<li><a href="#ASSOCIATING_CUSTOM_DATA_WITH_A_WATCH">ASSOCIATING CUSTOM DATA WITH A WATCHER</a></li>
27</ul> 29</ul>
28</li> 30</li>
29<li><a href="#WATCHER_TYPES">WATCHER TYPES</a> 31<li><a href="#WATCHER_TYPES">WATCHER TYPES</a>
30<ul><li><a href="#code_ev_io_code_is_this_file_descrip"><code>ev_io</code> - is this file descriptor readable or writable</a></li> 32<ul><li><a href="#code_ev_io_code_is_this_file_descrip"><code>ev_io</code> - is this file descriptor readable or writable?</a></li>
31<li><a href="#code_ev_timer_code_relative_and_opti"><code>ev_timer</code> - relative and optionally recurring timeouts</a></li> 33<li><a href="#code_ev_timer_code_relative_and_opti"><code>ev_timer</code> - relative and optionally repeating timeouts</a></li>
32<li><a href="#code_ev_periodic_code_to_cron_or_not"><code>ev_periodic</code> - to cron or not to cron</a></li> 34<li><a href="#code_ev_periodic_code_to_cron_or_not"><code>ev_periodic</code> - to cron or not to cron?</a></li>
33<li><a href="#code_ev_signal_code_signal_me_when_a"><code>ev_signal</code> - signal me when a signal gets signalled</a></li> 35<li><a href="#code_ev_signal_code_signal_me_when_a"><code>ev_signal</code> - signal me when a signal gets signalled!</a></li>
34<li><a href="#code_ev_child_code_wait_for_pid_stat"><code>ev_child</code> - wait for pid status changes</a></li> 36<li><a href="#code_ev_child_code_watch_out_for_pro"><code>ev_child</code> - watch out for process status changes</a></li>
37<li><a href="#code_ev_stat_code_did_the_file_attri"><code>ev_stat</code> - did the file attributes just change?</a></li>
35<li><a href="#code_ev_idle_code_when_you_ve_got_no"><code>ev_idle</code> - when you've got nothing better to do</a></li> 38<li><a href="#code_ev_idle_code_when_you_ve_got_no"><code>ev_idle</code> - when you've got nothing better to do...</a></li>
36<li><a href="#code_ev_prepare_code_and_code_ev_che"><code>ev_prepare</code> and <code>ev_check</code> - customise your event loop</a></li> 39<li><a href="#code_ev_prepare_code_and_code_ev_che"><code>ev_prepare</code> and <code>ev_check</code> - customise your event loop!</a></li>
40<li><a href="#code_ev_embed_code_when_one_backend_"><code>ev_embed</code> - when one backend isn't enough...</a></li>
41<li><a href="#code_ev_fork_code_the_audacity_to_re"><code>ev_fork</code> - the audacity to resume the event loop after a fork</a></li>
37</ul> 42</ul>
38</li> 43</li>
39<li><a href="#OTHER_FUNCTIONS">OTHER FUNCTIONS</a></li> 44<li><a href="#OTHER_FUNCTIONS">OTHER FUNCTIONS</a></li>
45<li><a href="#LIBEVENT_EMULATION">LIBEVENT EMULATION</a></li>
46<li><a href="#C_SUPPORT">C++ SUPPORT</a></li>
47<li><a href="#MACRO_MAGIC">MACRO MAGIC</a></li>
48<li><a href="#EMBEDDING">EMBEDDING</a>
49<ul><li><a href="#FILESETS">FILESETS</a>
50<ul><li><a href="#CORE_EVENT_LOOP">CORE EVENT LOOP</a></li>
51<li><a href="#LIBEVENT_COMPATIBILITY_API">LIBEVENT COMPATIBILITY API</a></li>
52<li><a href="#AUTOCONF_SUPPORT">AUTOCONF SUPPORT</a></li>
53</ul>
54</li>
55<li><a href="#PREPROCESSOR_SYMBOLS_MACROS">PREPROCESSOR SYMBOLS/MACROS</a></li>
56<li><a href="#EXAMPLES">EXAMPLES</a></li>
57</ul>
58</li>
59<li><a href="#COMPLEXITIES">COMPLEXITIES</a></li>
40<li><a href="#AUTHOR">AUTHOR</a> 60<li><a href="#AUTHOR">AUTHOR</a>
41</li> 61</li>
42</ul><hr /> 62</ul><hr />
43<!-- INDEX END --> 63<!-- INDEX END -->
44 64
45<h1 id="NAME">NAME</h1><p><a href="#TOP" class="toplink">Top</a></p> 65<h1 id="NAME">NAME</h1>
46<div id="NAME_CONTENT"> 66<div id="NAME_CONTENT">
47<p>libev - a high performance full-featured event loop written in C</p> 67<p>libev - a high performance full-featured event loop written in C</p>
48 68
49</div> 69</div>
50<h1 id="SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</h1><p><a href="#TOP" class="toplink">Top</a></p> 70<h1 id="SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</h1>
51<div id="SYNOPSIS_CONTENT"> 71<div id="SYNOPSIS_CONTENT">
52<pre> #include &lt;ev.h&gt; 72<pre> #include &lt;ev.h&gt;
53 73
54</pre> 74</pre>
55 75
56</div> 76</div>
57<h1 id="DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</h1><p><a href="#TOP" class="toplink">Top</a></p> 77<h1 id="EXAMPLE_PROGRAM">EXAMPLE PROGRAM</h1>
78<div id="EXAMPLE_PROGRAM_CONTENT">
79<pre> #include &lt;ev.h&gt;
80
81 ev_io stdin_watcher;
82 ev_timer timeout_watcher;
83
84 /* called when data readable on stdin */
85 static void
86 stdin_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_io *w, int revents)
87 {
88 /* puts (&quot;stdin ready&quot;); */
89 ev_io_stop (EV_A_ w); /* just a syntax example */
90 ev_unloop (EV_A_ EVUNLOOP_ALL); /* leave all loop calls */
91 }
92
93 static void
94 timeout_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_timer *w, int revents)
95 {
96 /* puts (&quot;timeout&quot;); */
97 ev_unloop (EV_A_ EVUNLOOP_ONE); /* leave one loop call */
98 }
99
100 int
101 main (void)
102 {
103 struct ev_loop *loop = ev_default_loop (0);
104
105 /* initialise an io watcher, then start it */
106 ev_io_init (&amp;stdin_watcher, stdin_cb, /*STDIN_FILENO*/ 0, EV_READ);
107 ev_io_start (loop, &amp;stdin_watcher);
108
109 /* simple non-repeating 5.5 second timeout */
110 ev_timer_init (&amp;timeout_watcher, timeout_cb, 5.5, 0.);
111 ev_timer_start (loop, &amp;timeout_watcher);
112
113 /* loop till timeout or data ready */
114 ev_loop (loop, 0);
115
116 return 0;
117 }
118
119</pre>
120
121</div>
122<h1 id="DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</h1>
58<div id="DESCRIPTION_CONTENT"> 123<div id="DESCRIPTION_CONTENT">
124<p>The newest version of this document is also available as a html-formatted
125web page you might find easier to navigate when reading it for the first
126time: <a href="http://cvs.schmorp.de/libev/ev.html">http://cvs.schmorp.de/libev/ev.html</a>.</p>
59<p>Libev is an event loop: you register interest in certain events (such as a 127<p>Libev is an event loop: you register interest in certain events (such as a
60file descriptor being readable or a timeout occuring), and it will manage 128file descriptor being readable or a timeout occuring), and it will manage
61these event sources and provide your program with events.</p> 129these event sources and provide your program with events.</p>
62<p>To do this, it must take more or less complete control over your process 130<p>To do this, it must take more or less complete control over your process
63(or thread) by executing the <i>event loop</i> handler, and will then 131(or thread) by executing the <i>event loop</i> handler, and will then
66watchers</i>, which are relatively small C structures you initialise with the 134watchers</i>, which are relatively small C structures you initialise with the
67details of the event, and then hand it over to libev by <i>starting</i> the 135details of the event, and then hand it over to libev by <i>starting</i> the
68watcher.</p> 136watcher.</p>
69 137
70</div> 138</div>
71<h1 id="FEATURES">FEATURES</h1><p><a href="#TOP" class="toplink">Top</a></p> 139<h1 id="FEATURES">FEATURES</h1>
72<div id="FEATURES_CONTENT"> 140<div id="FEATURES_CONTENT">
73<p>Libev supports select, poll, the linux-specific epoll and the bsd-specific 141<p>Libev supports <code>select</code>, <code>poll</code>, the Linux-specific <code>epoll</code>, the
74kqueue mechanisms for file descriptor events, relative timers, absolute 142BSD-specific <code>kqueue</code> and the Solaris-specific event port mechanisms
75timers with customised rescheduling, signal events, process status change 143for file descriptor events (<code>ev_io</code>), the Linux <code>inotify</code> interface
76events (related to SIGCHLD), and event watchers dealing with the event 144(for <code>ev_stat</code>), relative timers (<code>ev_timer</code>), absolute timers
77loop mechanism itself (idle, prepare and check watchers). It also is quite 145with customised rescheduling (<code>ev_periodic</code>), synchronous signals
146(<code>ev_signal</code>), process status change events (<code>ev_child</code>), and event
147watchers dealing with the event loop mechanism itself (<code>ev_idle</code>,
148<code>ev_embed</code>, <code>ev_prepare</code> and <code>ev_check</code> watchers) as well as
149file watchers (<code>ev_stat</code>) and even limited support for fork events
150(<code>ev_fork</code>).</p>
151<p>It also is quite fast (see this
78fast (see this <a href="http://libev.schmorp.de/bench.html">benchmark</a> comparing 152<a href="http://libev.schmorp.de/bench.html">benchmark</a> comparing it to libevent
79it to libevent for example).</p> 153for example).</p>
80 154
81</div> 155</div>
82<h1 id="CONVENTIONS">CONVENTIONS</h1><p><a href="#TOP" class="toplink">Top</a></p> 156<h1 id="CONVENTIONS">CONVENTIONS</h1>
83<div id="CONVENTIONS_CONTENT"> 157<div id="CONVENTIONS_CONTENT">
84<p>Libev is very configurable. In this manual the default configuration 158<p>Libev is very configurable. In this manual the default configuration will
85will be described, which supports multiple event loops. For more info 159be described, which supports multiple event loops. For more info about
86about various configuration options please have a look at the file 160various configuration options please have a look at <strong>EMBED</strong> section in
87<cite>README.embed</cite> in the libev distribution. If libev was configured without 161this manual. If libev was configured without support for multiple event
88support for multiple event loops, then all functions taking an initial 162loops, then all functions taking an initial argument of name <code>loop</code>
89argument of name <code>loop</code> (which is always of type <code>struct ev_loop *</code>) 163(which is always of type <code>struct ev_loop *</code>) will not have this argument.</p>
90will not have this argument.</p>
91 164
92</div> 165</div>
93<h1 id="TIME_REPRESENTATION">TIME REPRESENTATION</h1><p><a href="#TOP" class="toplink">Top</a></p> 166<h1 id="TIME_REPRESENTATION">TIME REPRESENTATION</h1>
94<div id="TIME_REPRESENTATION_CONTENT"> 167<div id="TIME_REPRESENTATION_CONTENT">
95<p>Libev represents time as a single floating point number, representing the 168<p>Libev represents time as a single floating point number, representing the
96(fractional) number of seconds since the (POSIX) epoch (somewhere near 169(fractional) number of seconds since the (POSIX) epoch (somewhere near
97the beginning of 1970, details are complicated, don't ask). This type is 170the beginning of 1970, details are complicated, don't ask). This type is
98called <code>ev_tstamp</code>, which is what you should use too. It usually aliases 171called <code>ev_tstamp</code>, which is what you should use too. It usually aliases
99to the double type in C.</p> 172to the <code>double</code> type in C, and when you need to do any calculations on
173it, you should treat it as such.</p>
100 174
101</div> 175</div>
102<h1 id="GLOBAL_FUNCTIONS">GLOBAL FUNCTIONS</h1><p><a href="#TOP" class="toplink">Top</a></p> 176<h1 id="GLOBAL_FUNCTIONS">GLOBAL FUNCTIONS</h1>
103<div id="GLOBAL_FUNCTIONS_CONTENT"> 177<div id="GLOBAL_FUNCTIONS_CONTENT">
178<p>These functions can be called anytime, even before initialising the
179library in any way.</p>
104<dl> 180<dl>
105 <dt>ev_tstamp ev_time ()</dt> 181 <dt>ev_tstamp ev_time ()</dt>
106 <dd> 182 <dd>
107 <p>Returns the current time as libev would use it.</p> 183 <p>Returns the current time as libev would use it. Please note that the
184<code>ev_now</code> function is usually faster and also often returns the timestamp
185you actually want to know.</p>
108 </dd> 186 </dd>
109 <dt>int ev_version_major ()</dt> 187 <dt>int ev_version_major ()</dt>
110 <dt>int ev_version_minor ()</dt> 188 <dt>int ev_version_minor ()</dt>
111 <dd> 189 <dd>
112 <p>You can find out the major and minor version numbers of the library 190 <p>You can find out the major and minor version numbers of the library
116version of the library your program was compiled against.</p> 194version of the library your program was compiled against.</p>
117 <p>Usually, it's a good idea to terminate if the major versions mismatch, 195 <p>Usually, it's a good idea to terminate if the major versions mismatch,
118as this indicates an incompatible change. Minor versions are usually 196as this indicates an incompatible change. Minor versions are usually
119compatible to older versions, so a larger minor version alone is usually 197compatible to older versions, so a larger minor version alone is usually
120not a problem.</p> 198not a problem.</p>
199 <p>Example: Make sure we haven't accidentally been linked against the wrong
200version.</p>
201<pre> assert ((&quot;libev version mismatch&quot;,
202 ev_version_major () == EV_VERSION_MAJOR
203 &amp;&amp; ev_version_minor () &gt;= EV_VERSION_MINOR));
204
205</pre>
206 </dd>
207 <dt>unsigned int ev_supported_backends ()</dt>
208 <dd>
209 <p>Return the set of all backends (i.e. their corresponding <code>EV_BACKEND_*</code>
210value) compiled into this binary of libev (independent of their
211availability on the system you are running on). See <code>ev_default_loop</code> for
212a description of the set values.</p>
213 <p>Example: make sure we have the epoll method, because yeah this is cool and
214a must have and can we have a torrent of it please!!!11</p>
215<pre> assert ((&quot;sorry, no epoll, no sex&quot;,
216 ev_supported_backends () &amp; EVBACKEND_EPOLL));
217
218</pre>
219 </dd>
220 <dt>unsigned int ev_recommended_backends ()</dt>
221 <dd>
222 <p>Return the set of all backends compiled into this binary of libev and also
223recommended for this platform. This set is often smaller than the one
224returned by <code>ev_supported_backends</code>, as for example kqueue is broken on
225most BSDs and will not be autodetected unless you explicitly request it
226(assuming you know what you are doing). This is the set of backends that
227libev will probe for if you specify no backends explicitly.</p>
228 </dd>
229 <dt>unsigned int ev_embeddable_backends ()</dt>
230 <dd>
231 <p>Returns the set of backends that are embeddable in other event loops. This
232is the theoretical, all-platform, value. To find which backends
233might be supported on the current system, you would need to look at
234<code>ev_embeddable_backends () &amp; ev_supported_backends ()</code>, likewise for
235recommended ones.</p>
236 <p>See the description of <code>ev_embed</code> watchers for more info.</p>
121 </dd> 237 </dd>
122 <dt>ev_set_allocator (void *(*cb)(void *ptr, long size))</dt> 238 <dt>ev_set_allocator (void *(*cb)(void *ptr, long size))</dt>
123 <dd> 239 <dd>
124 <p>Sets the allocation function to use (the prototype is similar to the 240 <p>Sets the allocation function to use (the prototype is similar - the
125realloc C function, the semantics are identical). It is used to allocate 241semantics is identical - to the realloc C function). It is used to
126and free memory (no surprises here). If it returns zero when memory 242allocate and free memory (no surprises here). If it returns zero when
127needs to be allocated, the library might abort or take some potentially 243memory needs to be allocated, the library might abort or take some
128destructive action. The default is your system realloc function.</p> 244potentially destructive action. The default is your system realloc
245function.</p>
129 <p>You could override this function in high-availability programs to, say, 246 <p>You could override this function in high-availability programs to, say,
130free some memory if it cannot allocate memory, to use a special allocator, 247free some memory if it cannot allocate memory, to use a special allocator,
131or even to sleep a while and retry until some memory is available.</p> 248or even to sleep a while and retry until some memory is available.</p>
249 <p>Example: Replace the libev allocator with one that waits a bit and then
250retries).</p>
251<pre> static void *
252 persistent_realloc (void *ptr, size_t size)
253 {
254 for (;;)
255 {
256 void *newptr = realloc (ptr, size);
257
258 if (newptr)
259 return newptr;
260
261 sleep (60);
262 }
263 }
264
265 ...
266 ev_set_allocator (persistent_realloc);
267
268</pre>
132 </dd> 269 </dd>
133 <dt>ev_set_syserr_cb (void (*cb)(const char *msg));</dt> 270 <dt>ev_set_syserr_cb (void (*cb)(const char *msg));</dt>
134 <dd> 271 <dd>
135 <p>Set the callback function to call on a retryable syscall error (such 272 <p>Set the callback function to call on a retryable syscall error (such
136as failed select, poll, epoll_wait). The message is a printable string 273as failed select, poll, epoll_wait). The message is a printable string
137indicating the system call or subsystem causing the problem. If this 274indicating the system call or subsystem causing the problem. If this
138callback is set, then libev will expect it to remedy the sitution, no 275callback is set, then libev will expect it to remedy the sitution, no
139matter what, when it returns. That is, libev will generally retry the 276matter what, when it returns. That is, libev will generally retry the
140requested operation, or, if the condition doesn't go away, do bad stuff 277requested operation, or, if the condition doesn't go away, do bad stuff
141(such as abort).</p> 278(such as abort).</p>
279 <p>Example: This is basically the same thing that libev does internally, too.</p>
280<pre> static void
281 fatal_error (const char *msg)
282 {
283 perror (msg);
284 abort ();
285 }
286
287 ...
288 ev_set_syserr_cb (fatal_error);
289
290</pre>
142 </dd> 291 </dd>
143</dl> 292</dl>
144 293
145</div> 294</div>
146<h1 id="FUNCTIONS_CONTROLLING_THE_EVENT_LOOP">FUNCTIONS CONTROLLING THE EVENT LOOP</h1><p><a href="#TOP" class="toplink">Top</a></p> 295<h1 id="FUNCTIONS_CONTROLLING_THE_EVENT_LOOP">FUNCTIONS CONTROLLING THE EVENT LOOP</h1>
147<div id="FUNCTIONS_CONTROLLING_THE_EVENT_LOOP-2"> 296<div id="FUNCTIONS_CONTROLLING_THE_EVENT_LOOP-2">
148<p>An event loop is described by a <code>struct ev_loop *</code>. The library knows two 297<p>An event loop is described by a <code>struct ev_loop *</code>. The library knows two
149types of such loops, the <i>default</i> loop, which supports signals and child 298types of such loops, the <i>default</i> loop, which supports signals and child
150events, and dynamically created loops which do not.</p> 299events, and dynamically created loops which do not.</p>
151<p>If you use threads, a common model is to run the default event loop 300<p>If you use threads, a common model is to run the default event loop
158 <dt>struct ev_loop *ev_default_loop (unsigned int flags)</dt> 307 <dt>struct ev_loop *ev_default_loop (unsigned int flags)</dt>
159 <dd> 308 <dd>
160 <p>This will initialise the default event loop if it hasn't been initialised 309 <p>This will initialise the default event loop if it hasn't been initialised
161yet and return it. If the default loop could not be initialised, returns 310yet and return it. If the default loop could not be initialised, returns
162false. If it already was initialised it simply returns it (and ignores the 311false. If it already was initialised it simply returns it (and ignores the
163flags).</p> 312flags. If that is troubling you, check <code>ev_backend ()</code> afterwards).</p>
164 <p>If you don't know what event loop to use, use the one returned from this 313 <p>If you don't know what event loop to use, use the one returned from this
165function.</p> 314function.</p>
166 <p>The flags argument can be used to specify special behaviour or specific 315 <p>The flags argument can be used to specify special behaviour or specific
167backends to use, and is usually specified as 0 (or EVFLAG_AUTO).</p> 316backends to use, and is usually specified as <code>0</code> (or <code>EVFLAG_AUTO</code>).</p>
168 <p>It supports the following flags:</p> 317 <p>The following flags are supported:</p>
169 <p> 318 <p>
170 <dl> 319 <dl>
171 <dt><code>EVFLAG_AUTO</code></dt> 320 <dt><code>EVFLAG_AUTO</code></dt>
172 <dd> 321 <dd>
173 <p>The default flags value. Use this if you have no clue (it's the right 322 <p>The default flags value. Use this if you have no clue (it's the right
180<code>LIBEV_FLAGS</code>. Otherwise (the default), this environment variable will 329<code>LIBEV_FLAGS</code>. Otherwise (the default), this environment variable will
181override the flags completely if it is found in the environment. This is 330override the flags completely if it is found in the environment. This is
182useful to try out specific backends to test their performance, or to work 331useful to try out specific backends to test their performance, or to work
183around bugs.</p> 332around bugs.</p>
184 </dd> 333 </dd>
185 <dt><code>EVMETHOD_SELECT</code> (portable select backend)</dt> 334 <dt><code>EVFLAG_FORKCHECK</code></dt>
186 <dt><code>EVMETHOD_POLL</code> (poll backend, available everywhere except on windows)</dt> 335 <dd>
187 <dt><code>EVMETHOD_EPOLL</code> (linux only)</dt> 336 <p>Instead of calling <code>ev_default_fork</code> or <code>ev_loop_fork</code> manually after
188 <dt><code>EVMETHOD_KQUEUE</code> (some bsds only)</dt> 337a fork, you can also make libev check for a fork in each iteration by
189 <dt><code>EVMETHOD_DEVPOLL</code> (solaris 8 only)</dt> 338enabling this flag.</p>
190 <dt><code>EVMETHOD_PORT</code> (solaris 10 only)</dt> 339 <p>This works by calling <code>getpid ()</code> on every iteration of the loop,
340and thus this might slow down your event loop if you do a lot of loop
341iterations and little real work, but is usually not noticeable (on my
342Linux system for example, <code>getpid</code> is actually a simple 5-insn sequence
343without a syscall and thus <i>very</i> fast, but my Linux system also has
344<code>pthread_atfork</code> which is even faster).</p>
345 <p>The big advantage of this flag is that you can forget about fork (and
346forget about forgetting to tell libev about forking) when you use this
347flag.</p>
348 <p>This flag setting cannot be overriden or specified in the <code>LIBEV_FLAGS</code>
349environment variable.</p>
191 <dd> 350 </dd>
192 <p>If one or more of these are ored into the flags value, then only these 351 <dt><code>EVBACKEND_SELECT</code> (value 1, portable select backend)</dt>
193backends will be tried (in the reverse order as given here). If one are 352 <dd>
194specified, any backend will do.</p> 353 <p>This is your standard select(2) backend. Not <i>completely</i> standard, as
354libev tries to roll its own fd_set with no limits on the number of fds,
355but if that fails, expect a fairly low limit on the number of fds when
356using this backend. It doesn't scale too well (O(highest_fd)), but its usually
357the fastest backend for a low number of fds.</p>
358 </dd>
359 <dt><code>EVBACKEND_POLL</code> (value 2, poll backend, available everywhere except on windows)</dt>
360 <dd>
361 <p>And this is your standard poll(2) backend. It's more complicated than
362select, but handles sparse fds better and has no artificial limit on the
363number of fds you can use (except it will slow down considerably with a
364lot of inactive fds). It scales similarly to select, i.e. O(total_fds).</p>
365 </dd>
366 <dt><code>EVBACKEND_EPOLL</code> (value 4, Linux)</dt>
367 <dd>
368 <p>For few fds, this backend is a bit little slower than poll and select,
369but it scales phenomenally better. While poll and select usually scale like
370O(total_fds) where n is the total number of fds (or the highest fd), epoll scales
371either O(1) or O(active_fds).</p>
372 <p>While stopping and starting an I/O watcher in the same iteration will
373result in some caching, there is still a syscall per such incident
374(because the fd could point to a different file description now), so its
375best to avoid that. Also, dup()ed file descriptors might not work very
376well if you register events for both fds.</p>
377 <p>Please note that epoll sometimes generates spurious notifications, so you
378need to use non-blocking I/O or other means to avoid blocking when no data
379(or space) is available.</p>
380 </dd>
381 <dt><code>EVBACKEND_KQUEUE</code> (value 8, most BSD clones)</dt>
382 <dd>
383 <p>Kqueue deserves special mention, as at the time of this writing, it
384was broken on all BSDs except NetBSD (usually it doesn't work with
385anything but sockets and pipes, except on Darwin, where of course its
386completely useless). For this reason its not being &quot;autodetected&quot;
387unless you explicitly specify it explicitly in the flags (i.e. using
388<code>EVBACKEND_KQUEUE</code>).</p>
389 <p>It scales in the same way as the epoll backend, but the interface to the
390kernel is more efficient (which says nothing about its actual speed, of
391course). While starting and stopping an I/O watcher does not cause an
392extra syscall as with epoll, it still adds up to four event changes per
393incident, so its best to avoid that.</p>
394 </dd>
395 <dt><code>EVBACKEND_DEVPOLL</code> (value 16, Solaris 8)</dt>
396 <dd>
397 <p>This is not implemented yet (and might never be).</p>
398 </dd>
399 <dt><code>EVBACKEND_PORT</code> (value 32, Solaris 10)</dt>
400 <dd>
401 <p>This uses the Solaris 10 port mechanism. As with everything on Solaris,
402it's really slow, but it still scales very well (O(active_fds)).</p>
403 <p>Please note that solaris ports can result in a lot of spurious
404notifications, so you need to use non-blocking I/O or other means to avoid
405blocking when no data (or space) is available.</p>
406 </dd>
407 <dt><code>EVBACKEND_ALL</code></dt>
408 <dd>
409 <p>Try all backends (even potentially broken ones that wouldn't be tried
410with <code>EVFLAG_AUTO</code>). Since this is a mask, you can do stuff such as
411<code>EVBACKEND_ALL &amp; ~EVBACKEND_KQUEUE</code>.</p>
195 </dd> 412 </dd>
196 </dl> 413 </dl>
197 </p> 414 </p>
415 <p>If one or more of these are ored into the flags value, then only these
416backends will be tried (in the reverse order as given here). If none are
417specified, most compiled-in backend will be tried, usually in reverse
418order of their flag values :)</p>
419 <p>The most typical usage is like this:</p>
420<pre> if (!ev_default_loop (0))
421 fatal (&quot;could not initialise libev, bad $LIBEV_FLAGS in environment?&quot;);
422
423</pre>
424 <p>Restrict libev to the select and poll backends, and do not allow
425environment settings to be taken into account:</p>
426<pre> ev_default_loop (EVBACKEND_POLL | EVBACKEND_SELECT | EVFLAG_NOENV);
427
428</pre>
429 <p>Use whatever libev has to offer, but make sure that kqueue is used if
430available (warning, breaks stuff, best use only with your own private
431event loop and only if you know the OS supports your types of fds):</p>
432<pre> ev_default_loop (ev_recommended_backends () | EVBACKEND_KQUEUE);
433
434</pre>
198 </dd> 435 </dd>
199 <dt>struct ev_loop *ev_loop_new (unsigned int flags)</dt> 436 <dt>struct ev_loop *ev_loop_new (unsigned int flags)</dt>
200 <dd> 437 <dd>
201 <p>Similar to <code>ev_default_loop</code>, but always creates a new event loop that is 438 <p>Similar to <code>ev_default_loop</code>, but always creates a new event loop that is
202always distinct from the default loop. Unlike the default loop, it cannot 439always distinct from the default loop. Unlike the default loop, it cannot
203handle signal and child watchers, and attempts to do so will be greeted by 440handle signal and child watchers, and attempts to do so will be greeted by
204undefined behaviour (or a failed assertion if assertions are enabled).</p> 441undefined behaviour (or a failed assertion if assertions are enabled).</p>
442 <p>Example: Try to create a event loop that uses epoll and nothing else.</p>
443<pre> struct ev_loop *epoller = ev_loop_new (EVBACKEND_EPOLL | EVFLAG_NOENV);
444 if (!epoller)
445 fatal (&quot;no epoll found here, maybe it hides under your chair&quot;);
446
447</pre>
205 </dd> 448 </dd>
206 <dt>ev_default_destroy ()</dt> 449 <dt>ev_default_destroy ()</dt>
207 <dd> 450 <dd>
208 <p>Destroys the default loop again (frees all memory and kernel state 451 <p>Destroys the default loop again (frees all memory and kernel state
209etc.). This stops all registered event watchers (by not touching them in 452etc.). None of the active event watchers will be stopped in the normal
210any way whatsoever, although you cannot rely on this :).</p> 453sense, so e.g. <code>ev_is_active</code> might still return true. It is your
454responsibility to either stop all watchers cleanly yoursef <i>before</i>
455calling this function, or cope with the fact afterwards (which is usually
456the easiest thing, youc na just ignore the watchers and/or <code>free ()</code> them
457for example).</p>
211 </dd> 458 </dd>
212 <dt>ev_loop_destroy (loop)</dt> 459 <dt>ev_loop_destroy (loop)</dt>
213 <dd> 460 <dd>
214 <p>Like <code>ev_default_destroy</code>, but destroys an event loop created by an 461 <p>Like <code>ev_default_destroy</code>, but destroys an event loop created by an
215earlier call to <code>ev_loop_new</code>.</p> 462earlier call to <code>ev_loop_new</code>.</p>
218 <dd> 465 <dd>
219 <p>This function reinitialises the kernel state for backends that have 466 <p>This function reinitialises the kernel state for backends that have
220one. Despite the name, you can call it anytime, but it makes most sense 467one. Despite the name, you can call it anytime, but it makes most sense
221after forking, in either the parent or child process (or both, but that 468after forking, in either the parent or child process (or both, but that
222again makes little sense).</p> 469again makes little sense).</p>
223 <p>You <i>must</i> call this function after forking if and only if you want to 470 <p>You <i>must</i> call this function in the child process after forking if and
224use the event library in both processes. If you just fork+exec, you don't 471only if you want to use the event library in both processes. If you just
225have to call it.</p> 472fork+exec, you don't have to call it.</p>
226 <p>The function itself is quite fast and it's usually not a problem to call 473 <p>The function itself is quite fast and it's usually not a problem to call
227it just in case after a fork. To make this easy, the function will fit in 474it just in case after a fork. To make this easy, the function will fit in
228quite nicely into a call to <code>pthread_atfork</code>:</p> 475quite nicely into a call to <code>pthread_atfork</code>:</p>
229<pre> pthread_atfork (0, 0, ev_default_fork); 476<pre> pthread_atfork (0, 0, ev_default_fork);
230 477
231</pre> 478</pre>
479 <p>At the moment, <code>EVBACKEND_SELECT</code> and <code>EVBACKEND_POLL</code> are safe to use
480without calling this function, so if you force one of those backends you
481do not need to care.</p>
232 </dd> 482 </dd>
233 <dt>ev_loop_fork (loop)</dt> 483 <dt>ev_loop_fork (loop)</dt>
234 <dd> 484 <dd>
235 <p>Like <code>ev_default_fork</code>, but acts on an event loop created by 485 <p>Like <code>ev_default_fork</code>, but acts on an event loop created by
236<code>ev_loop_new</code>. Yes, you have to call this on every allocated event loop 486<code>ev_loop_new</code>. Yes, you have to call this on every allocated event loop
237after fork, and how you do this is entirely your own problem.</p> 487after fork, and how you do this is entirely your own problem.</p>
238 </dd> 488 </dd>
239 <dt>unsigned int ev_method (loop)</dt> 489 <dt>unsigned int ev_loop_count (loop)</dt>
490 <dd>
491 <p>Returns the count of loop iterations for the loop, which is identical to
492the number of times libev did poll for new events. It starts at <code>0</code> and
493happily wraps around with enough iterations.</p>
494 <p>This value can sometimes be useful as a generation counter of sorts (it
495&quot;ticks&quot; the number of loop iterations), as it roughly corresponds with
496<code>ev_prepare</code> and <code>ev_check</code> calls.</p>
240 <dd> 497 </dd>
498 <dt>unsigned int ev_backend (loop)</dt>
499 <dd>
241 <p>Returns one of the <code>EVMETHOD_*</code> flags indicating the event backend in 500 <p>Returns one of the <code>EVBACKEND_*</code> flags indicating the event backend in
242use.</p> 501use.</p>
243 </dd> 502 </dd>
244 <dt>ev_tstamp ev_now (loop)</dt> 503 <dt>ev_tstamp ev_now (loop)</dt>
245 <dd> 504 <dd>
246 <p>Returns the current &quot;event loop time&quot;, which is the time the event loop 505 <p>Returns the current &quot;event loop time&quot;, which is the time the event loop
247got events and started processing them. This timestamp does not change 506received events and started processing them. This timestamp does not
248as long as callbacks are being processed, and this is also the base time 507change as long as callbacks are being processed, and this is also the base
249used for relative timers. You can treat it as the timestamp of the event 508time used for relative timers. You can treat it as the timestamp of the
250occuring (or more correctly, the mainloop finding out about it).</p> 509event occuring (or more correctly, libev finding out about it).</p>
251 </dd> 510 </dd>
252 <dt>ev_loop (loop, int flags)</dt> 511 <dt>ev_loop (loop, int flags)</dt>
253 <dd> 512 <dd>
254 <p>Finally, this is it, the event handler. This function usually is called 513 <p>Finally, this is it, the event handler. This function usually is called
255after you initialised all your watchers and you want to start handling 514after you initialised all your watchers and you want to start handling
256events.</p> 515events.</p>
257 <p>If the flags argument is specified as 0, it will not return until either 516 <p>If the flags argument is specified as <code>0</code>, it will not return until
258no event watchers are active anymore or <code>ev_unloop</code> was called.</p> 517either no event watchers are active anymore or <code>ev_unloop</code> was called.</p>
518 <p>Please note that an explicit <code>ev_unloop</code> is usually better than
519relying on all watchers to be stopped when deciding when a program has
520finished (especially in interactive programs), but having a program that
521automatically loops as long as it has to and no longer by virtue of
522relying on its watchers stopping correctly is a thing of beauty.</p>
259 <p>A flags value of <code>EVLOOP_NONBLOCK</code> will look for new events, will handle 523 <p>A flags value of <code>EVLOOP_NONBLOCK</code> will look for new events, will handle
260those events and any outstanding ones, but will not block your process in 524those events and any outstanding ones, but will not block your process in
261case there are no events and will return after one iteration of the loop.</p> 525case there are no events and will return after one iteration of the loop.</p>
262 <p>A flags value of <code>EVLOOP_ONESHOT</code> will look for new events (waiting if 526 <p>A flags value of <code>EVLOOP_ONESHOT</code> will look for new events (waiting if
263neccessary) and will handle those and any outstanding ones. It will block 527neccessary) and will handle those and any outstanding ones. It will block
264your process until at least one new event arrives, and will return after 528your process until at least one new event arrives, and will return after
265one iteration of the loop.</p> 529one iteration of the loop. This is useful if you are waiting for some
266 <p>This flags value could be used to implement alternative looping 530external event in conjunction with something not expressible using other
267constructs, but the <code>prepare</code> and <code>check</code> watchers provide a better and 531libev watchers. However, a pair of <code>ev_prepare</code>/<code>ev_check</code> watchers is
268more generic mechanism.</p> 532usually a better approach for this kind of thing.</p>
533 <p>Here are the gory details of what <code>ev_loop</code> does:</p>
534<pre> - Before the first iteration, call any pending watchers.
535 * If there are no active watchers (reference count is zero), return.
536 - Queue all prepare watchers and then call all outstanding watchers.
537 - If we have been forked, recreate the kernel state.
538 - Update the kernel state with all outstanding changes.
539 - Update the &quot;event loop time&quot;.
540 - Calculate for how long to block.
541 - Block the process, waiting for any events.
542 - Queue all outstanding I/O (fd) events.
543 - Update the &quot;event loop time&quot; and do time jump handling.
544 - Queue all outstanding timers.
545 - Queue all outstanding periodics.
546 - If no events are pending now, queue all idle watchers.
547 - Queue all check watchers.
548 - Call all queued watchers in reverse order (i.e. check watchers first).
549 Signals and child watchers are implemented as I/O watchers, and will
550 be handled here by queueing them when their watcher gets executed.
551 - If ev_unloop has been called or EVLOOP_ONESHOT or EVLOOP_NONBLOCK
552 were used, return, otherwise continue with step *.
553
554</pre>
555 <p>Example: Queue some jobs and then loop until no events are outsanding
556anymore.</p>
557<pre> ... queue jobs here, make sure they register event watchers as long
558 ... as they still have work to do (even an idle watcher will do..)
559 ev_loop (my_loop, 0);
560 ... jobs done. yeah!
561
562</pre>
269 </dd> 563 </dd>
270 <dt>ev_unloop (loop, how)</dt> 564 <dt>ev_unloop (loop, how)</dt>
271 <dd> 565 <dd>
272 <p>Can be used to make a call to <code>ev_loop</code> return early (but only after it 566 <p>Can be used to make a call to <code>ev_loop</code> return early (but only after it
273has processed all outstanding events). The <code>how</code> argument must be either 567has processed all outstanding events). The <code>how</code> argument must be either
274<code>EVUNLOOP_ONCE</code>, which will make the innermost <code>ev_loop</code> call return, or 568<code>EVUNLOOP_ONE</code>, which will make the innermost <code>ev_loop</code> call return, or
275<code>EVUNLOOP_ALL</code>, which will make all nested <code>ev_loop</code> calls return.</p> 569<code>EVUNLOOP_ALL</code>, which will make all nested <code>ev_loop</code> calls return.</p>
276 </dd> 570 </dd>
277 <dt>ev_ref (loop)</dt> 571 <dt>ev_ref (loop)</dt>
278 <dt>ev_unref (loop)</dt> 572 <dt>ev_unref (loop)</dt>
279 <dd> 573 <dd>
285example, libev itself uses this for its internal signal pipe: It is not 579example, libev itself uses this for its internal signal pipe: It is not
286visible to the libev user and should not keep <code>ev_loop</code> from exiting if 580visible to the libev user and should not keep <code>ev_loop</code> from exiting if
287no event watchers registered by it are active. It is also an excellent 581no event watchers registered by it are active. It is also an excellent
288way to do this for generic recurring timers or from within third-party 582way to do this for generic recurring timers or from within third-party
289libraries. Just remember to <i>unref after start</i> and <i>ref before stop</i>.</p> 583libraries. Just remember to <i>unref after start</i> and <i>ref before stop</i>.</p>
584 <p>Example: Create a signal watcher, but keep it from keeping <code>ev_loop</code>
585running when nothing else is active.</p>
586<pre> struct ev_signal exitsig;
587 ev_signal_init (&amp;exitsig, sig_cb, SIGINT);
588 ev_signal_start (loop, &amp;exitsig);
589 evf_unref (loop);
590
591</pre>
592 <p>Example: For some weird reason, unregister the above signal handler again.</p>
593<pre> ev_ref (loop);
594 ev_signal_stop (loop, &amp;exitsig);
595
596</pre>
290 </dd> 597 </dd>
291</dl> 598</dl>
292 599
600
601
602
603
293</div> 604</div>
294<h1 id="ANATOMY_OF_A_WATCHER">ANATOMY OF A WATCHER</h1><p><a href="#TOP" class="toplink">Top</a></p> 605<h1 id="ANATOMY_OF_A_WATCHER">ANATOMY OF A WATCHER</h1>
295<div id="ANATOMY_OF_A_WATCHER_CONTENT"> 606<div id="ANATOMY_OF_A_WATCHER_CONTENT">
296<p>A watcher is a structure that you create and register to record your 607<p>A watcher is a structure that you create and register to record your
297interest in some event. For instance, if you want to wait for STDIN to 608interest in some event. For instance, if you want to wait for STDIN to
298become readable, you would create an <code>ev_io</code> watcher for that:</p> 609become readable, you would create an <code>ev_io</code> watcher for that:</p>
299<pre> static void my_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w, int revents) 610<pre> static void my_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w, int revents)
326with a watcher-specific start function (<code>ev_&lt;type&gt;_start (loop, watcher 637with a watcher-specific start function (<code>ev_&lt;type&gt;_start (loop, watcher
327*)</code>), and you can stop watching for events at any time by calling the 638*)</code>), and you can stop watching for events at any time by calling the
328corresponding stop function (<code>ev_&lt;type&gt;_stop (loop, watcher *)</code>.</p> 639corresponding stop function (<code>ev_&lt;type&gt;_stop (loop, watcher *)</code>.</p>
329<p>As long as your watcher is active (has been started but not stopped) you 640<p>As long as your watcher is active (has been started but not stopped) you
330must not touch the values stored in it. Most specifically you must never 641must not touch the values stored in it. Most specifically you must never
331reinitialise it or call its set method.</p> 642reinitialise it or call its <code>set</code> macro.</p>
332<p>You can check whether an event is active by calling the <code>ev_is_active
333(watcher *)</code> macro. To see whether an event is outstanding (but the
334callback for it has not been called yet) you can use the <code>ev_is_pending
335(watcher *)</code> macro.</p>
336<p>Each and every callback receives the event loop pointer as first, the 643<p>Each and every callback receives the event loop pointer as first, the
337registered watcher structure as second, and a bitset of received events as 644registered watcher structure as second, and a bitset of received events as
338third argument.</p> 645third argument.</p>
339<p>The received events usually include a single bit per event type received 646<p>The received events usually include a single bit per event type received
340(you can receive multiple events at the same time). The possible bit masks 647(you can receive multiple events at the same time). The possible bit masks
360 </dd> 667 </dd>
361 <dt><code>EV_CHILD</code></dt> 668 <dt><code>EV_CHILD</code></dt>
362 <dd> 669 <dd>
363 <p>The pid specified in the <code>ev_child</code> watcher has received a status change.</p> 670 <p>The pid specified in the <code>ev_child</code> watcher has received a status change.</p>
364 </dd> 671 </dd>
672 <dt><code>EV_STAT</code></dt>
673 <dd>
674 <p>The path specified in the <code>ev_stat</code> watcher changed its attributes somehow.</p>
675 </dd>
365 <dt><code>EV_IDLE</code></dt> 676 <dt><code>EV_IDLE</code></dt>
366 <dd> 677 <dd>
367 <p>The <code>ev_idle</code> watcher has determined that you have nothing better to do.</p> 678 <p>The <code>ev_idle</code> watcher has determined that you have nothing better to do.</p>
368 </dd> 679 </dd>
369 <dt><code>EV_PREPARE</code></dt> 680 <dt><code>EV_PREPARE</code></dt>
374<code>ev_loop</code> has gathered them, but before it invokes any callbacks for any 685<code>ev_loop</code> has gathered them, but before it invokes any callbacks for any
375received events. Callbacks of both watcher types can start and stop as 686received events. Callbacks of both watcher types can start and stop as
376many watchers as they want, and all of them will be taken into account 687many watchers as they want, and all of them will be taken into account
377(for example, a <code>ev_prepare</code> watcher might start an idle watcher to keep 688(for example, a <code>ev_prepare</code> watcher might start an idle watcher to keep
378<code>ev_loop</code> from blocking).</p> 689<code>ev_loop</code> from blocking).</p>
690 </dd>
691 <dt><code>EV_EMBED</code></dt>
692 <dd>
693 <p>The embedded event loop specified in the <code>ev_embed</code> watcher needs attention.</p>
694 </dd>
695 <dt><code>EV_FORK</code></dt>
696 <dd>
697 <p>The event loop has been resumed in the child process after fork (see
698<code>ev_fork</code>).</p>
379 </dd> 699 </dd>
380 <dt><code>EV_ERROR</code></dt> 700 <dt><code>EV_ERROR</code></dt>
381 <dd> 701 <dd>
382 <p>An unspecified error has occured, the watcher has been stopped. This might 702 <p>An unspecified error has occured, the watcher has been stopped. This might
383happen because the watcher could not be properly started because libev 703happen because the watcher could not be properly started because libev
391programs, though, so beware.</p> 711programs, though, so beware.</p>
392 </dd> 712 </dd>
393</dl> 713</dl>
394 714
395</div> 715</div>
716<h2 id="GENERIC_WATCHER_FUNCTIONS">GENERIC WATCHER FUNCTIONS</h2>
717<div id="GENERIC_WATCHER_FUNCTIONS_CONTENT">
718<p>In the following description, <code>TYPE</code> stands for the watcher type,
719e.g. <code>timer</code> for <code>ev_timer</code> watchers and <code>io</code> for <code>ev_io</code> watchers.</p>
720<dl>
721 <dt><code>ev_init</code> (ev_TYPE *watcher, callback)</dt>
722 <dd>
723 <p>This macro initialises the generic portion of a watcher. The contents
724of the watcher object can be arbitrary (so <code>malloc</code> will do). Only
725the generic parts of the watcher are initialised, you <i>need</i> to call
726the type-specific <code>ev_TYPE_set</code> macro afterwards to initialise the
727type-specific parts. For each type there is also a <code>ev_TYPE_init</code> macro
728which rolls both calls into one.</p>
729 <p>You can reinitialise a watcher at any time as long as it has been stopped
730(or never started) and there are no pending events outstanding.</p>
731 <p>The callback is always of type <code>void (*)(ev_loop *loop, ev_TYPE *watcher,
732int revents)</code>.</p>
733 </dd>
734 <dt><code>ev_TYPE_set</code> (ev_TYPE *, [args])</dt>
735 <dd>
736 <p>This macro initialises the type-specific parts of a watcher. You need to
737call <code>ev_init</code> at least once before you call this macro, but you can
738call <code>ev_TYPE_set</code> any number of times. You must not, however, call this
739macro on a watcher that is active (it can be pending, however, which is a
740difference to the <code>ev_init</code> macro).</p>
741 <p>Although some watcher types do not have type-specific arguments
742(e.g. <code>ev_prepare</code>) you still need to call its <code>set</code> macro.</p>
743 </dd>
744 <dt><code>ev_TYPE_init</code> (ev_TYPE *watcher, callback, [args])</dt>
745 <dd>
746 <p>This convinience macro rolls both <code>ev_init</code> and <code>ev_TYPE_set</code> macro
747calls into a single call. This is the most convinient method to initialise
748a watcher. The same limitations apply, of course.</p>
749 </dd>
750 <dt><code>ev_TYPE_start</code> (loop *, ev_TYPE *watcher)</dt>
751 <dd>
752 <p>Starts (activates) the given watcher. Only active watchers will receive
753events. If the watcher is already active nothing will happen.</p>
754 </dd>
755 <dt><code>ev_TYPE_stop</code> (loop *, ev_TYPE *watcher)</dt>
756 <dd>
757 <p>Stops the given watcher again (if active) and clears the pending
758status. It is possible that stopped watchers are pending (for example,
759non-repeating timers are being stopped when they become pending), but
760<code>ev_TYPE_stop</code> ensures that the watcher is neither active nor pending. If
761you want to free or reuse the memory used by the watcher it is therefore a
762good idea to always call its <code>ev_TYPE_stop</code> function.</p>
763 </dd>
764 <dt>bool ev_is_active (ev_TYPE *watcher)</dt>
765 <dd>
766 <p>Returns a true value iff the watcher is active (i.e. it has been started
767and not yet been stopped). As long as a watcher is active you must not modify
768it.</p>
769 </dd>
770 <dt>bool ev_is_pending (ev_TYPE *watcher)</dt>
771 <dd>
772 <p>Returns a true value iff the watcher is pending, (i.e. it has outstanding
773events but its callback has not yet been invoked). As long as a watcher
774is pending (but not active) you must not call an init function on it (but
775<code>ev_TYPE_set</code> is safe), you must not change its priority, and you must
776make sure the watcher is available to libev (e.g. you cannot <code>free ()</code>
777it).</p>
778 </dd>
779 <dt>callback ev_cb (ev_TYPE *watcher)</dt>
780 <dd>
781 <p>Returns the callback currently set on the watcher.</p>
782 </dd>
783 <dt>ev_cb_set (ev_TYPE *watcher, callback)</dt>
784 <dd>
785 <p>Change the callback. You can change the callback at virtually any time
786(modulo threads).</p>
787 </dd>
788 <dt>ev_set_priority (ev_TYPE *watcher, priority)</dt>
789 <dt>int ev_priority (ev_TYPE *watcher)</dt>
790 <dd>
791 <p>Set and query the priority of the watcher. The priority is a small
792integer between <code>EV_MAXPRI</code> (default: <code>2</code>) and <code>EV_MINPRI</code>
793(default: <code>-2</code>). Pending watchers with higher priority will be invoked
794before watchers with lower priority, but priority will not keep watchers
795from being executed (except for <code>ev_idle</code> watchers).</p>
796 <p>This means that priorities are <i>only</i> used for ordering callback
797invocation after new events have been received. This is useful, for
798example, to reduce latency after idling, or more often, to bind two
799watchers on the same event and make sure one is called first.</p>
800 <p>If you need to suppress invocation when higher priority events are pending
801you need to look at <code>ev_idle</code> watchers, which provide this functionality.</p>
802 <p>You <i>must not</i> change the priority of a watcher as long as it is active or
803pending.</p>
804 <p>The default priority used by watchers when no priority has been set is
805always <code>0</code>, which is supposed to not be too high and not be too low :).</p>
806 <p>Setting a priority outside the range of <code>EV_MINPRI</code> to <code>EV_MAXPRI</code> is
807fine, as long as you do not mind that the priority value you query might
808or might not have been adjusted to be within valid range.</p>
809 </dd>
810 <dt>ev_invoke (loop, ev_TYPE *watcher, int revents)</dt>
811 <dd>
812 <p>Invoke the <code>watcher</code> with the given <code>loop</code> and <code>revents</code>. Neither
813<code>loop</code> nor <code>revents</code> need to be valid as long as the watcher callback
814can deal with that fact.</p>
815 </dd>
816 <dt>int ev_clear_pending (loop, ev_TYPE *watcher)</dt>
817 <dd>
818 <p>If the watcher is pending, this function returns clears its pending status
819and returns its <code>revents</code> bitset (as if its callback was invoked). If the
820watcher isn't pending it does nothing and returns <code>0</code>.</p>
821 </dd>
822</dl>
823
824
825
826
827
828</div>
396<h2 id="ASSOCIATING_CUSTOM_DATA_WITH_A_WATCH">ASSOCIATING CUSTOM DATA WITH A WATCHER</h2> 829<h2 id="ASSOCIATING_CUSTOM_DATA_WITH_A_WATCH">ASSOCIATING CUSTOM DATA WITH A WATCHER</h2>
397<div id="ASSOCIATING_CUSTOM_DATA_WITH_A_WATCH-2"> 830<div id="ASSOCIATING_CUSTOM_DATA_WITH_A_WATCH-2">
398<p>Each watcher has, by default, a member <code>void *data</code> that you can change 831<p>Each watcher has, by default, a member <code>void *data</code> that you can change
399and read at any time, libev will completely ignore it. This can be used 832and read at any time, libev will completely ignore it. This can be used
400to associate arbitrary data with your watcher. If you need more data and 833to associate arbitrary data with your watcher. If you need more data and
417 struct my_io *w = (struct my_io *)w_; 850 struct my_io *w = (struct my_io *)w_;
418 ... 851 ...
419 } 852 }
420 853
421</pre> 854</pre>
422<p>More interesting and less C-conformant ways of catsing your callback type 855<p>More interesting and less C-conformant ways of casting your callback type
423have been omitted....</p> 856instead have been omitted.</p>
857<p>Another common scenario is having some data structure with multiple
858watchers:</p>
859<pre> struct my_biggy
860 {
861 int some_data;
862 ev_timer t1;
863 ev_timer t2;
864 }
424 865
866</pre>
867<p>In this case getting the pointer to <code>my_biggy</code> is a bit more complicated,
868you need to use <code>offsetof</code>:</p>
869<pre> #include &lt;stddef.h&gt;
425 870
871 static void
872 t1_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_timer *w, int revents)
873 {
874 struct my_biggy big = (struct my_biggy *
875 (((char *)w) - offsetof (struct my_biggy, t1));
876 }
426 877
878 static void
879 t2_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_timer *w, int revents)
880 {
881 struct my_biggy big = (struct my_biggy *
882 (((char *)w) - offsetof (struct my_biggy, t2));
883 }
427 884
428 885
886
887
888</pre>
889
429</div> 890</div>
430<h1 id="WATCHER_TYPES">WATCHER TYPES</h1><p><a href="#TOP" class="toplink">Top</a></p> 891<h1 id="WATCHER_TYPES">WATCHER TYPES</h1>
431<div id="WATCHER_TYPES_CONTENT"> 892<div id="WATCHER_TYPES_CONTENT">
432<p>This section describes each watcher in detail, but will not repeat 893<p>This section describes each watcher in detail, but will not repeat
433information given in the last section.</p> 894information given in the last section. Any initialisation/set macros,
895functions and members specific to the watcher type are explained.</p>
896<p>Members are additionally marked with either <i>[read-only]</i>, meaning that,
897while the watcher is active, you can look at the member and expect some
898sensible content, but you must not modify it (you can modify it while the
899watcher is stopped to your hearts content), or <i>[read-write]</i>, which
900means you can expect it to have some sensible content while the watcher
901is active, but you can also modify it. Modifying it may not do something
902sensible or take immediate effect (or do anything at all), but libev will
903not crash or malfunction in any way.</p>
434 904
905
906
907
908
435</div> 909</div>
436<h2 id="code_ev_io_code_is_this_file_descrip"><code>ev_io</code> - is this file descriptor readable or writable</h2> 910<h2 id="code_ev_io_code_is_this_file_descrip"><code>ev_io</code> - is this file descriptor readable or writable?</h2>
437<div id="code_ev_io_code_is_this_file_descrip-2"> 911<div id="code_ev_io_code_is_this_file_descrip-2">
438<p>I/O watchers check whether a file descriptor is readable or writable 912<p>I/O watchers check whether a file descriptor is readable or writable
439in each iteration of the event loop (This behaviour is called 913in each iteration of the event loop, or, more precisely, when reading
440level-triggering because you keep receiving events as long as the 914would not block the process and writing would at least be able to write
441condition persists. Remember you can stop the watcher if you don't want to 915some data. This behaviour is called level-triggering because you keep
442act on the event and neither want to receive future events).</p> 916receiving events as long as the condition persists. Remember you can stop
917the watcher if you don't want to act on the event and neither want to
918receive future events.</p>
443<p>In general you can register as many read and/or write event watchers oer 919<p>In general you can register as many read and/or write event watchers per
444fd as you want (as long as you don't confuse yourself). Setting all file 920fd as you want (as long as you don't confuse yourself). Setting all file
445descriptors to non-blocking mode is also usually a good idea (but not 921descriptors to non-blocking mode is also usually a good idea (but not
446required if you know what you are doing).</p> 922required if you know what you are doing).</p>
447<p>You have to be careful with dup'ed file descriptors, though. Some backends 923<p>You have to be careful with dup'ed file descriptors, though. Some backends
448(the linux epoll backend is a notable example) cannot handle dup'ed file 924(the linux epoll backend is a notable example) cannot handle dup'ed file
449descriptors correctly if you register interest in two or more fds pointing 925descriptors correctly if you register interest in two or more fds pointing
450to the same file/socket etc. description.</p> 926to the same underlying file/socket/etc. description (that is, they share
927the same underlying &quot;file open&quot;).</p>
451<p>If you must do this, then force the use of a known-to-be-good backend 928<p>If you must do this, then force the use of a known-to-be-good backend
452(at the time of this writing, this includes only EVMETHOD_SELECT and 929(at the time of this writing, this includes only <code>EVBACKEND_SELECT</code> and
453EVMETHOD_POLL).</p> 930<code>EVBACKEND_POLL</code>).</p>
931<p>Another thing you have to watch out for is that it is quite easy to
932receive &quot;spurious&quot; readyness notifications, that is your callback might
933be called with <code>EV_READ</code> but a subsequent <code>read</code>(2) will actually block
934because there is no data. Not only are some backends known to create a
935lot of those (for example solaris ports), it is very easy to get into
936this situation even with a relatively standard program structure. Thus
937it is best to always use non-blocking I/O: An extra <code>read</code>(2) returning
938<code>EAGAIN</code> is far preferable to a program hanging until some data arrives.</p>
939<p>If you cannot run the fd in non-blocking mode (for example you should not
940play around with an Xlib connection), then you have to seperately re-test
941whether a file descriptor is really ready with a known-to-be good interface
942such as poll (fortunately in our Xlib example, Xlib already does this on
943its own, so its quite safe to use).</p>
454<dl> 944<dl>
455 <dt>ev_io_init (ev_io *, callback, int fd, int events)</dt> 945 <dt>ev_io_init (ev_io *, callback, int fd, int events)</dt>
456 <dt>ev_io_set (ev_io *, int fd, int events)</dt> 946 <dt>ev_io_set (ev_io *, int fd, int events)</dt>
457 <dd> 947 <dd>
458 <p>Configures an <code>ev_io</code> watcher. The fd is the file descriptor to rceeive 948 <p>Configures an <code>ev_io</code> watcher. The <code>fd</code> is the file descriptor to
459events for and events is either <code>EV_READ</code>, <code>EV_WRITE</code> or <code>EV_READ | 949rceeive events for and events is either <code>EV_READ</code>, <code>EV_WRITE</code> or
460EV_WRITE</code> to receive the given events.</p> 950<code>EV_READ | EV_WRITE</code> to receive the given events.</p>
951 </dd>
952 <dt>int fd [read-only]</dt>
953 <dd>
954 <p>The file descriptor being watched.</p>
955 </dd>
956 <dt>int events [read-only]</dt>
957 <dd>
958 <p>The events being watched.</p>
461 </dd> 959 </dd>
462</dl> 960</dl>
961<p>Example: Call <code>stdin_readable_cb</code> when STDIN_FILENO has become, well
962readable, but only once. Since it is likely line-buffered, you could
963attempt to read a whole line in the callback.</p>
964<pre> static void
965 stdin_readable_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w, int revents)
966 {
967 ev_io_stop (loop, w);
968 .. read from stdin here (or from w-&gt;fd) and haqndle any I/O errors
969 }
463 970
971 ...
972 struct ev_loop *loop = ev_default_init (0);
973 struct ev_io stdin_readable;
974 ev_io_init (&amp;stdin_readable, stdin_readable_cb, STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ);
975 ev_io_start (loop, &amp;stdin_readable);
976 ev_loop (loop, 0);
977
978
979
980
981</pre>
982
464</div> 983</div>
465<h2 id="code_ev_timer_code_relative_and_opti"><code>ev_timer</code> - relative and optionally recurring timeouts</h2> 984<h2 id="code_ev_timer_code_relative_and_opti"><code>ev_timer</code> - relative and optionally repeating timeouts</h2>
466<div id="code_ev_timer_code_relative_and_opti-2"> 985<div id="code_ev_timer_code_relative_and_opti-2">
467<p>Timer watchers are simple relative timers that generate an event after a 986<p>Timer watchers are simple relative timers that generate an event after a
468given time, and optionally repeating in regular intervals after that.</p> 987given time, and optionally repeating in regular intervals after that.</p>
469<p>The timers are based on real time, that is, if you register an event that 988<p>The timers are based on real time, that is, if you register an event that
470times out after an hour and youreset your system clock to last years 989times out after an hour and you reset your system clock to last years
471time, it will still time out after (roughly) and hour. &quot;Roughly&quot; because 990time, it will still time out after (roughly) and hour. &quot;Roughly&quot; because
472detecting time jumps is hard, and soem inaccuracies are unavoidable (the 991detecting time jumps is hard, and some inaccuracies are unavoidable (the
473monotonic clock option helps a lot here).</p> 992monotonic clock option helps a lot here).</p>
474<p>The relative timeouts are calculated relative to the <code>ev_now ()</code> 993<p>The relative timeouts are calculated relative to the <code>ev_now ()</code>
475time. This is usually the right thing as this timestamp refers to the time 994time. This is usually the right thing as this timestamp refers to the time
476of the event triggering whatever timeout you are modifying/starting. If 995of the event triggering whatever timeout you are modifying/starting. If
477you suspect event processing to be delayed and you *need* to base the timeout 996you suspect event processing to be delayed and you <i>need</i> to base the timeout
478ion the current time, use something like this to adjust for this:</p> 997on the current time, use something like this to adjust for this:</p>
479<pre> ev_timer_set (&amp;timer, after + ev_now () - ev_time (), 0.); 998<pre> ev_timer_set (&amp;timer, after + ev_now () - ev_time (), 0.);
480 999
481</pre> 1000</pre>
1001<p>The callback is guarenteed to be invoked only when its timeout has passed,
1002but if multiple timers become ready during the same loop iteration then
1003order of execution is undefined.</p>
482<dl> 1004<dl>
483 <dt>ev_timer_init (ev_timer *, callback, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)</dt> 1005 <dt>ev_timer_init (ev_timer *, callback, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)</dt>
484 <dt>ev_timer_set (ev_timer *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)</dt> 1006 <dt>ev_timer_set (ev_timer *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)</dt>
485 <dd> 1007 <dd>
486 <p>Configure the timer to trigger after <code>after</code> seconds. If <code>repeat</code> is 1008 <p>Configure the timer to trigger after <code>after</code> seconds. If <code>repeat</code> is
488timer will automatically be configured to trigger again <code>repeat</code> seconds 1010timer will automatically be configured to trigger again <code>repeat</code> seconds
489later, again, and again, until stopped manually.</p> 1011later, again, and again, until stopped manually.</p>
490 <p>The timer itself will do a best-effort at avoiding drift, that is, if you 1012 <p>The timer itself will do a best-effort at avoiding drift, that is, if you
491configure a timer to trigger every 10 seconds, then it will trigger at 1013configure a timer to trigger every 10 seconds, then it will trigger at
492exactly 10 second intervals. If, however, your program cannot keep up with 1014exactly 10 second intervals. If, however, your program cannot keep up with
493the timer (ecause it takes longer than those 10 seconds to do stuff) the 1015the timer (because it takes longer than those 10 seconds to do stuff) the
494timer will not fire more than once per event loop iteration.</p> 1016timer will not fire more than once per event loop iteration.</p>
495 </dd> 1017 </dd>
496 <dt>ev_timer_again (loop)</dt> 1018 <dt>ev_timer_again (loop)</dt>
497 <dd> 1019 <dd>
498 <p>This will act as if the timer timed out and restart it again if it is 1020 <p>This will act as if the timer timed out and restart it again if it is
499repeating. The exact semantics are:</p> 1021repeating. The exact semantics are:</p>
1022 <p>If the timer is pending, its pending status is cleared.</p>
500 <p>If the timer is started but nonrepeating, stop it.</p> 1023 <p>If the timer is started but nonrepeating, stop it (as if it timed out).</p>
501 <p>If the timer is repeating, either start it if necessary (with the repeat 1024 <p>If the timer is repeating, either start it if necessary (with the
502value), or reset the running timer to the repeat value.</p> 1025<code>repeat</code> value), or reset the running timer to the <code>repeat</code> value.</p>
503 <p>This sounds a bit complicated, but here is a useful and typical 1026 <p>This sounds a bit complicated, but here is a useful and typical
504example: Imagine you have a tcp connection and you want a so-called idle 1027example: Imagine you have a tcp connection and you want a so-called idle
505timeout, that is, you want to be called when there have been, say, 60 1028timeout, that is, you want to be called when there have been, say, 60
506seconds of inactivity on the socket. The easiest way to do this is to 1029seconds of inactivity on the socket. The easiest way to do this is to
507configure an <code>ev_timer</code> with after=repeat=60 and calling ev_timer_again each 1030configure an <code>ev_timer</code> with a <code>repeat</code> value of <code>60</code> and then call
508time you successfully read or write some data. If you go into an idle 1031<code>ev_timer_again</code> each time you successfully read or write some data. If
509state where you do not expect data to travel on the socket, you can stop 1032you go into an idle state where you do not expect data to travel on the
1033socket, you can <code>ev_timer_stop</code> the timer, and <code>ev_timer_again</code> will
510the timer, and again will automatically restart it if need be.</p> 1034automatically restart it if need be.</p>
1035 <p>That means you can ignore the <code>after</code> value and <code>ev_timer_start</code>
1036altogether and only ever use the <code>repeat</code> value and <code>ev_timer_again</code>:</p>
1037<pre> ev_timer_init (timer, callback, 0., 5.);
1038 ev_timer_again (loop, timer);
1039 ...
1040 timer-&gt;again = 17.;
1041 ev_timer_again (loop, timer);
1042 ...
1043 timer-&gt;again = 10.;
1044 ev_timer_again (loop, timer);
1045
1046</pre>
1047 <p>This is more slightly efficient then stopping/starting the timer each time
1048you want to modify its timeout value.</p>
1049 </dd>
1050 <dt>ev_tstamp repeat [read-write]</dt>
1051 <dd>
1052 <p>The current <code>repeat</code> value. Will be used each time the watcher times out
1053or <code>ev_timer_again</code> is called and determines the next timeout (if any),
1054which is also when any modifications are taken into account.</p>
511 </dd> 1055 </dd>
512</dl> 1056</dl>
1057<p>Example: Create a timer that fires after 60 seconds.</p>
1058<pre> static void
1059 one_minute_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_timer *w, int revents)
1060 {
1061 .. one minute over, w is actually stopped right here
1062 }
513 1063
1064 struct ev_timer mytimer;
1065 ev_timer_init (&amp;mytimer, one_minute_cb, 60., 0.);
1066 ev_timer_start (loop, &amp;mytimer);
1067
1068</pre>
1069<p>Example: Create a timeout timer that times out after 10 seconds of
1070inactivity.</p>
1071<pre> static void
1072 timeout_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_timer *w, int revents)
1073 {
1074 .. ten seconds without any activity
1075 }
1076
1077 struct ev_timer mytimer;
1078 ev_timer_init (&amp;mytimer, timeout_cb, 0., 10.); /* note, only repeat used */
1079 ev_timer_again (&amp;mytimer); /* start timer */
1080 ev_loop (loop, 0);
1081
1082 // and in some piece of code that gets executed on any &quot;activity&quot;:
1083 // reset the timeout to start ticking again at 10 seconds
1084 ev_timer_again (&amp;mytimer);
1085
1086
1087
1088
1089</pre>
1090
514</div> 1091</div>
515<h2 id="code_ev_periodic_code_to_cron_or_not"><code>ev_periodic</code> - to cron or not to cron</h2> 1092<h2 id="code_ev_periodic_code_to_cron_or_not"><code>ev_periodic</code> - to cron or not to cron?</h2>
516<div id="code_ev_periodic_code_to_cron_or_not-2"> 1093<div id="code_ev_periodic_code_to_cron_or_not-2">
517<p>Periodic watchers are also timers of a kind, but they are very versatile 1094<p>Periodic watchers are also timers of a kind, but they are very versatile
518(and unfortunately a bit complex).</p> 1095(and unfortunately a bit complex).</p>
519<p>Unlike <code>ev_timer</code>'s, they are not based on real time (or relative time) 1096<p>Unlike <code>ev_timer</code>'s, they are not based on real time (or relative time)
520but on wallclock time (absolute time). You can tell a periodic watcher 1097but on wallclock time (absolute time). You can tell a periodic watcher
521to trigger &quot;at&quot; some specific point in time. For example, if you tell a 1098to trigger &quot;at&quot; some specific point in time. For example, if you tell a
522periodic watcher to trigger in 10 seconds (by specifiying e.g. c&lt;ev_now () 1099periodic watcher to trigger in 10 seconds (by specifiying e.g. <code>ev_now ()
523+ 10.&gt;) and then reset your system clock to the last year, then it will 1100+ 10.</code>) and then reset your system clock to the last year, then it will
524take a year to trigger the event (unlike an <code>ev_timer</code>, which would trigger 1101take a year to trigger the event (unlike an <code>ev_timer</code>, which would trigger
525roughly 10 seconds later and of course not if you reset your system time 1102roughly 10 seconds later and of course not if you reset your system time
526again).</p> 1103again).</p>
527<p>They can also be used to implement vastly more complex timers, such as 1104<p>They can also be used to implement vastly more complex timers, such as
528triggering an event on eahc midnight, local time.</p> 1105triggering an event on eahc midnight, local time.</p>
1106<p>As with timers, the callback is guarenteed to be invoked only when the
1107time (<code>at</code>) has been passed, but if multiple periodic timers become ready
1108during the same loop iteration then order of execution is undefined.</p>
529<dl> 1109<dl>
530 <dt>ev_periodic_init (ev_periodic *, callback, ev_tstamp at, ev_tstamp interval, reschedule_cb)</dt> 1110 <dt>ev_periodic_init (ev_periodic *, callback, ev_tstamp at, ev_tstamp interval, reschedule_cb)</dt>
531 <dt>ev_periodic_set (ev_periodic *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat, reschedule_cb)</dt> 1111 <dt>ev_periodic_set (ev_periodic *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat, reschedule_cb)</dt>
532 <dd> 1112 <dd>
533 <p>Lots of arguments, lets sort it out... There are basically three modes of 1113 <p>Lots of arguments, lets sort it out... There are basically three modes of
534operation, and we will explain them from simplest to complex:</p> 1114operation, and we will explain them from simplest to complex:</p>
535
536
537
538
539 <p> 1115 <p>
540 <dl> 1116 <dl>
541 <dt>* absolute timer (interval = reschedule_cb = 0)</dt> 1117 <dt>* absolute timer (interval = reschedule_cb = 0)</dt>
542 <dd> 1118 <dd>
543 <p>In this configuration the watcher triggers an event at the wallclock time 1119 <p>In this configuration the watcher triggers an event at the wallclock time
567 <dd> 1143 <dd>
568 <p>In this mode the values for <code>interval</code> and <code>at</code> are both being 1144 <p>In this mode the values for <code>interval</code> and <code>at</code> are both being
569ignored. Instead, each time the periodic watcher gets scheduled, the 1145ignored. Instead, each time the periodic watcher gets scheduled, the
570reschedule callback will be called with the watcher as first, and the 1146reschedule callback will be called with the watcher as first, and the
571current time as second argument.</p> 1147current time as second argument.</p>
572 <p>NOTE: <i>This callback MUST NOT stop or destroy the periodic or any other 1148 <p>NOTE: <i>This callback MUST NOT stop or destroy any periodic watcher,
573periodic watcher, ever, or make any event loop modifications</i>. If you need 1149ever, or make any event loop modifications</i>. If you need to stop it,
574to stop it, return <code>now + 1e30</code> (or so, fudge fudge) and stop it afterwards.</p> 1150return <code>now + 1e30</code> (or so, fudge fudge) and stop it afterwards (e.g. by
575 <p>Also, <i>this callback must always return a time that is later than the 1151starting a prepare watcher).</p>
576passed <code>now</code> value</i>. Not even <code>now</code> itself will be ok.</p>
577 <p>Its prototype is <code>ev_tstamp (*reschedule_cb)(struct ev_periodic *w, 1152 <p>Its prototype is <code>ev_tstamp (*reschedule_cb)(struct ev_periodic *w,
578ev_tstamp now)</code>, e.g.:</p> 1153ev_tstamp now)</code>, e.g.:</p>
579<pre> static ev_tstamp my_rescheduler (struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now) 1154<pre> static ev_tstamp my_rescheduler (struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now)
580 { 1155 {
581 return now + 60.; 1156 return now + 60.;
584</pre> 1159</pre>
585 <p>It must return the next time to trigger, based on the passed time value 1160 <p>It must return the next time to trigger, based on the passed time value
586(that is, the lowest time value larger than to the second argument). It 1161(that is, the lowest time value larger than to the second argument). It
587will usually be called just before the callback will be triggered, but 1162will usually be called just before the callback will be triggered, but
588might be called at other times, too.</p> 1163might be called at other times, too.</p>
1164 <p>NOTE: <i>This callback must always return a time that is later than the
1165passed <code>now</code> value</i>. Not even <code>now</code> itself will do, it <i>must</i> be larger.</p>
589 <p>This can be used to create very complex timers, such as a timer that 1166 <p>This can be used to create very complex timers, such as a timer that
590triggers on each midnight, local time. To do this, you would calculate the 1167triggers on each midnight, local time. To do this, you would calculate the
591next midnight after <code>now</code> and return the timestamp value for this. How you do this 1168next midnight after <code>now</code> and return the timestamp value for this. How
592is, again, up to you (but it is not trivial).</p> 1169you do this is, again, up to you (but it is not trivial, which is the main
1170reason I omitted it as an example).</p>
593 </dd> 1171 </dd>
594 </dl> 1172 </dl>
595 </p> 1173 </p>
596 </dd> 1174 </dd>
597 <dt>ev_periodic_again (loop, ev_periodic *)</dt> 1175 <dt>ev_periodic_again (loop, ev_periodic *)</dt>
599 <p>Simply stops and restarts the periodic watcher again. This is only useful 1177 <p>Simply stops and restarts the periodic watcher again. This is only useful
600when you changed some parameters or the reschedule callback would return 1178when you changed some parameters or the reschedule callback would return
601a different time than the last time it was called (e.g. in a crond like 1179a different time than the last time it was called (e.g. in a crond like
602program when the crontabs have changed).</p> 1180program when the crontabs have changed).</p>
603 </dd> 1181 </dd>
1182 <dt>ev_tstamp interval [read-write]</dt>
1183 <dd>
1184 <p>The current interval value. Can be modified any time, but changes only
1185take effect when the periodic timer fires or <code>ev_periodic_again</code> is being
1186called.</p>
1187 </dd>
1188 <dt>ev_tstamp (*reschedule_cb)(struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now) [read-write]</dt>
1189 <dd>
1190 <p>The current reschedule callback, or <code>0</code>, if this functionality is
1191switched off. Can be changed any time, but changes only take effect when
1192the periodic timer fires or <code>ev_periodic_again</code> is being called.</p>
1193 </dd>
604</dl> 1194</dl>
1195<p>Example: Call a callback every hour, or, more precisely, whenever the
1196system clock is divisible by 3600. The callback invocation times have
1197potentially a lot of jittering, but good long-term stability.</p>
1198<pre> static void
1199 clock_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w, int revents)
1200 {
1201 ... its now a full hour (UTC, or TAI or whatever your clock follows)
1202 }
605 1203
1204 struct ev_periodic hourly_tick;
1205 ev_periodic_init (&amp;hourly_tick, clock_cb, 0., 3600., 0);
1206 ev_periodic_start (loop, &amp;hourly_tick);
1207
1208</pre>
1209<p>Example: The same as above, but use a reschedule callback to do it:</p>
1210<pre> #include &lt;math.h&gt;
1211
1212 static ev_tstamp
1213 my_scheduler_cb (struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now)
1214 {
1215 return fmod (now, 3600.) + 3600.;
1216 }
1217
1218 ev_periodic_init (&amp;hourly_tick, clock_cb, 0., 0., my_scheduler_cb);
1219
1220</pre>
1221<p>Example: Call a callback every hour, starting now:</p>
1222<pre> struct ev_periodic hourly_tick;
1223 ev_periodic_init (&amp;hourly_tick, clock_cb,
1224 fmod (ev_now (loop), 3600.), 3600., 0);
1225 ev_periodic_start (loop, &amp;hourly_tick);
1226
1227
1228
1229
1230</pre>
1231
606</div> 1232</div>
607<h2 id="code_ev_signal_code_signal_me_when_a"><code>ev_signal</code> - signal me when a signal gets signalled</h2> 1233<h2 id="code_ev_signal_code_signal_me_when_a"><code>ev_signal</code> - signal me when a signal gets signalled!</h2>
608<div id="code_ev_signal_code_signal_me_when_a-2"> 1234<div id="code_ev_signal_code_signal_me_when_a-2">
609<p>Signal watchers will trigger an event when the process receives a specific 1235<p>Signal watchers will trigger an event when the process receives a specific
610signal one or more times. Even though signals are very asynchronous, libev 1236signal one or more times. Even though signals are very asynchronous, libev
611will try it's best to deliver signals synchronously, i.e. as part of the 1237will try it's best to deliver signals synchronously, i.e. as part of the
612normal event processing, like any other event.</p> 1238normal event processing, like any other event.</p>
621 <dt>ev_signal_set (ev_signal *, int signum)</dt> 1247 <dt>ev_signal_set (ev_signal *, int signum)</dt>
622 <dd> 1248 <dd>
623 <p>Configures the watcher to trigger on the given signal number (usually one 1249 <p>Configures the watcher to trigger on the given signal number (usually one
624of the <code>SIGxxx</code> constants).</p> 1250of the <code>SIGxxx</code> constants).</p>
625 </dd> 1251 </dd>
1252 <dt>int signum [read-only]</dt>
1253 <dd>
1254 <p>The signal the watcher watches out for.</p>
1255 </dd>
626</dl> 1256</dl>
627 1257
1258
1259
1260
1261
628</div> 1262</div>
629<h2 id="code_ev_child_code_wait_for_pid_stat"><code>ev_child</code> - wait for pid status changes</h2> 1263<h2 id="code_ev_child_code_watch_out_for_pro"><code>ev_child</code> - watch out for process status changes</h2>
630<div id="code_ev_child_code_wait_for_pid_stat-2"> 1264<div id="code_ev_child_code_watch_out_for_pro-2">
631<p>Child watchers trigger when your process receives a SIGCHLD in response to 1265<p>Child watchers trigger when your process receives a SIGCHLD in response to
632some child status changes (most typically when a child of yours dies).</p> 1266some child status changes (most typically when a child of yours dies).</p>
633<dl> 1267<dl>
634 <dt>ev_child_init (ev_child *, callback, int pid)</dt> 1268 <dt>ev_child_init (ev_child *, callback, int pid)</dt>
635 <dt>ev_child_set (ev_child *, int pid)</dt> 1269 <dt>ev_child_set (ev_child *, int pid)</dt>
639at the <code>rstatus</code> member of the <code>ev_child</code> watcher structure to see 1273at the <code>rstatus</code> member of the <code>ev_child</code> watcher structure to see
640the status word (use the macros from <code>sys/wait.h</code> and see your systems 1274the status word (use the macros from <code>sys/wait.h</code> and see your systems
641<code>waitpid</code> documentation). The <code>rpid</code> member contains the pid of the 1275<code>waitpid</code> documentation). The <code>rpid</code> member contains the pid of the
642process causing the status change.</p> 1276process causing the status change.</p>
643 </dd> 1277 </dd>
1278 <dt>int pid [read-only]</dt>
1279 <dd>
1280 <p>The process id this watcher watches out for, or <code>0</code>, meaning any process id.</p>
1281 </dd>
1282 <dt>int rpid [read-write]</dt>
1283 <dd>
1284 <p>The process id that detected a status change.</p>
1285 </dd>
1286 <dt>int rstatus [read-write]</dt>
1287 <dd>
1288 <p>The process exit/trace status caused by <code>rpid</code> (see your systems
1289<code>waitpid</code> and <code>sys/wait.h</code> documentation for details).</p>
1290 </dd>
644</dl> 1291</dl>
1292<p>Example: Try to exit cleanly on SIGINT and SIGTERM.</p>
1293<pre> static void
1294 sigint_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_signal *w, int revents)
1295 {
1296 ev_unloop (loop, EVUNLOOP_ALL);
1297 }
645 1298
1299 struct ev_signal signal_watcher;
1300 ev_signal_init (&amp;signal_watcher, sigint_cb, SIGINT);
1301 ev_signal_start (loop, &amp;sigint_cb);
1302
1303
1304
1305
1306</pre>
1307
646</div> 1308</div>
1309<h2 id="code_ev_stat_code_did_the_file_attri"><code>ev_stat</code> - did the file attributes just change?</h2>
1310<div id="code_ev_stat_code_did_the_file_attri-2">
1311<p>This watches a filesystem path for attribute changes. That is, it calls
1312<code>stat</code> regularly (or when the OS says it changed) and sees if it changed
1313compared to the last time, invoking the callback if it did.</p>
1314<p>The path does not need to exist: changing from &quot;path exists&quot; to &quot;path does
1315not exist&quot; is a status change like any other. The condition &quot;path does
1316not exist&quot; is signified by the <code>st_nlink</code> field being zero (which is
1317otherwise always forced to be at least one) and all the other fields of
1318the stat buffer having unspecified contents.</p>
1319<p>The path <i>should</i> be absolute and <i>must not</i> end in a slash. If it is
1320relative and your working directory changes, the behaviour is undefined.</p>
1321<p>Since there is no standard to do this, the portable implementation simply
1322calls <code>stat (2)</code> regularly on the path to see if it changed somehow. You
1323can specify a recommended polling interval for this case. If you specify
1324a polling interval of <code>0</code> (highly recommended!) then a <i>suitable,
1325unspecified default</i> value will be used (which you can expect to be around
1326five seconds, although this might change dynamically). Libev will also
1327impose a minimum interval which is currently around <code>0.1</code>, but thats
1328usually overkill.</p>
1329<p>This watcher type is not meant for massive numbers of stat watchers,
1330as even with OS-supported change notifications, this can be
1331resource-intensive.</p>
1332<p>At the time of this writing, only the Linux inotify interface is
1333implemented (implementing kqueue support is left as an exercise for the
1334reader). Inotify will be used to give hints only and should not change the
1335semantics of <code>ev_stat</code> watchers, which means that libev sometimes needs
1336to fall back to regular polling again even with inotify, but changes are
1337usually detected immediately, and if the file exists there will be no
1338polling.</p>
1339<dl>
1340 <dt>ev_stat_init (ev_stat *, callback, const char *path, ev_tstamp interval)</dt>
1341 <dt>ev_stat_set (ev_stat *, const char *path, ev_tstamp interval)</dt>
1342 <dd>
1343 <p>Configures the watcher to wait for status changes of the given
1344<code>path</code>. The <code>interval</code> is a hint on how quickly a change is expected to
1345be detected and should normally be specified as <code>0</code> to let libev choose
1346a suitable value. The memory pointed to by <code>path</code> must point to the same
1347path for as long as the watcher is active.</p>
1348 <p>The callback will be receive <code>EV_STAT</code> when a change was detected,
1349relative to the attributes at the time the watcher was started (or the
1350last change was detected).</p>
1351 </dd>
1352 <dt>ev_stat_stat (ev_stat *)</dt>
1353 <dd>
1354 <p>Updates the stat buffer immediately with new values. If you change the
1355watched path in your callback, you could call this fucntion to avoid
1356detecting this change (while introducing a race condition). Can also be
1357useful simply to find out the new values.</p>
1358 </dd>
1359 <dt>ev_statdata attr [read-only]</dt>
1360 <dd>
1361 <p>The most-recently detected attributes of the file. Although the type is of
1362<code>ev_statdata</code>, this is usually the (or one of the) <code>struct stat</code> types
1363suitable for your system. If the <code>st_nlink</code> member is <code>0</code>, then there
1364was some error while <code>stat</code>ing the file.</p>
1365 </dd>
1366 <dt>ev_statdata prev [read-only]</dt>
1367 <dd>
1368 <p>The previous attributes of the file. The callback gets invoked whenever
1369<code>prev</code> != <code>attr</code>.</p>
1370 </dd>
1371 <dt>ev_tstamp interval [read-only]</dt>
1372 <dd>
1373 <p>The specified interval.</p>
1374 </dd>
1375 <dt>const char *path [read-only]</dt>
1376 <dd>
1377 <p>The filesystem path that is being watched.</p>
1378 </dd>
1379</dl>
1380<p>Example: Watch <code>/etc/passwd</code> for attribute changes.</p>
1381<pre> static void
1382 passwd_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, ev_stat *w, int revents)
1383 {
1384 /* /etc/passwd changed in some way */
1385 if (w-&gt;attr.st_nlink)
1386 {
1387 printf (&quot;passwd current size %ld\n&quot;, (long)w-&gt;attr.st_size);
1388 printf (&quot;passwd current atime %ld\n&quot;, (long)w-&gt;attr.st_mtime);
1389 printf (&quot;passwd current mtime %ld\n&quot;, (long)w-&gt;attr.st_mtime);
1390 }
1391 else
1392 /* you shalt not abuse printf for puts */
1393 puts (&quot;wow, /etc/passwd is not there, expect problems. &quot;
1394 &quot;if this is windows, they already arrived\n&quot;);
1395 }
1396
1397 ...
1398 ev_stat passwd;
1399
1400 ev_stat_init (&amp;passwd, passwd_cb, &quot;/etc/passwd&quot;);
1401 ev_stat_start (loop, &amp;passwd);
1402
1403
1404
1405
1406</pre>
1407
1408</div>
647<h2 id="code_ev_idle_code_when_you_ve_got_no"><code>ev_idle</code> - when you've got nothing better to do</h2> 1409<h2 id="code_ev_idle_code_when_you_ve_got_no"><code>ev_idle</code> - when you've got nothing better to do...</h2>
648<div id="code_ev_idle_code_when_you_ve_got_no-2"> 1410<div id="code_ev_idle_code_when_you_ve_got_no-2">
649<p>Idle watchers trigger events when there are no other events are pending 1411<p>Idle watchers trigger events when no other events of the same or higher
650(prepare, check and other idle watchers do not count). That is, as long 1412priority are pending (prepare, check and other idle watchers do not
651as your process is busy handling sockets or timeouts (or even signals, 1413count).</p>
652imagine) it will not be triggered. But when your process is idle all idle 1414<p>That is, as long as your process is busy handling sockets or timeouts
653watchers are being called again and again, once per event loop iteration - 1415(or even signals, imagine) of the same or higher priority it will not be
1416triggered. But when your process is idle (or only lower-priority watchers
1417are pending), the idle watchers are being called once per event loop
654until stopped, that is, or your process receives more events and becomes 1418iteration - until stopped, that is, or your process receives more events
655busy.</p> 1419and becomes busy again with higher priority stuff.</p>
656<p>The most noteworthy effect is that as long as any idle watchers are 1420<p>The most noteworthy effect is that as long as any idle watchers are
657active, the process will not block when waiting for new events.</p> 1421active, the process will not block when waiting for new events.</p>
658<p>Apart from keeping your process non-blocking (which is a useful 1422<p>Apart from keeping your process non-blocking (which is a useful
659effect on its own sometimes), idle watchers are a good place to do 1423effect on its own sometimes), idle watchers are a good place to do
660&quot;pseudo-background processing&quot;, or delay processing stuff to after the 1424&quot;pseudo-background processing&quot;, or delay processing stuff to after the
665 <p>Initialises and configures the idle watcher - it has no parameters of any 1429 <p>Initialises and configures the idle watcher - it has no parameters of any
666kind. There is a <code>ev_idle_set</code> macro, but using it is utterly pointless, 1430kind. There is a <code>ev_idle_set</code> macro, but using it is utterly pointless,
667believe me.</p> 1431believe me.</p>
668 </dd> 1432 </dd>
669</dl> 1433</dl>
1434<p>Example: Dynamically allocate an <code>ev_idle</code> watcher, start it, and in the
1435callback, free it. Also, use no error checking, as usual.</p>
1436<pre> static void
1437 idle_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_idle *w, int revents)
1438 {
1439 free (w);
1440 // now do something you wanted to do when the program has
1441 // no longer asnything immediate to do.
1442 }
670 1443
1444 struct ev_idle *idle_watcher = malloc (sizeof (struct ev_idle));
1445 ev_idle_init (idle_watcher, idle_cb);
1446 ev_idle_start (loop, idle_cb);
1447
1448
1449
1450
1451</pre>
1452
671</div> 1453</div>
672<h2 id="code_ev_prepare_code_and_code_ev_che"><code>ev_prepare</code> and <code>ev_check</code> - customise your event loop</h2> 1454<h2 id="code_ev_prepare_code_and_code_ev_che"><code>ev_prepare</code> and <code>ev_check</code> - customise your event loop!</h2>
673<div id="code_ev_prepare_code_and_code_ev_che-2"> 1455<div id="code_ev_prepare_code_and_code_ev_che-2">
674<p>Prepare and check watchers are usually (but not always) used in tandem: 1456<p>Prepare and check watchers are usually (but not always) used in tandem:
675Prepare watchers get invoked before the process blocks and check watchers 1457prepare watchers get invoked before the process blocks and check watchers
676afterwards.</p> 1458afterwards.</p>
1459<p>You <i>must not</i> call <code>ev_loop</code> or similar functions that enter
1460the current event loop from either <code>ev_prepare</code> or <code>ev_check</code>
1461watchers. Other loops than the current one are fine, however. The
1462rationale behind this is that you do not need to check for recursion in
1463those watchers, i.e. the sequence will always be <code>ev_prepare</code>, blocking,
1464<code>ev_check</code> so if you have one watcher of each kind they will always be
1465called in pairs bracketing the blocking call.</p>
677<p>Their main purpose is to integrate other event mechanisms into libev. This 1466<p>Their main purpose is to integrate other event mechanisms into libev and
678could be used, for example, to track variable changes, implement your own 1467their use is somewhat advanced. This could be used, for example, to track
679watchers, integrate net-snmp or a coroutine library and lots more.</p> 1468variable changes, implement your own watchers, integrate net-snmp or a
1469coroutine library and lots more. They are also occasionally useful if
1470you cache some data and want to flush it before blocking (for example,
1471in X programs you might want to do an <code>XFlush ()</code> in an <code>ev_prepare</code>
1472watcher).</p>
680<p>This is done by examining in each prepare call which file descriptors need 1473<p>This is done by examining in each prepare call which file descriptors need
681to be watched by the other library, registering <code>ev_io</code> watchers for 1474to be watched by the other library, registering <code>ev_io</code> watchers for
682them and starting an <code>ev_timer</code> watcher for any timeouts (many libraries 1475them and starting an <code>ev_timer</code> watcher for any timeouts (many libraries
683provide just this functionality). Then, in the check watcher you check for 1476provide just this functionality). Then, in the check watcher you check for
684any events that occured (by checking the pending status of all watchers 1477any events that occured (by checking the pending status of all watchers
685and stopping them) and call back into the library. The I/O and timer 1478and stopping them) and call back into the library. The I/O and timer
686callbacks will never actually be called (but must be valid neverthelles, 1479callbacks will never actually be called (but must be valid nevertheless,
687because you never know, you know?).</p> 1480because you never know, you know?).</p>
688<p>As another example, the Perl Coro module uses these hooks to integrate 1481<p>As another example, the Perl Coro module uses these hooks to integrate
689coroutines into libev programs, by yielding to other active coroutines 1482coroutines into libev programs, by yielding to other active coroutines
690during each prepare and only letting the process block if no coroutines 1483during each prepare and only letting the process block if no coroutines
691are ready to run (its actually more complicated, it only runs coroutines 1484are ready to run (it's actually more complicated: it only runs coroutines
692with priority higher than the event loop and one lower priority once, 1485with priority higher than or equal to the event loop and one coroutine
693using idle watchers to keep the event loop from blocking if lower-priority 1486of lower priority, but only once, using idle watchers to keep the event
694coroutines exist, thus mapping low-priority coroutines to idle/background 1487loop from blocking if lower-priority coroutines are active, thus mapping
695tasks).</p> 1488low-priority coroutines to idle/background tasks).</p>
1489<p>It is recommended to give <code>ev_check</code> watchers highest (<code>EV_MAXPRI</code>)
1490priority, to ensure that they are being run before any other watchers
1491after the poll. Also, <code>ev_check</code> watchers (and <code>ev_prepare</code> watchers,
1492too) should not activate (&quot;feed&quot;) events into libev. While libev fully
1493supports this, they will be called before other <code>ev_check</code> watchers did
1494their job. As <code>ev_check</code> watchers are often used to embed other event
1495loops those other event loops might be in an unusable state until their
1496<code>ev_check</code> watcher ran (always remind yourself to coexist peacefully with
1497others).</p>
696<dl> 1498<dl>
697 <dt>ev_prepare_init (ev_prepare *, callback)</dt> 1499 <dt>ev_prepare_init (ev_prepare *, callback)</dt>
698 <dt>ev_check_init (ev_check *, callback)</dt> 1500 <dt>ev_check_init (ev_check *, callback)</dt>
699 <dd> 1501 <dd>
700 <p>Initialises and configures the prepare or check watcher - they have no 1502 <p>Initialises and configures the prepare or check watcher - they have no
701parameters of any kind. There are <code>ev_prepare_set</code> and <code>ev_check_set</code> 1503parameters of any kind. There are <code>ev_prepare_set</code> and <code>ev_check_set</code>
702macros, but using them is utterly, utterly and completely pointless.</p> 1504macros, but using them is utterly, utterly and completely pointless.</p>
703 </dd> 1505 </dd>
704</dl> 1506</dl>
1507<p>There are a number of principal ways to embed other event loops or modules
1508into libev. Here are some ideas on how to include libadns into libev
1509(there is a Perl module named <code>EV::ADNS</code> that does this, which you could
1510use for an actually working example. Another Perl module named <code>EV::Glib</code>
1511embeds a Glib main context into libev, and finally, <code>Glib::EV</code> embeds EV
1512into the Glib event loop).</p>
1513<p>Method 1: Add IO watchers and a timeout watcher in a prepare handler,
1514and in a check watcher, destroy them and call into libadns. What follows
1515is pseudo-code only of course. This requires you to either use a low
1516priority for the check watcher or use <code>ev_clear_pending</code> explicitly, as
1517the callbacks for the IO/timeout watchers might not have been called yet.</p>
1518<pre> static ev_io iow [nfd];
1519 static ev_timer tw;
705 1520
1521 static void
1522 io_cb (ev_loop *loop, ev_io *w, int revents)
1523 {
1524 }
1525
1526 // create io watchers for each fd and a timer before blocking
1527 static void
1528 adns_prepare_cb (ev_loop *loop, ev_prepare *w, int revents)
1529 {
1530 int timeout = 3600000;
1531 struct pollfd fds [nfd];
1532 // actual code will need to loop here and realloc etc.
1533 adns_beforepoll (ads, fds, &amp;nfd, &amp;timeout, timeval_from (ev_time ()));
1534
1535 /* the callback is illegal, but won't be called as we stop during check */
1536 ev_timer_init (&amp;tw, 0, timeout * 1e-3);
1537 ev_timer_start (loop, &amp;tw);
1538
1539 // create one ev_io per pollfd
1540 for (int i = 0; i &lt; nfd; ++i)
1541 {
1542 ev_io_init (iow + i, io_cb, fds [i].fd,
1543 ((fds [i].events &amp; POLLIN ? EV_READ : 0)
1544 | (fds [i].events &amp; POLLOUT ? EV_WRITE : 0)));
1545
1546 fds [i].revents = 0;
1547 ev_io_start (loop, iow + i);
1548 }
1549 }
1550
1551 // stop all watchers after blocking
1552 static void
1553 adns_check_cb (ev_loop *loop, ev_check *w, int revents)
1554 {
1555 ev_timer_stop (loop, &amp;tw);
1556
1557 for (int i = 0; i &lt; nfd; ++i)
1558 {
1559 // set the relevant poll flags
1560 // could also call adns_processreadable etc. here
1561 struct pollfd *fd = fds + i;
1562 int revents = ev_clear_pending (iow + i);
1563 if (revents &amp; EV_READ ) fd-&gt;revents |= fd-&gt;events &amp; POLLIN;
1564 if (revents &amp; EV_WRITE) fd-&gt;revents |= fd-&gt;events &amp; POLLOUT;
1565
1566 // now stop the watcher
1567 ev_io_stop (loop, iow + i);
1568 }
1569
1570 adns_afterpoll (adns, fds, nfd, timeval_from (ev_now (loop));
1571 }
1572
1573</pre>
1574<p>Method 2: This would be just like method 1, but you run <code>adns_afterpoll</code>
1575in the prepare watcher and would dispose of the check watcher.</p>
1576<p>Method 3: If the module to be embedded supports explicit event
1577notification (adns does), you can also make use of the actual watcher
1578callbacks, and only destroy/create the watchers in the prepare watcher.</p>
1579<pre> static void
1580 timer_cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)
1581 {
1582 adns_state ads = (adns_state)w-&gt;data;
1583 update_now (EV_A);
1584
1585 adns_processtimeouts (ads, &amp;tv_now);
1586 }
1587
1588 static void
1589 io_cb (EV_P_ ev_io *w, int revents)
1590 {
1591 adns_state ads = (adns_state)w-&gt;data;
1592 update_now (EV_A);
1593
1594 if (revents &amp; EV_READ ) adns_processreadable (ads, w-&gt;fd, &amp;tv_now);
1595 if (revents &amp; EV_WRITE) adns_processwriteable (ads, w-&gt;fd, &amp;tv_now);
1596 }
1597
1598 // do not ever call adns_afterpoll
1599
1600</pre>
1601<p>Method 4: Do not use a prepare or check watcher because the module you
1602want to embed is too inflexible to support it. Instead, youc na override
1603their poll function. The drawback with this solution is that the main
1604loop is now no longer controllable by EV. The <code>Glib::EV</code> module does
1605this.</p>
1606<pre> static gint
1607 event_poll_func (GPollFD *fds, guint nfds, gint timeout)
1608 {
1609 int got_events = 0;
1610
1611 for (n = 0; n &lt; nfds; ++n)
1612 // create/start io watcher that sets the relevant bits in fds[n] and increment got_events
1613
1614 if (timeout &gt;= 0)
1615 // create/start timer
1616
1617 // poll
1618 ev_loop (EV_A_ 0);
1619
1620 // stop timer again
1621 if (timeout &gt;= 0)
1622 ev_timer_stop (EV_A_ &amp;to);
1623
1624 // stop io watchers again - their callbacks should have set
1625 for (n = 0; n &lt; nfds; ++n)
1626 ev_io_stop (EV_A_ iow [n]);
1627
1628 return got_events;
1629 }
1630
1631
1632
1633
1634</pre>
1635
706</div> 1636</div>
707<h1 id="OTHER_FUNCTIONS">OTHER FUNCTIONS</h1><p><a href="#TOP" class="toplink">Top</a></p> 1637<h2 id="code_ev_embed_code_when_one_backend_"><code>ev_embed</code> - when one backend isn't enough...</h2>
1638<div id="code_ev_embed_code_when_one_backend_-2">
1639<p>This is a rather advanced watcher type that lets you embed one event loop
1640into another (currently only <code>ev_io</code> events are supported in the embedded
1641loop, other types of watchers might be handled in a delayed or incorrect
1642fashion and must not be used).</p>
1643<p>There are primarily two reasons you would want that: work around bugs and
1644prioritise I/O.</p>
1645<p>As an example for a bug workaround, the kqueue backend might only support
1646sockets on some platform, so it is unusable as generic backend, but you
1647still want to make use of it because you have many sockets and it scales
1648so nicely. In this case, you would create a kqueue-based loop and embed it
1649into your default loop (which might use e.g. poll). Overall operation will
1650be a bit slower because first libev has to poll and then call kevent, but
1651at least you can use both at what they are best.</p>
1652<p>As for prioritising I/O: rarely you have the case where some fds have
1653to be watched and handled very quickly (with low latency), and even
1654priorities and idle watchers might have too much overhead. In this case
1655you would put all the high priority stuff in one loop and all the rest in
1656a second one, and embed the second one in the first.</p>
1657<p>As long as the watcher is active, the callback will be invoked every time
1658there might be events pending in the embedded loop. The callback must then
1659call <code>ev_embed_sweep (mainloop, watcher)</code> to make a single sweep and invoke
1660their callbacks (you could also start an idle watcher to give the embedded
1661loop strictly lower priority for example). You can also set the callback
1662to <code>0</code>, in which case the embed watcher will automatically execute the
1663embedded loop sweep.</p>
1664<p>As long as the watcher is started it will automatically handle events. The
1665callback will be invoked whenever some events have been handled. You can
1666set the callback to <code>0</code> to avoid having to specify one if you are not
1667interested in that.</p>
1668<p>Also, there have not currently been made special provisions for forking:
1669when you fork, you not only have to call <code>ev_loop_fork</code> on both loops,
1670but you will also have to stop and restart any <code>ev_embed</code> watchers
1671yourself.</p>
1672<p>Unfortunately, not all backends are embeddable, only the ones returned by
1673<code>ev_embeddable_backends</code> are, which, unfortunately, does not include any
1674portable one.</p>
1675<p>So when you want to use this feature you will always have to be prepared
1676that you cannot get an embeddable loop. The recommended way to get around
1677this is to have a separate variables for your embeddable loop, try to
1678create it, and if that fails, use the normal loop for everything:</p>
1679<pre> struct ev_loop *loop_hi = ev_default_init (0);
1680 struct ev_loop *loop_lo = 0;
1681 struct ev_embed embed;
1682
1683 // see if there is a chance of getting one that works
1684 // (remember that a flags value of 0 means autodetection)
1685 loop_lo = ev_embeddable_backends () &amp; ev_recommended_backends ()
1686 ? ev_loop_new (ev_embeddable_backends () &amp; ev_recommended_backends ())
1687 : 0;
1688
1689 // if we got one, then embed it, otherwise default to loop_hi
1690 if (loop_lo)
1691 {
1692 ev_embed_init (&amp;embed, 0, loop_lo);
1693 ev_embed_start (loop_hi, &amp;embed);
1694 }
1695 else
1696 loop_lo = loop_hi;
1697
1698</pre>
1699<dl>
1700 <dt>ev_embed_init (ev_embed *, callback, struct ev_loop *embedded_loop)</dt>
1701 <dt>ev_embed_set (ev_embed *, callback, struct ev_loop *embedded_loop)</dt>
1702 <dd>
1703 <p>Configures the watcher to embed the given loop, which must be
1704embeddable. If the callback is <code>0</code>, then <code>ev_embed_sweep</code> will be
1705invoked automatically, otherwise it is the responsibility of the callback
1706to invoke it (it will continue to be called until the sweep has been done,
1707if you do not want thta, you need to temporarily stop the embed watcher).</p>
1708 </dd>
1709 <dt>ev_embed_sweep (loop, ev_embed *)</dt>
1710 <dd>
1711 <p>Make a single, non-blocking sweep over the embedded loop. This works
1712similarly to <code>ev_loop (embedded_loop, EVLOOP_NONBLOCK)</code>, but in the most
1713apropriate way for embedded loops.</p>
1714 </dd>
1715 <dt>struct ev_loop *loop [read-only]</dt>
1716 <dd>
1717 <p>The embedded event loop.</p>
1718 </dd>
1719</dl>
1720
1721
1722
1723
1724
1725</div>
1726<h2 id="code_ev_fork_code_the_audacity_to_re"><code>ev_fork</code> - the audacity to resume the event loop after a fork</h2>
1727<div id="code_ev_fork_code_the_audacity_to_re-2">
1728<p>Fork watchers are called when a <code>fork ()</code> was detected (usually because
1729whoever is a good citizen cared to tell libev about it by calling
1730<code>ev_default_fork</code> or <code>ev_loop_fork</code>). The invocation is done before the
1731event loop blocks next and before <code>ev_check</code> watchers are being called,
1732and only in the child after the fork. If whoever good citizen calling
1733<code>ev_default_fork</code> cheats and calls it in the wrong process, the fork
1734handlers will be invoked, too, of course.</p>
1735<dl>
1736 <dt>ev_fork_init (ev_signal *, callback)</dt>
1737 <dd>
1738 <p>Initialises and configures the fork watcher - it has no parameters of any
1739kind. There is a <code>ev_fork_set</code> macro, but using it is utterly pointless,
1740believe me.</p>
1741 </dd>
1742</dl>
1743
1744
1745
1746
1747
1748</div>
1749<h1 id="OTHER_FUNCTIONS">OTHER FUNCTIONS</h1>
708<div id="OTHER_FUNCTIONS_CONTENT"> 1750<div id="OTHER_FUNCTIONS_CONTENT">
709<p>There are some other functions of possible interest. Described. Here. Now.</p> 1751<p>There are some other functions of possible interest. Described. Here. Now.</p>
710<dl> 1752<dl>
711 <dt>ev_once (loop, int fd, int events, ev_tstamp timeout, callback)</dt> 1753 <dt>ev_once (loop, int fd, int events, ev_tstamp timeout, callback)</dt>
712 <dd> 1754 <dd>
713 <p>This function combines a simple timer and an I/O watcher, calls your 1755 <p>This function combines a simple timer and an I/O watcher, calls your
714callback on whichever event happens first and automatically stop both 1756callback on whichever event happens first and automatically stop both
715watchers. This is useful if you want to wait for a single event on an fd 1757watchers. This is useful if you want to wait for a single event on an fd
716or timeout without havign to allocate/configure/start/stop/free one or 1758or timeout without having to allocate/configure/start/stop/free one or
717more watchers yourself.</p> 1759more watchers yourself.</p>
718 <p>If <code>fd</code> is less than 0, then no I/O watcher will be started and events 1760 <p>If <code>fd</code> is less than 0, then no I/O watcher will be started and events
719is being ignored. Otherwise, an <code>ev_io</code> watcher for the given <code>fd</code> and 1761is being ignored. Otherwise, an <code>ev_io</code> watcher for the given <code>fd</code> and
720<code>events</code> set will be craeted and started.</p> 1762<code>events</code> set will be craeted and started.</p>
721 <p>If <code>timeout</code> is less than 0, then no timeout watcher will be 1763 <p>If <code>timeout</code> is less than 0, then no timeout watcher will be
722started. Otherwise an <code>ev_timer</code> watcher with after = <code>timeout</code> (and 1764started. Otherwise an <code>ev_timer</code> watcher with after = <code>timeout</code> (and
723repeat = 0) will be started. While <code>0</code> is a valid timeout, it is of 1765repeat = 0) will be started. While <code>0</code> is a valid timeout, it is of
724dubious value.</p> 1766dubious value.</p>
725 <p>The callback has the type <code>void (*cb)(int revents, void *arg)</code> and gets 1767 <p>The callback has the type <code>void (*cb)(int revents, void *arg)</code> and gets
726passed an events set like normal event callbacks (with a combination of 1768passed an <code>revents</code> set like normal event callbacks (a combination of
727<code>EV_ERROR</code>, <code>EV_READ</code>, <code>EV_WRITE</code> or <code>EV_TIMEOUT</code>) and the <code>arg</code> 1769<code>EV_ERROR</code>, <code>EV_READ</code>, <code>EV_WRITE</code> or <code>EV_TIMEOUT</code>) and the <code>arg</code>
728value passed to <code>ev_once</code>:</p> 1770value passed to <code>ev_once</code>:</p>
729<pre> static void stdin_ready (int revents, void *arg) 1771<pre> static void stdin_ready (int revents, void *arg)
730 { 1772 {
731 if (revents &amp; EV_TIMEOUT) 1773 if (revents &amp; EV_TIMEOUT)
736 1778
737 ev_once (STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ, 10., stdin_ready, 0); 1779 ev_once (STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ, 10., stdin_ready, 0);
738 1780
739</pre> 1781</pre>
740 </dd> 1782 </dd>
741 <dt>ev_feed_event (loop, watcher, int events)</dt> 1783 <dt>ev_feed_event (ev_loop *, watcher *, int revents)</dt>
742 <dd> 1784 <dd>
743 <p>Feeds the given event set into the event loop, as if the specified event 1785 <p>Feeds the given event set into the event loop, as if the specified event
744had happened for the specified watcher (which must be a pointer to an 1786had happened for the specified watcher (which must be a pointer to an
745initialised but not necessarily started event watcher).</p> 1787initialised but not necessarily started event watcher).</p>
746 </dd> 1788 </dd>
747 <dt>ev_feed_fd_event (loop, int fd, int revents)</dt> 1789 <dt>ev_feed_fd_event (ev_loop *, int fd, int revents)</dt>
748 <dd> 1790 <dd>
749 <p>Feed an event on the given fd, as if a file descriptor backend detected 1791 <p>Feed an event on the given fd, as if a file descriptor backend detected
750the given events it.</p> 1792the given events it.</p>
751 </dd> 1793 </dd>
752 <dt>ev_feed_signal_event (loop, int signum)</dt> 1794 <dt>ev_feed_signal_event (ev_loop *loop, int signum)</dt>
753 <dd> 1795 <dd>
754 <p>Feed an event as if the given signal occured (loop must be the default loop!).</p> 1796 <p>Feed an event as if the given signal occured (<code>loop</code> must be the default
1797loop!).</p>
755 </dd> 1798 </dd>
756</dl> 1799</dl>
757 1800
1801
1802
1803
1804
758</div> 1805</div>
759<h1 id="AUTHOR">AUTHOR</h1><p><a href="#TOP" class="toplink">Top</a></p> 1806<h1 id="LIBEVENT_EMULATION">LIBEVENT EMULATION</h1>
1807<div id="LIBEVENT_EMULATION_CONTENT">
1808<p>Libev offers a compatibility emulation layer for libevent. It cannot
1809emulate the internals of libevent, so here are some usage hints:</p>
1810<dl>
1811 <dt>* Use it by including &lt;event.h&gt;, as usual.</dt>
1812 <dt>* The following members are fully supported: ev_base, ev_callback,
1813ev_arg, ev_fd, ev_res, ev_events.</dt>
1814 <dt>* Avoid using ev_flags and the EVLIST_*-macros, while it is
1815maintained by libev, it does not work exactly the same way as in libevent (consider
1816it a private API).</dt>
1817 <dt>* Priorities are not currently supported. Initialising priorities
1818will fail and all watchers will have the same priority, even though there
1819is an ev_pri field.</dt>
1820 <dt>* Other members are not supported.</dt>
1821 <dt>* The libev emulation is <i>not</i> ABI compatible to libevent, you need
1822to use the libev header file and library.</dt>
1823</dl>
1824
1825</div>
1826<h1 id="C_SUPPORT">C++ SUPPORT</h1>
1827<div id="C_SUPPORT_CONTENT">
1828<p>Libev comes with some simplistic wrapper classes for C++ that mainly allow
1829you to use some convinience methods to start/stop watchers and also change
1830the callback model to a model using method callbacks on objects.</p>
1831<p>To use it,</p>
1832<pre> #include &lt;ev++.h&gt;
1833
1834</pre>
1835<p>This automatically includes <cite>ev.h</cite> and puts all of its definitions (many
1836of them macros) into the global namespace. All C++ specific things are
1837put into the <code>ev</code> namespace. It should support all the same embedding
1838options as <cite>ev.h</cite>, most notably <code>EV_MULTIPLICITY</code>.</p>
1839<p>Care has been taken to keep the overhead low. The only data member the C++
1840classes add (compared to plain C-style watchers) is the event loop pointer
1841that the watcher is associated with (or no additional members at all if
1842you disable <code>EV_MULTIPLICITY</code> when embedding libev).</p>
1843<p>Currently, functions, and static and non-static member functions can be
1844used as callbacks. Other types should be easy to add as long as they only
1845need one additional pointer for context. If you need support for other
1846types of functors please contact the author (preferably after implementing
1847it).</p>
1848<p>Here is a list of things available in the <code>ev</code> namespace:</p>
1849<dl>
1850 <dt><code>ev::READ</code>, <code>ev::WRITE</code> etc.</dt>
1851 <dd>
1852 <p>These are just enum values with the same values as the <code>EV_READ</code> etc.
1853macros from <cite>ev.h</cite>.</p>
1854 </dd>
1855 <dt><code>ev::tstamp</code>, <code>ev::now</code></dt>
1856 <dd>
1857 <p>Aliases to the same types/functions as with the <code>ev_</code> prefix.</p>
1858 </dd>
1859 <dt><code>ev::io</code>, <code>ev::timer</code>, <code>ev::periodic</code>, <code>ev::idle</code>, <code>ev::sig</code> etc.</dt>
1860 <dd>
1861 <p>For each <code>ev_TYPE</code> watcher in <cite>ev.h</cite> there is a corresponding class of
1862the same name in the <code>ev</code> namespace, with the exception of <code>ev_signal</code>
1863which is called <code>ev::sig</code> to avoid clashes with the <code>signal</code> macro
1864defines by many implementations.</p>
1865 <p>All of those classes have these methods:</p>
1866 <p>
1867 <dl>
1868 <dt>ev::TYPE::TYPE ()</dt>
1869 <dt>ev::TYPE::TYPE (struct ev_loop *)</dt>
1870 <dt>ev::TYPE::~TYPE</dt>
1871 <dd>
1872 <p>The constructor (optionally) takes an event loop to associate the watcher
1873with. If it is omitted, it will use <code>EV_DEFAULT</code>.</p>
1874 <p>The constructor calls <code>ev_init</code> for you, which means you have to call the
1875<code>set</code> method before starting it.</p>
1876 <p>It will not set a callback, however: You have to call the templated <code>set</code>
1877method to set a callback before you can start the watcher.</p>
1878 <p>(The reason why you have to use a method is a limitation in C++ which does
1879not allow explicit template arguments for constructors).</p>
1880 <p>The destructor automatically stops the watcher if it is active.</p>
1881 </dd>
1882 <dt>w-&gt;set&lt;class, &amp;class::method&gt; (object *)</dt>
1883 <dd>
1884 <p>This method sets the callback method to call. The method has to have a
1885signature of <code>void (*)(ev_TYPE &amp;, int)</code>, it receives the watcher as
1886first argument and the <code>revents</code> as second. The object must be given as
1887parameter and is stored in the <code>data</code> member of the watcher.</p>
1888 <p>This method synthesizes efficient thunking code to call your method from
1889the C callback that libev requires. If your compiler can inline your
1890callback (i.e. it is visible to it at the place of the <code>set</code> call and
1891your compiler is good :), then the method will be fully inlined into the
1892thunking function, making it as fast as a direct C callback.</p>
1893 <p>Example: simple class declaration and watcher initialisation</p>
1894<pre> struct myclass
1895 {
1896 void io_cb (ev::io &amp;w, int revents) { }
1897 }
1898
1899 myclass obj;
1900 ev::io iow;
1901 iow.set &lt;myclass, &amp;myclass::io_cb&gt; (&amp;obj);
1902
1903</pre>
1904 </dd>
1905 <dt>w-&gt;set&lt;function&gt; (void *data = 0)</dt>
1906 <dd>
1907 <p>Also sets a callback, but uses a static method or plain function as
1908callback. The optional <code>data</code> argument will be stored in the watcher's
1909<code>data</code> member and is free for you to use.</p>
1910 <p>The prototype of the <code>function</code> must be <code>void (*)(ev::TYPE &amp;w, int)</code>.</p>
1911 <p>See the method-<code>set</code> above for more details.</p>
1912 <p>Example:</p>
1913<pre> static void io_cb (ev::io &amp;w, int revents) { }
1914 iow.set &lt;io_cb&gt; ();
1915
1916</pre>
1917 </dd>
1918 <dt>w-&gt;set (struct ev_loop *)</dt>
1919 <dd>
1920 <p>Associates a different <code>struct ev_loop</code> with this watcher. You can only
1921do this when the watcher is inactive (and not pending either).</p>
1922 </dd>
1923 <dt>w-&gt;set ([args])</dt>
1924 <dd>
1925 <p>Basically the same as <code>ev_TYPE_set</code>, with the same args. Must be
1926called at least once. Unlike the C counterpart, an active watcher gets
1927automatically stopped and restarted when reconfiguring it with this
1928method.</p>
1929 </dd>
1930 <dt>w-&gt;start ()</dt>
1931 <dd>
1932 <p>Starts the watcher. Note that there is no <code>loop</code> argument, as the
1933constructor already stores the event loop.</p>
1934 </dd>
1935 <dt>w-&gt;stop ()</dt>
1936 <dd>
1937 <p>Stops the watcher if it is active. Again, no <code>loop</code> argument.</p>
1938 </dd>
1939 <dt>w-&gt;again () <code>ev::timer</code>, <code>ev::periodic</code> only</dt>
1940 <dd>
1941 <p>For <code>ev::timer</code> and <code>ev::periodic</code>, this invokes the corresponding
1942<code>ev_TYPE_again</code> function.</p>
1943 </dd>
1944 <dt>w-&gt;sweep () <code>ev::embed</code> only</dt>
1945 <dd>
1946 <p>Invokes <code>ev_embed_sweep</code>.</p>
1947 </dd>
1948 <dt>w-&gt;update () <code>ev::stat</code> only</dt>
1949 <dd>
1950 <p>Invokes <code>ev_stat_stat</code>.</p>
1951 </dd>
1952 </dl>
1953 </p>
1954 </dd>
1955</dl>
1956<p>Example: Define a class with an IO and idle watcher, start one of them in
1957the constructor.</p>
1958<pre> class myclass
1959 {
1960 ev_io io; void io_cb (ev::io &amp;w, int revents);
1961 ev_idle idle void idle_cb (ev::idle &amp;w, int revents);
1962
1963 myclass ();
1964 }
1965
1966 myclass::myclass (int fd)
1967 {
1968 io .set &lt;myclass, &amp;myclass::io_cb &gt; (this);
1969 idle.set &lt;myclass, &amp;myclass::idle_cb&gt; (this);
1970
1971 io.start (fd, ev::READ);
1972 }
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977</pre>
1978
1979</div>
1980<h1 id="MACRO_MAGIC">MACRO MAGIC</h1>
1981<div id="MACRO_MAGIC_CONTENT">
1982<p>Libev can be compiled with a variety of options, the most fundemantal is
1983<code>EV_MULTIPLICITY</code>. This option determines whether (most) functions and
1984callbacks have an initial <code>struct ev_loop *</code> argument.</p>
1985<p>To make it easier to write programs that cope with either variant, the
1986following macros are defined:</p>
1987<dl>
1988 <dt><code>EV_A</code>, <code>EV_A_</code></dt>
1989 <dd>
1990 <p>This provides the loop <i>argument</i> for functions, if one is required (&quot;ev
1991loop argument&quot;). The <code>EV_A</code> form is used when this is the sole argument,
1992<code>EV_A_</code> is used when other arguments are following. Example:</p>
1993<pre> ev_unref (EV_A);
1994 ev_timer_add (EV_A_ watcher);
1995 ev_loop (EV_A_ 0);
1996
1997</pre>
1998 <p>It assumes the variable <code>loop</code> of type <code>struct ev_loop *</code> is in scope,
1999which is often provided by the following macro.</p>
2000 </dd>
2001 <dt><code>EV_P</code>, <code>EV_P_</code></dt>
2002 <dd>
2003 <p>This provides the loop <i>parameter</i> for functions, if one is required (&quot;ev
2004loop parameter&quot;). The <code>EV_P</code> form is used when this is the sole parameter,
2005<code>EV_P_</code> is used when other parameters are following. Example:</p>
2006<pre> // this is how ev_unref is being declared
2007 static void ev_unref (EV_P);
2008
2009 // this is how you can declare your typical callback
2010 static void cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)
2011
2012</pre>
2013 <p>It declares a parameter <code>loop</code> of type <code>struct ev_loop *</code>, quite
2014suitable for use with <code>EV_A</code>.</p>
2015 </dd>
2016 <dt><code>EV_DEFAULT</code>, <code>EV_DEFAULT_</code></dt>
2017 <dd>
2018 <p>Similar to the other two macros, this gives you the value of the default
2019loop, if multiple loops are supported (&quot;ev loop default&quot;).</p>
2020 </dd>
2021</dl>
2022<p>Example: Declare and initialise a check watcher, utilising the above
2023macros so it will work regardless of whether multiple loops are supported
2024or not.</p>
2025<pre> static void
2026 check_cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)
2027 {
2028 ev_check_stop (EV_A_ w);
2029 }
2030
2031 ev_check check;
2032 ev_check_init (&amp;check, check_cb);
2033 ev_check_start (EV_DEFAULT_ &amp;check);
2034 ev_loop (EV_DEFAULT_ 0);
2035
2036</pre>
2037
2038</div>
2039<h1 id="EMBEDDING">EMBEDDING</h1>
2040<div id="EMBEDDING_CONTENT">
2041<p>Libev can (and often is) directly embedded into host
2042applications. Examples of applications that embed it include the Deliantra
2043Game Server, the EV perl module, the GNU Virtual Private Ethernet (gvpe)
2044and rxvt-unicode.</p>
2045<p>The goal is to enable you to just copy the neecssary files into your
2046source directory without having to change even a single line in them, so
2047you can easily upgrade by simply copying (or having a checked-out copy of
2048libev somewhere in your source tree).</p>
2049
2050</div>
2051<h2 id="FILESETS">FILESETS</h2>
2052<div id="FILESETS_CONTENT">
2053<p>Depending on what features you need you need to include one or more sets of files
2054in your app.</p>
2055
2056</div>
2057<h3 id="CORE_EVENT_LOOP">CORE EVENT LOOP</h3>
2058<div id="CORE_EVENT_LOOP_CONTENT">
2059<p>To include only the libev core (all the <code>ev_*</code> functions), with manual
2060configuration (no autoconf):</p>
2061<pre> #define EV_STANDALONE 1
2062 #include &quot;ev.c&quot;
2063
2064</pre>
2065<p>This will automatically include <cite>ev.h</cite>, too, and should be done in a
2066single C source file only to provide the function implementations. To use
2067it, do the same for <cite>ev.h</cite> in all files wishing to use this API (best
2068done by writing a wrapper around <cite>ev.h</cite> that you can include instead and
2069where you can put other configuration options):</p>
2070<pre> #define EV_STANDALONE 1
2071 #include &quot;ev.h&quot;
2072
2073</pre>
2074<p>Both header files and implementation files can be compiled with a C++
2075compiler (at least, thats a stated goal, and breakage will be treated
2076as a bug).</p>
2077<p>You need the following files in your source tree, or in a directory
2078in your include path (e.g. in libev/ when using -Ilibev):</p>
2079<pre> ev.h
2080 ev.c
2081 ev_vars.h
2082 ev_wrap.h
2083
2084 ev_win32.c required on win32 platforms only
2085
2086 ev_select.c only when select backend is enabled (which is enabled by default)
2087 ev_poll.c only when poll backend is enabled (disabled by default)
2088 ev_epoll.c only when the epoll backend is enabled (disabled by default)
2089 ev_kqueue.c only when the kqueue backend is enabled (disabled by default)
2090 ev_port.c only when the solaris port backend is enabled (disabled by default)
2091
2092</pre>
2093<p><cite>ev.c</cite> includes the backend files directly when enabled, so you only need
2094to compile this single file.</p>
2095
2096</div>
2097<h3 id="LIBEVENT_COMPATIBILITY_API">LIBEVENT COMPATIBILITY API</h3>
2098<div id="LIBEVENT_COMPATIBILITY_API_CONTENT">
2099<p>To include the libevent compatibility API, also include:</p>
2100<pre> #include &quot;event.c&quot;
2101
2102</pre>
2103<p>in the file including <cite>ev.c</cite>, and:</p>
2104<pre> #include &quot;event.h&quot;
2105
2106</pre>
2107<p>in the files that want to use the libevent API. This also includes <cite>ev.h</cite>.</p>
2108<p>You need the following additional files for this:</p>
2109<pre> event.h
2110 event.c
2111
2112</pre>
2113
2114</div>
2115<h3 id="AUTOCONF_SUPPORT">AUTOCONF SUPPORT</h3>
2116<div id="AUTOCONF_SUPPORT_CONTENT">
2117<p>Instead of using <code>EV_STANDALONE=1</code> and providing your config in
2118whatever way you want, you can also <code>m4_include([libev.m4])</code> in your
2119<cite>configure.ac</cite> and leave <code>EV_STANDALONE</code> undefined. <cite>ev.c</cite> will then
2120include <cite>config.h</cite> and configure itself accordingly.</p>
2121<p>For this of course you need the m4 file:</p>
2122<pre> libev.m4
2123
2124</pre>
2125
2126</div>
2127<h2 id="PREPROCESSOR_SYMBOLS_MACROS">PREPROCESSOR SYMBOLS/MACROS</h2>
2128<div id="PREPROCESSOR_SYMBOLS_MACROS_CONTENT">
2129<p>Libev can be configured via a variety of preprocessor symbols you have to define
2130before including any of its files. The default is not to build for multiplicity
2131and only include the select backend.</p>
2132<dl>
2133 <dt>EV_STANDALONE</dt>
2134 <dd>
2135 <p>Must always be <code>1</code> if you do not use autoconf configuration, which
2136keeps libev from including <cite>config.h</cite>, and it also defines dummy
2137implementations for some libevent functions (such as logging, which is not
2138supported). It will also not define any of the structs usually found in
2139<cite>event.h</cite> that are not directly supported by the libev core alone.</p>
2140 </dd>
2141 <dt>EV_USE_MONOTONIC</dt>
2142 <dd>
2143 <p>If defined to be <code>1</code>, libev will try to detect the availability of the
2144monotonic clock option at both compiletime and runtime. Otherwise no use
2145of the monotonic clock option will be attempted. If you enable this, you
2146usually have to link against librt or something similar. Enabling it when
2147the functionality isn't available is safe, though, althoguh you have
2148to make sure you link against any libraries where the <code>clock_gettime</code>
2149function is hiding in (often <cite>-lrt</cite>).</p>
2150 </dd>
2151 <dt>EV_USE_REALTIME</dt>
2152 <dd>
2153 <p>If defined to be <code>1</code>, libev will try to detect the availability of the
2154realtime clock option at compiletime (and assume its availability at
2155runtime if successful). Otherwise no use of the realtime clock option will
2156be attempted. This effectively replaces <code>gettimeofday</code> by <code>clock_get
2157(CLOCK_REALTIME, ...)</code> and will not normally affect correctness. See tzhe note about libraries
2158in the description of <code>EV_USE_MONOTONIC</code>, though.</p>
2159 </dd>
2160 <dt>EV_USE_SELECT</dt>
2161 <dd>
2162 <p>If undefined or defined to be <code>1</code>, libev will compile in support for the
2163<code>select</code>(2) backend. No attempt at autodetection will be done: if no
2164other method takes over, select will be it. Otherwise the select backend
2165will not be compiled in.</p>
2166 </dd>
2167 <dt>EV_SELECT_USE_FD_SET</dt>
2168 <dd>
2169 <p>If defined to <code>1</code>, then the select backend will use the system <code>fd_set</code>
2170structure. This is useful if libev doesn't compile due to a missing
2171<code>NFDBITS</code> or <code>fd_mask</code> definition or it misguesses the bitset layout on
2172exotic systems. This usually limits the range of file descriptors to some
2173low limit such as 1024 or might have other limitations (winsocket only
2174allows 64 sockets). The <code>FD_SETSIZE</code> macro, set before compilation, might
2175influence the size of the <code>fd_set</code> used.</p>
2176 </dd>
2177 <dt>EV_SELECT_IS_WINSOCKET</dt>
2178 <dd>
2179 <p>When defined to <code>1</code>, the select backend will assume that
2180select/socket/connect etc. don't understand file descriptors but
2181wants osf handles on win32 (this is the case when the select to
2182be used is the winsock select). This means that it will call
2183<code>_get_osfhandle</code> on the fd to convert it to an OS handle. Otherwise,
2184it is assumed that all these functions actually work on fds, even
2185on win32. Should not be defined on non-win32 platforms.</p>
2186 </dd>
2187 <dt>EV_USE_POLL</dt>
2188 <dd>
2189 <p>If defined to be <code>1</code>, libev will compile in support for the <code>poll</code>(2)
2190backend. Otherwise it will be enabled on non-win32 platforms. It
2191takes precedence over select.</p>
2192 </dd>
2193 <dt>EV_USE_EPOLL</dt>
2194 <dd>
2195 <p>If defined to be <code>1</code>, libev will compile in support for the Linux
2196<code>epoll</code>(7) backend. Its availability will be detected at runtime,
2197otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the
2198preferred backend for GNU/Linux systems.</p>
2199 </dd>
2200 <dt>EV_USE_KQUEUE</dt>
2201 <dd>
2202 <p>If defined to be <code>1</code>, libev will compile in support for the BSD style
2203<code>kqueue</code>(2) backend. Its actual availability will be detected at runtime,
2204otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the preferred
2205backend for BSD and BSD-like systems, although on most BSDs kqueue only
2206supports some types of fds correctly (the only platform we found that
2207supports ptys for example was NetBSD), so kqueue might be compiled in, but
2208not be used unless explicitly requested. The best way to use it is to find
2209out whether kqueue supports your type of fd properly and use an embedded
2210kqueue loop.</p>
2211 </dd>
2212 <dt>EV_USE_PORT</dt>
2213 <dd>
2214 <p>If defined to be <code>1</code>, libev will compile in support for the Solaris
221510 port style backend. Its availability will be detected at runtime,
2216otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the preferred
2217backend for Solaris 10 systems.</p>
2218 </dd>
2219 <dt>EV_USE_DEVPOLL</dt>
2220 <dd>
2221 <p>reserved for future expansion, works like the USE symbols above.</p>
2222 </dd>
2223 <dt>EV_USE_INOTIFY</dt>
2224 <dd>
2225 <p>If defined to be <code>1</code>, libev will compile in support for the Linux inotify
2226interface to speed up <code>ev_stat</code> watchers. Its actual availability will
2227be detected at runtime.</p>
2228 </dd>
2229 <dt>EV_H</dt>
2230 <dd>
2231 <p>The name of the <cite>ev.h</cite> header file used to include it. The default if
2232undefined is <code>&lt;ev.h&gt;</code> in <cite>event.h</cite> and <code>&quot;ev.h&quot;</code> in <cite>ev.c</cite>. This
2233can be used to virtually rename the <cite>ev.h</cite> header file in case of conflicts.</p>
2234 </dd>
2235 <dt>EV_CONFIG_H</dt>
2236 <dd>
2237 <p>If <code>EV_STANDALONE</code> isn't <code>1</code>, this variable can be used to override
2238<cite>ev.c</cite>'s idea of where to find the <cite>config.h</cite> file, similarly to
2239<code>EV_H</code>, above.</p>
2240 </dd>
2241 <dt>EV_EVENT_H</dt>
2242 <dd>
2243 <p>Similarly to <code>EV_H</code>, this macro can be used to override <cite>event.c</cite>'s idea
2244of how the <cite>event.h</cite> header can be found.</p>
2245 </dd>
2246 <dt>EV_PROTOTYPES</dt>
2247 <dd>
2248 <p>If defined to be <code>0</code>, then <cite>ev.h</cite> will not define any function
2249prototypes, but still define all the structs and other symbols. This is
2250occasionally useful if you want to provide your own wrapper functions
2251around libev functions.</p>
2252 </dd>
2253 <dt>EV_MULTIPLICITY</dt>
2254 <dd>
2255 <p>If undefined or defined to <code>1</code>, then all event-loop-specific functions
2256will have the <code>struct ev_loop *</code> as first argument, and you can create
2257additional independent event loops. Otherwise there will be no support
2258for multiple event loops and there is no first event loop pointer
2259argument. Instead, all functions act on the single default loop.</p>
2260 </dd>
2261 <dt>EV_MINPRI</dt>
2262 <dt>EV_MAXPRI</dt>
2263 <dd>
2264 <p>The range of allowed priorities. <code>EV_MINPRI</code> must be smaller or equal to
2265<code>EV_MAXPRI</code>, but otherwise there are no non-obvious limitations. You can
2266provide for more priorities by overriding those symbols (usually defined
2267to be <code>-2</code> and <code>2</code>, respectively).</p>
2268 <p>When doing priority-based operations, libev usually has to linearly search
2269all the priorities, so having many of them (hundreds) uses a lot of space
2270and time, so using the defaults of five priorities (-2 .. +2) is usually
2271fine.</p>
2272 <p>If your embedding app does not need any priorities, defining these both to
2273<code>0</code> will save some memory and cpu.</p>
2274 </dd>
2275 <dt>EV_PERIODIC_ENABLE</dt>
2276 <dd>
2277 <p>If undefined or defined to be <code>1</code>, then periodic timers are supported. If
2278defined to be <code>0</code>, then they are not. Disabling them saves a few kB of
2279code.</p>
2280 </dd>
2281 <dt>EV_IDLE_ENABLE</dt>
2282 <dd>
2283 <p>If undefined or defined to be <code>1</code>, then idle watchers are supported. If
2284defined to be <code>0</code>, then they are not. Disabling them saves a few kB of
2285code.</p>
2286 </dd>
2287 <dt>EV_EMBED_ENABLE</dt>
2288 <dd>
2289 <p>If undefined or defined to be <code>1</code>, then embed watchers are supported. If
2290defined to be <code>0</code>, then they are not.</p>
2291 </dd>
2292 <dt>EV_STAT_ENABLE</dt>
2293 <dd>
2294 <p>If undefined or defined to be <code>1</code>, then stat watchers are supported. If
2295defined to be <code>0</code>, then they are not.</p>
2296 </dd>
2297 <dt>EV_FORK_ENABLE</dt>
2298 <dd>
2299 <p>If undefined or defined to be <code>1</code>, then fork watchers are supported. If
2300defined to be <code>0</code>, then they are not.</p>
2301 </dd>
2302 <dt>EV_MINIMAL</dt>
2303 <dd>
2304 <p>If you need to shave off some kilobytes of code at the expense of some
2305speed, define this symbol to <code>1</code>. Currently only used for gcc to override
2306some inlining decisions, saves roughly 30% codesize of amd64.</p>
2307 </dd>
2308 <dt>EV_PID_HASHSIZE</dt>
2309 <dd>
2310 <p><code>ev_child</code> watchers use a small hash table to distribute workload by
2311pid. The default size is <code>16</code> (or <code>1</code> with <code>EV_MINIMAL</code>), usually more
2312than enough. If you need to manage thousands of children you might want to
2313increase this value (<i>must</i> be a power of two).</p>
2314 </dd>
2315 <dt>EV_INOTIFY_HASHSIZE</dt>
2316 <dd>
2317 <p><code>ev_staz</code> watchers use a small hash table to distribute workload by
2318inotify watch id. The default size is <code>16</code> (or <code>1</code> with <code>EV_MINIMAL</code>),
2319usually more than enough. If you need to manage thousands of <code>ev_stat</code>
2320watchers you might want to increase this value (<i>must</i> be a power of
2321two).</p>
2322 </dd>
2323 <dt>EV_COMMON</dt>
2324 <dd>
2325 <p>By default, all watchers have a <code>void *data</code> member. By redefining
2326this macro to a something else you can include more and other types of
2327members. You have to define it each time you include one of the files,
2328though, and it must be identical each time.</p>
2329 <p>For example, the perl EV module uses something like this:</p>
2330<pre> #define EV_COMMON \
2331 SV *self; /* contains this struct */ \
2332 SV *cb_sv, *fh /* note no trailing &quot;;&quot; */
2333
2334</pre>
2335 </dd>
2336 <dt>EV_CB_DECLARE (type)</dt>
2337 <dt>EV_CB_INVOKE (watcher, revents)</dt>
2338 <dt>ev_set_cb (ev, cb)</dt>
2339 <dd>
2340 <p>Can be used to change the callback member declaration in each watcher,
2341and the way callbacks are invoked and set. Must expand to a struct member
2342definition and a statement, respectively. See the <cite>ev.v</cite> header file for
2343their default definitions. One possible use for overriding these is to
2344avoid the <code>struct ev_loop *</code> as first argument in all cases, or to use
2345method calls instead of plain function calls in C++.</p>
2346
2347</div>
2348<h2 id="EXAMPLES">EXAMPLES</h2>
2349<div id="EXAMPLES_CONTENT">
2350 <p>For a real-world example of a program the includes libev
2351verbatim, you can have a look at the EV perl module
2352(<a href="http://software.schmorp.de/pkg/EV.html">http://software.schmorp.de/pkg/EV.html</a>). It has the libev files in
2353the <cite>libev/</cite> subdirectory and includes them in the <cite>EV/EVAPI.h</cite> (public
2354interface) and <cite>EV.xs</cite> (implementation) files. Only the <cite>EV.xs</cite> file
2355will be compiled. It is pretty complex because it provides its own header
2356file.</p>
2357 <p>The usage in rxvt-unicode is simpler. It has a <cite>ev_cpp.h</cite> header file
2358that everybody includes and which overrides some configure choices:</p>
2359<pre> #define EV_MINIMAL 1
2360 #define EV_USE_POLL 0
2361 #define EV_MULTIPLICITY 0
2362 #define EV_PERIODIC_ENABLE 0
2363 #define EV_STAT_ENABLE 0
2364 #define EV_FORK_ENABLE 0
2365 #define EV_CONFIG_H &lt;config.h&gt;
2366 #define EV_MINPRI 0
2367 #define EV_MAXPRI 0
2368
2369 #include &quot;ev++.h&quot;
2370
2371</pre>
2372 <p>And a <cite>ev_cpp.C</cite> implementation file that contains libev proper and is compiled:</p>
2373<pre> #include &quot;ev_cpp.h&quot;
2374 #include &quot;ev.c&quot;
2375
2376
2377
2378
2379</pre>
2380
2381</div>
2382<h1 id="COMPLEXITIES">COMPLEXITIES</h1>
2383<div id="COMPLEXITIES_CONTENT">
2384 <p>In this section the complexities of (many of) the algorithms used inside
2385libev will be explained. For complexity discussions about backends see the
2386documentation for <code>ev_default_init</code>.</p>
2387 <p>All of the following are about amortised time: If an array needs to be
2388extended, libev needs to realloc and move the whole array, but this
2389happens asymptotically never with higher number of elements, so O(1) might
2390mean it might do a lengthy realloc operation in rare cases, but on average
2391it is much faster and asymptotically approaches constant time.</p>
2392 <p>
2393 <dl>
2394 <dt>Starting and stopping timer/periodic watchers: O(log skipped_other_timers)</dt>
2395 <dd>
2396 <p>This means that, when you have a watcher that triggers in one hour and
2397there are 100 watchers that would trigger before that then inserting will
2398have to skip those 100 watchers.</p>
2399 </dd>
2400 <dt>Changing timer/periodic watchers (by autorepeat, again): O(log skipped_other_timers)</dt>
2401 <dd>
2402 <p>That means that for changing a timer costs less than removing/adding them
2403as only the relative motion in the event queue has to be paid for.</p>
2404 </dd>
2405 <dt>Starting io/check/prepare/idle/signal/child watchers: O(1)</dt>
2406 <dd>
2407 <p>These just add the watcher into an array or at the head of a list.
2408=item Stopping check/prepare/idle watchers: O(1)</p>
2409 </dd>
2410 <dt>Stopping an io/signal/child watcher: O(number_of_watchers_for_this_(fd/signal/pid % EV_PID_HASHSIZE))</dt>
2411 <dd>
2412 <p>These watchers are stored in lists then need to be walked to find the
2413correct watcher to remove. The lists are usually short (you don't usually
2414have many watchers waiting for the same fd or signal).</p>
2415 </dd>
2416 <dt>Finding the next timer per loop iteration: O(1)</dt>
2417 <dt>Each change on a file descriptor per loop iteration: O(number_of_watchers_for_this_fd)</dt>
2418 <dd>
2419 <p>A change means an I/O watcher gets started or stopped, which requires
2420libev to recalculate its status (and possibly tell the kernel).</p>
2421 </dd>
2422 <dt>Activating one watcher: O(1)</dt>
2423 <dt>Priority handling: O(number_of_priorities)</dt>
2424 <dd>
2425 <p>Priorities are implemented by allocating some space for each
2426priority. When doing priority-based operations, libev usually has to
2427linearly search all the priorities.</p>
2428 </dd>
2429 </dl>
2430 </p>
2431
2432
2433
2434
2435
2436</div>
2437<h1 id="AUTHOR">AUTHOR</h1>
760<div id="AUTHOR_CONTENT"> 2438<div id="AUTHOR_CONTENT">
761<p>Marc Lehmann &lt;libev@schmorp.de&gt;.</p> 2439 <p>Marc Lehmann &lt;libev@schmorp.de&gt;.</p>
762 2440
763</div> 2441</div>
764</div></body> 2442</div></body>
765</html> 2443</html>

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