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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 09:16:01 2007" /> 9 <meta name="created" content="Fri Dec 7 20:07:44 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>
23<li><a href="#TIME_REPRESENTATION">TIME REPRESENTATION</a></li>
22<li><a href="#TIME_AND_OTHER_GLOBAL_FUNCTIONS">TIME AND OTHER GLOBAL FUNCTIONS</a></li> 24<li><a href="#GLOBAL_FUNCTIONS">GLOBAL FUNCTIONS</a></li>
23<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>
24<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>
25<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>
26</ul> 29</ul>
27</li> 30</li>
28<li><a href="#WATCHER_TYPES">WATCHER TYPES</a> 31<li><a href="#WATCHER_TYPES">WATCHER TYPES</a>
29<ul><li><a href="#struct_ev_io_is_my_file_descriptor_r">struct ev_io - is my 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>
30<li><a href="#struct_ev_timer_relative_and_optiona">struct ev_timer - 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>
31<li><a href="#ev_periodic_to_cron_or_not_to_cron_i">ev_periodic - to cron or not to cron it</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>
32<li><a href="#ev_signal_signal_me_when_a_signal_ge">ev_signal - 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>
33<li><a href="#ev_child_wait_for_pid_status_changes">ev_child - 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>
34<li><a href="#ev_idle_when_you_ve_got_nothing_bett">ev_idle - 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>
35<li><a href="#prepare_and_check_your_hooks_into_th">prepare and check - your hooks into the 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>
36</ul> 42</ul>
37</li> 43</li>
38<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>
39<li><a href="#AUTHOR">AUTHOR</a> 60<li><a href="#AUTHOR">AUTHOR</a>
40</li> 61</li>
41</ul><hr /> 62</ul><hr />
42<!-- INDEX END --> 63<!-- INDEX END -->
43 64
44<h1 id="NAME">NAME</h1><p><a href="#TOP" class="toplink">Top</a></p> 65<h1 id="NAME">NAME</h1>
45<div id="NAME_CONTENT"> 66<div id="NAME_CONTENT">
46<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>
47 68
48</div> 69</div>
49<h1 id="SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</h1><p><a href="#TOP" class="toplink">Top</a></p> 70<h1 id="SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</h1>
50<div id="SYNOPSIS_CONTENT"> 71<div id="SYNOPSIS_CONTENT">
51<pre> #include &lt;ev.h&gt; 72<pre> #include &lt;ev.h&gt;
52 73
53</pre> 74</pre>
54 75
55</div> 76</div>
56<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>
57<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>
58<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
59file descriptor being readable or a timeout occuring), and it will manage 128file descriptor being readable or a timeout occuring), and it will manage
60these event sources and provide your program with events.</p> 129these event sources and provide your program with events.</p>
61<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
62(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
65watchers</i>, which are relatively small C structures you initialise with the 134watchers</i>, which are relatively small C structures you initialise with the
66details 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
67watcher.</p> 136watcher.</p>
68 137
69</div> 138</div>
70<h1 id="FEATURES">FEATURES</h1><p><a href="#TOP" class="toplink">Top</a></p> 139<h1 id="FEATURES">FEATURES</h1>
71<div id="FEATURES_CONTENT"> 140<div id="FEATURES_CONTENT">
72<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
73kqueue mechanisms for file descriptor events, relative timers, absolute 142BSD-specific <code>kqueue</code> and the Solaris-specific event port mechanisms
74timers with customised rescheduling, signal events, process status change 143for file descriptor events (<code>ev_io</code>), the Linux <code>inotify</code> interface
75events (related to SIGCHLD), and event watchers dealing with the event 144(for <code>ev_stat</code>), relative timers (<code>ev_timer</code>), absolute timers
76loop 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
77fast (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
78it to libevent for example).</p> 153for example).</p>
79 154
80</div> 155</div>
81<h1 id="CONVENTIONS">CONVENTIONS</h1><p><a href="#TOP" class="toplink">Top</a></p> 156<h1 id="CONVENTIONS">CONVENTIONS</h1>
82<div id="CONVENTIONS_CONTENT"> 157<div id="CONVENTIONS_CONTENT">
83<p>Libev is very configurable. In this manual the default configuration 158<p>Libev is very configurable. In this manual the default configuration will
84will be described, which supports multiple event loops. For more info 159be described, which supports multiple event loops. For more info about
85about various configuration options please have a look at the file 160various configuration options please have a look at <strong>EMBED</strong> section in
86<cite>README.embed</cite> in the libev distribution. If libev was configured without 161this manual. If libev was configured without support for multiple event
87support for multiple event loops, then all functions taking an initial 162loops, then all functions taking an initial argument of name <code>loop</code>
88argument 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>
89will not have this argument.</p>
90 164
91</div> 165</div>
92<h1 id="TIME_AND_OTHER_GLOBAL_FUNCTIONS">TIME AND OTHER GLOBAL FUNCTIONS</h1><p><a href="#TOP" class="toplink">Top</a></p> 166<h1 id="TIME_REPRESENTATION">TIME REPRESENTATION</h1>
93<div id="TIME_AND_OTHER_GLOBAL_FUNCTIONS_CONT"> 167<div id="TIME_REPRESENTATION_CONTENT">
94<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
95(fractional) number of seconds since the (POSIX) epoch (somewhere near 169(fractional) number of seconds since the (POSIX) epoch (somewhere near
96the 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
97called <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
98to 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>
174
175</div>
176<h1 id="GLOBAL_FUNCTIONS">GLOBAL FUNCTIONS</h1>
177<div id="GLOBAL_FUNCTIONS_CONTENT">
178<p>These functions can be called anytime, even before initialising the
179library in any way.</p>
99<dl> 180<dl>
100 <dt>ev_tstamp ev_time ()</dt> 181 <dt>ev_tstamp ev_time ()</dt>
101 <dd> 182 <dd>
102 <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>
103 </dd> 186 </dd>
104 <dt>int ev_version_major ()</dt> 187 <dt>int ev_version_major ()</dt>
105 <dt>int ev_version_minor ()</dt> 188 <dt>int ev_version_minor ()</dt>
106 <dd> 189 <dd>
107 <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
108you linked against by calling the functions <code>ev_version_major</code> and 191you linked against by calling the functions <code>ev_version_major</code> and
109<code>ev_version_minor</code>. If you want, you can compare against the global 192<code>ev_version_minor</code>. If you want, you can compare against the global
110symbols <code>EV_VERSION_MAJOR</code> and <code>EV_VERSION_MINOR</code>, which specify the 193symbols <code>EV_VERSION_MAJOR</code> and <code>EV_VERSION_MINOR</code>, which specify the
111version of the library your program was compiled against.</p> 194version of the library your program was compiled against.</p>
112 <p>Usually, its 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,
113as this indicates an incompatible change. Minor versions are usually 196as this indicates an incompatible change. Minor versions are usually
114compatible to older versions, so a larger minor version alone is usually 197compatible to older versions, so a larger minor version alone is usually
115not 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>
116 </dd> 237 </dd>
117 <dt>ev_set_allocator (void *(*cb)(void *ptr, long size))</dt> 238 <dt>ev_set_allocator (void *(*cb)(void *ptr, long size))</dt>
118 <dd> 239 <dd>
119 <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
120realloc C function, the semantics are identical). It is used to allocate 241semantics is identical - to the realloc C function). It is used to
121and free memory (no surprises here). If it returns zero when memory 242allocate and free memory (no surprises here). If it returns zero when
122needs to be allocated, the library might abort or take some potentially 243memory needs to be allocated, the library might abort or take some
123destructive action. The default is your system realloc function.</p> 244potentially destructive action. The default is your system realloc
245function.</p>
124 <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,
125free 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,
126or 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>
127 </dd> 269 </dd>
128 <dt>ev_set_syserr_cb (void (*cb)(const char *msg));</dt> 270 <dt>ev_set_syserr_cb (void (*cb)(const char *msg));</dt>
129 <dd> 271 <dd>
130 <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
131as failed select, poll, epoll_wait). The message is a printable string 273as failed select, poll, epoll_wait). The message is a printable string
132indicating the system call or subsystem causing the problem. If this 274indicating the system call or subsystem causing the problem. If this
133callback 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
134matter what, when it returns. That is, libev will generally retry the 276matter what, when it returns. That is, libev will generally retry the
135requested 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
136(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>
137 </dd> 291 </dd>
138</dl> 292</dl>
139 293
140</div> 294</div>
141<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>
142<div id="FUNCTIONS_CONTROLLING_THE_EVENT_LOOP-2"> 296<div id="FUNCTIONS_CONTROLLING_THE_EVENT_LOOP-2">
143<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
144types 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
145events, and dynamically created loops which do not.</p> 299events, and dynamically created loops which do not.</p>
146<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
147in your main thread (or in a separate thrad) and for each thread you 301in your main thread (or in a separate thread) and for each thread you
148create, you also create another event loop. Libev itself does no locking 302create, you also create another event loop. Libev itself does no locking
149whatsoever, so if you mix calls to the same event loop in different 303whatsoever, so if you mix calls to the same event loop in different
150threads, make sure you lock (this is usually a bad idea, though, even if 304threads, make sure you lock (this is usually a bad idea, though, even if
151done correctly, because its hideous and inefficient).</p> 305done correctly, because it's hideous and inefficient).</p>
152<dl> 306<dl>
153 <dt>struct ev_loop *ev_default_loop (unsigned int flags)</dt> 307 <dt>struct ev_loop *ev_default_loop (unsigned int flags)</dt>
154 <dd> 308 <dd>
155 <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
156yet 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
157false. 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
158flags).</p> 312flags. If that is troubling you, check <code>ev_backend ()</code> afterwards).</p>
159 <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
160function.</p> 314function.</p>
161 <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
162backends 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>
163 <p>It supports the following flags:</p> 317 <p>The following flags are supported:</p>
164 <p> 318 <p>
165 <dl> 319 <dl>
166 <dt>EVFLAG_AUTO</dt> 320 <dt><code>EVFLAG_AUTO</code></dt>
167 <dd> 321 <dd>
168 <p>The default flags value. Use this if you have no clue (its the right 322 <p>The default flags value. Use this if you have no clue (it's the right
169thing, believe me).</p> 323thing, believe me).</p>
170 </dd> 324 </dd>
171 <dt>EVFLAG_NOENV</dt> 325 <dt><code>EVFLAG_NOENV</code></dt>
172 <dd>
173 <p>If this flag bit is ored into the flag value then libev will <i>not</i> look
174at the environment variable <code>LIBEV_FLAGS</code>. Otherwise (the default), this
175environment variable will override the flags completely. This is useful
176to try out specific backends to tets their performance, or to work around
177bugs.</p>
178 </dd> 326 <dd>
179 <dt>EVMETHOD_SELECT portable select backend</dt> 327 <p>If this flag bit is ored into the flag value (or the program runs setuid
180 <dt>EVMETHOD_POLL poll backend (everywhere except windows)</dt> 328or setgid) then libev will <i>not</i> look at the environment variable
181 <dt>EVMETHOD_EPOLL linux only</dt> 329<code>LIBEV_FLAGS</code>. Otherwise (the default), this environment variable will
182 <dt>EVMETHOD_KQUEUE some bsds only</dt> 330override the flags completely if it is found in the environment. This is
183 <dt>EVMETHOD_DEVPOLL solaris 8 only</dt> 331useful to try out specific backends to test their performance, or to work
184 <dt>EVMETHOD_PORT solaris 10 only</dt> 332around bugs.</p>
185 <dd> 333 </dd>
186 <p>If one or more of these are ored into the flags value, then only these 334 <dt><code>EVFLAG_FORKCHECK</code></dt>
187backends will be tried (in the reverse order as given here). If one are 335 <dd>
188specified, any backend will do.</p> 336 <p>Instead of calling <code>ev_default_fork</code> or <code>ev_loop_fork</code> manually after
337a fork, you can also make libev check for a fork in each iteration by
338enabling this flag.</p>
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>
350 </dd>
351 <dt><code>EVBACKEND_SELECT</code> (value 1, portable select backend)</dt>
352 <dd>
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>
189 </dd> 412 </dd>
190 </dl> 413 </dl>
191 </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>
192 </dd> 435 </dd>
193 <dt>struct ev_loop *ev_loop_new (unsigned int flags)</dt> 436 <dt>struct ev_loop *ev_loop_new (unsigned int flags)</dt>
194 <dd> 437 <dd>
195 <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
196always distinct from the default loop. Unlike the default loop, it cannot 439always distinct from the default loop. Unlike the default loop, it cannot
197handle 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
198undefined 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>
199 </dd> 448 </dd>
200 <dt>ev_default_destroy ()</dt> 449 <dt>ev_default_destroy ()</dt>
201 <dd> 450 <dd>
202 <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
203etc.). This stops all registered event watchers (by not touching them in 452etc.). None of the active event watchers will be stopped in the normal
204any way whatsoever, although you cnanot 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>
205 </dd> 458 </dd>
206 <dt>ev_loop_destroy (loop)</dt> 459 <dt>ev_loop_destroy (loop)</dt>
207 <dd> 460 <dd>
208 <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
209earlier call to <code>ev_loop_new</code>.</p> 462earlier call to <code>ev_loop_new</code>.</p>
212 <dd> 465 <dd>
213 <p>This function reinitialises the kernel state for backends that have 466 <p>This function reinitialises the kernel state for backends that have
214one. 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
215after 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
216again makes little sense).</p> 469again makes little sense).</p>
217 <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
218use 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
219have to call it.</p> 472fork+exec, you don't have to call it.</p>
220 <p>The function itself is quite fast and its usually not a problem to call 473 <p>The function itself is quite fast and it's usually not a problem to call
221it 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
222quite nicely into a call to <code>pthread_atfork</code>:</p> 475quite nicely into a call to <code>pthread_atfork</code>:</p>
223<pre> pthread_atfork (0, 0, ev_default_fork); 476<pre> pthread_atfork (0, 0, ev_default_fork);
224 477
225</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>
226 </dd> 482 </dd>
227 <dt>ev_loop_fork (loop)</dt> 483 <dt>ev_loop_fork (loop)</dt>
228 <dd> 484 <dd>
229 <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
230<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
231after 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>
232 </dd> 488 </dd>
233 <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>
234 <dd> 497 </dd>
498 <dt>unsigned int ev_backend (loop)</dt>
499 <dd>
235 <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
236use.</p> 501use.</p>
237 </dd> 502 </dd>
238 <dt>ev_tstamp = ev_now (loop)</dt> 503 <dt>ev_tstamp ev_now (loop)</dt>
239 <dd> 504 <dd>
240 <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
241got events and started processing them. This timestamp does not change 506received events and started processing them. This timestamp does not
242as 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
243used 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
244occuring (or more correctly, the mainloop finding out about it).</p> 509event occuring (or more correctly, libev finding out about it).</p>
245 </dd> 510 </dd>
246 <dt>ev_loop (loop, int flags)</dt> 511 <dt>ev_loop (loop, int flags)</dt>
247 <dd> 512 <dd>
248 <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
249after you initialised all your watchers and you want to start handling 514after you initialised all your watchers and you want to start handling
250events.</p> 515events.</p>
251 <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
252no 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>
253 <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
254those 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
255case there are no events.</p> 525case there are no events and will return after one iteration of the loop.</p>
256 <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
257neccessary) and will handle those and any outstanding ones. It will block 527neccessary) and will handle those and any outstanding ones. It will block
258your process until at least one new event arrives.</p> 528your process until at least one new event arrives, and will return after
259 <p>This flags value could be used to implement alternative looping 529one iteration of the loop. This is useful if you are waiting for some
260constructs, but the <code>prepare</code> and <code>check</code> watchers provide a better and 530external event in conjunction with something not expressible using other
261more generic mechanism.</p> 531libev watchers. However, a pair of <code>ev_prepare</code>/<code>ev_check</code> watchers is
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> * If there are no active watchers (reference count is zero), return.
535 - Queue prepare watchers and then call all outstanding watchers.
536 - If we have been forked, recreate the kernel state.
537 - Update the kernel state with all outstanding changes.
538 - Update the &quot;event loop time&quot;.
539 - Calculate for how long to block.
540 - Block the process, waiting for any events.
541 - Queue all outstanding I/O (fd) events.
542 - Update the &quot;event loop time&quot; and do time jump handling.
543 - Queue all outstanding timers.
544 - Queue all outstanding periodics.
545 - If no events are pending now, queue all idle watchers.
546 - Queue all check watchers.
547 - Call all queued watchers in reverse order (i.e. check watchers first).
548 Signals and child watchers are implemented as I/O watchers, and will
549 be handled here by queueing them when their watcher gets executed.
550 - If ev_unloop has been called or EVLOOP_ONESHOT or EVLOOP_NONBLOCK
551 were used, return, otherwise continue with step *.
552
553</pre>
554 <p>Example: Queue some jobs and then loop until no events are outsanding
555anymore.</p>
556<pre> ... queue jobs here, make sure they register event watchers as long
557 ... as they still have work to do (even an idle watcher will do..)
558 ev_loop (my_loop, 0);
559 ... jobs done. yeah!
560
561</pre>
262 </dd> 562 </dd>
263 <dt>ev_unloop (loop, how)</dt> 563 <dt>ev_unloop (loop, how)</dt>
264 <dd> 564 <dd>
265 <p>Can be used to make a call to <code>ev_loop</code> return early. The <code>how</code> argument 565 <p>Can be used to make a call to <code>ev_loop</code> return early (but only after it
566has processed all outstanding events). The <code>how</code> argument must be either
266must be either <code>EVUNLOOP_ONCE</code>, which will make the innermost <code>ev_loop</code> 567<code>EVUNLOOP_ONE</code>, which will make the innermost <code>ev_loop</code> call return, or
267call return, or <code>EVUNLOOP_ALL</code>, which will make all nested <code>ev_loop</code> 568<code>EVUNLOOP_ALL</code>, which will make all nested <code>ev_loop</code> calls return.</p>
268calls return.</p>
269 </dd> 569 </dd>
270 <dt>ev_ref (loop)</dt> 570 <dt>ev_ref (loop)</dt>
271 <dt>ev_unref (loop)</dt> 571 <dt>ev_unref (loop)</dt>
272 <dd> 572 <dd>
273 <p>Ref/unref can be used to add or remove a refcount on the event loop: Every 573 <p>Ref/unref can be used to add or remove a reference count on the event
274watcher keeps one reference. If you have a long-runing watcher you never 574loop: Every watcher keeps one reference, and as long as the reference
275unregister that should not keep ev_loop from running, ev_unref() after 575count is nonzero, <code>ev_loop</code> will not return on its own. If you have
276starting, and ev_ref() before stopping it. Libev itself uses this for 576a watcher you never unregister that should not keep <code>ev_loop</code> from
277example for its internal signal pipe: It is not visible to you as a user 577returning, ev_unref() after starting, and ev_ref() before stopping it. For
278and should not keep <code>ev_loop</code> from exiting if the work is done. It is 578example, libev itself uses this for its internal signal pipe: It is not
279also an excellent way to do this for generic recurring timers or from 579visible to the libev user and should not keep <code>ev_loop</code> from exiting if
280within third-party libraries. Just remember to unref after start and ref 580no event watchers registered by it are active. It is also an excellent
281before stop.</p> 581way to do this for generic recurring timers or from within third-party
582libraries. Just remember to <i>unref after start</i> and <i>ref before stop</i>.</p>
583 <p>Example: Create a signal watcher, but keep it from keeping <code>ev_loop</code>
584running when nothing else is active.</p>
585<pre> struct ev_signal exitsig;
586 ev_signal_init (&amp;exitsig, sig_cb, SIGINT);
587 ev_signal_start (loop, &amp;exitsig);
588 evf_unref (loop);
589
590</pre>
591 <p>Example: For some weird reason, unregister the above signal handler again.</p>
592<pre> ev_ref (loop);
593 ev_signal_stop (loop, &amp;exitsig);
594
595</pre>
282 </dd> 596 </dd>
283</dl> 597</dl>
284 598
599
600
601
602
285</div> 603</div>
286<h1 id="ANATOMY_OF_A_WATCHER">ANATOMY OF A WATCHER</h1><p><a href="#TOP" class="toplink">Top</a></p> 604<h1 id="ANATOMY_OF_A_WATCHER">ANATOMY OF A WATCHER</h1>
287<div id="ANATOMY_OF_A_WATCHER_CONTENT"> 605<div id="ANATOMY_OF_A_WATCHER_CONTENT">
288<p>A watcher is a structure that you create and register to record your 606<p>A watcher is a structure that you create and register to record your
289interest in some event. For instance, if you want to wait for STDIN to 607interest in some event. For instance, if you want to wait for STDIN to
290become readable, you would create an ev_io watcher for that:</p> 608become readable, you would create an <code>ev_io</code> watcher for that:</p>
291<pre> static void my_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w, int revents) 609<pre> static void my_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w, int revents)
292 { 610 {
293 ev_io_stop (w); 611 ev_io_stop (w);
294 ev_unloop (loop, EVUNLOOP_ALL); 612 ev_unloop (loop, EVUNLOOP_ALL);
295 } 613 }
318with a watcher-specific start function (<code>ev_&lt;type&gt;_start (loop, watcher 636with a watcher-specific start function (<code>ev_&lt;type&gt;_start (loop, watcher
319*)</code>), and you can stop watching for events at any time by calling the 637*)</code>), and you can stop watching for events at any time by calling the
320corresponding stop function (<code>ev_&lt;type&gt;_stop (loop, watcher *)</code>.</p> 638corresponding stop function (<code>ev_&lt;type&gt;_stop (loop, watcher *)</code>.</p>
321<p>As long as your watcher is active (has been started but not stopped) you 639<p>As long as your watcher is active (has been started but not stopped) you
322must not touch the values stored in it. Most specifically you must never 640must not touch the values stored in it. Most specifically you must never
323reinitialise it or call its set method.</p> 641reinitialise it or call its <code>set</code> macro.</p>
324<p>You cna check whether an event is active by calling the <code>ev_is_active
325(watcher *)</code> macro. To see whether an event is outstanding (but the
326callback for it has not been called yet) you cna use the <code>ev_is_pending
327(watcher *)</code> macro.</p>
328<p>Each and every callback receives the event loop pointer as first, the 642<p>Each and every callback receives the event loop pointer as first, the
329registered watcher structure as second, and a bitset of received events as 643registered watcher structure as second, and a bitset of received events as
330third argument.</p> 644third argument.</p>
331<p>The rceeived events usually include a single bit per event type received 645<p>The received events usually include a single bit per event type received
332(you can receive multiple events at the same time). The possible bit masks 646(you can receive multiple events at the same time). The possible bit masks
333are:</p> 647are:</p>
334<dl> 648<dl>
335 <dt>EV_READ</dt> 649 <dt><code>EV_READ</code></dt>
336 <dt>EV_WRITE</dt> 650 <dt><code>EV_WRITE</code></dt>
337 <dd> 651 <dd>
338 <p>The file descriptor in the ev_io watcher has become readable and/or 652 <p>The file descriptor in the <code>ev_io</code> watcher has become readable and/or
339writable.</p> 653writable.</p>
340 </dd> 654 </dd>
341 <dt>EV_TIMEOUT</dt> 655 <dt><code>EV_TIMEOUT</code></dt>
342 <dd>
343 <p>The ev_timer watcher has timed out.</p>
344 </dd> 656 <dd>
345 <dt>EV_PERIODIC</dt> 657 <p>The <code>ev_timer</code> watcher has timed out.</p>
346 <dd> 658 </dd>
347 <p>The ev_periodic watcher has timed out.</p> 659 <dt><code>EV_PERIODIC</code></dt>
348 </dd> 660 <dd>
349 <dt>EV_SIGNAL</dt> 661 <p>The <code>ev_periodic</code> watcher has timed out.</p>
350 <dd> 662 </dd>
663 <dt><code>EV_SIGNAL</code></dt>
664 <dd>
351 <p>The signal specified in the ev_signal watcher has been received by a thread.</p> 665 <p>The signal specified in the <code>ev_signal</code> watcher has been received by a thread.</p>
352 </dd>
353 <dt>EV_CHILD</dt>
354 <dd> 666 </dd>
667 <dt><code>EV_CHILD</code></dt>
668 <dd>
355 <p>The pid specified in the ev_child watcher has received a status change.</p> 669 <p>The pid specified in the <code>ev_child</code> watcher has received a status change.</p>
356 </dd>
357 <dt>EV_IDLE</dt>
358 <dd> 670 </dd>
671 <dt><code>EV_STAT</code></dt>
672 <dd>
673 <p>The path specified in the <code>ev_stat</code> watcher changed its attributes somehow.</p>
674 </dd>
675 <dt><code>EV_IDLE</code></dt>
676 <dd>
359 <p>The ev_idle watcher has determined that you have nothing better to do.</p> 677 <p>The <code>ev_idle</code> watcher has determined that you have nothing better to do.</p>
360 </dd>
361 <dt>EV_PREPARE</dt>
362 <dt>EV_CHECK</dt>
363 <dd> 678 </dd>
679 <dt><code>EV_PREPARE</code></dt>
680 <dt><code>EV_CHECK</code></dt>
681 <dd>
364 <p>All ev_prepare watchers are invoked just <i>before</i> <code>ev_loop</code> starts 682 <p>All <code>ev_prepare</code> watchers are invoked just <i>before</i> <code>ev_loop</code> starts
365to gather new events, and all ev_check watchers are invoked just after 683to gather new events, and all <code>ev_check</code> watchers are invoked just after
366<code>ev_loop</code> has gathered them, but before it invokes any callbacks for any 684<code>ev_loop</code> has gathered them, but before it invokes any callbacks for any
367received events. Callbacks of both watcher types can start and stop as 685received events. Callbacks of both watcher types can start and stop as
368many watchers as they want, and all of them will be taken into account 686many watchers as they want, and all of them will be taken into account
369(for example, a ev_prepare watcher might start an idle watcher to keep 687(for example, a <code>ev_prepare</code> watcher might start an idle watcher to keep
370<code>ev_loop</code> from blocking).</p> 688<code>ev_loop</code> from blocking).</p>
371 </dd> 689 </dd>
372 <dt>EV_ERROR</dt> 690 <dt><code>EV_EMBED</code></dt>
691 <dd>
692 <p>The embedded event loop specified in the <code>ev_embed</code> watcher needs attention.</p>
693 </dd>
694 <dt><code>EV_FORK</code></dt>
695 <dd>
696 <p>The event loop has been resumed in the child process after fork (see
697<code>ev_fork</code>).</p>
698 </dd>
699 <dt><code>EV_ERROR</code></dt>
373 <dd> 700 <dd>
374 <p>An unspecified error has occured, the watcher has been stopped. This might 701 <p>An unspecified error has occured, the watcher has been stopped. This might
375happen because the watcher could not be properly started because libev 702happen because the watcher could not be properly started because libev
376ran out of memory, a file descriptor was found to be closed or any other 703ran out of memory, a file descriptor was found to be closed or any other
377problem. You best act on it by reporting the problem and somehow coping 704problem. You best act on it by reporting the problem and somehow coping
383programs, though, so beware.</p> 710programs, though, so beware.</p>
384 </dd> 711 </dd>
385</dl> 712</dl>
386 713
387</div> 714</div>
715<h2 id="GENERIC_WATCHER_FUNCTIONS">GENERIC WATCHER FUNCTIONS</h2>
716<div id="GENERIC_WATCHER_FUNCTIONS_CONTENT">
717<p>In the following description, <code>TYPE</code> stands for the watcher type,
718e.g. <code>timer</code> for <code>ev_timer</code> watchers and <code>io</code> for <code>ev_io</code> watchers.</p>
719<dl>
720 <dt><code>ev_init</code> (ev_TYPE *watcher, callback)</dt>
721 <dd>
722 <p>This macro initialises the generic portion of a watcher. The contents
723of the watcher object can be arbitrary (so <code>malloc</code> will do). Only
724the generic parts of the watcher are initialised, you <i>need</i> to call
725the type-specific <code>ev_TYPE_set</code> macro afterwards to initialise the
726type-specific parts. For each type there is also a <code>ev_TYPE_init</code> macro
727which rolls both calls into one.</p>
728 <p>You can reinitialise a watcher at any time as long as it has been stopped
729(or never started) and there are no pending events outstanding.</p>
730 <p>The callback is always of type <code>void (*)(ev_loop *loop, ev_TYPE *watcher,
731int revents)</code>.</p>
732 </dd>
733 <dt><code>ev_TYPE_set</code> (ev_TYPE *, [args])</dt>
734 <dd>
735 <p>This macro initialises the type-specific parts of a watcher. You need to
736call <code>ev_init</code> at least once before you call this macro, but you can
737call <code>ev_TYPE_set</code> any number of times. You must not, however, call this
738macro on a watcher that is active (it can be pending, however, which is a
739difference to the <code>ev_init</code> macro).</p>
740 <p>Although some watcher types do not have type-specific arguments
741(e.g. <code>ev_prepare</code>) you still need to call its <code>set</code> macro.</p>
742 </dd>
743 <dt><code>ev_TYPE_init</code> (ev_TYPE *watcher, callback, [args])</dt>
744 <dd>
745 <p>This convinience macro rolls both <code>ev_init</code> and <code>ev_TYPE_set</code> macro
746calls into a single call. This is the most convinient method to initialise
747a watcher. The same limitations apply, of course.</p>
748 </dd>
749 <dt><code>ev_TYPE_start</code> (loop *, ev_TYPE *watcher)</dt>
750 <dd>
751 <p>Starts (activates) the given watcher. Only active watchers will receive
752events. If the watcher is already active nothing will happen.</p>
753 </dd>
754 <dt><code>ev_TYPE_stop</code> (loop *, ev_TYPE *watcher)</dt>
755 <dd>
756 <p>Stops the given watcher again (if active) and clears the pending
757status. It is possible that stopped watchers are pending (for example,
758non-repeating timers are being stopped when they become pending), but
759<code>ev_TYPE_stop</code> ensures that the watcher is neither active nor pending. If
760you want to free or reuse the memory used by the watcher it is therefore a
761good idea to always call its <code>ev_TYPE_stop</code> function.</p>
762 </dd>
763 <dt>bool ev_is_active (ev_TYPE *watcher)</dt>
764 <dd>
765 <p>Returns a true value iff the watcher is active (i.e. it has been started
766and not yet been stopped). As long as a watcher is active you must not modify
767it.</p>
768 </dd>
769 <dt>bool ev_is_pending (ev_TYPE *watcher)</dt>
770 <dd>
771 <p>Returns a true value iff the watcher is pending, (i.e. it has outstanding
772events but its callback has not yet been invoked). As long as a watcher
773is pending (but not active) you must not call an init function on it (but
774<code>ev_TYPE_set</code> is safe) and you must make sure the watcher is available to
775libev (e.g. you cnanot <code>free ()</code> it).</p>
776 </dd>
777 <dt>callback ev_cb (ev_TYPE *watcher)</dt>
778 <dd>
779 <p>Returns the callback currently set on the watcher.</p>
780 </dd>
781 <dt>ev_cb_set (ev_TYPE *watcher, callback)</dt>
782 <dd>
783 <p>Change the callback. You can change the callback at virtually any time
784(modulo threads).</p>
785 </dd>
786 <dt>ev_set_priority (ev_TYPE *watcher, priority)</dt>
787 <dt>int ev_priority (ev_TYPE *watcher)</dt>
788 <dd>
789 <p>Set and query the priority of the watcher. The priority is a small
790integer between <code>EV_MAXPRI</code> (default: <code>2</code>) and <code>EV_MINPRI</code>
791(default: <code>-2</code>). Pending watchers with higher priority will be invoked
792before watchers with lower priority, but priority will not keep watchers
793from being executed (except for <code>ev_idle</code> watchers).</p>
794 <p>This means that priorities are <i>only</i> used for ordering callback
795invocation after new events have been received. This is useful, for
796example, to reduce latency after idling, or more often, to bind two
797watchers on the same event and make sure one is called first.</p>
798 <p>If you need to suppress invocation when higher priority events are pending
799you need to look at <code>ev_idle</code> watchers, which provide this functionality.</p>
800 <p>The default priority used by watchers when no priority has been set is
801always <code>0</code>, which is supposed to not be too high and not be too low :).</p>
802 <p>Setting a priority outside the range of <code>EV_MINPRI</code> to <code>EV_MAXPRI</code> is
803fine, as long as you do not mind that the priority value you query might
804or might not have been adjusted to be within valid range.</p>
805 </dd>
806</dl>
807
808
809
810
811
812</div>
388<h2 id="ASSOCIATING_CUSTOM_DATA_WITH_A_WATCH">ASSOCIATING CUSTOM DATA WITH A WATCHER</h2> 813<h2 id="ASSOCIATING_CUSTOM_DATA_WITH_A_WATCH">ASSOCIATING CUSTOM DATA WITH A WATCHER</h2>
389<div id="ASSOCIATING_CUSTOM_DATA_WITH_A_WATCH-2"> 814<div id="ASSOCIATING_CUSTOM_DATA_WITH_A_WATCH-2">
390<p>Each watcher has, by default, a member <code>void *data</code> that you can change 815<p>Each watcher has, by default, a member <code>void *data</code> that you can change
391and read at any time, libev will completely ignore it. This cna be used 816and read at any time, libev will completely ignore it. This can be used
392to associate arbitrary data with your watcher. If you need more data and 817to associate arbitrary data with your watcher. If you need more data and
393don't want to allocate memory and store a pointer to it in that data 818don't want to allocate memory and store a pointer to it in that data
394member, you can also &quot;subclass&quot; the watcher type and provide your own 819member, you can also &quot;subclass&quot; the watcher type and provide your own
395data:</p> 820data:</p>
396<pre> struct my_io 821<pre> struct my_io
409 struct my_io *w = (struct my_io *)w_; 834 struct my_io *w = (struct my_io *)w_;
410 ... 835 ...
411 } 836 }
412 837
413</pre> 838</pre>
414<p>More interesting and less C-conformant ways of catsing your callback type 839<p>More interesting and less C-conformant ways of casting your callback type
415have been omitted....</p> 840instead have been omitted.</p>
841<p>Another common scenario is having some data structure with multiple
842watchers:</p>
843<pre> struct my_biggy
844 {
845 int some_data;
846 ev_timer t1;
847 ev_timer t2;
848 }
416 849
850</pre>
851<p>In this case getting the pointer to <code>my_biggy</code> is a bit more complicated,
852you need to use <code>offsetof</code>:</p>
853<pre> #include &lt;stddef.h&gt;
417 854
855 static void
856 t1_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_timer *w, int revents)
857 {
858 struct my_biggy big = (struct my_biggy *
859 (((char *)w) - offsetof (struct my_biggy, t1));
860 }
418 861
862 static void
863 t2_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_timer *w, int revents)
864 {
865 struct my_biggy big = (struct my_biggy *
866 (((char *)w) - offsetof (struct my_biggy, t2));
867 }
419 868
420 869
870
871
872</pre>
873
421</div> 874</div>
422<h1 id="WATCHER_TYPES">WATCHER TYPES</h1><p><a href="#TOP" class="toplink">Top</a></p> 875<h1 id="WATCHER_TYPES">WATCHER TYPES</h1>
423<div id="WATCHER_TYPES_CONTENT"> 876<div id="WATCHER_TYPES_CONTENT">
424<p>This section describes each watcher in detail, but will not repeat 877<p>This section describes each watcher in detail, but will not repeat
425information given in the last section.</p> 878information given in the last section. Any initialisation/set macros,
879functions and members specific to the watcher type are explained.</p>
880<p>Members are additionally marked with either <i>[read-only]</i>, meaning that,
881while the watcher is active, you can look at the member and expect some
882sensible content, but you must not modify it (you can modify it while the
883watcher is stopped to your hearts content), or <i>[read-write]</i>, which
884means you can expect it to have some sensible content while the watcher
885is active, but you can also modify it. Modifying it may not do something
886sensible or take immediate effect (or do anything at all), but libev will
887not crash or malfunction in any way.</p>
426 888
889
890
891
892
427</div> 893</div>
428<h2 id="struct_ev_io_is_my_file_descriptor_r">struct ev_io - is my file descriptor readable or writable</h2> 894<h2 id="code_ev_io_code_is_this_file_descrip"><code>ev_io</code> - is this file descriptor readable or writable?</h2>
429<div id="struct_ev_io_is_my_file_descriptor_r-2"> 895<div id="code_ev_io_code_is_this_file_descrip-2">
430<p>I/O watchers check whether a file descriptor is readable or writable 896<p>I/O watchers check whether a file descriptor is readable or writable
431in each iteration of the event loop (This behaviour is called 897in each iteration of the event loop, or, more precisely, when reading
432level-triggering because you keep receiving events as long as the 898would not block the process and writing would at least be able to write
433condition persists. Remember you cna stop the watcher if you don't want to 899some data. This behaviour is called level-triggering because you keep
434act on the event and neither want to receive future events).</p> 900receiving events as long as the condition persists. Remember you can stop
901the watcher if you don't want to act on the event and neither want to
902receive future events.</p>
903<p>In general you can register as many read and/or write event watchers per
904fd as you want (as long as you don't confuse yourself). Setting all file
905descriptors to non-blocking mode is also usually a good idea (but not
906required if you know what you are doing).</p>
907<p>You have to be careful with dup'ed file descriptors, though. Some backends
908(the linux epoll backend is a notable example) cannot handle dup'ed file
909descriptors correctly if you register interest in two or more fds pointing
910to the same underlying file/socket/etc. description (that is, they share
911the same underlying &quot;file open&quot;).</p>
912<p>If you must do this, then force the use of a known-to-be-good backend
913(at the time of this writing, this includes only <code>EVBACKEND_SELECT</code> and
914<code>EVBACKEND_POLL</code>).</p>
915<p>Another thing you have to watch out for is that it is quite easy to
916receive &quot;spurious&quot; readyness notifications, that is your callback might
917be called with <code>EV_READ</code> but a subsequent <code>read</code>(2) will actually block
918because there is no data. Not only are some backends known to create a
919lot of those (for example solaris ports), it is very easy to get into
920this situation even with a relatively standard program structure. Thus
921it is best to always use non-blocking I/O: An extra <code>read</code>(2) returning
922<code>EAGAIN</code> is far preferable to a program hanging until some data arrives.</p>
923<p>If you cannot run the fd in non-blocking mode (for example you should not
924play around with an Xlib connection), then you have to seperately re-test
925whether a file descriptor is really ready with a known-to-be good interface
926such as poll (fortunately in our Xlib example, Xlib already does this on
927its own, so its quite safe to use).</p>
435<dl> 928<dl>
436 <dt>ev_io_init (ev_io *, callback, int fd, int events)</dt> 929 <dt>ev_io_init (ev_io *, callback, int fd, int events)</dt>
437 <dt>ev_io_set (ev_io *, int fd, int events)</dt> 930 <dt>ev_io_set (ev_io *, int fd, int events)</dt>
438 <dd> 931 <dd>
439 <p>Configures an ev_io watcher. The fd is the file descriptor to rceeive 932 <p>Configures an <code>ev_io</code> watcher. The <code>fd</code> is the file descriptor to
440events for and events is either <code>EV_READ</code>, <code>EV_WRITE</code> or <code>EV_READ | 933rceeive events for and events is either <code>EV_READ</code>, <code>EV_WRITE</code> or
441EV_WRITE</code> to receive the given events.</p> 934<code>EV_READ | EV_WRITE</code> to receive the given events.</p>
935 </dd>
936 <dt>int fd [read-only]</dt>
937 <dd>
938 <p>The file descriptor being watched.</p>
939 </dd>
940 <dt>int events [read-only]</dt>
941 <dd>
942 <p>The events being watched.</p>
442 </dd> 943 </dd>
443</dl> 944</dl>
945<p>Example: Call <code>stdin_readable_cb</code> when STDIN_FILENO has become, well
946readable, but only once. Since it is likely line-buffered, you could
947attempt to read a whole line in the callback.</p>
948<pre> static void
949 stdin_readable_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w, int revents)
950 {
951 ev_io_stop (loop, w);
952 .. read from stdin here (or from w-&gt;fd) and haqndle any I/O errors
953 }
444 954
955 ...
956 struct ev_loop *loop = ev_default_init (0);
957 struct ev_io stdin_readable;
958 ev_io_init (&amp;stdin_readable, stdin_readable_cb, STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ);
959 ev_io_start (loop, &amp;stdin_readable);
960 ev_loop (loop, 0);
961
962
963
964
965</pre>
966
445</div> 967</div>
446<h2 id="struct_ev_timer_relative_and_optiona">struct ev_timer - relative and optionally recurring timeouts</h2> 968<h2 id="code_ev_timer_code_relative_and_opti"><code>ev_timer</code> - relative and optionally repeating timeouts</h2>
447<div id="struct_ev_timer_relative_and_optiona-2"> 969<div id="code_ev_timer_code_relative_and_opti-2">
448<p>Timer watchers are simple relative timers that generate an event after a 970<p>Timer watchers are simple relative timers that generate an event after a
449given time, and optionally repeating in regular intervals after that.</p> 971given time, and optionally repeating in regular intervals after that.</p>
450<p>The timers are based on real time, that is, if you register an event that 972<p>The timers are based on real time, that is, if you register an event that
451times out after an hour and youreset your system clock to last years 973times out after an hour and you reset your system clock to last years
452time, it will still time out after (roughly) and hour. &quot;Roughly&quot; because 974time, it will still time out after (roughly) and hour. &quot;Roughly&quot; because
453detecting time jumps is hard, and soem inaccuracies are unavoidable (the 975detecting time jumps is hard, and some inaccuracies are unavoidable (the
454monotonic clock option helps a lot here).</p> 976monotonic clock option helps a lot here).</p>
977<p>The relative timeouts are calculated relative to the <code>ev_now ()</code>
978time. This is usually the right thing as this timestamp refers to the time
979of the event triggering whatever timeout you are modifying/starting. If
980you suspect event processing to be delayed and you <i>need</i> to base the timeout
981on the current time, use something like this to adjust for this:</p>
982<pre> ev_timer_set (&amp;timer, after + ev_now () - ev_time (), 0.);
983
984</pre>
985<p>The callback is guarenteed to be invoked only when its timeout has passed,
986but if multiple timers become ready during the same loop iteration then
987order of execution is undefined.</p>
455<dl> 988<dl>
456 <dt>ev_timer_init (ev_timer *, callback, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)</dt> 989 <dt>ev_timer_init (ev_timer *, callback, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)</dt>
457 <dt>ev_timer_set (ev_timer *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)</dt> 990 <dt>ev_timer_set (ev_timer *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)</dt>
458 <dd> 991 <dd>
459 <p>Configure the timer to trigger after <code>after</code> seconds. If <code>repeat</code> is 992 <p>Configure the timer to trigger after <code>after</code> seconds. If <code>repeat</code> is
461timer will automatically be configured to trigger again <code>repeat</code> seconds 994timer will automatically be configured to trigger again <code>repeat</code> seconds
462later, again, and again, until stopped manually.</p> 995later, again, and again, until stopped manually.</p>
463 <p>The timer itself will do a best-effort at avoiding drift, that is, if you 996 <p>The timer itself will do a best-effort at avoiding drift, that is, if you
464configure a timer to trigger every 10 seconds, then it will trigger at 997configure a timer to trigger every 10 seconds, then it will trigger at
465exactly 10 second intervals. If, however, your program cannot keep up with 998exactly 10 second intervals. If, however, your program cannot keep up with
466the timer (ecause it takes longer than those 10 seconds to do stuff) the 999the timer (because it takes longer than those 10 seconds to do stuff) the
467timer will not fire more than once per event loop iteration.</p> 1000timer will not fire more than once per event loop iteration.</p>
468 </dd> 1001 </dd>
469 <dt>ev_timer_again (loop)</dt> 1002 <dt>ev_timer_again (loop)</dt>
470 <dd> 1003 <dd>
471 <p>This will act as if the timer timed out and restart it again if it is 1004 <p>This will act as if the timer timed out and restart it again if it is
472repeating. The exact semantics are:</p> 1005repeating. The exact semantics are:</p>
1006 <p>If the timer is pending, its pending status is cleared.</p>
473 <p>If the timer is started but nonrepeating, stop it.</p> 1007 <p>If the timer is started but nonrepeating, stop it (as if it timed out).</p>
474 <p>If the timer is repeating, either start it if necessary (with the repeat 1008 <p>If the timer is repeating, either start it if necessary (with the
475value), or reset the running timer to the repeat value.</p> 1009<code>repeat</code> value), or reset the running timer to the <code>repeat</code> value.</p>
476 <p>This sounds a bit complicated, but here is a useful and typical 1010 <p>This sounds a bit complicated, but here is a useful and typical
477example: Imagine you have a tcp connection and you want a so-called idle 1011example: Imagine you have a tcp connection and you want a so-called idle
478timeout, that is, you want to be called when there have been, say, 60 1012timeout, that is, you want to be called when there have been, say, 60
479seconds of inactivity on the socket. The easiest way to do this is to 1013seconds of inactivity on the socket. The easiest way to do this is to
480configure an ev_timer with after=repeat=60 and calling ev_timer_again each 1014configure an <code>ev_timer</code> with a <code>repeat</code> value of <code>60</code> and then call
481time you successfully read or write some data. If you go into an idle 1015<code>ev_timer_again</code> each time you successfully read or write some data. If
482state where you do not expect data to travel on the socket, you can stop 1016you go into an idle state where you do not expect data to travel on the
1017socket, you can <code>ev_timer_stop</code> the timer, and <code>ev_timer_again</code> will
483the timer, and again will automatically restart it if need be.</p> 1018automatically restart it if need be.</p>
1019 <p>That means you can ignore the <code>after</code> value and <code>ev_timer_start</code>
1020altogether and only ever use the <code>repeat</code> value and <code>ev_timer_again</code>:</p>
1021<pre> ev_timer_init (timer, callback, 0., 5.);
1022 ev_timer_again (loop, timer);
1023 ...
1024 timer-&gt;again = 17.;
1025 ev_timer_again (loop, timer);
1026 ...
1027 timer-&gt;again = 10.;
1028 ev_timer_again (loop, timer);
1029
1030</pre>
1031 <p>This is more slightly efficient then stopping/starting the timer each time
1032you want to modify its timeout value.</p>
1033 </dd>
1034 <dt>ev_tstamp repeat [read-write]</dt>
1035 <dd>
1036 <p>The current <code>repeat</code> value. Will be used each time the watcher times out
1037or <code>ev_timer_again</code> is called and determines the next timeout (if any),
1038which is also when any modifications are taken into account.</p>
484 </dd> 1039 </dd>
485</dl> 1040</dl>
1041<p>Example: Create a timer that fires after 60 seconds.</p>
1042<pre> static void
1043 one_minute_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_timer *w, int revents)
1044 {
1045 .. one minute over, w is actually stopped right here
1046 }
486 1047
1048 struct ev_timer mytimer;
1049 ev_timer_init (&amp;mytimer, one_minute_cb, 60., 0.);
1050 ev_timer_start (loop, &amp;mytimer);
1051
1052</pre>
1053<p>Example: Create a timeout timer that times out after 10 seconds of
1054inactivity.</p>
1055<pre> static void
1056 timeout_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_timer *w, int revents)
1057 {
1058 .. ten seconds without any activity
1059 }
1060
1061 struct ev_timer mytimer;
1062 ev_timer_init (&amp;mytimer, timeout_cb, 0., 10.); /* note, only repeat used */
1063 ev_timer_again (&amp;mytimer); /* start timer */
1064 ev_loop (loop, 0);
1065
1066 // and in some piece of code that gets executed on any &quot;activity&quot;:
1067 // reset the timeout to start ticking again at 10 seconds
1068 ev_timer_again (&amp;mytimer);
1069
1070
1071
1072
1073</pre>
1074
487</div> 1075</div>
488<h2 id="ev_periodic_to_cron_or_not_to_cron_i">ev_periodic - to cron or not to cron it</h2> 1076<h2 id="code_ev_periodic_code_to_cron_or_not"><code>ev_periodic</code> - to cron or not to cron?</h2>
489<div id="ev_periodic_to_cron_or_not_to_cron_i-2"> 1077<div id="code_ev_periodic_code_to_cron_or_not-2">
490<p>Periodic watchers are also timers of a kind, but they are very versatile 1078<p>Periodic watchers are also timers of a kind, but they are very versatile
491(and unfortunately a bit complex).</p> 1079(and unfortunately a bit complex).</p>
492<p>Unlike ev_timer's, they are not based on real time (or relative time) 1080<p>Unlike <code>ev_timer</code>'s, they are not based on real time (or relative time)
493but on wallclock time (absolute time). You can tell a periodic watcher 1081but on wallclock time (absolute time). You can tell a periodic watcher
494to trigger &quot;at&quot; some specific point in time. For example, if you tell a 1082to trigger &quot;at&quot; some specific point in time. For example, if you tell a
495periodic watcher to trigger in 10 seconds (by specifiying e.g. c&lt;ev_now () 1083periodic watcher to trigger in 10 seconds (by specifiying e.g. <code>ev_now ()
496+ 10.&gt;) and then reset your system clock to the last year, then it will 1084+ 10.</code>) and then reset your system clock to the last year, then it will
497take a year to trigger the event (unlike an ev_timer, which would trigger 1085take a year to trigger the event (unlike an <code>ev_timer</code>, which would trigger
498roughly 10 seconds later and of course not if you reset your system time 1086roughly 10 seconds later and of course not if you reset your system time
499again).</p> 1087again).</p>
500<p>They can also be used to implement vastly more complex timers, such as 1088<p>They can also be used to implement vastly more complex timers, such as
501triggering an event on eahc midnight, local time.</p> 1089triggering an event on eahc midnight, local time.</p>
1090<p>As with timers, the callback is guarenteed to be invoked only when the
1091time (<code>at</code>) has been passed, but if multiple periodic timers become ready
1092during the same loop iteration then order of execution is undefined.</p>
502<dl> 1093<dl>
503 <dt>ev_periodic_init (ev_periodic *, callback, ev_tstamp at, ev_tstamp interval, reschedule_cb)</dt> 1094 <dt>ev_periodic_init (ev_periodic *, callback, ev_tstamp at, ev_tstamp interval, reschedule_cb)</dt>
504 <dt>ev_periodic_set (ev_periodic *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat, reschedule_cb)</dt> 1095 <dt>ev_periodic_set (ev_periodic *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat, reschedule_cb)</dt>
505 <dd> 1096 <dd>
506 <p>Lots of arguments, lets sort it out... There are basically three modes of 1097 <p>Lots of arguments, lets sort it out... There are basically three modes of
507operation, and we will explain them from simplest to complex:</p> 1098operation, and we will explain them from simplest to complex:</p>
508
509
510
511
512 <p> 1099 <p>
513 <dl> 1100 <dl>
514 <dt>* absolute timer (interval = reschedule_cb = 0)</dt> 1101 <dt>* absolute timer (interval = reschedule_cb = 0)</dt>
515 <dd> 1102 <dd>
516 <p>In this configuration the watcher triggers an event at the wallclock time 1103 <p>In this configuration the watcher triggers an event at the wallclock time
528<pre> ev_periodic_set (&amp;periodic, 0., 3600., 0); 1115<pre> ev_periodic_set (&amp;periodic, 0., 3600., 0);
529 1116
530</pre> 1117</pre>
531 <p>This doesn't mean there will always be 3600 seconds in between triggers, 1118 <p>This doesn't mean there will always be 3600 seconds in between triggers,
532but only that the the callback will be called when the system time shows a 1119but only that the the callback will be called when the system time shows a
533full hour (UTC), or more correct, when the system time is evenly divisible 1120full hour (UTC), or more correctly, when the system time is evenly divisible
534by 3600.</p> 1121by 3600.</p>
535 <p>Another way to think about it (for the mathematically inclined) is that 1122 <p>Another way to think about it (for the mathematically inclined) is that
536ev_periodic will try to run the callback in this mode at the next possible 1123<code>ev_periodic</code> will try to run the callback in this mode at the next possible
537time where <code>time = at (mod interval)</code>, regardless of any time jumps.</p> 1124time where <code>time = at (mod interval)</code>, regardless of any time jumps.</p>
538 </dd> 1125 </dd>
539 <dt>* manual reschedule mode (reschedule_cb = callback)</dt> 1126 <dt>* manual reschedule mode (reschedule_cb = callback)</dt>
540 <dd> 1127 <dd>
541 <p>In this mode the values for <code>interval</code> and <code>at</code> are both being 1128 <p>In this mode the values for <code>interval</code> and <code>at</code> are both being
542ignored. Instead, each time the periodic watcher gets scheduled, the 1129ignored. Instead, each time the periodic watcher gets scheduled, the
543reschedule callback will be called with the watcher as first, and the 1130reschedule callback will be called with the watcher as first, and the
544current time as second argument.</p> 1131current time as second argument.</p>
545 <p>NOTE: <i>This callback MUST NOT stop or destroy the periodic or any other 1132 <p>NOTE: <i>This callback MUST NOT stop or destroy any periodic watcher,
546periodic watcher, ever, or make any event loop modificstions</i>. If you need 1133ever, or make any event loop modifications</i>. If you need to stop it,
547to stop it, return 1e30 (or so, fudge fudge) and stop it afterwards.</p> 1134return <code>now + 1e30</code> (or so, fudge fudge) and stop it afterwards (e.g. by
1135starting a prepare watcher).</p>
548 <p>Its prototype is c&lt;ev_tstamp (*reschedule_cb)(struct ev_periodic *w, 1136 <p>Its prototype is <code>ev_tstamp (*reschedule_cb)(struct ev_periodic *w,
549ev_tstamp now)&gt;, e.g.:</p> 1137ev_tstamp now)</code>, e.g.:</p>
550<pre> static ev_tstamp my_rescheduler (struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now) 1138<pre> static ev_tstamp my_rescheduler (struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now)
551 { 1139 {
552 return now + 60.; 1140 return now + 60.;
553 } 1141 }
554 1142
555</pre> 1143</pre>
556 <p>It must return the next time to trigger, based on the passed time value 1144 <p>It must return the next time to trigger, based on the passed time value
557(that is, the lowest time value larger than to the second argument). It 1145(that is, the lowest time value larger than to the second argument). It
558will usually be called just before the callback will be triggered, but 1146will usually be called just before the callback will be triggered, but
559might be called at other times, too.</p> 1147might be called at other times, too.</p>
1148 <p>NOTE: <i>This callback must always return a time that is later than the
1149passed <code>now</code> value</i>. Not even <code>now</code> itself will do, it <i>must</i> be larger.</p>
560 <p>This can be used to create very complex timers, such as a timer that 1150 <p>This can be used to create very complex timers, such as a timer that
561triggers on each midnight, local time. To do this, you would calculate the 1151triggers on each midnight, local time. To do this, you would calculate the
562next midnight after <code>now</code> and return the timestamp value for this. How you do this 1152next midnight after <code>now</code> and return the timestamp value for this. How
563is, again, up to you (but it is not trivial).</p> 1153you do this is, again, up to you (but it is not trivial, which is the main
1154reason I omitted it as an example).</p>
564 </dd> 1155 </dd>
565 </dl> 1156 </dl>
566 </p> 1157 </p>
567 </dd> 1158 </dd>
568 <dt>ev_periodic_again (loop, ev_periodic *)</dt> 1159 <dt>ev_periodic_again (loop, ev_periodic *)</dt>
570 <p>Simply stops and restarts the periodic watcher again. This is only useful 1161 <p>Simply stops and restarts the periodic watcher again. This is only useful
571when you changed some parameters or the reschedule callback would return 1162when you changed some parameters or the reschedule callback would return
572a different time than the last time it was called (e.g. in a crond like 1163a different time than the last time it was called (e.g. in a crond like
573program when the crontabs have changed).</p> 1164program when the crontabs have changed).</p>
574 </dd> 1165 </dd>
1166 <dt>ev_tstamp interval [read-write]</dt>
1167 <dd>
1168 <p>The current interval value. Can be modified any time, but changes only
1169take effect when the periodic timer fires or <code>ev_periodic_again</code> is being
1170called.</p>
1171 </dd>
1172 <dt>ev_tstamp (*reschedule_cb)(struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now) [read-write]</dt>
1173 <dd>
1174 <p>The current reschedule callback, or <code>0</code>, if this functionality is
1175switched off. Can be changed any time, but changes only take effect when
1176the periodic timer fires or <code>ev_periodic_again</code> is being called.</p>
1177 </dd>
575</dl> 1178</dl>
1179<p>Example: Call a callback every hour, or, more precisely, whenever the
1180system clock is divisible by 3600. The callback invocation times have
1181potentially a lot of jittering, but good long-term stability.</p>
1182<pre> static void
1183 clock_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w, int revents)
1184 {
1185 ... its now a full hour (UTC, or TAI or whatever your clock follows)
1186 }
576 1187
1188 struct ev_periodic hourly_tick;
1189 ev_periodic_init (&amp;hourly_tick, clock_cb, 0., 3600., 0);
1190 ev_periodic_start (loop, &amp;hourly_tick);
1191
1192</pre>
1193<p>Example: The same as above, but use a reschedule callback to do it:</p>
1194<pre> #include &lt;math.h&gt;
1195
1196 static ev_tstamp
1197 my_scheduler_cb (struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now)
1198 {
1199 return fmod (now, 3600.) + 3600.;
1200 }
1201
1202 ev_periodic_init (&amp;hourly_tick, clock_cb, 0., 0., my_scheduler_cb);
1203
1204</pre>
1205<p>Example: Call a callback every hour, starting now:</p>
1206<pre> struct ev_periodic hourly_tick;
1207 ev_periodic_init (&amp;hourly_tick, clock_cb,
1208 fmod (ev_now (loop), 3600.), 3600., 0);
1209 ev_periodic_start (loop, &amp;hourly_tick);
1210
1211
1212
1213
1214</pre>
1215
577</div> 1216</div>
578<h2 id="ev_signal_signal_me_when_a_signal_ge">ev_signal - signal me when a signal gets signalled</h2> 1217<h2 id="code_ev_signal_code_signal_me_when_a"><code>ev_signal</code> - signal me when a signal gets signalled!</h2>
579<div id="ev_signal_signal_me_when_a_signal_ge-2"> 1218<div id="code_ev_signal_code_signal_me_when_a-2">
580<p>Signal watchers will trigger an event when the process receives a specific 1219<p>Signal watchers will trigger an event when the process receives a specific
581signal one or more times. Even though signals are very asynchronous, libev 1220signal one or more times. Even though signals are very asynchronous, libev
582will try its best to deliver signals synchronously, i.e. as part of the 1221will try it's best to deliver signals synchronously, i.e. as part of the
583normal event processing, like any other event.</p> 1222normal event processing, like any other event.</p>
584<p>You cna configure as many watchers as you like per signal. Only when the 1223<p>You can configure as many watchers as you like per signal. Only when the
585first watcher gets started will libev actually register a signal watcher 1224first watcher gets started will libev actually register a signal watcher
586with the kernel (thus it coexists with your own signal handlers as long 1225with the kernel (thus it coexists with your own signal handlers as long
587as you don't register any with libev). Similarly, when the last signal 1226as you don't register any with libev). Similarly, when the last signal
588watcher for a signal is stopped libev will reset the signal handler to 1227watcher for a signal is stopped libev will reset the signal handler to
589SIG_DFL (regardless of what it was set to before).</p> 1228SIG_DFL (regardless of what it was set to before).</p>
592 <dt>ev_signal_set (ev_signal *, int signum)</dt> 1231 <dt>ev_signal_set (ev_signal *, int signum)</dt>
593 <dd> 1232 <dd>
594 <p>Configures the watcher to trigger on the given signal number (usually one 1233 <p>Configures the watcher to trigger on the given signal number (usually one
595of the <code>SIGxxx</code> constants).</p> 1234of the <code>SIGxxx</code> constants).</p>
596 </dd> 1235 </dd>
1236 <dt>int signum [read-only]</dt>
1237 <dd>
1238 <p>The signal the watcher watches out for.</p>
1239 </dd>
597</dl> 1240</dl>
598 1241
1242
1243
1244
1245
599</div> 1246</div>
600<h2 id="ev_child_wait_for_pid_status_changes">ev_child - wait for pid status changes</h2> 1247<h2 id="code_ev_child_code_watch_out_for_pro"><code>ev_child</code> - watch out for process status changes</h2>
601<div id="ev_child_wait_for_pid_status_changes-2"> 1248<div id="code_ev_child_code_watch_out_for_pro-2">
602<p>Child watchers trigger when your process receives a SIGCHLD in response to 1249<p>Child watchers trigger when your process receives a SIGCHLD in response to
603some child status changes (most typically when a child of yours dies).</p> 1250some child status changes (most typically when a child of yours dies).</p>
604<dl> 1251<dl>
605 <dt>ev_child_init (ev_child *, callback, int pid)</dt> 1252 <dt>ev_child_init (ev_child *, callback, int pid)</dt>
606 <dt>ev_child_set (ev_child *, int pid)</dt> 1253 <dt>ev_child_set (ev_child *, int pid)</dt>
607 <dd> 1254 <dd>
608 <p>Configures the watcher to wait for status changes of process <code>pid</code> (or 1255 <p>Configures the watcher to wait for status changes of process <code>pid</code> (or
609<i>any</i> process if <code>pid</code> is specified as <code>0</code>). The callback can look 1256<i>any</i> process if <code>pid</code> is specified as <code>0</code>). The callback can look
610at the <code>rstatus</code> member of the <code>ev_child</code> watcher structure to see 1257at the <code>rstatus</code> member of the <code>ev_child</code> watcher structure to see
611the status word (use the macros from <code>sys/wait.h</code>). The <code>rpid</code> member 1258the status word (use the macros from <code>sys/wait.h</code> and see your systems
1259<code>waitpid</code> documentation). The <code>rpid</code> member contains the pid of the
612contains the pid of the process causing the status change.</p> 1260process causing the status change.</p>
1261 </dd>
1262 <dt>int pid [read-only]</dt>
1263 <dd>
1264 <p>The process id this watcher watches out for, or <code>0</code>, meaning any process id.</p>
1265 </dd>
1266 <dt>int rpid [read-write]</dt>
1267 <dd>
1268 <p>The process id that detected a status change.</p>
1269 </dd>
1270 <dt>int rstatus [read-write]</dt>
1271 <dd>
1272 <p>The process exit/trace status caused by <code>rpid</code> (see your systems
1273<code>waitpid</code> and <code>sys/wait.h</code> documentation for details).</p>
613 </dd> 1274 </dd>
614</dl> 1275</dl>
1276<p>Example: Try to exit cleanly on SIGINT and SIGTERM.</p>
1277<pre> static void
1278 sigint_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_signal *w, int revents)
1279 {
1280 ev_unloop (loop, EVUNLOOP_ALL);
1281 }
615 1282
1283 struct ev_signal signal_watcher;
1284 ev_signal_init (&amp;signal_watcher, sigint_cb, SIGINT);
1285 ev_signal_start (loop, &amp;sigint_cb);
1286
1287
1288
1289
1290</pre>
1291
616</div> 1292</div>
1293<h2 id="code_ev_stat_code_did_the_file_attri"><code>ev_stat</code> - did the file attributes just change?</h2>
1294<div id="code_ev_stat_code_did_the_file_attri-2">
1295<p>This watches a filesystem path for attribute changes. That is, it calls
1296<code>stat</code> regularly (or when the OS says it changed) and sees if it changed
1297compared to the last time, invoking the callback if it did.</p>
1298<p>The path does not need to exist: changing from &quot;path exists&quot; to &quot;path does
1299not exist&quot; is a status change like any other. The condition &quot;path does
1300not exist&quot; is signified by the <code>st_nlink</code> field being zero (which is
1301otherwise always forced to be at least one) and all the other fields of
1302the stat buffer having unspecified contents.</p>
1303<p>The path <i>should</i> be absolute and <i>must not</i> end in a slash. If it is
1304relative and your working directory changes, the behaviour is undefined.</p>
1305<p>Since there is no standard to do this, the portable implementation simply
1306calls <code>stat (2)</code> regularly on the path to see if it changed somehow. You
1307can specify a recommended polling interval for this case. If you specify
1308a polling interval of <code>0</code> (highly recommended!) then a <i>suitable,
1309unspecified default</i> value will be used (which you can expect to be around
1310five seconds, although this might change dynamically). Libev will also
1311impose a minimum interval which is currently around <code>0.1</code>, but thats
1312usually overkill.</p>
1313<p>This watcher type is not meant for massive numbers of stat watchers,
1314as even with OS-supported change notifications, this can be
1315resource-intensive.</p>
1316<p>At the time of this writing, only the Linux inotify interface is
1317implemented (implementing kqueue support is left as an exercise for the
1318reader). Inotify will be used to give hints only and should not change the
1319semantics of <code>ev_stat</code> watchers, which means that libev sometimes needs
1320to fall back to regular polling again even with inotify, but changes are
1321usually detected immediately, and if the file exists there will be no
1322polling.</p>
1323<dl>
1324 <dt>ev_stat_init (ev_stat *, callback, const char *path, ev_tstamp interval)</dt>
1325 <dt>ev_stat_set (ev_stat *, const char *path, ev_tstamp interval)</dt>
1326 <dd>
1327 <p>Configures the watcher to wait for status changes of the given
1328<code>path</code>. The <code>interval</code> is a hint on how quickly a change is expected to
1329be detected and should normally be specified as <code>0</code> to let libev choose
1330a suitable value. The memory pointed to by <code>path</code> must point to the same
1331path for as long as the watcher is active.</p>
1332 <p>The callback will be receive <code>EV_STAT</code> when a change was detected,
1333relative to the attributes at the time the watcher was started (or the
1334last change was detected).</p>
1335 </dd>
1336 <dt>ev_stat_stat (ev_stat *)</dt>
1337 <dd>
1338 <p>Updates the stat buffer immediately with new values. If you change the
1339watched path in your callback, you could call this fucntion to avoid
1340detecting this change (while introducing a race condition). Can also be
1341useful simply to find out the new values.</p>
1342 </dd>
1343 <dt>ev_statdata attr [read-only]</dt>
1344 <dd>
1345 <p>The most-recently detected attributes of the file. Although the type is of
1346<code>ev_statdata</code>, this is usually the (or one of the) <code>struct stat</code> types
1347suitable for your system. If the <code>st_nlink</code> member is <code>0</code>, then there
1348was some error while <code>stat</code>ing the file.</p>
1349 </dd>
1350 <dt>ev_statdata prev [read-only]</dt>
1351 <dd>
1352 <p>The previous attributes of the file. The callback gets invoked whenever
1353<code>prev</code> != <code>attr</code>.</p>
1354 </dd>
1355 <dt>ev_tstamp interval [read-only]</dt>
1356 <dd>
1357 <p>The specified interval.</p>
1358 </dd>
1359 <dt>const char *path [read-only]</dt>
1360 <dd>
1361 <p>The filesystem path that is being watched.</p>
1362 </dd>
1363</dl>
1364<p>Example: Watch <code>/etc/passwd</code> for attribute changes.</p>
1365<pre> static void
1366 passwd_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, ev_stat *w, int revents)
1367 {
1368 /* /etc/passwd changed in some way */
1369 if (w-&gt;attr.st_nlink)
1370 {
1371 printf (&quot;passwd current size %ld\n&quot;, (long)w-&gt;attr.st_size);
1372 printf (&quot;passwd current atime %ld\n&quot;, (long)w-&gt;attr.st_mtime);
1373 printf (&quot;passwd current mtime %ld\n&quot;, (long)w-&gt;attr.st_mtime);
1374 }
1375 else
1376 /* you shalt not abuse printf for puts */
1377 puts (&quot;wow, /etc/passwd is not there, expect problems. &quot;
1378 &quot;if this is windows, they already arrived\n&quot;);
1379 }
1380
1381 ...
1382 ev_stat passwd;
1383
1384 ev_stat_init (&amp;passwd, passwd_cb, &quot;/etc/passwd&quot;);
1385 ev_stat_start (loop, &amp;passwd);
1386
1387
1388
1389
1390</pre>
1391
1392</div>
617<h2 id="ev_idle_when_you_ve_got_nothing_bett">ev_idle - when you've got nothing better to do</h2> 1393<h2 id="code_ev_idle_code_when_you_ve_got_no"><code>ev_idle</code> - when you've got nothing better to do...</h2>
618<div id="ev_idle_when_you_ve_got_nothing_bett-2"> 1394<div id="code_ev_idle_code_when_you_ve_got_no-2">
619<p>Idle watchers trigger events when there are no other I/O or timer (or 1395<p>Idle watchers trigger events when no other events of the same or higher
620periodic) events pending. That is, as long as your process is busy 1396priority are pending (prepare, check and other idle watchers do not
621handling sockets or timeouts it will not be called. But when your process 1397count).</p>
622is idle all idle watchers are being called again and again - until 1398<p>That is, as long as your process is busy handling sockets or timeouts
1399(or even signals, imagine) of the same or higher priority it will not be
1400triggered. But when your process is idle (or only lower-priority watchers
1401are pending), the idle watchers are being called once per event loop
623stopped, that is, or your process receives more events.</p> 1402iteration - until stopped, that is, or your process receives more events
1403and becomes busy again with higher priority stuff.</p>
624<p>The most noteworthy effect is that as long as any idle watchers are 1404<p>The most noteworthy effect is that as long as any idle watchers are
625active, the process will not block when waiting for new events.</p> 1405active, the process will not block when waiting for new events.</p>
626<p>Apart from keeping your process non-blocking (which is a useful 1406<p>Apart from keeping your process non-blocking (which is a useful
627effect on its own sometimes), idle watchers are a good place to do 1407effect on its own sometimes), idle watchers are a good place to do
628&quot;pseudo-background processing&quot;, or delay processing stuff to after the 1408&quot;pseudo-background processing&quot;, or delay processing stuff to after the
633 <p>Initialises and configures the idle watcher - it has no parameters of any 1413 <p>Initialises and configures the idle watcher - it has no parameters of any
634kind. There is a <code>ev_idle_set</code> macro, but using it is utterly pointless, 1414kind. There is a <code>ev_idle_set</code> macro, but using it is utterly pointless,
635believe me.</p> 1415believe me.</p>
636 </dd> 1416 </dd>
637</dl> 1417</dl>
1418<p>Example: Dynamically allocate an <code>ev_idle</code> watcher, start it, and in the
1419callback, free it. Also, use no error checking, as usual.</p>
1420<pre> static void
1421 idle_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_idle *w, int revents)
1422 {
1423 free (w);
1424 // now do something you wanted to do when the program has
1425 // no longer asnything immediate to do.
1426 }
638 1427
1428 struct ev_idle *idle_watcher = malloc (sizeof (struct ev_idle));
1429 ev_idle_init (idle_watcher, idle_cb);
1430 ev_idle_start (loop, idle_cb);
1431
1432
1433
1434
1435</pre>
1436
639</div> 1437</div>
640<h2 id="prepare_and_check_your_hooks_into_th">prepare and check - your hooks into the event loop</h2> 1438<h2 id="code_ev_prepare_code_and_code_ev_che"><code>ev_prepare</code> and <code>ev_check</code> - customise your event loop!</h2>
641<div id="prepare_and_check_your_hooks_into_th-2"> 1439<div id="code_ev_prepare_code_and_code_ev_che-2">
642<p>Prepare and check watchers usually (but not always) are used in 1440<p>Prepare and check watchers are usually (but not always) used in tandem:
643tandom. Prepare watchers get invoked before the process blocks and check 1441prepare watchers get invoked before the process blocks and check watchers
644watchers afterwards.</p> 1442afterwards.</p>
1443<p>You <i>must not</i> call <code>ev_loop</code> or similar functions that enter
1444the current event loop from either <code>ev_prepare</code> or <code>ev_check</code>
1445watchers. Other loops than the current one are fine, however. The
1446rationale behind this is that you do not need to check for recursion in
1447those watchers, i.e. the sequence will always be <code>ev_prepare</code>, blocking,
1448<code>ev_check</code> so if you have one watcher of each kind they will always be
1449called in pairs bracketing the blocking call.</p>
645<p>Their main purpose is to integrate other event mechanisms into libev. This 1450<p>Their main purpose is to integrate other event mechanisms into libev and
646could be used, for example, to track variable changes, implement your own 1451their use is somewhat advanced. This could be used, for example, to track
647watchers, integrate net-snmp or a coroutine library and lots more.</p> 1452variable changes, implement your own watchers, integrate net-snmp or a
1453coroutine library and lots more. They are also occasionally useful if
1454you cache some data and want to flush it before blocking (for example,
1455in X programs you might want to do an <code>XFlush ()</code> in an <code>ev_prepare</code>
1456watcher).</p>
648<p>This is done by examining in each prepare call which file descriptors need 1457<p>This is done by examining in each prepare call which file descriptors need
649to be watched by the other library, registering ev_io watchers for them 1458to be watched by the other library, registering <code>ev_io</code> watchers for
650and starting an ev_timer watcher for any timeouts (many libraries provide 1459them and starting an <code>ev_timer</code> watcher for any timeouts (many libraries
651just this functionality). Then, in the check watcher you check for any 1460provide just this functionality). Then, in the check watcher you check for
652events that occured (by making your callbacks set soem flags for example) 1461any events that occured (by checking the pending status of all watchers
653and call back into the library.</p> 1462and stopping them) and call back into the library. The I/O and timer
1463callbacks will never actually be called (but must be valid nevertheless,
1464because you never know, you know?).</p>
654<p>As another example, the perl Coro module uses these hooks to integrate 1465<p>As another example, the Perl Coro module uses these hooks to integrate
655coroutines into libev programs, by yielding to other active coroutines 1466coroutines into libev programs, by yielding to other active coroutines
656during each prepare and only letting the process block if no coroutines 1467during each prepare and only letting the process block if no coroutines
657are ready to run.</p> 1468are ready to run (it's actually more complicated: it only runs coroutines
1469with priority higher than or equal to the event loop and one coroutine
1470of lower priority, but only once, using idle watchers to keep the event
1471loop from blocking if lower-priority coroutines are active, thus mapping
1472low-priority coroutines to idle/background tasks).</p>
658<dl> 1473<dl>
659 <dt>ev_prepare_init (ev_prepare *, callback)</dt> 1474 <dt>ev_prepare_init (ev_prepare *, callback)</dt>
660 <dt>ev_check_init (ev_check *, callback)</dt> 1475 <dt>ev_check_init (ev_check *, callback)</dt>
661 <dd> 1476 <dd>
662 <p>Initialises and configures the prepare or check watcher - they have no 1477 <p>Initialises and configures the prepare or check watcher - they have no
663parameters of any kind. There are <code>ev_prepare_set</code> and <code>ev_check_set</code> 1478parameters of any kind. There are <code>ev_prepare_set</code> and <code>ev_check_set</code>
664macros, but using them is utterly, utterly pointless.</p> 1479macros, but using them is utterly, utterly and completely pointless.</p>
665 </dd> 1480 </dd>
666</dl> 1481</dl>
1482<p>Example: To include a library such as adns, you would add IO watchers
1483and a timeout watcher in a prepare handler, as required by libadns, and
1484in a check watcher, destroy them and call into libadns. What follows is
1485pseudo-code only of course:</p>
1486<pre> static ev_io iow [nfd];
1487 static ev_timer tw;
667 1488
1489 static void
1490 io_cb (ev_loop *loop, ev_io *w, int revents)
1491 {
1492 // set the relevant poll flags
1493 // could also call adns_processreadable etc. here
1494 struct pollfd *fd = (struct pollfd *)w-&gt;data;
1495 if (revents &amp; EV_READ ) fd-&gt;revents |= fd-&gt;events &amp; POLLIN;
1496 if (revents &amp; EV_WRITE) fd-&gt;revents |= fd-&gt;events &amp; POLLOUT;
1497 }
1498
1499 // create io watchers for each fd and a timer before blocking
1500 static void
1501 adns_prepare_cb (ev_loop *loop, ev_prepare *w, int revents)
1502 {
1503 int timeout = 3600000;
1504 struct pollfd fds [nfd];
1505 // actual code will need to loop here and realloc etc.
1506 adns_beforepoll (ads, fds, &amp;nfd, &amp;timeout, timeval_from (ev_time ()));
1507
1508 /* the callback is illegal, but won't be called as we stop during check */
1509 ev_timer_init (&amp;tw, 0, timeout * 1e-3);
1510 ev_timer_start (loop, &amp;tw);
1511
1512 // create on ev_io per pollfd
1513 for (int i = 0; i &lt; nfd; ++i)
1514 {
1515 ev_io_init (iow + i, io_cb, fds [i].fd,
1516 ((fds [i].events &amp; POLLIN ? EV_READ : 0)
1517 | (fds [i].events &amp; POLLOUT ? EV_WRITE : 0)));
1518
1519 fds [i].revents = 0;
1520 iow [i].data = fds + i;
1521 ev_io_start (loop, iow + i);
1522 }
1523 }
1524
1525 // stop all watchers after blocking
1526 static void
1527 adns_check_cb (ev_loop *loop, ev_check *w, int revents)
1528 {
1529 ev_timer_stop (loop, &amp;tw);
1530
1531 for (int i = 0; i &lt; nfd; ++i)
1532 ev_io_stop (loop, iow + i);
1533
1534 adns_afterpoll (adns, fds, nfd, timeval_from (ev_now (loop));
1535 }
1536
1537
1538
1539
1540</pre>
1541
668</div> 1542</div>
669<h1 id="OTHER_FUNCTIONS">OTHER FUNCTIONS</h1><p><a href="#TOP" class="toplink">Top</a></p> 1543<h2 id="code_ev_embed_code_when_one_backend_"><code>ev_embed</code> - when one backend isn't enough...</h2>
1544<div id="code_ev_embed_code_when_one_backend_-2">
1545<p>This is a rather advanced watcher type that lets you embed one event loop
1546into another (currently only <code>ev_io</code> events are supported in the embedded
1547loop, other types of watchers might be handled in a delayed or incorrect
1548fashion and must not be used).</p>
1549<p>There are primarily two reasons you would want that: work around bugs and
1550prioritise I/O.</p>
1551<p>As an example for a bug workaround, the kqueue backend might only support
1552sockets on some platform, so it is unusable as generic backend, but you
1553still want to make use of it because you have many sockets and it scales
1554so nicely. In this case, you would create a kqueue-based loop and embed it
1555into your default loop (which might use e.g. poll). Overall operation will
1556be a bit slower because first libev has to poll and then call kevent, but
1557at least you can use both at what they are best.</p>
1558<p>As for prioritising I/O: rarely you have the case where some fds have
1559to be watched and handled very quickly (with low latency), and even
1560priorities and idle watchers might have too much overhead. In this case
1561you would put all the high priority stuff in one loop and all the rest in
1562a second one, and embed the second one in the first.</p>
1563<p>As long as the watcher is active, the callback will be invoked every time
1564there might be events pending in the embedded loop. The callback must then
1565call <code>ev_embed_sweep (mainloop, watcher)</code> to make a single sweep and invoke
1566their callbacks (you could also start an idle watcher to give the embedded
1567loop strictly lower priority for example). You can also set the callback
1568to <code>0</code>, in which case the embed watcher will automatically execute the
1569embedded loop sweep.</p>
1570<p>As long as the watcher is started it will automatically handle events. The
1571callback will be invoked whenever some events have been handled. You can
1572set the callback to <code>0</code> to avoid having to specify one if you are not
1573interested in that.</p>
1574<p>Also, there have not currently been made special provisions for forking:
1575when you fork, you not only have to call <code>ev_loop_fork</code> on both loops,
1576but you will also have to stop and restart any <code>ev_embed</code> watchers
1577yourself.</p>
1578<p>Unfortunately, not all backends are embeddable, only the ones returned by
1579<code>ev_embeddable_backends</code> are, which, unfortunately, does not include any
1580portable one.</p>
1581<p>So when you want to use this feature you will always have to be prepared
1582that you cannot get an embeddable loop. The recommended way to get around
1583this is to have a separate variables for your embeddable loop, try to
1584create it, and if that fails, use the normal loop for everything:</p>
1585<pre> struct ev_loop *loop_hi = ev_default_init (0);
1586 struct ev_loop *loop_lo = 0;
1587 struct ev_embed embed;
1588
1589 // see if there is a chance of getting one that works
1590 // (remember that a flags value of 0 means autodetection)
1591 loop_lo = ev_embeddable_backends () &amp; ev_recommended_backends ()
1592 ? ev_loop_new (ev_embeddable_backends () &amp; ev_recommended_backends ())
1593 : 0;
1594
1595 // if we got one, then embed it, otherwise default to loop_hi
1596 if (loop_lo)
1597 {
1598 ev_embed_init (&amp;embed, 0, loop_lo);
1599 ev_embed_start (loop_hi, &amp;embed);
1600 }
1601 else
1602 loop_lo = loop_hi;
1603
1604</pre>
1605<dl>
1606 <dt>ev_embed_init (ev_embed *, callback, struct ev_loop *embedded_loop)</dt>
1607 <dt>ev_embed_set (ev_embed *, callback, struct ev_loop *embedded_loop)</dt>
1608 <dd>
1609 <p>Configures the watcher to embed the given loop, which must be
1610embeddable. If the callback is <code>0</code>, then <code>ev_embed_sweep</code> will be
1611invoked automatically, otherwise it is the responsibility of the callback
1612to invoke it (it will continue to be called until the sweep has been done,
1613if you do not want thta, you need to temporarily stop the embed watcher).</p>
1614 </dd>
1615 <dt>ev_embed_sweep (loop, ev_embed *)</dt>
1616 <dd>
1617 <p>Make a single, non-blocking sweep over the embedded loop. This works
1618similarly to <code>ev_loop (embedded_loop, EVLOOP_NONBLOCK)</code>, but in the most
1619apropriate way for embedded loops.</p>
1620 </dd>
1621 <dt>struct ev_loop *loop [read-only]</dt>
1622 <dd>
1623 <p>The embedded event loop.</p>
1624 </dd>
1625</dl>
1626
1627
1628
1629
1630
1631</div>
1632<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>
1633<div id="code_ev_fork_code_the_audacity_to_re-2">
1634<p>Fork watchers are called when a <code>fork ()</code> was detected (usually because
1635whoever is a good citizen cared to tell libev about it by calling
1636<code>ev_default_fork</code> or <code>ev_loop_fork</code>). The invocation is done before the
1637event loop blocks next and before <code>ev_check</code> watchers are being called,
1638and only in the child after the fork. If whoever good citizen calling
1639<code>ev_default_fork</code> cheats and calls it in the wrong process, the fork
1640handlers will be invoked, too, of course.</p>
1641<dl>
1642 <dt>ev_fork_init (ev_signal *, callback)</dt>
1643 <dd>
1644 <p>Initialises and configures the fork watcher - it has no parameters of any
1645kind. There is a <code>ev_fork_set</code> macro, but using it is utterly pointless,
1646believe me.</p>
1647 </dd>
1648</dl>
1649
1650
1651
1652
1653
1654</div>
1655<h1 id="OTHER_FUNCTIONS">OTHER FUNCTIONS</h1>
670<div id="OTHER_FUNCTIONS_CONTENT"> 1656<div id="OTHER_FUNCTIONS_CONTENT">
671<p>There are some other fucntions of possible interest. Described. Here. Now.</p> 1657<p>There are some other functions of possible interest. Described. Here. Now.</p>
672<dl> 1658<dl>
673 <dt>ev_once (loop, int fd, int events, ev_tstamp timeout, callback)</dt> 1659 <dt>ev_once (loop, int fd, int events, ev_tstamp timeout, callback)</dt>
674 <dd> 1660 <dd>
675 <p>This function combines a simple timer and an I/O watcher, calls your 1661 <p>This function combines a simple timer and an I/O watcher, calls your
676callback on whichever event happens first and automatically stop both 1662callback on whichever event happens first and automatically stop both
677watchers. This is useful if you want to wait for a single event on an fd 1663watchers. This is useful if you want to wait for a single event on an fd
678or timeout without havign to allocate/configure/start/stop/free one or 1664or timeout without having to allocate/configure/start/stop/free one or
679more watchers yourself.</p> 1665more watchers yourself.</p>
680 <p>If <code>fd</code> is less than 0, then no I/O watcher will be started and events is 1666 <p>If <code>fd</code> is less than 0, then no I/O watcher will be started and events
681ignored. Otherwise, an ev_io watcher for the given <code>fd</code> and <code>events</code> set 1667is being ignored. Otherwise, an <code>ev_io</code> watcher for the given <code>fd</code> and
682will be craeted and started.</p> 1668<code>events</code> set will be craeted and started.</p>
683 <p>If <code>timeout</code> is less than 0, then no timeout watcher will be 1669 <p>If <code>timeout</code> is less than 0, then no timeout watcher will be
684started. Otherwise an ev_timer watcher with after = <code>timeout</code> (and repeat 1670started. Otherwise an <code>ev_timer</code> watcher with after = <code>timeout</code> (and
685= 0) will be started.</p> 1671repeat = 0) will be started. While <code>0</code> is a valid timeout, it is of
1672dubious value.</p>
686 <p>The callback has the type <code>void (*cb)(int revents, void *arg)</code> and 1673 <p>The callback has the type <code>void (*cb)(int revents, void *arg)</code> and gets
687gets passed an events set (normally a combination of EV_ERROR, EV_READ, 1674passed an <code>revents</code> set like normal event callbacks (a combination of
688EV_WRITE or EV_TIMEOUT) and the <code>arg</code> value passed to <code>ev_once</code>:</p> 1675<code>EV_ERROR</code>, <code>EV_READ</code>, <code>EV_WRITE</code> or <code>EV_TIMEOUT</code>) and the <code>arg</code>
1676value passed to <code>ev_once</code>:</p>
689<pre> static void stdin_ready (int revents, void *arg) 1677<pre> static void stdin_ready (int revents, void *arg)
690 { 1678 {
691 if (revents &amp; EV_TIMEOUT) 1679 if (revents &amp; EV_TIMEOUT)
692 /* doh, nothing entered */ 1680 /* doh, nothing entered */;
693 else if (revents &amp; EV_READ) 1681 else if (revents &amp; EV_READ)
694 /* stdin might have data for us, joy! */ 1682 /* stdin might have data for us, joy! */;
695 } 1683 }
696 1684
697 ev_once (STDIN_FILENO, EV_READm 10., stdin_ready, 0); 1685 ev_once (STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ, 10., stdin_ready, 0);
698 1686
699</pre> 1687</pre>
700 </dd> 1688 </dd>
701 <dt>ev_feed_event (loop, watcher, int events)</dt> 1689 <dt>ev_feed_event (ev_loop *, watcher *, int revents)</dt>
702 <dd> 1690 <dd>
703 <p>Feeds the given event set into the event loop, as if the specified event 1691 <p>Feeds the given event set into the event loop, as if the specified event
704has happened for the specified watcher (which must be a pointer to an 1692had happened for the specified watcher (which must be a pointer to an
705initialised but not necessarily active event watcher).</p> 1693initialised but not necessarily started event watcher).</p>
706 </dd> 1694 </dd>
707 <dt>ev_feed_fd_event (loop, int fd, int revents)</dt> 1695 <dt>ev_feed_fd_event (ev_loop *, int fd, int revents)</dt>
708 <dd> 1696 <dd>
709 <p>Feed an event on the given fd, as if a file descriptor backend detected it.</p> 1697 <p>Feed an event on the given fd, as if a file descriptor backend detected
1698the given events it.</p>
710 </dd> 1699 </dd>
711 <dt>ev_feed_signal_event (loop, int signum)</dt> 1700 <dt>ev_feed_signal_event (ev_loop *loop, int signum)</dt>
712 <dd> 1701 <dd>
713 <p>Feed an event as if the given signal occured (loop must be the default loop!).</p> 1702 <p>Feed an event as if the given signal occured (<code>loop</code> must be the default
1703loop!).</p>
714 </dd> 1704 </dd>
715</dl> 1705</dl>
716 1706
1707
1708
1709
1710
717</div> 1711</div>
718<h1 id="AUTHOR">AUTHOR</h1><p><a href="#TOP" class="toplink">Top</a></p> 1712<h1 id="LIBEVENT_EMULATION">LIBEVENT EMULATION</h1>
1713<div id="LIBEVENT_EMULATION_CONTENT">
1714<p>Libev offers a compatibility emulation layer for libevent. It cannot
1715emulate the internals of libevent, so here are some usage hints:</p>
1716<dl>
1717 <dt>* Use it by including &lt;event.h&gt;, as usual.</dt>
1718 <dt>* The following members are fully supported: ev_base, ev_callback,
1719ev_arg, ev_fd, ev_res, ev_events.</dt>
1720 <dt>* Avoid using ev_flags and the EVLIST_*-macros, while it is
1721maintained by libev, it does not work exactly the same way as in libevent (consider
1722it a private API).</dt>
1723 <dt>* Priorities are not currently supported. Initialising priorities
1724will fail and all watchers will have the same priority, even though there
1725is an ev_pri field.</dt>
1726 <dt>* Other members are not supported.</dt>
1727 <dt>* The libev emulation is <i>not</i> ABI compatible to libevent, you need
1728to use the libev header file and library.</dt>
1729</dl>
1730
1731</div>
1732<h1 id="C_SUPPORT">C++ SUPPORT</h1>
1733<div id="C_SUPPORT_CONTENT">
1734<p>Libev comes with some simplistic wrapper classes for C++ that mainly allow
1735you to use some convinience methods to start/stop watchers and also change
1736the callback model to a model using method callbacks on objects.</p>
1737<p>To use it,</p>
1738<pre> #include &lt;ev++.h&gt;
1739
1740</pre>
1741<p>(it is not installed by default). This automatically includes <cite>ev.h</cite>
1742and puts all of its definitions (many of them macros) into the global
1743namespace. All C++ specific things are put into the <code>ev</code> namespace.</p>
1744<p>It should support all the same embedding options as <cite>ev.h</cite>, most notably
1745<code>EV_MULTIPLICITY</code>.</p>
1746<p>Here is a list of things available in the <code>ev</code> namespace:</p>
1747<dl>
1748 <dt><code>ev::READ</code>, <code>ev::WRITE</code> etc.</dt>
1749 <dd>
1750 <p>These are just enum values with the same values as the <code>EV_READ</code> etc.
1751macros from <cite>ev.h</cite>.</p>
1752 </dd>
1753 <dt><code>ev::tstamp</code>, <code>ev::now</code></dt>
1754 <dd>
1755 <p>Aliases to the same types/functions as with the <code>ev_</code> prefix.</p>
1756 </dd>
1757 <dt><code>ev::io</code>, <code>ev::timer</code>, <code>ev::periodic</code>, <code>ev::idle</code>, <code>ev::sig</code> etc.</dt>
1758 <dd>
1759 <p>For each <code>ev_TYPE</code> watcher in <cite>ev.h</cite> there is a corresponding class of
1760the same name in the <code>ev</code> namespace, with the exception of <code>ev_signal</code>
1761which is called <code>ev::sig</code> to avoid clashes with the <code>signal</code> macro
1762defines by many implementations.</p>
1763 <p>All of those classes have these methods:</p>
1764 <p>
1765 <dl>
1766 <dt>ev::TYPE::TYPE (object *, object::method *)</dt>
1767 <dt>ev::TYPE::TYPE (object *, object::method *, struct ev_loop *)</dt>
1768 <dt>ev::TYPE::~TYPE</dt>
1769 <dd>
1770 <p>The constructor takes a pointer to an object and a method pointer to
1771the event handler callback to call in this class. The constructor calls
1772<code>ev_init</code> for you, which means you have to call the <code>set</code> method
1773before starting it. If you do not specify a loop then the constructor
1774automatically associates the default loop with this watcher.</p>
1775 <p>The destructor automatically stops the watcher if it is active.</p>
1776 </dd>
1777 <dt>w-&gt;set (struct ev_loop *)</dt>
1778 <dd>
1779 <p>Associates a different <code>struct ev_loop</code> with this watcher. You can only
1780do this when the watcher is inactive (and not pending either).</p>
1781 </dd>
1782 <dt>w-&gt;set ([args])</dt>
1783 <dd>
1784 <p>Basically the same as <code>ev_TYPE_set</code>, with the same args. Must be
1785called at least once. Unlike the C counterpart, an active watcher gets
1786automatically stopped and restarted.</p>
1787 </dd>
1788 <dt>w-&gt;start ()</dt>
1789 <dd>
1790 <p>Starts the watcher. Note that there is no <code>loop</code> argument as the
1791constructor already takes the loop.</p>
1792 </dd>
1793 <dt>w-&gt;stop ()</dt>
1794 <dd>
1795 <p>Stops the watcher if it is active. Again, no <code>loop</code> argument.</p>
1796 </dd>
1797 <dt>w-&gt;again () <code>ev::timer</code>, <code>ev::periodic</code> only</dt>
1798 <dd>
1799 <p>For <code>ev::timer</code> and <code>ev::periodic</code>, this invokes the corresponding
1800<code>ev_TYPE_again</code> function.</p>
1801 </dd>
1802 <dt>w-&gt;sweep () <code>ev::embed</code> only</dt>
1803 <dd>
1804 <p>Invokes <code>ev_embed_sweep</code>.</p>
1805 </dd>
1806 <dt>w-&gt;update () <code>ev::stat</code> only</dt>
1807 <dd>
1808 <p>Invokes <code>ev_stat_stat</code>.</p>
1809 </dd>
1810 </dl>
1811 </p>
1812 </dd>
1813</dl>
1814<p>Example: Define a class with an IO and idle watcher, start one of them in
1815the constructor.</p>
1816<pre> class myclass
1817 {
1818 ev_io io; void io_cb (ev::io &amp;w, int revents);
1819 ev_idle idle void idle_cb (ev::idle &amp;w, int revents);
1820
1821 myclass ();
1822 }
1823
1824 myclass::myclass (int fd)
1825 : io (this, &amp;myclass::io_cb),
1826 idle (this, &amp;myclass::idle_cb)
1827 {
1828 io.start (fd, ev::READ);
1829 }
1830
1831
1832
1833
1834</pre>
1835
1836</div>
1837<h1 id="MACRO_MAGIC">MACRO MAGIC</h1>
1838<div id="MACRO_MAGIC_CONTENT">
1839<p>Libev can be compiled with a variety of options, the most fundemantal is
1840<code>EV_MULTIPLICITY</code>. This option determines whether (most) functions and
1841callbacks have an initial <code>struct ev_loop *</code> argument.</p>
1842<p>To make it easier to write programs that cope with either variant, the
1843following macros are defined:</p>
1844<dl>
1845 <dt><code>EV_A</code>, <code>EV_A_</code></dt>
1846 <dd>
1847 <p>This provides the loop <i>argument</i> for functions, if one is required (&quot;ev
1848loop argument&quot;). The <code>EV_A</code> form is used when this is the sole argument,
1849<code>EV_A_</code> is used when other arguments are following. Example:</p>
1850<pre> ev_unref (EV_A);
1851 ev_timer_add (EV_A_ watcher);
1852 ev_loop (EV_A_ 0);
1853
1854</pre>
1855 <p>It assumes the variable <code>loop</code> of type <code>struct ev_loop *</code> is in scope,
1856which is often provided by the following macro.</p>
1857 </dd>
1858 <dt><code>EV_P</code>, <code>EV_P_</code></dt>
1859 <dd>
1860 <p>This provides the loop <i>parameter</i> for functions, if one is required (&quot;ev
1861loop parameter&quot;). The <code>EV_P</code> form is used when this is the sole parameter,
1862<code>EV_P_</code> is used when other parameters are following. Example:</p>
1863<pre> // this is how ev_unref is being declared
1864 static void ev_unref (EV_P);
1865
1866 // this is how you can declare your typical callback
1867 static void cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)
1868
1869</pre>
1870 <p>It declares a parameter <code>loop</code> of type <code>struct ev_loop *</code>, quite
1871suitable for use with <code>EV_A</code>.</p>
1872 </dd>
1873 <dt><code>EV_DEFAULT</code>, <code>EV_DEFAULT_</code></dt>
1874 <dd>
1875 <p>Similar to the other two macros, this gives you the value of the default
1876loop, if multiple loops are supported (&quot;ev loop default&quot;).</p>
1877 </dd>
1878</dl>
1879<p>Example: Declare and initialise a check watcher, utilising the above
1880macros so it will work regardless of whether multiple loops are supported
1881or not.</p>
1882<pre> static void
1883 check_cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)
1884 {
1885 ev_check_stop (EV_A_ w);
1886 }
1887
1888 ev_check check;
1889 ev_check_init (&amp;check, check_cb);
1890 ev_check_start (EV_DEFAULT_ &amp;check);
1891 ev_loop (EV_DEFAULT_ 0);
1892
1893</pre>
1894
1895</div>
1896<h1 id="EMBEDDING">EMBEDDING</h1>
1897<div id="EMBEDDING_CONTENT">
1898<p>Libev can (and often is) directly embedded into host
1899applications. Examples of applications that embed it include the Deliantra
1900Game Server, the EV perl module, the GNU Virtual Private Ethernet (gvpe)
1901and rxvt-unicode.</p>
1902<p>The goal is to enable you to just copy the neecssary files into your
1903source directory without having to change even a single line in them, so
1904you can easily upgrade by simply copying (or having a checked-out copy of
1905libev somewhere in your source tree).</p>
1906
1907</div>
1908<h2 id="FILESETS">FILESETS</h2>
1909<div id="FILESETS_CONTENT">
1910<p>Depending on what features you need you need to include one or more sets of files
1911in your app.</p>
1912
1913</div>
1914<h3 id="CORE_EVENT_LOOP">CORE EVENT LOOP</h3>
1915<div id="CORE_EVENT_LOOP_CONTENT">
1916<p>To include only the libev core (all the <code>ev_*</code> functions), with manual
1917configuration (no autoconf):</p>
1918<pre> #define EV_STANDALONE 1
1919 #include &quot;ev.c&quot;
1920
1921</pre>
1922<p>This will automatically include <cite>ev.h</cite>, too, and should be done in a
1923single C source file only to provide the function implementations. To use
1924it, do the same for <cite>ev.h</cite> in all files wishing to use this API (best
1925done by writing a wrapper around <cite>ev.h</cite> that you can include instead and
1926where you can put other configuration options):</p>
1927<pre> #define EV_STANDALONE 1
1928 #include &quot;ev.h&quot;
1929
1930</pre>
1931<p>Both header files and implementation files can be compiled with a C++
1932compiler (at least, thats a stated goal, and breakage will be treated
1933as a bug).</p>
1934<p>You need the following files in your source tree, or in a directory
1935in your include path (e.g. in libev/ when using -Ilibev):</p>
1936<pre> ev.h
1937 ev.c
1938 ev_vars.h
1939 ev_wrap.h
1940
1941 ev_win32.c required on win32 platforms only
1942
1943 ev_select.c only when select backend is enabled (which is enabled by default)
1944 ev_poll.c only when poll backend is enabled (disabled by default)
1945 ev_epoll.c only when the epoll backend is enabled (disabled by default)
1946 ev_kqueue.c only when the kqueue backend is enabled (disabled by default)
1947 ev_port.c only when the solaris port backend is enabled (disabled by default)
1948
1949</pre>
1950<p><cite>ev.c</cite> includes the backend files directly when enabled, so you only need
1951to compile this single file.</p>
1952
1953</div>
1954<h3 id="LIBEVENT_COMPATIBILITY_API">LIBEVENT COMPATIBILITY API</h3>
1955<div id="LIBEVENT_COMPATIBILITY_API_CONTENT">
1956<p>To include the libevent compatibility API, also include:</p>
1957<pre> #include &quot;event.c&quot;
1958
1959</pre>
1960<p>in the file including <cite>ev.c</cite>, and:</p>
1961<pre> #include &quot;event.h&quot;
1962
1963</pre>
1964<p>in the files that want to use the libevent API. This also includes <cite>ev.h</cite>.</p>
1965<p>You need the following additional files for this:</p>
1966<pre> event.h
1967 event.c
1968
1969</pre>
1970
1971</div>
1972<h3 id="AUTOCONF_SUPPORT">AUTOCONF SUPPORT</h3>
1973<div id="AUTOCONF_SUPPORT_CONTENT">
1974<p>Instead of using <code>EV_STANDALONE=1</code> and providing your config in
1975whatever way you want, you can also <code>m4_include([libev.m4])</code> in your
1976<cite>configure.ac</cite> and leave <code>EV_STANDALONE</code> undefined. <cite>ev.c</cite> will then
1977include <cite>config.h</cite> and configure itself accordingly.</p>
1978<p>For this of course you need the m4 file:</p>
1979<pre> libev.m4
1980
1981</pre>
1982
1983</div>
1984<h2 id="PREPROCESSOR_SYMBOLS_MACROS">PREPROCESSOR SYMBOLS/MACROS</h2>
1985<div id="PREPROCESSOR_SYMBOLS_MACROS_CONTENT">
1986<p>Libev can be configured via a variety of preprocessor symbols you have to define
1987before including any of its files. The default is not to build for multiplicity
1988and only include the select backend.</p>
1989<dl>
1990 <dt>EV_STANDALONE</dt>
1991 <dd>
1992 <p>Must always be <code>1</code> if you do not use autoconf configuration, which
1993keeps libev from including <cite>config.h</cite>, and it also defines dummy
1994implementations for some libevent functions (such as logging, which is not
1995supported). It will also not define any of the structs usually found in
1996<cite>event.h</cite> that are not directly supported by the libev core alone.</p>
1997 </dd>
1998 <dt>EV_USE_MONOTONIC</dt>
1999 <dd>
2000 <p>If defined to be <code>1</code>, libev will try to detect the availability of the
2001monotonic clock option at both compiletime and runtime. Otherwise no use
2002of the monotonic clock option will be attempted. If you enable this, you
2003usually have to link against librt or something similar. Enabling it when
2004the functionality isn't available is safe, though, althoguh you have
2005to make sure you link against any libraries where the <code>clock_gettime</code>
2006function is hiding in (often <cite>-lrt</cite>).</p>
2007 </dd>
2008 <dt>EV_USE_REALTIME</dt>
2009 <dd>
2010 <p>If defined to be <code>1</code>, libev will try to detect the availability of the
2011realtime clock option at compiletime (and assume its availability at
2012runtime if successful). Otherwise no use of the realtime clock option will
2013be attempted. This effectively replaces <code>gettimeofday</code> by <code>clock_get
2014(CLOCK_REALTIME, ...)</code> and will not normally affect correctness. See tzhe note about libraries
2015in the description of <code>EV_USE_MONOTONIC</code>, though.</p>
2016 </dd>
2017 <dt>EV_USE_SELECT</dt>
2018 <dd>
2019 <p>If undefined or defined to be <code>1</code>, libev will compile in support for the
2020<code>select</code>(2) backend. No attempt at autodetection will be done: if no
2021other method takes over, select will be it. Otherwise the select backend
2022will not be compiled in.</p>
2023 </dd>
2024 <dt>EV_SELECT_USE_FD_SET</dt>
2025 <dd>
2026 <p>If defined to <code>1</code>, then the select backend will use the system <code>fd_set</code>
2027structure. This is useful if libev doesn't compile due to a missing
2028<code>NFDBITS</code> or <code>fd_mask</code> definition or it misguesses the bitset layout on
2029exotic systems. This usually limits the range of file descriptors to some
2030low limit such as 1024 or might have other limitations (winsocket only
2031allows 64 sockets). The <code>FD_SETSIZE</code> macro, set before compilation, might
2032influence the size of the <code>fd_set</code> used.</p>
2033 </dd>
2034 <dt>EV_SELECT_IS_WINSOCKET</dt>
2035 <dd>
2036 <p>When defined to <code>1</code>, the select backend will assume that
2037select/socket/connect etc. don't understand file descriptors but
2038wants osf handles on win32 (this is the case when the select to
2039be used is the winsock select). This means that it will call
2040<code>_get_osfhandle</code> on the fd to convert it to an OS handle. Otherwise,
2041it is assumed that all these functions actually work on fds, even
2042on win32. Should not be defined on non-win32 platforms.</p>
2043 </dd>
2044 <dt>EV_USE_POLL</dt>
2045 <dd>
2046 <p>If defined to be <code>1</code>, libev will compile in support for the <code>poll</code>(2)
2047backend. Otherwise it will be enabled on non-win32 platforms. It
2048takes precedence over select.</p>
2049 </dd>
2050 <dt>EV_USE_EPOLL</dt>
2051 <dd>
2052 <p>If defined to be <code>1</code>, libev will compile in support for the Linux
2053<code>epoll</code>(7) backend. Its availability will be detected at runtime,
2054otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the
2055preferred backend for GNU/Linux systems.</p>
2056 </dd>
2057 <dt>EV_USE_KQUEUE</dt>
2058 <dd>
2059 <p>If defined to be <code>1</code>, libev will compile in support for the BSD style
2060<code>kqueue</code>(2) backend. Its actual availability will be detected at runtime,
2061otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the preferred
2062backend for BSD and BSD-like systems, although on most BSDs kqueue only
2063supports some types of fds correctly (the only platform we found that
2064supports ptys for example was NetBSD), so kqueue might be compiled in, but
2065not be used unless explicitly requested. The best way to use it is to find
2066out whether kqueue supports your type of fd properly and use an embedded
2067kqueue loop.</p>
2068 </dd>
2069 <dt>EV_USE_PORT</dt>
2070 <dd>
2071 <p>If defined to be <code>1</code>, libev will compile in support for the Solaris
207210 port style backend. Its availability will be detected at runtime,
2073otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the preferred
2074backend for Solaris 10 systems.</p>
2075 </dd>
2076 <dt>EV_USE_DEVPOLL</dt>
2077 <dd>
2078 <p>reserved for future expansion, works like the USE symbols above.</p>
2079 </dd>
2080 <dt>EV_USE_INOTIFY</dt>
2081 <dd>
2082 <p>If defined to be <code>1</code>, libev will compile in support for the Linux inotify
2083interface to speed up <code>ev_stat</code> watchers. Its actual availability will
2084be detected at runtime.</p>
2085 </dd>
2086 <dt>EV_H</dt>
2087 <dd>
2088 <p>The name of the <cite>ev.h</cite> header file used to include it. The default if
2089undefined 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
2090can be used to virtually rename the <cite>ev.h</cite> header file in case of conflicts.</p>
2091 </dd>
2092 <dt>EV_CONFIG_H</dt>
2093 <dd>
2094 <p>If <code>EV_STANDALONE</code> isn't <code>1</code>, this variable can be used to override
2095<cite>ev.c</cite>'s idea of where to find the <cite>config.h</cite> file, similarly to
2096<code>EV_H</code>, above.</p>
2097 </dd>
2098 <dt>EV_EVENT_H</dt>
2099 <dd>
2100 <p>Similarly to <code>EV_H</code>, this macro can be used to override <cite>event.c</cite>'s idea
2101of how the <cite>event.h</cite> header can be found.</p>
2102 </dd>
2103 <dt>EV_PROTOTYPES</dt>
2104 <dd>
2105 <p>If defined to be <code>0</code>, then <cite>ev.h</cite> will not define any function
2106prototypes, but still define all the structs and other symbols. This is
2107occasionally useful if you want to provide your own wrapper functions
2108around libev functions.</p>
2109 </dd>
2110 <dt>EV_MULTIPLICITY</dt>
2111 <dd>
2112 <p>If undefined or defined to <code>1</code>, then all event-loop-specific functions
2113will have the <code>struct ev_loop *</code> as first argument, and you can create
2114additional independent event loops. Otherwise there will be no support
2115for multiple event loops and there is no first event loop pointer
2116argument. Instead, all functions act on the single default loop.</p>
2117 </dd>
2118 <dt>EV_MINPRI</dt>
2119 <dt>EV_MAXPRI</dt>
2120 <dd>
2121 <p>The range of allowed priorities. <code>EV_MINPRI</code> must be smaller or equal to
2122<code>EV_MAXPRI</code>, but otherwise there are no non-obvious limitations. You can
2123provide for more priorities by overriding those symbols (usually defined
2124to be <code>-2</code> and <code>2</code>, respectively).</p>
2125 <p>When doing priority-based operations, libev usually has to linearly search
2126all the priorities, so having many of them (hundreds) uses a lot of space
2127and time, so using the defaults of five priorities (-2 .. +2) is usually
2128fine.</p>
2129 <p>If your embedding app does not need any priorities, defining these both to
2130<code>0</code> will save some memory and cpu.</p>
2131 </dd>
2132 <dt>EV_PERIODIC_ENABLE</dt>
2133 <dd>
2134 <p>If undefined or defined to be <code>1</code>, then periodic timers are supported. If
2135defined to be <code>0</code>, then they are not. Disabling them saves a few kB of
2136code.</p>
2137 </dd>
2138 <dt>EV_IDLE_ENABLE</dt>
2139 <dd>
2140 <p>If undefined or defined to be <code>1</code>, then idle watchers are supported. If
2141defined to be <code>0</code>, then they are not. Disabling them saves a few kB of
2142code.</p>
2143 </dd>
2144 <dt>EV_EMBED_ENABLE</dt>
2145 <dd>
2146 <p>If undefined or defined to be <code>1</code>, then embed watchers are supported. If
2147defined to be <code>0</code>, then they are not.</p>
2148 </dd>
2149 <dt>EV_STAT_ENABLE</dt>
2150 <dd>
2151 <p>If undefined or defined to be <code>1</code>, then stat watchers are supported. If
2152defined to be <code>0</code>, then they are not.</p>
2153 </dd>
2154 <dt>EV_FORK_ENABLE</dt>
2155 <dd>
2156 <p>If undefined or defined to be <code>1</code>, then fork watchers are supported. If
2157defined to be <code>0</code>, then they are not.</p>
2158 </dd>
2159 <dt>EV_MINIMAL</dt>
2160 <dd>
2161 <p>If you need to shave off some kilobytes of code at the expense of some
2162speed, define this symbol to <code>1</code>. Currently only used for gcc to override
2163some inlining decisions, saves roughly 30% codesize of amd64.</p>
2164 </dd>
2165 <dt>EV_PID_HASHSIZE</dt>
2166 <dd>
2167 <p><code>ev_child</code> watchers use a small hash table to distribute workload by
2168pid. The default size is <code>16</code> (or <code>1</code> with <code>EV_MINIMAL</code>), usually more
2169than enough. If you need to manage thousands of children you might want to
2170increase this value (<i>must</i> be a power of two).</p>
2171 </dd>
2172 <dt>EV_INOTIFY_HASHSIZE</dt>
2173 <dd>
2174 <p><code>ev_staz</code> watchers use a small hash table to distribute workload by
2175inotify watch id. The default size is <code>16</code> (or <code>1</code> with <code>EV_MINIMAL</code>),
2176usually more than enough. If you need to manage thousands of <code>ev_stat</code>
2177watchers you might want to increase this value (<i>must</i> be a power of
2178two).</p>
2179 </dd>
2180 <dt>EV_COMMON</dt>
2181 <dd>
2182 <p>By default, all watchers have a <code>void *data</code> member. By redefining
2183this macro to a something else you can include more and other types of
2184members. You have to define it each time you include one of the files,
2185though, and it must be identical each time.</p>
2186 <p>For example, the perl EV module uses something like this:</p>
2187<pre> #define EV_COMMON \
2188 SV *self; /* contains this struct */ \
2189 SV *cb_sv, *fh /* note no trailing &quot;;&quot; */
2190
2191</pre>
2192 </dd>
2193 <dt>EV_CB_DECLARE (type)</dt>
2194 <dt>EV_CB_INVOKE (watcher, revents)</dt>
2195 <dt>ev_set_cb (ev, cb)</dt>
2196 <dd>
2197 <p>Can be used to change the callback member declaration in each watcher,
2198and the way callbacks are invoked and set. Must expand to a struct member
2199definition and a statement, respectively. See the <cite>ev.v</cite> header file for
2200their default definitions. One possible use for overriding these is to
2201avoid the <code>struct ev_loop *</code> as first argument in all cases, or to use
2202method calls instead of plain function calls in C++.</p>
2203
2204</div>
2205<h2 id="EXAMPLES">EXAMPLES</h2>
2206<div id="EXAMPLES_CONTENT">
2207 <p>For a real-world example of a program the includes libev
2208verbatim, you can have a look at the EV perl module
2209(<a href="http://software.schmorp.de/pkg/EV.html">http://software.schmorp.de/pkg/EV.html</a>). It has the libev files in
2210the <cite>libev/</cite> subdirectory and includes them in the <cite>EV/EVAPI.h</cite> (public
2211interface) and <cite>EV.xs</cite> (implementation) files. Only the <cite>EV.xs</cite> file
2212will be compiled. It is pretty complex because it provides its own header
2213file.</p>
2214 <p>The usage in rxvt-unicode is simpler. It has a <cite>ev_cpp.h</cite> header file
2215that everybody includes and which overrides some configure choices:</p>
2216<pre> #define EV_MINIMAL 1
2217 #define EV_USE_POLL 0
2218 #define EV_MULTIPLICITY 0
2219 #define EV_PERIODIC_ENABLE 0
2220 #define EV_STAT_ENABLE 0
2221 #define EV_FORK_ENABLE 0
2222 #define EV_CONFIG_H &lt;config.h&gt;
2223 #define EV_MINPRI 0
2224 #define EV_MAXPRI 0
2225
2226 #include &quot;ev++.h&quot;
2227
2228</pre>
2229 <p>And a <cite>ev_cpp.C</cite> implementation file that contains libev proper and is compiled:</p>
2230<pre> #include &quot;ev_cpp.h&quot;
2231 #include &quot;ev.c&quot;
2232
2233
2234
2235
2236</pre>
2237
2238</div>
2239<h1 id="COMPLEXITIES">COMPLEXITIES</h1>
2240<div id="COMPLEXITIES_CONTENT">
2241 <p>In this section the complexities of (many of) the algorithms used inside
2242libev will be explained. For complexity discussions about backends see the
2243documentation for <code>ev_default_init</code>.</p>
2244 <p>
2245 <dl>
2246 <dt>Starting and stopping timer/periodic watchers: O(log skipped_other_timers)</dt>
2247 <dd>
2248 <p>This means that, when you have a watcher that triggers in one hour and
2249there are 100 watchers that would trigger before that then inserting will
2250have to skip those 100 watchers.</p>
2251 </dd>
2252 <dt>Changing timer/periodic watchers (by autorepeat, again): O(log skipped_other_timers)</dt>
2253 <dd>
2254 <p>That means that for changing a timer costs less than removing/adding them
2255as only the relative motion in the event queue has to be paid for.</p>
2256 </dd>
2257 <dt>Starting io/check/prepare/idle/signal/child watchers: O(1)</dt>
2258 <dd>
2259 <p>These just add the watcher into an array or at the head of a list. If
2260the array needs to be extended libev needs to realloc and move the whole
2261array, but this happen asymptotically less and less with more watchers,
2262thus amortised O(1).</p>
2263 </dd>
2264 <dt>Stopping check/prepare/idle watchers: O(1)</dt>
2265 <dt>Stopping an io/signal/child watcher: O(number_of_watchers_for_this_(fd/signal/pid % EV_PID_HASHSIZE))</dt>
2266 <dd>
2267 <p>These watchers are stored in lists then need to be walked to find the
2268correct watcher to remove. The lists are usually short (you don't usually
2269have many watchers waiting for the same fd or signal).</p>
2270 </dd>
2271 <dt>Finding the next timer per loop iteration: O(1)</dt>
2272 <dt>Each change on a file descriptor per loop iteration: O(number_of_watchers_for_this_fd)</dt>
2273 <dd>
2274 <p>A change means an I/O watcher gets started or stopped, which requires
2275libev to recalculate its status (and possibly tell the kernel).</p>
2276 </dd>
2277 <dt>Activating one watcher: O(1)</dt>
2278 <dt>Priority handling: O(number_of_priorities)</dt>
2279 <dd>
2280 <p>Priorities are implemented by allocating some space for each
2281priority. When doing priority-based operations, libev usually has to
2282linearly search all the priorities.</p>
2283 </dd>
2284 </dl>
2285 </p>
2286
2287
2288
2289
2290
2291</div>
2292<h1 id="AUTHOR">AUTHOR</h1>
719<div id="AUTHOR_CONTENT"> 2293<div id="AUTHOR_CONTENT">
720<p>Marc Lehmann &lt;libev@schmorp.de&gt;.</p> 2294 <p>Marc Lehmann &lt;libev@schmorp.de&gt;.</p>
721 2295
722</div> 2296</div>
723</div></body> 2297</div></body>
724</html> 2298</html>

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