ViewVC Help

View File | Revision Log | Show Annotations | Download File

/cvs/libev/ev.pod

Comparing libev/ev.pod (file contents):
Revision 1.36 by root, Sat Nov 24 07:14:26 2007 UTC vs.
Revision 1.130 by root, Wed Feb 6 18:34:24 2008 UTC

…		…
4		4
5	=head1 SYNOPSIS	5	=head1 SYNOPSIS
6		6
7	#include <ev.h>	7	#include <ev.h>
8		8
		9	=head2 EXAMPLE PROGRAM
		10
		11	#include <ev.h>
		12
		13	ev_io stdin_watcher;
		14	ev_timer timeout_watcher;
		15
		16	/* called when data readable on stdin */
		17	static void
		18	stdin_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_io *w, int revents)
		19	{
		20	/* puts ("stdin ready"); */
		21	ev_io_stop (EV_A_ w); /* just a syntax example */
		22	ev_unloop (EV_A_ EVUNLOOP_ALL); /* leave all loop calls */
		23	}
		24
		25	static void
		26	timeout_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_timer *w, int revents)
		27	{
		28	/* puts ("timeout"); */
		29	ev_unloop (EV_A_ EVUNLOOP_ONE); /* leave one loop call */
		30	}
		31
		32	int
		33	main (void)
		34	{
		35	struct ev_loop *loop = ev_default_loop (0);
		36
		37	/* initialise an io watcher, then start it */
		38	ev_io_init (&stdin_watcher, stdin_cb, /*STDIN_FILENO*/ 0, EV_READ);
		39	ev_io_start (loop, &stdin_watcher);
		40
		41	/* simple non-repeating 5.5 second timeout */
		42	ev_timer_init (&timeout_watcher, timeout_cb, 5.5, 0.);
		43	ev_timer_start (loop, &timeout_watcher);
		44
		45	/* loop till timeout or data ready */
		46	ev_loop (loop, 0);
		47
		48	return 0;
		49	}
		50
9	=head1 DESCRIPTION	51	=head1 DESCRIPTION
10		52
		53	The newest version of this document is also available as a html-formatted
		54	web page you might find easier to navigate when reading it for the first
		55	time: L<http://cvs.schmorp.de/libev/ev.html>.
		56
11	Libev is an event loop: you register interest in certain events (such as a	57	Libev is an event loop: you register interest in certain events (such as a
12	file descriptor being readable or a timeout occuring), and it will manage	58	file descriptor being readable or a timeout occurring), and it will manage
13	these event sources and provide your program with events.	59	these event sources and provide your program with events.
14		60
15	To do this, it must take more or less complete control over your process	61	To do this, it must take more or less complete control over your process
16	(or thread) by executing the I<event loop> handler, and will then	62	(or thread) by executing the I<event loop> handler, and will then
17	communicate events via a callback mechanism.	63	communicate events via a callback mechanism.
…		…
19	You register interest in certain events by registering so-called I<event	65	You register interest in certain events by registering so-called I<event
20	watchers>, which are relatively small C structures you initialise with the	66	watchers>, which are relatively small C structures you initialise with the
21	details of the event, and then hand it over to libev by I<starting> the	67	details of the event, and then hand it over to libev by I<starting> the
22	watcher.	68	watcher.
23		69
24	=head1 FEATURES	70	=head2 FEATURES
25		71
26	Libev supports select, poll, the linux-specific epoll and the bsd-specific	72	Libev supports C<select>, C<poll>, the Linux-specific C<epoll>, the
27	kqueue mechanisms for file descriptor events, relative timers, absolute	73	BSD-specific C<kqueue> and the Solaris-specific event port mechanisms
28	timers with customised rescheduling, signal events, process status change	74	for file descriptor events (C<ev_io>), the Linux C<inotify> interface
29	events (related to SIGCHLD), and event watchers dealing with the event	75	(for C<ev_stat>), relative timers (C<ev_timer>), absolute timers
30	loop mechanism itself (idle, prepare and check watchers). It also is quite	76	with customised rescheduling (C<ev_periodic>), synchronous signals
		77	(C<ev_signal>), process status change events (C<ev_child>), and event
		78	watchers dealing with the event loop mechanism itself (C<ev_idle>,
		79	C<ev_embed>, C<ev_prepare> and C<ev_check> watchers) as well as
		80	file watchers (C<ev_stat>) and even limited support for fork events
		81	(C<ev_fork>).
		82
		83	It also is quite fast (see this
31	fast (see this L<benchmark|http://libev.schmorp.de/bench.html> comparing	84	L<benchmark|http://libev.schmorp.de/bench.html> comparing it to libevent
32	it to libevent for example).	85	for example).
33		86
34	=head1 CONVENTIONS	87	=head2 CONVENTIONS
35		88
36	Libev is very configurable. In this manual the default configuration	89	Libev is very configurable. In this manual the default configuration will
37	will be described, which supports multiple event loops. For more info	90	be described, which supports multiple event loops. For more info about
38	about various configuration options please have a look at the file	91	various configuration options please have a look at B<EMBED> section in
39	F<README.embed> in the libev distribution. If libev was configured without	92	this manual. If libev was configured without support for multiple event
40	support for multiple event loops, then all functions taking an initial	93	loops, then all functions taking an initial argument of name C<loop>
41	argument of name C<loop> (which is always of type C<struct ev_loop *>)	94	(which is always of type C<struct ev_loop *>) will not have this argument.
42	will not have this argument.
43		95
44	=head1 TIME REPRESENTATION	96	=head2 TIME REPRESENTATION
45		97
46	Libev represents time as a single floating point number, representing the	98	Libev represents time as a single floating point number, representing the
47	(fractional) number of seconds since the (POSIX) epoch (somewhere near	99	(fractional) number of seconds since the (POSIX) epoch (somewhere near
48	the beginning of 1970, details are complicated, don't ask). This type is	100	the beginning of 1970, details are complicated, don't ask). This type is
49	called C<ev_tstamp>, which is what you should use too. It usually aliases	101	called C<ev_tstamp>, which is what you should use too. It usually aliases
50	to the C<double> type in C, and when you need to do any calculations on	102	to the C<double> type in C, and when you need to do any calculations on
51	it, you should treat it as such.	103	it, you should treat it as some floatingpoint value. Unlike the name
52		104	component C<stamp> might indicate, it is also used for time differences
		105	throughout libev.
53		106
54	=head1 GLOBAL FUNCTIONS	107	=head1 GLOBAL FUNCTIONS
55		108
56	These functions can be called anytime, even before initialising the	109	These functions can be called anytime, even before initialising the
57	library in any way.	110	library in any way.
…		…
62		115
63	Returns the current time as libev would use it. Please note that the	116	Returns the current time as libev would use it. Please note that the
64	C<ev_now> function is usually faster and also often returns the timestamp	117	C<ev_now> function is usually faster and also often returns the timestamp
65	you actually want to know.	118	you actually want to know.
66		119
		120	=item ev_sleep (ev_tstamp interval)
		121
		122	Sleep for the given interval: The current thread will be blocked until
		123	either it is interrupted or the given time interval has passed. Basically
		124	this is a subsecond-resolution C<sleep ()>.
		125
67	=item int ev_version_major ()	126	=item int ev_version_major ()
68		127
69	=item int ev_version_minor ()	128	=item int ev_version_minor ()
70		129
71	You can find out the major and minor version numbers of the library	130	You can find out the major and minor ABI version numbers of the library
72	you linked against by calling the functions C<ev_version_major> and	131	you linked against by calling the functions C<ev_version_major> and
73	C<ev_version_minor>. If you want, you can compare against the global	132	C<ev_version_minor>. If you want, you can compare against the global
74	symbols C<EV_VERSION_MAJOR> and C<EV_VERSION_MINOR>, which specify the	133	symbols C<EV_VERSION_MAJOR> and C<EV_VERSION_MINOR>, which specify the
75	version of the library your program was compiled against.	134	version of the library your program was compiled against.
76		135
		136	These version numbers refer to the ABI version of the library, not the
		137	release version.
		138
77	Usually, it's a good idea to terminate if the major versions mismatch,	139	Usually, it's a good idea to terminate if the major versions mismatch,
78	as this indicates an incompatible change. Minor versions are usually	140	as this indicates an incompatible change. Minor versions are usually
79	compatible to older versions, so a larger minor version alone is usually	141	compatible to older versions, so a larger minor version alone is usually
80	not a problem.	142	not a problem.
81		143
82	Example: make sure we haven't accidentally been linked against the wrong	144	Example: Make sure we haven't accidentally been linked against the wrong
83	version:	145	version.
84		146
85	assert (("libev version mismatch",	147	assert (("libev version mismatch",
86	ev_version_major () == EV_VERSION_MAJOR	148	ev_version_major () == EV_VERSION_MAJOR
87	&& ev_version_minor () >= EV_VERSION_MINOR));	149	&& ev_version_minor () >= EV_VERSION_MINOR));
88		150
…		…
118		180
119	See the description of C<ev_embed> watchers for more info.	181	See the description of C<ev_embed> watchers for more info.
120		182
121	=item ev_set_allocator (void *(*cb)(void *ptr, long size))	183	=item ev_set_allocator (void *(*cb)(void *ptr, long size))
122		184
123	Sets the allocation function to use (the prototype is similar to the	185	Sets the allocation function to use (the prototype is similar - the
124	realloc C function, the semantics are identical). It is used to allocate	186	semantics is identical - to the realloc C function). It is used to
125	and free memory (no surprises here). If it returns zero when memory	187	allocate and free memory (no surprises here). If it returns zero when
126	needs to be allocated, the library might abort or take some potentially	188	memory needs to be allocated, the library might abort or take some
127	destructive action. The default is your system realloc function.	189	potentially destructive action. The default is your system realloc
		190	function.
128		191
129	You could override this function in high-availability programs to, say,	192	You could override this function in high-availability programs to, say,
130	free some memory if it cannot allocate memory, to use a special allocator,	193	free some memory if it cannot allocate memory, to use a special allocator,
131	or even to sleep a while and retry until some memory is available.	194	or even to sleep a while and retry until some memory is available.
132		195
133	Example: replace the libev allocator with one that waits a bit and then	196	Example: Replace the libev allocator with one that waits a bit and then
134	retries: better than mine).	197	retries).
135		198
136	static void *	199	static void *
137	persistent_realloc (void *ptr, long size)	200	persistent_realloc (void *ptr, size_t size)
138	{	201	{
139	for (;;)	202	for (;;)
140	{	203	{
141	void *newptr = realloc (ptr, size);	204	void *newptr = realloc (ptr, size);
142		205
…		…
158	callback is set, then libev will expect it to remedy the sitution, no	221	callback is set, then libev will expect it to remedy the sitution, no
159	matter what, when it returns. That is, libev will generally retry the	222	matter what, when it returns. That is, libev will generally retry the
160	requested operation, or, if the condition doesn't go away, do bad stuff	223	requested operation, or, if the condition doesn't go away, do bad stuff
161	(such as abort).	224	(such as abort).
162		225
163	Example: do the same thing as libev does internally:	226	Example: This is basically the same thing that libev does internally, too.
164		227
165	static void	228	static void
166	fatal_error (const char *msg)	229	fatal_error (const char *msg)
167	{	230	{
168	perror (msg);	231	perror (msg);
…		…
197	flags. If that is troubling you, check C<ev_backend ()> afterwards).	260	flags. If that is troubling you, check C<ev_backend ()> afterwards).
198		261
199	If you don't know what event loop to use, use the one returned from this	262	If you don't know what event loop to use, use the one returned from this
200	function.	263	function.
201		264
		265	The default loop is the only loop that can handle C<ev_signal> and
		266	C<ev_child> watchers, and to do this, it always registers a handler
		267	for C<SIGCHLD>. If this is a problem for your app you can either
		268	create a dynamic loop with C<ev_loop_new> that doesn't do that, or you
		269	can simply overwrite the C<SIGCHLD> signal handler I<after> calling
		270	C<ev_default_init>.
		271
202	The flags argument can be used to specify special behaviour or specific	272	The flags argument can be used to specify special behaviour or specific
203	backends to use, and is usually specified as C<0> (or C<EVFLAG_AUTO>).	273	backends to use, and is usually specified as C<0> (or C<EVFLAG_AUTO>).
204		274
205	The following flags are supported:	275	The following flags are supported:
206		276
…		…
218	C<LIBEV_FLAGS>. Otherwise (the default), this environment variable will	288	C<LIBEV_FLAGS>. Otherwise (the default), this environment variable will
219	override the flags completely if it is found in the environment. This is	289	override the flags completely if it is found in the environment. This is
220	useful to try out specific backends to test their performance, or to work	290	useful to try out specific backends to test their performance, or to work
221	around bugs.	291	around bugs.
222		292
		293	=item C<EVFLAG_FORKCHECK>
		294
		295	Instead of calling C<ev_default_fork> or C<ev_loop_fork> manually after
		296	a fork, you can also make libev check for a fork in each iteration by
		297	enabling this flag.
		298
		299	This works by calling C<getpid ()> on every iteration of the loop,
		300	and thus this might slow down your event loop if you do a lot of loop
		301	iterations and little real work, but is usually not noticeable (on my
		302	Linux system for example, C<getpid> is actually a simple 5-insn sequence
		303	without a syscall and thus I<very> fast, but my Linux system also has
		304	C<pthread_atfork> which is even faster).
		305
		306	The big advantage of this flag is that you can forget about fork (and
		307	forget about forgetting to tell libev about forking) when you use this
		308	flag.
		309
		310	This flag setting cannot be overriden or specified in the C<LIBEV_FLAGS>
		311	environment variable.
		312
223	=item C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> (value 1, portable select backend)	313	=item C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> (value 1, portable select backend)
224		314
225	This is your standard select(2) backend. Not I<completely> standard, as	315	This is your standard select(2) backend. Not I<completely> standard, as
226	libev tries to roll its own fd_set with no limits on the number of fds,	316	libev tries to roll its own fd_set with no limits on the number of fds,
227	but if that fails, expect a fairly low limit on the number of fds when	317	but if that fails, expect a fairly low limit on the number of fds when
228	using this backend. It doesn't scale too well (O(highest_fd)), but its usually	318	using this backend. It doesn't scale too well (O(highest_fd)), but its
229	the fastest backend for a low number of fds.	319	usually the fastest backend for a low number of (low-numbered :) fds.
		320
		321	To get good performance out of this backend you need a high amount of
		322	parallelity (most of the file descriptors should be busy). If you are
		323	writing a server, you should C<accept ()> in a loop to accept as many
		324	connections as possible during one iteration. You might also want to have
		325	a look at C<ev_set_io_collect_interval ()> to increase the amount of
		326	readyness notifications you get per iteration.
230		327
231	=item C<EVBACKEND_POLL> (value 2, poll backend, available everywhere except on windows)	328	=item C<EVBACKEND_POLL> (value 2, poll backend, available everywhere except on windows)
232		329
233	And this is your standard poll(2) backend. It's more complicated than	330	And this is your standard poll(2) backend. It's more complicated
234	select, but handles sparse fds better and has no artificial limit on the	331	than select, but handles sparse fds better and has no artificial
235	number of fds you can use (except it will slow down considerably with a	332	limit on the number of fds you can use (except it will slow down
236	lot of inactive fds). It scales similarly to select, i.e. O(total_fds).	333	considerably with a lot of inactive fds). It scales similarly to select,
		334	i.e. O(total_fds). See the entry for C<EVBACKEND_SELECT>, above, for
		335	performance tips.
237		336
238	=item C<EVBACKEND_EPOLL> (value 4, Linux)	337	=item C<EVBACKEND_EPOLL> (value 4, Linux)
239		338
240	For few fds, this backend is a bit little slower than poll and select,	339	For few fds, this backend is a bit little slower than poll and select,
241	but it scales phenomenally better. While poll and select usually scale like	340	but it scales phenomenally better. While poll and select usually scale
242	O(total_fds) where n is the total number of fds (or the highest fd), epoll scales	341	like O(total_fds) where n is the total number of fds (or the highest fd),
243	either O(1) or O(active_fds).	342	epoll scales either O(1) or O(active_fds). The epoll design has a number
		343	of shortcomings, such as silently dropping events in some hard-to-detect
		344	cases and rewiring a syscall per fd change, no fork support and bad
		345	support for dup.
244		346
245	While stopping and starting an I/O watcher in the same iteration will	347	While stopping, setting and starting an I/O watcher in the same iteration
246	result in some caching, there is still a syscall per such incident	348	will result in some caching, there is still a syscall per such incident
247	(because the fd could point to a different file description now), so its	349	(because the fd could point to a different file description now), so its
248	best to avoid that. Also, dup()ed file descriptors might not work very	350	best to avoid that. Also, C<dup ()>'ed file descriptors might not work
249	well if you register events for both fds.	351	very well if you register events for both fds.
250		352
251	Please note that epoll sometimes generates spurious notifications, so you	353	Please note that epoll sometimes generates spurious notifications, so you
252	need to use non-blocking I/O or other means to avoid blocking when no data	354	need to use non-blocking I/O or other means to avoid blocking when no data
253	(or space) is available.	355	(or space) is available.
254		356
		357	Best performance from this backend is achieved by not unregistering all
		358	watchers for a file descriptor until it has been closed, if possible, i.e.
		359	keep at least one watcher active per fd at all times.
		360
		361	While nominally embeddeble in other event loops, this feature is broken in
		362	all kernel versions tested so far.
		363
255	=item C<EVBACKEND_KQUEUE> (value 8, most BSD clones)	364	=item C<EVBACKEND_KQUEUE> (value 8, most BSD clones)
256		365
257	Kqueue deserves special mention, as at the time of this writing, it	366	Kqueue deserves special mention, as at the time of this writing, it
258	was broken on all BSDs except NetBSD (usually it doesn't work with	367	was broken on all BSDs except NetBSD (usually it doesn't work reliably
259	anything but sockets and pipes, except on Darwin, where of course its	368	with anything but sockets and pipes, except on Darwin, where of course
260	completely useless). For this reason its not being "autodetected"	369	it's completely useless). For this reason it's not being "autodetected"
261	unless you explicitly specify it explicitly in the flags (i.e. using	370	unless you explicitly specify it explicitly in the flags (i.e. using
262	C<EVBACKEND_KQUEUE>).	371	C<EVBACKEND_KQUEUE>) or libev was compiled on a known-to-be-good (-enough)
		372	system like NetBSD.
		373
		374	You still can embed kqueue into a normal poll or select backend and use it
		375	only for sockets (after having made sure that sockets work with kqueue on
		376	the target platform). See C<ev_embed> watchers for more info.
263		377
264	It scales in the same way as the epoll backend, but the interface to the	378	It scales in the same way as the epoll backend, but the interface to the
265	kernel is more efficient (which says nothing about its actual speed, of	379	kernel is more efficient (which says nothing about its actual speed, of
266	course). While starting and stopping an I/O watcher does not cause an	380	course). While stopping, setting and starting an I/O watcher does never
267	extra syscall as with epoll, it still adds up to four event changes per	381	cause an extra syscall as with C<EVBACKEND_EPOLL>, it still adds up to
268	incident, so its best to avoid that.	382	two event changes per incident, support for C<fork ()> is very bad and it
		383	drops fds silently in similarly hard-to-detect cases.
		384
		385	This backend usually performs well under most conditions.
		386
		387	While nominally embeddable in other event loops, this doesn't work
		388	everywhere, so you might need to test for this. And since it is broken
		389	almost everywhere, you should only use it when you have a lot of sockets
		390	(for which it usually works), by embedding it into another event loop
		391	(e.g. C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> or C<EVBACKEND_POLL>) and using it only for
		392	sockets.
269		393
270	=item C<EVBACKEND_DEVPOLL> (value 16, Solaris 8)	394	=item C<EVBACKEND_DEVPOLL> (value 16, Solaris 8)
271		395
272	This is not implemented yet (and might never be).	396	This is not implemented yet (and might never be, unless you send me an
		397	implementation). According to reports, C</dev/poll> only supports sockets
		398	and is not embeddable, which would limit the usefulness of this backend
		399	immensely.
273		400
274	=item C<EVBACKEND_PORT> (value 32, Solaris 10)	401	=item C<EVBACKEND_PORT> (value 32, Solaris 10)
275		402
276	This uses the Solaris 10 port mechanism. As with everything on Solaris,	403	This uses the Solaris 10 event port mechanism. As with everything on Solaris,
277	it's really slow, but it still scales very well (O(active_fds)).	404	it's really slow, but it still scales very well (O(active_fds)).
278		405
279	Please note that solaris ports can result in a lot of spurious	406	Please note that solaris event ports can deliver a lot of spurious
280	notifications, so you need to use non-blocking I/O or other means to avoid	407	notifications, so you need to use non-blocking I/O or other means to avoid
281	blocking when no data (or space) is available.	408	blocking when no data (or space) is available.
		409
		410	While this backend scales well, it requires one system call per active
		411	file descriptor per loop iteration. For small and medium numbers of file
		412	descriptors a "slow" C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> or C<EVBACKEND_POLL> backend
		413	might perform better.
		414
		415	On the positive side, ignoring the spurious readyness notifications, this
		416	backend actually performed to specification in all tests and is fully
		417	embeddable, which is a rare feat among the OS-specific backends.
282		418
283	=item C<EVBACKEND_ALL>	419	=item C<EVBACKEND_ALL>
284		420
285	Try all backends (even potentially broken ones that wouldn't be tried	421	Try all backends (even potentially broken ones that wouldn't be tried
286	with C<EVFLAG_AUTO>). Since this is a mask, you can do stuff such as	422	with C<EVFLAG_AUTO>). Since this is a mask, you can do stuff such as
287	C<EVBACKEND_ALL & ~EVBACKEND_KQUEUE>.	423	C<EVBACKEND_ALL & ~EVBACKEND_KQUEUE>.
288		424
		425	It is definitely not recommended to use this flag.
		426
289	=back	427	=back
290		428
291	If one or more of these are ored into the flags value, then only these	429	If one or more of these are ored into the flags value, then only these
292	backends will be tried (in the reverse order as given here). If none are	430	backends will be tried (in the reverse order as listed here). If none are
293	specified, most compiled-in backend will be tried, usually in reverse	431	specified, all backends in C<ev_recommended_backends ()> will be tried.
294	order of their flag values :)
295		432
296	The most typical usage is like this:	433	The most typical usage is like this:
297		434
298	if (!ev_default_loop (0))	435	if (!ev_default_loop (0))
299	fatal ("could not initialise libev, bad $LIBEV_FLAGS in environment?");	436	fatal ("could not initialise libev, bad $LIBEV_FLAGS in environment?");
…		…
314	Similar to C<ev_default_loop>, but always creates a new event loop that is	451	Similar to C<ev_default_loop>, but always creates a new event loop that is
315	always distinct from the default loop. Unlike the default loop, it cannot	452	always distinct from the default loop. Unlike the default loop, it cannot
316	handle signal and child watchers, and attempts to do so will be greeted by	453	handle signal and child watchers, and attempts to do so will be greeted by
317	undefined behaviour (or a failed assertion if assertions are enabled).	454	undefined behaviour (or a failed assertion if assertions are enabled).
318		455
319	Example: try to create a event loop that uses epoll and nothing else.	456	Example: Try to create a event loop that uses epoll and nothing else.
320		457
321	struct ev_loop *epoller = ev_loop_new (EVBACKEND_EPOLL | EVFLAG_NOENV);	458	struct ev_loop *epoller = ev_loop_new (EVBACKEND_EPOLL | EVFLAG_NOENV);
322	if (!epoller)	459	if (!epoller)
323	fatal ("no epoll found here, maybe it hides under your chair");	460	fatal ("no epoll found here, maybe it hides under your chair");
324		461
325	=item ev_default_destroy ()	462	=item ev_default_destroy ()
326		463
327	Destroys the default loop again (frees all memory and kernel state	464	Destroys the default loop again (frees all memory and kernel state
328	etc.). This stops all registered event watchers (by not touching them in	465	etc.). None of the active event watchers will be stopped in the normal
329	any way whatsoever, although you cannot rely on this :).	466	sense, so e.g. C<ev_is_active> might still return true. It is your
		467	responsibility to either stop all watchers cleanly yoursef I<before>
		468	calling this function, or cope with the fact afterwards (which is usually
		469	the easiest thing, you can just ignore the watchers and/or C<free ()> them
		470	for example).
		471
		472	Note that certain global state, such as signal state, will not be freed by
		473	this function, and related watchers (such as signal and child watchers)
		474	would need to be stopped manually.
		475
		476	In general it is not advisable to call this function except in the
		477	rare occasion where you really need to free e.g. the signal handling
		478	pipe fds. If you need dynamically allocated loops it is better to use
		479	C<ev_loop_new> and C<ev_loop_destroy>).
330		480
331	=item ev_loop_destroy (loop)	481	=item ev_loop_destroy (loop)
332		482
333	Like C<ev_default_destroy>, but destroys an event loop created by an	483	Like C<ev_default_destroy>, but destroys an event loop created by an
334	earlier call to C<ev_loop_new>.	484	earlier call to C<ev_loop_new>.
335		485
336	=item ev_default_fork ()	486	=item ev_default_fork ()
337		487
		488	This function sets a flag that causes subsequent C<ev_loop> iterations
338	This function reinitialises the kernel state for backends that have	489	to reinitialise the kernel state for backends that have one. Despite the
339	one. Despite the name, you can call it anytime, but it makes most sense	490	name, you can call it anytime, but it makes most sense after forking, in
340	after forking, in either the parent or child process (or both, but that	491	the child process (or both child and parent, but that again makes little
341	again makes little sense).	492	sense). You I<must> call it in the child before using any of the libev
		493	functions, and it will only take effect at the next C<ev_loop> iteration.
342		494
343	You I<must> call this function in the child process after forking if and	495	On the other hand, you only need to call this function in the child
344	only if you want to use the event library in both processes. If you just	496	process if and only if you want to use the event library in the child. If
345	fork+exec, you don't have to call it.	497	you just fork+exec, you don't have to call it at all.
346		498
347	The function itself is quite fast and it's usually not a problem to call	499	The function itself is quite fast and it's usually not a problem to call
348	it just in case after a fork. To make this easy, the function will fit in	500	it just in case after a fork. To make this easy, the function will fit in
349	quite nicely into a call to C<pthread_atfork>:	501	quite nicely into a call to C<pthread_atfork>:
350		502
351	pthread_atfork (0, 0, ev_default_fork);	503	pthread_atfork (0, 0, ev_default_fork);
352		504
353	At the moment, C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> and C<EVBACKEND_POLL> are safe to use
354	without calling this function, so if you force one of those backends you
355	do not need to care.
356
357	=item ev_loop_fork (loop)	505	=item ev_loop_fork (loop)
358		506
359	Like C<ev_default_fork>, but acts on an event loop created by	507	Like C<ev_default_fork>, but acts on an event loop created by
360	C<ev_loop_new>. Yes, you have to call this on every allocated event loop	508	C<ev_loop_new>. Yes, you have to call this on every allocated event loop
361	after fork, and how you do this is entirely your own problem.	509	after fork, and how you do this is entirely your own problem.
		510
		511	=item unsigned int ev_loop_count (loop)
		512
		513	Returns the count of loop iterations for the loop, which is identical to
		514	the number of times libev did poll for new events. It starts at C<0> and
		515	happily wraps around with enough iterations.
		516
		517	This value can sometimes be useful as a generation counter of sorts (it
		518	"ticks" the number of loop iterations), as it roughly corresponds with
		519	C<ev_prepare> and C<ev_check> calls.
362		520
363	=item unsigned int ev_backend (loop)	521	=item unsigned int ev_backend (loop)
364		522
365	Returns one of the C<EVBACKEND_*> flags indicating the event backend in	523	Returns one of the C<EVBACKEND_*> flags indicating the event backend in
366	use.	524	use.
…		…
369		527
370	Returns the current "event loop time", which is the time the event loop	528	Returns the current "event loop time", which is the time the event loop
371	received events and started processing them. This timestamp does not	529	received events and started processing them. This timestamp does not
372	change as long as callbacks are being processed, and this is also the base	530	change as long as callbacks are being processed, and this is also the base
373	time used for relative timers. You can treat it as the timestamp of the	531	time used for relative timers. You can treat it as the timestamp of the
374	event occuring (or more correctly, libev finding out about it).	532	event occurring (or more correctly, libev finding out about it).
375		533
376	=item ev_loop (loop, int flags)	534	=item ev_loop (loop, int flags)
377		535
378	Finally, this is it, the event handler. This function usually is called	536	Finally, this is it, the event handler. This function usually is called
379	after you initialised all your watchers and you want to start handling	537	after you initialised all your watchers and you want to start handling
…		…
400	libev watchers. However, a pair of C<ev_prepare>/C<ev_check> watchers is	558	libev watchers. However, a pair of C<ev_prepare>/C<ev_check> watchers is
401	usually a better approach for this kind of thing.	559	usually a better approach for this kind of thing.
402		560
403	Here are the gory details of what C<ev_loop> does:	561	Here are the gory details of what C<ev_loop> does:
404		562
405	* If there are no active watchers (reference count is zero), return.	563	- Before the first iteration, call any pending watchers.
406	- Queue prepare watchers and then call all outstanding watchers.	564	* If EVFLAG_FORKCHECK was used, check for a fork.
		565	- If a fork was detected, queue and call all fork watchers.
		566	- Queue and call all prepare watchers.
407	- If we have been forked, recreate the kernel state.	567	- If we have been forked, recreate the kernel state.
408	- Update the kernel state with all outstanding changes.	568	- Update the kernel state with all outstanding changes.
409	- Update the "event loop time".	569	- Update the "event loop time".
410	- Calculate for how long to block.	570	- Calculate for how long to sleep or block, if at all
		571	(active idle watchers, EVLOOP_NONBLOCK or not having
		572	any active watchers at all will result in not sleeping).
		573	- Sleep if the I/O and timer collect interval say so.
411	- Block the process, waiting for any events.	574	- Block the process, waiting for any events.
412	- Queue all outstanding I/O (fd) events.	575	- Queue all outstanding I/O (fd) events.
413	- Update the "event loop time" and do time jump handling.	576	- Update the "event loop time" and do time jump handling.
414	- Queue all outstanding timers.	577	- Queue all outstanding timers.
415	- Queue all outstanding periodics.	578	- Queue all outstanding periodics.
416	- If no events are pending now, queue all idle watchers.	579	- If no events are pending now, queue all idle watchers.
417	- Queue all check watchers.	580	- Queue all check watchers.
418	- Call all queued watchers in reverse order (i.e. check watchers first).	581	- Call all queued watchers in reverse order (i.e. check watchers first).
419	Signals and child watchers are implemented as I/O watchers, and will	582	Signals and child watchers are implemented as I/O watchers, and will
420	be handled here by queueing them when their watcher gets executed.	583	be handled here by queueing them when their watcher gets executed.
421	- If ev_unloop has been called or EVLOOP_ONESHOT or EVLOOP_NONBLOCK	584	- If ev_unloop has been called, or EVLOOP_ONESHOT or EVLOOP_NONBLOCK
422	were used, return, otherwise continue with step *.	585	were used, or there are no active watchers, return, otherwise
		586	continue with step *.
423		587
424	Example: queue some jobs and then loop until no events are outsanding	588	Example: Queue some jobs and then loop until no events are outstanding
425	anymore.	589	anymore.
426		590
427	... queue jobs here, make sure they register event watchers as long	591	... queue jobs here, make sure they register event watchers as long
428	... as they still have work to do (even an idle watcher will do..)	592	... as they still have work to do (even an idle watcher will do..)
429	ev_loop (my_loop, 0);	593	ev_loop (my_loop, 0);
…		…
433		597
434	Can be used to make a call to C<ev_loop> return early (but only after it	598	Can be used to make a call to C<ev_loop> return early (but only after it
435	has processed all outstanding events). The C<how> argument must be either	599	has processed all outstanding events). The C<how> argument must be either
436	C<EVUNLOOP_ONE>, which will make the innermost C<ev_loop> call return, or	600	C<EVUNLOOP_ONE>, which will make the innermost C<ev_loop> call return, or
437	C<EVUNLOOP_ALL>, which will make all nested C<ev_loop> calls return.	601	C<EVUNLOOP_ALL>, which will make all nested C<ev_loop> calls return.
		602
		603	This "unloop state" will be cleared when entering C<ev_loop> again.
438		604
439	=item ev_ref (loop)	605	=item ev_ref (loop)
440		606
441	=item ev_unref (loop)	607	=item ev_unref (loop)
442		608
…		…
447	returning, ev_unref() after starting, and ev_ref() before stopping it. For	613	returning, ev_unref() after starting, and ev_ref() before stopping it. For
448	example, libev itself uses this for its internal signal pipe: It is not	614	example, libev itself uses this for its internal signal pipe: It is not
449	visible to the libev user and should not keep C<ev_loop> from exiting if	615	visible to the libev user and should not keep C<ev_loop> from exiting if
450	no event watchers registered by it are active. It is also an excellent	616	no event watchers registered by it are active. It is also an excellent
451	way to do this for generic recurring timers or from within third-party	617	way to do this for generic recurring timers or from within third-party
452	libraries. Just remember to I<unref after start> and I<ref before stop>.	618	libraries. Just remember to I<unref after start> and I<ref before stop>
		619	(but only if the watcher wasn't active before, or was active before,
		620	respectively).
453		621
454	Example: create a signal watcher, but keep it from keeping C<ev_loop>	622	Example: Create a signal watcher, but keep it from keeping C<ev_loop>
455	running when nothing else is active.	623	running when nothing else is active.
456		624
457	struct dv_signal exitsig;	625	struct ev_signal exitsig;
458	ev_signal_init (&exitsig, sig_cb, SIGINT);	626	ev_signal_init (&exitsig, sig_cb, SIGINT);
459	ev_signal_start (myloop, &exitsig);	627	ev_signal_start (loop, &exitsig);
460	evf_unref (myloop);	628	evf_unref (loop);
461		629
462	Example: for some weird reason, unregister the above signal handler again.	630	Example: For some weird reason, unregister the above signal handler again.
463		631
464	ev_ref (myloop);	632	ev_ref (loop);
465	ev_signal_stop (myloop, &exitsig);	633	ev_signal_stop (loop, &exitsig);
		634
		635	=item ev_set_io_collect_interval (loop, ev_tstamp interval)
		636
		637	=item ev_set_timeout_collect_interval (loop, ev_tstamp interval)
		638
		639	These advanced functions influence the time that libev will spend waiting
		640	for events. Both are by default C<0>, meaning that libev will try to
		641	invoke timer/periodic callbacks and I/O callbacks with minimum latency.
		642
		643	Setting these to a higher value (the C<interval> I<must> be >= C<0>)
		644	allows libev to delay invocation of I/O and timer/periodic callbacks to
		645	increase efficiency of loop iterations.
		646
		647	The background is that sometimes your program runs just fast enough to
		648	handle one (or very few) event(s) per loop iteration. While this makes
		649	the program responsive, it also wastes a lot of CPU time to poll for new
		650	events, especially with backends like C<select ()> which have a high
		651	overhead for the actual polling but can deliver many events at once.
		652
		653	By setting a higher I<io collect interval> you allow libev to spend more
		654	time collecting I/O events, so you can handle more events per iteration,
		655	at the cost of increasing latency. Timeouts (both C<ev_periodic> and
		656	C<ev_timer>) will be not affected. Setting this to a non-null value will
		657	introduce an additional C<ev_sleep ()> call into most loop iterations.
		658
		659	Likewise, by setting a higher I<timeout collect interval> you allow libev
		660	to spend more time collecting timeouts, at the expense of increased
		661	latency (the watcher callback will be called later). C<ev_io> watchers
		662	will not be affected. Setting this to a non-null value will not introduce
		663	any overhead in libev.
		664
		665	Many (busy) programs can usually benefit by setting the io collect
		666	interval to a value near C<0.1> or so, which is often enough for
		667	interactive servers (of course not for games), likewise for timeouts. It
		668	usually doesn't make much sense to set it to a lower value than C<0.01>,
		669	as this approsaches the timing granularity of most systems.
466		670
467	=back	671	=back
		672
468		673
469	=head1 ANATOMY OF A WATCHER	674	=head1 ANATOMY OF A WATCHER
470		675
471	A watcher is a structure that you create and register to record your	676	A watcher is a structure that you create and register to record your
472	interest in some event. For instance, if you want to wait for STDIN to	677	interest in some event. For instance, if you want to wait for STDIN to
…		…
539	The signal specified in the C<ev_signal> watcher has been received by a thread.	744	The signal specified in the C<ev_signal> watcher has been received by a thread.
540		745
541	=item C<EV_CHILD>	746	=item C<EV_CHILD>
542		747
543	The pid specified in the C<ev_child> watcher has received a status change.	748	The pid specified in the C<ev_child> watcher has received a status change.
		749
		750	=item C<EV_STAT>
		751
		752	The path specified in the C<ev_stat> watcher changed its attributes somehow.
544		753
545	=item C<EV_IDLE>	754	=item C<EV_IDLE>
546		755
547	The C<ev_idle> watcher has determined that you have nothing better to do.	756	The C<ev_idle> watcher has determined that you have nothing better to do.
548		757
…		…
556	received events. Callbacks of both watcher types can start and stop as	765	received events. Callbacks of both watcher types can start and stop as
557	many watchers as they want, and all of them will be taken into account	766	many watchers as they want, and all of them will be taken into account
558	(for example, a C<ev_prepare> watcher might start an idle watcher to keep	767	(for example, a C<ev_prepare> watcher might start an idle watcher to keep
559	C<ev_loop> from blocking).	768	C<ev_loop> from blocking).
560		769
		770	=item C<EV_EMBED>
		771
		772	The embedded event loop specified in the C<ev_embed> watcher needs attention.
		773
		774	=item C<EV_FORK>
		775
		776	The event loop has been resumed in the child process after fork (see
		777	C<ev_fork>).
		778
		779	=item C<EV_ASYNC>
		780
		781	The given async watcher has been asynchronously notified (see C<ev_async>).
		782
561	=item C<EV_ERROR>	783	=item C<EV_ERROR>
562		784
563	An unspecified error has occured, the watcher has been stopped. This might	785	An unspecified error has occured, the watcher has been stopped. This might
564	happen because the watcher could not be properly started because libev	786	happen because the watcher could not be properly started because libev
565	ran out of memory, a file descriptor was found to be closed or any other	787	ran out of memory, a file descriptor was found to be closed or any other
…		…
572	with the error from read() or write(). This will not work in multithreaded	794	with the error from read() or write(). This will not work in multithreaded
573	programs, though, so beware.	795	programs, though, so beware.
574		796
575	=back	797	=back
576		798
577	=head2 SUMMARY OF GENERIC WATCHER FUNCTIONS	799	=head2 GENERIC WATCHER FUNCTIONS
578		800
579	In the following description, C<TYPE> stands for the watcher type,	801	In the following description, C<TYPE> stands for the watcher type,
580	e.g. C<timer> for C<ev_timer> watchers and C<io> for C<ev_io> watchers.	802	e.g. C<timer> for C<ev_timer> watchers and C<io> for C<ev_io> watchers.
581		803
582	=over 4	804	=over 4
…		…
591	which rolls both calls into one.	813	which rolls both calls into one.
592		814
593	You can reinitialise a watcher at any time as long as it has been stopped	815	You can reinitialise a watcher at any time as long as it has been stopped
594	(or never started) and there are no pending events outstanding.	816	(or never started) and there are no pending events outstanding.
595		817
596	The callbakc is always of type C<void (*)(ev_loop *loop, ev_TYPE *watcher,	818	The callback is always of type C<void (*)(ev_loop *loop, ev_TYPE *watcher,
597	int revents)>.	819	int revents)>.
598		820
599	=item C<ev_TYPE_set> (ev_TYPE *, [args])	821	=item C<ev_TYPE_set> (ev_TYPE *, [args])
600		822
601	This macro initialises the type-specific parts of a watcher. You need to	823	This macro initialises the type-specific parts of a watcher. You need to
…		…
636	=item bool ev_is_pending (ev_TYPE *watcher)	858	=item bool ev_is_pending (ev_TYPE *watcher)
637		859
638	Returns a true value iff the watcher is pending, (i.e. it has outstanding	860	Returns a true value iff the watcher is pending, (i.e. it has outstanding
639	events but its callback has not yet been invoked). As long as a watcher	861	events but its callback has not yet been invoked). As long as a watcher
640	is pending (but not active) you must not call an init function on it (but	862	is pending (but not active) you must not call an init function on it (but
641	C<ev_TYPE_set> is safe) and you must make sure the watcher is available to	863	C<ev_TYPE_set> is safe), you must not change its priority, and you must
642	libev (e.g. you cnanot C<free ()> it).	864	make sure the watcher is available to libev (e.g. you cannot C<free ()>
		865	it).
643		866
644	=item callback = ev_cb (ev_TYPE *watcher)	867	=item callback ev_cb (ev_TYPE *watcher)
645		868
646	Returns the callback currently set on the watcher.	869	Returns the callback currently set on the watcher.
647		870
648	=item ev_cb_set (ev_TYPE *watcher, callback)	871	=item ev_cb_set (ev_TYPE *watcher, callback)
649		872
650	Change the callback. You can change the callback at virtually any time	873	Change the callback. You can change the callback at virtually any time
651	(modulo threads).	874	(modulo threads).
		875
		876	=item ev_set_priority (ev_TYPE *watcher, priority)
		877
		878	=item int ev_priority (ev_TYPE *watcher)
		879
		880	Set and query the priority of the watcher. The priority is a small
		881	integer between C<EV_MAXPRI> (default: C<2>) and C<EV_MINPRI>
		882	(default: C<-2>). Pending watchers with higher priority will be invoked
		883	before watchers with lower priority, but priority will not keep watchers
		884	from being executed (except for C<ev_idle> watchers).
		885
		886	This means that priorities are I<only> used for ordering callback
		887	invocation after new events have been received. This is useful, for
		888	example, to reduce latency after idling, or more often, to bind two
		889	watchers on the same event and make sure one is called first.
		890
		891	If you need to suppress invocation when higher priority events are pending
		892	you need to look at C<ev_idle> watchers, which provide this functionality.
		893
		894	You I<must not> change the priority of a watcher as long as it is active or
		895	pending.
		896
		897	The default priority used by watchers when no priority has been set is
		898	always C<0>, which is supposed to not be too high and not be too low :).
		899
		900	Setting a priority outside the range of C<EV_MINPRI> to C<EV_MAXPRI> is
		901	fine, as long as you do not mind that the priority value you query might
		902	or might not have been adjusted to be within valid range.
		903
		904	=item ev_invoke (loop, ev_TYPE *watcher, int revents)
		905
		906	Invoke the C<watcher> with the given C<loop> and C<revents>. Neither
		907	C<loop> nor C<revents> need to be valid as long as the watcher callback
		908	can deal with that fact.
		909
		910	=item int ev_clear_pending (loop, ev_TYPE *watcher)
		911
		912	If the watcher is pending, this function returns clears its pending status
		913	and returns its C<revents> bitset (as if its callback was invoked). If the
		914	watcher isn't pending it does nothing and returns C<0>.
652		915
653	=back	916	=back
654		917
655		918
656	=head2 ASSOCIATING CUSTOM DATA WITH A WATCHER	919	=head2 ASSOCIATING CUSTOM DATA WITH A WATCHER
…		…
677	{	940	{
678	struct my_io *w = (struct my_io *)w_;	941	struct my_io *w = (struct my_io *)w_;
679	...	942	...
680	}	943	}
681		944
682	More interesting and less C-conformant ways of catsing your callback type	945	More interesting and less C-conformant ways of casting your callback type
683	have been omitted....	946	instead have been omitted.
		947
		948	Another common scenario is having some data structure with multiple
		949	watchers:
		950
		951	struct my_biggy
		952	{
		953	int some_data;
		954	ev_timer t1;
		955	ev_timer t2;
		956	}
		957
		958	In this case getting the pointer to C<my_biggy> is a bit more complicated,
		959	you need to use C<offsetof>:
		960
		961	#include <stddef.h>
		962
		963	static void
		964	t1_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_timer *w, int revents)
		965	{
		966	struct my_biggy big = (struct my_biggy *
		967	(((char *)w) - offsetof (struct my_biggy, t1));
		968	}
		969
		970	static void
		971	t2_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_timer *w, int revents)
		972	{
		973	struct my_biggy big = (struct my_biggy *
		974	(((char *)w) - offsetof (struct my_biggy, t2));
		975	}
684		976
685		977
686	=head1 WATCHER TYPES	978	=head1 WATCHER TYPES
687		979
688	This section describes each watcher in detail, but will not repeat	980	This section describes each watcher in detail, but will not repeat
689	information given in the last section.	981	information given in the last section. Any initialisation/set macros,
		982	functions and members specific to the watcher type are explained.
690		983
		984	Members are additionally marked with either I<[read-only]>, meaning that,
		985	while the watcher is active, you can look at the member and expect some
		986	sensible content, but you must not modify it (you can modify it while the
		987	watcher is stopped to your hearts content), or I<[read-write]>, which
		988	means you can expect it to have some sensible content while the watcher
		989	is active, but you can also modify it. Modifying it may not do something
		990	sensible or take immediate effect (or do anything at all), but libev will
		991	not crash or malfunction in any way.
691		992
		993
692	=head2 C<ev_io> - is this file descriptor readable or writable	994	=head2 C<ev_io> - is this file descriptor readable or writable?
693		995
694	I/O watchers check whether a file descriptor is readable or writable	996	I/O watchers check whether a file descriptor is readable or writable
695	in each iteration of the event loop (This behaviour is called	997	in each iteration of the event loop, or, more precisely, when reading
696	level-triggering because you keep receiving events as long as the	998	would not block the process and writing would at least be able to write
697	condition persists. Remember you can stop the watcher if you don't want to	999	some data. This behaviour is called level-triggering because you keep
698	act on the event and neither want to receive future events).	1000	receiving events as long as the condition persists. Remember you can stop
		1001	the watcher if you don't want to act on the event and neither want to
		1002	receive future events.
699		1003
700	In general you can register as many read and/or write event watchers per	1004	In general you can register as many read and/or write event watchers per
701	fd as you want (as long as you don't confuse yourself). Setting all file	1005	fd as you want (as long as you don't confuse yourself). Setting all file
702	descriptors to non-blocking mode is also usually a good idea (but not	1006	descriptors to non-blocking mode is also usually a good idea (but not
703	required if you know what you are doing).	1007	required if you know what you are doing).
704		1008
705	You have to be careful with dup'ed file descriptors, though. Some backends
706	(the linux epoll backend is a notable example) cannot handle dup'ed file
707	descriptors correctly if you register interest in two or more fds pointing
708	to the same underlying file/socket etc. description (that is, they share
709	the same underlying "file open").
710
711	If you must do this, then force the use of a known-to-be-good backend	1009	If you must do this, then force the use of a known-to-be-good backend
712	(at the time of this writing, this includes only C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> and	1010	(at the time of this writing, this includes only C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> and
713	C<EVBACKEND_POLL>).	1011	C<EVBACKEND_POLL>).
714		1012
		1013	Another thing you have to watch out for is that it is quite easy to
		1014	receive "spurious" readyness notifications, that is your callback might
		1015	be called with C<EV_READ> but a subsequent C<read>(2) will actually block
		1016	because there is no data. Not only are some backends known to create a
		1017	lot of those (for example solaris ports), it is very easy to get into
		1018	this situation even with a relatively standard program structure. Thus
		1019	it is best to always use non-blocking I/O: An extra C<read>(2) returning
		1020	C<EAGAIN> is far preferable to a program hanging until some data arrives.
		1021
		1022	If you cannot run the fd in non-blocking mode (for example you should not
		1023	play around with an Xlib connection), then you have to seperately re-test
		1024	whether a file descriptor is really ready with a known-to-be good interface
		1025	such as poll (fortunately in our Xlib example, Xlib already does this on
		1026	its own, so its quite safe to use).
		1027
		1028	=head3 The special problem of disappearing file descriptors
		1029
		1030	Some backends (e.g. kqueue, epoll) need to be told about closing a file
		1031	descriptor (either by calling C<close> explicitly or by any other means,
		1032	such as C<dup>). The reason is that you register interest in some file
		1033	descriptor, but when it goes away, the operating system will silently drop
		1034	this interest. If another file descriptor with the same number then is
		1035	registered with libev, there is no efficient way to see that this is, in
		1036	fact, a different file descriptor.
		1037
		1038	To avoid having to explicitly tell libev about such cases, libev follows
		1039	the following policy: Each time C<ev_io_set> is being called, libev
		1040	will assume that this is potentially a new file descriptor, otherwise
		1041	it is assumed that the file descriptor stays the same. That means that
		1042	you I<have> to call C<ev_io_set> (or C<ev_io_init>) when you change the
		1043	descriptor even if the file descriptor number itself did not change.
		1044
		1045	This is how one would do it normally anyway, the important point is that
		1046	the libev application should not optimise around libev but should leave
		1047	optimisations to libev.
		1048
		1049	=head3 The special problem of dup'ed file descriptors
		1050
		1051	Some backends (e.g. epoll), cannot register events for file descriptors,
		1052	but only events for the underlying file descriptions. That means when you
		1053	have C<dup ()>'ed file descriptors or weirder constellations, and register
		1054	events for them, only one file descriptor might actually receive events.
		1055
		1056	There is no workaround possible except not registering events
		1057	for potentially C<dup ()>'ed file descriptors, or to resort to
		1058	C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> or C<EVBACKEND_POLL>.
		1059
		1060	=head3 The special problem of fork
		1061
		1062	Some backends (epoll, kqueue) do not support C<fork ()> at all or exhibit
		1063	useless behaviour. Libev fully supports fork, but needs to be told about
		1064	it in the child.
		1065
		1066	To support fork in your programs, you either have to call
		1067	C<ev_default_fork ()> or C<ev_loop_fork ()> after a fork in the child,
		1068	enable C<EVFLAG_FORKCHECK>, or resort to C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> or
		1069	C<EVBACKEND_POLL>.
		1070
		1071
		1072	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions
		1073
715	=over 4	1074	=over 4
716		1075
717	=item ev_io_init (ev_io *, callback, int fd, int events)	1076	=item ev_io_init (ev_io *, callback, int fd, int events)
718		1077
719	=item ev_io_set (ev_io *, int fd, int events)	1078	=item ev_io_set (ev_io *, int fd, int events)
720		1079
721	Configures an C<ev_io> watcher. The fd is the file descriptor to rceeive	1080	Configures an C<ev_io> watcher. The C<fd> is the file descriptor to
722	events for and events is either C<EV_READ>, C<EV_WRITE> or C<EV_READ |	1081	rceeive events for and events is either C<EV_READ>, C<EV_WRITE> or
723	EV_WRITE> to receive the given events.	1082	C<EV_READ | EV_WRITE> to receive the given events.
724		1083
725	Please note that most of the more scalable backend mechanisms (for example	1084	=item int fd [read-only]
726	epoll and solaris ports) can result in spurious readyness notifications	1085
727	for file descriptors, so you practically need to use non-blocking I/O (and	1086	The file descriptor being watched.
728	treat callback invocation as hint only), or retest separately with a safe	1087
729	interface before doing I/O (XLib can do this), or force the use of either	1088	=item int events [read-only]
730	C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> or C<EVBACKEND_POLL>, which don't suffer from this	1089
731	problem. Also note that it is quite easy to have your callback invoked	1090	The events being watched.
732	when the readyness condition is no longer valid even when employing
733	typical ways of handling events, so its a good idea to use non-blocking
734	I/O unconditionally.
735		1091
736	=back	1092	=back
737		1093
		1094	=head3 Examples
		1095
738	Example: call C<stdin_readable_cb> when STDIN_FILENO has become, well	1096	Example: Call C<stdin_readable_cb> when STDIN_FILENO has become, well
739	readable, but only once. Since it is likely line-buffered, you could	1097	readable, but only once. Since it is likely line-buffered, you could
740	attempt to read a whole line in the callback:	1098	attempt to read a whole line in the callback.
741		1099
742	static void	1100	static void
743	stdin_readable_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w, int revents)	1101	stdin_readable_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w, int revents)
744	{	1102	{
745	ev_io_stop (loop, w);	1103	ev_io_stop (loop, w);
…		…
752	ev_io_init (&stdin_readable, stdin_readable_cb, STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ);	1110	ev_io_init (&stdin_readable, stdin_readable_cb, STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ);
753	ev_io_start (loop, &stdin_readable);	1111	ev_io_start (loop, &stdin_readable);
754	ev_loop (loop, 0);	1112	ev_loop (loop, 0);
755		1113
756		1114
757	=head2 C<ev_timer> - relative and optionally recurring timeouts	1115	=head2 C<ev_timer> - relative and optionally repeating timeouts
758		1116
759	Timer watchers are simple relative timers that generate an event after a	1117	Timer watchers are simple relative timers that generate an event after a
760	given time, and optionally repeating in regular intervals after that.	1118	given time, and optionally repeating in regular intervals after that.
761		1119
762	The timers are based on real time, that is, if you register an event that	1120	The timers are based on real time, that is, if you register an event that
…		…
775		1133
776	The callback is guarenteed to be invoked only when its timeout has passed,	1134	The callback is guarenteed to be invoked only when its timeout has passed,
777	but if multiple timers become ready during the same loop iteration then	1135	but if multiple timers become ready during the same loop iteration then
778	order of execution is undefined.	1136	order of execution is undefined.
779		1137
		1138	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
		1139
780	=over 4	1140	=over 4
781		1141
782	=item ev_timer_init (ev_timer *, callback, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)	1142	=item ev_timer_init (ev_timer *, callback, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)
783		1143
784	=item ev_timer_set (ev_timer *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)	1144	=item ev_timer_set (ev_timer *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)
…		…
797	=item ev_timer_again (loop)	1157	=item ev_timer_again (loop)
798		1158
799	This will act as if the timer timed out and restart it again if it is	1159	This will act as if the timer timed out and restart it again if it is
800	repeating. The exact semantics are:	1160	repeating. The exact semantics are:
801		1161
		1162	If the timer is pending, its pending status is cleared.
		1163
802	If the timer is started but nonrepeating, stop it.	1164	If the timer is started but nonrepeating, stop it (as if it timed out).
803		1165
804	If the timer is repeating, either start it if necessary (with the repeat	1166	If the timer is repeating, either start it if necessary (with the
805	value), or reset the running timer to the repeat value.	1167	C<repeat> value), or reset the running timer to the C<repeat> value.
806		1168
807	This sounds a bit complicated, but here is a useful and typical	1169	This sounds a bit complicated, but here is a useful and typical
808	example: Imagine you have a tcp connection and you want a so-called idle	1170	example: Imagine you have a tcp connection and you want a so-called idle
809	timeout, that is, you want to be called when there have been, say, 60	1171	timeout, that is, you want to be called when there have been, say, 60
810	seconds of inactivity on the socket. The easiest way to do this is to	1172	seconds of inactivity on the socket. The easiest way to do this is to
811	configure an C<ev_timer> with after=repeat=60 and calling ev_timer_again each	1173	configure an C<ev_timer> with a C<repeat> value of C<60> and then call
812	time you successfully read or write some data. If you go into an idle	1174	C<ev_timer_again> each time you successfully read or write some data. If
813	state where you do not expect data to travel on the socket, you can stop	1175	you go into an idle state where you do not expect data to travel on the
814	the timer, and again will automatically restart it if need be.	1176	socket, you can C<ev_timer_stop> the timer, and C<ev_timer_again> will
		1177	automatically restart it if need be.
		1178
		1179	That means you can ignore the C<after> value and C<ev_timer_start>
		1180	altogether and only ever use the C<repeat> value and C<ev_timer_again>:
		1181
		1182	ev_timer_init (timer, callback, 0., 5.);
		1183	ev_timer_again (loop, timer);
		1184	...
		1185	timer->again = 17.;
		1186	ev_timer_again (loop, timer);
		1187	...
		1188	timer->again = 10.;
		1189	ev_timer_again (loop, timer);
		1190
		1191	This is more slightly efficient then stopping/starting the timer each time
		1192	you want to modify its timeout value.
		1193
		1194	=item ev_tstamp repeat [read-write]
		1195
		1196	The current C<repeat> value. Will be used each time the watcher times out
		1197	or C<ev_timer_again> is called and determines the next timeout (if any),
		1198	which is also when any modifications are taken into account.
815		1199
816	=back	1200	=back
817		1201
		1202	=head3 Examples
		1203
818	Example: create a timer that fires after 60 seconds.	1204	Example: Create a timer that fires after 60 seconds.
819		1205
820	static void	1206	static void
821	one_minute_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_timer *w, int revents)	1207	one_minute_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_timer *w, int revents)
822	{	1208	{
823	.. one minute over, w is actually stopped right here	1209	.. one minute over, w is actually stopped right here
…		…
825		1211
826	struct ev_timer mytimer;	1212	struct ev_timer mytimer;
827	ev_timer_init (&mytimer, one_minute_cb, 60., 0.);	1213	ev_timer_init (&mytimer, one_minute_cb, 60., 0.);
828	ev_timer_start (loop, &mytimer);	1214	ev_timer_start (loop, &mytimer);
829		1215
830	Example: create a timeout timer that times out after 10 seconds of	1216	Example: Create a timeout timer that times out after 10 seconds of
831	inactivity.	1217	inactivity.
832		1218
833	static void	1219	static void
834	timeout_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_timer *w, int revents)	1220	timeout_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_timer *w, int revents)
835	{	1221	{
…		…
844	// and in some piece of code that gets executed on any "activity":	1230	// and in some piece of code that gets executed on any "activity":
845	// reset the timeout to start ticking again at 10 seconds	1231	// reset the timeout to start ticking again at 10 seconds
846	ev_timer_again (&mytimer);	1232	ev_timer_again (&mytimer);
847		1233
848		1234
849	=head2 C<ev_periodic> - to cron or not to cron	1235	=head2 C<ev_periodic> - to cron or not to cron?
850		1236
851	Periodic watchers are also timers of a kind, but they are very versatile	1237	Periodic watchers are also timers of a kind, but they are very versatile
852	(and unfortunately a bit complex).	1238	(and unfortunately a bit complex).
853		1239
854	Unlike C<ev_timer>'s, they are not based on real time (or relative time)	1240	Unlike C<ev_timer>'s, they are not based on real time (or relative time)
855	but on wallclock time (absolute time). You can tell a periodic watcher	1241	but on wallclock time (absolute time). You can tell a periodic watcher
856	to trigger "at" some specific point in time. For example, if you tell a	1242	to trigger "at" some specific point in time. For example, if you tell a
857	periodic watcher to trigger in 10 seconds (by specifiying e.g. c<ev_now ()	1243	periodic watcher to trigger in 10 seconds (by specifiying e.g. C<ev_now ()
858	+ 10.>) and then reset your system clock to the last year, then it will	1244	+ 10.>) and then reset your system clock to the last year, then it will
859	take a year to trigger the event (unlike an C<ev_timer>, which would trigger	1245	take a year to trigger the event (unlike an C<ev_timer>, which would trigger
860	roughly 10 seconds later and of course not if you reset your system time	1246	roughly 10 seconds later).
861	again).
862		1247
863	They can also be used to implement vastly more complex timers, such as	1248	They can also be used to implement vastly more complex timers, such as
864	triggering an event on eahc midnight, local time.	1249	triggering an event on each midnight, local time or other, complicated,
		1250	rules.
865		1251
866	As with timers, the callback is guarenteed to be invoked only when the	1252	As with timers, the callback is guarenteed to be invoked only when the
867	time (C<at>) has been passed, but if multiple periodic timers become ready	1253	time (C<at>) has been passed, but if multiple periodic timers become ready
868	during the same loop iteration then order of execution is undefined.	1254	during the same loop iteration then order of execution is undefined.
869		1255
		1256	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
		1257
870	=over 4	1258	=over 4
871		1259
872	=item ev_periodic_init (ev_periodic *, callback, ev_tstamp at, ev_tstamp interval, reschedule_cb)	1260	=item ev_periodic_init (ev_periodic *, callback, ev_tstamp at, ev_tstamp interval, reschedule_cb)
873		1261
874	=item ev_periodic_set (ev_periodic *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat, reschedule_cb)	1262	=item ev_periodic_set (ev_periodic *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat, reschedule_cb)
…		…
876	Lots of arguments, lets sort it out... There are basically three modes of	1264	Lots of arguments, lets sort it out... There are basically three modes of
877	operation, and we will explain them from simplest to complex:	1265	operation, and we will explain them from simplest to complex:
878		1266
879	=over 4	1267	=over 4
880		1268
881	=item * absolute timer (interval = reschedule_cb = 0)	1269	=item * absolute timer (at = time, interval = reschedule_cb = 0)
882		1270
883	In this configuration the watcher triggers an event at the wallclock time	1271	In this configuration the watcher triggers an event at the wallclock time
884	C<at> and doesn't repeat. It will not adjust when a time jump occurs,	1272	C<at> and doesn't repeat. It will not adjust when a time jump occurs,
885	that is, if it is to be run at January 1st 2011 then it will run when the	1273	that is, if it is to be run at January 1st 2011 then it will run when the
886	system time reaches or surpasses this time.	1274	system time reaches or surpasses this time.
887		1275
888	=item * non-repeating interval timer (interval > 0, reschedule_cb = 0)	1276	=item * non-repeating interval timer (at = offset, interval > 0, reschedule_cb = 0)
889		1277
890	In this mode the watcher will always be scheduled to time out at the next	1278	In this mode the watcher will always be scheduled to time out at the next
891	C<at + N * interval> time (for some integer N) and then repeat, regardless	1279	C<at + N * interval> time (for some integer N, which can also be negative)
892	of any time jumps.	1280	and then repeat, regardless of any time jumps.
893		1281
894	This can be used to create timers that do not drift with respect to system	1282	This can be used to create timers that do not drift with respect to system
895	time:	1283	time:
896		1284
897	ev_periodic_set (&periodic, 0., 3600., 0);	1285	ev_periodic_set (&periodic, 0., 3600., 0);
…		…
903		1291
904	Another way to think about it (for the mathematically inclined) is that	1292	Another way to think about it (for the mathematically inclined) is that
905	C<ev_periodic> will try to run the callback in this mode at the next possible	1293	C<ev_periodic> will try to run the callback in this mode at the next possible
906	time where C<time = at (mod interval)>, regardless of any time jumps.	1294	time where C<time = at (mod interval)>, regardless of any time jumps.
907		1295
		1296	For numerical stability it is preferable that the C<at> value is near
		1297	C<ev_now ()> (the current time), but there is no range requirement for
		1298	this value.
		1299
908	=item * manual reschedule mode (reschedule_cb = callback)	1300	=item * manual reschedule mode (at and interval ignored, reschedule_cb = callback)
909		1301
910	In this mode the values for C<interval> and C<at> are both being	1302	In this mode the values for C<interval> and C<at> are both being
911	ignored. Instead, each time the periodic watcher gets scheduled, the	1303	ignored. Instead, each time the periodic watcher gets scheduled, the
912	reschedule callback will be called with the watcher as first, and the	1304	reschedule callback will be called with the watcher as first, and the
913	current time as second argument.	1305	current time as second argument.
914		1306
915	NOTE: I<This callback MUST NOT stop or destroy any periodic watcher,	1307	NOTE: I<This callback MUST NOT stop or destroy any periodic watcher,
916	ever, or make any event loop modifications>. If you need to stop it,	1308	ever, or make any event loop modifications>. If you need to stop it,
917	return C<now + 1e30> (or so, fudge fudge) and stop it afterwards (e.g. by	1309	return C<now + 1e30> (or so, fudge fudge) and stop it afterwards (e.g. by
918	starting a prepare watcher).	1310	starting an C<ev_prepare> watcher, which is legal).
919		1311
920	Its prototype is C<ev_tstamp (*reschedule_cb)(struct ev_periodic *w,	1312	Its prototype is C<ev_tstamp (*reschedule_cb)(struct ev_periodic *w,
921	ev_tstamp now)>, e.g.:	1313	ev_tstamp now)>, e.g.:
922		1314
923	static ev_tstamp my_rescheduler (struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now)	1315	static ev_tstamp my_rescheduler (struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now)
…		…
946	Simply stops and restarts the periodic watcher again. This is only useful	1338	Simply stops and restarts the periodic watcher again. This is only useful
947	when you changed some parameters or the reschedule callback would return	1339	when you changed some parameters or the reschedule callback would return
948	a different time than the last time it was called (e.g. in a crond like	1340	a different time than the last time it was called (e.g. in a crond like
949	program when the crontabs have changed).	1341	program when the crontabs have changed).
950		1342
		1343	=item ev_tstamp offset [read-write]
		1344
		1345	When repeating, this contains the offset value, otherwise this is the
		1346	absolute point in time (the C<at> value passed to C<ev_periodic_set>).
		1347
		1348	Can be modified any time, but changes only take effect when the periodic
		1349	timer fires or C<ev_periodic_again> is being called.
		1350
		1351	=item ev_tstamp interval [read-write]
		1352
		1353	The current interval value. Can be modified any time, but changes only
		1354	take effect when the periodic timer fires or C<ev_periodic_again> is being
		1355	called.
		1356
		1357	=item ev_tstamp (*reschedule_cb)(struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now) [read-write]
		1358
		1359	The current reschedule callback, or C<0>, if this functionality is
		1360	switched off. Can be changed any time, but changes only take effect when
		1361	the periodic timer fires or C<ev_periodic_again> is being called.
		1362
		1363	=item ev_tstamp at [read-only]
		1364
		1365	When active, contains the absolute time that the watcher is supposed to
		1366	trigger next.
		1367
951	=back	1368	=back
952		1369
		1370	=head3 Examples
		1371
953	Example: call a callback every hour, or, more precisely, whenever the	1372	Example: Call a callback every hour, or, more precisely, whenever the
954	system clock is divisible by 3600. The callback invocation times have	1373	system clock is divisible by 3600. The callback invocation times have
955	potentially a lot of jittering, but good long-term stability.	1374	potentially a lot of jittering, but good long-term stability.
956		1375
957	static void	1376	static void
958	clock_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w, int revents)	1377	clock_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w, int revents)
…		…
962		1381
963	struct ev_periodic hourly_tick;	1382	struct ev_periodic hourly_tick;
964	ev_periodic_init (&hourly_tick, clock_cb, 0., 3600., 0);	1383	ev_periodic_init (&hourly_tick, clock_cb, 0., 3600., 0);
965	ev_periodic_start (loop, &hourly_tick);	1384	ev_periodic_start (loop, &hourly_tick);
966		1385
967	Example: the same as above, but use a reschedule callback to do it:	1386	Example: The same as above, but use a reschedule callback to do it:
968		1387
969	#include <math.h>	1388	#include <math.h>
970		1389
971	static ev_tstamp	1390	static ev_tstamp
972	my_scheduler_cb (struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now)	1391	my_scheduler_cb (struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now)
…		…
974	return fmod (now, 3600.) + 3600.;	1393	return fmod (now, 3600.) + 3600.;
975	}	1394	}
976		1395
977	ev_periodic_init (&hourly_tick, clock_cb, 0., 0., my_scheduler_cb);	1396	ev_periodic_init (&hourly_tick, clock_cb, 0., 0., my_scheduler_cb);
978		1397
979	Example: call a callback every hour, starting now:	1398	Example: Call a callback every hour, starting now:
980		1399
981	struct ev_periodic hourly_tick;	1400	struct ev_periodic hourly_tick;
982	ev_periodic_init (&hourly_tick, clock_cb,	1401	ev_periodic_init (&hourly_tick, clock_cb,
983	fmod (ev_now (loop), 3600.), 3600., 0);	1402	fmod (ev_now (loop), 3600.), 3600., 0);
984	ev_periodic_start (loop, &hourly_tick);	1403	ev_periodic_start (loop, &hourly_tick);
985		1404
986		1405
987	=head2 C<ev_signal> - signal me when a signal gets signalled	1406	=head2 C<ev_signal> - signal me when a signal gets signalled!
988		1407
989	Signal watchers will trigger an event when the process receives a specific	1408	Signal watchers will trigger an event when the process receives a specific
990	signal one or more times. Even though signals are very asynchronous, libev	1409	signal one or more times. Even though signals are very asynchronous, libev
991	will try it's best to deliver signals synchronously, i.e. as part of the	1410	will try it's best to deliver signals synchronously, i.e. as part of the
992	normal event processing, like any other event.	1411	normal event processing, like any other event.
…		…
996	with the kernel (thus it coexists with your own signal handlers as long	1415	with the kernel (thus it coexists with your own signal handlers as long
997	as you don't register any with libev). Similarly, when the last signal	1416	as you don't register any with libev). Similarly, when the last signal
998	watcher for a signal is stopped libev will reset the signal handler to	1417	watcher for a signal is stopped libev will reset the signal handler to
999	SIG_DFL (regardless of what it was set to before).	1418	SIG_DFL (regardless of what it was set to before).
1000		1419
		1420	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
		1421
1001	=over 4	1422	=over 4
1002		1423
1003	=item ev_signal_init (ev_signal *, callback, int signum)	1424	=item ev_signal_init (ev_signal *, callback, int signum)
1004		1425
1005	=item ev_signal_set (ev_signal *, int signum)	1426	=item ev_signal_set (ev_signal *, int signum)
1006		1427
1007	Configures the watcher to trigger on the given signal number (usually one	1428	Configures the watcher to trigger on the given signal number (usually one
1008	of the C<SIGxxx> constants).	1429	of the C<SIGxxx> constants).
1009		1430
		1431	=item int signum [read-only]
		1432
		1433	The signal the watcher watches out for.
		1434
1010	=back	1435	=back
1011		1436
1012		1437
1013	=head2 C<ev_child> - wait for pid status changes	1438	=head2 C<ev_child> - watch out for process status changes
1014		1439
1015	Child watchers trigger when your process receives a SIGCHLD in response to	1440	Child watchers trigger when your process receives a SIGCHLD in response to
1016	some child status changes (most typically when a child of yours dies).	1441	some child status changes (most typically when a child of yours dies).
1017		1442
		1443	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
		1444
1018	=over 4	1445	=over 4
1019		1446
1020	=item ev_child_init (ev_child *, callback, int pid)	1447	=item ev_child_init (ev_child *, callback, int pid, int trace)
1021		1448
1022	=item ev_child_set (ev_child *, int pid)	1449	=item ev_child_set (ev_child *, int pid, int trace)
1023		1450
1024	Configures the watcher to wait for status changes of process C<pid> (or	1451	Configures the watcher to wait for status changes of process C<pid> (or
1025	I<any> process if C<pid> is specified as C<0>). The callback can look	1452	I<any> process if C<pid> is specified as C<0>). The callback can look
1026	at the C<rstatus> member of the C<ev_child> watcher structure to see	1453	at the C<rstatus> member of the C<ev_child> watcher structure to see
1027	the status word (use the macros from C<sys/wait.h> and see your systems	1454	the status word (use the macros from C<sys/wait.h> and see your systems
1028	C<waitpid> documentation). The C<rpid> member contains the pid of the	1455	C<waitpid> documentation). The C<rpid> member contains the pid of the
1029	process causing the status change.	1456	process causing the status change. C<trace> must be either C<0> (only
		1457	activate the watcher when the process terminates) or C<1> (additionally
		1458	activate the watcher when the process is stopped or continued).
		1459
		1460	=item int pid [read-only]
		1461
		1462	The process id this watcher watches out for, or C<0>, meaning any process id.
		1463
		1464	=item int rpid [read-write]
		1465
		1466	The process id that detected a status change.
		1467
		1468	=item int rstatus [read-write]
		1469
		1470	The process exit/trace status caused by C<rpid> (see your systems
		1471	C<waitpid> and C<sys/wait.h> documentation for details).
1030		1472
1031	=back	1473	=back
1032		1474
		1475	=head3 Examples
		1476
1033	Example: try to exit cleanly on SIGINT and SIGTERM.	1477	Example: Try to exit cleanly on SIGINT and SIGTERM.
1034		1478
1035	static void	1479	static void
1036	sigint_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_signal *w, int revents)	1480	sigint_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_signal *w, int revents)
1037	{	1481	{
1038	ev_unloop (loop, EVUNLOOP_ALL);	1482	ev_unloop (loop, EVUNLOOP_ALL);
…		…
1041	struct ev_signal signal_watcher;	1485	struct ev_signal signal_watcher;
1042	ev_signal_init (&signal_watcher, sigint_cb, SIGINT);	1486	ev_signal_init (&signal_watcher, sigint_cb, SIGINT);
1043	ev_signal_start (loop, &sigint_cb);	1487	ev_signal_start (loop, &sigint_cb);
1044		1488
1045		1489
		1490	=head2 C<ev_stat> - did the file attributes just change?
		1491
		1492	This watches a filesystem path for attribute changes. That is, it calls
		1493	C<stat> regularly (or when the OS says it changed) and sees if it changed
		1494	compared to the last time, invoking the callback if it did.
		1495
		1496	The path does not need to exist: changing from "path exists" to "path does
		1497	not exist" is a status change like any other. The condition "path does
		1498	not exist" is signified by the C<st_nlink> field being zero (which is
		1499	otherwise always forced to be at least one) and all the other fields of
		1500	the stat buffer having unspecified contents.
		1501
		1502	The path I<should> be absolute and I<must not> end in a slash. If it is
		1503	relative and your working directory changes, the behaviour is undefined.
		1504
		1505	Since there is no standard to do this, the portable implementation simply
		1506	calls C<stat (2)> regularly on the path to see if it changed somehow. You
		1507	can specify a recommended polling interval for this case. If you specify
		1508	a polling interval of C<0> (highly recommended!) then a I<suitable,
		1509	unspecified default> value will be used (which you can expect to be around
		1510	five seconds, although this might change dynamically). Libev will also
		1511	impose a minimum interval which is currently around C<0.1>, but thats
		1512	usually overkill.
		1513
		1514	This watcher type is not meant for massive numbers of stat watchers,
		1515	as even with OS-supported change notifications, this can be
		1516	resource-intensive.
		1517
		1518	At the time of this writing, only the Linux inotify interface is
		1519	implemented (implementing kqueue support is left as an exercise for the
		1520	reader). Inotify will be used to give hints only and should not change the
		1521	semantics of C<ev_stat> watchers, which means that libev sometimes needs
		1522	to fall back to regular polling again even with inotify, but changes are
		1523	usually detected immediately, and if the file exists there will be no
		1524	polling.
		1525
		1526	=head3 Inotify
		1527
		1528	When C<inotify (7)> support has been compiled into libev (generally only
		1529	available on Linux) and present at runtime, it will be used to speed up
		1530	change detection where possible. The inotify descriptor will be created lazily
		1531	when the first C<ev_stat> watcher is being started.
		1532
		1533	Inotify presense does not change the semantics of C<ev_stat> watchers
		1534	except that changes might be detected earlier, and in some cases, to avoid
		1535	making regular C<stat> calls. Even in the presense of inotify support
		1536	there are many cases where libev has to resort to regular C<stat> polling.
		1537
		1538	(There is no support for kqueue, as apparently it cannot be used to
		1539	implement this functionality, due to the requirement of having a file
		1540	descriptor open on the object at all times).
		1541
		1542	=head3 The special problem of stat time resolution
		1543
		1544	The C<stat ()> syscall only supports full-second resolution portably, and
		1545	even on systems where the resolution is higher, many filesystems still
		1546	only support whole seconds.
		1547
		1548	That means that, if the time is the only thing that changes, you might
		1549	miss updates: on the first update, C<ev_stat> detects a change and calls
		1550	your callback, which does something. When there is another update within
		1551	the same second, C<ev_stat> will be unable to detect it.
		1552
		1553	The solution to this is to delay acting on a change for a second (or till
		1554	the next second boundary), using a roughly one-second delay C<ev_timer>
		1555	(C<ev_timer_set (w, 0., 1.01); ev_timer_again (loop, w)>). The C<.01>
		1556	is added to work around small timing inconsistencies of some operating
		1557	systems.
		1558
		1559	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
		1560
		1561	=over 4
		1562
		1563	=item ev_stat_init (ev_stat *, callback, const char *path, ev_tstamp interval)
		1564
		1565	=item ev_stat_set (ev_stat *, const char *path, ev_tstamp interval)
		1566
		1567	Configures the watcher to wait for status changes of the given
		1568	C<path>. The C<interval> is a hint on how quickly a change is expected to
		1569	be detected and should normally be specified as C<0> to let libev choose
		1570	a suitable value. The memory pointed to by C<path> must point to the same
		1571	path for as long as the watcher is active.
		1572
		1573	The callback will be receive C<EV_STAT> when a change was detected,
		1574	relative to the attributes at the time the watcher was started (or the
		1575	last change was detected).
		1576
		1577	=item ev_stat_stat (ev_stat *)
		1578
		1579	Updates the stat buffer immediately with new values. If you change the
		1580	watched path in your callback, you could call this fucntion to avoid
		1581	detecting this change (while introducing a race condition). Can also be
		1582	useful simply to find out the new values.
		1583
		1584	=item ev_statdata attr [read-only]
		1585
		1586	The most-recently detected attributes of the file. Although the type is of
		1587	C<ev_statdata>, this is usually the (or one of the) C<struct stat> types
		1588	suitable for your system. If the C<st_nlink> member is C<0>, then there
		1589	was some error while C<stat>ing the file.
		1590
		1591	=item ev_statdata prev [read-only]
		1592
		1593	The previous attributes of the file. The callback gets invoked whenever
		1594	C<prev> != C<attr>.
		1595
		1596	=item ev_tstamp interval [read-only]
		1597
		1598	The specified interval.
		1599
		1600	=item const char *path [read-only]
		1601
		1602	The filesystem path that is being watched.
		1603
		1604	=back
		1605
		1606	=head3 Examples
		1607
		1608	Example: Watch C</etc/passwd> for attribute changes.
		1609
		1610	static void
		1611	passwd_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, ev_stat *w, int revents)
		1612	{
		1613	/* /etc/passwd changed in some way */
		1614	if (w->attr.st_nlink)
		1615	{
		1616	printf ("passwd current size %ld\n", (long)w->attr.st_size);
		1617	printf ("passwd current atime %ld\n", (long)w->attr.st_mtime);
		1618	printf ("passwd current mtime %ld\n", (long)w->attr.st_mtime);
		1619	}
		1620	else
		1621	/* you shalt not abuse printf for puts */
		1622	puts ("wow, /etc/passwd is not there, expect problems. "
		1623	"if this is windows, they already arrived\n");
		1624	}
		1625
		1626	...
		1627	ev_stat passwd;
		1628
		1629	ev_stat_init (&passwd, passwd_cb, "/etc/passwd", 0.);
		1630	ev_stat_start (loop, &passwd);
		1631
		1632	Example: Like above, but additionally use a one-second delay so we do not
		1633	miss updates (however, frequent updates will delay processing, too, so
		1634	one might do the work both on C<ev_stat> callback invocation I<and> on
		1635	C<ev_timer> callback invocation).
		1636
		1637	static ev_stat passwd;
		1638	static ev_timer timer;
		1639
		1640	static void
		1641	timer_cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)
		1642	{
		1643	ev_timer_stop (EV_A_ w);
		1644
		1645	/* now it's one second after the most recent passwd change */
		1646	}
		1647
		1648	static void
		1649	stat_cb (EV_P_ ev_stat *w, int revents)
		1650	{
		1651	/* reset the one-second timer */
		1652	ev_timer_again (EV_A_ &timer);
		1653	}
		1654
		1655	...
		1656	ev_stat_init (&passwd, stat_cb, "/etc/passwd", 0.);
		1657	ev_stat_start (loop, &passwd);
		1658	ev_timer_init (&timer, timer_cb, 0., 1.01);
		1659
		1660
1046	=head2 C<ev_idle> - when you've got nothing better to do	1661	=head2 C<ev_idle> - when you've got nothing better to do...
1047		1662
1048	Idle watchers trigger events when there are no other events are pending	1663	Idle watchers trigger events when no other events of the same or higher
1049	(prepare, check and other idle watchers do not count). That is, as long	1664	priority are pending (prepare, check and other idle watchers do not
1050	as your process is busy handling sockets or timeouts (or even signals,	1665	count).
1051	imagine) it will not be triggered. But when your process is idle all idle	1666
1052	watchers are being called again and again, once per event loop iteration -	1667	That is, as long as your process is busy handling sockets or timeouts
		1668	(or even signals, imagine) of the same or higher priority it will not be
		1669	triggered. But when your process is idle (or only lower-priority watchers
		1670	are pending), the idle watchers are being called once per event loop
1053	until stopped, that is, or your process receives more events and becomes	1671	iteration - until stopped, that is, or your process receives more events
1054	busy.	1672	and becomes busy again with higher priority stuff.
1055		1673
1056	The most noteworthy effect is that as long as any idle watchers are	1674	The most noteworthy effect is that as long as any idle watchers are
1057	active, the process will not block when waiting for new events.	1675	active, the process will not block when waiting for new events.
1058		1676
1059	Apart from keeping your process non-blocking (which is a useful	1677	Apart from keeping your process non-blocking (which is a useful
1060	effect on its own sometimes), idle watchers are a good place to do	1678	effect on its own sometimes), idle watchers are a good place to do
1061	"pseudo-background processing", or delay processing stuff to after the	1679	"pseudo-background processing", or delay processing stuff to after the
1062	event loop has handled all outstanding events.	1680	event loop has handled all outstanding events.
1063		1681
		1682	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
		1683
1064	=over 4	1684	=over 4
1065		1685
1066	=item ev_idle_init (ev_signal *, callback)	1686	=item ev_idle_init (ev_signal *, callback)
1067		1687
1068	Initialises and configures the idle watcher - it has no parameters of any	1688	Initialises and configures the idle watcher - it has no parameters of any
1069	kind. There is a C<ev_idle_set> macro, but using it is utterly pointless,	1689	kind. There is a C<ev_idle_set> macro, but using it is utterly pointless,
1070	believe me.	1690	believe me.
1071		1691
1072	=back	1692	=back
1073		1693
		1694	=head3 Examples
		1695
1074	Example: dynamically allocate an C<ev_idle>, start it, and in the	1696	Example: Dynamically allocate an C<ev_idle> watcher, start it, and in the
1075	callback, free it. Alos, use no error checking, as usual.	1697	callback, free it. Also, use no error checking, as usual.
1076		1698
1077	static void	1699	static void
1078	idle_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_idle *w, int revents)	1700	idle_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_idle *w, int revents)
1079	{	1701	{
1080	free (w);	1702	free (w);
1081	// now do something you wanted to do when the program has	1703	// now do something you wanted to do when the program has
1082	// no longer asnything immediate to do.	1704	// no longer anything immediate to do.
1083	}	1705	}
1084		1706
1085	struct ev_idle *idle_watcher = malloc (sizeof (struct ev_idle));	1707	struct ev_idle *idle_watcher = malloc (sizeof (struct ev_idle));
1086	ev_idle_init (idle_watcher, idle_cb);	1708	ev_idle_init (idle_watcher, idle_cb);
1087	ev_idle_start (loop, idle_cb);	1709	ev_idle_start (loop, idle_cb);
1088		1710
1089		1711
1090	=head2 C<ev_prepare> and C<ev_check> - customise your event loop	1712	=head2 C<ev_prepare> and C<ev_check> - customise your event loop!
1091		1713
1092	Prepare and check watchers are usually (but not always) used in tandem:	1714	Prepare and check watchers are usually (but not always) used in tandem:
1093	prepare watchers get invoked before the process blocks and check watchers	1715	prepare watchers get invoked before the process blocks and check watchers
1094	afterwards.	1716	afterwards.
1095		1717
		1718	You I<must not> call C<ev_loop> or similar functions that enter
		1719	the current event loop from either C<ev_prepare> or C<ev_check>
		1720	watchers. Other loops than the current one are fine, however. The
		1721	rationale behind this is that you do not need to check for recursion in
		1722	those watchers, i.e. the sequence will always be C<ev_prepare>, blocking,
		1723	C<ev_check> so if you have one watcher of each kind they will always be
		1724	called in pairs bracketing the blocking call.
		1725
1096	Their main purpose is to integrate other event mechanisms into libev and	1726	Their main purpose is to integrate other event mechanisms into libev and
1097	their use is somewhat advanced. This could be used, for example, to track	1727	their use is somewhat advanced. This could be used, for example, to track
1098	variable changes, implement your own watchers, integrate net-snmp or a	1728	variable changes, implement your own watchers, integrate net-snmp or a
1099	coroutine library and lots more.	1729	coroutine library and lots more. They are also occasionally useful if
		1730	you cache some data and want to flush it before blocking (for example,
		1731	in X programs you might want to do an C<XFlush ()> in an C<ev_prepare>
		1732	watcher).
1100		1733
1101	This is done by examining in each prepare call which file descriptors need	1734	This is done by examining in each prepare call which file descriptors need
1102	to be watched by the other library, registering C<ev_io> watchers for	1735	to be watched by the other library, registering C<ev_io> watchers for
1103	them and starting an C<ev_timer> watcher for any timeouts (many libraries	1736	them and starting an C<ev_timer> watcher for any timeouts (many libraries
1104	provide just this functionality). Then, in the check watcher you check for	1737	provide just this functionality). Then, in the check watcher you check for
…		…
1114	with priority higher than or equal to the event loop and one coroutine	1747	with priority higher than or equal to the event loop and one coroutine
1115	of lower priority, but only once, using idle watchers to keep the event	1748	of lower priority, but only once, using idle watchers to keep the event
1116	loop from blocking if lower-priority coroutines are active, thus mapping	1749	loop from blocking if lower-priority coroutines are active, thus mapping
1117	low-priority coroutines to idle/background tasks).	1750	low-priority coroutines to idle/background tasks).
1118		1751
		1752	It is recommended to give C<ev_check> watchers highest (C<EV_MAXPRI>)
		1753	priority, to ensure that they are being run before any other watchers
		1754	after the poll. Also, C<ev_check> watchers (and C<ev_prepare> watchers,
		1755	too) should not activate ("feed") events into libev. While libev fully
		1756	supports this, they will be called before other C<ev_check> watchers
		1757	did their job. As C<ev_check> watchers are often used to embed other
		1758	(non-libev) event loops those other event loops might be in an unusable
		1759	state until their C<ev_check> watcher ran (always remind yourself to
		1760	coexist peacefully with others).
		1761
		1762	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
		1763
1119	=over 4	1764	=over 4
1120		1765
1121	=item ev_prepare_init (ev_prepare *, callback)	1766	=item ev_prepare_init (ev_prepare *, callback)
1122		1767
1123	=item ev_check_init (ev_check *, callback)	1768	=item ev_check_init (ev_check *, callback)
…		…
1126	parameters of any kind. There are C<ev_prepare_set> and C<ev_check_set>	1771	parameters of any kind. There are C<ev_prepare_set> and C<ev_check_set>
1127	macros, but using them is utterly, utterly and completely pointless.	1772	macros, but using them is utterly, utterly and completely pointless.
1128		1773
1129	=back	1774	=back
1130		1775
1131	Example: *TODO*.	1776	=head3 Examples
1132		1777
		1778	There are a number of principal ways to embed other event loops or modules
		1779	into libev. Here are some ideas on how to include libadns into libev
		1780	(there is a Perl module named C<EV::ADNS> that does this, which you could
		1781	use for an actually working example. Another Perl module named C<EV::Glib>
		1782	embeds a Glib main context into libev, and finally, C<Glib::EV> embeds EV
		1783	into the Glib event loop).
1133		1784
		1785	Method 1: Add IO watchers and a timeout watcher in a prepare handler,
		1786	and in a check watcher, destroy them and call into libadns. What follows
		1787	is pseudo-code only of course. This requires you to either use a low
		1788	priority for the check watcher or use C<ev_clear_pending> explicitly, as
		1789	the callbacks for the IO/timeout watchers might not have been called yet.
		1790
		1791	static ev_io iow [nfd];
		1792	static ev_timer tw;
		1793
		1794	static void
		1795	io_cb (ev_loop *loop, ev_io *w, int revents)
		1796	{
		1797	}
		1798
		1799	// create io watchers for each fd and a timer before blocking
		1800	static void
		1801	adns_prepare_cb (ev_loop *loop, ev_prepare *w, int revents)
		1802	{
		1803	int timeout = 3600000;
		1804	struct pollfd fds [nfd];
		1805	// actual code will need to loop here and realloc etc.
		1806	adns_beforepoll (ads, fds, &nfd, &timeout, timeval_from (ev_time ()));
		1807
		1808	/* the callback is illegal, but won't be called as we stop during check */
		1809	ev_timer_init (&tw, 0, timeout * 1e-3);
		1810	ev_timer_start (loop, &tw);
		1811
		1812	// create one ev_io per pollfd
		1813	for (int i = 0; i < nfd; ++i)
		1814	{
		1815	ev_io_init (iow + i, io_cb, fds [i].fd,
		1816	((fds [i].events & POLLIN ? EV_READ : 0)
		1817	| (fds [i].events & POLLOUT ? EV_WRITE : 0)));
		1818
		1819	fds [i].revents = 0;
		1820	ev_io_start (loop, iow + i);
		1821	}
		1822	}
		1823
		1824	// stop all watchers after blocking
		1825	static void
		1826	adns_check_cb (ev_loop *loop, ev_check *w, int revents)
		1827	{
		1828	ev_timer_stop (loop, &tw);
		1829
		1830	for (int i = 0; i < nfd; ++i)
		1831	{
		1832	// set the relevant poll flags
		1833	// could also call adns_processreadable etc. here
		1834	struct pollfd *fd = fds + i;
		1835	int revents = ev_clear_pending (iow + i);
		1836	if (revents & EV_READ ) fd->revents |= fd->events & POLLIN;
		1837	if (revents & EV_WRITE) fd->revents |= fd->events & POLLOUT;
		1838
		1839	// now stop the watcher
		1840	ev_io_stop (loop, iow + i);
		1841	}
		1842
		1843	adns_afterpoll (adns, fds, nfd, timeval_from (ev_now (loop));
		1844	}
		1845
		1846	Method 2: This would be just like method 1, but you run C<adns_afterpoll>
		1847	in the prepare watcher and would dispose of the check watcher.
		1848
		1849	Method 3: If the module to be embedded supports explicit event
		1850	notification (adns does), you can also make use of the actual watcher
		1851	callbacks, and only destroy/create the watchers in the prepare watcher.
		1852
		1853	static void
		1854	timer_cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)
		1855	{
		1856	adns_state ads = (adns_state)w->data;
		1857	update_now (EV_A);
		1858
		1859	adns_processtimeouts (ads, &tv_now);
		1860	}
		1861
		1862	static void
		1863	io_cb (EV_P_ ev_io *w, int revents)
		1864	{
		1865	adns_state ads = (adns_state)w->data;
		1866	update_now (EV_A);
		1867
		1868	if (revents & EV_READ ) adns_processreadable (ads, w->fd, &tv_now);
		1869	if (revents & EV_WRITE) adns_processwriteable (ads, w->fd, &tv_now);
		1870	}
		1871
		1872	// do not ever call adns_afterpoll
		1873
		1874	Method 4: Do not use a prepare or check watcher because the module you
		1875	want to embed is too inflexible to support it. Instead, youc na override
		1876	their poll function. The drawback with this solution is that the main
		1877	loop is now no longer controllable by EV. The C<Glib::EV> module does
		1878	this.
		1879
		1880	static gint
		1881	event_poll_func (GPollFD *fds, guint nfds, gint timeout)
		1882	{
		1883	int got_events = 0;
		1884
		1885	for (n = 0; n < nfds; ++n)
		1886	// create/start io watcher that sets the relevant bits in fds[n] and increment got_events
		1887
		1888	if (timeout >= 0)
		1889	// create/start timer
		1890
		1891	// poll
		1892	ev_loop (EV_A_ 0);
		1893
		1894	// stop timer again
		1895	if (timeout >= 0)
		1896	ev_timer_stop (EV_A_ &to);
		1897
		1898	// stop io watchers again - their callbacks should have set
		1899	for (n = 0; n < nfds; ++n)
		1900	ev_io_stop (EV_A_ iow [n]);
		1901
		1902	return got_events;
		1903	}
		1904
		1905
1134	=head2 C<ev_embed> - when one backend isn't enough	1906	=head2 C<ev_embed> - when one backend isn't enough...
1135		1907
1136	This is a rather advanced watcher type that lets you embed one event loop	1908	This is a rather advanced watcher type that lets you embed one event loop
1137	into another (currently only C<ev_io> events are supported in the embedded	1909	into another (currently only C<ev_io> events are supported in the embedded
1138	loop, other types of watchers might be handled in a delayed or incorrect	1910	loop, other types of watchers might be handled in a delayed or incorrect
1139	fashion and must not be used).	1911	fashion and must not be used).
…		…
1178	portable one.	1950	portable one.
1179		1951
1180	So when you want to use this feature you will always have to be prepared	1952	So when you want to use this feature you will always have to be prepared
1181	that you cannot get an embeddable loop. The recommended way to get around	1953	that you cannot get an embeddable loop. The recommended way to get around
1182	this is to have a separate variables for your embeddable loop, try to	1954	this is to have a separate variables for your embeddable loop, try to
1183	create it, and if that fails, use the normal loop for everything:	1955	create it, and if that fails, use the normal loop for everything.
		1956
		1957	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
		1958
		1959	=over 4
		1960
		1961	=item ev_embed_init (ev_embed *, callback, struct ev_loop *embedded_loop)
		1962
		1963	=item ev_embed_set (ev_embed *, callback, struct ev_loop *embedded_loop)
		1964
		1965	Configures the watcher to embed the given loop, which must be
		1966	embeddable. If the callback is C<0>, then C<ev_embed_sweep> will be
		1967	invoked automatically, otherwise it is the responsibility of the callback
		1968	to invoke it (it will continue to be called until the sweep has been done,
		1969	if you do not want thta, you need to temporarily stop the embed watcher).
		1970
		1971	=item ev_embed_sweep (loop, ev_embed *)
		1972
		1973	Make a single, non-blocking sweep over the embedded loop. This works
		1974	similarly to C<ev_loop (embedded_loop, EVLOOP_NONBLOCK)>, but in the most
		1975	apropriate way for embedded loops.
		1976
		1977	=item struct ev_loop *other [read-only]
		1978
		1979	The embedded event loop.
		1980
		1981	=back
		1982
		1983	=head3 Examples
		1984
		1985	Example: Try to get an embeddable event loop and embed it into the default
		1986	event loop. If that is not possible, use the default loop. The default
		1987	loop is stored in C<loop_hi>, while the mebeddable loop is stored in
		1988	C<loop_lo> (which is C<loop_hi> in the acse no embeddable loop can be
		1989	used).
1184		1990
1185	struct ev_loop *loop_hi = ev_default_init (0);	1991	struct ev_loop *loop_hi = ev_default_init (0);
1186	struct ev_loop *loop_lo = 0;	1992	struct ev_loop *loop_lo = 0;
1187	struct ev_embed embed;	1993	struct ev_embed embed;
1188		1994
…		…
1199	ev_embed_start (loop_hi, &embed);	2005	ev_embed_start (loop_hi, &embed);
1200	}	2006	}
1201	else	2007	else
1202	loop_lo = loop_hi;	2008	loop_lo = loop_hi;
1203		2009
		2010	Example: Check if kqueue is available but not recommended and create
		2011	a kqueue backend for use with sockets (which usually work with any
		2012	kqueue implementation). Store the kqueue/socket-only event loop in
		2013	C<loop_socket>. (One might optionally use C<EVFLAG_NOENV>, too).
		2014
		2015	struct ev_loop *loop = ev_default_init (0);
		2016	struct ev_loop *loop_socket = 0;
		2017	struct ev_embed embed;
		2018
		2019	if (ev_supported_backends () & ~ev_recommended_backends () & EVBACKEND_KQUEUE)
		2020	if ((loop_socket = ev_loop_new (EVBACKEND_KQUEUE))
		2021	{
		2022	ev_embed_init (&embed, 0, loop_socket);
		2023	ev_embed_start (loop, &embed);
		2024	}
		2025
		2026	if (!loop_socket)
		2027	loop_socket = loop;
		2028
		2029	// now use loop_socket for all sockets, and loop for everything else
		2030
		2031
		2032	=head2 C<ev_fork> - the audacity to resume the event loop after a fork
		2033
		2034	Fork watchers are called when a C<fork ()> was detected (usually because
		2035	whoever is a good citizen cared to tell libev about it by calling
		2036	C<ev_default_fork> or C<ev_loop_fork>). The invocation is done before the
		2037	event loop blocks next and before C<ev_check> watchers are being called,
		2038	and only in the child after the fork. If whoever good citizen calling
		2039	C<ev_default_fork> cheats and calls it in the wrong process, the fork
		2040	handlers will be invoked, too, of course.
		2041
		2042	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
		2043
1204	=over 4	2044	=over 4
1205		2045
1206	=item ev_embed_init (ev_embed *, callback, struct ev_loop *embedded_loop)	2046	=item ev_fork_init (ev_signal *, callback)
1207		2047
1208	=item ev_embed_set (ev_embed *, callback, struct ev_loop *embedded_loop)	2048	Initialises and configures the fork watcher - it has no parameters of any
		2049	kind. There is a C<ev_fork_set> macro, but using it is utterly pointless,
		2050	believe me.
1209		2051
1210	Configures the watcher to embed the given loop, which must be	2052	=back
1211	embeddable. If the callback is C<0>, then C<ev_embed_sweep> will be
1212	invoked automatically, otherwise it is the responsibility of the callback
1213	to invoke it (it will continue to be called until the sweep has been done,
1214	if you do not want thta, you need to temporarily stop the embed watcher).
1215		2053
1216	=item ev_embed_sweep (loop, ev_embed *)
1217		2054
1218	Make a single, non-blocking sweep over the embedded loop. This works	2055	=head2 C<ev_async> - how to wake up another event loop
1219	similarly to C<ev_loop (embedded_loop, EVLOOP_NONBLOCK)>, but in the most	2056
1220	apropriate way for embedded loops.	2057	In general, you cannot use an C<ev_loop> from multiple threads or other
		2058	asynchronous sources such as signal handlers (as opposed to multiple event
		2059	loops - those are of course safe to use in different threads).
		2060
		2061	Sometimes, however, you need to wake up another event loop you do not
		2062	control, for example because it belongs to another thread. This is what
		2063	C<ev_async> watchers do: as long as the C<ev_async> watcher is active, you
		2064	can signal it by calling C<ev_async_send>, which is thread- and signal
		2065	safe.
		2066
		2067	This functionality is very similar to C<ev_signal> watchers, as signals,
		2068	too, are asynchronous in nature, and signals, too, will be compressed
		2069	(i.e. the number of callback invocations may be less than the number of
		2070	C<ev_async_sent> calls).
		2071
		2072	Unlike C<ev_signal> watchers, C<ev_async> works with any event loop, not
		2073	just the default loop.
		2074
		2075	=head3 Queueing
		2076
		2077	C<ev_async> does not support queueing of data in any way. The reason
		2078	is that the author does not know of a simple (or any) algorithm for a
		2079	multiple-writer-single-reader queue that works in all cases and doesn't
		2080	need elaborate support such as pthreads.
		2081
		2082	That means that if you want to queue data, you have to provide your own
		2083	queue. But at least I can tell you would implement locking around your
		2084	queue:
		2085
		2086	=over 4
		2087
		2088	=item queueing from a signal handler context
		2089
		2090	To implement race-free queueing, you simply add to the queue in the signal
		2091	handler but you block the signal handler in the watcher callback. Here is an example that does that for
		2092	some fictitiuous SIGUSR1 handler:
		2093
		2094	static ev_async mysig;
		2095
		2096	static void
		2097	sigusr1_handler (void)
		2098	{
		2099	sometype data;
		2100
		2101	// no locking etc.
		2102	queue_put (data);
		2103	ev_async_send (DEFAULT_ &mysig);
		2104	}
		2105
		2106	static void
		2107	mysig_cb (EV_P_ ev_async *w, int revents)
		2108	{
		2109	sometype data;
		2110	sigset_t block, prev;
		2111
		2112	sigemptyset (&block);
		2113	sigaddset (&block, SIGUSR1);
		2114	sigprocmask (SIG_BLOCK, &block, &prev);
		2115
		2116	while (queue_get (&data))
		2117	process (data);
		2118
		2119	if (sigismember (&prev, SIGUSR1)
		2120	sigprocmask (SIG_UNBLOCK, &block, 0);
		2121	}
		2122
		2123	(Note: pthreads in theory requires you to use C<pthread_setmask>
		2124	instead of C<sigprocmask> when you use threads, but libev doesn't do it
		2125	either...).
		2126
		2127	=item queueing from a thread context
		2128
		2129	The strategy for threads is different, as you cannot (easily) block
		2130	threads but you can easily preempt them, so to queue safely you need to
		2131	employ a traditional mutex lock, such as in this pthread example:
		2132
		2133	static ev_async mysig;
		2134	static pthread_mutex_t mymutex = PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
		2135
		2136	static void
		2137	otherthread (void)
		2138	{
		2139	// only need to lock the actual queueing operation
		2140	pthread_mutex_lock (&mymutex);
		2141	queue_put (data);
		2142	pthread_mutex_unlock (&mymutex);
		2143
		2144	ev_async_send (DEFAULT_ &mysig);
		2145	}
		2146
		2147	static void
		2148	mysig_cb (EV_P_ ev_async *w, int revents)
		2149	{
		2150	pthread_mutex_lock (&mymutex);
		2151
		2152	while (queue_get (&data))
		2153	process (data);
		2154
		2155	pthread_mutex_unlock (&mymutex);
		2156	}
		2157
		2158	=back
		2159
		2160
		2161	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
		2162
		2163	=over 4
		2164
		2165	=item ev_async_init (ev_async *, callback)
		2166
		2167	Initialises and configures the async watcher - it has no parameters of any
		2168	kind. There is a C<ev_asynd_set> macro, but using it is utterly pointless,
		2169	believe me.
		2170
		2171	=item ev_async_send (loop, ev_async *)
		2172
		2173	Sends/signals/activates the given C<ev_async> watcher, that is, feeds
		2174	an C<EV_ASYNC> event on the watcher into the event loop. Unlike
		2175	C<ev_feed_event>, this call is safe to do in other threads, signal or
		2176	similar contexts (see the dicusssion of C<EV_ATOMIC_T> in the embedding
		2177	section below on what exactly this means).
		2178
		2179	This call incurs the overhead of a syscall only once per loop iteration,
		2180	so while the overhead might be noticable, it doesn't apply to repeated
		2181	calls to C<ev_async_send>.
1221		2182
1222	=back	2183	=back
1223		2184
1224		2185
1225	=head1 OTHER FUNCTIONS	2186	=head1 OTHER FUNCTIONS
…		…
1306		2267
1307	=back	2268	=back
1308		2269
1309	=head1 C++ SUPPORT	2270	=head1 C++ SUPPORT
1310		2271
1311	TBD.	2272	Libev comes with some simplistic wrapper classes for C++ that mainly allow
		2273	you to use some convinience methods to start/stop watchers and also change
		2274	the callback model to a model using method callbacks on objects.
		2275
		2276	To use it,
		2277
		2278	#include <ev++.h>
		2279
		2280	This automatically includes F<ev.h> and puts all of its definitions (many
		2281	of them macros) into the global namespace. All C++ specific things are
		2282	put into the C<ev> namespace. It should support all the same embedding
		2283	options as F<ev.h>, most notably C<EV_MULTIPLICITY>.
		2284
		2285	Care has been taken to keep the overhead low. The only data member the C++
		2286	classes add (compared to plain C-style watchers) is the event loop pointer
		2287	that the watcher is associated with (or no additional members at all if
		2288	you disable C<EV_MULTIPLICITY> when embedding libev).
		2289
		2290	Currently, functions, and static and non-static member functions can be
		2291	used as callbacks. Other types should be easy to add as long as they only
		2292	need one additional pointer for context. If you need support for other
		2293	types of functors please contact the author (preferably after implementing
		2294	it).
		2295
		2296	Here is a list of things available in the C<ev> namespace:
		2297
		2298	=over 4
		2299
		2300	=item C<ev::READ>, C<ev::WRITE> etc.
		2301
		2302	These are just enum values with the same values as the C<EV_READ> etc.
		2303	macros from F<ev.h>.
		2304
		2305	=item C<ev::tstamp>, C<ev::now>
		2306
		2307	Aliases to the same types/functions as with the C<ev_> prefix.
		2308
		2309	=item C<ev::io>, C<ev::timer>, C<ev::periodic>, C<ev::idle>, C<ev::sig> etc.
		2310
		2311	For each C<ev_TYPE> watcher in F<ev.h> there is a corresponding class of
		2312	the same name in the C<ev> namespace, with the exception of C<ev_signal>
		2313	which is called C<ev::sig> to avoid clashes with the C<signal> macro
		2314	defines by many implementations.
		2315
		2316	All of those classes have these methods:
		2317
		2318	=over 4
		2319
		2320	=item ev::TYPE::TYPE ()
		2321
		2322	=item ev::TYPE::TYPE (struct ev_loop *)
		2323
		2324	=item ev::TYPE::~TYPE
		2325
		2326	The constructor (optionally) takes an event loop to associate the watcher
		2327	with. If it is omitted, it will use C<EV_DEFAULT>.
		2328
		2329	The constructor calls C<ev_init> for you, which means you have to call the
		2330	C<set> method before starting it.
		2331
		2332	It will not set a callback, however: You have to call the templated C<set>
		2333	method to set a callback before you can start the watcher.
		2334
		2335	(The reason why you have to use a method is a limitation in C++ which does
		2336	not allow explicit template arguments for constructors).
		2337
		2338	The destructor automatically stops the watcher if it is active.
		2339
		2340	=item w->set<class, &class::method> (object *)
		2341
		2342	This method sets the callback method to call. The method has to have a
		2343	signature of C<void (*)(ev_TYPE &, int)>, it receives the watcher as
		2344	first argument and the C<revents> as second. The object must be given as
		2345	parameter and is stored in the C<data> member of the watcher.
		2346
		2347	This method synthesizes efficient thunking code to call your method from
		2348	the C callback that libev requires. If your compiler can inline your
		2349	callback (i.e. it is visible to it at the place of the C<set> call and
		2350	your compiler is good :), then the method will be fully inlined into the
		2351	thunking function, making it as fast as a direct C callback.
		2352
		2353	Example: simple class declaration and watcher initialisation
		2354
		2355	struct myclass
		2356	{
		2357	void io_cb (ev::io &w, int revents) { }
		2358	}
		2359
		2360	myclass obj;
		2361	ev::io iow;
		2362	iow.set <myclass, &myclass::io_cb> (&obj);
		2363
		2364	=item w->set<function> (void *data = 0)
		2365
		2366	Also sets a callback, but uses a static method or plain function as
		2367	callback. The optional C<data> argument will be stored in the watcher's
		2368	C<data> member and is free for you to use.
		2369
		2370	The prototype of the C<function> must be C<void (*)(ev::TYPE &w, int)>.
		2371
		2372	See the method-C<set> above for more details.
		2373
		2374	Example:
		2375
		2376	static void io_cb (ev::io &w, int revents) { }
		2377	iow.set <io_cb> ();
		2378
		2379	=item w->set (struct ev_loop *)
		2380
		2381	Associates a different C<struct ev_loop> with this watcher. You can only
		2382	do this when the watcher is inactive (and not pending either).
		2383
		2384	=item w->set ([args])
		2385
		2386	Basically the same as C<ev_TYPE_set>, with the same args. Must be
		2387	called at least once. Unlike the C counterpart, an active watcher gets
		2388	automatically stopped and restarted when reconfiguring it with this
		2389	method.
		2390
		2391	=item w->start ()
		2392
		2393	Starts the watcher. Note that there is no C<loop> argument, as the
		2394	constructor already stores the event loop.
		2395
		2396	=item w->stop ()
		2397
		2398	Stops the watcher if it is active. Again, no C<loop> argument.
		2399
		2400	=item w->again () (C<ev::timer>, C<ev::periodic> only)
		2401
		2402	For C<ev::timer> and C<ev::periodic>, this invokes the corresponding
		2403	C<ev_TYPE_again> function.
		2404
		2405	=item w->sweep () (C<ev::embed> only)
		2406
		2407	Invokes C<ev_embed_sweep>.
		2408
		2409	=item w->update () (C<ev::stat> only)
		2410
		2411	Invokes C<ev_stat_stat>.
		2412
		2413	=back
		2414
		2415	=back
		2416
		2417	Example: Define a class with an IO and idle watcher, start one of them in
		2418	the constructor.
		2419
		2420	class myclass
		2421	{
		2422	ev::io io; void io_cb (ev::io &w, int revents);
		2423	ev:idle idle void idle_cb (ev::idle &w, int revents);
		2424
		2425	myclass (int fd)
		2426	{
		2427	io .set <myclass, &myclass::io_cb > (this);
		2428	idle.set <myclass, &myclass::idle_cb> (this);
		2429
		2430	io.start (fd, ev::READ);
		2431	}
		2432	};
		2433
		2434
		2435	=head1 MACRO MAGIC
		2436
		2437	Libev can be compiled with a variety of options, the most fundamantal
		2438	of which is C<EV_MULTIPLICITY>. This option determines whether (most)
		2439	functions and callbacks have an initial C<struct ev_loop *> argument.
		2440
		2441	To make it easier to write programs that cope with either variant, the
		2442	following macros are defined:
		2443
		2444	=over 4
		2445
		2446	=item C<EV_A>, C<EV_A_>
		2447
		2448	This provides the loop I<argument> for functions, if one is required ("ev
		2449	loop argument"). The C<EV_A> form is used when this is the sole argument,
		2450	C<EV_A_> is used when other arguments are following. Example:
		2451
		2452	ev_unref (EV_A);
		2453	ev_timer_add (EV_A_ watcher);
		2454	ev_loop (EV_A_ 0);
		2455
		2456	It assumes the variable C<loop> of type C<struct ev_loop *> is in scope,
		2457	which is often provided by the following macro.
		2458
		2459	=item C<EV_P>, C<EV_P_>
		2460
		2461	This provides the loop I<parameter> for functions, if one is required ("ev
		2462	loop parameter"). The C<EV_P> form is used when this is the sole parameter,
		2463	C<EV_P_> is used when other parameters are following. Example:
		2464
		2465	// this is how ev_unref is being declared
		2466	static void ev_unref (EV_P);
		2467
		2468	// this is how you can declare your typical callback
		2469	static void cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)
		2470
		2471	It declares a parameter C<loop> of type C<struct ev_loop *>, quite
		2472	suitable for use with C<EV_A>.
		2473
		2474	=item C<EV_DEFAULT>, C<EV_DEFAULT_>
		2475
		2476	Similar to the other two macros, this gives you the value of the default
		2477	loop, if multiple loops are supported ("ev loop default").
		2478
		2479	=back
		2480
		2481	Example: Declare and initialise a check watcher, utilising the above
		2482	macros so it will work regardless of whether multiple loops are supported
		2483	or not.
		2484
		2485	static void
		2486	check_cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)
		2487	{
		2488	ev_check_stop (EV_A_ w);
		2489	}
		2490
		2491	ev_check check;
		2492	ev_check_init (&check, check_cb);
		2493	ev_check_start (EV_DEFAULT_ &check);
		2494	ev_loop (EV_DEFAULT_ 0);
		2495
		2496	=head1 EMBEDDING
		2497
		2498	Libev can (and often is) directly embedded into host
		2499	applications. Examples of applications that embed it include the Deliantra
		2500	Game Server, the EV perl module, the GNU Virtual Private Ethernet (gvpe)
		2501	and rxvt-unicode.
		2502
		2503	The goal is to enable you to just copy the necessary files into your
		2504	source directory without having to change even a single line in them, so
		2505	you can easily upgrade by simply copying (or having a checked-out copy of
		2506	libev somewhere in your source tree).
		2507
		2508	=head2 FILESETS
		2509
		2510	Depending on what features you need you need to include one or more sets of files
		2511	in your app.
		2512
		2513	=head3 CORE EVENT LOOP
		2514
		2515	To include only the libev core (all the C<ev_*> functions), with manual
		2516	configuration (no autoconf):
		2517
		2518	#define EV_STANDALONE 1
		2519	#include "ev.c"
		2520
		2521	This will automatically include F<ev.h>, too, and should be done in a
		2522	single C source file only to provide the function implementations. To use
		2523	it, do the same for F<ev.h> in all files wishing to use this API (best
		2524	done by writing a wrapper around F<ev.h> that you can include instead and
		2525	where you can put other configuration options):
		2526
		2527	#define EV_STANDALONE 1
		2528	#include "ev.h"
		2529
		2530	Both header files and implementation files can be compiled with a C++
		2531	compiler (at least, thats a stated goal, and breakage will be treated
		2532	as a bug).
		2533
		2534	You need the following files in your source tree, or in a directory
		2535	in your include path (e.g. in libev/ when using -Ilibev):
		2536
		2537	ev.h
		2538	ev.c
		2539	ev_vars.h
		2540	ev_wrap.h
		2541
		2542	ev_win32.c required on win32 platforms only
		2543
		2544	ev_select.c only when select backend is enabled (which is enabled by default)
		2545	ev_poll.c only when poll backend is enabled (disabled by default)
		2546	ev_epoll.c only when the epoll backend is enabled (disabled by default)
		2547	ev_kqueue.c only when the kqueue backend is enabled (disabled by default)
		2548	ev_port.c only when the solaris port backend is enabled (disabled by default)
		2549
		2550	F<ev.c> includes the backend files directly when enabled, so you only need
		2551	to compile this single file.
		2552
		2553	=head3 LIBEVENT COMPATIBILITY API
		2554
		2555	To include the libevent compatibility API, also include:
		2556
		2557	#include "event.c"
		2558
		2559	in the file including F<ev.c>, and:
		2560
		2561	#include "event.h"
		2562
		2563	in the files that want to use the libevent API. This also includes F<ev.h>.
		2564
		2565	You need the following additional files for this:
		2566
		2567	event.h
		2568	event.c
		2569
		2570	=head3 AUTOCONF SUPPORT
		2571
		2572	Instead of using C<EV_STANDALONE=1> and providing your config in
		2573	whatever way you want, you can also C<m4_include([libev.m4])> in your
		2574	F<configure.ac> and leave C<EV_STANDALONE> undefined. F<ev.c> will then
		2575	include F<config.h> and configure itself accordingly.
		2576
		2577	For this of course you need the m4 file:
		2578
		2579	libev.m4
		2580
		2581	=head2 PREPROCESSOR SYMBOLS/MACROS
		2582
		2583	Libev can be configured via a variety of preprocessor symbols you have to define
		2584	before including any of its files. The default is not to build for multiplicity
		2585	and only include the select backend.
		2586
		2587	=over 4
		2588
		2589	=item EV_STANDALONE
		2590
		2591	Must always be C<1> if you do not use autoconf configuration, which
		2592	keeps libev from including F<config.h>, and it also defines dummy
		2593	implementations for some libevent functions (such as logging, which is not
		2594	supported). It will also not define any of the structs usually found in
		2595	F<event.h> that are not directly supported by the libev core alone.
		2596
		2597	=item EV_USE_MONOTONIC
		2598
		2599	If defined to be C<1>, libev will try to detect the availability of the
		2600	monotonic clock option at both compiletime and runtime. Otherwise no use
		2601	of the monotonic clock option will be attempted. If you enable this, you
		2602	usually have to link against librt or something similar. Enabling it when
		2603	the functionality isn't available is safe, though, although you have
		2604	to make sure you link against any libraries where the C<clock_gettime>
		2605	function is hiding in (often F<-lrt>).
		2606
		2607	=item EV_USE_REALTIME
		2608
		2609	If defined to be C<1>, libev will try to detect the availability of the
		2610	realtime clock option at compiletime (and assume its availability at
		2611	runtime if successful). Otherwise no use of the realtime clock option will
		2612	be attempted. This effectively replaces C<gettimeofday> by C<clock_get
		2613	(CLOCK_REALTIME, ...)> and will not normally affect correctness. See the
		2614	note about libraries in the description of C<EV_USE_MONOTONIC>, though.
		2615
		2616	=item EV_USE_NANOSLEEP
		2617
		2618	If defined to be C<1>, libev will assume that C<nanosleep ()> is available
		2619	and will use it for delays. Otherwise it will use C<select ()>.
		2620
		2621	=item EV_USE_SELECT
		2622
		2623	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the
		2624	C<select>(2) backend. No attempt at autodetection will be done: if no
		2625	other method takes over, select will be it. Otherwise the select backend
		2626	will not be compiled in.
		2627
		2628	=item EV_SELECT_USE_FD_SET
		2629
		2630	If defined to C<1>, then the select backend will use the system C<fd_set>
		2631	structure. This is useful if libev doesn't compile due to a missing
		2632	C<NFDBITS> or C<fd_mask> definition or it misguesses the bitset layout on
		2633	exotic systems. This usually limits the range of file descriptors to some
		2634	low limit such as 1024 or might have other limitations (winsocket only
		2635	allows 64 sockets). The C<FD_SETSIZE> macro, set before compilation, might
		2636	influence the size of the C<fd_set> used.
		2637
		2638	=item EV_SELECT_IS_WINSOCKET
		2639
		2640	When defined to C<1>, the select backend will assume that
		2641	select/socket/connect etc. don't understand file descriptors but
		2642	wants osf handles on win32 (this is the case when the select to
		2643	be used is the winsock select). This means that it will call
		2644	C<_get_osfhandle> on the fd to convert it to an OS handle. Otherwise,
		2645	it is assumed that all these functions actually work on fds, even
		2646	on win32. Should not be defined on non-win32 platforms.
		2647
		2648	=item EV_FD_TO_WIN32_HANDLE
		2649
		2650	If C<EV_SELECT_IS_WINSOCKET> is enabled, then libev needs a way to map
		2651	file descriptors to socket handles. When not defining this symbol (the
		2652	default), then libev will call C<_get_osfhandle>, which is usually
		2653	correct. In some cases, programs use their own file descriptor management,
		2654	in which case they can provide this function to map fds to socket handles.
		2655
		2656	=item EV_USE_POLL
		2657
		2658	If defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the C<poll>(2)
		2659	backend. Otherwise it will be enabled on non-win32 platforms. It
		2660	takes precedence over select.
		2661
		2662	=item EV_USE_EPOLL
		2663
		2664	If defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the Linux
		2665	C<epoll>(7) backend. Its availability will be detected at runtime,
		2666	otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the
		2667	preferred backend for GNU/Linux systems.
		2668
		2669	=item EV_USE_KQUEUE
		2670
		2671	If defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the BSD style
		2672	C<kqueue>(2) backend. Its actual availability will be detected at runtime,
		2673	otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the preferred
		2674	backend for BSD and BSD-like systems, although on most BSDs kqueue only
		2675	supports some types of fds correctly (the only platform we found that
		2676	supports ptys for example was NetBSD), so kqueue might be compiled in, but
		2677	not be used unless explicitly requested. The best way to use it is to find
		2678	out whether kqueue supports your type of fd properly and use an embedded
		2679	kqueue loop.
		2680
		2681	=item EV_USE_PORT
		2682
		2683	If defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the Solaris
		2684	10 port style backend. Its availability will be detected at runtime,
		2685	otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the preferred
		2686	backend for Solaris 10 systems.
		2687
		2688	=item EV_USE_DEVPOLL
		2689
		2690	reserved for future expansion, works like the USE symbols above.
		2691
		2692	=item EV_USE_INOTIFY
		2693
		2694	If defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the Linux inotify
		2695	interface to speed up C<ev_stat> watchers. Its actual availability will
		2696	be detected at runtime.
		2697
		2698	=item EV_ATOMIC_T
		2699
		2700	Libev requires an integer type (suitable for storing C<0> or C<1>) whose
		2701	access is atomic with respect to other threads or signal contexts. No such
		2702	type is easily found in the C language, so you can provide your own type
		2703	that you know is safe for your purposes. It is used both for signal handler "locking"
		2704	as well as for signal and thread safety in C<ev_async> watchers.
		2705
		2706	In the absense of this define, libev will use C<sig_atomic_t volatile>
		2707	(from F<signal.h>), which is usually good enough on most platforms.
		2708
		2709	=item EV_H
		2710
		2711	The name of the F<ev.h> header file used to include it. The default if
		2712	undefined is C<"ev.h"> in F<event.h>, F<ev.c> and F<ev++.h>. This can be
		2713	used to virtually rename the F<ev.h> header file in case of conflicts.
		2714
		2715	=item EV_CONFIG_H
		2716
		2717	If C<EV_STANDALONE> isn't C<1>, this variable can be used to override
		2718	F<ev.c>'s idea of where to find the F<config.h> file, similarly to
		2719	C<EV_H>, above.
		2720
		2721	=item EV_EVENT_H
		2722
		2723	Similarly to C<EV_H>, this macro can be used to override F<event.c>'s idea
		2724	of how the F<event.h> header can be found, the default is C<"event.h">.
		2725
		2726	=item EV_PROTOTYPES
		2727
		2728	If defined to be C<0>, then F<ev.h> will not define any function
		2729	prototypes, but still define all the structs and other symbols. This is
		2730	occasionally useful if you want to provide your own wrapper functions
		2731	around libev functions.
		2732
		2733	=item EV_MULTIPLICITY
		2734
		2735	If undefined or defined to C<1>, then all event-loop-specific functions
		2736	will have the C<struct ev_loop *> as first argument, and you can create
		2737	additional independent event loops. Otherwise there will be no support
		2738	for multiple event loops and there is no first event loop pointer
		2739	argument. Instead, all functions act on the single default loop.
		2740
		2741	=item EV_MINPRI
		2742
		2743	=item EV_MAXPRI
		2744
		2745	The range of allowed priorities. C<EV_MINPRI> must be smaller or equal to
		2746	C<EV_MAXPRI>, but otherwise there are no non-obvious limitations. You can
		2747	provide for more priorities by overriding those symbols (usually defined
		2748	to be C<-2> and C<2>, respectively).
		2749
		2750	When doing priority-based operations, libev usually has to linearly search
		2751	all the priorities, so having many of them (hundreds) uses a lot of space
		2752	and time, so using the defaults of five priorities (-2 .. +2) is usually
		2753	fine.
		2754
		2755	If your embedding app does not need any priorities, defining these both to
		2756	C<0> will save some memory and cpu.
		2757
		2758	=item EV_PERIODIC_ENABLE
		2759
		2760	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then periodic timers are supported. If
		2761	defined to be C<0>, then they are not. Disabling them saves a few kB of
		2762	code.
		2763
		2764	=item EV_IDLE_ENABLE
		2765
		2766	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then idle watchers are supported. If
		2767	defined to be C<0>, then they are not. Disabling them saves a few kB of
		2768	code.
		2769
		2770	=item EV_EMBED_ENABLE
		2771
		2772	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then embed watchers are supported. If
		2773	defined to be C<0>, then they are not.
		2774
		2775	=item EV_STAT_ENABLE
		2776
		2777	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then stat watchers are supported. If
		2778	defined to be C<0>, then they are not.
		2779
		2780	=item EV_FORK_ENABLE
		2781
		2782	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then fork watchers are supported. If
		2783	defined to be C<0>, then they are not.
		2784
		2785	=item EV_ASYNC_ENABLE
		2786
		2787	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then async watchers are supported. If
		2788	defined to be C<0>, then they are not.
		2789
		2790	=item EV_MINIMAL
		2791
		2792	If you need to shave off some kilobytes of code at the expense of some
		2793	speed, define this symbol to C<1>. Currently only used for gcc to override
		2794	some inlining decisions, saves roughly 30% codesize of amd64.
		2795
		2796	=item EV_PID_HASHSIZE
		2797
		2798	C<ev_child> watchers use a small hash table to distribute workload by
		2799	pid. The default size is C<16> (or C<1> with C<EV_MINIMAL>), usually more
		2800	than enough. If you need to manage thousands of children you might want to
		2801	increase this value (I<must> be a power of two).
		2802
		2803	=item EV_INOTIFY_HASHSIZE
		2804
		2805	C<ev_stat> watchers use a small hash table to distribute workload by
		2806	inotify watch id. The default size is C<16> (or C<1> with C<EV_MINIMAL>),
		2807	usually more than enough. If you need to manage thousands of C<ev_stat>
		2808	watchers you might want to increase this value (I<must> be a power of
		2809	two).
		2810
		2811	=item EV_COMMON
		2812
		2813	By default, all watchers have a C<void *data> member. By redefining
		2814	this macro to a something else you can include more and other types of
		2815	members. You have to define it each time you include one of the files,
		2816	though, and it must be identical each time.
		2817
		2818	For example, the perl EV module uses something like this:
		2819
		2820	#define EV_COMMON \
		2821	SV *self; /* contains this struct */ \
		2822	SV *cb_sv, *fh /* note no trailing ";" */
		2823
		2824	=item EV_CB_DECLARE (type)
		2825
		2826	=item EV_CB_INVOKE (watcher, revents)
		2827
		2828	=item ev_set_cb (ev, cb)
		2829
		2830	Can be used to change the callback member declaration in each watcher,
		2831	and the way callbacks are invoked and set. Must expand to a struct member
		2832	definition and a statement, respectively. See the F<ev.h> header file for
		2833	their default definitions. One possible use for overriding these is to
		2834	avoid the C<struct ev_loop *> as first argument in all cases, or to use
		2835	method calls instead of plain function calls in C++.
		2836
		2837	=head2 EXPORTED API SYMBOLS
		2838
		2839	If you need to re-export the API (e.g. via a dll) and you need a list of
		2840	exported symbols, you can use the provided F<Symbol.*> files which list
		2841	all public symbols, one per line:
		2842
		2843	Symbols.ev for libev proper
		2844	Symbols.event for the libevent emulation
		2845
		2846	This can also be used to rename all public symbols to avoid clashes with
		2847	multiple versions of libev linked together (which is obviously bad in
		2848	itself, but sometimes it is inconvinient to avoid this).
		2849
		2850	A sed command like this will create wrapper C<#define>'s that you need to
		2851	include before including F<ev.h>:
		2852
		2853	<Symbols.ev sed -e "s/.*/#define & myprefix_&/" >wrap.h
		2854
		2855	This would create a file F<wrap.h> which essentially looks like this:
		2856
		2857	#define ev_backend myprefix_ev_backend
		2858	#define ev_check_start myprefix_ev_check_start
		2859	#define ev_check_stop myprefix_ev_check_stop
		2860	...
		2861
		2862	=head2 EXAMPLES
		2863
		2864	For a real-world example of a program the includes libev
		2865	verbatim, you can have a look at the EV perl module
		2866	(L<http://software.schmorp.de/pkg/EV.html>). It has the libev files in
		2867	the F<libev/> subdirectory and includes them in the F<EV/EVAPI.h> (public
		2868	interface) and F<EV.xs> (implementation) files. Only the F<EV.xs> file
		2869	will be compiled. It is pretty complex because it provides its own header
		2870	file.
		2871
		2872	The usage in rxvt-unicode is simpler. It has a F<ev_cpp.h> header file
		2873	that everybody includes and which overrides some configure choices:
		2874
		2875	#define EV_MINIMAL 1
		2876	#define EV_USE_POLL 0
		2877	#define EV_MULTIPLICITY 0
		2878	#define EV_PERIODIC_ENABLE 0
		2879	#define EV_STAT_ENABLE 0
		2880	#define EV_FORK_ENABLE 0
		2881	#define EV_CONFIG_H <config.h>
		2882	#define EV_MINPRI 0
		2883	#define EV_MAXPRI 0
		2884
		2885	#include "ev++.h"
		2886
		2887	And a F<ev_cpp.C> implementation file that contains libev proper and is compiled:
		2888
		2889	#include "ev_cpp.h"
		2890	#include "ev.c"
		2891
		2892
		2893	=head1 COMPLEXITIES
		2894
		2895	In this section the complexities of (many of) the algorithms used inside
		2896	libev will be explained. For complexity discussions about backends see the
		2897	documentation for C<ev_default_init>.
		2898
		2899	All of the following are about amortised time: If an array needs to be
		2900	extended, libev needs to realloc and move the whole array, but this
		2901	happens asymptotically never with higher number of elements, so O(1) might
		2902	mean it might do a lengthy realloc operation in rare cases, but on average
		2903	it is much faster and asymptotically approaches constant time.
		2904
		2905	=over 4
		2906
		2907	=item Starting and stopping timer/periodic watchers: O(log skipped_other_timers)
		2908
		2909	This means that, when you have a watcher that triggers in one hour and
		2910	there are 100 watchers that would trigger before that then inserting will
		2911	have to skip roughly seven (C<ld 100>) of these watchers.
		2912
		2913	=item Changing timer/periodic watchers (by autorepeat or calling again): O(log skipped_other_timers)
		2914
		2915	That means that changing a timer costs less than removing/adding them
		2916	as only the relative motion in the event queue has to be paid for.
		2917
		2918	=item Starting io/check/prepare/idle/signal/child/fork/async watchers: O(1)
		2919
		2920	These just add the watcher into an array or at the head of a list.
		2921
		2922	=item Stopping check/prepare/idle/fork/async watchers: O(1)
		2923
		2924	=item Stopping an io/signal/child watcher: O(number_of_watchers_for_this_(fd/signal/pid % EV_PID_HASHSIZE))
		2925
		2926	These watchers are stored in lists then need to be walked to find the
		2927	correct watcher to remove. The lists are usually short (you don't usually
		2928	have many watchers waiting for the same fd or signal).
		2929
		2930	=item Finding the next timer in each loop iteration: O(1)
		2931
		2932	By virtue of using a binary heap, the next timer is always found at the
		2933	beginning of the storage array.
		2934
		2935	=item Each change on a file descriptor per loop iteration: O(number_of_watchers_for_this_fd)
		2936
		2937	A change means an I/O watcher gets started or stopped, which requires
		2938	libev to recalculate its status (and possibly tell the kernel, depending
		2939	on backend and wether C<ev_io_set> was used).
		2940
		2941	=item Activating one watcher (putting it into the pending state): O(1)
		2942
		2943	=item Priority handling: O(number_of_priorities)
		2944
		2945	Priorities are implemented by allocating some space for each
		2946	priority. When doing priority-based operations, libev usually has to
		2947	linearly search all the priorities, but starting/stopping and activating
		2948	watchers becomes O(1) w.r.t. priority handling.
		2949
		2950	=item Sending an ev_async: O(1)
		2951
		2952	=item Processing ev_async_send: O(number_of_async_watchers)
		2953
		2954	=item Processing signals: O(max_signal_number)
		2955
		2956	Sending involves a syscall I<iff> there were no other C<ev_async_send>
		2957	calls in the current loop iteration. Checking for async and signal events
		2958	involves iterating over all running async watchers or all signal numbers.
		2959
		2960	=back
		2961
		2962
		2963	=head1 Win32 platform limitations and workarounds
		2964
		2965	Win32 doesn't support any of the standards (e.g. POSIX) that libev
		2966	requires, and its I/O model is fundamentally incompatible with the POSIX
		2967	model. Libev still offers limited functionality on this platform in
		2968	the form of the C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> backend, and only supports socket
		2969	descriptors. This only applies when using Win32 natively, not when using
		2970	e.g. cygwin.
		2971
		2972	There is no supported compilation method available on windows except
		2973	embedding it into other applications.
		2974
		2975	Due to the many, low, and arbitrary limits on the win32 platform and the
		2976	abysmal performance of winsockets, using a large number of sockets is not
		2977	recommended (and not reasonable). If your program needs to use more than
		2978	a hundred or so sockets, then likely it needs to use a totally different
		2979	implementation for windows, as libev offers the POSIX model, which cannot
		2980	be implemented efficiently on windows (microsoft monopoly games).
		2981
		2982	=over 4
		2983
		2984	=item The winsocket select function
		2985
		2986	The winsocket C<select> function doesn't follow POSIX in that it requires
		2987	socket I<handles> and not socket I<file descriptors>. This makes select
		2988	very inefficient, and also requires a mapping from file descriptors
		2989	to socket handles. See the discussion of the C<EV_SELECT_USE_FD_SET>,
		2990	C<EV_SELECT_IS_WINSOCKET> and C<EV_FD_TO_WIN32_HANDLE> preprocessor
		2991	symbols for more info.
		2992
		2993	The configuration for a "naked" win32 using the microsoft runtime
		2994	libraries and raw winsocket select is:
		2995
		2996	#define EV_USE_SELECT 1
		2997	#define EV_SELECT_IS_WINSOCKET 1 /* forces EV_SELECT_USE_FD_SET, too */
		2998
		2999	Note that winsockets handling of fd sets is O(n), so you can easily get a
		3000	complexity in the O(n²) range when using win32.
		3001
		3002	=item Limited number of file descriptors
		3003
		3004	Windows has numerous arbitrary (and low) limits on things. Early versions
		3005	of winsocket's select only supported waiting for a max. of C<64> handles
		3006	(probably owning to the fact that all windows kernels can only wait for
		3007	C<64> things at the same time internally; microsoft recommends spawning a
		3008	chain of threads and wait for 63 handles and the previous thread in each).
		3009
		3010	Newer versions support more handles, but you need to define C<FD_SETSIZE>
		3011	to some high number (e.g. C<2048>) before compiling the winsocket select
		3012	call (which might be in libev or elsewhere, for example, perl does its own
		3013	select emulation on windows).
		3014
		3015	Another limit is the number of file descriptors in the microsoft runtime
		3016	libraries, which by default is C<64> (there must be a hidden I<64> fetish
		3017	or something like this inside microsoft). You can increase this by calling
		3018	C<_setmaxstdio>, which can increase this limit to C<2048> (another
		3019	arbitrary limit), but is broken in many versions of the microsoft runtime
		3020	libraries.
		3021
		3022	This might get you to about C<512> or C<2048> sockets (depending on
		3023	windows version and/or the phase of the moon). To get more, you need to
		3024	wrap all I/O functions and provide your own fd management, but the cost of
		3025	calling select (O(n²)) will likely make this unworkable.
		3026
		3027	=back
		3028
1312		3029
1313	=head1 AUTHOR	3030	=head1 AUTHOR
1314		3031
1315	Marc Lehmann <libev@schmorp.de>.	3032	Marc Lehmann <libev@schmorp.de>.
1316		3033

Diff Legend

–	Removed lines
+	Added lines
<	Changed lines
>	Changed lines