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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 // a single header file is required
12 #include <ev.h>
13
14 // every watcher type has its own typedef'd struct
15 // with the name ev_<type>
16 ev_io stdin_watcher;
17 ev_timer timeout_watcher;
18
19 // all watcher callbacks have a similar signature
20 // this callback is called when data is readable on stdin
21 static void
22 stdin_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_io *w, int revents)
23 {
24 puts ("stdin ready");
25 // for one-shot events, one must manually stop the watcher
26 // with its corresponding stop function.
27 ev_io_stop (EV_A_ w);
28
29 // this causes all nested ev_loop's to stop iterating
30 ev_unloop (EV_A_ EVUNLOOP_ALL);
31 }
32
33 // another callback, this time for a time-out
34 static void
35 timeout_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_timer *w, int revents)
36 {
37 puts ("timeout");
38 // this causes the innermost ev_loop to stop iterating
39 ev_unloop (EV_A_ EVUNLOOP_ONE);
40 }
41
42 int
43 main (void)
44 {
45 // use the default event loop unless you have special needs
46 struct ev_loop *loop = ev_default_loop (0);
47
48 // initialise an io watcher, then start it
49 // this one will watch for stdin to become readable
50 ev_io_init (&stdin_watcher, stdin_cb, /*STDIN_FILENO*/ 0, EV_READ);
51 ev_io_start (loop, &stdin_watcher);
52
53 // initialise a timer watcher, then start it
54 // simple non-repeating 5.5 second timeout
55 ev_timer_init (&timeout_watcher, timeout_cb, 5.5, 0.);
56 ev_timer_start (loop, &timeout_watcher);
57
58 // now wait for events to arrive
59 ev_loop (loop, 0);
60
61 // unloop was called, so exit
62 return 0;
63 }
64
9=head1 DESCRIPTION 65=head1 DESCRIPTION
10 66
67The newest version of this document is also available as an html-formatted
68web page you might find easier to navigate when reading it for the first
69time: L<http://cvs.schmorp.de/libev/ev.html>.
70
11Libev is an event loop: you register interest in certain events (such as a 71Libev is an event loop: you register interest in certain events (such as a
12file descriptor being readable or a timeout occuring), and it will manage 72file descriptor being readable or a timeout occurring), and it will manage
13these event sources and provide your program with events. 73these event sources and provide your program with events.
14 74
15To do this, it must take more or less complete control over your process 75To 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 76(or thread) by executing the I<event loop> handler, and will then
17communicate events via a callback mechanism. 77communicate events via a callback mechanism.
19You register interest in certain events by registering so-called I<event 79You register interest in certain events by registering so-called I<event
20watchers>, which are relatively small C structures you initialise with the 80watchers>, which are relatively small C structures you initialise with the
21details of the event, and then hand it over to libev by I<starting> the 81details of the event, and then hand it over to libev by I<starting> the
22watcher. 82watcher.
23 83
24=head1 FEATURES 84=head2 FEATURES
25 85
26Libev supports select, poll, the linux-specific epoll and the bsd-specific 86Libev supports C<select>, C<poll>, the Linux-specific C<epoll>, the
27kqueue mechanisms for file descriptor events, relative timers, absolute 87BSD-specific C<kqueue> and the Solaris-specific event port mechanisms
28timers with customised rescheduling, signal events, process status change 88for file descriptor events (C<ev_io>), the Linux C<inotify> interface
29events (related to SIGCHLD), and event watchers dealing with the event 89(for C<ev_stat>), relative timers (C<ev_timer>), absolute timers
30loop mechanism itself (idle, prepare and check watchers). It also is quite 90with customised rescheduling (C<ev_periodic>), synchronous signals
91(C<ev_signal>), process status change events (C<ev_child>), and event
92watchers dealing with the event loop mechanism itself (C<ev_idle>,
93C<ev_embed>, C<ev_prepare> and C<ev_check> watchers) as well as
94file watchers (C<ev_stat>) and even limited support for fork events
95(C<ev_fork>).
96
97It also is quite fast (see this
31fast (see this L<benchmark|http://libev.schmorp.de/bench.html> comparing 98L<benchmark|http://libev.schmorp.de/bench.html> comparing it to libevent
32it to libevent for example). 99for example).
33 100
34=head1 CONVENTIONS 101=head2 CONVENTIONS
35 102
36Libev is very configurable. In this manual the default configuration 103Libev is very configurable. In this manual the default (and most common)
37will be described, which supports multiple event loops. For more info 104configuration will be described, which supports multiple event loops. For
38about various configuration options please have a look at the file 105more info about various configuration options please have a look at
39F<README.embed> in the libev distribution. If libev was configured without 106B<EMBED> section in this manual. If libev was configured without support
40support for multiple event loops, then all functions taking an initial 107for multiple event loops, then all functions taking an initial argument of
41argument of name C<loop> (which is always of type C<struct ev_loop *>) 108name C<loop> (which is always of type C<struct ev_loop *>) will not have
42will not have this argument. 109this argument.
43 110
44=head1 TIME AND OTHER GLOBAL FUNCTIONS 111=head2 TIME REPRESENTATION
45 112
46Libev represents time as a single floating point number, representing the 113Libev represents time as a single floating point number, representing the
47(fractional) number of seconds since the (POSIX) epoch (somewhere near 114(fractional) number of seconds since the (POSIX) epoch (somewhere near
48the beginning of 1970, details are complicated, don't ask). This type is 115the beginning of 1970, details are complicated, don't ask). This type is
49called C<ev_tstamp>, which is what you should use too. It usually aliases 116called C<ev_tstamp>, which is what you should use too. It usually aliases
50to the double type in C. 117to the C<double> type in C, and when you need to do any calculations on
118it, you should treat it as some floatingpoint value. Unlike the name
119component C<stamp> might indicate, it is also used for time differences
120throughout libev.
121
122=head1 GLOBAL FUNCTIONS
123
124These functions can be called anytime, even before initialising the
125library in any way.
51 126
52=over 4 127=over 4
53 128
54=item ev_tstamp ev_time () 129=item ev_tstamp ev_time ()
55 130
56Returns the current time as libev would use it. 131Returns the current time as libev would use it. Please note that the
132C<ev_now> function is usually faster and also often returns the timestamp
133you actually want to know.
134
135=item ev_sleep (ev_tstamp interval)
136
137Sleep for the given interval: The current thread will be blocked until
138either it is interrupted or the given time interval has passed. Basically
139this is a subsecond-resolution C<sleep ()>.
57 140
58=item int ev_version_major () 141=item int ev_version_major ()
59 142
60=item int ev_version_minor () 143=item int ev_version_minor ()
61 144
62You can find out the major and minor version numbers of the library 145You can find out the major and minor ABI version numbers of the library
63you linked against by calling the functions C<ev_version_major> and 146you linked against by calling the functions C<ev_version_major> and
64C<ev_version_minor>. If you want, you can compare against the global 147C<ev_version_minor>. If you want, you can compare against the global
65symbols C<EV_VERSION_MAJOR> and C<EV_VERSION_MINOR>, which specify the 148symbols C<EV_VERSION_MAJOR> and C<EV_VERSION_MINOR>, which specify the
66version of the library your program was compiled against. 149version of the library your program was compiled against.
67 150
151These version numbers refer to the ABI version of the library, not the
152release version.
153
68Usually, it's a good idea to terminate if the major versions mismatch, 154Usually, it's a good idea to terminate if the major versions mismatch,
69as this indicates an incompatible change. Minor versions are usually 155as this indicates an incompatible change. Minor versions are usually
70compatible to older versions, so a larger minor version alone is usually 156compatible to older versions, so a larger minor version alone is usually
71not a problem. 157not a problem.
72 158
159Example: Make sure we haven't accidentally been linked against the wrong
160version.
161
162 assert (("libev version mismatch",
163 ev_version_major () == EV_VERSION_MAJOR
164 && ev_version_minor () >= EV_VERSION_MINOR));
165
166=item unsigned int ev_supported_backends ()
167
168Return the set of all backends (i.e. their corresponding C<EV_BACKEND_*>
169value) compiled into this binary of libev (independent of their
170availability on the system you are running on). See C<ev_default_loop> for
171a description of the set values.
172
173Example: make sure we have the epoll method, because yeah this is cool and
174a must have and can we have a torrent of it please!!!11
175
176 assert (("sorry, no epoll, no sex",
177 ev_supported_backends () & EVBACKEND_EPOLL));
178
179=item unsigned int ev_recommended_backends ()
180
181Return the set of all backends compiled into this binary of libev and also
182recommended for this platform. This set is often smaller than the one
183returned by C<ev_supported_backends>, as for example kqueue is broken on
184most BSDs and will not be autodetected unless you explicitly request it
185(assuming you know what you are doing). This is the set of backends that
186libev will probe for if you specify no backends explicitly.
187
188=item unsigned int ev_embeddable_backends ()
189
190Returns the set of backends that are embeddable in other event loops. This
191is the theoretical, all-platform, value. To find which backends
192might be supported on the current system, you would need to look at
193C<ev_embeddable_backends () & ev_supported_backends ()>, likewise for
194recommended ones.
195
196See the description of C<ev_embed> watchers for more info.
197
73=item ev_set_allocator (void *(*cb)(void *ptr, long size)) 198=item ev_set_allocator (void *(*cb)(void *ptr, long size))
74 199
75Sets the allocation function to use (the prototype is similar to the 200Sets the allocation function to use (the prototype is similar - the
76realloc C function, the semantics are identical). It is used to allocate 201semantics is identical - to the realloc C function). It is used to
77and free memory (no surprises here). If it returns zero when memory 202allocate and free memory (no surprises here). If it returns zero when
78needs to be allocated, the library might abort or take some potentially 203memory needs to be allocated, the library might abort or take some
79destructive action. The default is your system realloc function. 204potentially destructive action. The default is your system realloc
205function.
80 206
81You could override this function in high-availability programs to, say, 207You could override this function in high-availability programs to, say,
82free some memory if it cannot allocate memory, to use a special allocator, 208free some memory if it cannot allocate memory, to use a special allocator,
83or even to sleep a while and retry until some memory is available. 209or even to sleep a while and retry until some memory is available.
210
211Example: Replace the libev allocator with one that waits a bit and then
212retries).
213
214 static void *
215 persistent_realloc (void *ptr, size_t size)
216 {
217 for (;;)
218 {
219 void *newptr = realloc (ptr, size);
220
221 if (newptr)
222 return newptr;
223
224 sleep (60);
225 }
226 }
227
228 ...
229 ev_set_allocator (persistent_realloc);
84 230
85=item ev_set_syserr_cb (void (*cb)(const char *msg)); 231=item ev_set_syserr_cb (void (*cb)(const char *msg));
86 232
87Set the callback function to call on a retryable syscall error (such 233Set the callback function to call on a retryable syscall error (such
88as failed select, poll, epoll_wait). The message is a printable string 234as failed select, poll, epoll_wait). The message is a printable string
90callback is set, then libev will expect it to remedy the sitution, no 236callback is set, then libev will expect it to remedy the sitution, no
91matter what, when it returns. That is, libev will generally retry the 237matter what, when it returns. That is, libev will generally retry the
92requested operation, or, if the condition doesn't go away, do bad stuff 238requested operation, or, if the condition doesn't go away, do bad stuff
93(such as abort). 239(such as abort).
94 240
241Example: This is basically the same thing that libev does internally, too.
242
243 static void
244 fatal_error (const char *msg)
245 {
246 perror (msg);
247 abort ();
248 }
249
250 ...
251 ev_set_syserr_cb (fatal_error);
252
95=back 253=back
96 254
97=head1 FUNCTIONS CONTROLLING THE EVENT LOOP 255=head1 FUNCTIONS CONTROLLING THE EVENT LOOP
98 256
99An event loop is described by a C<struct ev_loop *>. The library knows two 257An event loop is described by a C<struct ev_loop *>. The library knows two
100types of such loops, the I<default> loop, which supports signals and child 258types of such loops, the I<default> loop, which supports signals and child
101events, and dynamically created loops which do not. 259events, and dynamically created loops which do not.
102 260
103If you use threads, a common model is to run the default event loop 261If you use threads, a common model is to run the default event loop
104in your main thread (or in a separate thrad) and for each thread you 262in your main thread (or in a separate thread) and for each thread you
105create, you also create another event loop. Libev itself does no locking 263create, you also create another event loop. Libev itself does no locking
106whatsoever, so if you mix calls to the same event loop in different 264whatsoever, so if you mix calls to the same event loop in different
107threads, make sure you lock (this is usually a bad idea, though, even if 265threads, make sure you lock (this is usually a bad idea, though, even if
108done correctly, because it's hideous and inefficient). 266done correctly, because it's hideous and inefficient).
109 267
112=item struct ev_loop *ev_default_loop (unsigned int flags) 270=item struct ev_loop *ev_default_loop (unsigned int flags)
113 271
114This will initialise the default event loop if it hasn't been initialised 272This will initialise the default event loop if it hasn't been initialised
115yet and return it. If the default loop could not be initialised, returns 273yet and return it. If the default loop could not be initialised, returns
116false. If it already was initialised it simply returns it (and ignores the 274false. If it already was initialised it simply returns it (and ignores the
117flags). 275flags. If that is troubling you, check C<ev_backend ()> afterwards).
118 276
119If you don't know what event loop to use, use the one returned from this 277If you don't know what event loop to use, use the one returned from this
120function. 278function.
121 279
280The default loop is the only loop that can handle C<ev_signal> and
281C<ev_child> watchers, and to do this, it always registers a handler
282for C<SIGCHLD>. If this is a problem for your app you can either
283create a dynamic loop with C<ev_loop_new> that doesn't do that, or you
284can simply overwrite the C<SIGCHLD> signal handler I<after> calling
285C<ev_default_init>.
286
122The flags argument can be used to specify special behaviour or specific 287The flags argument can be used to specify special behaviour or specific
123backends to use, and is usually specified as 0 (or EVFLAG_AUTO). 288backends to use, and is usually specified as C<0> (or C<EVFLAG_AUTO>).
124 289
125It supports the following flags: 290The following flags are supported:
126 291
127=over 4 292=over 4
128 293
129=item C<EVFLAG_AUTO> 294=item C<EVFLAG_AUTO>
130 295
138C<LIBEV_FLAGS>. Otherwise (the default), this environment variable will 303C<LIBEV_FLAGS>. Otherwise (the default), this environment variable will
139override the flags completely if it is found in the environment. This is 304override the flags completely if it is found in the environment. This is
140useful to try out specific backends to test their performance, or to work 305useful to try out specific backends to test their performance, or to work
141around bugs. 306around bugs.
142 307
308=item C<EVFLAG_FORKCHECK>
309
310Instead of calling C<ev_default_fork> or C<ev_loop_fork> manually after
311a fork, you can also make libev check for a fork in each iteration by
312enabling this flag.
313
314This works by calling C<getpid ()> on every iteration of the loop,
315and thus this might slow down your event loop if you do a lot of loop
316iterations and little real work, but is usually not noticeable (on my
317GNU/Linux system for example, C<getpid> is actually a simple 5-insn sequence
318without a syscall and thus I<very> fast, but my GNU/Linux system also has
319C<pthread_atfork> which is even faster).
320
321The big advantage of this flag is that you can forget about fork (and
322forget about forgetting to tell libev about forking) when you use this
323flag.
324
325This flag setting cannot be overriden or specified in the C<LIBEV_FLAGS>
326environment variable.
327
143=item C<EVMETHOD_SELECT> (portable select backend) 328=item C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> (value 1, portable select backend)
144 329
330This is your standard select(2) backend. Not I<completely> standard, as
331libev tries to roll its own fd_set with no limits on the number of fds,
332but if that fails, expect a fairly low limit on the number of fds when
333using this backend. It doesn't scale too well (O(highest_fd)), but its
334usually the fastest backend for a low number of (low-numbered :) fds.
335
336To get good performance out of this backend you need a high amount of
337parallelity (most of the file descriptors should be busy). If you are
338writing a server, you should C<accept ()> in a loop to accept as many
339connections as possible during one iteration. You might also want to have
340a look at C<ev_set_io_collect_interval ()> to increase the amount of
341readyness notifications you get per iteration.
342
145=item C<EVMETHOD_POLL> (poll backend, available everywhere except on windows) 343=item C<EVBACKEND_POLL> (value 2, poll backend, available everywhere except on windows)
146 344
147=item C<EVMETHOD_EPOLL> (linux only) 345And this is your standard poll(2) backend. It's more complicated
346than select, but handles sparse fds better and has no artificial
347limit on the number of fds you can use (except it will slow down
348considerably with a lot of inactive fds). It scales similarly to select,
349i.e. O(total_fds). See the entry for C<EVBACKEND_SELECT>, above, for
350performance tips.
148 351
149=item C<EVMETHOD_KQUEUE> (some bsds only) 352=item C<EVBACKEND_EPOLL> (value 4, Linux)
150 353
151=item C<EVMETHOD_DEVPOLL> (solaris 8 only) 354For few fds, this backend is a bit little slower than poll and select,
355but it scales phenomenally better. While poll and select usually scale
356like O(total_fds) where n is the total number of fds (or the highest fd),
357epoll scales either O(1) or O(active_fds). The epoll design has a number
358of shortcomings, such as silently dropping events in some hard-to-detect
359cases and rewiring a syscall per fd change, no fork support and bad
360support for dup.
152 361
153=item C<EVMETHOD_PORT> (solaris 10 only) 362While stopping, setting and starting an I/O watcher in the same iteration
363will result in some caching, there is still a syscall per such incident
364(because the fd could point to a different file description now), so its
365best to avoid that. Also, C<dup ()>'ed file descriptors might not work
366very well if you register events for both fds.
367
368Please note that epoll sometimes generates spurious notifications, so you
369need to use non-blocking I/O or other means to avoid blocking when no data
370(or space) is available.
371
372Best performance from this backend is achieved by not unregistering all
373watchers for a file descriptor until it has been closed, if possible, i.e.
374keep at least one watcher active per fd at all times.
375
376While nominally embeddeble in other event loops, this feature is broken in
377all kernel versions tested so far.
378
379=item C<EVBACKEND_KQUEUE> (value 8, most BSD clones)
380
381Kqueue deserves special mention, as at the time of this writing, it
382was broken on all BSDs except NetBSD (usually it doesn't work reliably
383with anything but sockets and pipes, except on Darwin, where of course
384it's completely useless). For this reason it's not being "autodetected"
385unless you explicitly specify it explicitly in the flags (i.e. using
386C<EVBACKEND_KQUEUE>) or libev was compiled on a known-to-be-good (-enough)
387system like NetBSD.
388
389You still can embed kqueue into a normal poll or select backend and use it
390only for sockets (after having made sure that sockets work with kqueue on
391the target platform). See C<ev_embed> watchers for more info.
392
393It scales in the same way as the epoll backend, but the interface to the
394kernel is more efficient (which says nothing about its actual speed, of
395course). While stopping, setting and starting an I/O watcher does never
396cause an extra syscall as with C<EVBACKEND_EPOLL>, it still adds up to
397two event changes per incident, support for C<fork ()> is very bad and it
398drops fds silently in similarly hard-to-detect cases.
399
400This backend usually performs well under most conditions.
401
402While nominally embeddable in other event loops, this doesn't work
403everywhere, so you might need to test for this. And since it is broken
404almost everywhere, you should only use it when you have a lot of sockets
405(for which it usually works), by embedding it into another event loop
406(e.g. C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> or C<EVBACKEND_POLL>) and using it only for
407sockets.
408
409=item C<EVBACKEND_DEVPOLL> (value 16, Solaris 8)
410
411This is not implemented yet (and might never be, unless you send me an
412implementation). According to reports, C</dev/poll> only supports sockets
413and is not embeddable, which would limit the usefulness of this backend
414immensely.
415
416=item C<EVBACKEND_PORT> (value 32, Solaris 10)
417
418This uses the Solaris 10 event port mechanism. As with everything on Solaris,
419it's really slow, but it still scales very well (O(active_fds)).
420
421Please note that solaris event ports can deliver a lot of spurious
422notifications, so you need to use non-blocking I/O or other means to avoid
423blocking when no data (or space) is available.
424
425While this backend scales well, it requires one system call per active
426file descriptor per loop iteration. For small and medium numbers of file
427descriptors a "slow" C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> or C<EVBACKEND_POLL> backend
428might perform better.
429
430On the positive side, ignoring the spurious readyness notifications, this
431backend actually performed to specification in all tests and is fully
432embeddable, which is a rare feat among the OS-specific backends.
433
434=item C<EVBACKEND_ALL>
435
436Try all backends (even potentially broken ones that wouldn't be tried
437with C<EVFLAG_AUTO>). Since this is a mask, you can do stuff such as
438C<EVBACKEND_ALL & ~EVBACKEND_KQUEUE>.
439
440It is definitely not recommended to use this flag.
441
442=back
154 443
155If one or more of these are ored into the flags value, then only these 444If one or more of these are ored into the flags value, then only these
156backends will be tried (in the reverse order as given here). If one are 445backends will be tried (in the reverse order as listed here). If none are
157specified, any backend will do. 446specified, all backends in C<ev_recommended_backends ()> will be tried.
158 447
159=back 448The most typical usage is like this:
449
450 if (!ev_default_loop (0))
451 fatal ("could not initialise libev, bad $LIBEV_FLAGS in environment?");
452
453Restrict libev to the select and poll backends, and do not allow
454environment settings to be taken into account:
455
456 ev_default_loop (EVBACKEND_POLL | EVBACKEND_SELECT | EVFLAG_NOENV);
457
458Use whatever libev has to offer, but make sure that kqueue is used if
459available (warning, breaks stuff, best use only with your own private
460event loop and only if you know the OS supports your types of fds):
461
462 ev_default_loop (ev_recommended_backends () | EVBACKEND_KQUEUE);
160 463
161=item struct ev_loop *ev_loop_new (unsigned int flags) 464=item struct ev_loop *ev_loop_new (unsigned int flags)
162 465
163Similar to C<ev_default_loop>, but always creates a new event loop that is 466Similar to C<ev_default_loop>, but always creates a new event loop that is
164always distinct from the default loop. Unlike the default loop, it cannot 467always distinct from the default loop. Unlike the default loop, it cannot
165handle signal and child watchers, and attempts to do so will be greeted by 468handle signal and child watchers, and attempts to do so will be greeted by
166undefined behaviour (or a failed assertion if assertions are enabled). 469undefined behaviour (or a failed assertion if assertions are enabled).
167 470
471Example: Try to create a event loop that uses epoll and nothing else.
472
473 struct ev_loop *epoller = ev_loop_new (EVBACKEND_EPOLL | EVFLAG_NOENV);
474 if (!epoller)
475 fatal ("no epoll found here, maybe it hides under your chair");
476
168=item ev_default_destroy () 477=item ev_default_destroy ()
169 478
170Destroys the default loop again (frees all memory and kernel state 479Destroys the default loop again (frees all memory and kernel state
171etc.). This stops all registered event watchers (by not touching them in 480etc.). None of the active event watchers will be stopped in the normal
172any way whatsoever, although you cannot rely on this :). 481sense, so e.g. C<ev_is_active> might still return true. It is your
482responsibility to either stop all watchers cleanly yoursef I<before>
483calling this function, or cope with the fact afterwards (which is usually
484the easiest thing, you can just ignore the watchers and/or C<free ()> them
485for example).
486
487Note that certain global state, such as signal state, will not be freed by
488this function, and related watchers (such as signal and child watchers)
489would need to be stopped manually.
490
491In general it is not advisable to call this function except in the
492rare occasion where you really need to free e.g. the signal handling
493pipe fds. If you need dynamically allocated loops it is better to use
494C<ev_loop_new> and C<ev_loop_destroy>).
173 495
174=item ev_loop_destroy (loop) 496=item ev_loop_destroy (loop)
175 497
176Like C<ev_default_destroy>, but destroys an event loop created by an 498Like C<ev_default_destroy>, but destroys an event loop created by an
177earlier call to C<ev_loop_new>. 499earlier call to C<ev_loop_new>.
178 500
179=item ev_default_fork () 501=item ev_default_fork ()
180 502
503This function sets a flag that causes subsequent C<ev_loop> iterations
181This function reinitialises the kernel state for backends that have 504to reinitialise the kernel state for backends that have one. Despite the
182one. Despite the name, you can call it anytime, but it makes most sense 505name, you can call it anytime, but it makes most sense after forking, in
183after forking, in either the parent or child process (or both, but that 506the child process (or both child and parent, but that again makes little
184again makes little sense). 507sense). You I<must> call it in the child before using any of the libev
508functions, and it will only take effect at the next C<ev_loop> iteration.
185 509
186You I<must> call this function after forking if and only if you want to 510On the other hand, you only need to call this function in the child
187use the event library in both processes. If you just fork+exec, you don't 511process if and only if you want to use the event library in the child. If
188have to call it. 512you just fork+exec, you don't have to call it at all.
189 513
190The function itself is quite fast and it's usually not a problem to call 514The function itself is quite fast and it's usually not a problem to call
191it just in case after a fork. To make this easy, the function will fit in 515it just in case after a fork. To make this easy, the function will fit in
192quite nicely into a call to C<pthread_atfork>: 516quite nicely into a call to C<pthread_atfork>:
193 517
197 521
198Like C<ev_default_fork>, but acts on an event loop created by 522Like C<ev_default_fork>, but acts on an event loop created by
199C<ev_loop_new>. Yes, you have to call this on every allocated event loop 523C<ev_loop_new>. Yes, you have to call this on every allocated event loop
200after fork, and how you do this is entirely your own problem. 524after fork, and how you do this is entirely your own problem.
201 525
526=item int ev_is_default_loop (loop)
527
528Returns true when the given loop actually is the default loop, false otherwise.
529
530=item unsigned int ev_loop_count (loop)
531
532Returns the count of loop iterations for the loop, which is identical to
533the number of times libev did poll for new events. It starts at C<0> and
534happily wraps around with enough iterations.
535
536This value can sometimes be useful as a generation counter of sorts (it
537"ticks" the number of loop iterations), as it roughly corresponds with
538C<ev_prepare> and C<ev_check> calls.
539
202=item unsigned int ev_method (loop) 540=item unsigned int ev_backend (loop)
203 541
204Returns one of the C<EVMETHOD_*> flags indicating the event backend in 542Returns one of the C<EVBACKEND_*> flags indicating the event backend in
205use. 543use.
206 544
207=item ev_tstamp ev_now (loop) 545=item ev_tstamp ev_now (loop)
208 546
209Returns the current "event loop time", which is the time the event loop 547Returns the current "event loop time", which is the time the event loop
210got events and started processing them. This timestamp does not change 548received events and started processing them. This timestamp does not
211as long as callbacks are being processed, and this is also the base time 549change as long as callbacks are being processed, and this is also the base
212used for relative timers. You can treat it as the timestamp of the event 550time used for relative timers. You can treat it as the timestamp of the
213occuring (or more correctly, the mainloop finding out about it). 551event occurring (or more correctly, libev finding out about it).
214 552
215=item ev_loop (loop, int flags) 553=item ev_loop (loop, int flags)
216 554
217Finally, this is it, the event handler. This function usually is called 555Finally, this is it, the event handler. This function usually is called
218after you initialised all your watchers and you want to start handling 556after you initialised all your watchers and you want to start handling
219events. 557events.
220 558
221If the flags argument is specified as 0, it will not return until either 559If the flags argument is specified as C<0>, it will not return until
222no event watchers are active anymore or C<ev_unloop> was called. 560either no event watchers are active anymore or C<ev_unloop> was called.
561
562Please note that an explicit C<ev_unloop> is usually better than
563relying on all watchers to be stopped when deciding when a program has
564finished (especially in interactive programs), but having a program that
565automatically loops as long as it has to and no longer by virtue of
566relying on its watchers stopping correctly is a thing of beauty.
223 567
224A flags value of C<EVLOOP_NONBLOCK> will look for new events, will handle 568A flags value of C<EVLOOP_NONBLOCK> will look for new events, will handle
225those events and any outstanding ones, but will not block your process in 569those events and any outstanding ones, but will not block your process in
226case there are no events and will return after one iteration of the loop. 570case there are no events and will return after one iteration of the loop.
227 571
228A flags value of C<EVLOOP_ONESHOT> will look for new events (waiting if 572A flags value of C<EVLOOP_ONESHOT> will look for new events (waiting if
229neccessary) and will handle those and any outstanding ones. It will block 573neccessary) and will handle those and any outstanding ones. It will block
230your process until at least one new event arrives, and will return after 574your process until at least one new event arrives, and will return after
231one iteration of the loop. 575one iteration of the loop. This is useful if you are waiting for some
576external event in conjunction with something not expressible using other
577libev watchers. However, a pair of C<ev_prepare>/C<ev_check> watchers is
578usually a better approach for this kind of thing.
232 579
233This flags value could be used to implement alternative looping 580Here are the gory details of what C<ev_loop> does:
234constructs, but the C<prepare> and C<check> watchers provide a better and 581
235more generic mechanism. 582 - Before the first iteration, call any pending watchers.
583 * If EVFLAG_FORKCHECK was used, check for a fork.
584 - If a fork was detected, queue and call all fork watchers.
585 - Queue and call all prepare watchers.
586 - If we have been forked, recreate the kernel state.
587 - Update the kernel state with all outstanding changes.
588 - Update the "event loop time".
589 - Calculate for how long to sleep or block, if at all
590 (active idle watchers, EVLOOP_NONBLOCK or not having
591 any active watchers at all will result in not sleeping).
592 - Sleep if the I/O and timer collect interval say so.
593 - Block the process, waiting for any events.
594 - Queue all outstanding I/O (fd) events.
595 - Update the "event loop time" and do time jump handling.
596 - Queue all outstanding timers.
597 - Queue all outstanding periodics.
598 - If no events are pending now, queue all idle watchers.
599 - Queue all check watchers.
600 - Call all queued watchers in reverse order (i.e. check watchers first).
601 Signals and child watchers are implemented as I/O watchers, and will
602 be handled here by queueing them when their watcher gets executed.
603 - If ev_unloop has been called, or EVLOOP_ONESHOT or EVLOOP_NONBLOCK
604 were used, or there are no active watchers, return, otherwise
605 continue with step *.
606
607Example: Queue some jobs and then loop until no events are outstanding
608anymore.
609
610 ... queue jobs here, make sure they register event watchers as long
611 ... as they still have work to do (even an idle watcher will do..)
612 ev_loop (my_loop, 0);
613 ... jobs done. yeah!
236 614
237=item ev_unloop (loop, how) 615=item ev_unloop (loop, how)
238 616
239Can be used to make a call to C<ev_loop> return early (but only after it 617Can be used to make a call to C<ev_loop> return early (but only after it
240has processed all outstanding events). The C<how> argument must be either 618has processed all outstanding events). The C<how> argument must be either
241C<EVUNLOOP_ONCE>, which will make the innermost C<ev_loop> call return, or 619C<EVUNLOOP_ONE>, which will make the innermost C<ev_loop> call return, or
242C<EVUNLOOP_ALL>, which will make all nested C<ev_loop> calls return. 620C<EVUNLOOP_ALL>, which will make all nested C<ev_loop> calls return.
621
622This "unloop state" will be cleared when entering C<ev_loop> again.
243 623
244=item ev_ref (loop) 624=item ev_ref (loop)
245 625
246=item ev_unref (loop) 626=item ev_unref (loop)
247 627
252returning, ev_unref() after starting, and ev_ref() before stopping it. For 632returning, ev_unref() after starting, and ev_ref() before stopping it. For
253example, libev itself uses this for its internal signal pipe: It is not 633example, libev itself uses this for its internal signal pipe: It is not
254visible to the libev user and should not keep C<ev_loop> from exiting if 634visible to the libev user and should not keep C<ev_loop> from exiting if
255no event watchers registered by it are active. It is also an excellent 635no event watchers registered by it are active. It is also an excellent
256way to do this for generic recurring timers or from within third-party 636way to do this for generic recurring timers or from within third-party
257libraries. Just remember to I<unref after start> and I<ref before stop>. 637libraries. Just remember to I<unref after start> and I<ref before stop>
638(but only if the watcher wasn't active before, or was active before,
639respectively).
640
641Example: Create a signal watcher, but keep it from keeping C<ev_loop>
642running when nothing else is active.
643
644 struct ev_signal exitsig;
645 ev_signal_init (&exitsig, sig_cb, SIGINT);
646 ev_signal_start (loop, &exitsig);
647 evf_unref (loop);
648
649Example: For some weird reason, unregister the above signal handler again.
650
651 ev_ref (loop);
652 ev_signal_stop (loop, &exitsig);
653
654=item ev_set_io_collect_interval (loop, ev_tstamp interval)
655
656=item ev_set_timeout_collect_interval (loop, ev_tstamp interval)
657
658These advanced functions influence the time that libev will spend waiting
659for events. Both are by default C<0>, meaning that libev will try to
660invoke timer/periodic callbacks and I/O callbacks with minimum latency.
661
662Setting these to a higher value (the C<interval> I<must> be >= C<0>)
663allows libev to delay invocation of I/O and timer/periodic callbacks to
664increase efficiency of loop iterations.
665
666The background is that sometimes your program runs just fast enough to
667handle one (or very few) event(s) per loop iteration. While this makes
668the program responsive, it also wastes a lot of CPU time to poll for new
669events, especially with backends like C<select ()> which have a high
670overhead for the actual polling but can deliver many events at once.
671
672By setting a higher I<io collect interval> you allow libev to spend more
673time collecting I/O events, so you can handle more events per iteration,
674at the cost of increasing latency. Timeouts (both C<ev_periodic> and
675C<ev_timer>) will be not affected. Setting this to a non-null value will
676introduce an additional C<ev_sleep ()> call into most loop iterations.
677
678Likewise, by setting a higher I<timeout collect interval> you allow libev
679to spend more time collecting timeouts, at the expense of increased
680latency (the watcher callback will be called later). C<ev_io> watchers
681will not be affected. Setting this to a non-null value will not introduce
682any overhead in libev.
683
684Many (busy) programs can usually benefit by setting the io collect
685interval to a value near C<0.1> or so, which is often enough for
686interactive servers (of course not for games), likewise for timeouts. It
687usually doesn't make much sense to set it to a lower value than C<0.01>,
688as this approsaches the timing granularity of most systems.
258 689
259=back 690=back
691
260 692
261=head1 ANATOMY OF A WATCHER 693=head1 ANATOMY OF A WATCHER
262 694
263A watcher is a structure that you create and register to record your 695A watcher is a structure that you create and register to record your
264interest in some event. For instance, if you want to wait for STDIN to 696interest in some event. For instance, if you want to wait for STDIN to
297*) >>), and you can stop watching for events at any time by calling the 729*) >>), and you can stop watching for events at any time by calling the
298corresponding stop function (C<< ev_<type>_stop (loop, watcher *) >>. 730corresponding stop function (C<< ev_<type>_stop (loop, watcher *) >>.
299 731
300As long as your watcher is active (has been started but not stopped) you 732As long as your watcher is active (has been started but not stopped) you
301must not touch the values stored in it. Most specifically you must never 733must not touch the values stored in it. Most specifically you must never
302reinitialise it or call its set method. 734reinitialise it or call its C<set> macro.
303
304You can check whether an event is active by calling the C<ev_is_active
305(watcher *)> macro. To see whether an event is outstanding (but the
306callback for it has not been called yet) you can use the C<ev_is_pending
307(watcher *)> macro.
308 735
309Each and every callback receives the event loop pointer as first, the 736Each and every callback receives the event loop pointer as first, the
310registered watcher structure as second, and a bitset of received events as 737registered watcher structure as second, and a bitset of received events as
311third argument. 738third argument.
312 739
336The signal specified in the C<ev_signal> watcher has been received by a thread. 763The signal specified in the C<ev_signal> watcher has been received by a thread.
337 764
338=item C<EV_CHILD> 765=item C<EV_CHILD>
339 766
340The pid specified in the C<ev_child> watcher has received a status change. 767The pid specified in the C<ev_child> watcher has received a status change.
768
769=item C<EV_STAT>
770
771The path specified in the C<ev_stat> watcher changed its attributes somehow.
341 772
342=item C<EV_IDLE> 773=item C<EV_IDLE>
343 774
344The C<ev_idle> watcher has determined that you have nothing better to do. 775The C<ev_idle> watcher has determined that you have nothing better to do.
345 776
353received events. Callbacks of both watcher types can start and stop as 784received events. Callbacks of both watcher types can start and stop as
354many watchers as they want, and all of them will be taken into account 785many watchers as they want, and all of them will be taken into account
355(for example, a C<ev_prepare> watcher might start an idle watcher to keep 786(for example, a C<ev_prepare> watcher might start an idle watcher to keep
356C<ev_loop> from blocking). 787C<ev_loop> from blocking).
357 788
789=item C<EV_EMBED>
790
791The embedded event loop specified in the C<ev_embed> watcher needs attention.
792
793=item C<EV_FORK>
794
795The event loop has been resumed in the child process after fork (see
796C<ev_fork>).
797
798=item C<EV_ASYNC>
799
800The given async watcher has been asynchronously notified (see C<ev_async>).
801
358=item C<EV_ERROR> 802=item C<EV_ERROR>
359 803
360An unspecified error has occured, the watcher has been stopped. This might 804An unspecified error has occured, the watcher has been stopped. This might
361happen because the watcher could not be properly started because libev 805happen because the watcher could not be properly started because libev
362ran out of memory, a file descriptor was found to be closed or any other 806ran out of memory, a file descriptor was found to be closed or any other
368your callbacks is well-written it can just attempt the operation and cope 812your callbacks is well-written it can just attempt the operation and cope
369with the error from read() or write(). This will not work in multithreaded 813with the error from read() or write(). This will not work in multithreaded
370programs, though, so beware. 814programs, though, so beware.
371 815
372=back 816=back
817
818=head2 GENERIC WATCHER FUNCTIONS
819
820In the following description, C<TYPE> stands for the watcher type,
821e.g. C<timer> for C<ev_timer> watchers and C<io> for C<ev_io> watchers.
822
823=over 4
824
825=item C<ev_init> (ev_TYPE *watcher, callback)
826
827This macro initialises the generic portion of a watcher. The contents
828of the watcher object can be arbitrary (so C<malloc> will do). Only
829the generic parts of the watcher are initialised, you I<need> to call
830the type-specific C<ev_TYPE_set> macro afterwards to initialise the
831type-specific parts. For each type there is also a C<ev_TYPE_init> macro
832which rolls both calls into one.
833
834You can reinitialise a watcher at any time as long as it has been stopped
835(or never started) and there are no pending events outstanding.
836
837The callback is always of type C<void (*)(ev_loop *loop, ev_TYPE *watcher,
838int revents)>.
839
840=item C<ev_TYPE_set> (ev_TYPE *, [args])
841
842This macro initialises the type-specific parts of a watcher. You need to
843call C<ev_init> at least once before you call this macro, but you can
844call C<ev_TYPE_set> any number of times. You must not, however, call this
845macro on a watcher that is active (it can be pending, however, which is a
846difference to the C<ev_init> macro).
847
848Although some watcher types do not have type-specific arguments
849(e.g. C<ev_prepare>) you still need to call its C<set> macro.
850
851=item C<ev_TYPE_init> (ev_TYPE *watcher, callback, [args])
852
853This convinience macro rolls both C<ev_init> and C<ev_TYPE_set> macro
854calls into a single call. This is the most convinient method to initialise
855a watcher. The same limitations apply, of course.
856
857=item C<ev_TYPE_start> (loop *, ev_TYPE *watcher)
858
859Starts (activates) the given watcher. Only active watchers will receive
860events. If the watcher is already active nothing will happen.
861
862=item C<ev_TYPE_stop> (loop *, ev_TYPE *watcher)
863
864Stops the given watcher again (if active) and clears the pending
865status. It is possible that stopped watchers are pending (for example,
866non-repeating timers are being stopped when they become pending), but
867C<ev_TYPE_stop> ensures that the watcher is neither active nor pending. If
868you want to free or reuse the memory used by the watcher it is therefore a
869good idea to always call its C<ev_TYPE_stop> function.
870
871=item bool ev_is_active (ev_TYPE *watcher)
872
873Returns a true value iff the watcher is active (i.e. it has been started
874and not yet been stopped). As long as a watcher is active you must not modify
875it.
876
877=item bool ev_is_pending (ev_TYPE *watcher)
878
879Returns a true value iff the watcher is pending, (i.e. it has outstanding
880events but its callback has not yet been invoked). As long as a watcher
881is pending (but not active) you must not call an init function on it (but
882C<ev_TYPE_set> is safe), you must not change its priority, and you must
883make sure the watcher is available to libev (e.g. you cannot C<free ()>
884it).
885
886=item callback ev_cb (ev_TYPE *watcher)
887
888Returns the callback currently set on the watcher.
889
890=item ev_cb_set (ev_TYPE *watcher, callback)
891
892Change the callback. You can change the callback at virtually any time
893(modulo threads).
894
895=item ev_set_priority (ev_TYPE *watcher, priority)
896
897=item int ev_priority (ev_TYPE *watcher)
898
899Set and query the priority of the watcher. The priority is a small
900integer between C<EV_MAXPRI> (default: C<2>) and C<EV_MINPRI>
901(default: C<-2>). Pending watchers with higher priority will be invoked
902before watchers with lower priority, but priority will not keep watchers
903from being executed (except for C<ev_idle> watchers).
904
905This means that priorities are I<only> used for ordering callback
906invocation after new events have been received. This is useful, for
907example, to reduce latency after idling, or more often, to bind two
908watchers on the same event and make sure one is called first.
909
910If you need to suppress invocation when higher priority events are pending
911you need to look at C<ev_idle> watchers, which provide this functionality.
912
913You I<must not> change the priority of a watcher as long as it is active or
914pending.
915
916The default priority used by watchers when no priority has been set is
917always C<0>, which is supposed to not be too high and not be too low :).
918
919Setting a priority outside the range of C<EV_MINPRI> to C<EV_MAXPRI> is
920fine, as long as you do not mind that the priority value you query might
921or might not have been adjusted to be within valid range.
922
923=item ev_invoke (loop, ev_TYPE *watcher, int revents)
924
925Invoke the C<watcher> with the given C<loop> and C<revents>. Neither
926C<loop> nor C<revents> need to be valid as long as the watcher callback
927can deal with that fact.
928
929=item int ev_clear_pending (loop, ev_TYPE *watcher)
930
931If the watcher is pending, this function returns clears its pending status
932and returns its C<revents> bitset (as if its callback was invoked). If the
933watcher isn't pending it does nothing and returns C<0>.
934
935=back
936
373 937
374=head2 ASSOCIATING CUSTOM DATA WITH A WATCHER 938=head2 ASSOCIATING CUSTOM DATA WITH A WATCHER
375 939
376Each watcher has, by default, a member C<void *data> that you can change 940Each watcher has, by default, a member C<void *data> that you can change
377and read at any time, libev will completely ignore it. This can be used 941and read at any time, libev will completely ignore it. This can be used
395 { 959 {
396 struct my_io *w = (struct my_io *)w_; 960 struct my_io *w = (struct my_io *)w_;
397 ... 961 ...
398 } 962 }
399 963
400More interesting and less C-conformant ways of catsing your callback type 964More interesting and less C-conformant ways of casting your callback type
401have been omitted.... 965instead have been omitted.
966
967Another common scenario is having some data structure with multiple
968watchers:
969
970 struct my_biggy
971 {
972 int some_data;
973 ev_timer t1;
974 ev_timer t2;
975 }
976
977In this case getting the pointer to C<my_biggy> is a bit more complicated,
978you need to use C<offsetof>:
979
980 #include <stddef.h>
981
982 static void
983 t1_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_timer *w, int revents)
984 {
985 struct my_biggy big = (struct my_biggy *
986 (((char *)w) - offsetof (struct my_biggy, t1));
987 }
988
989 static void
990 t2_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_timer *w, int revents)
991 {
992 struct my_biggy big = (struct my_biggy *
993 (((char *)w) - offsetof (struct my_biggy, t2));
994 }
402 995
403 996
404=head1 WATCHER TYPES 997=head1 WATCHER TYPES
405 998
406This section describes each watcher in detail, but will not repeat 999This section describes each watcher in detail, but will not repeat
407information given in the last section. 1000information given in the last section. Any initialisation/set macros,
1001functions and members specific to the watcher type are explained.
408 1002
1003Members are additionally marked with either I<[read-only]>, meaning that,
1004while the watcher is active, you can look at the member and expect some
1005sensible content, but you must not modify it (you can modify it while the
1006watcher is stopped to your hearts content), or I<[read-write]>, which
1007means you can expect it to have some sensible content while the watcher
1008is active, but you can also modify it. Modifying it may not do something
1009sensible or take immediate effect (or do anything at all), but libev will
1010not crash or malfunction in any way.
1011
1012
409=head2 C<ev_io> - is this file descriptor readable or writable 1013=head2 C<ev_io> - is this file descriptor readable or writable?
410 1014
411I/O watchers check whether a file descriptor is readable or writable 1015I/O watchers check whether a file descriptor is readable or writable
412in each iteration of the event loop (This behaviour is called 1016in each iteration of the event loop, or, more precisely, when reading
413level-triggering because you keep receiving events as long as the 1017would not block the process and writing would at least be able to write
414condition persists. Remember you can stop the watcher if you don't want to 1018some data. This behaviour is called level-triggering because you keep
415act on the event and neither want to receive future events). 1019receiving events as long as the condition persists. Remember you can stop
1020the watcher if you don't want to act on the event and neither want to
1021receive future events.
416 1022
417In general you can register as many read and/or write event watchers oer 1023In general you can register as many read and/or write event watchers per
418fd as you want (as long as you don't confuse yourself). Setting all file 1024fd as you want (as long as you don't confuse yourself). Setting all file
419descriptors to non-blocking mode is also usually a good idea (but not 1025descriptors to non-blocking mode is also usually a good idea (but not
420required if you know what you are doing). 1026required if you know what you are doing).
421 1027
422You have to be careful with dup'ed file descriptors, though. Some backends
423(the linux epoll backend is a notable example) cannot handle dup'ed file
424descriptors correctly if you register interest in two or more fds pointing
425to the same file/socket etc. description.
426
427If you must do this, then force the use of a known-to-be-good backend 1028If you must do this, then force the use of a known-to-be-good backend
428(at the time of this writing, this includes only EVMETHOD_SELECT and 1029(at the time of this writing, this includes only C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> and
429EVMETHOD_POLL). 1030C<EVBACKEND_POLL>).
1031
1032Another thing you have to watch out for is that it is quite easy to
1033receive "spurious" readyness notifications, that is your callback might
1034be called with C<EV_READ> but a subsequent C<read>(2) will actually block
1035because there is no data. Not only are some backends known to create a
1036lot of those (for example solaris ports), it is very easy to get into
1037this situation even with a relatively standard program structure. Thus
1038it is best to always use non-blocking I/O: An extra C<read>(2) returning
1039C<EAGAIN> is far preferable to a program hanging until some data arrives.
1040
1041If you cannot run the fd in non-blocking mode (for example you should not
1042play around with an Xlib connection), then you have to seperately re-test
1043whether a file descriptor is really ready with a known-to-be good interface
1044such as poll (fortunately in our Xlib example, Xlib already does this on
1045its own, so its quite safe to use).
1046
1047=head3 The special problem of disappearing file descriptors
1048
1049Some backends (e.g. kqueue, epoll) need to be told about closing a file
1050descriptor (either by calling C<close> explicitly or by any other means,
1051such as C<dup>). The reason is that you register interest in some file
1052descriptor, but when it goes away, the operating system will silently drop
1053this interest. If another file descriptor with the same number then is
1054registered with libev, there is no efficient way to see that this is, in
1055fact, a different file descriptor.
1056
1057To avoid having to explicitly tell libev about such cases, libev follows
1058the following policy: Each time C<ev_io_set> is being called, libev
1059will assume that this is potentially a new file descriptor, otherwise
1060it is assumed that the file descriptor stays the same. That means that
1061you I<have> to call C<ev_io_set> (or C<ev_io_init>) when you change the
1062descriptor even if the file descriptor number itself did not change.
1063
1064This is how one would do it normally anyway, the important point is that
1065the libev application should not optimise around libev but should leave
1066optimisations to libev.
1067
1068=head3 The special problem of dup'ed file descriptors
1069
1070Some backends (e.g. epoll), cannot register events for file descriptors,
1071but only events for the underlying file descriptions. That means when you
1072have C<dup ()>'ed file descriptors or weirder constellations, and register
1073events for them, only one file descriptor might actually receive events.
1074
1075There is no workaround possible except not registering events
1076for potentially C<dup ()>'ed file descriptors, or to resort to
1077C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> or C<EVBACKEND_POLL>.
1078
1079=head3 The special problem of fork
1080
1081Some backends (epoll, kqueue) do not support C<fork ()> at all or exhibit
1082useless behaviour. Libev fully supports fork, but needs to be told about
1083it in the child.
1084
1085To support fork in your programs, you either have to call
1086C<ev_default_fork ()> or C<ev_loop_fork ()> after a fork in the child,
1087enable C<EVFLAG_FORKCHECK>, or resort to C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> or
1088C<EVBACKEND_POLL>.
1089
1090
1091=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions
430 1092
431=over 4 1093=over 4
432 1094
433=item ev_io_init (ev_io *, callback, int fd, int events) 1095=item ev_io_init (ev_io *, callback, int fd, int events)
434 1096
435=item ev_io_set (ev_io *, int fd, int events) 1097=item ev_io_set (ev_io *, int fd, int events)
436 1098
437Configures an C<ev_io> watcher. The fd is the file descriptor to rceeive 1099Configures an C<ev_io> watcher. The C<fd> is the file descriptor to
438events for and events is either C<EV_READ>, C<EV_WRITE> or C<EV_READ | 1100rceeive events for and events is either C<EV_READ>, C<EV_WRITE> or
439EV_WRITE> to receive the given events. 1101C<EV_READ | EV_WRITE> to receive the given events.
1102
1103=item int fd [read-only]
1104
1105The file descriptor being watched.
1106
1107=item int events [read-only]
1108
1109The events being watched.
440 1110
441=back 1111=back
442 1112
1113=head3 Examples
1114
1115Example: Call C<stdin_readable_cb> when STDIN_FILENO has become, well
1116readable, but only once. Since it is likely line-buffered, you could
1117attempt to read a whole line in the callback.
1118
1119 static void
1120 stdin_readable_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w, int revents)
1121 {
1122 ev_io_stop (loop, w);
1123 .. read from stdin here (or from w->fd) and haqndle any I/O errors
1124 }
1125
1126 ...
1127 struct ev_loop *loop = ev_default_init (0);
1128 struct ev_io stdin_readable;
1129 ev_io_init (&stdin_readable, stdin_readable_cb, STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ);
1130 ev_io_start (loop, &stdin_readable);
1131 ev_loop (loop, 0);
1132
1133
443=head2 C<ev_timer> - relative and optionally recurring timeouts 1134=head2 C<ev_timer> - relative and optionally repeating timeouts
444 1135
445Timer watchers are simple relative timers that generate an event after a 1136Timer watchers are simple relative timers that generate an event after a
446given time, and optionally repeating in regular intervals after that. 1137given time, and optionally repeating in regular intervals after that.
447 1138
448The timers are based on real time, that is, if you register an event that 1139The timers are based on real time, that is, if you register an event that
449times out after an hour and youreset your system clock to last years 1140times out after an hour and you reset your system clock to last years
450time, it will still time out after (roughly) and hour. "Roughly" because 1141time, it will still time out after (roughly) and hour. "Roughly" because
451detecting time jumps is hard, and soem inaccuracies are unavoidable (the 1142detecting time jumps is hard, and some inaccuracies are unavoidable (the
452monotonic clock option helps a lot here). 1143monotonic clock option helps a lot here).
453 1144
454The relative timeouts are calculated relative to the C<ev_now ()> 1145The relative timeouts are calculated relative to the C<ev_now ()>
455time. This is usually the right thing as this timestamp refers to the time 1146time. This is usually the right thing as this timestamp refers to the time
456of the event triggering whatever timeout you are modifying/starting. If 1147of the event triggering whatever timeout you are modifying/starting. If
457you suspect event processing to be delayed and you *need* to base the timeout 1148you suspect event processing to be delayed and you I<need> to base the timeout
458ion the current time, use something like this to adjust for this: 1149on the current time, use something like this to adjust for this:
459 1150
460 ev_timer_set (&timer, after + ev_now () - ev_time (), 0.); 1151 ev_timer_set (&timer, after + ev_now () - ev_time (), 0.);
1152
1153The callback is guarenteed to be invoked only when its timeout has passed,
1154but if multiple timers become ready during the same loop iteration then
1155order of execution is undefined.
1156
1157=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
461 1158
462=over 4 1159=over 4
463 1160
464=item ev_timer_init (ev_timer *, callback, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat) 1161=item ev_timer_init (ev_timer *, callback, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)
465 1162
471later, again, and again, until stopped manually. 1168later, again, and again, until stopped manually.
472 1169
473The timer itself will do a best-effort at avoiding drift, that is, if you 1170The timer itself will do a best-effort at avoiding drift, that is, if you
474configure a timer to trigger every 10 seconds, then it will trigger at 1171configure a timer to trigger every 10 seconds, then it will trigger at
475exactly 10 second intervals. If, however, your program cannot keep up with 1172exactly 10 second intervals. If, however, your program cannot keep up with
476the timer (ecause it takes longer than those 10 seconds to do stuff) the 1173the timer (because it takes longer than those 10 seconds to do stuff) the
477timer will not fire more than once per event loop iteration. 1174timer will not fire more than once per event loop iteration.
478 1175
479=item ev_timer_again (loop) 1176=item ev_timer_again (loop, ev_timer *)
480 1177
481This will act as if the timer timed out and restart it again if it is 1178This will act as if the timer timed out and restart it again if it is
482repeating. The exact semantics are: 1179repeating. The exact semantics are:
483 1180
1181If the timer is pending, its pending status is cleared.
1182
484If the timer is started but nonrepeating, stop it. 1183If the timer is started but nonrepeating, stop it (as if it timed out).
485 1184
486If the timer is repeating, either start it if necessary (with the repeat 1185If the timer is repeating, either start it if necessary (with the
487value), or reset the running timer to the repeat value. 1186C<repeat> value), or reset the running timer to the C<repeat> value.
488 1187
489This sounds a bit complicated, but here is a useful and typical 1188This sounds a bit complicated, but here is a useful and typical
490example: Imagine you have a tcp connection and you want a so-called idle 1189example: Imagine you have a tcp connection and you want a so-called idle
491timeout, that is, you want to be called when there have been, say, 60 1190timeout, that is, you want to be called when there have been, say, 60
492seconds of inactivity on the socket. The easiest way to do this is to 1191seconds of inactivity on the socket. The easiest way to do this is to
493configure an C<ev_timer> with after=repeat=60 and calling ev_timer_again each 1192configure an C<ev_timer> with a C<repeat> value of C<60> and then call
494time you successfully read or write some data. If you go into an idle 1193C<ev_timer_again> each time you successfully read or write some data. If
495state where you do not expect data to travel on the socket, you can stop 1194you go into an idle state where you do not expect data to travel on the
496the timer, and again will automatically restart it if need be. 1195socket, you can C<ev_timer_stop> the timer, and C<ev_timer_again> will
1196automatically restart it if need be.
1197
1198That means you can ignore the C<after> value and C<ev_timer_start>
1199altogether and only ever use the C<repeat> value and C<ev_timer_again>:
1200
1201 ev_timer_init (timer, callback, 0., 5.);
1202 ev_timer_again (loop, timer);
1203 ...
1204 timer->again = 17.;
1205 ev_timer_again (loop, timer);
1206 ...
1207 timer->again = 10.;
1208 ev_timer_again (loop, timer);
1209
1210This is more slightly efficient then stopping/starting the timer each time
1211you want to modify its timeout value.
1212
1213=item ev_tstamp repeat [read-write]
1214
1215The current C<repeat> value. Will be used each time the watcher times out
1216or C<ev_timer_again> is called and determines the next timeout (if any),
1217which is also when any modifications are taken into account.
497 1218
498=back 1219=back
499 1220
1221=head3 Examples
1222
1223Example: Create a timer that fires after 60 seconds.
1224
1225 static void
1226 one_minute_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_timer *w, int revents)
1227 {
1228 .. one minute over, w is actually stopped right here
1229 }
1230
1231 struct ev_timer mytimer;
1232 ev_timer_init (&mytimer, one_minute_cb, 60., 0.);
1233 ev_timer_start (loop, &mytimer);
1234
1235Example: Create a timeout timer that times out after 10 seconds of
1236inactivity.
1237
1238 static void
1239 timeout_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_timer *w, int revents)
1240 {
1241 .. ten seconds without any activity
1242 }
1243
1244 struct ev_timer mytimer;
1245 ev_timer_init (&mytimer, timeout_cb, 0., 10.); /* note, only repeat used */
1246 ev_timer_again (&mytimer); /* start timer */
1247 ev_loop (loop, 0);
1248
1249 // and in some piece of code that gets executed on any "activity":
1250 // reset the timeout to start ticking again at 10 seconds
1251 ev_timer_again (&mytimer);
1252
1253
500=head2 C<ev_periodic> - to cron or not to cron 1254=head2 C<ev_periodic> - to cron or not to cron?
501 1255
502Periodic watchers are also timers of a kind, but they are very versatile 1256Periodic watchers are also timers of a kind, but they are very versatile
503(and unfortunately a bit complex). 1257(and unfortunately a bit complex).
504 1258
505Unlike C<ev_timer>'s, they are not based on real time (or relative time) 1259Unlike C<ev_timer>'s, they are not based on real time (or relative time)
506but on wallclock time (absolute time). You can tell a periodic watcher 1260but on wallclock time (absolute time). You can tell a periodic watcher
507to trigger "at" some specific point in time. For example, if you tell a 1261to trigger "at" some specific point in time. For example, if you tell a
508periodic watcher to trigger in 10 seconds (by specifiying e.g. c<ev_now () 1262periodic watcher to trigger in 10 seconds (by specifiying e.g. C<ev_now ()
509+ 10.>) and then reset your system clock to the last year, then it will 1263+ 10.>) and then reset your system clock to the last year, then it will
510take a year to trigger the event (unlike an C<ev_timer>, which would trigger 1264take a year to trigger the event (unlike an C<ev_timer>, which would trigger
511roughly 10 seconds later and of course not if you reset your system time 1265roughly 10 seconds later).
512again).
513 1266
514They can also be used to implement vastly more complex timers, such as 1267They can also be used to implement vastly more complex timers, such as
515triggering an event on eahc midnight, local time. 1268triggering an event on each midnight, local time or other, complicated,
1269rules.
1270
1271As with timers, the callback is guarenteed to be invoked only when the
1272time (C<at>) has been passed, but if multiple periodic timers become ready
1273during the same loop iteration then order of execution is undefined.
1274
1275=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
516 1276
517=over 4 1277=over 4
518 1278
519=item ev_periodic_init (ev_periodic *, callback, ev_tstamp at, ev_tstamp interval, reschedule_cb) 1279=item ev_periodic_init (ev_periodic *, callback, ev_tstamp at, ev_tstamp interval, reschedule_cb)
520 1280
521=item ev_periodic_set (ev_periodic *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat, reschedule_cb) 1281=item ev_periodic_set (ev_periodic *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat, reschedule_cb)
522 1282
523Lots of arguments, lets sort it out... There are basically three modes of 1283Lots of arguments, lets sort it out... There are basically three modes of
524operation, and we will explain them from simplest to complex: 1284operation, and we will explain them from simplest to complex:
525 1285
526
527=over 4 1286=over 4
528 1287
529=item * absolute timer (interval = reschedule_cb = 0) 1288=item * absolute timer (at = time, interval = reschedule_cb = 0)
530 1289
531In this configuration the watcher triggers an event at the wallclock time 1290In this configuration the watcher triggers an event at the wallclock time
532C<at> and doesn't repeat. It will not adjust when a time jump occurs, 1291C<at> and doesn't repeat. It will not adjust when a time jump occurs,
533that is, if it is to be run at January 1st 2011 then it will run when the 1292that is, if it is to be run at January 1st 2011 then it will run when the
534system time reaches or surpasses this time. 1293system time reaches or surpasses this time.
535 1294
536=item * non-repeating interval timer (interval > 0, reschedule_cb = 0) 1295=item * repeating interval timer (at = offset, interval > 0, reschedule_cb = 0)
537 1296
538In this mode the watcher will always be scheduled to time out at the next 1297In this mode the watcher will always be scheduled to time out at the next
539C<at + N * interval> time (for some integer N) and then repeat, regardless 1298C<at + N * interval> time (for some integer N, which can also be negative)
540of any time jumps. 1299and then repeat, regardless of any time jumps.
541 1300
542This can be used to create timers that do not drift with respect to system 1301This can be used to create timers that do not drift with respect to system
543time: 1302time:
544 1303
545 ev_periodic_set (&periodic, 0., 3600., 0); 1304 ev_periodic_set (&periodic, 0., 3600., 0);
551 1310
552Another way to think about it (for the mathematically inclined) is that 1311Another way to think about it (for the mathematically inclined) is that
553C<ev_periodic> will try to run the callback in this mode at the next possible 1312C<ev_periodic> will try to run the callback in this mode at the next possible
554time where C<time = at (mod interval)>, regardless of any time jumps. 1313time where C<time = at (mod interval)>, regardless of any time jumps.
555 1314
1315For numerical stability it is preferable that the C<at> value is near
1316C<ev_now ()> (the current time), but there is no range requirement for
1317this value.
1318
556=item * manual reschedule mode (reschedule_cb = callback) 1319=item * manual reschedule mode (at and interval ignored, reschedule_cb = callback)
557 1320
558In this mode the values for C<interval> and C<at> are both being 1321In this mode the values for C<interval> and C<at> are both being
559ignored. Instead, each time the periodic watcher gets scheduled, the 1322ignored. Instead, each time the periodic watcher gets scheduled, the
560reschedule callback will be called with the watcher as first, and the 1323reschedule callback will be called with the watcher as first, and the
561current time as second argument. 1324current time as second argument.
562 1325
563NOTE: I<This callback MUST NOT stop or destroy the periodic or any other 1326NOTE: I<This callback MUST NOT stop or destroy any periodic watcher,
564periodic watcher, ever, or make any event loop modifications>. If you need 1327ever, or make any event loop modifications>. If you need to stop it,
565to stop it, return C<now + 1e30> (or so, fudge fudge) and stop it afterwards. 1328return C<now + 1e30> (or so, fudge fudge) and stop it afterwards (e.g. by
566 1329starting an C<ev_prepare> watcher, which is legal).
567Also, I<< this callback must always return a time that is later than the
568passed C<now> value >>. Not even C<now> itself will be ok.
569 1330
570Its prototype is C<ev_tstamp (*reschedule_cb)(struct ev_periodic *w, 1331Its prototype is C<ev_tstamp (*reschedule_cb)(struct ev_periodic *w,
571ev_tstamp now)>, e.g.: 1332ev_tstamp now)>, e.g.:
572 1333
573 static ev_tstamp my_rescheduler (struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now) 1334 static ev_tstamp my_rescheduler (struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now)
578It must return the next time to trigger, based on the passed time value 1339It must return the next time to trigger, based on the passed time value
579(that is, the lowest time value larger than to the second argument). It 1340(that is, the lowest time value larger than to the second argument). It
580will usually be called just before the callback will be triggered, but 1341will usually be called just before the callback will be triggered, but
581might be called at other times, too. 1342might be called at other times, too.
582 1343
1344NOTE: I<< This callback must always return a time that is later than the
1345passed C<now> value >>. Not even C<now> itself will do, it I<must> be larger.
1346
583This can be used to create very complex timers, such as a timer that 1347This can be used to create very complex timers, such as a timer that
584triggers on each midnight, local time. To do this, you would calculate the 1348triggers on each midnight, local time. To do this, you would calculate the
585next midnight after C<now> and return the timestamp value for this. How you do this 1349next midnight after C<now> and return the timestamp value for this. How
586is, again, up to you (but it is not trivial). 1350you do this is, again, up to you (but it is not trivial, which is the main
1351reason I omitted it as an example).
587 1352
588=back 1353=back
589 1354
590=item ev_periodic_again (loop, ev_periodic *) 1355=item ev_periodic_again (loop, ev_periodic *)
591 1356
592Simply stops and restarts the periodic watcher again. This is only useful 1357Simply stops and restarts the periodic watcher again. This is only useful
593when you changed some parameters or the reschedule callback would return 1358when you changed some parameters or the reschedule callback would return
594a different time than the last time it was called (e.g. in a crond like 1359a different time than the last time it was called (e.g. in a crond like
595program when the crontabs have changed). 1360program when the crontabs have changed).
596 1361
1362=item ev_tstamp offset [read-write]
1363
1364When repeating, this contains the offset value, otherwise this is the
1365absolute point in time (the C<at> value passed to C<ev_periodic_set>).
1366
1367Can be modified any time, but changes only take effect when the periodic
1368timer fires or C<ev_periodic_again> is being called.
1369
1370=item ev_tstamp interval [read-write]
1371
1372The current interval value. Can be modified any time, but changes only
1373take effect when the periodic timer fires or C<ev_periodic_again> is being
1374called.
1375
1376=item ev_tstamp (*reschedule_cb)(struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now) [read-write]
1377
1378The current reschedule callback, or C<0>, if this functionality is
1379switched off. Can be changed any time, but changes only take effect when
1380the periodic timer fires or C<ev_periodic_again> is being called.
1381
1382=item ev_tstamp at [read-only]
1383
1384When active, contains the absolute time that the watcher is supposed to
1385trigger next.
1386
597=back 1387=back
598 1388
1389=head3 Examples
1390
1391Example: Call a callback every hour, or, more precisely, whenever the
1392system clock is divisible by 3600. The callback invocation times have
1393potentially a lot of jittering, but good long-term stability.
1394
1395 static void
1396 clock_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w, int revents)
1397 {
1398 ... its now a full hour (UTC, or TAI or whatever your clock follows)
1399 }
1400
1401 struct ev_periodic hourly_tick;
1402 ev_periodic_init (&hourly_tick, clock_cb, 0., 3600., 0);
1403 ev_periodic_start (loop, &hourly_tick);
1404
1405Example: The same as above, but use a reschedule callback to do it:
1406
1407 #include <math.h>
1408
1409 static ev_tstamp
1410 my_scheduler_cb (struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now)
1411 {
1412 return fmod (now, 3600.) + 3600.;
1413 }
1414
1415 ev_periodic_init (&hourly_tick, clock_cb, 0., 0., my_scheduler_cb);
1416
1417Example: Call a callback every hour, starting now:
1418
1419 struct ev_periodic hourly_tick;
1420 ev_periodic_init (&hourly_tick, clock_cb,
1421 fmod (ev_now (loop), 3600.), 3600., 0);
1422 ev_periodic_start (loop, &hourly_tick);
1423
1424
599=head2 C<ev_signal> - signal me when a signal gets signalled 1425=head2 C<ev_signal> - signal me when a signal gets signalled!
600 1426
601Signal watchers will trigger an event when the process receives a specific 1427Signal watchers will trigger an event when the process receives a specific
602signal one or more times. Even though signals are very asynchronous, libev 1428signal one or more times. Even though signals are very asynchronous, libev
603will try it's best to deliver signals synchronously, i.e. as part of the 1429will try it's best to deliver signals synchronously, i.e. as part of the
604normal event processing, like any other event. 1430normal event processing, like any other event.
608with the kernel (thus it coexists with your own signal handlers as long 1434with the kernel (thus it coexists with your own signal handlers as long
609as you don't register any with libev). Similarly, when the last signal 1435as you don't register any with libev). Similarly, when the last signal
610watcher for a signal is stopped libev will reset the signal handler to 1436watcher for a signal is stopped libev will reset the signal handler to
611SIG_DFL (regardless of what it was set to before). 1437SIG_DFL (regardless of what it was set to before).
612 1438
1439If possible and supported, libev will install its handlers with
1440C<SA_RESTART> behaviour enabled, so syscalls should not be unduly
1441interrupted. If you have a problem with syscalls getting interrupted by
1442signals you can block all signals in an C<ev_check> watcher and unblock
1443them in an C<ev_prepare> watcher.
1444
1445=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
1446
613=over 4 1447=over 4
614 1448
615=item ev_signal_init (ev_signal *, callback, int signum) 1449=item ev_signal_init (ev_signal *, callback, int signum)
616 1450
617=item ev_signal_set (ev_signal *, int signum) 1451=item ev_signal_set (ev_signal *, int signum)
618 1452
619Configures the watcher to trigger on the given signal number (usually one 1453Configures the watcher to trigger on the given signal number (usually one
620of the C<SIGxxx> constants). 1454of the C<SIGxxx> constants).
621 1455
1456=item int signum [read-only]
1457
1458The signal the watcher watches out for.
1459
622=back 1460=back
623 1461
1462=head3 Examples
1463
1464Example: Try to exit cleanly on SIGINT and SIGTERM.
1465
1466 static void
1467 sigint_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_signal *w, int revents)
1468 {
1469 ev_unloop (loop, EVUNLOOP_ALL);
1470 }
1471
1472 struct ev_signal signal_watcher;
1473 ev_signal_init (&signal_watcher, sigint_cb, SIGINT);
1474 ev_signal_start (loop, &sigint_cb);
1475
1476
624=head2 C<ev_child> - wait for pid status changes 1477=head2 C<ev_child> - watch out for process status changes
625 1478
626Child watchers trigger when your process receives a SIGCHLD in response to 1479Child watchers trigger when your process receives a SIGCHLD in response to
627some child status changes (most typically when a child of yours dies). 1480some child status changes (most typically when a child of yours dies). It
1481is permissible to install a child watcher I<after> the child has been
1482forked (which implies it might have already exited), as long as the event
1483loop isn't entered (or is continued from a watcher).
1484
1485Only the default event loop is capable of handling signals, and therefore
1486you can only rgeister child watchers in the default event loop.
1487
1488=head3 Process Interaction
1489
1490Libev grabs C<SIGCHLD> as soon as the default event loop is
1491initialised. This is necessary to guarantee proper behaviour even if
1492the first child watcher is started after the child exits. The occurance
1493of C<SIGCHLD> is recorded asynchronously, but child reaping is done
1494synchronously as part of the event loop processing. Libev always reaps all
1495children, even ones not watched.
1496
1497=head3 Overriding the Built-In Processing
1498
1499Libev offers no special support for overriding the built-in child
1500processing, but if your application collides with libev's default child
1501handler, you can override it easily by installing your own handler for
1502C<SIGCHLD> after initialising the default loop, and making sure the
1503default loop never gets destroyed. You are encouraged, however, to use an
1504event-based approach to child reaping and thus use libev's support for
1505that, so other libev users can use C<ev_child> watchers freely.
1506
1507=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
628 1508
629=over 4 1509=over 4
630 1510
631=item ev_child_init (ev_child *, callback, int pid) 1511=item ev_child_init (ev_child *, callback, int pid, int trace)
632 1512
633=item ev_child_set (ev_child *, int pid) 1513=item ev_child_set (ev_child *, int pid, int trace)
634 1514
635Configures the watcher to wait for status changes of process C<pid> (or 1515Configures the watcher to wait for status changes of process C<pid> (or
636I<any> process if C<pid> is specified as C<0>). The callback can look 1516I<any> process if C<pid> is specified as C<0>). The callback can look
637at the C<rstatus> member of the C<ev_child> watcher structure to see 1517at the C<rstatus> member of the C<ev_child> watcher structure to see
638the status word (use the macros from C<sys/wait.h> and see your systems 1518the status word (use the macros from C<sys/wait.h> and see your systems
639C<waitpid> documentation). The C<rpid> member contains the pid of the 1519C<waitpid> documentation). The C<rpid> member contains the pid of the
640process causing the status change. 1520process causing the status change. C<trace> must be either C<0> (only
1521activate the watcher when the process terminates) or C<1> (additionally
1522activate the watcher when the process is stopped or continued).
1523
1524=item int pid [read-only]
1525
1526The process id this watcher watches out for, or C<0>, meaning any process id.
1527
1528=item int rpid [read-write]
1529
1530The process id that detected a status change.
1531
1532=item int rstatus [read-write]
1533
1534The process exit/trace status caused by C<rpid> (see your systems
1535C<waitpid> and C<sys/wait.h> documentation for details).
641 1536
642=back 1537=back
643 1538
1539=head3 Examples
1540
1541Example: C<fork()> a new process and install a child handler to wait for
1542its completion.
1543
1544 ev_child cw;
1545
1546 static void
1547 child_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_child *w, int revents)
1548 {
1549 ev_child_stop (EV_A_ w);
1550 printf ("process %d exited with status %x\n", w->rpid, w->rstatus);
1551 }
1552
1553 pid_t pid = fork ();
1554
1555 if (pid < 0)
1556 // error
1557 else if (pid == 0)
1558 {
1559 // the forked child executes here
1560 exit (1);
1561 }
1562 else
1563 {
1564 ev_child_init (&cw, child_cb, pid, 0);
1565 ev_child_start (EV_DEFAULT_ &cw);
1566 }
1567
1568
1569=head2 C<ev_stat> - did the file attributes just change?
1570
1571This watches a filesystem path for attribute changes. That is, it calls
1572C<stat> regularly (or when the OS says it changed) and sees if it changed
1573compared to the last time, invoking the callback if it did.
1574
1575The path does not need to exist: changing from "path exists" to "path does
1576not exist" is a status change like any other. The condition "path does
1577not exist" is signified by the C<st_nlink> field being zero (which is
1578otherwise always forced to be at least one) and all the other fields of
1579the stat buffer having unspecified contents.
1580
1581The path I<should> be absolute and I<must not> end in a slash. If it is
1582relative and your working directory changes, the behaviour is undefined.
1583
1584Since there is no standard to do this, the portable implementation simply
1585calls C<stat (2)> regularly on the path to see if it changed somehow. You
1586can specify a recommended polling interval for this case. If you specify
1587a polling interval of C<0> (highly recommended!) then a I<suitable,
1588unspecified default> value will be used (which you can expect to be around
1589five seconds, although this might change dynamically). Libev will also
1590impose a minimum interval which is currently around C<0.1>, but thats
1591usually overkill.
1592
1593This watcher type is not meant for massive numbers of stat watchers,
1594as even with OS-supported change notifications, this can be
1595resource-intensive.
1596
1597At the time of this writing, only the Linux inotify interface is
1598implemented (implementing kqueue support is left as an exercise for the
1599reader). Inotify will be used to give hints only and should not change the
1600semantics of C<ev_stat> watchers, which means that libev sometimes needs
1601to fall back to regular polling again even with inotify, but changes are
1602usually detected immediately, and if the file exists there will be no
1603polling.
1604
1605=head3 Inotify
1606
1607When C<inotify (7)> support has been compiled into libev (generally only
1608available on Linux) and present at runtime, it will be used to speed up
1609change detection where possible. The inotify descriptor will be created lazily
1610when the first C<ev_stat> watcher is being started.
1611
1612Inotify presense does not change the semantics of C<ev_stat> watchers
1613except that changes might be detected earlier, and in some cases, to avoid
1614making regular C<stat> calls. Even in the presense of inotify support
1615there are many cases where libev has to resort to regular C<stat> polling.
1616
1617(There is no support for kqueue, as apparently it cannot be used to
1618implement this functionality, due to the requirement of having a file
1619descriptor open on the object at all times).
1620
1621=head3 The special problem of stat time resolution
1622
1623The C<stat ()> syscall only supports full-second resolution portably, and
1624even on systems where the resolution is higher, many filesystems still
1625only support whole seconds.
1626
1627That means that, if the time is the only thing that changes, you might
1628miss updates: on the first update, C<ev_stat> detects a change and calls
1629your callback, which does something. When there is another update within
1630the same second, C<ev_stat> will be unable to detect it.
1631
1632The solution to this is to delay acting on a change for a second (or till
1633the next second boundary), using a roughly one-second delay C<ev_timer>
1634(C<ev_timer_set (w, 0., 1.01); ev_timer_again (loop, w)>). The C<.01>
1635is added to work around small timing inconsistencies of some operating
1636systems.
1637
1638=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
1639
1640=over 4
1641
1642=item ev_stat_init (ev_stat *, callback, const char *path, ev_tstamp interval)
1643
1644=item ev_stat_set (ev_stat *, const char *path, ev_tstamp interval)
1645
1646Configures the watcher to wait for status changes of the given
1647C<path>. The C<interval> is a hint on how quickly a change is expected to
1648be detected and should normally be specified as C<0> to let libev choose
1649a suitable value. The memory pointed to by C<path> must point to the same
1650path for as long as the watcher is active.
1651
1652The callback will be receive C<EV_STAT> when a change was detected,
1653relative to the attributes at the time the watcher was started (or the
1654last change was detected).
1655
1656=item ev_stat_stat (loop, ev_stat *)
1657
1658Updates the stat buffer immediately with new values. If you change the
1659watched path in your callback, you could call this fucntion to avoid
1660detecting this change (while introducing a race condition). Can also be
1661useful simply to find out the new values.
1662
1663=item ev_statdata attr [read-only]
1664
1665The most-recently detected attributes of the file. Although the type is of
1666C<ev_statdata>, this is usually the (or one of the) C<struct stat> types
1667suitable for your system. If the C<st_nlink> member is C<0>, then there
1668was some error while C<stat>ing the file.
1669
1670=item ev_statdata prev [read-only]
1671
1672The previous attributes of the file. The callback gets invoked whenever
1673C<prev> != C<attr>.
1674
1675=item ev_tstamp interval [read-only]
1676
1677The specified interval.
1678
1679=item const char *path [read-only]
1680
1681The filesystem path that is being watched.
1682
1683=back
1684
1685=head3 Examples
1686
1687Example: Watch C</etc/passwd> for attribute changes.
1688
1689 static void
1690 passwd_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, ev_stat *w, int revents)
1691 {
1692 /* /etc/passwd changed in some way */
1693 if (w->attr.st_nlink)
1694 {
1695 printf ("passwd current size %ld\n", (long)w->attr.st_size);
1696 printf ("passwd current atime %ld\n", (long)w->attr.st_mtime);
1697 printf ("passwd current mtime %ld\n", (long)w->attr.st_mtime);
1698 }
1699 else
1700 /* you shalt not abuse printf for puts */
1701 puts ("wow, /etc/passwd is not there, expect problems. "
1702 "if this is windows, they already arrived\n");
1703 }
1704
1705 ...
1706 ev_stat passwd;
1707
1708 ev_stat_init (&passwd, passwd_cb, "/etc/passwd", 0.);
1709 ev_stat_start (loop, &passwd);
1710
1711Example: Like above, but additionally use a one-second delay so we do not
1712miss updates (however, frequent updates will delay processing, too, so
1713one might do the work both on C<ev_stat> callback invocation I<and> on
1714C<ev_timer> callback invocation).
1715
1716 static ev_stat passwd;
1717 static ev_timer timer;
1718
1719 static void
1720 timer_cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)
1721 {
1722 ev_timer_stop (EV_A_ w);
1723
1724 /* now it's one second after the most recent passwd change */
1725 }
1726
1727 static void
1728 stat_cb (EV_P_ ev_stat *w, int revents)
1729 {
1730 /* reset the one-second timer */
1731 ev_timer_again (EV_A_ &timer);
1732 }
1733
1734 ...
1735 ev_stat_init (&passwd, stat_cb, "/etc/passwd", 0.);
1736 ev_stat_start (loop, &passwd);
1737 ev_timer_init (&timer, timer_cb, 0., 1.01);
1738
1739
644=head2 C<ev_idle> - when you've got nothing better to do 1740=head2 C<ev_idle> - when you've got nothing better to do...
645 1741
646Idle watchers trigger events when there are no other events are pending 1742Idle watchers trigger events when no other events of the same or higher
647(prepare, check and other idle watchers do not count). That is, as long 1743priority are pending (prepare, check and other idle watchers do not
648as your process is busy handling sockets or timeouts (or even signals, 1744count).
649imagine) it will not be triggered. But when your process is idle all idle 1745
650watchers are being called again and again, once per event loop iteration - 1746That is, as long as your process is busy handling sockets or timeouts
1747(or even signals, imagine) of the same or higher priority it will not be
1748triggered. But when your process is idle (or only lower-priority watchers
1749are pending), the idle watchers are being called once per event loop
651until stopped, that is, or your process receives more events and becomes 1750iteration - until stopped, that is, or your process receives more events
652busy. 1751and becomes busy again with higher priority stuff.
653 1752
654The most noteworthy effect is that as long as any idle watchers are 1753The most noteworthy effect is that as long as any idle watchers are
655active, the process will not block when waiting for new events. 1754active, the process will not block when waiting for new events.
656 1755
657Apart from keeping your process non-blocking (which is a useful 1756Apart from keeping your process non-blocking (which is a useful
658effect on its own sometimes), idle watchers are a good place to do 1757effect on its own sometimes), idle watchers are a good place to do
659"pseudo-background processing", or delay processing stuff to after the 1758"pseudo-background processing", or delay processing stuff to after the
660event loop has handled all outstanding events. 1759event loop has handled all outstanding events.
661 1760
1761=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
1762
662=over 4 1763=over 4
663 1764
664=item ev_idle_init (ev_signal *, callback) 1765=item ev_idle_init (ev_signal *, callback)
665 1766
666Initialises and configures the idle watcher - it has no parameters of any 1767Initialises and configures the idle watcher - it has no parameters of any
667kind. There is a C<ev_idle_set> macro, but using it is utterly pointless, 1768kind. There is a C<ev_idle_set> macro, but using it is utterly pointless,
668believe me. 1769believe me.
669 1770
670=back 1771=back
671 1772
1773=head3 Examples
1774
1775Example: Dynamically allocate an C<ev_idle> watcher, start it, and in the
1776callback, free it. Also, use no error checking, as usual.
1777
1778 static void
1779 idle_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_idle *w, int revents)
1780 {
1781 free (w);
1782 // now do something you wanted to do when the program has
1783 // no longer anything immediate to do.
1784 }
1785
1786 struct ev_idle *idle_watcher = malloc (sizeof (struct ev_idle));
1787 ev_idle_init (idle_watcher, idle_cb);
1788 ev_idle_start (loop, idle_cb);
1789
1790
672=head2 C<ev_prepare> and C<ev_check> - customise your event loop 1791=head2 C<ev_prepare> and C<ev_check> - customise your event loop!
673 1792
674Prepare and check watchers are usually (but not always) used in tandem: 1793Prepare and check watchers are usually (but not always) used in tandem:
675Prepare watchers get invoked before the process blocks and check watchers 1794prepare watchers get invoked before the process blocks and check watchers
676afterwards. 1795afterwards.
677 1796
1797You I<must not> call C<ev_loop> or similar functions that enter
1798the current event loop from either C<ev_prepare> or C<ev_check>
1799watchers. Other loops than the current one are fine, however. The
1800rationale behind this is that you do not need to check for recursion in
1801those watchers, i.e. the sequence will always be C<ev_prepare>, blocking,
1802C<ev_check> so if you have one watcher of each kind they will always be
1803called in pairs bracketing the blocking call.
1804
678Their main purpose is to integrate other event mechanisms into libev. This 1805Their main purpose is to integrate other event mechanisms into libev and
679could be used, for example, to track variable changes, implement your own 1806their use is somewhat advanced. This could be used, for example, to track
680watchers, integrate net-snmp or a coroutine library and lots more. 1807variable changes, implement your own watchers, integrate net-snmp or a
1808coroutine library and lots more. They are also occasionally useful if
1809you cache some data and want to flush it before blocking (for example,
1810in X programs you might want to do an C<XFlush ()> in an C<ev_prepare>
1811watcher).
681 1812
682This is done by examining in each prepare call which file descriptors need 1813This is done by examining in each prepare call which file descriptors need
683to be watched by the other library, registering C<ev_io> watchers for 1814to be watched by the other library, registering C<ev_io> watchers for
684them and starting an C<ev_timer> watcher for any timeouts (many libraries 1815them and starting an C<ev_timer> watcher for any timeouts (many libraries
685provide just this functionality). Then, in the check watcher you check for 1816provide just this functionality). Then, in the check watcher you check for
686any events that occured (by checking the pending status of all watchers 1817any events that occured (by checking the pending status of all watchers
687and stopping them) and call back into the library. The I/O and timer 1818and stopping them) and call back into the library. The I/O and timer
688callbacks will never actually be called (but must be valid neverthelles, 1819callbacks will never actually be called (but must be valid nevertheless,
689because you never know, you know?). 1820because you never know, you know?).
690 1821
691As another example, the Perl Coro module uses these hooks to integrate 1822As another example, the Perl Coro module uses these hooks to integrate
692coroutines into libev programs, by yielding to other active coroutines 1823coroutines into libev programs, by yielding to other active coroutines
693during each prepare and only letting the process block if no coroutines 1824during each prepare and only letting the process block if no coroutines
694are ready to run (its actually more complicated, it only runs coroutines 1825are ready to run (it's actually more complicated: it only runs coroutines
695with priority higher than the event loop and one lower priority once, 1826with priority higher than or equal to the event loop and one coroutine
696using idle watchers to keep the event loop from blocking if lower-priority 1827of lower priority, but only once, using idle watchers to keep the event
697coroutines exist, thus mapping low-priority coroutines to idle/background 1828loop from blocking if lower-priority coroutines are active, thus mapping
698tasks). 1829low-priority coroutines to idle/background tasks).
1830
1831It is recommended to give C<ev_check> watchers highest (C<EV_MAXPRI>)
1832priority, to ensure that they are being run before any other watchers
1833after the poll. Also, C<ev_check> watchers (and C<ev_prepare> watchers,
1834too) should not activate ("feed") events into libev. While libev fully
1835supports this, they will be called before other C<ev_check> watchers
1836did their job. As C<ev_check> watchers are often used to embed other
1837(non-libev) event loops those other event loops might be in an unusable
1838state until their C<ev_check> watcher ran (always remind yourself to
1839coexist peacefully with others).
1840
1841=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
699 1842
700=over 4 1843=over 4
701 1844
702=item ev_prepare_init (ev_prepare *, callback) 1845=item ev_prepare_init (ev_prepare *, callback)
703 1846
707parameters of any kind. There are C<ev_prepare_set> and C<ev_check_set> 1850parameters of any kind. There are C<ev_prepare_set> and C<ev_check_set>
708macros, but using them is utterly, utterly and completely pointless. 1851macros, but using them is utterly, utterly and completely pointless.
709 1852
710=back 1853=back
711 1854
1855=head3 Examples
1856
1857There are a number of principal ways to embed other event loops or modules
1858into libev. Here are some ideas on how to include libadns into libev
1859(there is a Perl module named C<EV::ADNS> that does this, which you could
1860use for an actually working example. Another Perl module named C<EV::Glib>
1861embeds a Glib main context into libev, and finally, C<Glib::EV> embeds EV
1862into the Glib event loop).
1863
1864Method 1: Add IO watchers and a timeout watcher in a prepare handler,
1865and in a check watcher, destroy them and call into libadns. What follows
1866is pseudo-code only of course. This requires you to either use a low
1867priority for the check watcher or use C<ev_clear_pending> explicitly, as
1868the callbacks for the IO/timeout watchers might not have been called yet.
1869
1870 static ev_io iow [nfd];
1871 static ev_timer tw;
1872
1873 static void
1874 io_cb (ev_loop *loop, ev_io *w, int revents)
1875 {
1876 }
1877
1878 // create io watchers for each fd and a timer before blocking
1879 static void
1880 adns_prepare_cb (ev_loop *loop, ev_prepare *w, int revents)
1881 {
1882 int timeout = 3600000;
1883 struct pollfd fds [nfd];
1884 // actual code will need to loop here and realloc etc.
1885 adns_beforepoll (ads, fds, &nfd, &timeout, timeval_from (ev_time ()));
1886
1887 /* the callback is illegal, but won't be called as we stop during check */
1888 ev_timer_init (&tw, 0, timeout * 1e-3);
1889 ev_timer_start (loop, &tw);
1890
1891 // create one ev_io per pollfd
1892 for (int i = 0; i < nfd; ++i)
1893 {
1894 ev_io_init (iow + i, io_cb, fds [i].fd,
1895 ((fds [i].events & POLLIN ? EV_READ : 0)
1896 | (fds [i].events & POLLOUT ? EV_WRITE : 0)));
1897
1898 fds [i].revents = 0;
1899 ev_io_start (loop, iow + i);
1900 }
1901 }
1902
1903 // stop all watchers after blocking
1904 static void
1905 adns_check_cb (ev_loop *loop, ev_check *w, int revents)
1906 {
1907 ev_timer_stop (loop, &tw);
1908
1909 for (int i = 0; i < nfd; ++i)
1910 {
1911 // set the relevant poll flags
1912 // could also call adns_processreadable etc. here
1913 struct pollfd *fd = fds + i;
1914 int revents = ev_clear_pending (iow + i);
1915 if (revents & EV_READ ) fd->revents |= fd->events & POLLIN;
1916 if (revents & EV_WRITE) fd->revents |= fd->events & POLLOUT;
1917
1918 // now stop the watcher
1919 ev_io_stop (loop, iow + i);
1920 }
1921
1922 adns_afterpoll (adns, fds, nfd, timeval_from (ev_now (loop));
1923 }
1924
1925Method 2: This would be just like method 1, but you run C<adns_afterpoll>
1926in the prepare watcher and would dispose of the check watcher.
1927
1928Method 3: If the module to be embedded supports explicit event
1929notification (adns does), you can also make use of the actual watcher
1930callbacks, and only destroy/create the watchers in the prepare watcher.
1931
1932 static void
1933 timer_cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)
1934 {
1935 adns_state ads = (adns_state)w->data;
1936 update_now (EV_A);
1937
1938 adns_processtimeouts (ads, &tv_now);
1939 }
1940
1941 static void
1942 io_cb (EV_P_ ev_io *w, int revents)
1943 {
1944 adns_state ads = (adns_state)w->data;
1945 update_now (EV_A);
1946
1947 if (revents & EV_READ ) adns_processreadable (ads, w->fd, &tv_now);
1948 if (revents & EV_WRITE) adns_processwriteable (ads, w->fd, &tv_now);
1949 }
1950
1951 // do not ever call adns_afterpoll
1952
1953Method 4: Do not use a prepare or check watcher because the module you
1954want to embed is too inflexible to support it. Instead, youc na override
1955their poll function. The drawback with this solution is that the main
1956loop is now no longer controllable by EV. The C<Glib::EV> module does
1957this.
1958
1959 static gint
1960 event_poll_func (GPollFD *fds, guint nfds, gint timeout)
1961 {
1962 int got_events = 0;
1963
1964 for (n = 0; n < nfds; ++n)
1965 // create/start io watcher that sets the relevant bits in fds[n] and increment got_events
1966
1967 if (timeout >= 0)
1968 // create/start timer
1969
1970 // poll
1971 ev_loop (EV_A_ 0);
1972
1973 // stop timer again
1974 if (timeout >= 0)
1975 ev_timer_stop (EV_A_ &to);
1976
1977 // stop io watchers again - their callbacks should have set
1978 for (n = 0; n < nfds; ++n)
1979 ev_io_stop (EV_A_ iow [n]);
1980
1981 return got_events;
1982 }
1983
1984
1985=head2 C<ev_embed> - when one backend isn't enough...
1986
1987This is a rather advanced watcher type that lets you embed one event loop
1988into another (currently only C<ev_io> events are supported in the embedded
1989loop, other types of watchers might be handled in a delayed or incorrect
1990fashion and must not be used).
1991
1992There are primarily two reasons you would want that: work around bugs and
1993prioritise I/O.
1994
1995As an example for a bug workaround, the kqueue backend might only support
1996sockets on some platform, so it is unusable as generic backend, but you
1997still want to make use of it because you have many sockets and it scales
1998so nicely. In this case, you would create a kqueue-based loop and embed it
1999into your default loop (which might use e.g. poll). Overall operation will
2000be a bit slower because first libev has to poll and then call kevent, but
2001at least you can use both at what they are best.
2002
2003As for prioritising I/O: rarely you have the case where some fds have
2004to be watched and handled very quickly (with low latency), and even
2005priorities and idle watchers might have too much overhead. In this case
2006you would put all the high priority stuff in one loop and all the rest in
2007a second one, and embed the second one in the first.
2008
2009As long as the watcher is active, the callback will be invoked every time
2010there might be events pending in the embedded loop. The callback must then
2011call C<ev_embed_sweep (mainloop, watcher)> to make a single sweep and invoke
2012their callbacks (you could also start an idle watcher to give the embedded
2013loop strictly lower priority for example). You can also set the callback
2014to C<0>, in which case the embed watcher will automatically execute the
2015embedded loop sweep.
2016
2017As long as the watcher is started it will automatically handle events. The
2018callback will be invoked whenever some events have been handled. You can
2019set the callback to C<0> to avoid having to specify one if you are not
2020interested in that.
2021
2022Also, there have not currently been made special provisions for forking:
2023when you fork, you not only have to call C<ev_loop_fork> on both loops,
2024but you will also have to stop and restart any C<ev_embed> watchers
2025yourself.
2026
2027Unfortunately, not all backends are embeddable, only the ones returned by
2028C<ev_embeddable_backends> are, which, unfortunately, does not include any
2029portable one.
2030
2031So when you want to use this feature you will always have to be prepared
2032that you cannot get an embeddable loop. The recommended way to get around
2033this is to have a separate variables for your embeddable loop, try to
2034create it, and if that fails, use the normal loop for everything.
2035
2036=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
2037
2038=over 4
2039
2040=item ev_embed_init (ev_embed *, callback, struct ev_loop *embedded_loop)
2041
2042=item ev_embed_set (ev_embed *, callback, struct ev_loop *embedded_loop)
2043
2044Configures the watcher to embed the given loop, which must be
2045embeddable. If the callback is C<0>, then C<ev_embed_sweep> will be
2046invoked automatically, otherwise it is the responsibility of the callback
2047to invoke it (it will continue to be called until the sweep has been done,
2048if you do not want thta, you need to temporarily stop the embed watcher).
2049
2050=item ev_embed_sweep (loop, ev_embed *)
2051
2052Make a single, non-blocking sweep over the embedded loop. This works
2053similarly to C<ev_loop (embedded_loop, EVLOOP_NONBLOCK)>, but in the most
2054apropriate way for embedded loops.
2055
2056=item struct ev_loop *other [read-only]
2057
2058The embedded event loop.
2059
2060=back
2061
2062=head3 Examples
2063
2064Example: Try to get an embeddable event loop and embed it into the default
2065event loop. If that is not possible, use the default loop. The default
2066loop is stored in C<loop_hi>, while the mebeddable loop is stored in
2067C<loop_lo> (which is C<loop_hi> in the acse no embeddable loop can be
2068used).
2069
2070 struct ev_loop *loop_hi = ev_default_init (0);
2071 struct ev_loop *loop_lo = 0;
2072 struct ev_embed embed;
2073
2074 // see if there is a chance of getting one that works
2075 // (remember that a flags value of 0 means autodetection)
2076 loop_lo = ev_embeddable_backends () & ev_recommended_backends ()
2077 ? ev_loop_new (ev_embeddable_backends () & ev_recommended_backends ())
2078 : 0;
2079
2080 // if we got one, then embed it, otherwise default to loop_hi
2081 if (loop_lo)
2082 {
2083 ev_embed_init (&embed, 0, loop_lo);
2084 ev_embed_start (loop_hi, &embed);
2085 }
2086 else
2087 loop_lo = loop_hi;
2088
2089Example: Check if kqueue is available but not recommended and create
2090a kqueue backend for use with sockets (which usually work with any
2091kqueue implementation). Store the kqueue/socket-only event loop in
2092C<loop_socket>. (One might optionally use C<EVFLAG_NOENV>, too).
2093
2094 struct ev_loop *loop = ev_default_init (0);
2095 struct ev_loop *loop_socket = 0;
2096 struct ev_embed embed;
2097
2098 if (ev_supported_backends () & ~ev_recommended_backends () & EVBACKEND_KQUEUE)
2099 if ((loop_socket = ev_loop_new (EVBACKEND_KQUEUE))
2100 {
2101 ev_embed_init (&embed, 0, loop_socket);
2102 ev_embed_start (loop, &embed);
2103 }
2104
2105 if (!loop_socket)
2106 loop_socket = loop;
2107
2108 // now use loop_socket for all sockets, and loop for everything else
2109
2110
2111=head2 C<ev_fork> - the audacity to resume the event loop after a fork
2112
2113Fork watchers are called when a C<fork ()> was detected (usually because
2114whoever is a good citizen cared to tell libev about it by calling
2115C<ev_default_fork> or C<ev_loop_fork>). The invocation is done before the
2116event loop blocks next and before C<ev_check> watchers are being called,
2117and only in the child after the fork. If whoever good citizen calling
2118C<ev_default_fork> cheats and calls it in the wrong process, the fork
2119handlers will be invoked, too, of course.
2120
2121=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
2122
2123=over 4
2124
2125=item ev_fork_init (ev_signal *, callback)
2126
2127Initialises and configures the fork watcher - it has no parameters of any
2128kind. There is a C<ev_fork_set> macro, but using it is utterly pointless,
2129believe me.
2130
2131=back
2132
2133
2134=head2 C<ev_async> - how to wake up another event loop
2135
2136In general, you cannot use an C<ev_loop> from multiple threads or other
2137asynchronous sources such as signal handlers (as opposed to multiple event
2138loops - those are of course safe to use in different threads).
2139
2140Sometimes, however, you need to wake up another event loop you do not
2141control, for example because it belongs to another thread. This is what
2142C<ev_async> watchers do: as long as the C<ev_async> watcher is active, you
2143can signal it by calling C<ev_async_send>, which is thread- and signal
2144safe.
2145
2146This functionality is very similar to C<ev_signal> watchers, as signals,
2147too, are asynchronous in nature, and signals, too, will be compressed
2148(i.e. the number of callback invocations may be less than the number of
2149C<ev_async_sent> calls).
2150
2151Unlike C<ev_signal> watchers, C<ev_async> works with any event loop, not
2152just the default loop.
2153
2154=head3 Queueing
2155
2156C<ev_async> does not support queueing of data in any way. The reason
2157is that the author does not know of a simple (or any) algorithm for a
2158multiple-writer-single-reader queue that works in all cases and doesn't
2159need elaborate support such as pthreads.
2160
2161That means that if you want to queue data, you have to provide your own
2162queue. But at least I can tell you would implement locking around your
2163queue:
2164
2165=over 4
2166
2167=item queueing from a signal handler context
2168
2169To implement race-free queueing, you simply add to the queue in the signal
2170handler but you block the signal handler in the watcher callback. Here is an example that does that for
2171some fictitiuous SIGUSR1 handler:
2172
2173 static ev_async mysig;
2174
2175 static void
2176 sigusr1_handler (void)
2177 {
2178 sometype data;
2179
2180 // no locking etc.
2181 queue_put (data);
2182 ev_async_send (EV_DEFAULT_ &mysig);
2183 }
2184
2185 static void
2186 mysig_cb (EV_P_ ev_async *w, int revents)
2187 {
2188 sometype data;
2189 sigset_t block, prev;
2190
2191 sigemptyset (&block);
2192 sigaddset (&block, SIGUSR1);
2193 sigprocmask (SIG_BLOCK, &block, &prev);
2194
2195 while (queue_get (&data))
2196 process (data);
2197
2198 if (sigismember (&prev, SIGUSR1)
2199 sigprocmask (SIG_UNBLOCK, &block, 0);
2200 }
2201
2202(Note: pthreads in theory requires you to use C<pthread_setmask>
2203instead of C<sigprocmask> when you use threads, but libev doesn't do it
2204either...).
2205
2206=item queueing from a thread context
2207
2208The strategy for threads is different, as you cannot (easily) block
2209threads but you can easily preempt them, so to queue safely you need to
2210employ a traditional mutex lock, such as in this pthread example:
2211
2212 static ev_async mysig;
2213 static pthread_mutex_t mymutex = PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
2214
2215 static void
2216 otherthread (void)
2217 {
2218 // only need to lock the actual queueing operation
2219 pthread_mutex_lock (&mymutex);
2220 queue_put (data);
2221 pthread_mutex_unlock (&mymutex);
2222
2223 ev_async_send (EV_DEFAULT_ &mysig);
2224 }
2225
2226 static void
2227 mysig_cb (EV_P_ ev_async *w, int revents)
2228 {
2229 pthread_mutex_lock (&mymutex);
2230
2231 while (queue_get (&data))
2232 process (data);
2233
2234 pthread_mutex_unlock (&mymutex);
2235 }
2236
2237=back
2238
2239
2240=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
2241
2242=over 4
2243
2244=item ev_async_init (ev_async *, callback)
2245
2246Initialises and configures the async watcher - it has no parameters of any
2247kind. There is a C<ev_asynd_set> macro, but using it is utterly pointless,
2248believe me.
2249
2250=item ev_async_send (loop, ev_async *)
2251
2252Sends/signals/activates the given C<ev_async> watcher, that is, feeds
2253an C<EV_ASYNC> event on the watcher into the event loop. Unlike
2254C<ev_feed_event>, this call is safe to do in other threads, signal or
2255similar contexts (see the dicusssion of C<EV_ATOMIC_T> in the embedding
2256section below on what exactly this means).
2257
2258This call incurs the overhead of a syscall only once per loop iteration,
2259so while the overhead might be noticable, it doesn't apply to repeated
2260calls to C<ev_async_send>.
2261
2262=back
2263
2264
712=head1 OTHER FUNCTIONS 2265=head1 OTHER FUNCTIONS
713 2266
714There are some other functions of possible interest. Described. Here. Now. 2267There are some other functions of possible interest. Described. Here. Now.
715 2268
716=over 4 2269=over 4
718=item ev_once (loop, int fd, int events, ev_tstamp timeout, callback) 2271=item ev_once (loop, int fd, int events, ev_tstamp timeout, callback)
719 2272
720This function combines a simple timer and an I/O watcher, calls your 2273This function combines a simple timer and an I/O watcher, calls your
721callback on whichever event happens first and automatically stop both 2274callback on whichever event happens first and automatically stop both
722watchers. This is useful if you want to wait for a single event on an fd 2275watchers. This is useful if you want to wait for a single event on an fd
723or timeout without havign to allocate/configure/start/stop/free one or 2276or timeout without having to allocate/configure/start/stop/free one or
724more watchers yourself. 2277more watchers yourself.
725 2278
726If C<fd> is less than 0, then no I/O watcher will be started and events 2279If C<fd> is less than 0, then no I/O watcher will be started and events
727is being ignored. Otherwise, an C<ev_io> watcher for the given C<fd> and 2280is being ignored. Otherwise, an C<ev_io> watcher for the given C<fd> and
728C<events> set will be craeted and started. 2281C<events> set will be craeted and started.
731started. Otherwise an C<ev_timer> watcher with after = C<timeout> (and 2284started. Otherwise an C<ev_timer> watcher with after = C<timeout> (and
732repeat = 0) will be started. While C<0> is a valid timeout, it is of 2285repeat = 0) will be started. While C<0> is a valid timeout, it is of
733dubious value. 2286dubious value.
734 2287
735The callback has the type C<void (*cb)(int revents, void *arg)> and gets 2288The callback has the type C<void (*cb)(int revents, void *arg)> and gets
736passed an events set like normal event callbacks (with a combination of 2289passed an C<revents> set like normal event callbacks (a combination of
737C<EV_ERROR>, C<EV_READ>, C<EV_WRITE> or C<EV_TIMEOUT>) and the C<arg> 2290C<EV_ERROR>, C<EV_READ>, C<EV_WRITE> or C<EV_TIMEOUT>) and the C<arg>
738value passed to C<ev_once>: 2291value passed to C<ev_once>:
739 2292
740 static void stdin_ready (int revents, void *arg) 2293 static void stdin_ready (int revents, void *arg)
741 { 2294 {
745 /* stdin might have data for us, joy! */; 2298 /* stdin might have data for us, joy! */;
746 } 2299 }
747 2300
748 ev_once (STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ, 10., stdin_ready, 0); 2301 ev_once (STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ, 10., stdin_ready, 0);
749 2302
750=item ev_feed_event (loop, watcher, int events) 2303=item ev_feed_event (ev_loop *, watcher *, int revents)
751 2304
752Feeds the given event set into the event loop, as if the specified event 2305Feeds the given event set into the event loop, as if the specified event
753had happened for the specified watcher (which must be a pointer to an 2306had happened for the specified watcher (which must be a pointer to an
754initialised but not necessarily started event watcher). 2307initialised but not necessarily started event watcher).
755 2308
756=item ev_feed_fd_event (loop, int fd, int revents) 2309=item ev_feed_fd_event (ev_loop *, int fd, int revents)
757 2310
758Feed an event on the given fd, as if a file descriptor backend detected 2311Feed an event on the given fd, as if a file descriptor backend detected
759the given events it. 2312the given events it.
760 2313
761=item ev_feed_signal_event (loop, int signum) 2314=item ev_feed_signal_event (ev_loop *loop, int signum)
762 2315
763Feed an event as if the given signal occured (loop must be the default loop!). 2316Feed an event as if the given signal occured (C<loop> must be the default
2317loop!).
764 2318
765=back 2319=back
766 2320
2321
2322=head1 LIBEVENT EMULATION
2323
2324Libev offers a compatibility emulation layer for libevent. It cannot
2325emulate the internals of libevent, so here are some usage hints:
2326
2327=over 4
2328
2329=item * Use it by including <event.h>, as usual.
2330
2331=item * The following members are fully supported: ev_base, ev_callback,
2332ev_arg, ev_fd, ev_res, ev_events.
2333
2334=item * Avoid using ev_flags and the EVLIST_*-macros, while it is
2335maintained by libev, it does not work exactly the same way as in libevent (consider
2336it a private API).
2337
2338=item * Priorities are not currently supported. Initialising priorities
2339will fail and all watchers will have the same priority, even though there
2340is an ev_pri field.
2341
2342=item * Other members are not supported.
2343
2344=item * The libev emulation is I<not> ABI compatible to libevent, you need
2345to use the libev header file and library.
2346
2347=back
2348
2349=head1 C++ SUPPORT
2350
2351Libev comes with some simplistic wrapper classes for C++ that mainly allow
2352you to use some convinience methods to start/stop watchers and also change
2353the callback model to a model using method callbacks on objects.
2354
2355To use it,
2356
2357 #include <ev++.h>
2358
2359This automatically includes F<ev.h> and puts all of its definitions (many
2360of them macros) into the global namespace. All C++ specific things are
2361put into the C<ev> namespace. It should support all the same embedding
2362options as F<ev.h>, most notably C<EV_MULTIPLICITY>.
2363
2364Care has been taken to keep the overhead low. The only data member the C++
2365classes add (compared to plain C-style watchers) is the event loop pointer
2366that the watcher is associated with (or no additional members at all if
2367you disable C<EV_MULTIPLICITY> when embedding libev).
2368
2369Currently, functions, and static and non-static member functions can be
2370used as callbacks. Other types should be easy to add as long as they only
2371need one additional pointer for context. If you need support for other
2372types of functors please contact the author (preferably after implementing
2373it).
2374
2375Here is a list of things available in the C<ev> namespace:
2376
2377=over 4
2378
2379=item C<ev::READ>, C<ev::WRITE> etc.
2380
2381These are just enum values with the same values as the C<EV_READ> etc.
2382macros from F<ev.h>.
2383
2384=item C<ev::tstamp>, C<ev::now>
2385
2386Aliases to the same types/functions as with the C<ev_> prefix.
2387
2388=item C<ev::io>, C<ev::timer>, C<ev::periodic>, C<ev::idle>, C<ev::sig> etc.
2389
2390For each C<ev_TYPE> watcher in F<ev.h> there is a corresponding class of
2391the same name in the C<ev> namespace, with the exception of C<ev_signal>
2392which is called C<ev::sig> to avoid clashes with the C<signal> macro
2393defines by many implementations.
2394
2395All of those classes have these methods:
2396
2397=over 4
2398
2399=item ev::TYPE::TYPE ()
2400
2401=item ev::TYPE::TYPE (struct ev_loop *)
2402
2403=item ev::TYPE::~TYPE
2404
2405The constructor (optionally) takes an event loop to associate the watcher
2406with. If it is omitted, it will use C<EV_DEFAULT>.
2407
2408The constructor calls C<ev_init> for you, which means you have to call the
2409C<set> method before starting it.
2410
2411It will not set a callback, however: You have to call the templated C<set>
2412method to set a callback before you can start the watcher.
2413
2414(The reason why you have to use a method is a limitation in C++ which does
2415not allow explicit template arguments for constructors).
2416
2417The destructor automatically stops the watcher if it is active.
2418
2419=item w->set<class, &class::method> (object *)
2420
2421This method sets the callback method to call. The method has to have a
2422signature of C<void (*)(ev_TYPE &, int)>, it receives the watcher as
2423first argument and the C<revents> as second. The object must be given as
2424parameter and is stored in the C<data> member of the watcher.
2425
2426This method synthesizes efficient thunking code to call your method from
2427the C callback that libev requires. If your compiler can inline your
2428callback (i.e. it is visible to it at the place of the C<set> call and
2429your compiler is good :), then the method will be fully inlined into the
2430thunking function, making it as fast as a direct C callback.
2431
2432Example: simple class declaration and watcher initialisation
2433
2434 struct myclass
2435 {
2436 void io_cb (ev::io &w, int revents) { }
2437 }
2438
2439 myclass obj;
2440 ev::io iow;
2441 iow.set <myclass, &myclass::io_cb> (&obj);
2442
2443=item w->set<function> (void *data = 0)
2444
2445Also sets a callback, but uses a static method or plain function as
2446callback. The optional C<data> argument will be stored in the watcher's
2447C<data> member and is free for you to use.
2448
2449The prototype of the C<function> must be C<void (*)(ev::TYPE &w, int)>.
2450
2451See the method-C<set> above for more details.
2452
2453Example:
2454
2455 static void io_cb (ev::io &w, int revents) { }
2456 iow.set <io_cb> ();
2457
2458=item w->set (struct ev_loop *)
2459
2460Associates a different C<struct ev_loop> with this watcher. You can only
2461do this when the watcher is inactive (and not pending either).
2462
2463=item w->set ([args])
2464
2465Basically the same as C<ev_TYPE_set>, with the same args. Must be
2466called at least once. Unlike the C counterpart, an active watcher gets
2467automatically stopped and restarted when reconfiguring it with this
2468method.
2469
2470=item w->start ()
2471
2472Starts the watcher. Note that there is no C<loop> argument, as the
2473constructor already stores the event loop.
2474
2475=item w->stop ()
2476
2477Stops the watcher if it is active. Again, no C<loop> argument.
2478
2479=item w->again () (C<ev::timer>, C<ev::periodic> only)
2480
2481For C<ev::timer> and C<ev::periodic>, this invokes the corresponding
2482C<ev_TYPE_again> function.
2483
2484=item w->sweep () (C<ev::embed> only)
2485
2486Invokes C<ev_embed_sweep>.
2487
2488=item w->update () (C<ev::stat> only)
2489
2490Invokes C<ev_stat_stat>.
2491
2492=back
2493
2494=back
2495
2496Example: Define a class with an IO and idle watcher, start one of them in
2497the constructor.
2498
2499 class myclass
2500 {
2501 ev::io io; void io_cb (ev::io &w, int revents);
2502 ev:idle idle void idle_cb (ev::idle &w, int revents);
2503
2504 myclass (int fd)
2505 {
2506 io .set <myclass, &myclass::io_cb > (this);
2507 idle.set <myclass, &myclass::idle_cb> (this);
2508
2509 io.start (fd, ev::READ);
2510 }
2511 };
2512
2513
2514=head1 MACRO MAGIC
2515
2516Libev can be compiled with a variety of options, the most fundamantal
2517of which is C<EV_MULTIPLICITY>. This option determines whether (most)
2518functions and callbacks have an initial C<struct ev_loop *> argument.
2519
2520To make it easier to write programs that cope with either variant, the
2521following macros are defined:
2522
2523=over 4
2524
2525=item C<EV_A>, C<EV_A_>
2526
2527This provides the loop I<argument> for functions, if one is required ("ev
2528loop argument"). The C<EV_A> form is used when this is the sole argument,
2529C<EV_A_> is used when other arguments are following. Example:
2530
2531 ev_unref (EV_A);
2532 ev_timer_add (EV_A_ watcher);
2533 ev_loop (EV_A_ 0);
2534
2535It assumes the variable C<loop> of type C<struct ev_loop *> is in scope,
2536which is often provided by the following macro.
2537
2538=item C<EV_P>, C<EV_P_>
2539
2540This provides the loop I<parameter> for functions, if one is required ("ev
2541loop parameter"). The C<EV_P> form is used when this is the sole parameter,
2542C<EV_P_> is used when other parameters are following. Example:
2543
2544 // this is how ev_unref is being declared
2545 static void ev_unref (EV_P);
2546
2547 // this is how you can declare your typical callback
2548 static void cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)
2549
2550It declares a parameter C<loop> of type C<struct ev_loop *>, quite
2551suitable for use with C<EV_A>.
2552
2553=item C<EV_DEFAULT>, C<EV_DEFAULT_>
2554
2555Similar to the other two macros, this gives you the value of the default
2556loop, if multiple loops are supported ("ev loop default").
2557
2558=back
2559
2560Example: Declare and initialise a check watcher, utilising the above
2561macros so it will work regardless of whether multiple loops are supported
2562or not.
2563
2564 static void
2565 check_cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)
2566 {
2567 ev_check_stop (EV_A_ w);
2568 }
2569
2570 ev_check check;
2571 ev_check_init (&check, check_cb);
2572 ev_check_start (EV_DEFAULT_ &check);
2573 ev_loop (EV_DEFAULT_ 0);
2574
2575=head1 EMBEDDING
2576
2577Libev can (and often is) directly embedded into host
2578applications. Examples of applications that embed it include the Deliantra
2579Game Server, the EV perl module, the GNU Virtual Private Ethernet (gvpe)
2580and rxvt-unicode.
2581
2582The goal is to enable you to just copy the necessary files into your
2583source directory without having to change even a single line in them, so
2584you can easily upgrade by simply copying (or having a checked-out copy of
2585libev somewhere in your source tree).
2586
2587=head2 FILESETS
2588
2589Depending on what features you need you need to include one or more sets of files
2590in your app.
2591
2592=head3 CORE EVENT LOOP
2593
2594To include only the libev core (all the C<ev_*> functions), with manual
2595configuration (no autoconf):
2596
2597 #define EV_STANDALONE 1
2598 #include "ev.c"
2599
2600This will automatically include F<ev.h>, too, and should be done in a
2601single C source file only to provide the function implementations. To use
2602it, do the same for F<ev.h> in all files wishing to use this API (best
2603done by writing a wrapper around F<ev.h> that you can include instead and
2604where you can put other configuration options):
2605
2606 #define EV_STANDALONE 1
2607 #include "ev.h"
2608
2609Both header files and implementation files can be compiled with a C++
2610compiler (at least, thats a stated goal, and breakage will be treated
2611as a bug).
2612
2613You need the following files in your source tree, or in a directory
2614in your include path (e.g. in libev/ when using -Ilibev):
2615
2616 ev.h
2617 ev.c
2618 ev_vars.h
2619 ev_wrap.h
2620
2621 ev_win32.c required on win32 platforms only
2622
2623 ev_select.c only when select backend is enabled (which is enabled by default)
2624 ev_poll.c only when poll backend is enabled (disabled by default)
2625 ev_epoll.c only when the epoll backend is enabled (disabled by default)
2626 ev_kqueue.c only when the kqueue backend is enabled (disabled by default)
2627 ev_port.c only when the solaris port backend is enabled (disabled by default)
2628
2629F<ev.c> includes the backend files directly when enabled, so you only need
2630to compile this single file.
2631
2632=head3 LIBEVENT COMPATIBILITY API
2633
2634To include the libevent compatibility API, also include:
2635
2636 #include "event.c"
2637
2638in the file including F<ev.c>, and:
2639
2640 #include "event.h"
2641
2642in the files that want to use the libevent API. This also includes F<ev.h>.
2643
2644You need the following additional files for this:
2645
2646 event.h
2647 event.c
2648
2649=head3 AUTOCONF SUPPORT
2650
2651Instead of using C<EV_STANDALONE=1> and providing your config in
2652whatever way you want, you can also C<m4_include([libev.m4])> in your
2653F<configure.ac> and leave C<EV_STANDALONE> undefined. F<ev.c> will then
2654include F<config.h> and configure itself accordingly.
2655
2656For this of course you need the m4 file:
2657
2658 libev.m4
2659
2660=head2 PREPROCESSOR SYMBOLS/MACROS
2661
2662Libev can be configured via a variety of preprocessor symbols you have to define
2663before including any of its files. The default is not to build for multiplicity
2664and only include the select backend.
2665
2666=over 4
2667
2668=item EV_STANDALONE
2669
2670Must always be C<1> if you do not use autoconf configuration, which
2671keeps libev from including F<config.h>, and it also defines dummy
2672implementations for some libevent functions (such as logging, which is not
2673supported). It will also not define any of the structs usually found in
2674F<event.h> that are not directly supported by the libev core alone.
2675
2676=item EV_USE_MONOTONIC
2677
2678If defined to be C<1>, libev will try to detect the availability of the
2679monotonic clock option at both compiletime and runtime. Otherwise no use
2680of the monotonic clock option will be attempted. If you enable this, you
2681usually have to link against librt or something similar. Enabling it when
2682the functionality isn't available is safe, though, although you have
2683to make sure you link against any libraries where the C<clock_gettime>
2684function is hiding in (often F<-lrt>).
2685
2686=item EV_USE_REALTIME
2687
2688If defined to be C<1>, libev will try to detect the availability of the
2689realtime clock option at compiletime (and assume its availability at
2690runtime if successful). Otherwise no use of the realtime clock option will
2691be attempted. This effectively replaces C<gettimeofday> by C<clock_get
2692(CLOCK_REALTIME, ...)> and will not normally affect correctness. See the
2693note about libraries in the description of C<EV_USE_MONOTONIC>, though.
2694
2695=item EV_USE_NANOSLEEP
2696
2697If defined to be C<1>, libev will assume that C<nanosleep ()> is available
2698and will use it for delays. Otherwise it will use C<select ()>.
2699
2700=item EV_USE_SELECT
2701
2702If undefined or defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the
2703C<select>(2) backend. No attempt at autodetection will be done: if no
2704other method takes over, select will be it. Otherwise the select backend
2705will not be compiled in.
2706
2707=item EV_SELECT_USE_FD_SET
2708
2709If defined to C<1>, then the select backend will use the system C<fd_set>
2710structure. This is useful if libev doesn't compile due to a missing
2711C<NFDBITS> or C<fd_mask> definition or it misguesses the bitset layout on
2712exotic systems. This usually limits the range of file descriptors to some
2713low limit such as 1024 or might have other limitations (winsocket only
2714allows 64 sockets). The C<FD_SETSIZE> macro, set before compilation, might
2715influence the size of the C<fd_set> used.
2716
2717=item EV_SELECT_IS_WINSOCKET
2718
2719When defined to C<1>, the select backend will assume that
2720select/socket/connect etc. don't understand file descriptors but
2721wants osf handles on win32 (this is the case when the select to
2722be used is the winsock select). This means that it will call
2723C<_get_osfhandle> on the fd to convert it to an OS handle. Otherwise,
2724it is assumed that all these functions actually work on fds, even
2725on win32. Should not be defined on non-win32 platforms.
2726
2727=item EV_FD_TO_WIN32_HANDLE
2728
2729If C<EV_SELECT_IS_WINSOCKET> is enabled, then libev needs a way to map
2730file descriptors to socket handles. When not defining this symbol (the
2731default), then libev will call C<_get_osfhandle>, which is usually
2732correct. In some cases, programs use their own file descriptor management,
2733in which case they can provide this function to map fds to socket handles.
2734
2735=item EV_USE_POLL
2736
2737If defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the C<poll>(2)
2738backend. Otherwise it will be enabled on non-win32 platforms. It
2739takes precedence over select.
2740
2741=item EV_USE_EPOLL
2742
2743If defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the Linux
2744C<epoll>(7) backend. Its availability will be detected at runtime,
2745otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the
2746preferred backend for GNU/Linux systems.
2747
2748=item EV_USE_KQUEUE
2749
2750If defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the BSD style
2751C<kqueue>(2) backend. Its actual availability will be detected at runtime,
2752otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the preferred
2753backend for BSD and BSD-like systems, although on most BSDs kqueue only
2754supports some types of fds correctly (the only platform we found that
2755supports ptys for example was NetBSD), so kqueue might be compiled in, but
2756not be used unless explicitly requested. The best way to use it is to find
2757out whether kqueue supports your type of fd properly and use an embedded
2758kqueue loop.
2759
2760=item EV_USE_PORT
2761
2762If defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the Solaris
276310 port style backend. Its availability will be detected at runtime,
2764otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the preferred
2765backend for Solaris 10 systems.
2766
2767=item EV_USE_DEVPOLL
2768
2769reserved for future expansion, works like the USE symbols above.
2770
2771=item EV_USE_INOTIFY
2772
2773If defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the Linux inotify
2774interface to speed up C<ev_stat> watchers. Its actual availability will
2775be detected at runtime.
2776
2777=item EV_ATOMIC_T
2778
2779Libev requires an integer type (suitable for storing C<0> or C<1>) whose
2780access is atomic with respect to other threads or signal contexts. No such
2781type is easily found in the C language, so you can provide your own type
2782that you know is safe for your purposes. It is used both for signal handler "locking"
2783as well as for signal and thread safety in C<ev_async> watchers.
2784
2785In the absense of this define, libev will use C<sig_atomic_t volatile>
2786(from F<signal.h>), which is usually good enough on most platforms.
2787
2788=item EV_H
2789
2790The name of the F<ev.h> header file used to include it. The default if
2791undefined is C<"ev.h"> in F<event.h>, F<ev.c> and F<ev++.h>. This can be
2792used to virtually rename the F<ev.h> header file in case of conflicts.
2793
2794=item EV_CONFIG_H
2795
2796If C<EV_STANDALONE> isn't C<1>, this variable can be used to override
2797F<ev.c>'s idea of where to find the F<config.h> file, similarly to
2798C<EV_H>, above.
2799
2800=item EV_EVENT_H
2801
2802Similarly to C<EV_H>, this macro can be used to override F<event.c>'s idea
2803of how the F<event.h> header can be found, the default is C<"event.h">.
2804
2805=item EV_PROTOTYPES
2806
2807If defined to be C<0>, then F<ev.h> will not define any function
2808prototypes, but still define all the structs and other symbols. This is
2809occasionally useful if you want to provide your own wrapper functions
2810around libev functions.
2811
2812=item EV_MULTIPLICITY
2813
2814If undefined or defined to C<1>, then all event-loop-specific functions
2815will have the C<struct ev_loop *> as first argument, and you can create
2816additional independent event loops. Otherwise there will be no support
2817for multiple event loops and there is no first event loop pointer
2818argument. Instead, all functions act on the single default loop.
2819
2820=item EV_MINPRI
2821
2822=item EV_MAXPRI
2823
2824The range of allowed priorities. C<EV_MINPRI> must be smaller or equal to
2825C<EV_MAXPRI>, but otherwise there are no non-obvious limitations. You can
2826provide for more priorities by overriding those symbols (usually defined
2827to be C<-2> and C<2>, respectively).
2828
2829When doing priority-based operations, libev usually has to linearly search
2830all the priorities, so having many of them (hundreds) uses a lot of space
2831and time, so using the defaults of five priorities (-2 .. +2) is usually
2832fine.
2833
2834If your embedding app does not need any priorities, defining these both to
2835C<0> will save some memory and cpu.
2836
2837=item EV_PERIODIC_ENABLE
2838
2839If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then periodic timers are supported. If
2840defined to be C<0>, then they are not. Disabling them saves a few kB of
2841code.
2842
2843=item EV_IDLE_ENABLE
2844
2845If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then idle watchers are supported. If
2846defined to be C<0>, then they are not. Disabling them saves a few kB of
2847code.
2848
2849=item EV_EMBED_ENABLE
2850
2851If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then embed watchers are supported. If
2852defined to be C<0>, then they are not.
2853
2854=item EV_STAT_ENABLE
2855
2856If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then stat watchers are supported. If
2857defined to be C<0>, then they are not.
2858
2859=item EV_FORK_ENABLE
2860
2861If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then fork watchers are supported. If
2862defined to be C<0>, then they are not.
2863
2864=item EV_ASYNC_ENABLE
2865
2866If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then async watchers are supported. If
2867defined to be C<0>, then they are not.
2868
2869=item EV_MINIMAL
2870
2871If you need to shave off some kilobytes of code at the expense of some
2872speed, define this symbol to C<1>. Currently only used for gcc to override
2873some inlining decisions, saves roughly 30% codesize of amd64.
2874
2875=item EV_PID_HASHSIZE
2876
2877C<ev_child> watchers use a small hash table to distribute workload by
2878pid. The default size is C<16> (or C<1> with C<EV_MINIMAL>), usually more
2879than enough. If you need to manage thousands of children you might want to
2880increase this value (I<must> be a power of two).
2881
2882=item EV_INOTIFY_HASHSIZE
2883
2884C<ev_stat> watchers use a small hash table to distribute workload by
2885inotify watch id. The default size is C<16> (or C<1> with C<EV_MINIMAL>),
2886usually more than enough. If you need to manage thousands of C<ev_stat>
2887watchers you might want to increase this value (I<must> be a power of
2888two).
2889
2890=item EV_COMMON
2891
2892By default, all watchers have a C<void *data> member. By redefining
2893this macro to a something else you can include more and other types of
2894members. You have to define it each time you include one of the files,
2895though, and it must be identical each time.
2896
2897For example, the perl EV module uses something like this:
2898
2899 #define EV_COMMON \
2900 SV *self; /* contains this struct */ \
2901 SV *cb_sv, *fh /* note no trailing ";" */
2902
2903=item EV_CB_DECLARE (type)
2904
2905=item EV_CB_INVOKE (watcher, revents)
2906
2907=item ev_set_cb (ev, cb)
2908
2909Can be used to change the callback member declaration in each watcher,
2910and the way callbacks are invoked and set. Must expand to a struct member
2911definition and a statement, respectively. See the F<ev.h> header file for
2912their default definitions. One possible use for overriding these is to
2913avoid the C<struct ev_loop *> as first argument in all cases, or to use
2914method calls instead of plain function calls in C++.
2915
2916=head2 EXPORTED API SYMBOLS
2917
2918If you need to re-export the API (e.g. via a dll) and you need a list of
2919exported symbols, you can use the provided F<Symbol.*> files which list
2920all public symbols, one per line:
2921
2922 Symbols.ev for libev proper
2923 Symbols.event for the libevent emulation
2924
2925This can also be used to rename all public symbols to avoid clashes with
2926multiple versions of libev linked together (which is obviously bad in
2927itself, but sometimes it is inconvinient to avoid this).
2928
2929A sed command like this will create wrapper C<#define>'s that you need to
2930include before including F<ev.h>:
2931
2932 <Symbols.ev sed -e "s/.*/#define & myprefix_&/" >wrap.h
2933
2934This would create a file F<wrap.h> which essentially looks like this:
2935
2936 #define ev_backend myprefix_ev_backend
2937 #define ev_check_start myprefix_ev_check_start
2938 #define ev_check_stop myprefix_ev_check_stop
2939 ...
2940
2941=head2 EXAMPLES
2942
2943For a real-world example of a program the includes libev
2944verbatim, you can have a look at the EV perl module
2945(L<http://software.schmorp.de/pkg/EV.html>). It has the libev files in
2946the F<libev/> subdirectory and includes them in the F<EV/EVAPI.h> (public
2947interface) and F<EV.xs> (implementation) files. Only the F<EV.xs> file
2948will be compiled. It is pretty complex because it provides its own header
2949file.
2950
2951The usage in rxvt-unicode is simpler. It has a F<ev_cpp.h> header file
2952that everybody includes and which overrides some configure choices:
2953
2954 #define EV_MINIMAL 1
2955 #define EV_USE_POLL 0
2956 #define EV_MULTIPLICITY 0
2957 #define EV_PERIODIC_ENABLE 0
2958 #define EV_STAT_ENABLE 0
2959 #define EV_FORK_ENABLE 0
2960 #define EV_CONFIG_H <config.h>
2961 #define EV_MINPRI 0
2962 #define EV_MAXPRI 0
2963
2964 #include "ev++.h"
2965
2966And a F<ev_cpp.C> implementation file that contains libev proper and is compiled:
2967
2968 #include "ev_cpp.h"
2969 #include "ev.c"
2970
2971
2972=head1 COMPLEXITIES
2973
2974In this section the complexities of (many of) the algorithms used inside
2975libev will be explained. For complexity discussions about backends see the
2976documentation for C<ev_default_init>.
2977
2978All of the following are about amortised time: If an array needs to be
2979extended, libev needs to realloc and move the whole array, but this
2980happens asymptotically never with higher number of elements, so O(1) might
2981mean it might do a lengthy realloc operation in rare cases, but on average
2982it is much faster and asymptotically approaches constant time.
2983
2984=over 4
2985
2986=item Starting and stopping timer/periodic watchers: O(log skipped_other_timers)
2987
2988This means that, when you have a watcher that triggers in one hour and
2989there are 100 watchers that would trigger before that then inserting will
2990have to skip roughly seven (C<ld 100>) of these watchers.
2991
2992=item Changing timer/periodic watchers (by autorepeat or calling again): O(log skipped_other_timers)
2993
2994That means that changing a timer costs less than removing/adding them
2995as only the relative motion in the event queue has to be paid for.
2996
2997=item Starting io/check/prepare/idle/signal/child/fork/async watchers: O(1)
2998
2999These just add the watcher into an array or at the head of a list.
3000
3001=item Stopping check/prepare/idle/fork/async watchers: O(1)
3002
3003=item Stopping an io/signal/child watcher: O(number_of_watchers_for_this_(fd/signal/pid % EV_PID_HASHSIZE))
3004
3005These watchers are stored in lists then need to be walked to find the
3006correct watcher to remove. The lists are usually short (you don't usually
3007have many watchers waiting for the same fd or signal).
3008
3009=item Finding the next timer in each loop iteration: O(1)
3010
3011By virtue of using a binary heap, the next timer is always found at the
3012beginning of the storage array.
3013
3014=item Each change on a file descriptor per loop iteration: O(number_of_watchers_for_this_fd)
3015
3016A change means an I/O watcher gets started or stopped, which requires
3017libev to recalculate its status (and possibly tell the kernel, depending
3018on backend and wether C<ev_io_set> was used).
3019
3020=item Activating one watcher (putting it into the pending state): O(1)
3021
3022=item Priority handling: O(number_of_priorities)
3023
3024Priorities are implemented by allocating some space for each
3025priority. When doing priority-based operations, libev usually has to
3026linearly search all the priorities, but starting/stopping and activating
3027watchers becomes O(1) w.r.t. priority handling.
3028
3029=item Sending an ev_async: O(1)
3030
3031=item Processing ev_async_send: O(number_of_async_watchers)
3032
3033=item Processing signals: O(max_signal_number)
3034
3035Sending involves a syscall I<iff> there were no other C<ev_async_send>
3036calls in the current loop iteration. Checking for async and signal events
3037involves iterating over all running async watchers or all signal numbers.
3038
3039=back
3040
3041
3042=head1 Win32 platform limitations and workarounds
3043
3044Win32 doesn't support any of the standards (e.g. POSIX) that libev
3045requires, and its I/O model is fundamentally incompatible with the POSIX
3046model. Libev still offers limited functionality on this platform in
3047the form of the C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> backend, and only supports socket
3048descriptors. This only applies when using Win32 natively, not when using
3049e.g. cygwin.
3050
3051There is no supported compilation method available on windows except
3052embedding it into other applications.
3053
3054Due to the many, low, and arbitrary limits on the win32 platform and the
3055abysmal performance of winsockets, using a large number of sockets is not
3056recommended (and not reasonable). If your program needs to use more than
3057a hundred or so sockets, then likely it needs to use a totally different
3058implementation for windows, as libev offers the POSIX model, which cannot
3059be implemented efficiently on windows (microsoft monopoly games).
3060
3061=over 4
3062
3063=item The winsocket select function
3064
3065The winsocket C<select> function doesn't follow POSIX in that it requires
3066socket I<handles> and not socket I<file descriptors>. This makes select
3067very inefficient, and also requires a mapping from file descriptors
3068to socket handles. See the discussion of the C<EV_SELECT_USE_FD_SET>,
3069C<EV_SELECT_IS_WINSOCKET> and C<EV_FD_TO_WIN32_HANDLE> preprocessor
3070symbols for more info.
3071
3072The configuration for a "naked" win32 using the microsoft runtime
3073libraries and raw winsocket select is:
3074
3075 #define EV_USE_SELECT 1
3076 #define EV_SELECT_IS_WINSOCKET 1 /* forces EV_SELECT_USE_FD_SET, too */
3077
3078Note that winsockets handling of fd sets is O(n), so you can easily get a
3079complexity in the O(n²) range when using win32.
3080
3081=item Limited number of file descriptors
3082
3083Windows has numerous arbitrary (and low) limits on things. Early versions
3084of winsocket's select only supported waiting for a max. of C<64> handles
3085(probably owning to the fact that all windows kernels can only wait for
3086C<64> things at the same time internally; microsoft recommends spawning a
3087chain of threads and wait for 63 handles and the previous thread in each).
3088
3089Newer versions support more handles, but you need to define C<FD_SETSIZE>
3090to some high number (e.g. C<2048>) before compiling the winsocket select
3091call (which might be in libev or elsewhere, for example, perl does its own
3092select emulation on windows).
3093
3094Another limit is the number of file descriptors in the microsoft runtime
3095libraries, which by default is C<64> (there must be a hidden I<64> fetish
3096or something like this inside microsoft). You can increase this by calling
3097C<_setmaxstdio>, which can increase this limit to C<2048> (another
3098arbitrary limit), but is broken in many versions of the microsoft runtime
3099libraries.
3100
3101This might get you to about C<512> or C<2048> sockets (depending on
3102windows version and/or the phase of the moon). To get more, you need to
3103wrap all I/O functions and provide your own fd management, but the cost of
3104calling select (O(n²)) will likely make this unworkable.
3105
3106=back
3107
3108
767=head1 AUTHOR 3109=head1 AUTHOR
768 3110
769Marc Lehmann <libev@schmorp.de>. 3111Marc Lehmann <libev@schmorp.de>.
770 3112

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