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Revision 1.102 by root, Sat Dec 22 16:21:25 2007 UTC vs.
Revision 1.247 by root, Wed Jul 8 02:46:05 2009 UTC

…		…
2		2
3	libev - a high performance full-featured event loop written in C	3	libev - a high performance full-featured event loop written in C
4		4
5	=head1 SYNOPSIS	5	=head1 SYNOPSIS
6		6
7	#include <ev.h>	7	#include <ev.h>
8		8
9	=head1 EXAMPLE PROGRAM	9	=head2 EXAMPLE PROGRAM
10		10
		11	// a single header file is required
11	#include <ev.h>	12	#include <ev.h>
12		13
		14	#include <stdio.h> // for puts
		15
		16	// every watcher type has its own typedef'd struct
		17	// with the name ev_TYPE
13	ev_io stdin_watcher;	18	ev_io stdin_watcher;
14	ev_timer timeout_watcher;	19	ev_timer timeout_watcher;
15		20
16	/* called when data readable on stdin */	21	// all watcher callbacks have a similar signature
		22	// this callback is called when data is readable on stdin
17	static void	23	static void
18	stdin_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_io *w, int revents)	24	stdin_cb (EV_P_ ev_io *w, int revents)
19	{	25	{
20	/* puts ("stdin ready"); */	26	puts ("stdin ready");
21	ev_io_stop (EV_A_ w); /* just a syntax example */	27	// for one-shot events, one must manually stop the watcher
22	ev_unloop (EV_A_ EVUNLOOP_ALL); /* leave all loop calls */	28	// with its corresponding stop function.
		29	ev_io_stop (EV_A_ w);
		30
		31	// this causes all nested ev_loop's to stop iterating
		32	ev_unloop (EV_A_ EVUNLOOP_ALL);
23	}	33	}
24		34
		35	// another callback, this time for a time-out
25	static void	36	static void
26	timeout_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_timer *w, int revents)	37	timeout_cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)
27	{	38	{
28	/* puts ("timeout"); */	39	puts ("timeout");
29	ev_unloop (EV_A_ EVUNLOOP_ONE); /* leave one loop call */	40	// this causes the innermost ev_loop to stop iterating
		41	ev_unloop (EV_A_ EVUNLOOP_ONE);
30	}	42	}
31		43
32	int	44	int
33	main (void)	45	main (void)
34	{	46	{
		47	// use the default event loop unless you have special needs
35	struct ev_loop *loop = ev_default_loop (0);	48	struct ev_loop *loop = ev_default_loop (0);
36		49
37	/* initialise an io watcher, then start it */	50	// initialise an io watcher, then start it
		51	// this one will watch for stdin to become readable
38	ev_io_init (&stdin_watcher, stdin_cb, /*STDIN_FILENO*/ 0, EV_READ);	52	ev_io_init (&stdin_watcher, stdin_cb, /*STDIN_FILENO*/ 0, EV_READ);
39	ev_io_start (loop, &stdin_watcher);	53	ev_io_start (loop, &stdin_watcher);
40		54
		55	// initialise a timer watcher, then start it
41	/* simple non-repeating 5.5 second timeout */	56	// simple non-repeating 5.5 second timeout
42	ev_timer_init (&timeout_watcher, timeout_cb, 5.5, 0.);	57	ev_timer_init (&timeout_watcher, timeout_cb, 5.5, 0.);
43	ev_timer_start (loop, &timeout_watcher);	58	ev_timer_start (loop, &timeout_watcher);
44		59
45	/* loop till timeout or data ready */	60	// now wait for events to arrive
46	ev_loop (loop, 0);	61	ev_loop (loop, 0);
47		62
		63	// unloop was called, so exit
48	return 0;	64	return 0;
49	}	65	}
50		66
51	=head1 DESCRIPTION	67	=head1 ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT
52		68
		69	This document documents the libev software package.
		70
53	The newest version of this document is also available as a html-formatted	71	The newest version of this document is also available as an html-formatted
54	web page you might find easier to navigate when reading it for the first	72	web page you might find easier to navigate when reading it for the first
55	time: L<http://cvs.schmorp.de/libev/ev.html>.	73	time: L<http://pod.tst.eu/http://cvs.schmorp.de/libev/ev.pod>.
		74
		75	While this document tries to be as complete as possible in documenting
		76	libev, its usage and the rationale behind its design, it is not a tutorial
		77	on event-based programming, nor will it introduce event-based programming
		78	with libev.
		79
		80	Familarity with event based programming techniques in general is assumed
		81	throughout this document.
		82
		83	=head1 ABOUT LIBEV
56		84
57	Libev is an event loop: you register interest in certain events (such as a	85	Libev is an event loop: you register interest in certain events (such as a
58	file descriptor being readable or a timeout occurring), and it will manage	86	file descriptor being readable or a timeout occurring), and it will manage
59	these event sources and provide your program with events.	87	these event sources and provide your program with events.
60		88
…		…
65	You register interest in certain events by registering so-called I<event	93	You register interest in certain events by registering so-called I<event
66	watchers>, which are relatively small C structures you initialise with the	94	watchers>, which are relatively small C structures you initialise with the
67	details of the event, and then hand it over to libev by I<starting> the	95	details of the event, and then hand it over to libev by I<starting> the
68	watcher.	96	watcher.
69		97
70	=head1 FEATURES	98	=head2 FEATURES
71		99
72	Libev supports C<select>, C<poll>, the Linux-specific C<epoll>, the	100	Libev supports C<select>, C<poll>, the Linux-specific C<epoll>, the
73	BSD-specific C<kqueue> and the Solaris-specific event port mechanisms	101	BSD-specific C<kqueue> and the Solaris-specific event port mechanisms
74	for file descriptor events (C<ev_io>), the Linux C<inotify> interface	102	for file descriptor events (C<ev_io>), the Linux C<inotify> interface
75	(for C<ev_stat>), relative timers (C<ev_timer>), absolute timers	103	(for C<ev_stat>), relative timers (C<ev_timer>), absolute timers
…		…
82		110
83	It also is quite fast (see this	111	It also is quite fast (see this
84	L<benchmark|http://libev.schmorp.de/bench.html> comparing it to libevent	112	L<benchmark|http://libev.schmorp.de/bench.html> comparing it to libevent
85	for example).	113	for example).
86		114
87	=head1 CONVENTIONS	115	=head2 CONVENTIONS
88		116
89	Libev is very configurable. In this manual the default configuration will	117	Libev is very configurable. In this manual the default (and most common)
90	be described, which supports multiple event loops. For more info about	118	configuration will be described, which supports multiple event loops. For
91	various configuration options please have a look at B<EMBED> section in	119	more info about various configuration options please have a look at
92	this manual. If libev was configured without support for multiple event	120	B<EMBED> section in this manual. If libev was configured without support
93	loops, then all functions taking an initial argument of name C<loop>	121	for multiple event loops, then all functions taking an initial argument of
94	(which is always of type C<struct ev_loop *>) will not have this argument.	122	name C<loop> (which is always of type C<ev_loop *>) will not have
		123	this argument.
95		124
96	=head1 TIME REPRESENTATION	125	=head2 TIME REPRESENTATION
97		126
98	Libev represents time as a single floating point number, representing the	127	Libev represents time as a single floating point number, representing
99	(fractional) number of seconds since the (POSIX) epoch (somewhere near	128	the (fractional) number of seconds since the (POSIX) epoch (somewhere
100	the beginning of 1970, details are complicated, don't ask). This type is	129	near the beginning of 1970, details are complicated, don't ask). This
101	called C<ev_tstamp>, which is what you should use too. It usually aliases	130	type is called C<ev_tstamp>, which is what you should use too. It usually
102	to the C<double> type in C, and when you need to do any calculations on	131	aliases to the C<double> type in C. When you need to do any calculations
103	it, you should treat it as some floatingpoint value. Unlike the name	132	on it, you should treat it as some floating point value. Unlike the name
104	component C<stamp> might indicate, it is also used for time differences	133	component C<stamp> might indicate, it is also used for time differences
105	throughout libev.	134	throughout libev.
		135
		136	=head1 ERROR HANDLING
		137
		138	Libev knows three classes of errors: operating system errors, usage errors
		139	and internal errors (bugs).
		140
		141	When libev catches an operating system error it cannot handle (for example
		142	a system call indicating a condition libev cannot fix), it calls the callback
		143	set via C<ev_set_syserr_cb>, which is supposed to fix the problem or
		144	abort. The default is to print a diagnostic message and to call C<abort
		145	()>.
		146
		147	When libev detects a usage error such as a negative timer interval, then
		148	it will print a diagnostic message and abort (via the C<assert> mechanism,
		149	so C<NDEBUG> will disable this checking): these are programming errors in
		150	the libev caller and need to be fixed there.
		151
		152	Libev also has a few internal error-checking C<assert>ions, and also has
		153	extensive consistency checking code. These do not trigger under normal
		154	circumstances, as they indicate either a bug in libev or worse.
		155
106		156
107	=head1 GLOBAL FUNCTIONS	157	=head1 GLOBAL FUNCTIONS
108		158
109	These functions can be called anytime, even before initialising the	159	These functions can be called anytime, even before initialising the
110	library in any way.	160	library in any way.
…		…
119		169
120	=item ev_sleep (ev_tstamp interval)	170	=item ev_sleep (ev_tstamp interval)
121		171
122	Sleep for the given interval: The current thread will be blocked until	172	Sleep for the given interval: The current thread will be blocked until
123	either it is interrupted or the given time interval has passed. Basically	173	either it is interrupted or the given time interval has passed. Basically
124	this is a subsecond-resolution C<sleep ()>.	174	this is a sub-second-resolution C<sleep ()>.
125		175
126	=item int ev_version_major ()	176	=item int ev_version_major ()
127		177
128	=item int ev_version_minor ()	178	=item int ev_version_minor ()
129		179
…		…
142	not a problem.	192	not a problem.
143		193
144	Example: Make sure we haven't accidentally been linked against the wrong	194	Example: Make sure we haven't accidentally been linked against the wrong
145	version.	195	version.
146		196
147	assert (("libev version mismatch",	197	assert (("libev version mismatch",
148	ev_version_major () == EV_VERSION_MAJOR	198	ev_version_major () == EV_VERSION_MAJOR
149	&& ev_version_minor () >= EV_VERSION_MINOR));	199	&& ev_version_minor () >= EV_VERSION_MINOR));
150		200
151	=item unsigned int ev_supported_backends ()	201	=item unsigned int ev_supported_backends ()
152		202
153	Return the set of all backends (i.e. their corresponding C<EV_BACKEND_*>	203	Return the set of all backends (i.e. their corresponding C<EV_BACKEND_*>
154	value) compiled into this binary of libev (independent of their	204	value) compiled into this binary of libev (independent of their
…		…
156	a description of the set values.	206	a description of the set values.
157		207
158	Example: make sure we have the epoll method, because yeah this is cool and	208	Example: make sure we have the epoll method, because yeah this is cool and
159	a must have and can we have a torrent of it please!!!11	209	a must have and can we have a torrent of it please!!!11
160		210
161	assert (("sorry, no epoll, no sex",	211	assert (("sorry, no epoll, no sex",
162	ev_supported_backends () & EVBACKEND_EPOLL));	212	ev_supported_backends () & EVBACKEND_EPOLL));
163		213
164	=item unsigned int ev_recommended_backends ()	214	=item unsigned int ev_recommended_backends ()
165		215
166	Return the set of all backends compiled into this binary of libev and also	216	Return the set of all backends compiled into this binary of libev and also
167	recommended for this platform. This set is often smaller than the one	217	recommended for this platform. This set is often smaller than the one
168	returned by C<ev_supported_backends>, as for example kqueue is broken on	218	returned by C<ev_supported_backends>, as for example kqueue is broken on
169	most BSDs and will not be autodetected unless you explicitly request it	219	most BSDs and will not be auto-detected unless you explicitly request it
170	(assuming you know what you are doing). This is the set of backends that	220	(assuming you know what you are doing). This is the set of backends that
171	libev will probe for if you specify no backends explicitly.	221	libev will probe for if you specify no backends explicitly.
172		222
173	=item unsigned int ev_embeddable_backends ()	223	=item unsigned int ev_embeddable_backends ()
174		224
…		…
178	C<ev_embeddable_backends () & ev_supported_backends ()>, likewise for	228	C<ev_embeddable_backends () & ev_supported_backends ()>, likewise for
179	recommended ones.	229	recommended ones.
180		230
181	See the description of C<ev_embed> watchers for more info.	231	See the description of C<ev_embed> watchers for more info.
182		232
183	=item ev_set_allocator (void *(*cb)(void *ptr, long size))	233	=item ev_set_allocator (void *(*cb)(void *ptr, long size)) [NOT REENTRANT]
184		234
185	Sets the allocation function to use (the prototype is similar - the	235	Sets the allocation function to use (the prototype is similar - the
186	semantics is identical - to the realloc C function). It is used to	236	semantics are identical to the C<realloc> C89/SuS/POSIX function). It is
187	allocate and free memory (no surprises here). If it returns zero when	237	used to allocate and free memory (no surprises here). If it returns zero
188	memory needs to be allocated, the library might abort or take some	238	when memory needs to be allocated (C<size != 0>), the library might abort
189	potentially destructive action. The default is your system realloc	239	or take some potentially destructive action.
190	function.	240
		241	Since some systems (at least OpenBSD and Darwin) fail to implement
		242	correct C<realloc> semantics, libev will use a wrapper around the system
		243	C<realloc> and C<free> functions by default.
191		244
192	You could override this function in high-availability programs to, say,	245	You could override this function in high-availability programs to, say,
193	free some memory if it cannot allocate memory, to use a special allocator,	246	free some memory if it cannot allocate memory, to use a special allocator,
194	or even to sleep a while and retry until some memory is available.	247	or even to sleep a while and retry until some memory is available.
195		248
196	Example: Replace the libev allocator with one that waits a bit and then	249	Example: Replace the libev allocator with one that waits a bit and then
197	retries).	250	retries (example requires a standards-compliant C<realloc>).
198		251
199	static void *	252	static void *
200	persistent_realloc (void *ptr, size_t size)	253	persistent_realloc (void *ptr, size_t size)
201	{	254	{
202	for (;;)	255	for (;;)
…		…
211	}	264	}
212		265
213	...	266	...
214	ev_set_allocator (persistent_realloc);	267	ev_set_allocator (persistent_realloc);
215		268
216	=item ev_set_syserr_cb (void (*cb)(const char *msg));	269	=item ev_set_syserr_cb (void (*cb)(const char *msg)); [NOT REENTRANT]
217		270
218	Set the callback function to call on a retryable syscall error (such	271	Set the callback function to call on a retryable system call error (such
219	as failed select, poll, epoll_wait). The message is a printable string	272	as failed select, poll, epoll_wait). The message is a printable string
220	indicating the system call or subsystem causing the problem. If this	273	indicating the system call or subsystem causing the problem. If this
221	callback is set, then libev will expect it to remedy the sitution, no	274	callback is set, then libev will expect it to remedy the situation, no
222	matter what, when it returns. That is, libev will generally retry the	275	matter what, when it returns. That is, libev will generally retry the
223	requested operation, or, if the condition doesn't go away, do bad stuff	276	requested operation, or, if the condition doesn't go away, do bad stuff
224	(such as abort).	277	(such as abort).
225		278
226	Example: This is basically the same thing that libev does internally, too.	279	Example: This is basically the same thing that libev does internally, too.
…		…
237		290
238	=back	291	=back
239		292
240	=head1 FUNCTIONS CONTROLLING THE EVENT LOOP	293	=head1 FUNCTIONS CONTROLLING THE EVENT LOOP
241		294
242	An event loop is described by a C<struct ev_loop *>. The library knows two	295	An event loop is described by a C<struct ev_loop *> (the C<struct>
243	types of such loops, the I<default> loop, which supports signals and child	296	is I<not> optional in this case, as there is also an C<ev_loop>
244	events, and dynamically created loops which do not.	297	I<function>).
245		298
246	If you use threads, a common model is to run the default event loop	299	The library knows two types of such loops, the I<default> loop, which
247	in your main thread (or in a separate thread) and for each thread you	300	supports signals and child events, and dynamically created loops which do
248	create, you also create another event loop. Libev itself does no locking	301	not.
249	whatsoever, so if you mix calls to the same event loop in different
250	threads, make sure you lock (this is usually a bad idea, though, even if
251	done correctly, because it's hideous and inefficient).
252		302
253	=over 4	303	=over 4
254		304
255	=item struct ev_loop *ev_default_loop (unsigned int flags)	305	=item struct ev_loop *ev_default_loop (unsigned int flags)
256		306
…		…
260	flags. If that is troubling you, check C<ev_backend ()> afterwards).	310	flags. If that is troubling you, check C<ev_backend ()> afterwards).
261		311
262	If you don't know what event loop to use, use the one returned from this	312	If you don't know what event loop to use, use the one returned from this
263	function.	313	function.
264		314
		315	Note that this function is I<not> thread-safe, so if you want to use it
		316	from multiple threads, you have to lock (note also that this is unlikely,
		317	as loops cannot be shared easily between threads anyway).
		318
		319	The default loop is the only loop that can handle C<ev_signal> and
		320	C<ev_child> watchers, and to do this, it always registers a handler
		321	for C<SIGCHLD>. If this is a problem for your application you can either
		322	create a dynamic loop with C<ev_loop_new> that doesn't do that, or you
		323	can simply overwrite the C<SIGCHLD> signal handler I<after> calling
		324	C<ev_default_init>.
		325
265	The flags argument can be used to specify special behaviour or specific	326	The flags argument can be used to specify special behaviour or specific
266	backends to use, and is usually specified as C<0> (or C<EVFLAG_AUTO>).	327	backends to use, and is usually specified as C<0> (or C<EVFLAG_AUTO>).
267		328
268	The following flags are supported:	329	The following flags are supported:
269		330
…		…
274	The default flags value. Use this if you have no clue (it's the right	335	The default flags value. Use this if you have no clue (it's the right
275	thing, believe me).	336	thing, believe me).
276		337
277	=item C<EVFLAG_NOENV>	338	=item C<EVFLAG_NOENV>
278		339
279	If this flag bit is ored into the flag value (or the program runs setuid	340	If this flag bit is or'ed into the flag value (or the program runs setuid
280	or setgid) then libev will I<not> look at the environment variable	341	or setgid) then libev will I<not> look at the environment variable
281	C<LIBEV_FLAGS>. Otherwise (the default), this environment variable will	342	C<LIBEV_FLAGS>. Otherwise (the default), this environment variable will
282	override the flags completely if it is found in the environment. This is	343	override the flags completely if it is found in the environment. This is
283	useful to try out specific backends to test their performance, or to work	344	useful to try out specific backends to test their performance, or to work
284	around bugs.	345	around bugs.
…		…
290	enabling this flag.	351	enabling this flag.
291		352
292	This works by calling C<getpid ()> on every iteration of the loop,	353	This works by calling C<getpid ()> on every iteration of the loop,
293	and thus this might slow down your event loop if you do a lot of loop	354	and thus this might slow down your event loop if you do a lot of loop
294	iterations and little real work, but is usually not noticeable (on my	355	iterations and little real work, but is usually not noticeable (on my
295	Linux system for example, C<getpid> is actually a simple 5-insn sequence	356	GNU/Linux system for example, C<getpid> is actually a simple 5-insn sequence
296	without a syscall and thus I<very> fast, but my Linux system also has	357	without a system call and thus I<very> fast, but my GNU/Linux system also has
297	C<pthread_atfork> which is even faster).	358	C<pthread_atfork> which is even faster).
298		359
299	The big advantage of this flag is that you can forget about fork (and	360	The big advantage of this flag is that you can forget about fork (and
300	forget about forgetting to tell libev about forking) when you use this	361	forget about forgetting to tell libev about forking) when you use this
301	flag.	362	flag.
302		363
303	This flag setting cannot be overriden or specified in the C<LIBEV_FLAGS>	364	This flag setting cannot be overridden or specified in the C<LIBEV_FLAGS>
304	environment variable.	365	environment variable.
305		366
306	=item C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> (value 1, portable select backend)	367	=item C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> (value 1, portable select backend)
307		368
308	This is your standard select(2) backend. Not I<completely> standard, as	369	This is your standard select(2) backend. Not I<completely> standard, as
…		…
310	but if that fails, expect a fairly low limit on the number of fds when	371	but if that fails, expect a fairly low limit on the number of fds when
311	using this backend. It doesn't scale too well (O(highest_fd)), but its	372	using this backend. It doesn't scale too well (O(highest_fd)), but its
312	usually the fastest backend for a low number of (low-numbered :) fds.	373	usually the fastest backend for a low number of (low-numbered :) fds.
313		374
314	To get good performance out of this backend you need a high amount of	375	To get good performance out of this backend you need a high amount of
315	parallelity (most of the file descriptors should be busy). If you are	376	parallelism (most of the file descriptors should be busy). If you are
316	writing a server, you should C<accept ()> in a loop to accept as many	377	writing a server, you should C<accept ()> in a loop to accept as many
317	connections as possible during one iteration. You might also want to have	378	connections as possible during one iteration. You might also want to have
318	a look at C<ev_set_io_collect_interval ()> to increase the amount of	379	a look at C<ev_set_io_collect_interval ()> to increase the amount of
319	readyness notifications you get per iteration.	380	readiness notifications you get per iteration.
		381
		382	This backend maps C<EV_READ> to the C<readfds> set and C<EV_WRITE> to the
		383	C<writefds> set (and to work around Microsoft Windows bugs, also onto the
		384	C<exceptfds> set on that platform).
320		385
321	=item C<EVBACKEND_POLL> (value 2, poll backend, available everywhere except on windows)	386	=item C<EVBACKEND_POLL> (value 2, poll backend, available everywhere except on windows)
322		387
323	And this is your standard poll(2) backend. It's more complicated	388	And this is your standard poll(2) backend. It's more complicated
324	than select, but handles sparse fds better and has no artificial	389	than select, but handles sparse fds better and has no artificial
325	limit on the number of fds you can use (except it will slow down	390	limit on the number of fds you can use (except it will slow down
326	considerably with a lot of inactive fds). It scales similarly to select,	391	considerably with a lot of inactive fds). It scales similarly to select,
327	i.e. O(total_fds). See the entry for C<EVBACKEND_SELECT>, above, for	392	i.e. O(total_fds). See the entry for C<EVBACKEND_SELECT>, above, for
328	performance tips.	393	performance tips.
329		394
		395	This backend maps C<EV_READ> to C<POLLIN | POLLERR | POLLHUP>, and
		396	C<EV_WRITE> to C<POLLOUT | POLLERR | POLLHUP>.
		397
330	=item C<EVBACKEND_EPOLL> (value 4, Linux)	398	=item C<EVBACKEND_EPOLL> (value 4, Linux)
331		399
332	For few fds, this backend is a bit little slower than poll and select,	400	For few fds, this backend is a bit little slower than poll and select,
333	but it scales phenomenally better. While poll and select usually scale	401	but it scales phenomenally better. While poll and select usually scale
334	like O(total_fds) where n is the total number of fds (or the highest fd),	402	like O(total_fds) where n is the total number of fds (or the highest fd),
335	epoll scales either O(1) or O(active_fds). The epoll design has a number	403	epoll scales either O(1) or O(active_fds).
336	of shortcomings, such as silently dropping events in some hard-to-detect	404
337	cases and rewiring a syscall per fd change, no fork support and bad	405	The epoll mechanism deserves honorable mention as the most misdesigned
338	support for dup.	406	of the more advanced event mechanisms: mere annoyances include silently
		407	dropping file descriptors, requiring a system call per change per file
		408	descriptor (and unnecessary guessing of parameters), problems with dup and
		409	so on. The biggest issue is fork races, however - if a program forks then
		410	I<both> parent and child process have to recreate the epoll set, which can
		411	take considerable time (one syscall per file descriptor) and is of course
		412	hard to detect.
		413
		414	Epoll is also notoriously buggy - embedding epoll fds I<should> work, but
		415	of course I<doesn't>, and epoll just loves to report events for totally
		416	I<different> file descriptors (even already closed ones, so one cannot
		417	even remove them from the set) than registered in the set (especially
		418	on SMP systems). Libev tries to counter these spurious notifications by
		419	employing an additional generation counter and comparing that against the
		420	events to filter out spurious ones, recreating the set when required.
339		421
340	While stopping, setting and starting an I/O watcher in the same iteration	422	While stopping, setting and starting an I/O watcher in the same iteration
341	will result in some caching, there is still a syscall per such incident	423	will result in some caching, there is still a system call per such
342	(because the fd could point to a different file description now), so its	424	incident (because the same I<file descriptor> could point to a different
343	best to avoid that. Also, C<dup ()>'ed file descriptors might not work	425	I<file description> now), so its best to avoid that. Also, C<dup ()>'ed
344	very well if you register events for both fds.	426	file descriptors might not work very well if you register events for both
345		427	file descriptors.
346	Please note that epoll sometimes generates spurious notifications, so you
347	need to use non-blocking I/O or other means to avoid blocking when no data
348	(or space) is available.
349		428
350	Best performance from this backend is achieved by not unregistering all	429	Best performance from this backend is achieved by not unregistering all
351	watchers for a file descriptor until it has been closed, if possible, i.e.	430	watchers for a file descriptor until it has been closed, if possible,
352	keep at least one watcher active per fd at all times.	431	i.e. keep at least one watcher active per fd at all times. Stopping and
		432	starting a watcher (without re-setting it) also usually doesn't cause
		433	extra overhead. A fork can both result in spurious notifications as well
		434	as in libev having to destroy and recreate the epoll object, which can
		435	take considerable time and thus should be avoided.
353		436
		437	All this means that, in practice, C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> can be as fast or
		438	faster than epoll for maybe up to a hundred file descriptors, depending on
		439	the usage. So sad.
		440
354	While nominally embeddeble in other event loops, this feature is broken in	441	While nominally embeddable in other event loops, this feature is broken in
355	all kernel versions tested so far.	442	all kernel versions tested so far.
		443
		444	This backend maps C<EV_READ> and C<EV_WRITE> in the same way as
		445	C<EVBACKEND_POLL>.
356		446
357	=item C<EVBACKEND_KQUEUE> (value 8, most BSD clones)	447	=item C<EVBACKEND_KQUEUE> (value 8, most BSD clones)
358		448
359	Kqueue deserves special mention, as at the time of this writing, it	449	Kqueue deserves special mention, as at the time of this writing, it
360	was broken on all BSDs except NetBSD (usually it doesn't work reliably	450	was broken on all BSDs except NetBSD (usually it doesn't work reliably
361	with anything but sockets and pipes, except on Darwin, where of course	451	with anything but sockets and pipes, except on Darwin, where of course
362	it's completely useless). For this reason it's not being "autodetected"	452	it's completely useless). Unlike epoll, however, whose brokenness
		453	is by design, these kqueue bugs can (and eventually will) be fixed
		454	without API changes to existing programs. For this reason it's not being
363	unless you explicitly specify it explicitly in the flags (i.e. using	455	"auto-detected" unless you explicitly specify it in the flags (i.e. using
364	C<EVBACKEND_KQUEUE>) or libev was compiled on a known-to-be-good (-enough)	456	C<EVBACKEND_KQUEUE>) or libev was compiled on a known-to-be-good (-enough)
365	system like NetBSD.	457	system like NetBSD.
366		458
367	You still can embed kqueue into a normal poll or select backend and use it	459	You still can embed kqueue into a normal poll or select backend and use it
368	only for sockets (after having made sure that sockets work with kqueue on	460	only for sockets (after having made sure that sockets work with kqueue on
369	the target platform). See C<ev_embed> watchers for more info.	461	the target platform). See C<ev_embed> watchers for more info.
370		462
371	It scales in the same way as the epoll backend, but the interface to the	463	It scales in the same way as the epoll backend, but the interface to the
372	kernel is more efficient (which says nothing about its actual speed, of	464	kernel is more efficient (which says nothing about its actual speed, of
373	course). While stopping, setting and starting an I/O watcher does never	465	course). While stopping, setting and starting an I/O watcher does never
374	cause an extra syscall as with C<EVBACKEND_EPOLL>, it still adds up to	466	cause an extra system call as with C<EVBACKEND_EPOLL>, it still adds up to
375	two event changes per incident, support for C<fork ()> is very bad and it	467	two event changes per incident. Support for C<fork ()> is very bad (but
376	drops fds silently in similarly hard-to-detect cases.	468	sane, unlike epoll) and it drops fds silently in similarly hard-to-detect
		469	cases
377		470
378	This backend usually performs well under most conditions.	471	This backend usually performs well under most conditions.
379		472
380	While nominally embeddable in other event loops, this doesn't work	473	While nominally embeddable in other event loops, this doesn't work
381	everywhere, so you might need to test for this. And since it is broken	474	everywhere, so you might need to test for this. And since it is broken
382	almost everywhere, you should only use it when you have a lot of sockets	475	almost everywhere, you should only use it when you have a lot of sockets
383	(for which it usually works), by embedding it into another event loop	476	(for which it usually works), by embedding it into another event loop
384	(e.g. C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> or C<EVBACKEND_POLL>) and using it only for	477	(e.g. C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> or C<EVBACKEND_POLL> (but C<poll> is of course
385	sockets.	478	also broken on OS X)) and, did I mention it, using it only for sockets.
		479
		480	This backend maps C<EV_READ> into an C<EVFILT_READ> kevent with
		481	C<NOTE_EOF>, and C<EV_WRITE> into an C<EVFILT_WRITE> kevent with
		482	C<NOTE_EOF>.
386		483
387	=item C<EVBACKEND_DEVPOLL> (value 16, Solaris 8)	484	=item C<EVBACKEND_DEVPOLL> (value 16, Solaris 8)
388		485
389	This is not implemented yet (and might never be, unless you send me an	486	This is not implemented yet (and might never be, unless you send me an
390	implementation). According to reports, C</dev/poll> only supports sockets	487	implementation). According to reports, C</dev/poll> only supports sockets
…		…
394	=item C<EVBACKEND_PORT> (value 32, Solaris 10)	491	=item C<EVBACKEND_PORT> (value 32, Solaris 10)
395		492
396	This uses the Solaris 10 event port mechanism. As with everything on Solaris,	493	This uses the Solaris 10 event port mechanism. As with everything on Solaris,
397	it's really slow, but it still scales very well (O(active_fds)).	494	it's really slow, but it still scales very well (O(active_fds)).
398		495
399	Please note that solaris event ports can deliver a lot of spurious	496	Please note that Solaris event ports can deliver a lot of spurious
400	notifications, so you need to use non-blocking I/O or other means to avoid	497	notifications, so you need to use non-blocking I/O or other means to avoid
401	blocking when no data (or space) is available.	498	blocking when no data (or space) is available.
402		499
403	While this backend scales well, it requires one system call per active	500	While this backend scales well, it requires one system call per active
404	file descriptor per loop iteration. For small and medium numbers of file	501	file descriptor per loop iteration. For small and medium numbers of file
405	descriptors a "slow" C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> or C<EVBACKEND_POLL> backend	502	descriptors a "slow" C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> or C<EVBACKEND_POLL> backend
406	might perform better.	503	might perform better.
407		504
		505	On the positive side, with the exception of the spurious readiness
		506	notifications, this backend actually performed fully to specification
		507	in all tests and is fully embeddable, which is a rare feat among the
		508	OS-specific backends (I vastly prefer correctness over speed hacks).
		509
		510	This backend maps C<EV_READ> and C<EV_WRITE> in the same way as
		511	C<EVBACKEND_POLL>.
		512
408	=item C<EVBACKEND_ALL>	513	=item C<EVBACKEND_ALL>
409		514
410	Try all backends (even potentially broken ones that wouldn't be tried	515	Try all backends (even potentially broken ones that wouldn't be tried
411	with C<EVFLAG_AUTO>). Since this is a mask, you can do stuff such as	516	with C<EVFLAG_AUTO>). Since this is a mask, you can do stuff such as
412	C<EVBACKEND_ALL & ~EVBACKEND_KQUEUE>.	517	C<EVBACKEND_ALL & ~EVBACKEND_KQUEUE>.
413		518
414	It is definitely not recommended to use this flag.	519	It is definitely not recommended to use this flag.
415		520
416	=back	521	=back
417		522
418	If one or more of these are ored into the flags value, then only these	523	If one or more of these are or'ed into the flags value, then only these
419	backends will be tried (in the reverse order as given here). If none are	524	backends will be tried (in the reverse order as listed here). If none are
420	specified, most compiled-in backend will be tried, usually in reverse	525	specified, all backends in C<ev_recommended_backends ()> will be tried.
421	order of their flag values :)
422		526
423	The most typical usage is like this:	527	Example: This is the most typical usage.
424		528
425	if (!ev_default_loop (0))	529	if (!ev_default_loop (0))
426	fatal ("could not initialise libev, bad $LIBEV_FLAGS in environment?");	530	fatal ("could not initialise libev, bad $LIBEV_FLAGS in environment?");
427		531
428	Restrict libev to the select and poll backends, and do not allow	532	Example: Restrict libev to the select and poll backends, and do not allow
429	environment settings to be taken into account:	533	environment settings to be taken into account:
430		534
431	ev_default_loop (EVBACKEND_POLL | EVBACKEND_SELECT | EVFLAG_NOENV);	535	ev_default_loop (EVBACKEND_POLL | EVBACKEND_SELECT | EVFLAG_NOENV);
432		536
433	Use whatever libev has to offer, but make sure that kqueue is used if	537	Example: Use whatever libev has to offer, but make sure that kqueue is
434	available (warning, breaks stuff, best use only with your own private	538	used if available (warning, breaks stuff, best use only with your own
435	event loop and only if you know the OS supports your types of fds):	539	private event loop and only if you know the OS supports your types of
		540	fds):
436		541
437	ev_default_loop (ev_recommended_backends () | EVBACKEND_KQUEUE);	542	ev_default_loop (ev_recommended_backends () | EVBACKEND_KQUEUE);
438		543
439	=item struct ev_loop *ev_loop_new (unsigned int flags)	544	=item struct ev_loop *ev_loop_new (unsigned int flags)
440		545
441	Similar to C<ev_default_loop>, but always creates a new event loop that is	546	Similar to C<ev_default_loop>, but always creates a new event loop that is
442	always distinct from the default loop. Unlike the default loop, it cannot	547	always distinct from the default loop. Unlike the default loop, it cannot
443	handle signal and child watchers, and attempts to do so will be greeted by	548	handle signal and child watchers, and attempts to do so will be greeted by
444	undefined behaviour (or a failed assertion if assertions are enabled).	549	undefined behaviour (or a failed assertion if assertions are enabled).
445		550
		551	Note that this function I<is> thread-safe, and the recommended way to use
		552	libev with threads is indeed to create one loop per thread, and using the
		553	default loop in the "main" or "initial" thread.
		554
446	Example: Try to create a event loop that uses epoll and nothing else.	555	Example: Try to create a event loop that uses epoll and nothing else.
447		556
448	struct ev_loop *epoller = ev_loop_new (EVBACKEND_EPOLL | EVFLAG_NOENV);	557	struct ev_loop *epoller = ev_loop_new (EVBACKEND_EPOLL | EVFLAG_NOENV);
449	if (!epoller)	558	if (!epoller)
450	fatal ("no epoll found here, maybe it hides under your chair");	559	fatal ("no epoll found here, maybe it hides under your chair");
451		560
452	=item ev_default_destroy ()	561	=item ev_default_destroy ()
453		562
454	Destroys the default loop again (frees all memory and kernel state	563	Destroys the default loop again (frees all memory and kernel state
455	etc.). None of the active event watchers will be stopped in the normal	564	etc.). None of the active event watchers will be stopped in the normal
456	sense, so e.g. C<ev_is_active> might still return true. It is your	565	sense, so e.g. C<ev_is_active> might still return true. It is your
457	responsibility to either stop all watchers cleanly yoursef I<before>	566	responsibility to either stop all watchers cleanly yourself I<before>
458	calling this function, or cope with the fact afterwards (which is usually	567	calling this function, or cope with the fact afterwards (which is usually
459	the easiest thing, you can just ignore the watchers and/or C<free ()> them	568	the easiest thing, you can just ignore the watchers and/or C<free ()> them
460	for example).	569	for example).
461		570
462	Note that certain global state, such as signal state, will not be freed by	571	Note that certain global state, such as signal state (and installed signal
463	this function, and related watchers (such as signal and child watchers)	572	handlers), will not be freed by this function, and related watchers (such
464	would need to be stopped manually.	573	as signal and child watchers) would need to be stopped manually.
465		574
466	In general it is not advisable to call this function except in the	575	In general it is not advisable to call this function except in the
467	rare occasion where you really need to free e.g. the signal handling	576	rare occasion where you really need to free e.g. the signal handling
468	pipe fds. If you need dynamically allocated loops it is better to use	577	pipe fds. If you need dynamically allocated loops it is better to use
469	C<ev_loop_new> and C<ev_loop_destroy>).	578	C<ev_loop_new> and C<ev_loop_destroy>).
…		…
473	Like C<ev_default_destroy>, but destroys an event loop created by an	582	Like C<ev_default_destroy>, but destroys an event loop created by an
474	earlier call to C<ev_loop_new>.	583	earlier call to C<ev_loop_new>.
475		584
476	=item ev_default_fork ()	585	=item ev_default_fork ()
477		586
		587	This function sets a flag that causes subsequent C<ev_loop> iterations
478	This function reinitialises the kernel state for backends that have	588	to reinitialise the kernel state for backends that have one. Despite the
479	one. Despite the name, you can call it anytime, but it makes most sense	589	name, you can call it anytime, but it makes most sense after forking, in
480	after forking, in either the parent or child process (or both, but that	590	the child process (or both child and parent, but that again makes little
481	again makes little sense).	591	sense). You I<must> call it in the child before using any of the libev
		592	functions, and it will only take effect at the next C<ev_loop> iteration.
482		593
483	You I<must> call this function in the child process after forking if and	594	On the other hand, you only need to call this function in the child
484	only if you want to use the event library in both processes. If you just	595	process if and only if you want to use the event library in the child. If
485	fork+exec, you don't have to call it.	596	you just fork+exec, you don't have to call it at all.
486		597
487	The function itself is quite fast and it's usually not a problem to call	598	The function itself is quite fast and it's usually not a problem to call
488	it just in case after a fork. To make this easy, the function will fit in	599	it just in case after a fork. To make this easy, the function will fit in
489	quite nicely into a call to C<pthread_atfork>:	600	quite nicely into a call to C<pthread_atfork>:
490		601
491	pthread_atfork (0, 0, ev_default_fork);	602	pthread_atfork (0, 0, ev_default_fork);
492		603
493	At the moment, C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> and C<EVBACKEND_POLL> are safe to use
494	without calling this function, so if you force one of those backends you
495	do not need to care.
496
497	=item ev_loop_fork (loop)	604	=item ev_loop_fork (loop)
498		605
499	Like C<ev_default_fork>, but acts on an event loop created by	606	Like C<ev_default_fork>, but acts on an event loop created by
500	C<ev_loop_new>. Yes, you have to call this on every allocated event loop	607	C<ev_loop_new>. Yes, you have to call this on every allocated event loop
501	after fork, and how you do this is entirely your own problem.	608	after fork that you want to re-use in the child, and how you do this is
		609	entirely your own problem.
		610
		611	=item int ev_is_default_loop (loop)
		612
		613	Returns true when the given loop is, in fact, the default loop, and false
		614	otherwise.
502		615
503	=item unsigned int ev_loop_count (loop)	616	=item unsigned int ev_loop_count (loop)
504		617
505	Returns the count of loop iterations for the loop, which is identical to	618	Returns the count of loop iterations for the loop, which is identical to
506	the number of times libev did poll for new events. It starts at C<0> and	619	the number of times libev did poll for new events. It starts at C<0> and
507	happily wraps around with enough iterations.	620	happily wraps around with enough iterations.
508		621
509	This value can sometimes be useful as a generation counter of sorts (it	622	This value can sometimes be useful as a generation counter of sorts (it
510	"ticks" the number of loop iterations), as it roughly corresponds with	623	"ticks" the number of loop iterations), as it roughly corresponds with
511	C<ev_prepare> and C<ev_check> calls.	624	C<ev_prepare> and C<ev_check> calls.
		625
		626	=item unsigned int ev_loop_depth (loop)
		627
		628	Returns the number of times C<ev_loop> was entered minus the number of
		629	times C<ev_loop> was exited, in other words, the recursion depth.
		630
		631	Outside C<ev_loop>, this number is zero. In a callback, this number is
		632	C<1>, unless C<ev_loop> was invoked recursively (or from another thread),
		633	in which case it is higher.
		634
		635	Leaving C<ev_loop> abnormally (setjmp/longjmp, cancelling the thread
		636	etc.), doesn't count as exit.
512		637
513	=item unsigned int ev_backend (loop)	638	=item unsigned int ev_backend (loop)
514		639
515	Returns one of the C<EVBACKEND_*> flags indicating the event backend in	640	Returns one of the C<EVBACKEND_*> flags indicating the event backend in
516	use.	641	use.
…		…
521	received events and started processing them. This timestamp does not	646	received events and started processing them. This timestamp does not
522	change as long as callbacks are being processed, and this is also the base	647	change as long as callbacks are being processed, and this is also the base
523	time used for relative timers. You can treat it as the timestamp of the	648	time used for relative timers. You can treat it as the timestamp of the
524	event occurring (or more correctly, libev finding out about it).	649	event occurring (or more correctly, libev finding out about it).
525		650
		651	=item ev_now_update (loop)
		652
		653	Establishes the current time by querying the kernel, updating the time
		654	returned by C<ev_now ()> in the progress. This is a costly operation and
		655	is usually done automatically within C<ev_loop ()>.
		656
		657	This function is rarely useful, but when some event callback runs for a
		658	very long time without entering the event loop, updating libev's idea of
		659	the current time is a good idea.
		660
		661	See also L<The special problem of time updates> in the C<ev_timer> section.
		662
		663	=item ev_suspend (loop)
		664
		665	=item ev_resume (loop)
		666
		667	These two functions suspend and resume a loop, for use when the loop is
		668	not used for a while and timeouts should not be processed.
		669
		670	A typical use case would be an interactive program such as a game: When
		671	the user presses C<^Z> to suspend the game and resumes it an hour later it
		672	would be best to handle timeouts as if no time had actually passed while
		673	the program was suspended. This can be achieved by calling C<ev_suspend>
		674	in your C<SIGTSTP> handler, sending yourself a C<SIGSTOP> and calling
		675	C<ev_resume> directly afterwards to resume timer processing.
		676
		677	Effectively, all C<ev_timer> watchers will be delayed by the time spend
		678	between C<ev_suspend> and C<ev_resume>, and all C<ev_periodic> watchers
		679	will be rescheduled (that is, they will lose any events that would have
		680	occured while suspended).
		681
		682	After calling C<ev_suspend> you B<must not> call I<any> function on the
		683	given loop other than C<ev_resume>, and you B<must not> call C<ev_resume>
		684	without a previous call to C<ev_suspend>.
		685
		686	Calling C<ev_suspend>/C<ev_resume> has the side effect of updating the
		687	event loop time (see C<ev_now_update>).
		688
526	=item ev_loop (loop, int flags)	689	=item ev_loop (loop, int flags)
527		690
528	Finally, this is it, the event handler. This function usually is called	691	Finally, this is it, the event handler. This function usually is called
529	after you initialised all your watchers and you want to start handling	692	after you initialised all your watchers and you want to start handling
530	events.	693	events.
…		…
532	If the flags argument is specified as C<0>, it will not return until	695	If the flags argument is specified as C<0>, it will not return until
533	either no event watchers are active anymore or C<ev_unloop> was called.	696	either no event watchers are active anymore or C<ev_unloop> was called.
534		697
535	Please note that an explicit C<ev_unloop> is usually better than	698	Please note that an explicit C<ev_unloop> is usually better than
536	relying on all watchers to be stopped when deciding when a program has	699	relying on all watchers to be stopped when deciding when a program has
537	finished (especially in interactive programs), but having a program that	700	finished (especially in interactive programs), but having a program
538	automatically loops as long as it has to and no longer by virtue of	701	that automatically loops as long as it has to and no longer by virtue
539	relying on its watchers stopping correctly is a thing of beauty.	702	of relying on its watchers stopping correctly, that is truly a thing of
		703	beauty.
540		704
541	A flags value of C<EVLOOP_NONBLOCK> will look for new events, will handle	705	A flags value of C<EVLOOP_NONBLOCK> will look for new events, will handle
542	those events and any outstanding ones, but will not block your process in	706	those events and any already outstanding ones, but will not block your
543	case there are no events and will return after one iteration of the loop.	707	process in case there are no events and will return after one iteration of
		708	the loop.
544		709
545	A flags value of C<EVLOOP_ONESHOT> will look for new events (waiting if	710	A flags value of C<EVLOOP_ONESHOT> will look for new events (waiting if
546	neccessary) and will handle those and any outstanding ones. It will block	711	necessary) and will handle those and any already outstanding ones. It
547	your process until at least one new event arrives, and will return after	712	will block your process until at least one new event arrives (which could
548	one iteration of the loop. This is useful if you are waiting for some	713	be an event internal to libev itself, so there is no guarantee that a
549	external event in conjunction with something not expressible using other	714	user-registered callback will be called), and will return after one
		715	iteration of the loop.
		716
		717	This is useful if you are waiting for some external event in conjunction
		718	with something not expressible using other libev watchers (i.e. "roll your
550	libev watchers. However, a pair of C<ev_prepare>/C<ev_check> watchers is	719	own C<ev_loop>"). However, a pair of C<ev_prepare>/C<ev_check> watchers is
551	usually a better approach for this kind of thing.	720	usually a better approach for this kind of thing.
552		721
553	Here are the gory details of what C<ev_loop> does:	722	Here are the gory details of what C<ev_loop> does:
554		723
555	- Before the first iteration, call any pending watchers.	724	- Before the first iteration, call any pending watchers.
556	* If there are no active watchers (reference count is zero), return.	725	* If EVFLAG_FORKCHECK was used, check for a fork.
557	- Queue all prepare watchers and then call all outstanding watchers.	726	- If a fork was detected (by any means), queue and call all fork watchers.
		727	- Queue and call all prepare watchers.
558	- If we have been forked, recreate the kernel state.	728	- If we have been forked, detach and recreate the kernel state
		729	as to not disturb the other process.
559	- Update the kernel state with all outstanding changes.	730	- Update the kernel state with all outstanding changes.
560	- Update the "event loop time".	731	- Update the "event loop time" (ev_now ()).
561	- Calculate for how long to block.	732	- Calculate for how long to sleep or block, if at all
		733	(active idle watchers, EVLOOP_NONBLOCK or not having
		734	any active watchers at all will result in not sleeping).
		735	- Sleep if the I/O and timer collect interval say so.
562	- Block the process, waiting for any events.	736	- Block the process, waiting for any events.
563	- Queue all outstanding I/O (fd) events.	737	- Queue all outstanding I/O (fd) events.
564	- Update the "event loop time" and do time jump handling.	738	- Update the "event loop time" (ev_now ()), and do time jump adjustments.
565	- Queue all outstanding timers.	739	- Queue all expired timers.
566	- Queue all outstanding periodics.	740	- Queue all expired periodics.
567	- If no events are pending now, queue all idle watchers.	741	- Unless any events are pending now, queue all idle watchers.
568	- Queue all check watchers.	742	- Queue all check watchers.
569	- Call all queued watchers in reverse order (i.e. check watchers first).	743	- Call all queued watchers in reverse order (i.e. check watchers first).
570	Signals and child watchers are implemented as I/O watchers, and will	744	Signals and child watchers are implemented as I/O watchers, and will
571	be handled here by queueing them when their watcher gets executed.	745	be handled here by queueing them when their watcher gets executed.
572	- If ev_unloop has been called or EVLOOP_ONESHOT or EVLOOP_NONBLOCK	746	- If ev_unloop has been called, or EVLOOP_ONESHOT or EVLOOP_NONBLOCK
573	were used, return, otherwise continue with step *.	747	were used, or there are no active watchers, return, otherwise
		748	continue with step *.
574		749
575	Example: Queue some jobs and then loop until no events are outsanding	750	Example: Queue some jobs and then loop until no events are outstanding
576	anymore.	751	anymore.
577		752
578	... queue jobs here, make sure they register event watchers as long	753	... queue jobs here, make sure they register event watchers as long
579	... as they still have work to do (even an idle watcher will do..)	754	... as they still have work to do (even an idle watcher will do..)
580	ev_loop (my_loop, 0);	755	ev_loop (my_loop, 0);
581	... jobs done. yeah!	756	... jobs done or somebody called unloop. yeah!
582		757
583	=item ev_unloop (loop, how)	758	=item ev_unloop (loop, how)
584		759
585	Can be used to make a call to C<ev_loop> return early (but only after it	760	Can be used to make a call to C<ev_loop> return early (but only after it
586	has processed all outstanding events). The C<how> argument must be either	761	has processed all outstanding events). The C<how> argument must be either
587	C<EVUNLOOP_ONE>, which will make the innermost C<ev_loop> call return, or	762	C<EVUNLOOP_ONE>, which will make the innermost C<ev_loop> call return, or
588	C<EVUNLOOP_ALL>, which will make all nested C<ev_loop> calls return.	763	C<EVUNLOOP_ALL>, which will make all nested C<ev_loop> calls return.
589		764
		765	This "unloop state" will be cleared when entering C<ev_loop> again.
		766
		767	It is safe to call C<ev_unloop> from otuside any C<ev_loop> calls.
		768
590	=item ev_ref (loop)	769	=item ev_ref (loop)
591		770
592	=item ev_unref (loop)	771	=item ev_unref (loop)
593		772
594	Ref/unref can be used to add or remove a reference count on the event	773	Ref/unref can be used to add or remove a reference count on the event
595	loop: Every watcher keeps one reference, and as long as the reference	774	loop: Every watcher keeps one reference, and as long as the reference
596	count is nonzero, C<ev_loop> will not return on its own. If you have	775	count is nonzero, C<ev_loop> will not return on its own.
		776
597	a watcher you never unregister that should not keep C<ev_loop> from	777	If you have a watcher you never unregister that should not keep C<ev_loop>
598	returning, ev_unref() after starting, and ev_ref() before stopping it. For	778	from returning, call ev_unref() after starting, and ev_ref() before
		779	stopping it.
		780
599	example, libev itself uses this for its internal signal pipe: It is not	781	As an example, libev itself uses this for its internal signal pipe: It
600	visible to the libev user and should not keep C<ev_loop> from exiting if	782	is not visible to the libev user and should not keep C<ev_loop> from
601	no event watchers registered by it are active. It is also an excellent	783	exiting if no event watchers registered by it are active. It is also an
602	way to do this for generic recurring timers or from within third-party	784	excellent way to do this for generic recurring timers or from within
603	libraries. Just remember to I<unref after start> and I<ref before stop>.	785	third-party libraries. Just remember to I<unref after start> and I<ref
		786	before stop> (but only if the watcher wasn't active before, or was active
		787	before, respectively. Note also that libev might stop watchers itself
		788	(e.g. non-repeating timers) in which case you have to C<ev_ref>
		789	in the callback).
604		790
605	Example: Create a signal watcher, but keep it from keeping C<ev_loop>	791	Example: Create a signal watcher, but keep it from keeping C<ev_loop>
606	running when nothing else is active.	792	running when nothing else is active.
607		793
608	struct ev_signal exitsig;	794	ev_signal exitsig;
609	ev_signal_init (&exitsig, sig_cb, SIGINT);	795	ev_signal_init (&exitsig, sig_cb, SIGINT);
610	ev_signal_start (loop, &exitsig);	796	ev_signal_start (loop, &exitsig);
611	evf_unref (loop);	797	evf_unref (loop);
612		798
613	Example: For some weird reason, unregister the above signal handler again.	799	Example: For some weird reason, unregister the above signal handler again.
614		800
615	ev_ref (loop);	801	ev_ref (loop);
616	ev_signal_stop (loop, &exitsig);	802	ev_signal_stop (loop, &exitsig);
617		803
618	=item ev_set_io_collect_interval (loop, ev_tstamp interval)	804	=item ev_set_io_collect_interval (loop, ev_tstamp interval)
619		805
620	=item ev_set_timeout_collect_interval (loop, ev_tstamp interval)	806	=item ev_set_timeout_collect_interval (loop, ev_tstamp interval)
621		807
622	These advanced functions influence the time that libev will spend waiting	808	These advanced functions influence the time that libev will spend waiting
623	for events. Both are by default C<0>, meaning that libev will try to	809	for events. Both time intervals are by default C<0>, meaning that libev
624	invoke timer/periodic callbacks and I/O callbacks with minimum latency.	810	will try to invoke timer/periodic callbacks and I/O callbacks with minimum
		811	latency.
625		812
626	Setting these to a higher value (the C<interval> I<must> be >= C<0>)	813	Setting these to a higher value (the C<interval> I<must> be >= C<0>)
627	allows libev to delay invocation of I/O and timer/periodic callbacks to	814	allows libev to delay invocation of I/O and timer/periodic callbacks
628	increase efficiency of loop iterations.	815	to increase efficiency of loop iterations (or to increase power-saving
		816	opportunities).
629		817
630	The background is that sometimes your program runs just fast enough to	818	The idea is that sometimes your program runs just fast enough to handle
631	handle one (or very few) event(s) per loop iteration. While this makes	819	one (or very few) event(s) per loop iteration. While this makes the
632	the program responsive, it also wastes a lot of CPU time to poll for new	820	program responsive, it also wastes a lot of CPU time to poll for new
633	events, especially with backends like C<select ()> which have a high	821	events, especially with backends like C<select ()> which have a high
634	overhead for the actual polling but can deliver many events at once.	822	overhead for the actual polling but can deliver many events at once.
635		823
636	By setting a higher I<io collect interval> you allow libev to spend more	824	By setting a higher I<io collect interval> you allow libev to spend more
637	time collecting I/O events, so you can handle more events per iteration,	825	time collecting I/O events, so you can handle more events per iteration,
638	at the cost of increasing latency. Timeouts (both C<ev_periodic> and	826	at the cost of increasing latency. Timeouts (both C<ev_periodic> and
639	C<ev_timer>) will be not affected. Setting this to a non-null value will	827	C<ev_timer>) will be not affected. Setting this to a non-null value will
640	introduce an additional C<ev_sleep ()> call into most loop iterations.	828	introduce an additional C<ev_sleep ()> call into most loop iterations. The
		829	sleep time ensures that libev will not poll for I/O events more often then
		830	once per this interval, on average.
641		831
642	Likewise, by setting a higher I<timeout collect interval> you allow libev	832	Likewise, by setting a higher I<timeout collect interval> you allow libev
643	to spend more time collecting timeouts, at the expense of increased	833	to spend more time collecting timeouts, at the expense of increased
644	latency (the watcher callback will be called later). C<ev_io> watchers	834	latency/jitter/inexactness (the watcher callback will be called
645	will not be affected. Setting this to a non-null value will not introduce	835	later). C<ev_io> watchers will not be affected. Setting this to a non-null
646	any overhead in libev.	836	value will not introduce any overhead in libev.
647		837
648	Many (busy) programs can usually benefit by setting the io collect	838	Many (busy) programs can usually benefit by setting the I/O collect
649	interval to a value near C<0.1> or so, which is often enough for	839	interval to a value near C<0.1> or so, which is often enough for
650	interactive servers (of course not for games), likewise for timeouts. It	840	interactive servers (of course not for games), likewise for timeouts. It
651	usually doesn't make much sense to set it to a lower value than C<0.01>,	841	usually doesn't make much sense to set it to a lower value than C<0.01>,
652	as this approsaches the timing granularity of most systems.	842	as this approaches the timing granularity of most systems. Note that if
		843	you do transactions with the outside world and you can't increase the
		844	parallelity, then this setting will limit your transaction rate (if you
		845	need to poll once per transaction and the I/O collect interval is 0.01,
		846	then you can't do more than 100 transations per second).
		847
		848	Setting the I<timeout collect interval> can improve the opportunity for
		849	saving power, as the program will "bundle" timer callback invocations that
		850	are "near" in time together, by delaying some, thus reducing the number of
		851	times the process sleeps and wakes up again. Another useful technique to
		852	reduce iterations/wake-ups is to use C<ev_periodic> watchers and make sure
		853	they fire on, say, one-second boundaries only.
		854
		855	Example: we only need 0.1s timeout granularity, and we wish not to poll
		856	more often than 100 times per second:
		857
		858	ev_set_timeout_collect_interval (EV_DEFAULT_UC_ 0.1);
		859	ev_set_io_collect_interval (EV_DEFAULT_UC_ 0.01);
		860
		861	=item ev_loop_verify (loop)
		862
		863	This function only does something when C<EV_VERIFY> support has been
		864	compiled in, which is the default for non-minimal builds. It tries to go
		865	through all internal structures and checks them for validity. If anything
		866	is found to be inconsistent, it will print an error message to standard
		867	error and call C<abort ()>.
		868
		869	This can be used to catch bugs inside libev itself: under normal
		870	circumstances, this function will never abort as of course libev keeps its
		871	data structures consistent.
653		872
654	=back	873	=back
655		874
656		875
657	=head1 ANATOMY OF A WATCHER	876	=head1 ANATOMY OF A WATCHER
		877
		878	In the following description, uppercase C<TYPE> in names stands for the
		879	watcher type, e.g. C<ev_TYPE_start> can mean C<ev_timer_start> for timer
		880	watchers and C<ev_io_start> for I/O watchers.
658		881
659	A watcher is a structure that you create and register to record your	882	A watcher is a structure that you create and register to record your
660	interest in some event. For instance, if you want to wait for STDIN to	883	interest in some event. For instance, if you want to wait for STDIN to
661	become readable, you would create an C<ev_io> watcher for that:	884	become readable, you would create an C<ev_io> watcher for that:
662		885
663	static void my_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w, int revents)	886	static void my_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, ev_io *w, int revents)
664	{	887	{
665	ev_io_stop (w);	888	ev_io_stop (w);
666	ev_unloop (loop, EVUNLOOP_ALL);	889	ev_unloop (loop, EVUNLOOP_ALL);
667	}	890	}
668		891
669	struct ev_loop *loop = ev_default_loop (0);	892	struct ev_loop *loop = ev_default_loop (0);
		893
670	struct ev_io stdin_watcher;	894	ev_io stdin_watcher;
		895
671	ev_init (&stdin_watcher, my_cb);	896	ev_init (&stdin_watcher, my_cb);
672	ev_io_set (&stdin_watcher, STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ);	897	ev_io_set (&stdin_watcher, STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ);
673	ev_io_start (loop, &stdin_watcher);	898	ev_io_start (loop, &stdin_watcher);
		899
674	ev_loop (loop, 0);	900	ev_loop (loop, 0);
675		901
676	As you can see, you are responsible for allocating the memory for your	902	As you can see, you are responsible for allocating the memory for your
677	watcher structures (and it is usually a bad idea to do this on the stack,	903	watcher structures (and it is I<usually> a bad idea to do this on the
678	although this can sometimes be quite valid).	904	stack).
		905
		906	Each watcher has an associated watcher structure (called C<struct ev_TYPE>
		907	or simply C<ev_TYPE>, as typedefs are provided for all watcher structs).
679		908
680	Each watcher structure must be initialised by a call to C<ev_init	909	Each watcher structure must be initialised by a call to C<ev_init
681	(watcher *, callback)>, which expects a callback to be provided. This	910	(watcher *, callback)>, which expects a callback to be provided. This
682	callback gets invoked each time the event occurs (or, in the case of io	911	callback gets invoked each time the event occurs (or, in the case of I/O
683	watchers, each time the event loop detects that the file descriptor given	912	watchers, each time the event loop detects that the file descriptor given
684	is readable and/or writable).	913	is readable and/or writable).
685		914
686	Each watcher type has its own C<< ev_<type>_set (watcher *, ...) >> macro	915	Each watcher type further has its own C<< ev_TYPE_set (watcher *, ...) >>
687	with arguments specific to this watcher type. There is also a macro	916	macro to configure it, with arguments specific to the watcher type. There
688	to combine initialisation and setting in one call: C<< ev_<type>_init	917	is also a macro to combine initialisation and setting in one call: C<<
689	(watcher *, callback, ...) >>.	918	ev_TYPE_init (watcher *, callback, ...) >>.
690		919
691	To make the watcher actually watch out for events, you have to start it	920	To make the watcher actually watch out for events, you have to start it
692	with a watcher-specific start function (C<< ev_<type>_start (loop, watcher	921	with a watcher-specific start function (C<< ev_TYPE_start (loop, watcher
693	*) >>), and you can stop watching for events at any time by calling the	922	*) >>), and you can stop watching for events at any time by calling the
694	corresponding stop function (C<< ev_<type>_stop (loop, watcher *) >>.	923	corresponding stop function (C<< ev_TYPE_stop (loop, watcher *) >>.
695		924
696	As long as your watcher is active (has been started but not stopped) you	925	As long as your watcher is active (has been started but not stopped) you
697	must not touch the values stored in it. Most specifically you must never	926	must not touch the values stored in it. Most specifically you must never
698	reinitialise it or call its C<set> macro.	927	reinitialise it or call its C<ev_TYPE_set> macro.
699		928
700	Each and every callback receives the event loop pointer as first, the	929	Each and every callback receives the event loop pointer as first, the
701	registered watcher structure as second, and a bitset of received events as	930	registered watcher structure as second, and a bitset of received events as
702	third argument.	931	third argument.
703		932
…		…
757	=item C<EV_FORK>	986	=item C<EV_FORK>
758		987
759	The event loop has been resumed in the child process after fork (see	988	The event loop has been resumed in the child process after fork (see
760	C<ev_fork>).	989	C<ev_fork>).
761		990
		991	=item C<EV_ASYNC>
		992
		993	The given async watcher has been asynchronously notified (see C<ev_async>).
		994
		995	=item C<EV_CUSTOM>
		996
		997	Not ever sent (or otherwise used) by libev itself, but can be freely used
		998	by libev users to signal watchers (e.g. via C<ev_feed_event>).
		999
762	=item C<EV_ERROR>	1000	=item C<EV_ERROR>
763		1001
764	An unspecified error has occured, the watcher has been stopped. This might	1002	An unspecified error has occurred, the watcher has been stopped. This might
765	happen because the watcher could not be properly started because libev	1003	happen because the watcher could not be properly started because libev
766	ran out of memory, a file descriptor was found to be closed or any other	1004	ran out of memory, a file descriptor was found to be closed or any other
		1005	problem. Libev considers these application bugs.
		1006
767	problem. You best act on it by reporting the problem and somehow coping	1007	You best act on it by reporting the problem and somehow coping with the
768	with the watcher being stopped.	1008	watcher being stopped. Note that well-written programs should not receive
		1009	an error ever, so when your watcher receives it, this usually indicates a
		1010	bug in your program.
769		1011
770	Libev will usually signal a few "dummy" events together with an error,	1012	Libev will usually signal a few "dummy" events together with an error, for
771	for example it might indicate that a fd is readable or writable, and if	1013	example it might indicate that a fd is readable or writable, and if your
772	your callbacks is well-written it can just attempt the operation and cope	1014	callbacks is well-written it can just attempt the operation and cope with
773	with the error from read() or write(). This will not work in multithreaded	1015	the error from read() or write(). This will not work in multi-threaded
774	programs, though, so beware.	1016	programs, though, as the fd could already be closed and reused for another
		1017	thing, so beware.
775		1018
776	=back	1019	=back
777		1020
778	=head2 GENERIC WATCHER FUNCTIONS	1021	=head2 GENERIC WATCHER FUNCTIONS
779
780	In the following description, C<TYPE> stands for the watcher type,
781	e.g. C<timer> for C<ev_timer> watchers and C<io> for C<ev_io> watchers.
782		1022
783	=over 4	1023	=over 4
784		1024
785	=item C<ev_init> (ev_TYPE *watcher, callback)	1025	=item C<ev_init> (ev_TYPE *watcher, callback)
786		1026
…		…
792	which rolls both calls into one.	1032	which rolls both calls into one.
793		1033
794	You can reinitialise a watcher at any time as long as it has been stopped	1034	You can reinitialise a watcher at any time as long as it has been stopped
795	(or never started) and there are no pending events outstanding.	1035	(or never started) and there are no pending events outstanding.
796		1036
797	The callback is always of type C<void (*)(ev_loop *loop, ev_TYPE *watcher,	1037	The callback is always of type C<void (*)(struct ev_loop *loop, ev_TYPE *watcher,
798	int revents)>.	1038	int revents)>.
		1039
		1040	Example: Initialise an C<ev_io> watcher in two steps.
		1041
		1042	ev_io w;
		1043	ev_init (&w, my_cb);
		1044	ev_io_set (&w, STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ);
799		1045
800	=item C<ev_TYPE_set> (ev_TYPE *, [args])	1046	=item C<ev_TYPE_set> (ev_TYPE *, [args])
801		1047
802	This macro initialises the type-specific parts of a watcher. You need to	1048	This macro initialises the type-specific parts of a watcher. You need to
803	call C<ev_init> at least once before you call this macro, but you can	1049	call C<ev_init> at least once before you call this macro, but you can
…		…
806	difference to the C<ev_init> macro).	1052	difference to the C<ev_init> macro).
807		1053
808	Although some watcher types do not have type-specific arguments	1054	Although some watcher types do not have type-specific arguments
809	(e.g. C<ev_prepare>) you still need to call its C<set> macro.	1055	(e.g. C<ev_prepare>) you still need to call its C<set> macro.
810		1056
		1057	See C<ev_init>, above, for an example.
		1058
811	=item C<ev_TYPE_init> (ev_TYPE *watcher, callback, [args])	1059	=item C<ev_TYPE_init> (ev_TYPE *watcher, callback, [args])
812		1060
813	This convinience macro rolls both C<ev_init> and C<ev_TYPE_set> macro	1061	This convenience macro rolls both C<ev_init> and C<ev_TYPE_set> macro
814	calls into a single call. This is the most convinient method to initialise	1062	calls into a single call. This is the most convenient method to initialise
815	a watcher. The same limitations apply, of course.	1063	a watcher. The same limitations apply, of course.
		1064
		1065	Example: Initialise and set an C<ev_io> watcher in one step.
		1066
		1067	ev_io_init (&w, my_cb, STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ);
816		1068
817	=item C<ev_TYPE_start> (loop *, ev_TYPE *watcher)	1069	=item C<ev_TYPE_start> (loop *, ev_TYPE *watcher)
818		1070
819	Starts (activates) the given watcher. Only active watchers will receive	1071	Starts (activates) the given watcher. Only active watchers will receive
820	events. If the watcher is already active nothing will happen.	1072	events. If the watcher is already active nothing will happen.
821		1073
		1074	Example: Start the C<ev_io> watcher that is being abused as example in this
		1075	whole section.
		1076
		1077	ev_io_start (EV_DEFAULT_UC, &w);
		1078
822	=item C<ev_TYPE_stop> (loop *, ev_TYPE *watcher)	1079	=item C<ev_TYPE_stop> (loop *, ev_TYPE *watcher)
823		1080
824	Stops the given watcher again (if active) and clears the pending	1081	Stops the given watcher if active, and clears the pending status (whether
		1082	the watcher was active or not).
		1083
825	status. It is possible that stopped watchers are pending (for example,	1084	It is possible that stopped watchers are pending - for example,
826	non-repeating timers are being stopped when they become pending), but	1085	non-repeating timers are being stopped when they become pending - but
827	C<ev_TYPE_stop> ensures that the watcher is neither active nor pending. If	1086	calling C<ev_TYPE_stop> ensures that the watcher is neither active nor
828	you want to free or reuse the memory used by the watcher it is therefore a	1087	pending. If you want to free or reuse the memory used by the watcher it is
829	good idea to always call its C<ev_TYPE_stop> function.	1088	therefore a good idea to always call its C<ev_TYPE_stop> function.
830		1089
831	=item bool ev_is_active (ev_TYPE *watcher)	1090	=item bool ev_is_active (ev_TYPE *watcher)
832		1091
833	Returns a true value iff the watcher is active (i.e. it has been started	1092	Returns a true value iff the watcher is active (i.e. it has been started
834	and not yet been stopped). As long as a watcher is active you must not modify	1093	and not yet been stopped). As long as a watcher is active you must not modify
…		…
860	integer between C<EV_MAXPRI> (default: C<2>) and C<EV_MINPRI>	1119	integer between C<EV_MAXPRI> (default: C<2>) and C<EV_MINPRI>
861	(default: C<-2>). Pending watchers with higher priority will be invoked	1120	(default: C<-2>). Pending watchers with higher priority will be invoked
862	before watchers with lower priority, but priority will not keep watchers	1121	before watchers with lower priority, but priority will not keep watchers
863	from being executed (except for C<ev_idle> watchers).	1122	from being executed (except for C<ev_idle> watchers).
864		1123
865	This means that priorities are I<only> used for ordering callback
866	invocation after new events have been received. This is useful, for
867	example, to reduce latency after idling, or more often, to bind two
868	watchers on the same event and make sure one is called first.
869
870	If you need to suppress invocation when higher priority events are pending	1124	If you need to suppress invocation when higher priority events are pending
871	you need to look at C<ev_idle> watchers, which provide this functionality.	1125	you need to look at C<ev_idle> watchers, which provide this functionality.
872		1126
873	You I<must not> change the priority of a watcher as long as it is active or	1127	You I<must not> change the priority of a watcher as long as it is active or
874	pending.	1128	pending.
875		1129
		1130	Setting a priority outside the range of C<EV_MINPRI> to C<EV_MAXPRI> is
		1131	fine, as long as you do not mind that the priority value you query might
		1132	or might not have been clamped to the valid range.
		1133
876	The default priority used by watchers when no priority has been set is	1134	The default priority used by watchers when no priority has been set is
877	always C<0>, which is supposed to not be too high and not be too low :).	1135	always C<0>, which is supposed to not be too high and not be too low :).
878		1136
879	Setting a priority outside the range of C<EV_MINPRI> to C<EV_MAXPRI> is	1137	See L<WATCHER PRIORITY MODELS>, below, for a more thorough treatment of
880	fine, as long as you do not mind that the priority value you query might	1138	priorities.
881	or might not have been adjusted to be within valid range.
882		1139
883	=item ev_invoke (loop, ev_TYPE *watcher, int revents)	1140	=item ev_invoke (loop, ev_TYPE *watcher, int revents)
884		1141
885	Invoke the C<watcher> with the given C<loop> and C<revents>. Neither	1142	Invoke the C<watcher> with the given C<loop> and C<revents>. Neither
886	C<loop> nor C<revents> need to be valid as long as the watcher callback	1143	C<loop> nor C<revents> need to be valid as long as the watcher callback
887	can deal with that fact.	1144	can deal with that fact, as both are simply passed through to the
		1145	callback.
888		1146
889	=item int ev_clear_pending (loop, ev_TYPE *watcher)	1147	=item int ev_clear_pending (loop, ev_TYPE *watcher)
890		1148
891	If the watcher is pending, this function returns clears its pending status	1149	If the watcher is pending, this function clears its pending status and
892	and returns its C<revents> bitset (as if its callback was invoked). If the	1150	returns its C<revents> bitset (as if its callback was invoked). If the
893	watcher isn't pending it does nothing and returns C<0>.	1151	watcher isn't pending it does nothing and returns C<0>.
894		1152
		1153	Sometimes it can be useful to "poll" a watcher instead of waiting for its
		1154	callback to be invoked, which can be accomplished with this function.
		1155
895	=back	1156	=back
896		1157
897		1158
898	=head2 ASSOCIATING CUSTOM DATA WITH A WATCHER	1159	=head2 ASSOCIATING CUSTOM DATA WITH A WATCHER
899		1160
900	Each watcher has, by default, a member C<void *data> that you can change	1161	Each watcher has, by default, a member C<void *data> that you can change
901	and read at any time, libev will completely ignore it. This can be used	1162	and read at any time: libev will completely ignore it. This can be used
902	to associate arbitrary data with your watcher. If you need more data and	1163	to associate arbitrary data with your watcher. If you need more data and
903	don't want to allocate memory and store a pointer to it in that data	1164	don't want to allocate memory and store a pointer to it in that data
904	member, you can also "subclass" the watcher type and provide your own	1165	member, you can also "subclass" the watcher type and provide your own
905	data:	1166	data:
906		1167
907	struct my_io	1168	struct my_io
908	{	1169	{
909	struct ev_io io;	1170	ev_io io;
910	int otherfd;	1171	int otherfd;
911	void *somedata;	1172	void *somedata;
912	struct whatever *mostinteresting;	1173	struct whatever *mostinteresting;
913	}	1174	};
		1175
		1176	...
		1177	struct my_io w;
		1178	ev_io_init (&w.io, my_cb, fd, EV_READ);
914		1179
915	And since your callback will be called with a pointer to the watcher, you	1180	And since your callback will be called with a pointer to the watcher, you
916	can cast it back to your own type:	1181	can cast it back to your own type:
917		1182
918	static void my_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w_, int revents)	1183	static void my_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, ev_io *w_, int revents)
919	{	1184	{
920	struct my_io *w = (struct my_io *)w_;	1185	struct my_io *w = (struct my_io *)w_;
921	...	1186	...
922	}	1187	}
923		1188
924	More interesting and less C-conformant ways of casting your callback type	1189	More interesting and less C-conformant ways of casting your callback type
925	instead have been omitted.	1190	instead have been omitted.
926		1191
927	Another common scenario is having some data structure with multiple	1192	Another common scenario is to use some data structure with multiple
928	watchers:	1193	embedded watchers:
929		1194
930	struct my_biggy	1195	struct my_biggy
931	{	1196	{
932	int some_data;	1197	int some_data;
933	ev_timer t1;	1198	ev_timer t1;
934	ev_timer t2;	1199	ev_timer t2;
935	}	1200	}
936		1201
937	In this case getting the pointer to C<my_biggy> is a bit more complicated,	1202	In this case getting the pointer to C<my_biggy> is a bit more
938	you need to use C<offsetof>:	1203	complicated: Either you store the address of your C<my_biggy> struct
		1204	in the C<data> member of the watcher (for woozies), or you need to use
		1205	some pointer arithmetic using C<offsetof> inside your watchers (for real
		1206	programmers):
939		1207
940	#include <stddef.h>	1208	#include <stddef.h>
941		1209
942	static void	1210	static void
943	t1_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_timer *w, int revents)	1211	t1_cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)
944	{	1212	{
945	struct my_biggy big = (struct my_biggy *	1213	struct my_biggy big = (struct my_biggy *)
946	(((char *)w) - offsetof (struct my_biggy, t1));	1214	(((char *)w) - offsetof (struct my_biggy, t1));
947	}	1215	}
948		1216
949	static void	1217	static void
950	t2_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_timer *w, int revents)	1218	t2_cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)
951	{	1219	{
952	struct my_biggy big = (struct my_biggy *	1220	struct my_biggy big = (struct my_biggy *)
953	(((char *)w) - offsetof (struct my_biggy, t2));	1221	(((char *)w) - offsetof (struct my_biggy, t2));
954	}	1222	}
		1223
		1224	=head2 WATCHER PRIORITY MODELS
		1225
		1226	Many event loops support I<watcher priorities>, which are usually small
		1227	integers that influence the ordering of event callback invocation
		1228	between watchers in some way, all else being equal.
		1229
		1230	In libev, Watcher priorities can be set using C<ev_set_priority>. See its
		1231	description for the more technical details such as the actual priority
		1232	range.
		1233
		1234	There are two common ways how these these priorities are being interpreted
		1235	by event loops:
		1236
		1237	In the more common lock-out model, higher priorities "lock out" invocation
		1238	of lower priority watchers, which means as long as higher priority
		1239	watchers receive events, lower priority watchers are not being invoked.
		1240
		1241	The less common only-for-ordering model uses priorities solely to order
		1242	callback invocation within a single event loop iteration: Higher priority
		1243	watchers are invoked before lower priority ones, but they all get invoked
		1244	before polling for new events.
		1245
		1246	Libev uses the second (only-for-ordering) model for all its watchers
		1247	except for idle watchers (which use the lock-out model).
		1248
		1249	The rationale behind this is that implementing the lock-out model for
		1250	watchers is not well supported by most kernel interfaces, and most event
		1251	libraries will just poll for the same events again and again as long as
		1252	their callbacks have not been executed, which is very inefficient in the
		1253	common case of one high-priority watcher locking out a mass of lower
		1254	priority ones.
		1255
		1256	Static (ordering) priorities are most useful when you have two or more
		1257	watchers handling the same resource: a typical usage example is having an
		1258	C<ev_io> watcher to receive data, and an associated C<ev_timer> to handle
		1259	timeouts. Under load, data might be received while the program handles
		1260	other jobs, but since timers normally get invoked first, the timeout
		1261	handler will be executed before checking for data. In that case, giving
		1262	the timer a lower priority than the I/O watcher ensures that I/O will be
		1263	handled first even under adverse conditions (which is usually, but not
		1264	always, what you want).
		1265
		1266	Since idle watchers use the "lock-out" model, meaning that idle watchers
		1267	will only be executed when no same or higher priority watchers have
		1268	received events, they can be used to implement the "lock-out" model when
		1269	required.
		1270
		1271	For example, to emulate how many other event libraries handle priorities,
		1272	you can associate an C<ev_idle> watcher to each such watcher, and in
		1273	the normal watcher callback, you just start the idle watcher. The real
		1274	processing is done in the idle watcher callback. This causes libev to
		1275	continously poll and process kernel event data for the watcher, but when
		1276	the lock-out case is known to be rare (which in turn is rare :), this is
		1277	workable.
		1278
		1279	Usually, however, the lock-out model implemented that way will perform
		1280	miserably under the type of load it was designed to handle. In that case,
		1281	it might be preferable to stop the real watcher before starting the
		1282	idle watcher, so the kernel will not have to process the event in case
		1283	the actual processing will be delayed for considerable time.
		1284
		1285	Here is an example of an I/O watcher that should run at a strictly lower
		1286	priority than the default, and which should only process data when no
		1287	other events are pending:
		1288
		1289	ev_idle idle; // actual processing watcher
		1290	ev_io io; // actual event watcher
		1291
		1292	static void
		1293	io_cb (EV_P_ ev_io *w, int revents)
		1294	{
		1295	// stop the I/O watcher, we received the event, but
		1296	// are not yet ready to handle it.
		1297	ev_io_stop (EV_A_ w);
		1298
		1299	// start the idle watcher to ahndle the actual event.
		1300	// it will not be executed as long as other watchers
		1301	// with the default priority are receiving events.
		1302	ev_idle_start (EV_A_ &idle);
		1303	}
		1304
		1305	static void
		1306	idle_cb (EV_P_ ev_idle *w, int revents)
		1307	{
		1308	// actual processing
		1309	read (STDIN_FILENO, ...);
		1310
		1311	// have to start the I/O watcher again, as
		1312	// we have handled the event
		1313	ev_io_start (EV_P_ &io);
		1314	}
		1315
		1316	// initialisation
		1317	ev_idle_init (&idle, idle_cb);
		1318	ev_io_init (&io, io_cb, STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ);
		1319	ev_io_start (EV_DEFAULT_ &io);
		1320
		1321	In the "real" world, it might also be beneficial to start a timer, so that
		1322	low-priority connections can not be locked out forever under load. This
		1323	enables your program to keep a lower latency for important connections
		1324	during short periods of high load, while not completely locking out less
		1325	important ones.
955		1326
956		1327
957	=head1 WATCHER TYPES	1328	=head1 WATCHER TYPES
958		1329
959	This section describes each watcher in detail, but will not repeat	1330	This section describes each watcher in detail, but will not repeat
…		…
983	In general you can register as many read and/or write event watchers per	1354	In general you can register as many read and/or write event watchers per
984	fd as you want (as long as you don't confuse yourself). Setting all file	1355	fd as you want (as long as you don't confuse yourself). Setting all file
985	descriptors to non-blocking mode is also usually a good idea (but not	1356	descriptors to non-blocking mode is also usually a good idea (but not
986	required if you know what you are doing).	1357	required if you know what you are doing).
987		1358
988	You have to be careful with dup'ed file descriptors, though. Some backends	1359	If you cannot use non-blocking mode, then force the use of a
989	(the linux epoll backend is a notable example) cannot handle dup'ed file	1360	known-to-be-good backend (at the time of this writing, this includes only
990	descriptors correctly if you register interest in two or more fds pointing	1361	C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> and C<EVBACKEND_POLL>). The same applies to file
991	to the same underlying file/socket/etc. description (that is, they share	1362	descriptors for which non-blocking operation makes no sense (such as
992	the same underlying "file open").	1363	files) - libev doesn't guarentee any specific behaviour in that case.
993
994	If you must do this, then force the use of a known-to-be-good backend
995	(at the time of this writing, this includes only C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> and
996	C<EVBACKEND_POLL>).
997		1364
998	Another thing you have to watch out for is that it is quite easy to	1365	Another thing you have to watch out for is that it is quite easy to
999	receive "spurious" readyness notifications, that is your callback might	1366	receive "spurious" readiness notifications, that is your callback might
1000	be called with C<EV_READ> but a subsequent C<read>(2) will actually block	1367	be called with C<EV_READ> but a subsequent C<read>(2) will actually block
1001	because there is no data. Not only are some backends known to create a	1368	because there is no data. Not only are some backends known to create a
1002	lot of those (for example solaris ports), it is very easy to get into	1369	lot of those (for example Solaris ports), it is very easy to get into
1003	this situation even with a relatively standard program structure. Thus	1370	this situation even with a relatively standard program structure. Thus
1004	it is best to always use non-blocking I/O: An extra C<read>(2) returning	1371	it is best to always use non-blocking I/O: An extra C<read>(2) returning
1005	C<EAGAIN> is far preferable to a program hanging until some data arrives.	1372	C<EAGAIN> is far preferable to a program hanging until some data arrives.
1006		1373
1007	If you cannot run the fd in non-blocking mode (for example you should not	1374	If you cannot run the fd in non-blocking mode (for example you should
1008	play around with an Xlib connection), then you have to seperately re-test	1375	not play around with an Xlib connection), then you have to separately
1009	whether a file descriptor is really ready with a known-to-be good interface	1376	re-test whether a file descriptor is really ready with a known-to-be good
1010	such as poll (fortunately in our Xlib example, Xlib already does this on	1377	interface such as poll (fortunately in our Xlib example, Xlib already
1011	its own, so its quite safe to use).	1378	does this on its own, so its quite safe to use). Some people additionally
		1379	use C<SIGALRM> and an interval timer, just to be sure you won't block
		1380	indefinitely.
		1381
		1382	But really, best use non-blocking mode.
1012		1383
1013	=head3 The special problem of disappearing file descriptors	1384	=head3 The special problem of disappearing file descriptors
1014		1385
1015	Some backends (e.g. kqueue, epoll) need to be told about closing a file	1386	Some backends (e.g. kqueue, epoll) need to be told about closing a file
1016	descriptor (either by calling C<close> explicitly or by any other means,	1387	descriptor (either due to calling C<close> explicitly or any other means,
1017	such as C<dup>). The reason is that you register interest in some file	1388	such as C<dup2>). The reason is that you register interest in some file
1018	descriptor, but when it goes away, the operating system will silently drop	1389	descriptor, but when it goes away, the operating system will silently drop
1019	this interest. If another file descriptor with the same number then is	1390	this interest. If another file descriptor with the same number then is
1020	registered with libev, there is no efficient way to see that this is, in	1391	registered with libev, there is no efficient way to see that this is, in
1021	fact, a different file descriptor.	1392	fact, a different file descriptor.
1022		1393
…		…
1032	optimisations to libev.	1403	optimisations to libev.
1033		1404
1034	=head3 The special problem of dup'ed file descriptors	1405	=head3 The special problem of dup'ed file descriptors
1035		1406
1036	Some backends (e.g. epoll), cannot register events for file descriptors,	1407	Some backends (e.g. epoll), cannot register events for file descriptors,
1037	but only events for the underlying file descriptions. That menas when you	1408	but only events for the underlying file descriptions. That means when you
1038	have C<dup ()>'ed file descriptors and register events for them, only one	1409	have C<dup ()>'ed file descriptors or weirder constellations, and register
1039	file descriptor might actually receive events.	1410	events for them, only one file descriptor might actually receive events.
1040		1411
1041	There is no workaorund possible except not registering events	1412	There is no workaround possible except not registering events
1042	for potentially C<dup ()>'ed file descriptors or to resort to	1413	for potentially C<dup ()>'ed file descriptors, or to resort to
1043	C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> or C<EVBACKEND_POLL>.	1414	C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> or C<EVBACKEND_POLL>.
1044		1415
1045	=head3 The special problem of fork	1416	=head3 The special problem of fork
1046		1417
1047	Some backends (epoll, kqueue) do not support C<fork ()> at all or exhibit	1418	Some backends (epoll, kqueue) do not support C<fork ()> at all or exhibit
…		…
1051	To support fork in your programs, you either have to call	1422	To support fork in your programs, you either have to call
1052	C<ev_default_fork ()> or C<ev_loop_fork ()> after a fork in the child,	1423	C<ev_default_fork ()> or C<ev_loop_fork ()> after a fork in the child,
1053	enable C<EVFLAG_FORKCHECK>, or resort to C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> or	1424	enable C<EVFLAG_FORKCHECK>, or resort to C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> or
1054	C<EVBACKEND_POLL>.	1425	C<EVBACKEND_POLL>.
1055		1426
		1427	=head3 The special problem of SIGPIPE
		1428
		1429	While not really specific to libev, it is easy to forget about C<SIGPIPE>:
		1430	when writing to a pipe whose other end has been closed, your program gets
		1431	sent a SIGPIPE, which, by default, aborts your program. For most programs
		1432	this is sensible behaviour, for daemons, this is usually undesirable.
		1433
		1434	So when you encounter spurious, unexplained daemon exits, make sure you
		1435	ignore SIGPIPE (and maybe make sure you log the exit status of your daemon
		1436	somewhere, as that would have given you a big clue).
		1437
1056		1438
1057	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions	1439	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions
1058		1440
1059	=over 4	1441	=over 4
1060		1442
1061	=item ev_io_init (ev_io *, callback, int fd, int events)	1443	=item ev_io_init (ev_io *, callback, int fd, int events)
1062		1444
1063	=item ev_io_set (ev_io *, int fd, int events)	1445	=item ev_io_set (ev_io *, int fd, int events)
1064		1446
1065	Configures an C<ev_io> watcher. The C<fd> is the file descriptor to	1447	Configures an C<ev_io> watcher. The C<fd> is the file descriptor to
1066	rceeive events for and events is either C<EV_READ>, C<EV_WRITE> or	1448	receive events for and C<events> is either C<EV_READ>, C<EV_WRITE> or
1067	C<EV_READ | EV_WRITE> to receive the given events.	1449	C<EV_READ | EV_WRITE>, to express the desire to receive the given events.
1068		1450
1069	=item int fd [read-only]	1451	=item int fd [read-only]
1070		1452
1071	The file descriptor being watched.	1453	The file descriptor being watched.
1072		1454
1073	=item int events [read-only]	1455	=item int events [read-only]
1074		1456
1075	The events being watched.	1457	The events being watched.
1076		1458
1077	=back	1459	=back
		1460
		1461	=head3 Examples
1078		1462
1079	Example: Call C<stdin_readable_cb> when STDIN_FILENO has become, well	1463	Example: Call C<stdin_readable_cb> when STDIN_FILENO has become, well
1080	readable, but only once. Since it is likely line-buffered, you could	1464	readable, but only once. Since it is likely line-buffered, you could
1081	attempt to read a whole line in the callback.	1465	attempt to read a whole line in the callback.
1082		1466
1083	static void	1467	static void
1084	stdin_readable_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w, int revents)	1468	stdin_readable_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, ev_io *w, int revents)
1085	{	1469	{
1086	ev_io_stop (loop, w);	1470	ev_io_stop (loop, w);
1087	.. read from stdin here (or from w->fd) and haqndle any I/O errors	1471	.. read from stdin here (or from w->fd) and handle any I/O errors
1088	}	1472	}
1089		1473
1090	...	1474	...
1091	struct ev_loop *loop = ev_default_init (0);	1475	struct ev_loop *loop = ev_default_init (0);
1092	struct ev_io stdin_readable;	1476	ev_io stdin_readable;
1093	ev_io_init (&stdin_readable, stdin_readable_cb, STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ);	1477	ev_io_init (&stdin_readable, stdin_readable_cb, STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ);
1094	ev_io_start (loop, &stdin_readable);	1478	ev_io_start (loop, &stdin_readable);
1095	ev_loop (loop, 0);	1479	ev_loop (loop, 0);
1096		1480
1097		1481
1098	=head2 C<ev_timer> - relative and optionally repeating timeouts	1482	=head2 C<ev_timer> - relative and optionally repeating timeouts
1099		1483
1100	Timer watchers are simple relative timers that generate an event after a	1484	Timer watchers are simple relative timers that generate an event after a
1101	given time, and optionally repeating in regular intervals after that.	1485	given time, and optionally repeating in regular intervals after that.
1102		1486
1103	The timers are based on real time, that is, if you register an event that	1487	The timers are based on real time, that is, if you register an event that
1104	times out after an hour and you reset your system clock to last years	1488	times out after an hour and you reset your system clock to January last
1105	time, it will still time out after (roughly) and hour. "Roughly" because	1489	year, it will still time out after (roughly) one hour. "Roughly" because
1106	detecting time jumps is hard, and some inaccuracies are unavoidable (the	1490	detecting time jumps is hard, and some inaccuracies are unavoidable (the
1107	monotonic clock option helps a lot here).	1491	monotonic clock option helps a lot here).
		1492
		1493	The callback is guaranteed to be invoked only I<after> its timeout has
		1494	passed (not I<at>, so on systems with very low-resolution clocks this
		1495	might introduce a small delay). If multiple timers become ready during the
		1496	same loop iteration then the ones with earlier time-out values are invoked
		1497	before ones with later time-out values (but this is no longer true when a
		1498	callback calls C<ev_loop> recursively).
		1499
		1500	=head3 Be smart about timeouts
		1501
		1502	Many real-world problems involve some kind of timeout, usually for error
		1503	recovery. A typical example is an HTTP request - if the other side hangs,
		1504	you want to raise some error after a while.
		1505
		1506	What follows are some ways to handle this problem, from obvious and
		1507	inefficient to smart and efficient.
		1508
		1509	In the following, a 60 second activity timeout is assumed - a timeout that
		1510	gets reset to 60 seconds each time there is activity (e.g. each time some
		1511	data or other life sign was received).
		1512
		1513	=over 4
		1514
		1515	=item 1. Use a timer and stop, reinitialise and start it on activity.
		1516
		1517	This is the most obvious, but not the most simple way: In the beginning,
		1518	start the watcher:
		1519
		1520	ev_timer_init (timer, callback, 60., 0.);
		1521	ev_timer_start (loop, timer);
		1522
		1523	Then, each time there is some activity, C<ev_timer_stop> it, initialise it
		1524	and start it again:
		1525
		1526	ev_timer_stop (loop, timer);
		1527	ev_timer_set (timer, 60., 0.);
		1528	ev_timer_start (loop, timer);
		1529
		1530	This is relatively simple to implement, but means that each time there is
		1531	some activity, libev will first have to remove the timer from its internal
		1532	data structure and then add it again. Libev tries to be fast, but it's
		1533	still not a constant-time operation.
		1534
		1535	=item 2. Use a timer and re-start it with C<ev_timer_again> inactivity.
		1536
		1537	This is the easiest way, and involves using C<ev_timer_again> instead of
		1538	C<ev_timer_start>.
		1539
		1540	To implement this, configure an C<ev_timer> with a C<repeat> value
		1541	of C<60> and then call C<ev_timer_again> at start and each time you
		1542	successfully read or write some data. If you go into an idle state where
		1543	you do not expect data to travel on the socket, you can C<ev_timer_stop>
		1544	the timer, and C<ev_timer_again> will automatically restart it if need be.
		1545
		1546	That means you can ignore both the C<ev_timer_start> function and the
		1547	C<after> argument to C<ev_timer_set>, and only ever use the C<repeat>
		1548	member and C<ev_timer_again>.
		1549
		1550	At start:
		1551
		1552	ev_init (timer, callback);
		1553	timer->repeat = 60.;
		1554	ev_timer_again (loop, timer);
		1555
		1556	Each time there is some activity:
		1557
		1558	ev_timer_again (loop, timer);
		1559
		1560	It is even possible to change the time-out on the fly, regardless of
		1561	whether the watcher is active or not:
		1562
		1563	timer->repeat = 30.;
		1564	ev_timer_again (loop, timer);
		1565
		1566	This is slightly more efficient then stopping/starting the timer each time
		1567	you want to modify its timeout value, as libev does not have to completely
		1568	remove and re-insert the timer from/into its internal data structure.
		1569
		1570	It is, however, even simpler than the "obvious" way to do it.
		1571
		1572	=item 3. Let the timer time out, but then re-arm it as required.
		1573
		1574	This method is more tricky, but usually most efficient: Most timeouts are
		1575	relatively long compared to the intervals between other activity - in
		1576	our example, within 60 seconds, there are usually many I/O events with
		1577	associated activity resets.
		1578
		1579	In this case, it would be more efficient to leave the C<ev_timer> alone,
		1580	but remember the time of last activity, and check for a real timeout only
		1581	within the callback:
		1582
		1583	ev_tstamp last_activity; // time of last activity
		1584
		1585	static void
		1586	callback (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)
		1587	{
		1588	ev_tstamp now = ev_now (EV_A);
		1589	ev_tstamp timeout = last_activity + 60.;
		1590
		1591	// if last_activity + 60. is older than now, we did time out
		1592	if (timeout < now)
		1593	{
		1594	// timeout occured, take action
		1595	}
		1596	else
		1597	{
		1598	// callback was invoked, but there was some activity, re-arm
		1599	// the watcher to fire in last_activity + 60, which is
		1600	// guaranteed to be in the future, so "again" is positive:
		1601	w->repeat = timeout - now;
		1602	ev_timer_again (EV_A_ w);
		1603	}
		1604	}
		1605
		1606	To summarise the callback: first calculate the real timeout (defined
		1607	as "60 seconds after the last activity"), then check if that time has
		1608	been reached, which means something I<did>, in fact, time out. Otherwise
		1609	the callback was invoked too early (C<timeout> is in the future), so
		1610	re-schedule the timer to fire at that future time, to see if maybe we have
		1611	a timeout then.
		1612
		1613	Note how C<ev_timer_again> is used, taking advantage of the
		1614	C<ev_timer_again> optimisation when the timer is already running.
		1615
		1616	This scheme causes more callback invocations (about one every 60 seconds
		1617	minus half the average time between activity), but virtually no calls to
		1618	libev to change the timeout.
		1619
		1620	To start the timer, simply initialise the watcher and set C<last_activity>
		1621	to the current time (meaning we just have some activity :), then call the
		1622	callback, which will "do the right thing" and start the timer:
		1623
		1624	ev_init (timer, callback);
		1625	last_activity = ev_now (loop);
		1626	callback (loop, timer, EV_TIMEOUT);
		1627
		1628	And when there is some activity, simply store the current time in
		1629	C<last_activity>, no libev calls at all:
		1630
		1631	last_actiivty = ev_now (loop);
		1632
		1633	This technique is slightly more complex, but in most cases where the
		1634	time-out is unlikely to be triggered, much more efficient.
		1635
		1636	Changing the timeout is trivial as well (if it isn't hard-coded in the
		1637	callback :) - just change the timeout and invoke the callback, which will
		1638	fix things for you.
		1639
		1640	=item 4. Wee, just use a double-linked list for your timeouts.
		1641
		1642	If there is not one request, but many thousands (millions...), all
		1643	employing some kind of timeout with the same timeout value, then one can
		1644	do even better:
		1645
		1646	When starting the timeout, calculate the timeout value and put the timeout
		1647	at the I<end> of the list.
		1648
		1649	Then use an C<ev_timer> to fire when the timeout at the I<beginning> of
		1650	the list is expected to fire (for example, using the technique #3).
		1651
		1652	When there is some activity, remove the timer from the list, recalculate
		1653	the timeout, append it to the end of the list again, and make sure to
		1654	update the C<ev_timer> if it was taken from the beginning of the list.
		1655
		1656	This way, one can manage an unlimited number of timeouts in O(1) time for
		1657	starting, stopping and updating the timers, at the expense of a major
		1658	complication, and having to use a constant timeout. The constant timeout
		1659	ensures that the list stays sorted.
		1660
		1661	=back
		1662
		1663	So which method the best?
		1664
		1665	Method #2 is a simple no-brain-required solution that is adequate in most
		1666	situations. Method #3 requires a bit more thinking, but handles many cases
		1667	better, and isn't very complicated either. In most case, choosing either
		1668	one is fine, with #3 being better in typical situations.
		1669
		1670	Method #1 is almost always a bad idea, and buys you nothing. Method #4 is
		1671	rather complicated, but extremely efficient, something that really pays
		1672	off after the first million or so of active timers, i.e. it's usually
		1673	overkill :)
		1674
		1675	=head3 The special problem of time updates
		1676
		1677	Establishing the current time is a costly operation (it usually takes at
		1678	least two system calls): EV therefore updates its idea of the current
		1679	time only before and after C<ev_loop> collects new events, which causes a
		1680	growing difference between C<ev_now ()> and C<ev_time ()> when handling
		1681	lots of events in one iteration.
1108		1682
1109	The relative timeouts are calculated relative to the C<ev_now ()>	1683	The relative timeouts are calculated relative to the C<ev_now ()>
1110	time. This is usually the right thing as this timestamp refers to the time	1684	time. This is usually the right thing as this timestamp refers to the time
1111	of the event triggering whatever timeout you are modifying/starting. If	1685	of the event triggering whatever timeout you are modifying/starting. If
1112	you suspect event processing to be delayed and you I<need> to base the timeout	1686	you suspect event processing to be delayed and you I<need> to base the
1113	on the current time, use something like this to adjust for this:	1687	timeout on the current time, use something like this to adjust for this:
1114		1688
1115	ev_timer_set (&timer, after + ev_now () - ev_time (), 0.);	1689	ev_timer_set (&timer, after + ev_now () - ev_time (), 0.);
1116		1690
1117	The callback is guarenteed to be invoked only when its timeout has passed,	1691	If the event loop is suspended for a long time, you can also force an
1118	but if multiple timers become ready during the same loop iteration then	1692	update of the time returned by C<ev_now ()> by calling C<ev_now_update
1119	order of execution is undefined.	1693	()>.
1120		1694
1121	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members	1695	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
1122		1696
1123	=over 4	1697	=over 4
1124		1698
1125	=item ev_timer_init (ev_timer *, callback, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)	1699	=item ev_timer_init (ev_timer *, callback, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)
1126		1700
1127	=item ev_timer_set (ev_timer *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)	1701	=item ev_timer_set (ev_timer *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)
1128		1702
1129	Configure the timer to trigger after C<after> seconds. If C<repeat> is	1703	Configure the timer to trigger after C<after> seconds. If C<repeat>
1130	C<0.>, then it will automatically be stopped. If it is positive, then the	1704	is C<0.>, then it will automatically be stopped once the timeout is
1131	timer will automatically be configured to trigger again C<repeat> seconds	1705	reached. If it is positive, then the timer will automatically be
1132	later, again, and again, until stopped manually.	1706	configured to trigger again C<repeat> seconds later, again, and again,
		1707	until stopped manually.
1133		1708
1134	The timer itself will do a best-effort at avoiding drift, that is, if you	1709	The timer itself will do a best-effort at avoiding drift, that is, if
1135	configure a timer to trigger every 10 seconds, then it will trigger at	1710	you configure a timer to trigger every 10 seconds, then it will normally
1136	exactly 10 second intervals. If, however, your program cannot keep up with	1711	trigger at exactly 10 second intervals. If, however, your program cannot
1137	the timer (because it takes longer than those 10 seconds to do stuff) the	1712	keep up with the timer (because it takes longer than those 10 seconds to
1138	timer will not fire more than once per event loop iteration.	1713	do stuff) the timer will not fire more than once per event loop iteration.
1139		1714
1140	=item ev_timer_again (loop)	1715	=item ev_timer_again (loop, ev_timer *)
1141		1716
1142	This will act as if the timer timed out and restart it again if it is	1717	This will act as if the timer timed out and restart it again if it is
1143	repeating. The exact semantics are:	1718	repeating. The exact semantics are:
1144		1719
1145	If the timer is pending, its pending status is cleared.	1720	If the timer is pending, its pending status is cleared.
1146		1721
1147	If the timer is started but nonrepeating, stop it (as if it timed out).	1722	If the timer is started but non-repeating, stop it (as if it timed out).
1148		1723
1149	If the timer is repeating, either start it if necessary (with the	1724	If the timer is repeating, either start it if necessary (with the
1150	C<repeat> value), or reset the running timer to the C<repeat> value.	1725	C<repeat> value), or reset the running timer to the C<repeat> value.
1151		1726
1152	This sounds a bit complicated, but here is a useful and typical	1727	This sounds a bit complicated, see L<Be smart about timeouts>, above, for a
1153	example: Imagine you have a tcp connection and you want a so-called idle	1728	usage example.
1154	timeout, that is, you want to be called when there have been, say, 60
1155	seconds of inactivity on the socket. The easiest way to do this is to
1156	configure an C<ev_timer> with a C<repeat> value of C<60> and then call
1157	C<ev_timer_again> each time you successfully read or write some data. If
1158	you go into an idle state where you do not expect data to travel on the
1159	socket, you can C<ev_timer_stop> the timer, and C<ev_timer_again> will
1160	automatically restart it if need be.
1161
1162	That means you can ignore the C<after> value and C<ev_timer_start>
1163	altogether and only ever use the C<repeat> value and C<ev_timer_again>:
1164
1165	ev_timer_init (timer, callback, 0., 5.);
1166	ev_timer_again (loop, timer);
1167	...
1168	timer->again = 17.;
1169	ev_timer_again (loop, timer);
1170	...
1171	timer->again = 10.;
1172	ev_timer_again (loop, timer);
1173
1174	This is more slightly efficient then stopping/starting the timer each time
1175	you want to modify its timeout value.
1176		1729
1177	=item ev_tstamp repeat [read-write]	1730	=item ev_tstamp repeat [read-write]
1178		1731
1179	The current C<repeat> value. Will be used each time the watcher times out	1732	The current C<repeat> value. Will be used each time the watcher times out
1180	or C<ev_timer_again> is called and determines the next timeout (if any),	1733	or C<ev_timer_again> is called, and determines the next timeout (if any),
1181	which is also when any modifications are taken into account.	1734	which is also when any modifications are taken into account.
1182		1735
1183	=back	1736	=back
1184		1737
		1738	=head3 Examples
		1739
1185	Example: Create a timer that fires after 60 seconds.	1740	Example: Create a timer that fires after 60 seconds.
1186		1741
1187	static void	1742	static void
1188	one_minute_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_timer *w, int revents)	1743	one_minute_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, ev_timer *w, int revents)
1189	{	1744	{
1190	.. one minute over, w is actually stopped right here	1745	.. one minute over, w is actually stopped right here
1191	}	1746	}
1192		1747
1193	struct ev_timer mytimer;	1748	ev_timer mytimer;
1194	ev_timer_init (&mytimer, one_minute_cb, 60., 0.);	1749	ev_timer_init (&mytimer, one_minute_cb, 60., 0.);
1195	ev_timer_start (loop, &mytimer);	1750	ev_timer_start (loop, &mytimer);
1196		1751
1197	Example: Create a timeout timer that times out after 10 seconds of	1752	Example: Create a timeout timer that times out after 10 seconds of
1198	inactivity.	1753	inactivity.
1199		1754
1200	static void	1755	static void
1201	timeout_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_timer *w, int revents)	1756	timeout_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, ev_timer *w, int revents)
1202	{	1757	{
1203	.. ten seconds without any activity	1758	.. ten seconds without any activity
1204	}	1759	}
1205		1760
1206	struct ev_timer mytimer;	1761	ev_timer mytimer;
1207	ev_timer_init (&mytimer, timeout_cb, 0., 10.); /* note, only repeat used */	1762	ev_timer_init (&mytimer, timeout_cb, 0., 10.); /* note, only repeat used */
1208	ev_timer_again (&mytimer); /* start timer */	1763	ev_timer_again (&mytimer); /* start timer */
1209	ev_loop (loop, 0);	1764	ev_loop (loop, 0);
1210		1765
1211	// and in some piece of code that gets executed on any "activity":	1766	// and in some piece of code that gets executed on any "activity":
1212	// reset the timeout to start ticking again at 10 seconds	1767	// reset the timeout to start ticking again at 10 seconds
1213	ev_timer_again (&mytimer);	1768	ev_timer_again (&mytimer);
1214		1769
1215		1770
1216	=head2 C<ev_periodic> - to cron or not to cron?	1771	=head2 C<ev_periodic> - to cron or not to cron?
1217		1772
1218	Periodic watchers are also timers of a kind, but they are very versatile	1773	Periodic watchers are also timers of a kind, but they are very versatile
1219	(and unfortunately a bit complex).	1774	(and unfortunately a bit complex).
1220		1775
1221	Unlike C<ev_timer>'s, they are not based on real time (or relative time)	1776	Unlike C<ev_timer>, periodic watchers are not based on real time (or
1222	but on wallclock time (absolute time). You can tell a periodic watcher	1777	relative time, the physical time that passes) but on wall clock time
1223	to trigger "at" some specific point in time. For example, if you tell a	1778	(absolute time, the thing you can read on your calender or clock). The
1224	periodic watcher to trigger in 10 seconds (by specifiying e.g. C<ev_now ()	1779	difference is that wall clock time can run faster or slower than real
1225	+ 10.>) and then reset your system clock to the last year, then it will	1780	time, and time jumps are not uncommon (e.g. when you adjust your
1226	take a year to trigger the event (unlike an C<ev_timer>, which would trigger	1781	wrist-watch).
1227	roughly 10 seconds later).
1228		1782
1229	They can also be used to implement vastly more complex timers, such as	1783	You can tell a periodic watcher to trigger after some specific point
1230	triggering an event on each midnight, local time or other, complicated,	1784	in time: for example, if you tell a periodic watcher to trigger "in 10
1231	rules.	1785	seconds" (by specifying e.g. C<ev_now () + 10.>, that is, an absolute time
		1786	not a delay) and then reset your system clock to January of the previous
		1787	year, then it will take a year or more to trigger the event (unlike an
		1788	C<ev_timer>, which would still trigger roughly 10 seconds after starting
		1789	it, as it uses a relative timeout).
1232		1790
		1791	C<ev_periodic> watchers can also be used to implement vastly more complex
		1792	timers, such as triggering an event on each "midnight, local time", or
		1793	other complicated rules. This cannot be done with C<ev_timer> watchers, as
		1794	those cannot react to time jumps.
		1795
1233	As with timers, the callback is guarenteed to be invoked only when the	1796	As with timers, the callback is guaranteed to be invoked only when the
1234	time (C<at>) has been passed, but if multiple periodic timers become ready	1797	point in time where it is supposed to trigger has passed. If multiple
1235	during the same loop iteration then order of execution is undefined.	1798	timers become ready during the same loop iteration then the ones with
		1799	earlier time-out values are invoked before ones with later time-out values
		1800	(but this is no longer true when a callback calls C<ev_loop> recursively).
1236		1801
1237	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members	1802	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
1238		1803
1239	=over 4	1804	=over 4
1240		1805
1241	=item ev_periodic_init (ev_periodic *, callback, ev_tstamp at, ev_tstamp interval, reschedule_cb)	1806	=item ev_periodic_init (ev_periodic *, callback, ev_tstamp offset, ev_tstamp interval, reschedule_cb)
1242		1807
1243	=item ev_periodic_set (ev_periodic *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat, reschedule_cb)	1808	=item ev_periodic_set (ev_periodic *, ev_tstamp offset, ev_tstamp interval, reschedule_cb)
1244		1809
1245	Lots of arguments, lets sort it out... There are basically three modes of	1810	Lots of arguments, let's sort it out... There are basically three modes of
1246	operation, and we will explain them from simplest to complex:	1811	operation, and we will explain them from simplest to most complex:
1247		1812
1248	=over 4	1813	=over 4
1249		1814
1250	=item * absolute timer (at = time, interval = reschedule_cb = 0)	1815	=item * absolute timer (offset = absolute time, interval = 0, reschedule_cb = 0)
1251		1816
1252	In this configuration the watcher triggers an event at the wallclock time	1817	In this configuration the watcher triggers an event after the wall clock
1253	C<at> and doesn't repeat. It will not adjust when a time jump occurs,	1818	time C<offset> has passed. It will not repeat and will not adjust when a
1254	that is, if it is to be run at January 1st 2011 then it will run when the	1819	time jump occurs, that is, if it is to be run at January 1st 2011 then it
1255	system time reaches or surpasses this time.	1820	will be stopped and invoked when the system clock reaches or surpasses
		1821	this point in time.
1256		1822
1257	=item * non-repeating interval timer (at = offset, interval > 0, reschedule_cb = 0)	1823	=item * repeating interval timer (offset = offset within interval, interval > 0, reschedule_cb = 0)
1258		1824
1259	In this mode the watcher will always be scheduled to time out at the next	1825	In this mode the watcher will always be scheduled to time out at the next
1260	C<at + N * interval> time (for some integer N, which can also be negative)	1826	C<offset + N * interval> time (for some integer N, which can also be
1261	and then repeat, regardless of any time jumps.	1827	negative) and then repeat, regardless of any time jumps. The C<offset>
		1828	argument is merely an offset into the C<interval> periods.
1262		1829
1263	This can be used to create timers that do not drift with respect to system	1830	This can be used to create timers that do not drift with respect to the
1264	time:	1831	system clock, for example, here is an C<ev_periodic> that triggers each
		1832	hour, on the hour (with respect to UTC):
1265		1833
1266	ev_periodic_set (&periodic, 0., 3600., 0);	1834	ev_periodic_set (&periodic, 0., 3600., 0);
1267		1835
1268	This doesn't mean there will always be 3600 seconds in between triggers,	1836	This doesn't mean there will always be 3600 seconds in between triggers,
1269	but only that the the callback will be called when the system time shows a	1837	but only that the callback will be called when the system time shows a
1270	full hour (UTC), or more correctly, when the system time is evenly divisible	1838	full hour (UTC), or more correctly, when the system time is evenly divisible
1271	by 3600.	1839	by 3600.
1272		1840
1273	Another way to think about it (for the mathematically inclined) is that	1841	Another way to think about it (for the mathematically inclined) is that
1274	C<ev_periodic> will try to run the callback in this mode at the next possible	1842	C<ev_periodic> will try to run the callback in this mode at the next possible
1275	time where C<time = at (mod interval)>, regardless of any time jumps.	1843	time where C<time = offset (mod interval)>, regardless of any time jumps.
1276		1844
1277	For numerical stability it is preferable that the C<at> value is near	1845	For numerical stability it is preferable that the C<offset> value is near
1278	C<ev_now ()> (the current time), but there is no range requirement for	1846	C<ev_now ()> (the current time), but there is no range requirement for
1279	this value.	1847	this value, and in fact is often specified as zero.
1280		1848
		1849	Note also that there is an upper limit to how often a timer can fire (CPU
		1850	speed for example), so if C<interval> is very small then timing stability
		1851	will of course deteriorate. Libev itself tries to be exact to be about one
		1852	millisecond (if the OS supports it and the machine is fast enough).
		1853
1281	=item * manual reschedule mode (at and interval ignored, reschedule_cb = callback)	1854	=item * manual reschedule mode (offset ignored, interval ignored, reschedule_cb = callback)
1282		1855
1283	In this mode the values for C<interval> and C<at> are both being	1856	In this mode the values for C<interval> and C<offset> are both being
1284	ignored. Instead, each time the periodic watcher gets scheduled, the	1857	ignored. Instead, each time the periodic watcher gets scheduled, the
1285	reschedule callback will be called with the watcher as first, and the	1858	reschedule callback will be called with the watcher as first, and the
1286	current time as second argument.	1859	current time as second argument.
1287		1860
1288	NOTE: I<This callback MUST NOT stop or destroy any periodic watcher,	1861	NOTE: I<This callback MUST NOT stop or destroy any periodic watcher, ever,
1289	ever, or make any event loop modifications>. If you need to stop it,	1862	or make ANY other event loop modifications whatsoever, unless explicitly
1290	return C<now + 1e30> (or so, fudge fudge) and stop it afterwards (e.g. by	1863	allowed by documentation here>.
1291	starting an C<ev_prepare> watcher, which is legal).
1292		1864
		1865	If you need to stop it, return C<now + 1e30> (or so, fudge fudge) and stop
		1866	it afterwards (e.g. by starting an C<ev_prepare> watcher, which is the
		1867	only event loop modification you are allowed to do).
		1868
1293	Its prototype is C<ev_tstamp (*reschedule_cb)(struct ev_periodic *w,	1869	The callback prototype is C<ev_tstamp (*reschedule_cb)(ev_periodic
1294	ev_tstamp now)>, e.g.:	1870	*w, ev_tstamp now)>, e.g.:
1295		1871
		1872	static ev_tstamp
1296	static ev_tstamp my_rescheduler (struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now)	1873	my_rescheduler (ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now)
1297	{	1874	{
1298	return now + 60.;	1875	return now + 60.;
1299	}	1876	}
1300		1877
1301	It must return the next time to trigger, based on the passed time value	1878	It must return the next time to trigger, based on the passed time value
1302	(that is, the lowest time value larger than to the second argument). It	1879	(that is, the lowest time value larger than to the second argument). It
1303	will usually be called just before the callback will be triggered, but	1880	will usually be called just before the callback will be triggered, but
1304	might be called at other times, too.	1881	might be called at other times, too.
1305		1882
1306	NOTE: I<< This callback must always return a time that is later than the	1883	NOTE: I<< This callback must always return a time that is higher than or
1307	passed C<now> value >>. Not even C<now> itself will do, it I<must> be larger.	1884	equal to the passed C<now> value >>.
1308		1885
1309	This can be used to create very complex timers, such as a timer that	1886	This can be used to create very complex timers, such as a timer that
1310	triggers on each midnight, local time. To do this, you would calculate the	1887	triggers on "next midnight, local time". To do this, you would calculate the
1311	next midnight after C<now> and return the timestamp value for this. How	1888	next midnight after C<now> and return the timestamp value for this. How
1312	you do this is, again, up to you (but it is not trivial, which is the main	1889	you do this is, again, up to you (but it is not trivial, which is the main
1313	reason I omitted it as an example).	1890	reason I omitted it as an example).
1314		1891
1315	=back	1892	=back
…		…
1319	Simply stops and restarts the periodic watcher again. This is only useful	1896	Simply stops and restarts the periodic watcher again. This is only useful
1320	when you changed some parameters or the reschedule callback would return	1897	when you changed some parameters or the reschedule callback would return
1321	a different time than the last time it was called (e.g. in a crond like	1898	a different time than the last time it was called (e.g. in a crond like
1322	program when the crontabs have changed).	1899	program when the crontabs have changed).
1323		1900
		1901	=item ev_tstamp ev_periodic_at (ev_periodic *)
		1902
		1903	When active, returns the absolute time that the watcher is supposed
		1904	to trigger next. This is not the same as the C<offset> argument to
		1905	C<ev_periodic_set>, but indeed works even in interval and manual
		1906	rescheduling modes.
		1907
1324	=item ev_tstamp offset [read-write]	1908	=item ev_tstamp offset [read-write]
1325		1909
1326	When repeating, this contains the offset value, otherwise this is the	1910	When repeating, this contains the offset value, otherwise this is the
1327	absolute point in time (the C<at> value passed to C<ev_periodic_set>).	1911	absolute point in time (the C<offset> value passed to C<ev_periodic_set>,
		1912	although libev might modify this value for better numerical stability).
1328		1913
1329	Can be modified any time, but changes only take effect when the periodic	1914	Can be modified any time, but changes only take effect when the periodic
1330	timer fires or C<ev_periodic_again> is being called.	1915	timer fires or C<ev_periodic_again> is being called.
1331		1916
1332	=item ev_tstamp interval [read-write]	1917	=item ev_tstamp interval [read-write]
1333		1918
1334	The current interval value. Can be modified any time, but changes only	1919	The current interval value. Can be modified any time, but changes only
1335	take effect when the periodic timer fires or C<ev_periodic_again> is being	1920	take effect when the periodic timer fires or C<ev_periodic_again> is being
1336	called.	1921	called.
1337		1922
1338	=item ev_tstamp (*reschedule_cb)(struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now) [read-write]	1923	=item ev_tstamp (*reschedule_cb)(ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now) [read-write]
1339		1924
1340	The current reschedule callback, or C<0>, if this functionality is	1925	The current reschedule callback, or C<0>, if this functionality is
1341	switched off. Can be changed any time, but changes only take effect when	1926	switched off. Can be changed any time, but changes only take effect when
1342	the periodic timer fires or C<ev_periodic_again> is being called.	1927	the periodic timer fires or C<ev_periodic_again> is being called.
1343		1928
1344	=item ev_tstamp at [read-only]
1345
1346	When active, contains the absolute time that the watcher is supposed to
1347	trigger next.
1348
1349	=back	1929	=back
1350		1930
		1931	=head3 Examples
		1932
1351	Example: Call a callback every hour, or, more precisely, whenever the	1933	Example: Call a callback every hour, or, more precisely, whenever the
1352	system clock is divisible by 3600. The callback invocation times have	1934	system time is divisible by 3600. The callback invocation times have
1353	potentially a lot of jittering, but good long-term stability.	1935	potentially a lot of jitter, but good long-term stability.
1354		1936
1355	static void	1937	static void
1356	clock_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w, int revents)	1938	clock_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, ev_io *w, int revents)
1357	{	1939	{
1358	... its now a full hour (UTC, or TAI or whatever your clock follows)	1940	... its now a full hour (UTC, or TAI or whatever your clock follows)
1359	}	1941	}
1360		1942
1361	struct ev_periodic hourly_tick;	1943	ev_periodic hourly_tick;
1362	ev_periodic_init (&hourly_tick, clock_cb, 0., 3600., 0);	1944	ev_periodic_init (&hourly_tick, clock_cb, 0., 3600., 0);
1363	ev_periodic_start (loop, &hourly_tick);	1945	ev_periodic_start (loop, &hourly_tick);
1364		1946
1365	Example: The same as above, but use a reschedule callback to do it:	1947	Example: The same as above, but use a reschedule callback to do it:
1366		1948
1367	#include <math.h>	1949	#include <math.h>
1368		1950
1369	static ev_tstamp	1951	static ev_tstamp
1370	my_scheduler_cb (struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now)	1952	my_scheduler_cb (ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now)
1371	{	1953	{
1372	return fmod (now, 3600.) + 3600.;	1954	return now + (3600. - fmod (now, 3600.));
1373	}	1955	}
1374		1956
1375	ev_periodic_init (&hourly_tick, clock_cb, 0., 0., my_scheduler_cb);	1957	ev_periodic_init (&hourly_tick, clock_cb, 0., 0., my_scheduler_cb);
1376		1958
1377	Example: Call a callback every hour, starting now:	1959	Example: Call a callback every hour, starting now:
1378		1960
1379	struct ev_periodic hourly_tick;	1961	ev_periodic hourly_tick;
1380	ev_periodic_init (&hourly_tick, clock_cb,	1962	ev_periodic_init (&hourly_tick, clock_cb,
1381	fmod (ev_now (loop), 3600.), 3600., 0);	1963	fmod (ev_now (loop), 3600.), 3600., 0);
1382	ev_periodic_start (loop, &hourly_tick);	1964	ev_periodic_start (loop, &hourly_tick);
1383		1965
1384		1966
1385	=head2 C<ev_signal> - signal me when a signal gets signalled!	1967	=head2 C<ev_signal> - signal me when a signal gets signalled!
1386		1968
1387	Signal watchers will trigger an event when the process receives a specific	1969	Signal watchers will trigger an event when the process receives a specific
1388	signal one or more times. Even though signals are very asynchronous, libev	1970	signal one or more times. Even though signals are very asynchronous, libev
1389	will try it's best to deliver signals synchronously, i.e. as part of the	1971	will try it's best to deliver signals synchronously, i.e. as part of the
1390	normal event processing, like any other event.	1972	normal event processing, like any other event.
1391		1973
		1974	If you want signals asynchronously, just use C<sigaction> as you would
		1975	do without libev and forget about sharing the signal. You can even use
		1976	C<ev_async> from a signal handler to synchronously wake up an event loop.
		1977
1392	You can configure as many watchers as you like per signal. Only when the	1978	You can configure as many watchers as you like per signal. Only when the
1393	first watcher gets started will libev actually register a signal watcher	1979	first watcher gets started will libev actually register a signal handler
1394	with the kernel (thus it coexists with your own signal handlers as long	1980	with the kernel (thus it coexists with your own signal handlers as long as
1395	as you don't register any with libev). Similarly, when the last signal	1981	you don't register any with libev for the same signal). Similarly, when
1396	watcher for a signal is stopped libev will reset the signal handler to	1982	the last signal watcher for a signal is stopped, libev will reset the
1397	SIG_DFL (regardless of what it was set to before).	1983	signal handler to SIG_DFL (regardless of what it was set to before).
		1984
		1985	If possible and supported, libev will install its handlers with
		1986	C<SA_RESTART> behaviour enabled, so system calls should not be unduly
		1987	interrupted. If you have a problem with system calls getting interrupted by
		1988	signals you can block all signals in an C<ev_check> watcher and unblock
		1989	them in an C<ev_prepare> watcher.
1398		1990
1399	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members	1991	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
1400		1992
1401	=over 4	1993	=over 4
1402		1994
…		…
1411		2003
1412	The signal the watcher watches out for.	2004	The signal the watcher watches out for.
1413		2005
1414	=back	2006	=back
1415		2007
		2008	=head3 Examples
		2009
		2010	Example: Try to exit cleanly on SIGINT.
		2011
		2012	static void
		2013	sigint_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, ev_signal *w, int revents)
		2014	{
		2015	ev_unloop (loop, EVUNLOOP_ALL);
		2016	}
		2017
		2018	ev_signal signal_watcher;
		2019	ev_signal_init (&signal_watcher, sigint_cb, SIGINT);
		2020	ev_signal_start (loop, &signal_watcher);
		2021
1416		2022
1417	=head2 C<ev_child> - watch out for process status changes	2023	=head2 C<ev_child> - watch out for process status changes
1418		2024
1419	Child watchers trigger when your process receives a SIGCHLD in response to	2025	Child watchers trigger when your process receives a SIGCHLD in response to
1420	some child status changes (most typically when a child of yours dies).	2026	some child status changes (most typically when a child of yours dies or
		2027	exits). It is permissible to install a child watcher I<after> the child
		2028	has been forked (which implies it might have already exited), as long
		2029	as the event loop isn't entered (or is continued from a watcher), i.e.,
		2030	forking and then immediately registering a watcher for the child is fine,
		2031	but forking and registering a watcher a few event loop iterations later or
		2032	in the next callback invocation is not.
		2033
		2034	Only the default event loop is capable of handling signals, and therefore
		2035	you can only register child watchers in the default event loop.
		2036
		2037	=head3 Process Interaction
		2038
		2039	Libev grabs C<SIGCHLD> as soon as the default event loop is
		2040	initialised. This is necessary to guarantee proper behaviour even if
		2041	the first child watcher is started after the child exits. The occurrence
		2042	of C<SIGCHLD> is recorded asynchronously, but child reaping is done
		2043	synchronously as part of the event loop processing. Libev always reaps all
		2044	children, even ones not watched.
		2045
		2046	=head3 Overriding the Built-In Processing
		2047
		2048	Libev offers no special support for overriding the built-in child
		2049	processing, but if your application collides with libev's default child
		2050	handler, you can override it easily by installing your own handler for
		2051	C<SIGCHLD> after initialising the default loop, and making sure the
		2052	default loop never gets destroyed. You are encouraged, however, to use an
		2053	event-based approach to child reaping and thus use libev's support for
		2054	that, so other libev users can use C<ev_child> watchers freely.
		2055
		2056	=head3 Stopping the Child Watcher
		2057
		2058	Currently, the child watcher never gets stopped, even when the
		2059	child terminates, so normally one needs to stop the watcher in the
		2060	callback. Future versions of libev might stop the watcher automatically
		2061	when a child exit is detected.
1421		2062
1422	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members	2063	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
1423		2064
1424	=over 4	2065	=over 4
1425		2066
1426	=item ev_child_init (ev_child *, callback, int pid)	2067	=item ev_child_init (ev_child *, callback, int pid, int trace)
1427		2068
1428	=item ev_child_set (ev_child *, int pid)	2069	=item ev_child_set (ev_child *, int pid, int trace)
1429		2070
1430	Configures the watcher to wait for status changes of process C<pid> (or	2071	Configures the watcher to wait for status changes of process C<pid> (or
1431	I<any> process if C<pid> is specified as C<0>). The callback can look	2072	I<any> process if C<pid> is specified as C<0>). The callback can look
1432	at the C<rstatus> member of the C<ev_child> watcher structure to see	2073	at the C<rstatus> member of the C<ev_child> watcher structure to see
1433	the status word (use the macros from C<sys/wait.h> and see your systems	2074	the status word (use the macros from C<sys/wait.h> and see your systems
1434	C<waitpid> documentation). The C<rpid> member contains the pid of the	2075	C<waitpid> documentation). The C<rpid> member contains the pid of the
1435	process causing the status change.	2076	process causing the status change. C<trace> must be either C<0> (only
		2077	activate the watcher when the process terminates) or C<1> (additionally
		2078	activate the watcher when the process is stopped or continued).
1436		2079
1437	=item int pid [read-only]	2080	=item int pid [read-only]
1438		2081
1439	The process id this watcher watches out for, or C<0>, meaning any process id.	2082	The process id this watcher watches out for, or C<0>, meaning any process id.
1440		2083
…		…
1447	The process exit/trace status caused by C<rpid> (see your systems	2090	The process exit/trace status caused by C<rpid> (see your systems
1448	C<waitpid> and C<sys/wait.h> documentation for details).	2091	C<waitpid> and C<sys/wait.h> documentation for details).
1449		2092
1450	=back	2093	=back
1451		2094
1452	Example: Try to exit cleanly on SIGINT and SIGTERM.	2095	=head3 Examples
1453		2096
		2097	Example: C<fork()> a new process and install a child handler to wait for
		2098	its completion.
		2099
		2100	ev_child cw;
		2101
1454	static void	2102	static void
1455	sigint_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_signal *w, int revents)	2103	child_cb (EV_P_ ev_child *w, int revents)
1456	{	2104	{
1457	ev_unloop (loop, EVUNLOOP_ALL);	2105	ev_child_stop (EV_A_ w);
		2106	printf ("process %d exited with status %x\n", w->rpid, w->rstatus);
1458	}	2107	}
1459		2108
1460	struct ev_signal signal_watcher;	2109	pid_t pid = fork ();
1461	ev_signal_init (&signal_watcher, sigint_cb, SIGINT);	2110
1462	ev_signal_start (loop, &sigint_cb);	2111	if (pid < 0)
		2112	// error
		2113	else if (pid == 0)
		2114	{
		2115	// the forked child executes here
		2116	exit (1);
		2117	}
		2118	else
		2119	{
		2120	ev_child_init (&cw, child_cb, pid, 0);
		2121	ev_child_start (EV_DEFAULT_ &cw);
		2122	}
1463		2123
1464		2124
1465	=head2 C<ev_stat> - did the file attributes just change?	2125	=head2 C<ev_stat> - did the file attributes just change?
1466		2126
1467	This watches a filesystem path for attribute changes. That is, it calls	2127	This watches a file system path for attribute changes. That is, it calls
1468	C<stat> regularly (or when the OS says it changed) and sees if it changed	2128	C<stat> on that path in regular intervals (or when the OS says it changed)
1469	compared to the last time, invoking the callback if it did.	2129	and sees if it changed compared to the last time, invoking the callback if
		2130	it did.
1470		2131
1471	The path does not need to exist: changing from "path exists" to "path does	2132	The path does not need to exist: changing from "path exists" to "path does
1472	not exist" is a status change like any other. The condition "path does	2133	not exist" is a status change like any other. The condition "path does not
1473	not exist" is signified by the C<st_nlink> field being zero (which is	2134	exist" (or more correctly "path cannot be stat'ed") is signified by the
1474	otherwise always forced to be at least one) and all the other fields of	2135	C<st_nlink> field being zero (which is otherwise always forced to be at
1475	the stat buffer having unspecified contents.	2136	least one) and all the other fields of the stat buffer having unspecified
		2137	contents.
1476		2138
1477	The path I<should> be absolute and I<must not> end in a slash. If it is	2139	The path I<must not> end in a slash or contain special components such as
		2140	C<.> or C<..>. The path I<should> be absolute: If it is relative and
1478	relative and your working directory changes, the behaviour is undefined.	2141	your working directory changes, then the behaviour is undefined.
1479		2142
1480	Since there is no standard to do this, the portable implementation simply	2143	Since there is no portable change notification interface available, the
1481	calls C<stat (2)> regularly on the path to see if it changed somehow. You	2144	portable implementation simply calls C<stat(2)> regularly on the path
1482	can specify a recommended polling interval for this case. If you specify	2145	to see if it changed somehow. You can specify a recommended polling
1483	a polling interval of C<0> (highly recommended!) then a I<suitable,	2146	interval for this case. If you specify a polling interval of C<0> (highly
1484	unspecified default> value will be used (which you can expect to be around	2147	recommended!) then a I<suitable, unspecified default> value will be used
1485	five seconds, although this might change dynamically). Libev will also	2148	(which you can expect to be around five seconds, although this might
1486	impose a minimum interval which is currently around C<0.1>, but thats	2149	change dynamically). Libev will also impose a minimum interval which is
1487	usually overkill.	2150	currently around C<0.1>, but that's usually overkill.
1488		2151
1489	This watcher type is not meant for massive numbers of stat watchers,	2152	This watcher type is not meant for massive numbers of stat watchers,
1490	as even with OS-supported change notifications, this can be	2153	as even with OS-supported change notifications, this can be
1491	resource-intensive.	2154	resource-intensive.
1492		2155
1493	At the time of this writing, only the Linux inotify interface is	2156	At the time of this writing, the only OS-specific interface implemented
1494	implemented (implementing kqueue support is left as an exercise for the	2157	is the Linux inotify interface (implementing kqueue support is left as an
1495	reader). Inotify will be used to give hints only and should not change the	2158	exercise for the reader. Note, however, that the author sees no way of
1496	semantics of C<ev_stat> watchers, which means that libev sometimes needs	2159	implementing C<ev_stat> semantics with kqueue, except as a hint).
1497	to fall back to regular polling again even with inotify, but changes are	2160
1498	usually detected immediately, and if the file exists there will be no	2161	=head3 ABI Issues (Largefile Support)
1499	polling.	2162
		2163	Libev by default (unless the user overrides this) uses the default
		2164	compilation environment, which means that on systems with large file
		2165	support disabled by default, you get the 32 bit version of the stat
		2166	structure. When using the library from programs that change the ABI to
		2167	use 64 bit file offsets the programs will fail. In that case you have to
		2168	compile libev with the same flags to get binary compatibility. This is
		2169	obviously the case with any flags that change the ABI, but the problem is
		2170	most noticeably displayed with ev_stat and large file support.
		2171
		2172	The solution for this is to lobby your distribution maker to make large
		2173	file interfaces available by default (as e.g. FreeBSD does) and not
		2174	optional. Libev cannot simply switch on large file support because it has
		2175	to exchange stat structures with application programs compiled using the
		2176	default compilation environment.
		2177
		2178	=head3 Inotify and Kqueue
		2179
		2180	When C<inotify (7)> support has been compiled into libev and present at
		2181	runtime, it will be used to speed up change detection where possible. The
		2182	inotify descriptor will be created lazily when the first C<ev_stat>
		2183	watcher is being started.
		2184
		2185	Inotify presence does not change the semantics of C<ev_stat> watchers
		2186	except that changes might be detected earlier, and in some cases, to avoid
		2187	making regular C<stat> calls. Even in the presence of inotify support
		2188	there are many cases where libev has to resort to regular C<stat> polling,
		2189	but as long as kernel 2.6.25 or newer is used (2.6.24 and older have too
		2190	many bugs), the path exists (i.e. stat succeeds), and the path resides on
		2191	a local filesystem (libev currently assumes only ext2/3, jfs, reiserfs and
		2192	xfs are fully working) libev usually gets away without polling.
		2193
		2194	There is no support for kqueue, as apparently it cannot be used to
		2195	implement this functionality, due to the requirement of having a file
		2196	descriptor open on the object at all times, and detecting renames, unlinks
		2197	etc. is difficult.
		2198
		2199	=head3 C<stat ()> is a synchronous operation
		2200
		2201	Libev doesn't normally do any kind of I/O itself, and so is not blocking
		2202	the process. The exception are C<ev_stat> watchers - those call C<stat
		2203	()>, which is a synchronous operation.
		2204
		2205	For local paths, this usually doesn't matter: unless the system is very
		2206	busy or the intervals between stat's are large, a stat call will be fast,
		2207	as the path data is usually in memory already (except when starting the
		2208	watcher).
		2209
		2210	For networked file systems, calling C<stat ()> can block an indefinite
		2211	time due to network issues, and even under good conditions, a stat call
		2212	often takes multiple milliseconds.
		2213
		2214	Therefore, it is best to avoid using C<ev_stat> watchers on networked
		2215	paths, although this is fully supported by libev.
		2216
		2217	=head3 The special problem of stat time resolution
		2218
		2219	The C<stat ()> system call only supports full-second resolution portably,
		2220	and even on systems where the resolution is higher, most file systems
		2221	still only support whole seconds.
		2222
		2223	That means that, if the time is the only thing that changes, you can
		2224	easily miss updates: on the first update, C<ev_stat> detects a change and
		2225	calls your callback, which does something. When there is another update
		2226	within the same second, C<ev_stat> will be unable to detect unless the
		2227	stat data does change in other ways (e.g. file size).
		2228
		2229	The solution to this is to delay acting on a change for slightly more
		2230	than a second (or till slightly after the next full second boundary), using
		2231	a roughly one-second-delay C<ev_timer> (e.g. C<ev_timer_set (w, 0., 1.02);
		2232	ev_timer_again (loop, w)>).
		2233
		2234	The C<.02> offset is added to work around small timing inconsistencies
		2235	of some operating systems (where the second counter of the current time
		2236	might be be delayed. One such system is the Linux kernel, where a call to
		2237	C<gettimeofday> might return a timestamp with a full second later than
		2238	a subsequent C<time> call - if the equivalent of C<time ()> is used to
		2239	update file times then there will be a small window where the kernel uses
		2240	the previous second to update file times but libev might already execute
		2241	the timer callback).
1500		2242
1501	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members	2243	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
1502		2244
1503	=over 4	2245	=over 4
1504		2246
…		…
1510	C<path>. The C<interval> is a hint on how quickly a change is expected to	2252	C<path>. The C<interval> is a hint on how quickly a change is expected to
1511	be detected and should normally be specified as C<0> to let libev choose	2253	be detected and should normally be specified as C<0> to let libev choose
1512	a suitable value. The memory pointed to by C<path> must point to the same	2254	a suitable value. The memory pointed to by C<path> must point to the same
1513	path for as long as the watcher is active.	2255	path for as long as the watcher is active.
1514		2256
1515	The callback will be receive C<EV_STAT> when a change was detected,	2257	The callback will receive an C<EV_STAT> event when a change was detected,
1516	relative to the attributes at the time the watcher was started (or the	2258	relative to the attributes at the time the watcher was started (or the
1517	last change was detected).	2259	last change was detected).
1518		2260
1519	=item ev_stat_stat (ev_stat *)	2261	=item ev_stat_stat (loop, ev_stat *)
1520		2262
1521	Updates the stat buffer immediately with new values. If you change the	2263	Updates the stat buffer immediately with new values. If you change the
1522	watched path in your callback, you could call this fucntion to avoid	2264	watched path in your callback, you could call this function to avoid
1523	detecting this change (while introducing a race condition). Can also be	2265	detecting this change (while introducing a race condition if you are not
1524	useful simply to find out the new values.	2266	the only one changing the path). Can also be useful simply to find out the
		2267	new values.
1525		2268
1526	=item ev_statdata attr [read-only]	2269	=item ev_statdata attr [read-only]
1527		2270
1528	The most-recently detected attributes of the file. Although the type is of	2271	The most-recently detected attributes of the file. Although the type is
1529	C<ev_statdata>, this is usually the (or one of the) C<struct stat> types	2272	C<ev_statdata>, this is usually the (or one of the) C<struct stat> types
1530	suitable for your system. If the C<st_nlink> member is C<0>, then there	2273	suitable for your system, but you can only rely on the POSIX-standardised
		2274	members to be present. If the C<st_nlink> member is C<0>, then there was
1531	was some error while C<stat>ing the file.	2275	some error while C<stat>ing the file.
1532		2276
1533	=item ev_statdata prev [read-only]	2277	=item ev_statdata prev [read-only]
1534		2278
1535	The previous attributes of the file. The callback gets invoked whenever	2279	The previous attributes of the file. The callback gets invoked whenever
1536	C<prev> != C<attr>.	2280	C<prev> != C<attr>, or, more precisely, one or more of these members
		2281	differ: C<st_dev>, C<st_ino>, C<st_mode>, C<st_nlink>, C<st_uid>,
		2282	C<st_gid>, C<st_rdev>, C<st_size>, C<st_atime>, C<st_mtime>, C<st_ctime>.
1537		2283
1538	=item ev_tstamp interval [read-only]	2284	=item ev_tstamp interval [read-only]
1539		2285
1540	The specified interval.	2286	The specified interval.
1541		2287
1542	=item const char *path [read-only]	2288	=item const char *path [read-only]
1543		2289
1544	The filesystem path that is being watched.	2290	The file system path that is being watched.
1545		2291
1546	=back	2292	=back
1547		2293
		2294	=head3 Examples
		2295
1548	Example: Watch C</etc/passwd> for attribute changes.	2296	Example: Watch C</etc/passwd> for attribute changes.
1549		2297
1550	static void	2298	static void
1551	passwd_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, ev_stat *w, int revents)	2299	passwd_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, ev_stat *w, int revents)
1552	{	2300	{
1553	/* /etc/passwd changed in some way */	2301	/* /etc/passwd changed in some way */
1554	if (w->attr.st_nlink)	2302	if (w->attr.st_nlink)
1555	{	2303	{
1556	printf ("passwd current size %ld\n", (long)w->attr.st_size);	2304	printf ("passwd current size %ld\n", (long)w->attr.st_size);
1557	printf ("passwd current atime %ld\n", (long)w->attr.st_mtime);	2305	printf ("passwd current atime %ld\n", (long)w->attr.st_mtime);
1558	printf ("passwd current mtime %ld\n", (long)w->attr.st_mtime);	2306	printf ("passwd current mtime %ld\n", (long)w->attr.st_mtime);
1559	}	2307	}
1560	else	2308	else
1561	/* you shalt not abuse printf for puts */	2309	/* you shalt not abuse printf for puts */
1562	puts ("wow, /etc/passwd is not there, expect problems. "	2310	puts ("wow, /etc/passwd is not there, expect problems. "
1563	"if this is windows, they already arrived\n");	2311	"if this is windows, they already arrived\n");
1564	}	2312	}
1565		2313
1566	...	2314	...
1567	ev_stat passwd;	2315	ev_stat passwd;
1568		2316
1569	ev_stat_init (&passwd, passwd_cb, "/etc/passwd");	2317	ev_stat_init (&passwd, passwd_cb, "/etc/passwd", 0.);
1570	ev_stat_start (loop, &passwd);	2318	ev_stat_start (loop, &passwd);
		2319
		2320	Example: Like above, but additionally use a one-second delay so we do not
		2321	miss updates (however, frequent updates will delay processing, too, so
		2322	one might do the work both on C<ev_stat> callback invocation I<and> on
		2323	C<ev_timer> callback invocation).
		2324
		2325	static ev_stat passwd;
		2326	static ev_timer timer;
		2327
		2328	static void
		2329	timer_cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)
		2330	{
		2331	ev_timer_stop (EV_A_ w);
		2332
		2333	/* now it's one second after the most recent passwd change */
		2334	}
		2335
		2336	static void
		2337	stat_cb (EV_P_ ev_stat *w, int revents)
		2338	{
		2339	/* reset the one-second timer */
		2340	ev_timer_again (EV_A_ &timer);
		2341	}
		2342
		2343	...
		2344	ev_stat_init (&passwd, stat_cb, "/etc/passwd", 0.);
		2345	ev_stat_start (loop, &passwd);
		2346	ev_timer_init (&timer, timer_cb, 0., 1.02);
1571		2347
1572		2348
1573	=head2 C<ev_idle> - when you've got nothing better to do...	2349	=head2 C<ev_idle> - when you've got nothing better to do...
1574		2350
1575	Idle watchers trigger events when no other events of the same or higher	2351	Idle watchers trigger events when no other events of the same or higher
1576	priority are pending (prepare, check and other idle watchers do not	2352	priority are pending (prepare, check and other idle watchers do not count
1577	count).	2353	as receiving "events").
1578		2354
1579	That is, as long as your process is busy handling sockets or timeouts	2355	That is, as long as your process is busy handling sockets or timeouts
1580	(or even signals, imagine) of the same or higher priority it will not be	2356	(or even signals, imagine) of the same or higher priority it will not be
1581	triggered. But when your process is idle (or only lower-priority watchers	2357	triggered. But when your process is idle (or only lower-priority watchers
1582	are pending), the idle watchers are being called once per event loop	2358	are pending), the idle watchers are being called once per event loop
…		…
1593		2369
1594	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members	2370	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
1595		2371
1596	=over 4	2372	=over 4
1597		2373
1598	=item ev_idle_init (ev_signal *, callback)	2374	=item ev_idle_init (ev_idle *, callback)
1599		2375
1600	Initialises and configures the idle watcher - it has no parameters of any	2376	Initialises and configures the idle watcher - it has no parameters of any
1601	kind. There is a C<ev_idle_set> macro, but using it is utterly pointless,	2377	kind. There is a C<ev_idle_set> macro, but using it is utterly pointless,
1602	believe me.	2378	believe me.
1603		2379
1604	=back	2380	=back
1605		2381
		2382	=head3 Examples
		2383
1606	Example: Dynamically allocate an C<ev_idle> watcher, start it, and in the	2384	Example: Dynamically allocate an C<ev_idle> watcher, start it, and in the
1607	callback, free it. Also, use no error checking, as usual.	2385	callback, free it. Also, use no error checking, as usual.
1608		2386
1609	static void	2387	static void
1610	idle_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_idle *w, int revents)	2388	idle_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, ev_idle *w, int revents)
1611	{	2389	{
1612	free (w);	2390	free (w);
1613	// now do something you wanted to do when the program has	2391	// now do something you wanted to do when the program has
1614	// no longer asnything immediate to do.	2392	// no longer anything immediate to do.
1615	}	2393	}
1616		2394
1617	struct ev_idle *idle_watcher = malloc (sizeof (struct ev_idle));	2395	ev_idle *idle_watcher = malloc (sizeof (ev_idle));
1618	ev_idle_init (idle_watcher, idle_cb);	2396	ev_idle_init (idle_watcher, idle_cb);
1619	ev_idle_start (loop, idle_cb);	2397	ev_idle_start (loop, idle_watcher);
1620		2398
1621		2399
1622	=head2 C<ev_prepare> and C<ev_check> - customise your event loop!	2400	=head2 C<ev_prepare> and C<ev_check> - customise your event loop!
1623		2401
1624	Prepare and check watchers are usually (but not always) used in tandem:	2402	Prepare and check watchers are usually (but not always) used in pairs:
1625	prepare watchers get invoked before the process blocks and check watchers	2403	prepare watchers get invoked before the process blocks and check watchers
1626	afterwards.	2404	afterwards.
1627		2405
1628	You I<must not> call C<ev_loop> or similar functions that enter	2406	You I<must not> call C<ev_loop> or similar functions that enter
1629	the current event loop from either C<ev_prepare> or C<ev_check>	2407	the current event loop from either C<ev_prepare> or C<ev_check>
…		…
1632	those watchers, i.e. the sequence will always be C<ev_prepare>, blocking,	2410	those watchers, i.e. the sequence will always be C<ev_prepare>, blocking,
1633	C<ev_check> so if you have one watcher of each kind they will always be	2411	C<ev_check> so if you have one watcher of each kind they will always be
1634	called in pairs bracketing the blocking call.	2412	called in pairs bracketing the blocking call.
1635		2413
1636	Their main purpose is to integrate other event mechanisms into libev and	2414	Their main purpose is to integrate other event mechanisms into libev and
1637	their use is somewhat advanced. This could be used, for example, to track	2415	their use is somewhat advanced. They could be used, for example, to track
1638	variable changes, implement your own watchers, integrate net-snmp or a	2416	variable changes, implement your own watchers, integrate net-snmp or a
1639	coroutine library and lots more. They are also occasionally useful if	2417	coroutine library and lots more. They are also occasionally useful if
1640	you cache some data and want to flush it before blocking (for example,	2418	you cache some data and want to flush it before blocking (for example,
1641	in X programs you might want to do an C<XFlush ()> in an C<ev_prepare>	2419	in X programs you might want to do an C<XFlush ()> in an C<ev_prepare>
1642	watcher).	2420	watcher).
1643		2421
1644	This is done by examining in each prepare call which file descriptors need	2422	This is done by examining in each prepare call which file descriptors
1645	to be watched by the other library, registering C<ev_io> watchers for	2423	need to be watched by the other library, registering C<ev_io> watchers
1646	them and starting an C<ev_timer> watcher for any timeouts (many libraries	2424	for them and starting an C<ev_timer> watcher for any timeouts (many
1647	provide just this functionality). Then, in the check watcher you check for	2425	libraries provide exactly this functionality). Then, in the check watcher,
1648	any events that occured (by checking the pending status of all watchers	2426	you check for any events that occurred (by checking the pending status
1649	and stopping them) and call back into the library. The I/O and timer	2427	of all watchers and stopping them) and call back into the library. The
1650	callbacks will never actually be called (but must be valid nevertheless,	2428	I/O and timer callbacks will never actually be called (but must be valid
1651	because you never know, you know?).	2429	nevertheless, because you never know, you know?).
1652		2430
1653	As another example, the Perl Coro module uses these hooks to integrate	2431	As another example, the Perl Coro module uses these hooks to integrate
1654	coroutines into libev programs, by yielding to other active coroutines	2432	coroutines into libev programs, by yielding to other active coroutines
1655	during each prepare and only letting the process block if no coroutines	2433	during each prepare and only letting the process block if no coroutines
1656	are ready to run (it's actually more complicated: it only runs coroutines	2434	are ready to run (it's actually more complicated: it only runs coroutines
…		…
1659	loop from blocking if lower-priority coroutines are active, thus mapping	2437	loop from blocking if lower-priority coroutines are active, thus mapping
1660	low-priority coroutines to idle/background tasks).	2438	low-priority coroutines to idle/background tasks).
1661		2439
1662	It is recommended to give C<ev_check> watchers highest (C<EV_MAXPRI>)	2440	It is recommended to give C<ev_check> watchers highest (C<EV_MAXPRI>)
1663	priority, to ensure that they are being run before any other watchers	2441	priority, to ensure that they are being run before any other watchers
		2442	after the poll (this doesn't matter for C<ev_prepare> watchers).
		2443
1664	after the poll. Also, C<ev_check> watchers (and C<ev_prepare> watchers,	2444	Also, C<ev_check> watchers (and C<ev_prepare> watchers, too) should not
1665	too) should not activate ("feed") events into libev. While libev fully	2445	activate ("feed") events into libev. While libev fully supports this, they
1666	supports this, they will be called before other C<ev_check> watchers	2446	might get executed before other C<ev_check> watchers did their job. As
1667	did their job. As C<ev_check> watchers are often used to embed other	2447	C<ev_check> watchers are often used to embed other (non-libev) event
1668	(non-libev) event loops those other event loops might be in an unusable	2448	loops those other event loops might be in an unusable state until their
1669	state until their C<ev_check> watcher ran (always remind yourself to	2449	C<ev_check> watcher ran (always remind yourself to coexist peacefully with
1670	coexist peacefully with others).	2450	others).
1671		2451
1672	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members	2452	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
1673		2453
1674	=over 4	2454	=over 4
1675		2455
…		…
1677		2457
1678	=item ev_check_init (ev_check *, callback)	2458	=item ev_check_init (ev_check *, callback)
1679		2459
1680	Initialises and configures the prepare or check watcher - they have no	2460	Initialises and configures the prepare or check watcher - they have no
1681	parameters of any kind. There are C<ev_prepare_set> and C<ev_check_set>	2461	parameters of any kind. There are C<ev_prepare_set> and C<ev_check_set>
1682	macros, but using them is utterly, utterly and completely pointless.	2462	macros, but using them is utterly, utterly, utterly and completely
		2463	pointless.
1683		2464
1684	=back	2465	=back
		2466
		2467	=head3 Examples
1685		2468
1686	There are a number of principal ways to embed other event loops or modules	2469	There are a number of principal ways to embed other event loops or modules
1687	into libev. Here are some ideas on how to include libadns into libev	2470	into libev. Here are some ideas on how to include libadns into libev
1688	(there is a Perl module named C<EV::ADNS> that does this, which you could	2471	(there is a Perl module named C<EV::ADNS> that does this, which you could
1689	use for an actually working example. Another Perl module named C<EV::Glib>	2472	use as a working example. Another Perl module named C<EV::Glib> embeds a
1690	embeds a Glib main context into libev, and finally, C<Glib::EV> embeds EV	2473	Glib main context into libev, and finally, C<Glib::EV> embeds EV into the
1691	into the Glib event loop).	2474	Glib event loop).
1692		2475
1693	Method 1: Add IO watchers and a timeout watcher in a prepare handler,	2476	Method 1: Add IO watchers and a timeout watcher in a prepare handler,
1694	and in a check watcher, destroy them and call into libadns. What follows	2477	and in a check watcher, destroy them and call into libadns. What follows
1695	is pseudo-code only of course. This requires you to either use a low	2478	is pseudo-code only of course. This requires you to either use a low
1696	priority for the check watcher or use C<ev_clear_pending> explicitly, as	2479	priority for the check watcher or use C<ev_clear_pending> explicitly, as
1697	the callbacks for the IO/timeout watchers might not have been called yet.	2480	the callbacks for the IO/timeout watchers might not have been called yet.
1698		2481
1699	static ev_io iow [nfd];	2482	static ev_io iow [nfd];
1700	static ev_timer tw;	2483	static ev_timer tw;
1701		2484
1702	static void	2485	static void
1703	io_cb (ev_loop *loop, ev_io *w, int revents)	2486	io_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, ev_io *w, int revents)
1704	{	2487	{
1705	}	2488	}
1706		2489
1707	// create io watchers for each fd and a timer before blocking	2490	// create io watchers for each fd and a timer before blocking
1708	static void	2491	static void
1709	adns_prepare_cb (ev_loop *loop, ev_prepare *w, int revents)	2492	adns_prepare_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, ev_prepare *w, int revents)
1710	{	2493	{
1711	int timeout = 3600000;	2494	int timeout = 3600000;
1712	struct pollfd fds [nfd];	2495	struct pollfd fds [nfd];
1713	// actual code will need to loop here and realloc etc.	2496	// actual code will need to loop here and realloc etc.
1714	adns_beforepoll (ads, fds, &nfd, &timeout, timeval_from (ev_time ()));	2497	adns_beforepoll (ads, fds, &nfd, &timeout, timeval_from (ev_time ()));
1715		2498
1716	/* the callback is illegal, but won't be called as we stop during check */	2499	/* the callback is illegal, but won't be called as we stop during check */
1717	ev_timer_init (&tw, 0, timeout * 1e-3);	2500	ev_timer_init (&tw, 0, timeout * 1e-3, 0.);
1718	ev_timer_start (loop, &tw);	2501	ev_timer_start (loop, &tw);
1719		2502
1720	// create one ev_io per pollfd	2503	// create one ev_io per pollfd
1721	for (int i = 0; i < nfd; ++i)	2504	for (int i = 0; i < nfd; ++i)
1722	{	2505	{
1723	ev_io_init (iow + i, io_cb, fds [i].fd,	2506	ev_io_init (iow + i, io_cb, fds [i].fd,
1724	((fds [i].events & POLLIN ? EV_READ : 0)	2507	((fds [i].events & POLLIN ? EV_READ : 0)
1725	| (fds [i].events & POLLOUT ? EV_WRITE : 0)));	2508	| (fds [i].events & POLLOUT ? EV_WRITE : 0)));
1726		2509
1727	fds [i].revents = 0;	2510	fds [i].revents = 0;
1728	ev_io_start (loop, iow + i);	2511	ev_io_start (loop, iow + i);
1729	}	2512	}
1730	}	2513	}
1731		2514
1732	// stop all watchers after blocking	2515	// stop all watchers after blocking
1733	static void	2516	static void
1734	adns_check_cb (ev_loop *loop, ev_check *w, int revents)	2517	adns_check_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, ev_check *w, int revents)
1735	{	2518	{
1736	ev_timer_stop (loop, &tw);	2519	ev_timer_stop (loop, &tw);
1737		2520
1738	for (int i = 0; i < nfd; ++i)	2521	for (int i = 0; i < nfd; ++i)
1739	{	2522	{
1740	// set the relevant poll flags	2523	// set the relevant poll flags
1741	// could also call adns_processreadable etc. here	2524	// could also call adns_processreadable etc. here
1742	struct pollfd *fd = fds + i;	2525	struct pollfd *fd = fds + i;
1743	int revents = ev_clear_pending (iow + i);	2526	int revents = ev_clear_pending (iow + i);
1744	if (revents & EV_READ ) fd->revents |= fd->events & POLLIN;	2527	if (revents & EV_READ ) fd->revents |= fd->events & POLLIN;
1745	if (revents & EV_WRITE) fd->revents |= fd->events & POLLOUT;	2528	if (revents & EV_WRITE) fd->revents |= fd->events & POLLOUT;
1746		2529
1747	// now stop the watcher	2530	// now stop the watcher
1748	ev_io_stop (loop, iow + i);	2531	ev_io_stop (loop, iow + i);
1749	}	2532	}
1750		2533
1751	adns_afterpoll (adns, fds, nfd, timeval_from (ev_now (loop));	2534	adns_afterpoll (adns, fds, nfd, timeval_from (ev_now (loop));
1752	}	2535	}
1753		2536
1754	Method 2: This would be just like method 1, but you run C<adns_afterpoll>	2537	Method 2: This would be just like method 1, but you run C<adns_afterpoll>
1755	in the prepare watcher and would dispose of the check watcher.	2538	in the prepare watcher and would dispose of the check watcher.
1756		2539
1757	Method 3: If the module to be embedded supports explicit event	2540	Method 3: If the module to be embedded supports explicit event
1758	notification (adns does), you can also make use of the actual watcher	2541	notification (libadns does), you can also make use of the actual watcher
1759	callbacks, and only destroy/create the watchers in the prepare watcher.	2542	callbacks, and only destroy/create the watchers in the prepare watcher.
1760		2543
1761	static void	2544	static void
1762	timer_cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)	2545	timer_cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)
1763	{	2546	{
1764	adns_state ads = (adns_state)w->data;	2547	adns_state ads = (adns_state)w->data;
1765	update_now (EV_A);	2548	update_now (EV_A);
1766		2549
1767	adns_processtimeouts (ads, &tv_now);	2550	adns_processtimeouts (ads, &tv_now);
1768	}	2551	}
1769		2552
1770	static void	2553	static void
1771	io_cb (EV_P_ ev_io *w, int revents)	2554	io_cb (EV_P_ ev_io *w, int revents)
1772	{	2555	{
1773	adns_state ads = (adns_state)w->data;	2556	adns_state ads = (adns_state)w->data;
1774	update_now (EV_A);	2557	update_now (EV_A);
1775		2558
1776	if (revents & EV_READ ) adns_processreadable (ads, w->fd, &tv_now);	2559	if (revents & EV_READ ) adns_processreadable (ads, w->fd, &tv_now);
1777	if (revents & EV_WRITE) adns_processwriteable (ads, w->fd, &tv_now);	2560	if (revents & EV_WRITE) adns_processwriteable (ads, w->fd, &tv_now);
1778	}	2561	}
1779		2562
1780	// do not ever call adns_afterpoll	2563	// do not ever call adns_afterpoll
1781		2564
1782	Method 4: Do not use a prepare or check watcher because the module you	2565	Method 4: Do not use a prepare or check watcher because the module you
1783	want to embed is too inflexible to support it. Instead, youc na override	2566	want to embed is not flexible enough to support it. Instead, you can
1784	their poll function. The drawback with this solution is that the main	2567	override their poll function. The drawback with this solution is that the
1785	loop is now no longer controllable by EV. The C<Glib::EV> module does	2568	main loop is now no longer controllable by EV. The C<Glib::EV> module uses
1786	this.	2569	this approach, effectively embedding EV as a client into the horrible
		2570	libglib event loop.
1787		2571
1788	static gint	2572	static gint
1789	event_poll_func (GPollFD *fds, guint nfds, gint timeout)	2573	event_poll_func (GPollFD *fds, guint nfds, gint timeout)
1790	{	2574	{
1791	int got_events = 0;	2575	int got_events = 0;
1792		2576
1793	for (n = 0; n < nfds; ++n)	2577	for (n = 0; n < nfds; ++n)
1794	// create/start io watcher that sets the relevant bits in fds[n] and increment got_events	2578	// create/start io watcher that sets the relevant bits in fds[n] and increment got_events
1795		2579
1796	if (timeout >= 0)	2580	if (timeout >= 0)
1797	// create/start timer	2581	// create/start timer
1798		2582
1799	// poll	2583	// poll
1800	ev_loop (EV_A_ 0);	2584	ev_loop (EV_A_ 0);
1801		2585
1802	// stop timer again	2586	// stop timer again
1803	if (timeout >= 0)	2587	if (timeout >= 0)
1804	ev_timer_stop (EV_A_ &to);	2588	ev_timer_stop (EV_A_ &to);
1805		2589
1806	// stop io watchers again - their callbacks should have set	2590	// stop io watchers again - their callbacks should have set
1807	for (n = 0; n < nfds; ++n)	2591	for (n = 0; n < nfds; ++n)
1808	ev_io_stop (EV_A_ iow [n]);	2592	ev_io_stop (EV_A_ iow [n]);
1809		2593
1810	return got_events;	2594	return got_events;
1811	}	2595	}
1812		2596
1813		2597
1814	=head2 C<ev_embed> - when one backend isn't enough...	2598	=head2 C<ev_embed> - when one backend isn't enough...
1815		2599
1816	This is a rather advanced watcher type that lets you embed one event loop	2600	This is a rather advanced watcher type that lets you embed one event loop
…		…
1822	prioritise I/O.	2606	prioritise I/O.
1823		2607
1824	As an example for a bug workaround, the kqueue backend might only support	2608	As an example for a bug workaround, the kqueue backend might only support
1825	sockets on some platform, so it is unusable as generic backend, but you	2609	sockets on some platform, so it is unusable as generic backend, but you
1826	still want to make use of it because you have many sockets and it scales	2610	still want to make use of it because you have many sockets and it scales
1827	so nicely. In this case, you would create a kqueue-based loop and embed it	2611	so nicely. In this case, you would create a kqueue-based loop and embed
1828	into your default loop (which might use e.g. poll). Overall operation will	2612	it into your default loop (which might use e.g. poll). Overall operation
1829	be a bit slower because first libev has to poll and then call kevent, but	2613	will be a bit slower because first libev has to call C<poll> and then
1830	at least you can use both at what they are best.	2614	C<kevent>, but at least you can use both mechanisms for what they are
		2615	best: C<kqueue> for scalable sockets and C<poll> if you want it to work :)
1831		2616
1832	As for prioritising I/O: rarely you have the case where some fds have	2617	As for prioritising I/O: under rare circumstances you have the case where
1833	to be watched and handled very quickly (with low latency), and even	2618	some fds have to be watched and handled very quickly (with low latency),
1834	priorities and idle watchers might have too much overhead. In this case	2619	and even priorities and idle watchers might have too much overhead. In
1835	you would put all the high priority stuff in one loop and all the rest in	2620	this case you would put all the high priority stuff in one loop and all
1836	a second one, and embed the second one in the first.	2621	the rest in a second one, and embed the second one in the first.
1837		2622
1838	As long as the watcher is active, the callback will be invoked every time	2623	As long as the watcher is active, the callback will be invoked every
1839	there might be events pending in the embedded loop. The callback must then	2624	time there might be events pending in the embedded loop. The callback
1840	call C<ev_embed_sweep (mainloop, watcher)> to make a single sweep and invoke	2625	must then call C<ev_embed_sweep (mainloop, watcher)> to make a single
1841	their callbacks (you could also start an idle watcher to give the embedded	2626	sweep and invoke their callbacks (the callback doesn't need to invoke the
1842	loop strictly lower priority for example). You can also set the callback	2627	C<ev_embed_sweep> function directly, it could also start an idle watcher
1843	to C<0>, in which case the embed watcher will automatically execute the	2628	to give the embedded loop strictly lower priority for example).
1844	embedded loop sweep.
1845		2629
1846	As long as the watcher is started it will automatically handle events. The	2630	You can also set the callback to C<0>, in which case the embed watcher
1847	callback will be invoked whenever some events have been handled. You can	2631	will automatically execute the embedded loop sweep whenever necessary.
1848	set the callback to C<0> to avoid having to specify one if you are not
1849	interested in that.
1850		2632
1851	Also, there have not currently been made special provisions for forking:	2633	Fork detection will be handled transparently while the C<ev_embed> watcher
1852	when you fork, you not only have to call C<ev_loop_fork> on both loops,	2634	is active, i.e., the embedded loop will automatically be forked when the
1853	but you will also have to stop and restart any C<ev_embed> watchers	2635	embedding loop forks. In other cases, the user is responsible for calling
1854	yourself.	2636	C<ev_loop_fork> on the embedded loop.
1855		2637
1856	Unfortunately, not all backends are embeddable, only the ones returned by	2638	Unfortunately, not all backends are embeddable: only the ones returned by
1857	C<ev_embeddable_backends> are, which, unfortunately, does not include any	2639	C<ev_embeddable_backends> are, which, unfortunately, does not include any
1858	portable one.	2640	portable one.
1859		2641
1860	So when you want to use this feature you will always have to be prepared	2642	So when you want to use this feature you will always have to be prepared
1861	that you cannot get an embeddable loop. The recommended way to get around	2643	that you cannot get an embeddable loop. The recommended way to get around
1862	this is to have a separate variables for your embeddable loop, try to	2644	this is to have a separate variables for your embeddable loop, try to
1863	create it, and if that fails, use the normal loop for everything:	2645	create it, and if that fails, use the normal loop for everything.
1864		2646
1865	struct ev_loop *loop_hi = ev_default_init (0);	2647	=head3 C<ev_embed> and fork
1866	struct ev_loop *loop_lo = 0;
1867	struct ev_embed embed;
1868
1869	// see if there is a chance of getting one that works
1870	// (remember that a flags value of 0 means autodetection)
1871	loop_lo = ev_embeddable_backends () & ev_recommended_backends ()
1872	? ev_loop_new (ev_embeddable_backends () & ev_recommended_backends ())
1873	: 0;
1874		2648
1875	// if we got one, then embed it, otherwise default to loop_hi	2649	While the C<ev_embed> watcher is running, forks in the embedding loop will
1876	if (loop_lo)	2650	automatically be applied to the embedded loop as well, so no special
1877	{	2651	fork handling is required in that case. When the watcher is not running,
1878	ev_embed_init (&embed, 0, loop_lo);	2652	however, it is still the task of the libev user to call C<ev_loop_fork ()>
1879	ev_embed_start (loop_hi, &embed);	2653	as applicable.
1880	}
1881	else
1882	loop_lo = loop_hi;
1883		2654
1884	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members	2655	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
1885		2656
1886	=over 4	2657	=over 4
1887		2658
…		…
1891		2662
1892	Configures the watcher to embed the given loop, which must be	2663	Configures the watcher to embed the given loop, which must be
1893	embeddable. If the callback is C<0>, then C<ev_embed_sweep> will be	2664	embeddable. If the callback is C<0>, then C<ev_embed_sweep> will be
1894	invoked automatically, otherwise it is the responsibility of the callback	2665	invoked automatically, otherwise it is the responsibility of the callback
1895	to invoke it (it will continue to be called until the sweep has been done,	2666	to invoke it (it will continue to be called until the sweep has been done,
1896	if you do not want thta, you need to temporarily stop the embed watcher).	2667	if you do not want that, you need to temporarily stop the embed watcher).
1897		2668
1898	=item ev_embed_sweep (loop, ev_embed *)	2669	=item ev_embed_sweep (loop, ev_embed *)
1899		2670
1900	Make a single, non-blocking sweep over the embedded loop. This works	2671	Make a single, non-blocking sweep over the embedded loop. This works
1901	similarly to C<ev_loop (embedded_loop, EVLOOP_NONBLOCK)>, but in the most	2672	similarly to C<ev_loop (embedded_loop, EVLOOP_NONBLOCK)>, but in the most
1902	apropriate way for embedded loops.	2673	appropriate way for embedded loops.
1903		2674
1904	=item struct ev_loop *other [read-only]	2675	=item struct ev_loop *other [read-only]
1905		2676
1906	The embedded event loop.	2677	The embedded event loop.
1907		2678
1908	=back	2679	=back
		2680
		2681	=head3 Examples
		2682
		2683	Example: Try to get an embeddable event loop and embed it into the default
		2684	event loop. If that is not possible, use the default loop. The default
		2685	loop is stored in C<loop_hi>, while the embeddable loop is stored in
		2686	C<loop_lo> (which is C<loop_hi> in the case no embeddable loop can be
		2687	used).
		2688
		2689	struct ev_loop *loop_hi = ev_default_init (0);
		2690	struct ev_loop *loop_lo = 0;
		2691	ev_embed embed;
		2692
		2693	// see if there is a chance of getting one that works
		2694	// (remember that a flags value of 0 means autodetection)
		2695	loop_lo = ev_embeddable_backends () & ev_recommended_backends ()
		2696	? ev_loop_new (ev_embeddable_backends () & ev_recommended_backends ())
		2697	: 0;
		2698
		2699	// if we got one, then embed it, otherwise default to loop_hi
		2700	if (loop_lo)
		2701	{
		2702	ev_embed_init (&embed, 0, loop_lo);
		2703	ev_embed_start (loop_hi, &embed);
		2704	}
		2705	else
		2706	loop_lo = loop_hi;
		2707
		2708	Example: Check if kqueue is available but not recommended and create
		2709	a kqueue backend for use with sockets (which usually work with any
		2710	kqueue implementation). Store the kqueue/socket-only event loop in
		2711	C<loop_socket>. (One might optionally use C<EVFLAG_NOENV>, too).
		2712
		2713	struct ev_loop *loop = ev_default_init (0);
		2714	struct ev_loop *loop_socket = 0;
		2715	ev_embed embed;
		2716
		2717	if (ev_supported_backends () & ~ev_recommended_backends () & EVBACKEND_KQUEUE)
		2718	if ((loop_socket = ev_loop_new (EVBACKEND_KQUEUE))
		2719	{
		2720	ev_embed_init (&embed, 0, loop_socket);
		2721	ev_embed_start (loop, &embed);
		2722	}
		2723
		2724	if (!loop_socket)
		2725	loop_socket = loop;
		2726
		2727	// now use loop_socket for all sockets, and loop for everything else
1909		2728
1910		2729
1911	=head2 C<ev_fork> - the audacity to resume the event loop after a fork	2730	=head2 C<ev_fork> - the audacity to resume the event loop after a fork
1912		2731
1913	Fork watchers are called when a C<fork ()> was detected (usually because	2732	Fork watchers are called when a C<fork ()> was detected (usually because
…		…
1916	event loop blocks next and before C<ev_check> watchers are being called,	2735	event loop blocks next and before C<ev_check> watchers are being called,
1917	and only in the child after the fork. If whoever good citizen calling	2736	and only in the child after the fork. If whoever good citizen calling
1918	C<ev_default_fork> cheats and calls it in the wrong process, the fork	2737	C<ev_default_fork> cheats and calls it in the wrong process, the fork
1919	handlers will be invoked, too, of course.	2738	handlers will be invoked, too, of course.
1920		2739
		2740	=head3 The special problem of life after fork - how is it possible?
		2741
		2742	Most uses of C<fork()> consist of forking, then some simple calls to ste
		2743	up/change the process environment, followed by a call to C<exec()>. This
		2744	sequence should be handled by libev without any problems.
		2745
		2746	This changes when the application actually wants to do event handling
		2747	in the child, or both parent in child, in effect "continuing" after the
		2748	fork.
		2749
		2750	The default mode of operation (for libev, with application help to detect
		2751	forks) is to duplicate all the state in the child, as would be expected
		2752	when I<either> the parent I<or> the child process continues.
		2753
		2754	When both processes want to continue using libev, then this is usually the
		2755	wrong result. In that case, usually one process (typically the parent) is
		2756	supposed to continue with all watchers in place as before, while the other
		2757	process typically wants to start fresh, i.e. without any active watchers.
		2758
		2759	The cleanest and most efficient way to achieve that with libev is to
		2760	simply create a new event loop, which of course will be "empty", and
		2761	use that for new watchers. This has the advantage of not touching more
		2762	memory than necessary, and thus avoiding the copy-on-write, and the
		2763	disadvantage of having to use multiple event loops (which do not support
		2764	signal watchers).
		2765
		2766	When this is not possible, or you want to use the default loop for
		2767	other reasons, then in the process that wants to start "fresh", call
		2768	C<ev_default_destroy ()> followed by C<ev_default_loop (...)>. Destroying
		2769	the default loop will "orphan" (not stop) all registered watchers, so you
		2770	have to be careful not to execute code that modifies those watchers. Note
		2771	also that in that case, you have to re-register any signal watchers.
		2772
1921	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members	2773	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
1922		2774
1923	=over 4	2775	=over 4
1924		2776
1925	=item ev_fork_init (ev_signal *, callback)	2777	=item ev_fork_init (ev_signal *, callback)
…		…
1929	believe me.	2781	believe me.
1930		2782
1931	=back	2783	=back
1932		2784
1933		2785
		2786	=head2 C<ev_async> - how to wake up another event loop
		2787
		2788	In general, you cannot use an C<ev_loop> from multiple threads or other
		2789	asynchronous sources such as signal handlers (as opposed to multiple event
		2790	loops - those are of course safe to use in different threads).
		2791
		2792	Sometimes, however, you need to wake up another event loop you do not
		2793	control, for example because it belongs to another thread. This is what
		2794	C<ev_async> watchers do: as long as the C<ev_async> watcher is active, you
		2795	can signal it by calling C<ev_async_send>, which is thread- and signal
		2796	safe.
		2797
		2798	This functionality is very similar to C<ev_signal> watchers, as signals,
		2799	too, are asynchronous in nature, and signals, too, will be compressed
		2800	(i.e. the number of callback invocations may be less than the number of
		2801	C<ev_async_sent> calls).
		2802
		2803	Unlike C<ev_signal> watchers, C<ev_async> works with any event loop, not
		2804	just the default loop.
		2805
		2806	=head3 Queueing
		2807
		2808	C<ev_async> does not support queueing of data in any way. The reason
		2809	is that the author does not know of a simple (or any) algorithm for a
		2810	multiple-writer-single-reader queue that works in all cases and doesn't
		2811	need elaborate support such as pthreads.
		2812
		2813	That means that if you want to queue data, you have to provide your own
		2814	queue. But at least I can tell you how to implement locking around your
		2815	queue:
		2816
		2817	=over 4
		2818
		2819	=item queueing from a signal handler context
		2820
		2821	To implement race-free queueing, you simply add to the queue in the signal
		2822	handler but you block the signal handler in the watcher callback. Here is
		2823	an example that does that for some fictitious SIGUSR1 handler:
		2824
		2825	static ev_async mysig;
		2826
		2827	static void
		2828	sigusr1_handler (void)
		2829	{
		2830	sometype data;
		2831
		2832	// no locking etc.
		2833	queue_put (data);
		2834	ev_async_send (EV_DEFAULT_ &mysig);
		2835	}
		2836
		2837	static void
		2838	mysig_cb (EV_P_ ev_async *w, int revents)
		2839	{
		2840	sometype data;
		2841	sigset_t block, prev;
		2842
		2843	sigemptyset (&block);
		2844	sigaddset (&block, SIGUSR1);
		2845	sigprocmask (SIG_BLOCK, &block, &prev);
		2846
		2847	while (queue_get (&data))
		2848	process (data);
		2849
		2850	if (sigismember (&prev, SIGUSR1)
		2851	sigprocmask (SIG_UNBLOCK, &block, 0);
		2852	}
		2853
		2854	(Note: pthreads in theory requires you to use C<pthread_setmask>
		2855	instead of C<sigprocmask> when you use threads, but libev doesn't do it
		2856	either...).
		2857
		2858	=item queueing from a thread context
		2859
		2860	The strategy for threads is different, as you cannot (easily) block
		2861	threads but you can easily preempt them, so to queue safely you need to
		2862	employ a traditional mutex lock, such as in this pthread example:
		2863
		2864	static ev_async mysig;
		2865	static pthread_mutex_t mymutex = PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
		2866
		2867	static void
		2868	otherthread (void)
		2869	{
		2870	// only need to lock the actual queueing operation
		2871	pthread_mutex_lock (&mymutex);
		2872	queue_put (data);
		2873	pthread_mutex_unlock (&mymutex);
		2874
		2875	ev_async_send (EV_DEFAULT_ &mysig);
		2876	}
		2877
		2878	static void
		2879	mysig_cb (EV_P_ ev_async *w, int revents)
		2880	{
		2881	pthread_mutex_lock (&mymutex);
		2882
		2883	while (queue_get (&data))
		2884	process (data);
		2885
		2886	pthread_mutex_unlock (&mymutex);
		2887	}
		2888
		2889	=back
		2890
		2891
		2892	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
		2893
		2894	=over 4
		2895
		2896	=item ev_async_init (ev_async *, callback)
		2897
		2898	Initialises and configures the async watcher - it has no parameters of any
		2899	kind. There is a C<ev_async_set> macro, but using it is utterly pointless,
		2900	trust me.
		2901
		2902	=item ev_async_send (loop, ev_async *)
		2903
		2904	Sends/signals/activates the given C<ev_async> watcher, that is, feeds
		2905	an C<EV_ASYNC> event on the watcher into the event loop. Unlike
		2906	C<ev_feed_event>, this call is safe to do from other threads, signal or
		2907	similar contexts (see the discussion of C<EV_ATOMIC_T> in the embedding
		2908	section below on what exactly this means).
		2909
		2910	Note that, as with other watchers in libev, multiple events might get
		2911	compressed into a single callback invocation (another way to look at this
		2912	is that C<ev_async> watchers are level-triggered, set on C<ev_async_send>,
		2913	reset when the event loop detects that).
		2914
		2915	This call incurs the overhead of a system call only once per event loop
		2916	iteration, so while the overhead might be noticeable, it doesn't apply to
		2917	repeated calls to C<ev_async_send> for the same event loop.
		2918
		2919	=item bool = ev_async_pending (ev_async *)
		2920
		2921	Returns a non-zero value when C<ev_async_send> has been called on the
		2922	watcher but the event has not yet been processed (or even noted) by the
		2923	event loop.
		2924
		2925	C<ev_async_send> sets a flag in the watcher and wakes up the loop. When
		2926	the loop iterates next and checks for the watcher to have become active,
		2927	it will reset the flag again. C<ev_async_pending> can be used to very
		2928	quickly check whether invoking the loop might be a good idea.
		2929
		2930	Not that this does I<not> check whether the watcher itself is pending,
		2931	only whether it has been requested to make this watcher pending: there
		2932	is a time window between the event loop checking and resetting the async
		2933	notification, and the callback being invoked.
		2934
		2935	=back
		2936
		2937
1934	=head1 OTHER FUNCTIONS	2938	=head1 OTHER FUNCTIONS
1935		2939
1936	There are some other functions of possible interest. Described. Here. Now.	2940	There are some other functions of possible interest. Described. Here. Now.
1937		2941
1938	=over 4	2942	=over 4
1939		2943
1940	=item ev_once (loop, int fd, int events, ev_tstamp timeout, callback)	2944	=item ev_once (loop, int fd, int events, ev_tstamp timeout, callback)
1941		2945
1942	This function combines a simple timer and an I/O watcher, calls your	2946	This function combines a simple timer and an I/O watcher, calls your
1943	callback on whichever event happens first and automatically stop both	2947	callback on whichever event happens first and automatically stops both
1944	watchers. This is useful if you want to wait for a single event on an fd	2948	watchers. This is useful if you want to wait for a single event on an fd
1945	or timeout without having to allocate/configure/start/stop/free one or	2949	or timeout without having to allocate/configure/start/stop/free one or
1946	more watchers yourself.	2950	more watchers yourself.
1947		2951
1948	If C<fd> is less than 0, then no I/O watcher will be started and events	2952	If C<fd> is less than 0, then no I/O watcher will be started and the
1949	is being ignored. Otherwise, an C<ev_io> watcher for the given C<fd> and	2953	C<events> argument is being ignored. Otherwise, an C<ev_io> watcher for
1950	C<events> set will be craeted and started.	2954	the given C<fd> and C<events> set will be created and started.
1951		2955
1952	If C<timeout> is less than 0, then no timeout watcher will be	2956	If C<timeout> is less than 0, then no timeout watcher will be
1953	started. Otherwise an C<ev_timer> watcher with after = C<timeout> (and	2957	started. Otherwise an C<ev_timer> watcher with after = C<timeout> (and
1954	repeat = 0) will be started. While C<0> is a valid timeout, it is of	2958	repeat = 0) will be started. C<0> is a valid timeout.
1955	dubious value.
1956		2959
1957	The callback has the type C<void (*cb)(int revents, void *arg)> and gets	2960	The callback has the type C<void (*cb)(int revents, void *arg)> and gets
1958	passed an C<revents> set like normal event callbacks (a combination of	2961	passed an C<revents> set like normal event callbacks (a combination of
1959	C<EV_ERROR>, C<EV_READ>, C<EV_WRITE> or C<EV_TIMEOUT>) and the C<arg>	2962	C<EV_ERROR>, C<EV_READ>, C<EV_WRITE> or C<EV_TIMEOUT>) and the C<arg>
1960	value passed to C<ev_once>:	2963	value passed to C<ev_once>. Note that it is possible to receive I<both>
		2964	a timeout and an io event at the same time - you probably should give io
		2965	events precedence.
1961		2966
		2967	Example: wait up to ten seconds for data to appear on STDIN_FILENO.
		2968
1962	static void stdin_ready (int revents, void *arg)	2969	static void stdin_ready (int revents, void *arg)
1963	{	2970	{
1964	if (revents & EV_TIMEOUT)
1965	/* doh, nothing entered */;
1966	else if (revents & EV_READ)	2971	if (revents & EV_READ)
1967	/* stdin might have data for us, joy! */;	2972	/* stdin might have data for us, joy! */;
		2973	else if (revents & EV_TIMEOUT)
		2974	/* doh, nothing entered */;
1968	}	2975	}
1969		2976
1970	ev_once (STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ, 10., stdin_ready, 0);	2977	ev_once (STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ, 10., stdin_ready, 0);
1971		2978
1972	=item ev_feed_event (ev_loop *, watcher *, int revents)	2979	=item ev_feed_event (struct ev_loop *, watcher *, int revents)
1973		2980
1974	Feeds the given event set into the event loop, as if the specified event	2981	Feeds the given event set into the event loop, as if the specified event
1975	had happened for the specified watcher (which must be a pointer to an	2982	had happened for the specified watcher (which must be a pointer to an
1976	initialised but not necessarily started event watcher).	2983	initialised but not necessarily started event watcher).
1977		2984
1978	=item ev_feed_fd_event (ev_loop *, int fd, int revents)	2985	=item ev_feed_fd_event (struct ev_loop *, int fd, int revents)
1979		2986
1980	Feed an event on the given fd, as if a file descriptor backend detected	2987	Feed an event on the given fd, as if a file descriptor backend detected
1981	the given events it.	2988	the given events it.
1982		2989
1983	=item ev_feed_signal_event (ev_loop *loop, int signum)	2990	=item ev_feed_signal_event (struct ev_loop *loop, int signum)
1984		2991
1985	Feed an event as if the given signal occured (C<loop> must be the default	2992	Feed an event as if the given signal occurred (C<loop> must be the default
1986	loop!).	2993	loop!).
1987		2994
1988	=back	2995	=back
1989		2996
1990		2997
…		…
2006		3013
2007	=item * Priorities are not currently supported. Initialising priorities	3014	=item * Priorities are not currently supported. Initialising priorities
2008	will fail and all watchers will have the same priority, even though there	3015	will fail and all watchers will have the same priority, even though there
2009	is an ev_pri field.	3016	is an ev_pri field.
2010		3017
		3018	=item * In libevent, the last base created gets the signals, in libev, the
		3019	first base created (== the default loop) gets the signals.
		3020
2011	=item * Other members are not supported.	3021	=item * Other members are not supported.
2012		3022
2013	=item * The libev emulation is I<not> ABI compatible to libevent, you need	3023	=item * The libev emulation is I<not> ABI compatible to libevent, you need
2014	to use the libev header file and library.	3024	to use the libev header file and library.
2015		3025
2016	=back	3026	=back
2017		3027
2018	=head1 C++ SUPPORT	3028	=head1 C++ SUPPORT
2019		3029
2020	Libev comes with some simplistic wrapper classes for C++ that mainly allow	3030	Libev comes with some simplistic wrapper classes for C++ that mainly allow
2021	you to use some convinience methods to start/stop watchers and also change	3031	you to use some convenience methods to start/stop watchers and also change
2022	the callback model to a model using method callbacks on objects.	3032	the callback model to a model using method callbacks on objects.
2023		3033
2024	To use it,	3034	To use it,
2025		3035
2026	#include <ev++.h>	3036	#include <ev++.h>
2027		3037
2028	This automatically includes F<ev.h> and puts all of its definitions (many	3038	This automatically includes F<ev.h> and puts all of its definitions (many
2029	of them macros) into the global namespace. All C++ specific things are	3039	of them macros) into the global namespace. All C++ specific things are
2030	put into the C<ev> namespace. It should support all the same embedding	3040	put into the C<ev> namespace. It should support all the same embedding
2031	options as F<ev.h>, most notably C<EV_MULTIPLICITY>.	3041	options as F<ev.h>, most notably C<EV_MULTIPLICITY>.
…		…
2098	your compiler is good :), then the method will be fully inlined into the	3108	your compiler is good :), then the method will be fully inlined into the
2099	thunking function, making it as fast as a direct C callback.	3109	thunking function, making it as fast as a direct C callback.
2100		3110
2101	Example: simple class declaration and watcher initialisation	3111	Example: simple class declaration and watcher initialisation
2102		3112
2103	struct myclass	3113	struct myclass
2104	{	3114	{
2105	void io_cb (ev::io &w, int revents) { }	3115	void io_cb (ev::io &w, int revents) { }
2106	}	3116	}
2107		3117
2108	myclass obj;	3118	myclass obj;
2109	ev::io iow;	3119	ev::io iow;
2110	iow.set <myclass, &myclass::io_cb> (&obj);	3120	iow.set <myclass, &myclass::io_cb> (&obj);
		3121
		3122	=item w->set (object *)
		3123
		3124	This is an B<experimental> feature that might go away in a future version.
		3125
		3126	This is a variation of a method callback - leaving out the method to call
		3127	will default the method to C<operator ()>, which makes it possible to use
		3128	functor objects without having to manually specify the C<operator ()> all
		3129	the time. Incidentally, you can then also leave out the template argument
		3130	list.
		3131
		3132	The C<operator ()> method prototype must be C<void operator ()(watcher &w,
		3133	int revents)>.
		3134
		3135	See the method-C<set> above for more details.
		3136
		3137	Example: use a functor object as callback.
		3138
		3139	struct myfunctor
		3140	{
		3141	void operator() (ev::io &w, int revents)
		3142	{
		3143	...
		3144	}
		3145	}
		3146
		3147	myfunctor f;
		3148
		3149	ev::io w;
		3150	w.set (&f);
2111		3151
2112	=item w->set<function> (void *data = 0)	3152	=item w->set<function> (void *data = 0)
2113		3153
2114	Also sets a callback, but uses a static method or plain function as	3154	Also sets a callback, but uses a static method or plain function as
2115	callback. The optional C<data> argument will be stored in the watcher's	3155	callback. The optional C<data> argument will be stored in the watcher's
…		…
2117		3157
2118	The prototype of the C<function> must be C<void (*)(ev::TYPE &w, int)>.	3158	The prototype of the C<function> must be C<void (*)(ev::TYPE &w, int)>.
2119		3159
2120	See the method-C<set> above for more details.	3160	See the method-C<set> above for more details.
2121		3161
2122	Example:	3162	Example: Use a plain function as callback.
2123		3163
2124	static void io_cb (ev::io &w, int revents) { }	3164	static void io_cb (ev::io &w, int revents) { }
2125	iow.set <io_cb> ();	3165	iow.set <io_cb> ();
2126		3166
2127	=item w->set (struct ev_loop *)	3167	=item w->set (struct ev_loop *)
2128		3168
2129	Associates a different C<struct ev_loop> with this watcher. You can only	3169	Associates a different C<struct ev_loop> with this watcher. You can only
2130	do this when the watcher is inactive (and not pending either).	3170	do this when the watcher is inactive (and not pending either).
2131		3171
2132	=item w->set ([args])	3172	=item w->set ([arguments])
2133		3173
2134	Basically the same as C<ev_TYPE_set>, with the same args. Must be	3174	Basically the same as C<ev_TYPE_set>, with the same arguments. Must be
2135	called at least once. Unlike the C counterpart, an active watcher gets	3175	called at least once. Unlike the C counterpart, an active watcher gets
2136	automatically stopped and restarted when reconfiguring it with this	3176	automatically stopped and restarted when reconfiguring it with this
2137	method.	3177	method.
2138		3178
2139	=item w->start ()	3179	=item w->start ()
…		…
2163	=back	3203	=back
2164		3204
2165	Example: Define a class with an IO and idle watcher, start one of them in	3205	Example: Define a class with an IO and idle watcher, start one of them in
2166	the constructor.	3206	the constructor.
2167		3207
2168	class myclass	3208	class myclass
2169	{	3209	{
2170	ev_io io; void io_cb (ev::io &w, int revents);	3210	ev::io io ; void io_cb (ev::io &w, int revents);
2171	ev_idle idle void idle_cb (ev::idle &w, int revents);	3211	ev::idle idle; void idle_cb (ev::idle &w, int revents);
2172		3212
2173	myclass ();	3213	myclass (int fd)
2174	}	3214	{
2175
2176	myclass::myclass (int fd)
2177	{
2178	io .set <myclass, &myclass::io_cb > (this);	3215	io .set <myclass, &myclass::io_cb > (this);
2179	idle.set <myclass, &myclass::idle_cb> (this);	3216	idle.set <myclass, &myclass::idle_cb> (this);
2180		3217
2181	io.start (fd, ev::READ);	3218	io.start (fd, ev::READ);
		3219	}
2182	}	3220	};
		3221
		3222
		3223	=head1 OTHER LANGUAGE BINDINGS
		3224
		3225	Libev does not offer other language bindings itself, but bindings for a
		3226	number of languages exist in the form of third-party packages. If you know
		3227	any interesting language binding in addition to the ones listed here, drop
		3228	me a note.
		3229
		3230	=over 4
		3231
		3232	=item Perl
		3233
		3234	The EV module implements the full libev API and is actually used to test
		3235	libev. EV is developed together with libev. Apart from the EV core module,
		3236	there are additional modules that implement libev-compatible interfaces
		3237	to C<libadns> (C<EV::ADNS>, but C<AnyEvent::DNS> is preferred nowadays),
		3238	C<Net::SNMP> (C<Net::SNMP::EV>) and the C<libglib> event core (C<Glib::EV>
		3239	and C<EV::Glib>).
		3240
		3241	It can be found and installed via CPAN, its homepage is at
		3242	L<http://software.schmorp.de/pkg/EV>.
		3243
		3244	=item Python
		3245
		3246	Python bindings can be found at L<http://code.google.com/p/pyev/>. It
		3247	seems to be quite complete and well-documented.
		3248
		3249	=item Ruby
		3250
		3251	Tony Arcieri has written a ruby extension that offers access to a subset
		3252	of the libev API and adds file handle abstractions, asynchronous DNS and
		3253	more on top of it. It can be found via gem servers. Its homepage is at
		3254	L<http://rev.rubyforge.org/>.
		3255
		3256	Roger Pack reports that using the link order C<-lws2_32 -lmsvcrt-ruby-190>
		3257	makes rev work even on mingw.
		3258
		3259	=item Haskell
		3260
		3261	A haskell binding to libev is available at
		3262	L<http://hackage.haskell.org/cgi-bin/hackage-scripts/package/hlibev>.
		3263
		3264	=item D
		3265
		3266	Leandro Lucarella has written a D language binding (F<ev.d>) for libev, to
		3267	be found at L<http://proj.llucax.com.ar/wiki/evd>.
		3268
		3269	=item Ocaml
		3270
		3271	Erkki Seppala has written Ocaml bindings for libev, to be found at
		3272	L<http://modeemi.cs.tut.fi/~flux/software/ocaml-ev/>.
		3273
		3274	=back
2183		3275
2184		3276
2185	=head1 MACRO MAGIC	3277	=head1 MACRO MAGIC
2186		3278
2187	Libev can be compiled with a variety of options, the most fundamantal	3279	Libev can be compiled with a variety of options, the most fundamental
2188	of which is C<EV_MULTIPLICITY>. This option determines whether (most)	3280	of which is C<EV_MULTIPLICITY>. This option determines whether (most)
2189	functions and callbacks have an initial C<struct ev_loop *> argument.	3281	functions and callbacks have an initial C<struct ev_loop *> argument.
2190		3282
2191	To make it easier to write programs that cope with either variant, the	3283	To make it easier to write programs that cope with either variant, the
2192	following macros are defined:	3284	following macros are defined:
…		…
2197		3289
2198	This provides the loop I<argument> for functions, if one is required ("ev	3290	This provides the loop I<argument> for functions, if one is required ("ev
2199	loop argument"). The C<EV_A> form is used when this is the sole argument,	3291	loop argument"). The C<EV_A> form is used when this is the sole argument,
2200	C<EV_A_> is used when other arguments are following. Example:	3292	C<EV_A_> is used when other arguments are following. Example:
2201		3293
2202	ev_unref (EV_A);	3294	ev_unref (EV_A);
2203	ev_timer_add (EV_A_ watcher);	3295	ev_timer_add (EV_A_ watcher);
2204	ev_loop (EV_A_ 0);	3296	ev_loop (EV_A_ 0);
2205		3297
2206	It assumes the variable C<loop> of type C<struct ev_loop *> is in scope,	3298	It assumes the variable C<loop> of type C<struct ev_loop *> is in scope,
2207	which is often provided by the following macro.	3299	which is often provided by the following macro.
2208		3300
2209	=item C<EV_P>, C<EV_P_>	3301	=item C<EV_P>, C<EV_P_>
2210		3302
2211	This provides the loop I<parameter> for functions, if one is required ("ev	3303	This provides the loop I<parameter> for functions, if one is required ("ev
2212	loop parameter"). The C<EV_P> form is used when this is the sole parameter,	3304	loop parameter"). The C<EV_P> form is used when this is the sole parameter,
2213	C<EV_P_> is used when other parameters are following. Example:	3305	C<EV_P_> is used when other parameters are following. Example:
2214		3306
2215	// this is how ev_unref is being declared	3307	// this is how ev_unref is being declared
2216	static void ev_unref (EV_P);	3308	static void ev_unref (EV_P);
2217		3309
2218	// this is how you can declare your typical callback	3310	// this is how you can declare your typical callback
2219	static void cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)	3311	static void cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)
2220		3312
2221	It declares a parameter C<loop> of type C<struct ev_loop *>, quite	3313	It declares a parameter C<loop> of type C<struct ev_loop *>, quite
2222	suitable for use with C<EV_A>.	3314	suitable for use with C<EV_A>.
2223		3315
2224	=item C<EV_DEFAULT>, C<EV_DEFAULT_>	3316	=item C<EV_DEFAULT>, C<EV_DEFAULT_>
2225		3317
2226	Similar to the other two macros, this gives you the value of the default	3318	Similar to the other two macros, this gives you the value of the default
2227	loop, if multiple loops are supported ("ev loop default").	3319	loop, if multiple loops are supported ("ev loop default").
		3320
		3321	=item C<EV_DEFAULT_UC>, C<EV_DEFAULT_UC_>
		3322
		3323	Usage identical to C<EV_DEFAULT> and C<EV_DEFAULT_>, but requires that the
		3324	default loop has been initialised (C<UC> == unchecked). Their behaviour
		3325	is undefined when the default loop has not been initialised by a previous
		3326	execution of C<EV_DEFAULT>, C<EV_DEFAULT_> or C<ev_default_init (...)>.
		3327
		3328	It is often prudent to use C<EV_DEFAULT> when initialising the first
		3329	watcher in a function but use C<EV_DEFAULT_UC> afterwards.
2228		3330
2229	=back	3331	=back
2230		3332
2231	Example: Declare and initialise a check watcher, utilising the above	3333	Example: Declare and initialise a check watcher, utilising the above
2232	macros so it will work regardless of whether multiple loops are supported	3334	macros so it will work regardless of whether multiple loops are supported
2233	or not.	3335	or not.
2234		3336
2235	static void	3337	static void
2236	check_cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)	3338	check_cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)
2237	{	3339	{
2238	ev_check_stop (EV_A_ w);	3340	ev_check_stop (EV_A_ w);
2239	}	3341	}
2240		3342
2241	ev_check check;	3343	ev_check check;
2242	ev_check_init (&check, check_cb);	3344	ev_check_init (&check, check_cb);
2243	ev_check_start (EV_DEFAULT_ &check);	3345	ev_check_start (EV_DEFAULT_ &check);
2244	ev_loop (EV_DEFAULT_ 0);	3346	ev_loop (EV_DEFAULT_ 0);
2245		3347
2246	=head1 EMBEDDING	3348	=head1 EMBEDDING
2247		3349
2248	Libev can (and often is) directly embedded into host	3350	Libev can (and often is) directly embedded into host
2249	applications. Examples of applications that embed it include the Deliantra	3351	applications. Examples of applications that embed it include the Deliantra
…		…
2256	libev somewhere in your source tree).	3358	libev somewhere in your source tree).
2257		3359
2258	=head2 FILESETS	3360	=head2 FILESETS
2259		3361
2260	Depending on what features you need you need to include one or more sets of files	3362	Depending on what features you need you need to include one or more sets of files
2261	in your app.	3363	in your application.
2262		3364
2263	=head3 CORE EVENT LOOP	3365	=head3 CORE EVENT LOOP
2264		3366
2265	To include only the libev core (all the C<ev_*> functions), with manual	3367	To include only the libev core (all the C<ev_*> functions), with manual
2266	configuration (no autoconf):	3368	configuration (no autoconf):
2267		3369
2268	#define EV_STANDALONE 1	3370	#define EV_STANDALONE 1
2269	#include "ev.c"	3371	#include "ev.c"
2270		3372
2271	This will automatically include F<ev.h>, too, and should be done in a	3373	This will automatically include F<ev.h>, too, and should be done in a
2272	single C source file only to provide the function implementations. To use	3374	single C source file only to provide the function implementations. To use
2273	it, do the same for F<ev.h> in all files wishing to use this API (best	3375	it, do the same for F<ev.h> in all files wishing to use this API (best
2274	done by writing a wrapper around F<ev.h> that you can include instead and	3376	done by writing a wrapper around F<ev.h> that you can include instead and
2275	where you can put other configuration options):	3377	where you can put other configuration options):
2276		3378
2277	#define EV_STANDALONE 1	3379	#define EV_STANDALONE 1
2278	#include "ev.h"	3380	#include "ev.h"
2279		3381
2280	Both header files and implementation files can be compiled with a C++	3382	Both header files and implementation files can be compiled with a C++
2281	compiler (at least, thats a stated goal, and breakage will be treated	3383	compiler (at least, that's a stated goal, and breakage will be treated
2282	as a bug).	3384	as a bug).
2283		3385
2284	You need the following files in your source tree, or in a directory	3386	You need the following files in your source tree, or in a directory
2285	in your include path (e.g. in libev/ when using -Ilibev):	3387	in your include path (e.g. in libev/ when using -Ilibev):
2286		3388
2287	ev.h	3389	ev.h
2288	ev.c	3390	ev.c
2289	ev_vars.h	3391	ev_vars.h
2290	ev_wrap.h	3392	ev_wrap.h
2291		3393
2292	ev_win32.c required on win32 platforms only	3394	ev_win32.c required on win32 platforms only
2293		3395
2294	ev_select.c only when select backend is enabled (which is enabled by default)	3396	ev_select.c only when select backend is enabled (which is enabled by default)
2295	ev_poll.c only when poll backend is enabled (disabled by default)	3397	ev_poll.c only when poll backend is enabled (disabled by default)
2296	ev_epoll.c only when the epoll backend is enabled (disabled by default)	3398	ev_epoll.c only when the epoll backend is enabled (disabled by default)
2297	ev_kqueue.c only when the kqueue backend is enabled (disabled by default)	3399	ev_kqueue.c only when the kqueue backend is enabled (disabled by default)
2298	ev_port.c only when the solaris port backend is enabled (disabled by default)	3400	ev_port.c only when the solaris port backend is enabled (disabled by default)
2299		3401
2300	F<ev.c> includes the backend files directly when enabled, so you only need	3402	F<ev.c> includes the backend files directly when enabled, so you only need
2301	to compile this single file.	3403	to compile this single file.
2302		3404
2303	=head3 LIBEVENT COMPATIBILITY API	3405	=head3 LIBEVENT COMPATIBILITY API
2304		3406
2305	To include the libevent compatibility API, also include:	3407	To include the libevent compatibility API, also include:
2306		3408
2307	#include "event.c"	3409	#include "event.c"
2308		3410
2309	in the file including F<ev.c>, and:	3411	in the file including F<ev.c>, and:
2310		3412
2311	#include "event.h"	3413	#include "event.h"
2312		3414
2313	in the files that want to use the libevent API. This also includes F<ev.h>.	3415	in the files that want to use the libevent API. This also includes F<ev.h>.
2314		3416
2315	You need the following additional files for this:	3417	You need the following additional files for this:
2316		3418
2317	event.h	3419	event.h
2318	event.c	3420	event.c
2319		3421
2320	=head3 AUTOCONF SUPPORT	3422	=head3 AUTOCONF SUPPORT
2321		3423
2322	Instead of using C<EV_STANDALONE=1> and providing your config in	3424	Instead of using C<EV_STANDALONE=1> and providing your configuration in
2323	whatever way you want, you can also C<m4_include([libev.m4])> in your	3425	whatever way you want, you can also C<m4_include([libev.m4])> in your
2324	F<configure.ac> and leave C<EV_STANDALONE> undefined. F<ev.c> will then	3426	F<configure.ac> and leave C<EV_STANDALONE> undefined. F<ev.c> will then
2325	include F<config.h> and configure itself accordingly.	3427	include F<config.h> and configure itself accordingly.
2326		3428
2327	For this of course you need the m4 file:	3429	For this of course you need the m4 file:
2328		3430
2329	libev.m4	3431	libev.m4
2330		3432
2331	=head2 PREPROCESSOR SYMBOLS/MACROS	3433	=head2 PREPROCESSOR SYMBOLS/MACROS
2332		3434
2333	Libev can be configured via a variety of preprocessor symbols you have to define	3435	Libev can be configured via a variety of preprocessor symbols you have to
2334	before including any of its files. The default is not to build for multiplicity	3436	define before including any of its files. The default in the absence of
2335	and only include the select backend.	3437	autoconf is documented for every option.
2336		3438
2337	=over 4	3439	=over 4
2338		3440
2339	=item EV_STANDALONE	3441	=item EV_STANDALONE
2340		3442
…		…
2342	keeps libev from including F<config.h>, and it also defines dummy	3444	keeps libev from including F<config.h>, and it also defines dummy
2343	implementations for some libevent functions (such as logging, which is not	3445	implementations for some libevent functions (such as logging, which is not
2344	supported). It will also not define any of the structs usually found in	3446	supported). It will also not define any of the structs usually found in
2345	F<event.h> that are not directly supported by the libev core alone.	3447	F<event.h> that are not directly supported by the libev core alone.
2346		3448
		3449	In stanbdalone mode, libev will still try to automatically deduce the
		3450	configuration, but has to be more conservative.
		3451
2347	=item EV_USE_MONOTONIC	3452	=item EV_USE_MONOTONIC
2348		3453
2349	If defined to be C<1>, libev will try to detect the availability of the	3454	If defined to be C<1>, libev will try to detect the availability of the
2350	monotonic clock option at both compiletime and runtime. Otherwise no use	3455	monotonic clock option at both compile time and runtime. Otherwise no
2351	of the monotonic clock option will be attempted. If you enable this, you	3456	use of the monotonic clock option will be attempted. If you enable this,
2352	usually have to link against librt or something similar. Enabling it when	3457	you usually have to link against librt or something similar. Enabling it
2353	the functionality isn't available is safe, though, although you have	3458	when the functionality isn't available is safe, though, although you have
2354	to make sure you link against any libraries where the C<clock_gettime>	3459	to make sure you link against any libraries where the C<clock_gettime>
2355	function is hiding in (often F<-lrt>).	3460	function is hiding in (often F<-lrt>). See also C<EV_USE_CLOCK_SYSCALL>.
2356		3461
2357	=item EV_USE_REALTIME	3462	=item EV_USE_REALTIME
2358		3463
2359	If defined to be C<1>, libev will try to detect the availability of the	3464	If defined to be C<1>, libev will try to detect the availability of the
2360	realtime clock option at compiletime (and assume its availability at	3465	real-time clock option at compile time (and assume its availability
2361	runtime if successful). Otherwise no use of the realtime clock option will	3466	at runtime if successful). Otherwise no use of the real-time clock
2362	be attempted. This effectively replaces C<gettimeofday> by C<clock_get	3467	option will be attempted. This effectively replaces C<gettimeofday>
2363	(CLOCK_REALTIME, ...)> and will not normally affect correctness. See the	3468	by C<clock_get (CLOCK_REALTIME, ...)> and will not normally affect
2364	note about libraries in the description of C<EV_USE_MONOTONIC>, though.	3469	correctness. See the note about libraries in the description of
		3470	C<EV_USE_MONOTONIC>, though. Defaults to the opposite value of
		3471	C<EV_USE_CLOCK_SYSCALL>.
		3472
		3473	=item EV_USE_CLOCK_SYSCALL
		3474
		3475	If defined to be C<1>, libev will try to use a direct syscall instead
		3476	of calling the system-provided C<clock_gettime> function. This option
		3477	exists because on GNU/Linux, C<clock_gettime> is in C<librt>, but C<librt>
		3478	unconditionally pulls in C<libpthread>, slowing down single-threaded
		3479	programs needlessly. Using a direct syscall is slightly slower (in
		3480	theory), because no optimised vdso implementation can be used, but avoids
		3481	the pthread dependency. Defaults to C<1> on GNU/Linux with glibc 2.x or
		3482	higher, as it simplifies linking (no need for C<-lrt>).
2365		3483
2366	=item EV_USE_NANOSLEEP	3484	=item EV_USE_NANOSLEEP
2367		3485
2368	If defined to be C<1>, libev will assume that C<nanosleep ()> is available	3486	If defined to be C<1>, libev will assume that C<nanosleep ()> is available
2369	and will use it for delays. Otherwise it will use C<select ()>.	3487	and will use it for delays. Otherwise it will use C<select ()>.
2370		3488
		3489	=item EV_USE_EVENTFD
		3490
		3491	If defined to be C<1>, then libev will assume that C<eventfd ()> is
		3492	available and will probe for kernel support at runtime. This will improve
		3493	C<ev_signal> and C<ev_async> performance and reduce resource consumption.
		3494	If undefined, it will be enabled if the headers indicate GNU/Linux + Glibc
		3495	2.7 or newer, otherwise disabled.
		3496
2371	=item EV_USE_SELECT	3497	=item EV_USE_SELECT
2372		3498
2373	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the	3499	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the
2374	C<select>(2) backend. No attempt at autodetection will be done: if no	3500	C<select>(2) backend. No attempt at auto-detection will be done: if no
2375	other method takes over, select will be it. Otherwise the select backend	3501	other method takes over, select will be it. Otherwise the select backend
2376	will not be compiled in.	3502	will not be compiled in.
2377		3503
2378	=item EV_SELECT_USE_FD_SET	3504	=item EV_SELECT_USE_FD_SET
2379		3505
2380	If defined to C<1>, then the select backend will use the system C<fd_set>	3506	If defined to C<1>, then the select backend will use the system C<fd_set>
2381	structure. This is useful if libev doesn't compile due to a missing	3507	structure. This is useful if libev doesn't compile due to a missing
2382	C<NFDBITS> or C<fd_mask> definition or it misguesses the bitset layout on	3508	C<NFDBITS> or C<fd_mask> definition or it mis-guesses the bitset layout
2383	exotic systems. This usually limits the range of file descriptors to some	3509	on exotic systems. This usually limits the range of file descriptors to
2384	low limit such as 1024 or might have other limitations (winsocket only	3510	some low limit such as 1024 or might have other limitations (winsocket
2385	allows 64 sockets). The C<FD_SETSIZE> macro, set before compilation, might	3511	only allows 64 sockets). The C<FD_SETSIZE> macro, set before compilation,
2386	influence the size of the C<fd_set> used.	3512	configures the maximum size of the C<fd_set>.
2387		3513
2388	=item EV_SELECT_IS_WINSOCKET	3514	=item EV_SELECT_IS_WINSOCKET
2389		3515
2390	When defined to C<1>, the select backend will assume that	3516	When defined to C<1>, the select backend will assume that
2391	select/socket/connect etc. don't understand file descriptors but	3517	select/socket/connect etc. don't understand file descriptors but
…		…
2393	be used is the winsock select). This means that it will call	3519	be used is the winsock select). This means that it will call
2394	C<_get_osfhandle> on the fd to convert it to an OS handle. Otherwise,	3520	C<_get_osfhandle> on the fd to convert it to an OS handle. Otherwise,
2395	it is assumed that all these functions actually work on fds, even	3521	it is assumed that all these functions actually work on fds, even
2396	on win32. Should not be defined on non-win32 platforms.	3522	on win32. Should not be defined on non-win32 platforms.
2397		3523
		3524	=item EV_FD_TO_WIN32_HANDLE
		3525
		3526	If C<EV_SELECT_IS_WINSOCKET> is enabled, then libev needs a way to map
		3527	file descriptors to socket handles. When not defining this symbol (the
		3528	default), then libev will call C<_get_osfhandle>, which is usually
		3529	correct. In some cases, programs use their own file descriptor management,
		3530	in which case they can provide this function to map fds to socket handles.
		3531
2398	=item EV_USE_POLL	3532	=item EV_USE_POLL
2399		3533
2400	If defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the C<poll>(2)	3534	If defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the C<poll>(2)
2401	backend. Otherwise it will be enabled on non-win32 platforms. It	3535	backend. Otherwise it will be enabled on non-win32 platforms. It
2402	takes precedence over select.	3536	takes precedence over select.
2403		3537
2404	=item EV_USE_EPOLL	3538	=item EV_USE_EPOLL
2405		3539
2406	If defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the Linux	3540	If defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the Linux
2407	C<epoll>(7) backend. Its availability will be detected at runtime,	3541	C<epoll>(7) backend. Its availability will be detected at runtime,
2408	otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the	3542	otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the preferred
2409	preferred backend for GNU/Linux systems.	3543	backend for GNU/Linux systems. If undefined, it will be enabled if the
		3544	headers indicate GNU/Linux + Glibc 2.4 or newer, otherwise disabled.
2410		3545
2411	=item EV_USE_KQUEUE	3546	=item EV_USE_KQUEUE
2412		3547
2413	If defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the BSD style	3548	If defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the BSD style
2414	C<kqueue>(2) backend. Its actual availability will be detected at runtime,	3549	C<kqueue>(2) backend. Its actual availability will be detected at runtime,
…		…
2427	otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the preferred	3562	otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the preferred
2428	backend for Solaris 10 systems.	3563	backend for Solaris 10 systems.
2429		3564
2430	=item EV_USE_DEVPOLL	3565	=item EV_USE_DEVPOLL
2431		3566
2432	reserved for future expansion, works like the USE symbols above.	3567	Reserved for future expansion, works like the USE symbols above.
2433		3568
2434	=item EV_USE_INOTIFY	3569	=item EV_USE_INOTIFY
2435		3570
2436	If defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the Linux inotify	3571	If defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the Linux inotify
2437	interface to speed up C<ev_stat> watchers. Its actual availability will	3572	interface to speed up C<ev_stat> watchers. Its actual availability will
2438	be detected at runtime.	3573	be detected at runtime. If undefined, it will be enabled if the headers
		3574	indicate GNU/Linux + Glibc 2.4 or newer, otherwise disabled.
		3575
		3576	=item EV_ATOMIC_T
		3577
		3578	Libev requires an integer type (suitable for storing C<0> or C<1>) whose
		3579	access is atomic with respect to other threads or signal contexts. No such
		3580	type is easily found in the C language, so you can provide your own type
		3581	that you know is safe for your purposes. It is used both for signal handler "locking"
		3582	as well as for signal and thread safety in C<ev_async> watchers.
		3583
		3584	In the absence of this define, libev will use C<sig_atomic_t volatile>
		3585	(from F<signal.h>), which is usually good enough on most platforms.
2439		3586
2440	=item EV_H	3587	=item EV_H
2441		3588
2442	The name of the F<ev.h> header file used to include it. The default if	3589	The name of the F<ev.h> header file used to include it. The default if
2443	undefined is C<< <ev.h> >> in F<event.h> and C<"ev.h"> in F<ev.c>. This	3590	undefined is C<"ev.h"> in F<event.h>, F<ev.c> and F<ev++.h>. This can be
2444	can be used to virtually rename the F<ev.h> header file in case of conflicts.	3591	used to virtually rename the F<ev.h> header file in case of conflicts.
2445		3592
2446	=item EV_CONFIG_H	3593	=item EV_CONFIG_H
2447		3594
2448	If C<EV_STANDALONE> isn't C<1>, this variable can be used to override	3595	If C<EV_STANDALONE> isn't C<1>, this variable can be used to override
2449	F<ev.c>'s idea of where to find the F<config.h> file, similarly to	3596	F<ev.c>'s idea of where to find the F<config.h> file, similarly to
2450	C<EV_H>, above.	3597	C<EV_H>, above.
2451		3598
2452	=item EV_EVENT_H	3599	=item EV_EVENT_H
2453		3600
2454	Similarly to C<EV_H>, this macro can be used to override F<event.c>'s idea	3601	Similarly to C<EV_H>, this macro can be used to override F<event.c>'s idea
2455	of how the F<event.h> header can be found.	3602	of how the F<event.h> header can be found, the default is C<"event.h">.
2456		3603
2457	=item EV_PROTOTYPES	3604	=item EV_PROTOTYPES
2458		3605
2459	If defined to be C<0>, then F<ev.h> will not define any function	3606	If defined to be C<0>, then F<ev.h> will not define any function
2460	prototypes, but still define all the structs and other symbols. This is	3607	prototypes, but still define all the structs and other symbols. This is
…		…
2481	When doing priority-based operations, libev usually has to linearly search	3628	When doing priority-based operations, libev usually has to linearly search
2482	all the priorities, so having many of them (hundreds) uses a lot of space	3629	all the priorities, so having many of them (hundreds) uses a lot of space
2483	and time, so using the defaults of five priorities (-2 .. +2) is usually	3630	and time, so using the defaults of five priorities (-2 .. +2) is usually
2484	fine.	3631	fine.
2485		3632
2486	If your embedding app does not need any priorities, defining these both to	3633	If your embedding application does not need any priorities, defining these
2487	C<0> will save some memory and cpu.	3634	both to C<0> will save some memory and CPU.
2488		3635
2489	=item EV_PERIODIC_ENABLE	3636	=item EV_PERIODIC_ENABLE
2490		3637
2491	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then periodic timers are supported. If	3638	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then periodic timers are supported. If
2492	defined to be C<0>, then they are not. Disabling them saves a few kB of	3639	defined to be C<0>, then they are not. Disabling them saves a few kB of
…		…
2499	code.	3646	code.
2500		3647
2501	=item EV_EMBED_ENABLE	3648	=item EV_EMBED_ENABLE
2502		3649
2503	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then embed watchers are supported. If	3650	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then embed watchers are supported. If
2504	defined to be C<0>, then they are not.	3651	defined to be C<0>, then they are not. Embed watchers rely on most other
		3652	watcher types, which therefore must not be disabled.
2505		3653
2506	=item EV_STAT_ENABLE	3654	=item EV_STAT_ENABLE
2507		3655
2508	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then stat watchers are supported. If	3656	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then stat watchers are supported. If
2509	defined to be C<0>, then they are not.	3657	defined to be C<0>, then they are not.
…		…
2511	=item EV_FORK_ENABLE	3659	=item EV_FORK_ENABLE
2512		3660
2513	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then fork watchers are supported. If	3661	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then fork watchers are supported. If
2514	defined to be C<0>, then they are not.	3662	defined to be C<0>, then they are not.
2515		3663
		3664	=item EV_ASYNC_ENABLE
		3665
		3666	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then async watchers are supported. If
		3667	defined to be C<0>, then they are not.
		3668
2516	=item EV_MINIMAL	3669	=item EV_MINIMAL
2517		3670
2518	If you need to shave off some kilobytes of code at the expense of some	3671	If you need to shave off some kilobytes of code at the expense of some
2519	speed, define this symbol to C<1>. Currently only used for gcc to override	3672	speed, define this symbol to C<1>. Currently this is used to override some
2520	some inlining decisions, saves roughly 30% codesize of amd64.	3673	inlining decisions, saves roughly 30% code size on amd64. It also selects a
		3674	much smaller 2-heap for timer management over the default 4-heap.
2521		3675
2522	=item EV_PID_HASHSIZE	3676	=item EV_PID_HASHSIZE
2523		3677
2524	C<ev_child> watchers use a small hash table to distribute workload by	3678	C<ev_child> watchers use a small hash table to distribute workload by
2525	pid. The default size is C<16> (or C<1> with C<EV_MINIMAL>), usually more	3679	pid. The default size is C<16> (or C<1> with C<EV_MINIMAL>), usually more
2526	than enough. If you need to manage thousands of children you might want to	3680	than enough. If you need to manage thousands of children you might want to
2527	increase this value (I<must> be a power of two).	3681	increase this value (I<must> be a power of two).
2528		3682
2529	=item EV_INOTIFY_HASHSIZE	3683	=item EV_INOTIFY_HASHSIZE
2530		3684
2531	C<ev_staz> watchers use a small hash table to distribute workload by	3685	C<ev_stat> watchers use a small hash table to distribute workload by
2532	inotify watch id. The default size is C<16> (or C<1> with C<EV_MINIMAL>),	3686	inotify watch id. The default size is C<16> (or C<1> with C<EV_MINIMAL>),
2533	usually more than enough. If you need to manage thousands of C<ev_stat>	3687	usually more than enough. If you need to manage thousands of C<ev_stat>
2534	watchers you might want to increase this value (I<must> be a power of	3688	watchers you might want to increase this value (I<must> be a power of
2535	two).	3689	two).
2536		3690
		3691	=item EV_USE_4HEAP
		3692
		3693	Heaps are not very cache-efficient. To improve the cache-efficiency of the
		3694	timer and periodics heaps, libev uses a 4-heap when this symbol is defined
		3695	to C<1>. The 4-heap uses more complicated (longer) code but has noticeably
		3696	faster performance with many (thousands) of watchers.
		3697
		3698	The default is C<1> unless C<EV_MINIMAL> is set in which case it is C<0>
		3699	(disabled).
		3700
		3701	=item EV_HEAP_CACHE_AT
		3702
		3703	Heaps are not very cache-efficient. To improve the cache-efficiency of the
		3704	timer and periodics heaps, libev can cache the timestamp (I<at>) within
		3705	the heap structure (selected by defining C<EV_HEAP_CACHE_AT> to C<1>),
		3706	which uses 8-12 bytes more per watcher and a few hundred bytes more code,
		3707	but avoids random read accesses on heap changes. This improves performance
		3708	noticeably with many (hundreds) of watchers.
		3709
		3710	The default is C<1> unless C<EV_MINIMAL> is set in which case it is C<0>
		3711	(disabled).
		3712
		3713	=item EV_VERIFY
		3714
		3715	Controls how much internal verification (see C<ev_loop_verify ()>) will
		3716	be done: If set to C<0>, no internal verification code will be compiled
		3717	in. If set to C<1>, then verification code will be compiled in, but not
		3718	called. If set to C<2>, then the internal verification code will be
		3719	called once per loop, which can slow down libev. If set to C<3>, then the
		3720	verification code will be called very frequently, which will slow down
		3721	libev considerably.
		3722
		3723	The default is C<1>, unless C<EV_MINIMAL> is set, in which case it will be
		3724	C<0>.
		3725
2537	=item EV_COMMON	3726	=item EV_COMMON
2538		3727
2539	By default, all watchers have a C<void *data> member. By redefining	3728	By default, all watchers have a C<void *data> member. By redefining
2540	this macro to a something else you can include more and other types of	3729	this macro to a something else you can include more and other types of
2541	members. You have to define it each time you include one of the files,	3730	members. You have to define it each time you include one of the files,
2542	though, and it must be identical each time.	3731	though, and it must be identical each time.
2543		3732
2544	For example, the perl EV module uses something like this:	3733	For example, the perl EV module uses something like this:
2545		3734
2546	#define EV_COMMON \	3735	#define EV_COMMON \
2547	SV *self; /* contains this struct */ \	3736	SV *self; /* contains this struct */ \
2548	SV *cb_sv, *fh /* note no trailing ";" */	3737	SV *cb_sv, *fh /* note no trailing ";" */
2549		3738
2550	=item EV_CB_DECLARE (type)	3739	=item EV_CB_DECLARE (type)
2551		3740
2552	=item EV_CB_INVOKE (watcher, revents)	3741	=item EV_CB_INVOKE (watcher, revents)
2553		3742
…		…
2558	definition and a statement, respectively. See the F<ev.h> header file for	3747	definition and a statement, respectively. See the F<ev.h> header file for
2559	their default definitions. One possible use for overriding these is to	3748	their default definitions. One possible use for overriding these is to
2560	avoid the C<struct ev_loop *> as first argument in all cases, or to use	3749	avoid the C<struct ev_loop *> as first argument in all cases, or to use
2561	method calls instead of plain function calls in C++.	3750	method calls instead of plain function calls in C++.
2562		3751
		3752	=back
		3753
2563	=head2 EXPORTED API SYMBOLS	3754	=head2 EXPORTED API SYMBOLS
2564		3755
2565	If you need to re-export the API (e.g. via a dll) and you need a list of	3756	If you need to re-export the API (e.g. via a DLL) and you need a list of
2566	exported symbols, you can use the provided F<Symbol.*> files which list	3757	exported symbols, you can use the provided F<Symbol.*> files which list
2567	all public symbols, one per line:	3758	all public symbols, one per line:
2568		3759
2569	Symbols.ev for libev proper	3760	Symbols.ev for libev proper
2570	Symbols.event for the libevent emulation	3761	Symbols.event for the libevent emulation
2571		3762
2572	This can also be used to rename all public symbols to avoid clashes with	3763	This can also be used to rename all public symbols to avoid clashes with
2573	multiple versions of libev linked together (which is obviously bad in	3764	multiple versions of libev linked together (which is obviously bad in
2574	itself, but sometimes it is inconvinient to avoid this).	3765	itself, but sometimes it is inconvenient to avoid this).
2575		3766
2576	A sed command like this will create wrapper C<#define>'s that you need to	3767	A sed command like this will create wrapper C<#define>'s that you need to
2577	include before including F<ev.h>:	3768	include before including F<ev.h>:
2578		3769
2579	<Symbols.ev sed -e "s/.*/#define & myprefix_&/" >wrap.h	3770	<Symbols.ev sed -e "s/.*/#define & myprefix_&/" >wrap.h
…		…
2596	file.	3787	file.
2597		3788
2598	The usage in rxvt-unicode is simpler. It has a F<ev_cpp.h> header file	3789	The usage in rxvt-unicode is simpler. It has a F<ev_cpp.h> header file
2599	that everybody includes and which overrides some configure choices:	3790	that everybody includes and which overrides some configure choices:
2600		3791
2601	#define EV_MINIMAL 1	3792	#define EV_MINIMAL 1
2602	#define EV_USE_POLL 0	3793	#define EV_USE_POLL 0
2603	#define EV_MULTIPLICITY 0	3794	#define EV_MULTIPLICITY 0
2604	#define EV_PERIODIC_ENABLE 0	3795	#define EV_PERIODIC_ENABLE 0
2605	#define EV_STAT_ENABLE 0	3796	#define EV_STAT_ENABLE 0
2606	#define EV_FORK_ENABLE 0	3797	#define EV_FORK_ENABLE 0
2607	#define EV_CONFIG_H <config.h>	3798	#define EV_CONFIG_H <config.h>
2608	#define EV_MINPRI 0	3799	#define EV_MINPRI 0
2609	#define EV_MAXPRI 0	3800	#define EV_MAXPRI 0
2610		3801
2611	#include "ev++.h"	3802	#include "ev++.h"
2612		3803
2613	And a F<ev_cpp.C> implementation file that contains libev proper and is compiled:	3804	And a F<ev_cpp.C> implementation file that contains libev proper and is compiled:
2614		3805
2615	#include "ev_cpp.h"	3806	#include "ev_cpp.h"
2616	#include "ev.c"	3807	#include "ev.c"
2617		3808
		3809	=head1 INTERACTION WITH OTHER PROGRAMS OR LIBRARIES
2618		3810
		3811	=head2 THREADS AND COROUTINES
		3812
		3813	=head3 THREADS
		3814
		3815	All libev functions are reentrant and thread-safe unless explicitly
		3816	documented otherwise, but libev implements no locking itself. This means
		3817	that you can use as many loops as you want in parallel, as long as there
		3818	are no concurrent calls into any libev function with the same loop
		3819	parameter (C<ev_default_*> calls have an implicit default loop parameter,
		3820	of course): libev guarantees that different event loops share no data
		3821	structures that need any locking.
		3822
		3823	Or to put it differently: calls with different loop parameters can be done
		3824	concurrently from multiple threads, calls with the same loop parameter
		3825	must be done serially (but can be done from different threads, as long as
		3826	only one thread ever is inside a call at any point in time, e.g. by using
		3827	a mutex per loop).
		3828
		3829	Specifically to support threads (and signal handlers), libev implements
		3830	so-called C<ev_async> watchers, which allow some limited form of
		3831	concurrency on the same event loop, namely waking it up "from the
		3832	outside".
		3833
		3834	If you want to know which design (one loop, locking, or multiple loops
		3835	without or something else still) is best for your problem, then I cannot
		3836	help you, but here is some generic advice:
		3837
		3838	=over 4
		3839
		3840	=item * most applications have a main thread: use the default libev loop
		3841	in that thread, or create a separate thread running only the default loop.
		3842
		3843	This helps integrating other libraries or software modules that use libev
		3844	themselves and don't care/know about threading.
		3845
		3846	=item * one loop per thread is usually a good model.
		3847
		3848	Doing this is almost never wrong, sometimes a better-performance model
		3849	exists, but it is always a good start.
		3850
		3851	=item * other models exist, such as the leader/follower pattern, where one
		3852	loop is handed through multiple threads in a kind of round-robin fashion.
		3853
		3854	Choosing a model is hard - look around, learn, know that usually you can do
		3855	better than you currently do :-)
		3856
		3857	=item * often you need to talk to some other thread which blocks in the
		3858	event loop.
		3859
		3860	C<ev_async> watchers can be used to wake them up from other threads safely
		3861	(or from signal contexts...).
		3862
		3863	An example use would be to communicate signals or other events that only
		3864	work in the default loop by registering the signal watcher with the
		3865	default loop and triggering an C<ev_async> watcher from the default loop
		3866	watcher callback into the event loop interested in the signal.
		3867
		3868	=back
		3869
		3870	=head3 COROUTINES
		3871
		3872	Libev is very accommodating to coroutines ("cooperative threads"):
		3873	libev fully supports nesting calls to its functions from different
		3874	coroutines (e.g. you can call C<ev_loop> on the same loop from two
		3875	different coroutines, and switch freely between both coroutines running the
		3876	loop, as long as you don't confuse yourself). The only exception is that
		3877	you must not do this from C<ev_periodic> reschedule callbacks.
		3878
		3879	Care has been taken to ensure that libev does not keep local state inside
		3880	C<ev_loop>, and other calls do not usually allow for coroutine switches as
		3881	they do not call any callbacks.
		3882
		3883	=head2 COMPILER WARNINGS
		3884
		3885	Depending on your compiler and compiler settings, you might get no or a
		3886	lot of warnings when compiling libev code. Some people are apparently
		3887	scared by this.
		3888
		3889	However, these are unavoidable for many reasons. For one, each compiler
		3890	has different warnings, and each user has different tastes regarding
		3891	warning options. "Warn-free" code therefore cannot be a goal except when
		3892	targeting a specific compiler and compiler-version.
		3893
		3894	Another reason is that some compiler warnings require elaborate
		3895	workarounds, or other changes to the code that make it less clear and less
		3896	maintainable.
		3897
		3898	And of course, some compiler warnings are just plain stupid, or simply
		3899	wrong (because they don't actually warn about the condition their message
		3900	seems to warn about). For example, certain older gcc versions had some
		3901	warnings that resulted an extreme number of false positives. These have
		3902	been fixed, but some people still insist on making code warn-free with
		3903	such buggy versions.
		3904
		3905	While libev is written to generate as few warnings as possible,
		3906	"warn-free" code is not a goal, and it is recommended not to build libev
		3907	with any compiler warnings enabled unless you are prepared to cope with
		3908	them (e.g. by ignoring them). Remember that warnings are just that:
		3909	warnings, not errors, or proof of bugs.
		3910
		3911
		3912	=head2 VALGRIND
		3913
		3914	Valgrind has a special section here because it is a popular tool that is
		3915	highly useful. Unfortunately, valgrind reports are very hard to interpret.
		3916
		3917	If you think you found a bug (memory leak, uninitialised data access etc.)
		3918	in libev, then check twice: If valgrind reports something like:
		3919
		3920	==2274== definitely lost: 0 bytes in 0 blocks.
		3921	==2274== possibly lost: 0 bytes in 0 blocks.
		3922	==2274== still reachable: 256 bytes in 1 blocks.
		3923
		3924	Then there is no memory leak, just as memory accounted to global variables
		3925	is not a memleak - the memory is still being referenced, and didn't leak.
		3926
		3927	Similarly, under some circumstances, valgrind might report kernel bugs
		3928	as if it were a bug in libev (e.g. in realloc or in the poll backend,
		3929	although an acceptable workaround has been found here), or it might be
		3930	confused.
		3931
		3932	Keep in mind that valgrind is a very good tool, but only a tool. Don't
		3933	make it into some kind of religion.
		3934
		3935	If you are unsure about something, feel free to contact the mailing list
		3936	with the full valgrind report and an explanation on why you think this
		3937	is a bug in libev (best check the archives, too :). However, don't be
		3938	annoyed when you get a brisk "this is no bug" answer and take the chance
		3939	of learning how to interpret valgrind properly.
		3940
		3941	If you need, for some reason, empty reports from valgrind for your project
		3942	I suggest using suppression lists.
		3943
		3944
		3945	=head1 PORTABILITY NOTES
		3946
		3947	=head2 WIN32 PLATFORM LIMITATIONS AND WORKAROUNDS
		3948
		3949	Win32 doesn't support any of the standards (e.g. POSIX) that libev
		3950	requires, and its I/O model is fundamentally incompatible with the POSIX
		3951	model. Libev still offers limited functionality on this platform in
		3952	the form of the C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> backend, and only supports socket
		3953	descriptors. This only applies when using Win32 natively, not when using
		3954	e.g. cygwin.
		3955
		3956	Lifting these limitations would basically require the full
		3957	re-implementation of the I/O system. If you are into these kinds of
		3958	things, then note that glib does exactly that for you in a very portable
		3959	way (note also that glib is the slowest event library known to man).
		3960
		3961	There is no supported compilation method available on windows except
		3962	embedding it into other applications.
		3963
		3964	Sensible signal handling is officially unsupported by Microsoft - libev
		3965	tries its best, but under most conditions, signals will simply not work.
		3966
		3967	Not a libev limitation but worth mentioning: windows apparently doesn't
		3968	accept large writes: instead of resulting in a partial write, windows will
		3969	either accept everything or return C<ENOBUFS> if the buffer is too large,
		3970	so make sure you only write small amounts into your sockets (less than a
		3971	megabyte seems safe, but this apparently depends on the amount of memory
		3972	available).
		3973
		3974	Due to the many, low, and arbitrary limits on the win32 platform and
		3975	the abysmal performance of winsockets, using a large number of sockets
		3976	is not recommended (and not reasonable). If your program needs to use
		3977	more than a hundred or so sockets, then likely it needs to use a totally
		3978	different implementation for windows, as libev offers the POSIX readiness
		3979	notification model, which cannot be implemented efficiently on windows
		3980	(due to Microsoft monopoly games).
		3981
		3982	A typical way to use libev under windows is to embed it (see the embedding
		3983	section for details) and use the following F<evwrap.h> header file instead
		3984	of F<ev.h>:
		3985
		3986	#define EV_STANDALONE /* keeps ev from requiring config.h */
		3987	#define EV_SELECT_IS_WINSOCKET 1 /* configure libev for windows select */
		3988
		3989	#include "ev.h"
		3990
		3991	And compile the following F<evwrap.c> file into your project (make sure
		3992	you do I<not> compile the F<ev.c> or any other embedded source files!):
		3993
		3994	#include "evwrap.h"
		3995	#include "ev.c"
		3996
		3997	=over 4
		3998
		3999	=item The winsocket select function
		4000
		4001	The winsocket C<select> function doesn't follow POSIX in that it
		4002	requires socket I<handles> and not socket I<file descriptors> (it is
		4003	also extremely buggy). This makes select very inefficient, and also
		4004	requires a mapping from file descriptors to socket handles (the Microsoft
		4005	C runtime provides the function C<_open_osfhandle> for this). See the
		4006	discussion of the C<EV_SELECT_USE_FD_SET>, C<EV_SELECT_IS_WINSOCKET> and
		4007	C<EV_FD_TO_WIN32_HANDLE> preprocessor symbols for more info.
		4008
		4009	The configuration for a "naked" win32 using the Microsoft runtime
		4010	libraries and raw winsocket select is:
		4011
		4012	#define EV_USE_SELECT 1
		4013	#define EV_SELECT_IS_WINSOCKET 1 /* forces EV_SELECT_USE_FD_SET, too */
		4014
		4015	Note that winsockets handling of fd sets is O(n), so you can easily get a
		4016	complexity in the O(n²) range when using win32.
		4017
		4018	=item Limited number of file descriptors
		4019
		4020	Windows has numerous arbitrary (and low) limits on things.
		4021
		4022	Early versions of winsocket's select only supported waiting for a maximum
		4023	of C<64> handles (probably owning to the fact that all windows kernels
		4024	can only wait for C<64> things at the same time internally; Microsoft
		4025	recommends spawning a chain of threads and wait for 63 handles and the
		4026	previous thread in each. Sounds great!).
		4027
		4028	Newer versions support more handles, but you need to define C<FD_SETSIZE>
		4029	to some high number (e.g. C<2048>) before compiling the winsocket select
		4030	call (which might be in libev or elsewhere, for example, perl and many
		4031	other interpreters do their own select emulation on windows).
		4032
		4033	Another limit is the number of file descriptors in the Microsoft runtime
		4034	libraries, which by default is C<64> (there must be a hidden I<64>
		4035	fetish or something like this inside Microsoft). You can increase this
		4036	by calling C<_setmaxstdio>, which can increase this limit to C<2048>
		4037	(another arbitrary limit), but is broken in many versions of the Microsoft
		4038	runtime libraries. This might get you to about C<512> or C<2048> sockets
		4039	(depending on windows version and/or the phase of the moon). To get more,
		4040	you need to wrap all I/O functions and provide your own fd management, but
		4041	the cost of calling select (O(n²)) will likely make this unworkable.
		4042
		4043	=back
		4044
		4045	=head2 PORTABILITY REQUIREMENTS
		4046
		4047	In addition to a working ISO-C implementation and of course the
		4048	backend-specific APIs, libev relies on a few additional extensions:
		4049
		4050	=over 4
		4051
		4052	=item C<void (*)(ev_watcher_type *, int revents)> must have compatible
		4053	calling conventions regardless of C<ev_watcher_type *>.
		4054
		4055	Libev assumes not only that all watcher pointers have the same internal
		4056	structure (guaranteed by POSIX but not by ISO C for example), but it also
		4057	assumes that the same (machine) code can be used to call any watcher
		4058	callback: The watcher callbacks have different type signatures, but libev
		4059	calls them using an C<ev_watcher *> internally.
		4060
		4061	=item C<sig_atomic_t volatile> must be thread-atomic as well
		4062
		4063	The type C<sig_atomic_t volatile> (or whatever is defined as
		4064	C<EV_ATOMIC_T>) must be atomic with respect to accesses from different
		4065	threads. This is not part of the specification for C<sig_atomic_t>, but is
		4066	believed to be sufficiently portable.
		4067
		4068	=item C<sigprocmask> must work in a threaded environment
		4069
		4070	Libev uses C<sigprocmask> to temporarily block signals. This is not
		4071	allowed in a threaded program (C<pthread_sigmask> has to be used). Typical
		4072	pthread implementations will either allow C<sigprocmask> in the "main
		4073	thread" or will block signals process-wide, both behaviours would
		4074	be compatible with libev. Interaction between C<sigprocmask> and
		4075	C<pthread_sigmask> could complicate things, however.
		4076
		4077	The most portable way to handle signals is to block signals in all threads
		4078	except the initial one, and run the default loop in the initial thread as
		4079	well.
		4080
		4081	=item C<long> must be large enough for common memory allocation sizes
		4082
		4083	To improve portability and simplify its API, libev uses C<long> internally
		4084	instead of C<size_t> when allocating its data structures. On non-POSIX
		4085	systems (Microsoft...) this might be unexpectedly low, but is still at
		4086	least 31 bits everywhere, which is enough for hundreds of millions of
		4087	watchers.
		4088
		4089	=item C<double> must hold a time value in seconds with enough accuracy
		4090
		4091	The type C<double> is used to represent timestamps. It is required to
		4092	have at least 51 bits of mantissa (and 9 bits of exponent), which is good
		4093	enough for at least into the year 4000. This requirement is fulfilled by
		4094	implementations implementing IEEE 754, which is basically all existing
		4095	ones. With IEEE 754 doubles, you get microsecond accuracy until at least
		4096	2200.
		4097
		4098	=back
		4099
		4100	If you know of other additional requirements drop me a note.
		4101
		4102
2619	=head1 COMPLEXITIES	4103	=head1 ALGORITHMIC COMPLEXITIES
2620		4104
2621	In this section the complexities of (many of) the algorithms used inside	4105	In this section the complexities of (many of) the algorithms used inside
2622	libev will be explained. For complexity discussions about backends see the	4106	libev will be documented. For complexity discussions about backends see
2623	documentation for C<ev_default_init>.	4107	the documentation for C<ev_default_init>.
2624		4108
2625	All of the following are about amortised time: If an array needs to be	4109	All of the following are about amortised time: If an array needs to be
2626	extended, libev needs to realloc and move the whole array, but this	4110	extended, libev needs to realloc and move the whole array, but this
2627	happens asymptotically never with higher number of elements, so O(1) might	4111	happens asymptotically rarer with higher number of elements, so O(1) might
2628	mean it might do a lengthy realloc operation in rare cases, but on average	4112	mean that libev does a lengthy realloc operation in rare cases, but on
2629	it is much faster and asymptotically approaches constant time.	4113	average it is much faster and asymptotically approaches constant time.
2630		4114
2631	=over 4	4115	=over 4
2632		4116
2633	=item Starting and stopping timer/periodic watchers: O(log skipped_other_timers)	4117	=item Starting and stopping timer/periodic watchers: O(log skipped_other_timers)
2634		4118
2635	This means that, when you have a watcher that triggers in one hour and	4119	This means that, when you have a watcher that triggers in one hour and
2636	there are 100 watchers that would trigger before that then inserting will	4120	there are 100 watchers that would trigger before that, then inserting will
2637	have to skip those 100 watchers.	4121	have to skip roughly seven (C<ld 100>) of these watchers.
2638		4122
2639	=item Changing timer/periodic watchers (by autorepeat, again): O(log skipped_other_timers)	4123	=item Changing timer/periodic watchers (by autorepeat or calling again): O(log skipped_other_timers)
2640		4124
2641	That means that for changing a timer costs less than removing/adding them	4125	That means that changing a timer costs less than removing/adding them,
2642	as only the relative motion in the event queue has to be paid for.	4126	as only the relative motion in the event queue has to be paid for.
2643		4127
2644	=item Starting io/check/prepare/idle/signal/child watchers: O(1)	4128	=item Starting io/check/prepare/idle/signal/child/fork/async watchers: O(1)
2645		4129
2646	These just add the watcher into an array or at the head of a list.	4130	These just add the watcher into an array or at the head of a list.
		4131
2647	=item Stopping check/prepare/idle watchers: O(1)	4132	=item Stopping check/prepare/idle/fork/async watchers: O(1)
2648		4133
2649	=item Stopping an io/signal/child watcher: O(number_of_watchers_for_this_(fd/signal/pid % EV_PID_HASHSIZE))	4134	=item Stopping an io/signal/child watcher: O(number_of_watchers_for_this_(fd/signal/pid % EV_PID_HASHSIZE))
2650		4135
2651	These watchers are stored in lists then need to be walked to find the	4136	These watchers are stored in lists, so they need to be walked to find the
2652	correct watcher to remove. The lists are usually short (you don't usually	4137	correct watcher to remove. The lists are usually short (you don't usually
2653	have many watchers waiting for the same fd or signal).	4138	have many watchers waiting for the same fd or signal: one is typical, two
		4139	is rare).
2654		4140
2655	=item Finding the next timer per loop iteration: O(1)	4141	=item Finding the next timer in each loop iteration: O(1)
		4142
		4143	By virtue of using a binary or 4-heap, the next timer is always found at a
		4144	fixed position in the storage array.
2656		4145
2657	=item Each change on a file descriptor per loop iteration: O(number_of_watchers_for_this_fd)	4146	=item Each change on a file descriptor per loop iteration: O(number_of_watchers_for_this_fd)
2658		4147
2659	A change means an I/O watcher gets started or stopped, which requires	4148	A change means an I/O watcher gets started or stopped, which requires
2660	libev to recalculate its status (and possibly tell the kernel).	4149	libev to recalculate its status (and possibly tell the kernel, depending
		4150	on backend and whether C<ev_io_set> was used).
2661		4151
2662	=item Activating one watcher: O(1)	4152	=item Activating one watcher (putting it into the pending state): O(1)
2663		4153
2664	=item Priority handling: O(number_of_priorities)	4154	=item Priority handling: O(number_of_priorities)
2665		4155
2666	Priorities are implemented by allocating some space for each	4156	Priorities are implemented by allocating some space for each
2667	priority. When doing priority-based operations, libev usually has to	4157	priority. When doing priority-based operations, libev usually has to
2668	linearly search all the priorities.	4158	linearly search all the priorities, but starting/stopping and activating
		4159	watchers becomes O(1) with respect to priority handling.
		4160
		4161	=item Sending an ev_async: O(1)
		4162
		4163	=item Processing ev_async_send: O(number_of_async_watchers)
		4164
		4165	=item Processing signals: O(max_signal_number)
		4166
		4167	Sending involves a system call I<iff> there were no other C<ev_async_send>
		4168	calls in the current loop iteration. Checking for async and signal events
		4169	involves iterating over all running async watchers or all signal numbers.
2669		4170
2670	=back	4171	=back
2671		4172
2672		4173
		4174	=head1 GLOSSARY
		4175
		4176	=over 4
		4177
		4178	=item active
		4179
		4180	A watcher is active as long as it has been started (has been attached to
		4181	an event loop) but not yet stopped (disassociated from the event loop).
		4182
		4183	=item application
		4184
		4185	In this document, an application is whatever is using libev.
		4186
		4187	=item callback
		4188
		4189	The address of a function that is called when some event has been
		4190	detected. Callbacks are being passed the event loop, the watcher that
		4191	received the event, and the actual event bitset.
		4192
		4193	=item callback invocation
		4194
		4195	The act of calling the callback associated with a watcher.
		4196
		4197	=item event
		4198
		4199	A change of state of some external event, such as data now being available
		4200	for reading on a file descriptor, time having passed or simply not having
		4201	any other events happening anymore.
		4202
		4203	In libev, events are represented as single bits (such as C<EV_READ> or
		4204	C<EV_TIMEOUT>).
		4205
		4206	=item event library
		4207
		4208	A software package implementing an event model and loop.
		4209
		4210	=item event loop
		4211
		4212	An entity that handles and processes external events and converts them
		4213	into callback invocations.
		4214
		4215	=item event model
		4216
		4217	The model used to describe how an event loop handles and processes
		4218	watchers and events.
		4219
		4220	=item pending
		4221
		4222	A watcher is pending as soon as the corresponding event has been detected,
		4223	and stops being pending as soon as the watcher will be invoked or its
		4224	pending status is explicitly cleared by the application.
		4225
		4226	A watcher can be pending, but not active. Stopping a watcher also clears
		4227	its pending status.
		4228
		4229	=item real time
		4230
		4231	The physical time that is observed. It is apparently strictly monotonic :)
		4232
		4233	=item wall-clock time
		4234
		4235	The time and date as shown on clocks. Unlike real time, it can actually
		4236	be wrong and jump forwards and backwards, e.g. when the you adjust your
		4237	clock.
		4238
		4239	=item watcher
		4240
		4241	A data structure that describes interest in certain events. Watchers need
		4242	to be started (attached to an event loop) before they can receive events.
		4243
		4244	=item watcher invocation
		4245
		4246	The act of calling the callback associated with a watcher.
		4247
		4248	=back
		4249
2673	=head1 AUTHOR	4250	=head1 AUTHOR
2674		4251
2675	Marc Lehmann <libev@schmorp.de>.	4252	Marc Lehmann <libev@schmorp.de>, with repeated corrections by Mikael Magnusson.
2676		4253

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