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Revision 1.60 by root, Wed Nov 28 18:29:30 2007 UTC vs.
Revision 1.196 by root, Tue Oct 21 20:04:14 2008 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	// every watcher type has its own typedef'd struct
		15	// with the name ev_<type>
13	ev_io stdin_watcher;	16	ev_io stdin_watcher;
14	ev_timer timeout_watcher;	17	ev_timer timeout_watcher;
15		18
16	/* called when data readable on stdin */	19	// all watcher callbacks have a similar signature
		20	// this callback is called when data is readable on stdin
17	static void	21	static void
18	stdin_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_io *w, int revents)	22	stdin_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_io *w, int revents)
19	{	23	{
20	/* puts ("stdin ready"); */	24	puts ("stdin ready");
21	ev_io_stop (EV_A_ w); /* just a syntax example */	25	// for one-shot events, one must manually stop the watcher
22	ev_unloop (EV_A_ EVUNLOOP_ALL); /* leave all loop calls */	26	// with its corresponding stop function.
		27	ev_io_stop (EV_A_ w);
		28
		29	// this causes all nested ev_loop's to stop iterating
		30	ev_unloop (EV_A_ EVUNLOOP_ALL);
23	}	31	}
24		32
		33	// another callback, this time for a time-out
25	static void	34	static void
26	timeout_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_timer *w, int revents)	35	timeout_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_timer *w, int revents)
27	{	36	{
28	/* puts ("timeout"); */	37	puts ("timeout");
29	ev_unloop (EV_A_ EVUNLOOP_ONE); /* leave one loop call */	38	// this causes the innermost ev_loop to stop iterating
		39	ev_unloop (EV_A_ EVUNLOOP_ONE);
30	}	40	}
31		41
32	int	42	int
33	main (void)	43	main (void)
34	{	44	{
		45	// use the default event loop unless you have special needs
35	struct ev_loop *loop = ev_default_loop (0);	46	struct ev_loop *loop = ev_default_loop (0);
36		47
37	/* initialise an io watcher, then start it */	48	// initialise an io watcher, then start it
		49	// this one will watch for stdin to become readable
38	ev_io_init (&stdin_watcher, stdin_cb, /*STDIN_FILENO*/ 0, EV_READ);	50	ev_io_init (&stdin_watcher, stdin_cb, /*STDIN_FILENO*/ 0, EV_READ);
39	ev_io_start (loop, &stdin_watcher);	51	ev_io_start (loop, &stdin_watcher);
40		52
		53	// initialise a timer watcher, then start it
41	/* simple non-repeating 5.5 second timeout */	54	// simple non-repeating 5.5 second timeout
42	ev_timer_init (&timeout_watcher, timeout_cb, 5.5, 0.);	55	ev_timer_init (&timeout_watcher, timeout_cb, 5.5, 0.);
43	ev_timer_start (loop, &timeout_watcher);	56	ev_timer_start (loop, &timeout_watcher);
44		57
45	/* loop till timeout or data ready */	58	// now wait for events to arrive
46	ev_loop (loop, 0);	59	ev_loop (loop, 0);
47		60
		61	// unloop was called, so exit
48	return 0;	62	return 0;
49	}	63	}
50		64
51	=head1 DESCRIPTION	65	=head1 DESCRIPTION
52		66
		67	The newest version of this document is also available as an html-formatted
		68	web page you might find easier to navigate when reading it for the first
		69	time: L<http://pod.tst.eu/http://cvs.schmorp.de/libev/ev.pod>.
		70
53	Libev is an event loop: you register interest in certain events (such as a	71	Libev is an event loop: you register interest in certain events (such as a
54	file descriptor being readable or a timeout occuring), and it will manage	72	file descriptor being readable or a timeout occurring), and it will manage
55	these event sources and provide your program with events.	73	these event sources and provide your program with events.
56		74
57	To do this, it must take more or less complete control over your process	75	To do this, it must take more or less complete control over your process
58	(or thread) by executing the I<event loop> handler, and will then	76	(or thread) by executing the I<event loop> handler, and will then
59	communicate events via a callback mechanism.	77	communicate events via a callback mechanism.
…		…
61	You register interest in certain events by registering so-called I<event	79	You register interest in certain events by registering so-called I<event
62	watchers>, which are relatively small C structures you initialise with the	80	watchers>, which are relatively small C structures you initialise with the
63	details of the event, and then hand it over to libev by I<starting> the	81	details of the event, and then hand it over to libev by I<starting> the
64	watcher.	82	watcher.
65		83
66	=head1 FEATURES	84	=head2 FEATURES
67		85
68	Libev supports C<select>, C<poll>, the Linux-specific C<epoll>, the	86	Libev supports C<select>, C<poll>, the Linux-specific C<epoll>, the
69	BSD-specific C<kqueue> and the Solaris-specific event port mechanisms	87	BSD-specific C<kqueue> and the Solaris-specific event port mechanisms
70	for file descriptor events (C<ev_io>), the Linux C<inotify> interface	88	for file descriptor events (C<ev_io>), the Linux C<inotify> interface
71	(for C<ev_stat>), relative timers (C<ev_timer>), absolute timers	89	(for C<ev_stat>), relative timers (C<ev_timer>), absolute timers
…		…
78		96
79	It also is quite fast (see this	97	It also is quite fast (see this
80	L<benchmark|http://libev.schmorp.de/bench.html> comparing it to libevent	98	L<benchmark|http://libev.schmorp.de/bench.html> comparing it to libevent
81	for example).	99	for example).
82		100
83	=head1 CONVENTIONS	101	=head2 CONVENTIONS
84		102
85	Libev is very configurable. In this manual the default configuration will	103	Libev is very configurable. In this manual the default (and most common)
86	be described, which supports multiple event loops. For more info about	104	configuration will be described, which supports multiple event loops. For
87	various configuration options please have a look at B<EMBED> section in	105	more info about various configuration options please have a look at
88	this manual. If libev was configured without support for multiple event	106	B<EMBED> section in this manual. If libev was configured without support
89	loops, then all functions taking an initial argument of name C<loop>	107	for multiple event loops, then all functions taking an initial argument of
90	(which is always of type C<struct ev_loop *>) will not have this argument.	108	name C<loop> (which is always of type C<struct ev_loop *>) will not have
		109	this argument.
91		110
92	=head1 TIME REPRESENTATION	111	=head2 TIME REPRESENTATION
93		112
94	Libev represents time as a single floating point number, representing the	113	Libev represents time as a single floating point number, representing the
95	(fractional) number of seconds since the (POSIX) epoch (somewhere near	114	(fractional) number of seconds since the (POSIX) epoch (somewhere near
96	the beginning of 1970, details are complicated, don't ask). This type is	115	the beginning of 1970, details are complicated, don't ask). This type is
97	called C<ev_tstamp>, which is what you should use too. It usually aliases	116	called C<ev_tstamp>, which is what you should use too. It usually aliases
98	to the C<double> type in C, and when you need to do any calculations on	117	to the C<double> type in C, and when you need to do any calculations on
99	it, you should treat it as such.	118	it, you should treat it as some floating point value. Unlike the name
		119	component C<stamp> might indicate, it is also used for time differences
		120	throughout libev.
		121
		122	=head1 ERROR HANDLING
		123
		124	Libev knows three classes of errors: operating system errors, usage errors
		125	and internal errors (bugs).
		126
		127	When libev catches an operating system error it cannot handle (for example
		128	a system call indicating a condition libev cannot fix), it calls the callback
		129	set via C<ev_set_syserr_cb>, which is supposed to fix the problem or
		130	abort. The default is to print a diagnostic message and to call C<abort
		131	()>.
		132
		133	When libev detects a usage error such as a negative timer interval, then
		134	it will print a diagnostic message and abort (via the C<assert> mechanism,
		135	so C<NDEBUG> will disable this checking): these are programming errors in
		136	the libev caller and need to be fixed there.
		137
		138	Libev also has a few internal error-checking C<assert>ions, and also has
		139	extensive consistency checking code. These do not trigger under normal
		140	circumstances, as they indicate either a bug in libev or worse.
		141
100		142
101	=head1 GLOBAL FUNCTIONS	143	=head1 GLOBAL FUNCTIONS
102		144
103	These functions can be called anytime, even before initialising the	145	These functions can be called anytime, even before initialising the
104	library in any way.	146	library in any way.
…		…
109		151
110	Returns the current time as libev would use it. Please note that the	152	Returns the current time as libev would use it. Please note that the
111	C<ev_now> function is usually faster and also often returns the timestamp	153	C<ev_now> function is usually faster and also often returns the timestamp
112	you actually want to know.	154	you actually want to know.
113		155
		156	=item ev_sleep (ev_tstamp interval)
		157
		158	Sleep for the given interval: The current thread will be blocked until
		159	either it is interrupted or the given time interval has passed. Basically
		160	this is a sub-second-resolution C<sleep ()>.
		161
114	=item int ev_version_major ()	162	=item int ev_version_major ()
115		163
116	=item int ev_version_minor ()	164	=item int ev_version_minor ()
117		165
118	You can find out the major and minor version numbers of the library	166	You can find out the major and minor ABI version numbers of the library
119	you linked against by calling the functions C<ev_version_major> and	167	you linked against by calling the functions C<ev_version_major> and
120	C<ev_version_minor>. If you want, you can compare against the global	168	C<ev_version_minor>. If you want, you can compare against the global
121	symbols C<EV_VERSION_MAJOR> and C<EV_VERSION_MINOR>, which specify the	169	symbols C<EV_VERSION_MAJOR> and C<EV_VERSION_MINOR>, which specify the
122	version of the library your program was compiled against.	170	version of the library your program was compiled against.
123		171
		172	These version numbers refer to the ABI version of the library, not the
		173	release version.
		174
124	Usually, it's a good idea to terminate if the major versions mismatch,	175	Usually, it's a good idea to terminate if the major versions mismatch,
125	as this indicates an incompatible change. Minor versions are usually	176	as this indicates an incompatible change. Minor versions are usually
126	compatible to older versions, so a larger minor version alone is usually	177	compatible to older versions, so a larger minor version alone is usually
127	not a problem.	178	not a problem.
128		179
129	Example: Make sure we haven't accidentally been linked against the wrong	180	Example: Make sure we haven't accidentally been linked against the wrong
130	version.	181	version.
131		182
132	assert (("libev version mismatch",	183	assert (("libev version mismatch",
133	ev_version_major () == EV_VERSION_MAJOR	184	ev_version_major () == EV_VERSION_MAJOR
134	&& ev_version_minor () >= EV_VERSION_MINOR));	185	&& ev_version_minor () >= EV_VERSION_MINOR));
135		186
136	=item unsigned int ev_supported_backends ()	187	=item unsigned int ev_supported_backends ()
137		188
138	Return the set of all backends (i.e. their corresponding C<EV_BACKEND_*>	189	Return the set of all backends (i.e. their corresponding C<EV_BACKEND_*>
139	value) compiled into this binary of libev (independent of their	190	value) compiled into this binary of libev (independent of their
…		…
141	a description of the set values.	192	a description of the set values.
142		193
143	Example: make sure we have the epoll method, because yeah this is cool and	194	Example: make sure we have the epoll method, because yeah this is cool and
144	a must have and can we have a torrent of it please!!!11	195	a must have and can we have a torrent of it please!!!11
145		196
146	assert (("sorry, no epoll, no sex",	197	assert (("sorry, no epoll, no sex",
147	ev_supported_backends () & EVBACKEND_EPOLL));	198	ev_supported_backends () & EVBACKEND_EPOLL));
148		199
149	=item unsigned int ev_recommended_backends ()	200	=item unsigned int ev_recommended_backends ()
150		201
151	Return the set of all backends compiled into this binary of libev and also	202	Return the set of all backends compiled into this binary of libev and also
152	recommended for this platform. This set is often smaller than the one	203	recommended for this platform. This set is often smaller than the one
153	returned by C<ev_supported_backends>, as for example kqueue is broken on	204	returned by C<ev_supported_backends>, as for example kqueue is broken on
154	most BSDs and will not be autodetected unless you explicitly request it	205	most BSDs and will not be auto-detected unless you explicitly request it
155	(assuming you know what you are doing). This is the set of backends that	206	(assuming you know what you are doing). This is the set of backends that
156	libev will probe for if you specify no backends explicitly.	207	libev will probe for if you specify no backends explicitly.
157		208
158	=item unsigned int ev_embeddable_backends ()	209	=item unsigned int ev_embeddable_backends ()
159		210
…		…
163	C<ev_embeddable_backends () & ev_supported_backends ()>, likewise for	214	C<ev_embeddable_backends () & ev_supported_backends ()>, likewise for
164	recommended ones.	215	recommended ones.
165		216
166	See the description of C<ev_embed> watchers for more info.	217	See the description of C<ev_embed> watchers for more info.
167		218
168	=item ev_set_allocator (void *(*cb)(void *ptr, long size))	219	=item ev_set_allocator (void *(*cb)(void *ptr, long size)) [NOT REENTRANT]
169		220
170	Sets the allocation function to use (the prototype is similar - the	221	Sets the allocation function to use (the prototype is similar - the
171	semantics is identical - to the realloc C function). It is used to	222	semantics are identical to the C<realloc> C89/SuS/POSIX function). It is
172	allocate and free memory (no surprises here). If it returns zero when	223	used to allocate and free memory (no surprises here). If it returns zero
173	memory needs to be allocated, the library might abort or take some	224	when memory needs to be allocated (C<size != 0>), the library might abort
174	potentially destructive action. The default is your system realloc	225	or take some potentially destructive action.
175	function.	226
		227	Since some systems (at least OpenBSD and Darwin) fail to implement
		228	correct C<realloc> semantics, libev will use a wrapper around the system
		229	C<realloc> and C<free> functions by default.
176		230
177	You could override this function in high-availability programs to, say,	231	You could override this function in high-availability programs to, say,
178	free some memory if it cannot allocate memory, to use a special allocator,	232	free some memory if it cannot allocate memory, to use a special allocator,
179	or even to sleep a while and retry until some memory is available.	233	or even to sleep a while and retry until some memory is available.
180		234
181	Example: Replace the libev allocator with one that waits a bit and then	235	Example: Replace the libev allocator with one that waits a bit and then
182	retries).	236	retries (example requires a standards-compliant C<realloc>).
183		237
184	static void *	238	static void *
185	persistent_realloc (void *ptr, size_t size)	239	persistent_realloc (void *ptr, size_t size)
186	{	240	{
187	for (;;)	241	for (;;)
…		…
196	}	250	}
197		251
198	...	252	...
199	ev_set_allocator (persistent_realloc);	253	ev_set_allocator (persistent_realloc);
200		254
201	=item ev_set_syserr_cb (void (*cb)(const char *msg));	255	=item ev_set_syserr_cb (void (*cb)(const char *msg)); [NOT REENTRANT]
202		256
203	Set the callback function to call on a retryable syscall error (such	257	Set the callback function to call on a retryable system call error (such
204	as failed select, poll, epoll_wait). The message is a printable string	258	as failed select, poll, epoll_wait). The message is a printable string
205	indicating the system call or subsystem causing the problem. If this	259	indicating the system call or subsystem causing the problem. If this
206	callback is set, then libev will expect it to remedy the sitution, no	260	callback is set, then libev will expect it to remedy the situation, no
207	matter what, when it returns. That is, libev will generally retry the	261	matter what, when it returns. That is, libev will generally retry the
208	requested operation, or, if the condition doesn't go away, do bad stuff	262	requested operation, or, if the condition doesn't go away, do bad stuff
209	(such as abort).	263	(such as abort).
210		264
211	Example: This is basically the same thing that libev does internally, too.	265	Example: This is basically the same thing that libev does internally, too.
…		…
226		280
227	An event loop is described by a C<struct ev_loop *>. The library knows two	281	An event loop is described by a C<struct ev_loop *>. The library knows two
228	types of such loops, the I<default> loop, which supports signals and child	282	types of such loops, the I<default> loop, which supports signals and child
229	events, and dynamically created loops which do not.	283	events, and dynamically created loops which do not.
230		284
231	If you use threads, a common model is to run the default event loop
232	in your main thread (or in a separate thread) and for each thread you
233	create, you also create another event loop. Libev itself does no locking
234	whatsoever, so if you mix calls to the same event loop in different
235	threads, make sure you lock (this is usually a bad idea, though, even if
236	done correctly, because it's hideous and inefficient).
237
238	=over 4	285	=over 4
239		286
240	=item struct ev_loop *ev_default_loop (unsigned int flags)	287	=item struct ev_loop *ev_default_loop (unsigned int flags)
241		288
242	This will initialise the default event loop if it hasn't been initialised	289	This will initialise the default event loop if it hasn't been initialised
…		…
245	flags. If that is troubling you, check C<ev_backend ()> afterwards).	292	flags. If that is troubling you, check C<ev_backend ()> afterwards).
246		293
247	If you don't know what event loop to use, use the one returned from this	294	If you don't know what event loop to use, use the one returned from this
248	function.	295	function.
249		296
		297	Note that this function is I<not> thread-safe, so if you want to use it
		298	from multiple threads, you have to lock (note also that this is unlikely,
		299	as loops cannot bes hared easily between threads anyway).
		300
		301	The default loop is the only loop that can handle C<ev_signal> and
		302	C<ev_child> watchers, and to do this, it always registers a handler
		303	for C<SIGCHLD>. If this is a problem for your application you can either
		304	create a dynamic loop with C<ev_loop_new> that doesn't do that, or you
		305	can simply overwrite the C<SIGCHLD> signal handler I<after> calling
		306	C<ev_default_init>.
		307
250	The flags argument can be used to specify special behaviour or specific	308	The flags argument can be used to specify special behaviour or specific
251	backends to use, and is usually specified as C<0> (or C<EVFLAG_AUTO>).	309	backends to use, and is usually specified as C<0> (or C<EVFLAG_AUTO>).
252		310
253	The following flags are supported:	311	The following flags are supported:
254		312
…		…
259	The default flags value. Use this if you have no clue (it's the right	317	The default flags value. Use this if you have no clue (it's the right
260	thing, believe me).	318	thing, believe me).
261		319
262	=item C<EVFLAG_NOENV>	320	=item C<EVFLAG_NOENV>
263		321
264	If this flag bit is ored into the flag value (or the program runs setuid	322	If this flag bit is or'ed into the flag value (or the program runs setuid
265	or setgid) then libev will I<not> look at the environment variable	323	or setgid) then libev will I<not> look at the environment variable
266	C<LIBEV_FLAGS>. Otherwise (the default), this environment variable will	324	C<LIBEV_FLAGS>. Otherwise (the default), this environment variable will
267	override the flags completely if it is found in the environment. This is	325	override the flags completely if it is found in the environment. This is
268	useful to try out specific backends to test their performance, or to work	326	useful to try out specific backends to test their performance, or to work
269	around bugs.	327	around bugs.
270		328
		329	=item C<EVFLAG_FORKCHECK>
		330
		331	Instead of calling C<ev_default_fork> or C<ev_loop_fork> manually after
		332	a fork, you can also make libev check for a fork in each iteration by
		333	enabling this flag.
		334
		335	This works by calling C<getpid ()> on every iteration of the loop,
		336	and thus this might slow down your event loop if you do a lot of loop
		337	iterations and little real work, but is usually not noticeable (on my
		338	GNU/Linux system for example, C<getpid> is actually a simple 5-insn sequence
		339	without a system call and thus I<very> fast, but my GNU/Linux system also has
		340	C<pthread_atfork> which is even faster).
		341
		342	The big advantage of this flag is that you can forget about fork (and
		343	forget about forgetting to tell libev about forking) when you use this
		344	flag.
		345
		346	This flag setting cannot be overridden or specified in the C<LIBEV_FLAGS>
		347	environment variable.
		348
271	=item C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> (value 1, portable select backend)	349	=item C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> (value 1, portable select backend)
272		350
273	This is your standard select(2) backend. Not I<completely> standard, as	351	This is your standard select(2) backend. Not I<completely> standard, as
274	libev tries to roll its own fd_set with no limits on the number of fds,	352	libev tries to roll its own fd_set with no limits on the number of fds,
275	but if that fails, expect a fairly low limit on the number of fds when	353	but if that fails, expect a fairly low limit on the number of fds when
276	using this backend. It doesn't scale too well (O(highest_fd)), but its usually	354	using this backend. It doesn't scale too well (O(highest_fd)), but its
277	the fastest backend for a low number of fds.	355	usually the fastest backend for a low number of (low-numbered :) fds.
		356
		357	To get good performance out of this backend you need a high amount of
		358	parallelism (most of the file descriptors should be busy). If you are
		359	writing a server, you should C<accept ()> in a loop to accept as many
		360	connections as possible during one iteration. You might also want to have
		361	a look at C<ev_set_io_collect_interval ()> to increase the amount of
		362	readiness notifications you get per iteration.
		363
		364	This backend maps C<EV_READ> to the C<readfds> set and C<EV_WRITE> to the
		365	C<writefds> set (and to work around Microsoft Windows bugs, also onto the
		366	C<exceptfds> set on that platform).
278		367
279	=item C<EVBACKEND_POLL> (value 2, poll backend, available everywhere except on windows)	368	=item C<EVBACKEND_POLL> (value 2, poll backend, available everywhere except on windows)
280		369
281	And this is your standard poll(2) backend. It's more complicated than	370	And this is your standard poll(2) backend. It's more complicated
282	select, but handles sparse fds better and has no artificial limit on the	371	than select, but handles sparse fds better and has no artificial
283	number of fds you can use (except it will slow down considerably with a	372	limit on the number of fds you can use (except it will slow down
284	lot of inactive fds). It scales similarly to select, i.e. O(total_fds).	373	considerably with a lot of inactive fds). It scales similarly to select,
		374	i.e. O(total_fds). See the entry for C<EVBACKEND_SELECT>, above, for
		375	performance tips.
		376
		377	This backend maps C<EV_READ> to C<POLLIN | POLLERR | POLLHUP>, and
		378	C<EV_WRITE> to C<POLLOUT | POLLERR | POLLHUP>.
285		379
286	=item C<EVBACKEND_EPOLL> (value 4, Linux)	380	=item C<EVBACKEND_EPOLL> (value 4, Linux)
287		381
288	For few fds, this backend is a bit little slower than poll and select,	382	For few fds, this backend is a bit little slower than poll and select,
289	but it scales phenomenally better. While poll and select usually scale like	383	but it scales phenomenally better. While poll and select usually scale
290	O(total_fds) where n is the total number of fds (or the highest fd), epoll scales	384	like O(total_fds) where n is the total number of fds (or the highest fd),
291	either O(1) or O(active_fds).	385	epoll scales either O(1) or O(active_fds). The epoll design has a number
		386	of shortcomings, such as silently dropping events in some hard-to-detect
		387	cases and requiring a system call per fd change, no fork support and bad
		388	support for dup.
292		389
293	While stopping and starting an I/O watcher in the same iteration will	390	While stopping, setting and starting an I/O watcher in the same iteration
294	result in some caching, there is still a syscall per such incident	391	will result in some caching, there is still a system call per such incident
295	(because the fd could point to a different file description now), so its	392	(because the fd could point to a different file description now), so its
296	best to avoid that. Also, dup()ed file descriptors might not work very	393	best to avoid that. Also, C<dup ()>'ed file descriptors might not work
297	well if you register events for both fds.	394	very well if you register events for both fds.
298		395
299	Please note that epoll sometimes generates spurious notifications, so you	396	Please note that epoll sometimes generates spurious notifications, so you
300	need to use non-blocking I/O or other means to avoid blocking when no data	397	need to use non-blocking I/O or other means to avoid blocking when no data
301	(or space) is available.	398	(or space) is available.
302		399
		400	Best performance from this backend is achieved by not unregistering all
		401	watchers for a file descriptor until it has been closed, if possible,
		402	i.e. keep at least one watcher active per fd at all times. Stopping and
		403	starting a watcher (without re-setting it) also usually doesn't cause
		404	extra overhead.
		405
		406	While nominally embeddable in other event loops, this feature is broken in
		407	all kernel versions tested so far.
		408
		409	This backend maps C<EV_READ> and C<EV_WRITE> in the same way as
		410	C<EVBACKEND_POLL>.
		411
303	=item C<EVBACKEND_KQUEUE> (value 8, most BSD clones)	412	=item C<EVBACKEND_KQUEUE> (value 8, most BSD clones)
304		413
305	Kqueue deserves special mention, as at the time of this writing, it	414	Kqueue deserves special mention, as at the time of this writing, it was
306	was broken on all BSDs except NetBSD (usually it doesn't work with	415	broken on all BSDs except NetBSD (usually it doesn't work reliably with
307	anything but sockets and pipes, except on Darwin, where of course its	416	anything but sockets and pipes, except on Darwin, where of course it's
308	completely useless). For this reason its not being "autodetected"	417	completely useless). For this reason it's not being "auto-detected" unless
309	unless you explicitly specify it explicitly in the flags (i.e. using	418	you explicitly specify it in the flags (i.e. using C<EVBACKEND_KQUEUE>) or
310	C<EVBACKEND_KQUEUE>).	419	libev was compiled on a known-to-be-good (-enough) system like NetBSD.
		420
		421	You still can embed kqueue into a normal poll or select backend and use it
		422	only for sockets (after having made sure that sockets work with kqueue on
		423	the target platform). See C<ev_embed> watchers for more info.
311		424
312	It scales in the same way as the epoll backend, but the interface to the	425	It scales in the same way as the epoll backend, but the interface to the
313	kernel is more efficient (which says nothing about its actual speed, of	426	kernel is more efficient (which says nothing about its actual speed, of
314	course). While starting and stopping an I/O watcher does not cause an	427	course). While stopping, setting and starting an I/O watcher does never
315	extra syscall as with epoll, it still adds up to four event changes per	428	cause an extra system call as with C<EVBACKEND_EPOLL>, it still adds up to
316	incident, so its best to avoid that.	429	two event changes per incident. Support for C<fork ()> is very bad and it
		430	drops fds silently in similarly hard-to-detect cases.
		431
		432	This backend usually performs well under most conditions.
		433
		434	While nominally embeddable in other event loops, this doesn't work
		435	everywhere, so you might need to test for this. And since it is broken
		436	almost everywhere, you should only use it when you have a lot of sockets
		437	(for which it usually works), by embedding it into another event loop
		438	(e.g. C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> or C<EVBACKEND_POLL>) and, did I mention it,
		439	using it only for sockets.
		440
		441	This backend maps C<EV_READ> into an C<EVFILT_READ> kevent with
		442	C<NOTE_EOF>, and C<EV_WRITE> into an C<EVFILT_WRITE> kevent with
		443	C<NOTE_EOF>.
317		444
318	=item C<EVBACKEND_DEVPOLL> (value 16, Solaris 8)	445	=item C<EVBACKEND_DEVPOLL> (value 16, Solaris 8)
319		446
320	This is not implemented yet (and might never be).	447	This is not implemented yet (and might never be, unless you send me an
		448	implementation). According to reports, C</dev/poll> only supports sockets
		449	and is not embeddable, which would limit the usefulness of this backend
		450	immensely.
321		451
322	=item C<EVBACKEND_PORT> (value 32, Solaris 10)	452	=item C<EVBACKEND_PORT> (value 32, Solaris 10)
323		453
324	This uses the Solaris 10 port mechanism. As with everything on Solaris,	454	This uses the Solaris 10 event port mechanism. As with everything on Solaris,
325	it's really slow, but it still scales very well (O(active_fds)).	455	it's really slow, but it still scales very well (O(active_fds)).
326		456
327	Please note that solaris ports can result in a lot of spurious	457	Please note that Solaris event ports can deliver a lot of spurious
328	notifications, so you need to use non-blocking I/O or other means to avoid	458	notifications, so you need to use non-blocking I/O or other means to avoid
329	blocking when no data (or space) is available.	459	blocking when no data (or space) is available.
		460
		461	While this backend scales well, it requires one system call per active
		462	file descriptor per loop iteration. For small and medium numbers of file
		463	descriptors a "slow" C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> or C<EVBACKEND_POLL> backend
		464	might perform better.
		465
		466	On the positive side, with the exception of the spurious readiness
		467	notifications, this backend actually performed fully to specification
		468	in all tests and is fully embeddable, which is a rare feat among the
		469	OS-specific backends.
		470
		471	This backend maps C<EV_READ> and C<EV_WRITE> in the same way as
		472	C<EVBACKEND_POLL>.
330		473
331	=item C<EVBACKEND_ALL>	474	=item C<EVBACKEND_ALL>
332		475
333	Try all backends (even potentially broken ones that wouldn't be tried	476	Try all backends (even potentially broken ones that wouldn't be tried
334	with C<EVFLAG_AUTO>). Since this is a mask, you can do stuff such as	477	with C<EVFLAG_AUTO>). Since this is a mask, you can do stuff such as
335	C<EVBACKEND_ALL & ~EVBACKEND_KQUEUE>.	478	C<EVBACKEND_ALL & ~EVBACKEND_KQUEUE>.
336		479
		480	It is definitely not recommended to use this flag.
		481
337	=back	482	=back
338		483
339	If one or more of these are ored into the flags value, then only these	484	If one or more of these are or'ed into the flags value, then only these
340	backends will be tried (in the reverse order as given here). If none are	485	backends will be tried (in the reverse order as listed here). If none are
341	specified, most compiled-in backend will be tried, usually in reverse	486	specified, all backends in C<ev_recommended_backends ()> will be tried.
342	order of their flag values :)
343		487
344	The most typical usage is like this:	488	Example: This is the most typical usage.
345		489
346	if (!ev_default_loop (0))	490	if (!ev_default_loop (0))
347	fatal ("could not initialise libev, bad $LIBEV_FLAGS in environment?");	491	fatal ("could not initialise libev, bad $LIBEV_FLAGS in environment?");
348		492
349	Restrict libev to the select and poll backends, and do not allow	493	Example: Restrict libev to the select and poll backends, and do not allow
350	environment settings to be taken into account:	494	environment settings to be taken into account:
351		495
352	ev_default_loop (EVBACKEND_POLL | EVBACKEND_SELECT | EVFLAG_NOENV);	496	ev_default_loop (EVBACKEND_POLL | EVBACKEND_SELECT | EVFLAG_NOENV);
353		497
354	Use whatever libev has to offer, but make sure that kqueue is used if	498	Example: Use whatever libev has to offer, but make sure that kqueue is
355	available (warning, breaks stuff, best use only with your own private	499	used if available (warning, breaks stuff, best use only with your own
356	event loop and only if you know the OS supports your types of fds):	500	private event loop and only if you know the OS supports your types of
		501	fds):
357		502
358	ev_default_loop (ev_recommended_backends () | EVBACKEND_KQUEUE);	503	ev_default_loop (ev_recommended_backends () | EVBACKEND_KQUEUE);
359		504
360	=item struct ev_loop *ev_loop_new (unsigned int flags)	505	=item struct ev_loop *ev_loop_new (unsigned int flags)
361		506
362	Similar to C<ev_default_loop>, but always creates a new event loop that is	507	Similar to C<ev_default_loop>, but always creates a new event loop that is
363	always distinct from the default loop. Unlike the default loop, it cannot	508	always distinct from the default loop. Unlike the default loop, it cannot
364	handle signal and child watchers, and attempts to do so will be greeted by	509	handle signal and child watchers, and attempts to do so will be greeted by
365	undefined behaviour (or a failed assertion if assertions are enabled).	510	undefined behaviour (or a failed assertion if assertions are enabled).
366		511
		512	Note that this function I<is> thread-safe, and the recommended way to use
		513	libev with threads is indeed to create one loop per thread, and using the
		514	default loop in the "main" or "initial" thread.
		515
367	Example: Try to create a event loop that uses epoll and nothing else.	516	Example: Try to create a event loop that uses epoll and nothing else.
368		517
369	struct ev_loop *epoller = ev_loop_new (EVBACKEND_EPOLL | EVFLAG_NOENV);	518	struct ev_loop *epoller = ev_loop_new (EVBACKEND_EPOLL | EVFLAG_NOENV);
370	if (!epoller)	519	if (!epoller)
371	fatal ("no epoll found here, maybe it hides under your chair");	520	fatal ("no epoll found here, maybe it hides under your chair");
372		521
373	=item ev_default_destroy ()	522	=item ev_default_destroy ()
374		523
375	Destroys the default loop again (frees all memory and kernel state	524	Destroys the default loop again (frees all memory and kernel state
376	etc.). None of the active event watchers will be stopped in the normal	525	etc.). None of the active event watchers will be stopped in the normal
377	sense, so e.g. C<ev_is_active> might still return true. It is your	526	sense, so e.g. C<ev_is_active> might still return true. It is your
378	responsibility to either stop all watchers cleanly yoursef I<before>	527	responsibility to either stop all watchers cleanly yourself I<before>
379	calling this function, or cope with the fact afterwards (which is usually	528	calling this function, or cope with the fact afterwards (which is usually
380	the easiest thing, youc na just ignore the watchers and/or C<free ()> them	529	the easiest thing, you can just ignore the watchers and/or C<free ()> them
381	for example).	530	for example).
		531
		532	Note that certain global state, such as signal state, will not be freed by
		533	this function, and related watchers (such as signal and child watchers)
		534	would need to be stopped manually.
		535
		536	In general it is not advisable to call this function except in the
		537	rare occasion where you really need to free e.g. the signal handling
		538	pipe fds. If you need dynamically allocated loops it is better to use
		539	C<ev_loop_new> and C<ev_loop_destroy>).
382		540
383	=item ev_loop_destroy (loop)	541	=item ev_loop_destroy (loop)
384		542
385	Like C<ev_default_destroy>, but destroys an event loop created by an	543	Like C<ev_default_destroy>, but destroys an event loop created by an
386	earlier call to C<ev_loop_new>.	544	earlier call to C<ev_loop_new>.
387		545
388	=item ev_default_fork ()	546	=item ev_default_fork ()
389		547
		548	This function sets a flag that causes subsequent C<ev_loop> iterations
390	This function reinitialises the kernel state for backends that have	549	to reinitialise the kernel state for backends that have one. Despite the
391	one. Despite the name, you can call it anytime, but it makes most sense	550	name, you can call it anytime, but it makes most sense after forking, in
392	after forking, in either the parent or child process (or both, but that	551	the child process (or both child and parent, but that again makes little
393	again makes little sense).	552	sense). You I<must> call it in the child before using any of the libev
		553	functions, and it will only take effect at the next C<ev_loop> iteration.
394		554
395	You I<must> call this function in the child process after forking if and	555	On the other hand, you only need to call this function in the child
396	only if you want to use the event library in both processes. If you just	556	process if and only if you want to use the event library in the child. If
397	fork+exec, you don't have to call it.	557	you just fork+exec, you don't have to call it at all.
398		558
399	The function itself is quite fast and it's usually not a problem to call	559	The function itself is quite fast and it's usually not a problem to call
400	it just in case after a fork. To make this easy, the function will fit in	560	it just in case after a fork. To make this easy, the function will fit in
401	quite nicely into a call to C<pthread_atfork>:	561	quite nicely into a call to C<pthread_atfork>:
402		562
403	pthread_atfork (0, 0, ev_default_fork);	563	pthread_atfork (0, 0, ev_default_fork);
404		564
405	At the moment, C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> and C<EVBACKEND_POLL> are safe to use
406	without calling this function, so if you force one of those backends you
407	do not need to care.
408
409	=item ev_loop_fork (loop)	565	=item ev_loop_fork (loop)
410		566
411	Like C<ev_default_fork>, but acts on an event loop created by	567	Like C<ev_default_fork>, but acts on an event loop created by
412	C<ev_loop_new>. Yes, you have to call this on every allocated event loop	568	C<ev_loop_new>. Yes, you have to call this on every allocated event loop
413	after fork, and how you do this is entirely your own problem.	569	after fork that you want to re-use in the child, and how you do this is
		570	entirely your own problem.
		571
		572	=item int ev_is_default_loop (loop)
		573
		574	Returns true when the given loop is, in fact, the default loop, and false
		575	otherwise.
		576
		577	=item unsigned int ev_loop_count (loop)
		578
		579	Returns the count of loop iterations for the loop, which is identical to
		580	the number of times libev did poll for new events. It starts at C<0> and
		581	happily wraps around with enough iterations.
		582
		583	This value can sometimes be useful as a generation counter of sorts (it
		584	"ticks" the number of loop iterations), as it roughly corresponds with
		585	C<ev_prepare> and C<ev_check> calls.
414		586
415	=item unsigned int ev_backend (loop)	587	=item unsigned int ev_backend (loop)
416		588
417	Returns one of the C<EVBACKEND_*> flags indicating the event backend in	589	Returns one of the C<EVBACKEND_*> flags indicating the event backend in
418	use.	590	use.
…		…
421		593
422	Returns the current "event loop time", which is the time the event loop	594	Returns the current "event loop time", which is the time the event loop
423	received events and started processing them. This timestamp does not	595	received events and started processing them. This timestamp does not
424	change as long as callbacks are being processed, and this is also the base	596	change as long as callbacks are being processed, and this is also the base
425	time used for relative timers. You can treat it as the timestamp of the	597	time used for relative timers. You can treat it as the timestamp of the
426	event occuring (or more correctly, libev finding out about it).	598	event occurring (or more correctly, libev finding out about it).
		599
		600	=item ev_now_update (loop)
		601
		602	Establishes the current time by querying the kernel, updating the time
		603	returned by C<ev_now ()> in the progress. This is a costly operation and
		604	is usually done automatically within C<ev_loop ()>.
		605
		606	This function is rarely useful, but when some event callback runs for a
		607	very long time without entering the event loop, updating libev's idea of
		608	the current time is a good idea.
		609
		610	See also "The special problem of time updates" in the C<ev_timer> section.
427		611
428	=item ev_loop (loop, int flags)	612	=item ev_loop (loop, int flags)
429		613
430	Finally, this is it, the event handler. This function usually is called	614	Finally, this is it, the event handler. This function usually is called
431	after you initialised all your watchers and you want to start handling	615	after you initialised all your watchers and you want to start handling
…		…
434	If the flags argument is specified as C<0>, it will not return until	618	If the flags argument is specified as C<0>, it will not return until
435	either no event watchers are active anymore or C<ev_unloop> was called.	619	either no event watchers are active anymore or C<ev_unloop> was called.
436		620
437	Please note that an explicit C<ev_unloop> is usually better than	621	Please note that an explicit C<ev_unloop> is usually better than
438	relying on all watchers to be stopped when deciding when a program has	622	relying on all watchers to be stopped when deciding when a program has
439	finished (especially in interactive programs), but having a program that	623	finished (especially in interactive programs), but having a program
440	automatically loops as long as it has to and no longer by virtue of	624	that automatically loops as long as it has to and no longer by virtue
441	relying on its watchers stopping correctly is a thing of beauty.	625	of relying on its watchers stopping correctly, that is truly a thing of
		626	beauty.
442		627
443	A flags value of C<EVLOOP_NONBLOCK> will look for new events, will handle	628	A flags value of C<EVLOOP_NONBLOCK> will look for new events, will handle
444	those events and any outstanding ones, but will not block your process in	629	those events and any already outstanding ones, but will not block your
445	case there are no events and will return after one iteration of the loop.	630	process in case there are no events and will return after one iteration of
		631	the loop.
446		632
447	A flags value of C<EVLOOP_ONESHOT> will look for new events (waiting if	633	A flags value of C<EVLOOP_ONESHOT> will look for new events (waiting if
448	neccessary) and will handle those and any outstanding ones. It will block	634	necessary) and will handle those and any already outstanding ones. It
449	your process until at least one new event arrives, and will return after	635	will block your process until at least one new event arrives (which could
450	one iteration of the loop. This is useful if you are waiting for some	636	be an event internal to libev itself, so there is no guarentee that a
451	external event in conjunction with something not expressible using other	637	user-registered callback will be called), and will return after one
		638	iteration of the loop.
		639
		640	This is useful if you are waiting for some external event in conjunction
		641	with something not expressible using other libev watchers (i.e. "roll your
452	libev watchers. However, a pair of C<ev_prepare>/C<ev_check> watchers is	642	own C<ev_loop>"). However, a pair of C<ev_prepare>/C<ev_check> watchers is
453	usually a better approach for this kind of thing.	643	usually a better approach for this kind of thing.
454		644
455	Here are the gory details of what C<ev_loop> does:	645	Here are the gory details of what C<ev_loop> does:
456		646
457	* If there are no active watchers (reference count is zero), return.	647	- Before the first iteration, call any pending watchers.
458	- Queue prepare watchers and then call all outstanding watchers.	648	* If EVFLAG_FORKCHECK was used, check for a fork.
		649	- If a fork was detected (by any means), queue and call all fork watchers.
		650	- Queue and call all prepare watchers.
459	- If we have been forked, recreate the kernel state.	651	- If we have been forked, detach and recreate the kernel state
		652	as to not disturb the other process.
460	- Update the kernel state with all outstanding changes.	653	- Update the kernel state with all outstanding changes.
461	- Update the "event loop time".	654	- Update the "event loop time" (ev_now ()).
462	- Calculate for how long to block.	655	- Calculate for how long to sleep or block, if at all
		656	(active idle watchers, EVLOOP_NONBLOCK or not having
		657	any active watchers at all will result in not sleeping).
		658	- Sleep if the I/O and timer collect interval say so.
463	- Block the process, waiting for any events.	659	- Block the process, waiting for any events.
464	- Queue all outstanding I/O (fd) events.	660	- Queue all outstanding I/O (fd) events.
465	- Update the "event loop time" and do time jump handling.	661	- Update the "event loop time" (ev_now ()), and do time jump adjustments.
466	- Queue all outstanding timers.	662	- Queue all expired timers.
467	- Queue all outstanding periodics.	663	- Queue all expired periodics.
468	- If no events are pending now, queue all idle watchers.	664	- Unless any events are pending now, queue all idle watchers.
469	- Queue all check watchers.	665	- Queue all check watchers.
470	- Call all queued watchers in reverse order (i.e. check watchers first).	666	- Call all queued watchers in reverse order (i.e. check watchers first).
471	Signals and child watchers are implemented as I/O watchers, and will	667	Signals and child watchers are implemented as I/O watchers, and will
472	be handled here by queueing them when their watcher gets executed.	668	be handled here by queueing them when their watcher gets executed.
473	- If ev_unloop has been called or EVLOOP_ONESHOT or EVLOOP_NONBLOCK	669	- If ev_unloop has been called, or EVLOOP_ONESHOT or EVLOOP_NONBLOCK
474	were used, return, otherwise continue with step *.	670	were used, or there are no active watchers, return, otherwise
		671	continue with step *.
475		672
476	Example: Queue some jobs and then loop until no events are outsanding	673	Example: Queue some jobs and then loop until no events are outstanding
477	anymore.	674	anymore.
478		675
479	... queue jobs here, make sure they register event watchers as long	676	... queue jobs here, make sure they register event watchers as long
480	... as they still have work to do (even an idle watcher will do..)	677	... as they still have work to do (even an idle watcher will do..)
481	ev_loop (my_loop, 0);	678	ev_loop (my_loop, 0);
482	... jobs done. yeah!	679	... jobs done or somebody called unloop. yeah!
483		680
484	=item ev_unloop (loop, how)	681	=item ev_unloop (loop, how)
485		682
486	Can be used to make a call to C<ev_loop> return early (but only after it	683	Can be used to make a call to C<ev_loop> return early (but only after it
487	has processed all outstanding events). The C<how> argument must be either	684	has processed all outstanding events). The C<how> argument must be either
488	C<EVUNLOOP_ONE>, which will make the innermost C<ev_loop> call return, or	685	C<EVUNLOOP_ONE>, which will make the innermost C<ev_loop> call return, or
489	C<EVUNLOOP_ALL>, which will make all nested C<ev_loop> calls return.	686	C<EVUNLOOP_ALL>, which will make all nested C<ev_loop> calls return.
490		687
		688	This "unloop state" will be cleared when entering C<ev_loop> again.
		689
		690	It is safe to call C<ev_unloop> from otuside any C<ev_loop> calls.
		691
491	=item ev_ref (loop)	692	=item ev_ref (loop)
492		693
493	=item ev_unref (loop)	694	=item ev_unref (loop)
494		695
495	Ref/unref can be used to add or remove a reference count on the event	696	Ref/unref can be used to add or remove a reference count on the event
496	loop: Every watcher keeps one reference, and as long as the reference	697	loop: Every watcher keeps one reference, and as long as the reference
497	count is nonzero, C<ev_loop> will not return on its own. If you have	698	count is nonzero, C<ev_loop> will not return on its own.
		699
498	a watcher you never unregister that should not keep C<ev_loop> from	700	If you have a watcher you never unregister that should not keep C<ev_loop>
499	returning, ev_unref() after starting, and ev_ref() before stopping it. For	701	from returning, call ev_unref() after starting, and ev_ref() before
		702	stopping it.
		703
500	example, libev itself uses this for its internal signal pipe: It is not	704	As an example, libev itself uses this for its internal signal pipe: It is
501	visible to the libev user and should not keep C<ev_loop> from exiting if	705	not visible to the libev user and should not keep C<ev_loop> from exiting
502	no event watchers registered by it are active. It is also an excellent	706	if no event watchers registered by it are active. It is also an excellent
503	way to do this for generic recurring timers or from within third-party	707	way to do this for generic recurring timers or from within third-party
504	libraries. Just remember to I<unref after start> and I<ref before stop>.	708	libraries. Just remember to I<unref after start> and I<ref before stop>
		709	(but only if the watcher wasn't active before, or was active before,
		710	respectively).
505		711
506	Example: Create a signal watcher, but keep it from keeping C<ev_loop>	712	Example: Create a signal watcher, but keep it from keeping C<ev_loop>
507	running when nothing else is active.	713	running when nothing else is active.
508		714
509	struct ev_signal exitsig;	715	struct ev_signal exitsig;
510	ev_signal_init (&exitsig, sig_cb, SIGINT);	716	ev_signal_init (&exitsig, sig_cb, SIGINT);
511	ev_signal_start (loop, &exitsig);	717	ev_signal_start (loop, &exitsig);
512	evf_unref (loop);	718	evf_unref (loop);
513		719
514	Example: For some weird reason, unregister the above signal handler again.	720	Example: For some weird reason, unregister the above signal handler again.
515		721
516	ev_ref (loop);	722	ev_ref (loop);
517	ev_signal_stop (loop, &exitsig);	723	ev_signal_stop (loop, &exitsig);
		724
		725	=item ev_set_io_collect_interval (loop, ev_tstamp interval)
		726
		727	=item ev_set_timeout_collect_interval (loop, ev_tstamp interval)
		728
		729	These advanced functions influence the time that libev will spend waiting
		730	for events. Both time intervals are by default C<0>, meaning that libev
		731	will try to invoke timer/periodic callbacks and I/O callbacks with minimum
		732	latency.
		733
		734	Setting these to a higher value (the C<interval> I<must> be >= C<0>)
		735	allows libev to delay invocation of I/O and timer/periodic callbacks
		736	to increase efficiency of loop iterations (or to increase power-saving
		737	opportunities).
		738
		739	The idea is that sometimes your program runs just fast enough to handle
		740	one (or very few) event(s) per loop iteration. While this makes the
		741	program responsive, it also wastes a lot of CPU time to poll for new
		742	events, especially with backends like C<select ()> which have a high
		743	overhead for the actual polling but can deliver many events at once.
		744
		745	By setting a higher I<io collect interval> you allow libev to spend more
		746	time collecting I/O events, so you can handle more events per iteration,
		747	at the cost of increasing latency. Timeouts (both C<ev_periodic> and
		748	C<ev_timer>) will be not affected. Setting this to a non-null value will
		749	introduce an additional C<ev_sleep ()> call into most loop iterations.
		750
		751	Likewise, by setting a higher I<timeout collect interval> you allow libev
		752	to spend more time collecting timeouts, at the expense of increased
		753	latency/jitter/inexactness (the watcher callback will be called
		754	later). C<ev_io> watchers will not be affected. Setting this to a non-null
		755	value will not introduce any overhead in libev.
		756
		757	Many (busy) programs can usually benefit by setting the I/O collect
		758	interval to a value near C<0.1> or so, which is often enough for
		759	interactive servers (of course not for games), likewise for timeouts. It
		760	usually doesn't make much sense to set it to a lower value than C<0.01>,
		761	as this approaches the timing granularity of most systems.
		762
		763	Setting the I<timeout collect interval> can improve the opportunity for
		764	saving power, as the program will "bundle" timer callback invocations that
		765	are "near" in time together, by delaying some, thus reducing the number of
		766	times the process sleeps and wakes up again. Another useful technique to
		767	reduce iterations/wake-ups is to use C<ev_periodic> watchers and make sure
		768	they fire on, say, one-second boundaries only.
		769
		770	=item ev_loop_verify (loop)
		771
		772	This function only does something when C<EV_VERIFY> support has been
		773	compiled in. which is the default for non-minimal builds. It tries to go
		774	through all internal structures and checks them for validity. If anything
		775	is found to be inconsistent, it will print an error message to standard
		776	error and call C<abort ()>.
		777
		778	This can be used to catch bugs inside libev itself: under normal
		779	circumstances, this function will never abort as of course libev keeps its
		780	data structures consistent.
518		781
519	=back	782	=back
520		783
521		784
522	=head1 ANATOMY OF A WATCHER	785	=head1 ANATOMY OF A WATCHER
523		786
524	A watcher is a structure that you create and register to record your	787	A watcher is a structure that you create and register to record your
525	interest in some event. For instance, if you want to wait for STDIN to	788	interest in some event. For instance, if you want to wait for STDIN to
526	become readable, you would create an C<ev_io> watcher for that:	789	become readable, you would create an C<ev_io> watcher for that:
527		790
528	static void my_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w, int revents)	791	static void my_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w, int revents)
529	{	792	{
530	ev_io_stop (w);	793	ev_io_stop (w);
531	ev_unloop (loop, EVUNLOOP_ALL);	794	ev_unloop (loop, EVUNLOOP_ALL);
532	}	795	}
533		796
534	struct ev_loop *loop = ev_default_loop (0);	797	struct ev_loop *loop = ev_default_loop (0);
535	struct ev_io stdin_watcher;	798	struct ev_io stdin_watcher;
536	ev_init (&stdin_watcher, my_cb);	799	ev_init (&stdin_watcher, my_cb);
537	ev_io_set (&stdin_watcher, STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ);	800	ev_io_set (&stdin_watcher, STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ);
538	ev_io_start (loop, &stdin_watcher);	801	ev_io_start (loop, &stdin_watcher);
539	ev_loop (loop, 0);	802	ev_loop (loop, 0);
540		803
541	As you can see, you are responsible for allocating the memory for your	804	As you can see, you are responsible for allocating the memory for your
542	watcher structures (and it is usually a bad idea to do this on the stack,	805	watcher structures (and it is usually a bad idea to do this on the stack,
543	although this can sometimes be quite valid).	806	although this can sometimes be quite valid).
544		807
545	Each watcher structure must be initialised by a call to C<ev_init	808	Each watcher structure must be initialised by a call to C<ev_init
546	(watcher *, callback)>, which expects a callback to be provided. This	809	(watcher *, callback)>, which expects a callback to be provided. This
547	callback gets invoked each time the event occurs (or, in the case of io	810	callback gets invoked each time the event occurs (or, in the case of I/O
548	watchers, each time the event loop detects that the file descriptor given	811	watchers, each time the event loop detects that the file descriptor given
549	is readable and/or writable).	812	is readable and/or writable).
550		813
551	Each watcher type has its own C<< ev_<type>_set (watcher *, ...) >> macro	814	Each watcher type has its own C<< ev_<type>_set (watcher *, ...) >> macro
552	with arguments specific to this watcher type. There is also a macro	815	with arguments specific to this watcher type. There is also a macro
…		…
622	=item C<EV_FORK>	885	=item C<EV_FORK>
623		886
624	The event loop has been resumed in the child process after fork (see	887	The event loop has been resumed in the child process after fork (see
625	C<ev_fork>).	888	C<ev_fork>).
626		889
		890	=item C<EV_ASYNC>
		891
		892	The given async watcher has been asynchronously notified (see C<ev_async>).
		893
627	=item C<EV_ERROR>	894	=item C<EV_ERROR>
628		895
629	An unspecified error has occured, the watcher has been stopped. This might	896	An unspecified error has occurred, the watcher has been stopped. This might
630	happen because the watcher could not be properly started because libev	897	happen because the watcher could not be properly started because libev
631	ran out of memory, a file descriptor was found to be closed or any other	898	ran out of memory, a file descriptor was found to be closed or any other
632	problem. You best act on it by reporting the problem and somehow coping	899	problem. You best act on it by reporting the problem and somehow coping
633	with the watcher being stopped.	900	with the watcher being stopped.
634		901
635	Libev will usually signal a few "dummy" events together with an error,	902	Libev will usually signal a few "dummy" events together with an error, for
636	for example it might indicate that a fd is readable or writable, and if	903	example it might indicate that a fd is readable or writable, and if your
637	your callbacks is well-written it can just attempt the operation and cope	904	callbacks is well-written it can just attempt the operation and cope with
638	with the error from read() or write(). This will not work in multithreaded	905	the error from read() or write(). This will not work in multi-threaded
639	programs, though, so beware.	906	programs, though, as the fd could already be closed and reused for another
		907	thing, so beware.
640		908
641	=back	909	=back
642		910
643	=head2 GENERIC WATCHER FUNCTIONS	911	=head2 GENERIC WATCHER FUNCTIONS
644		912
…		…
660	(or never started) and there are no pending events outstanding.	928	(or never started) and there are no pending events outstanding.
661		929
662	The callback is always of type C<void (*)(ev_loop *loop, ev_TYPE *watcher,	930	The callback is always of type C<void (*)(ev_loop *loop, ev_TYPE *watcher,
663	int revents)>.	931	int revents)>.
664		932
		933	Example: Initialise an C<ev_io> watcher in two steps.
		934
		935	ev_io w;
		936	ev_init (&w, my_cb);
		937	ev_io_set (&w, STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ);
		938
665	=item C<ev_TYPE_set> (ev_TYPE *, [args])	939	=item C<ev_TYPE_set> (ev_TYPE *, [args])
666		940
667	This macro initialises the type-specific parts of a watcher. You need to	941	This macro initialises the type-specific parts of a watcher. You need to
668	call C<ev_init> at least once before you call this macro, but you can	942	call C<ev_init> at least once before you call this macro, but you can
669	call C<ev_TYPE_set> any number of times. You must not, however, call this	943	call C<ev_TYPE_set> any number of times. You must not, however, call this
…		…
671	difference to the C<ev_init> macro).	945	difference to the C<ev_init> macro).
672		946
673	Although some watcher types do not have type-specific arguments	947	Although some watcher types do not have type-specific arguments
674	(e.g. C<ev_prepare>) you still need to call its C<set> macro.	948	(e.g. C<ev_prepare>) you still need to call its C<set> macro.
675		949
		950	See C<ev_init>, above, for an example.
		951
676	=item C<ev_TYPE_init> (ev_TYPE *watcher, callback, [args])	952	=item C<ev_TYPE_init> (ev_TYPE *watcher, callback, [args])
677		953
678	This convinience macro rolls both C<ev_init> and C<ev_TYPE_set> macro	954	This convenience macro rolls both C<ev_init> and C<ev_TYPE_set> macro
679	calls into a single call. This is the most convinient method to initialise	955	calls into a single call. This is the most convenient method to initialise
680	a watcher. The same limitations apply, of course.	956	a watcher. The same limitations apply, of course.
		957
		958	Example: Initialise and set an C<ev_io> watcher in one step.
		959
		960	ev_io_init (&w, my_cb, STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ);
681		961
682	=item C<ev_TYPE_start> (loop *, ev_TYPE *watcher)	962	=item C<ev_TYPE_start> (loop *, ev_TYPE *watcher)
683		963
684	Starts (activates) the given watcher. Only active watchers will receive	964	Starts (activates) the given watcher. Only active watchers will receive
685	events. If the watcher is already active nothing will happen.	965	events. If the watcher is already active nothing will happen.
686		966
		967	Example: Start the C<ev_io> watcher that is being abused as example in this
		968	whole section.
		969
		970	ev_io_start (EV_DEFAULT_UC, &w);
		971
687	=item C<ev_TYPE_stop> (loop *, ev_TYPE *watcher)	972	=item C<ev_TYPE_stop> (loop *, ev_TYPE *watcher)
688		973
689	Stops the given watcher again (if active) and clears the pending	974	Stops the given watcher if active, and clears the pending status (whether
		975	the watcher was active or not).
		976
690	status. It is possible that stopped watchers are pending (for example,	977	It is possible that stopped watchers are pending - for example,
691	non-repeating timers are being stopped when they become pending), but	978	non-repeating timers are being stopped when they become pending - but
692	C<ev_TYPE_stop> ensures that the watcher is neither active nor pending. If	979	calling C<ev_TYPE_stop> ensures that the watcher is neither active nor
693	you want to free or reuse the memory used by the watcher it is therefore a	980	pending. If you want to free or reuse the memory used by the watcher it is
694	good idea to always call its C<ev_TYPE_stop> function.	981	therefore a good idea to always call its C<ev_TYPE_stop> function.
695		982
696	=item bool ev_is_active (ev_TYPE *watcher)	983	=item bool ev_is_active (ev_TYPE *watcher)
697		984
698	Returns a true value iff the watcher is active (i.e. it has been started	985	Returns a true value iff the watcher is active (i.e. it has been started
699	and not yet been stopped). As long as a watcher is active you must not modify	986	and not yet been stopped). As long as a watcher is active you must not modify
…		…
702	=item bool ev_is_pending (ev_TYPE *watcher)	989	=item bool ev_is_pending (ev_TYPE *watcher)
703		990
704	Returns a true value iff the watcher is pending, (i.e. it has outstanding	991	Returns a true value iff the watcher is pending, (i.e. it has outstanding
705	events but its callback has not yet been invoked). As long as a watcher	992	events but its callback has not yet been invoked). As long as a watcher
706	is pending (but not active) you must not call an init function on it (but	993	is pending (but not active) you must not call an init function on it (but
707	C<ev_TYPE_set> is safe) and you must make sure the watcher is available to	994	C<ev_TYPE_set> is safe), you must not change its priority, and you must
708	libev (e.g. you cnanot C<free ()> it).	995	make sure the watcher is available to libev (e.g. you cannot C<free ()>
		996	it).
709		997
710	=item callback ev_cb (ev_TYPE *watcher)	998	=item callback ev_cb (ev_TYPE *watcher)
711		999
712	Returns the callback currently set on the watcher.	1000	Returns the callback currently set on the watcher.
713		1001
714	=item ev_cb_set (ev_TYPE *watcher, callback)	1002	=item ev_cb_set (ev_TYPE *watcher, callback)
715		1003
716	Change the callback. You can change the callback at virtually any time	1004	Change the callback. You can change the callback at virtually any time
717	(modulo threads).	1005	(modulo threads).
718		1006
		1007	=item ev_set_priority (ev_TYPE *watcher, priority)
		1008
		1009	=item int ev_priority (ev_TYPE *watcher)
		1010
		1011	Set and query the priority of the watcher. The priority is a small
		1012	integer between C<EV_MAXPRI> (default: C<2>) and C<EV_MINPRI>
		1013	(default: C<-2>). Pending watchers with higher priority will be invoked
		1014	before watchers with lower priority, but priority will not keep watchers
		1015	from being executed (except for C<ev_idle> watchers).
		1016
		1017	This means that priorities are I<only> used for ordering callback
		1018	invocation after new events have been received. This is useful, for
		1019	example, to reduce latency after idling, or more often, to bind two
		1020	watchers on the same event and make sure one is called first.
		1021
		1022	If you need to suppress invocation when higher priority events are pending
		1023	you need to look at C<ev_idle> watchers, which provide this functionality.
		1024
		1025	You I<must not> change the priority of a watcher as long as it is active or
		1026	pending.
		1027
		1028	The default priority used by watchers when no priority has been set is
		1029	always C<0>, which is supposed to not be too high and not be too low :).
		1030
		1031	Setting a priority outside the range of C<EV_MINPRI> to C<EV_MAXPRI> is
		1032	fine, as long as you do not mind that the priority value you query might
		1033	or might not have been adjusted to be within valid range.
		1034
		1035	=item ev_invoke (loop, ev_TYPE *watcher, int revents)
		1036
		1037	Invoke the C<watcher> with the given C<loop> and C<revents>. Neither
		1038	C<loop> nor C<revents> need to be valid as long as the watcher callback
		1039	can deal with that fact, as both are simply passed through to the
		1040	callback.
		1041
		1042	=item int ev_clear_pending (loop, ev_TYPE *watcher)
		1043
		1044	If the watcher is pending, this function clears its pending status and
		1045	returns its C<revents> bitset (as if its callback was invoked). If the
		1046	watcher isn't pending it does nothing and returns C<0>.
		1047
		1048	Sometimes it can be useful to "poll" a watcher instead of waiting for its
		1049	callback to be invoked, which can be accomplished with this function.
		1050
719	=back	1051	=back
720		1052
721		1053
722	=head2 ASSOCIATING CUSTOM DATA WITH A WATCHER	1054	=head2 ASSOCIATING CUSTOM DATA WITH A WATCHER
723		1055
724	Each watcher has, by default, a member C<void *data> that you can change	1056	Each watcher has, by default, a member C<void *data> that you can change
725	and read at any time, libev will completely ignore it. This can be used	1057	and read at any time: libev will completely ignore it. This can be used
726	to associate arbitrary data with your watcher. If you need more data and	1058	to associate arbitrary data with your watcher. If you need more data and
727	don't want to allocate memory and store a pointer to it in that data	1059	don't want to allocate memory and store a pointer to it in that data
728	member, you can also "subclass" the watcher type and provide your own	1060	member, you can also "subclass" the watcher type and provide your own
729	data:	1061	data:
730		1062
731	struct my_io	1063	struct my_io
732	{	1064	{
733	struct ev_io io;	1065	struct ev_io io;
734	int otherfd;	1066	int otherfd;
735	void *somedata;	1067	void *somedata;
736	struct whatever *mostinteresting;	1068	struct whatever *mostinteresting;
737	}	1069	};
		1070
		1071	...
		1072	struct my_io w;
		1073	ev_io_init (&w.io, my_cb, fd, EV_READ);
738		1074
739	And since your callback will be called with a pointer to the watcher, you	1075	And since your callback will be called with a pointer to the watcher, you
740	can cast it back to your own type:	1076	can cast it back to your own type:
741		1077
742	static void my_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w_, int revents)	1078	static void my_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w_, int revents)
743	{	1079	{
744	struct my_io *w = (struct my_io *)w_;	1080	struct my_io *w = (struct my_io *)w_;
745	...	1081	...
746	}	1082	}
747		1083
748	More interesting and less C-conformant ways of casting your callback type	1084	More interesting and less C-conformant ways of casting your callback type
749	instead have been omitted.	1085	instead have been omitted.
750		1086
751	Another common scenario is having some data structure with multiple	1087	Another common scenario is to use some data structure with multiple
752	watchers:	1088	embedded watchers:
753		1089
754	struct my_biggy	1090	struct my_biggy
755	{	1091	{
756	int some_data;	1092	int some_data;
757	ev_timer t1;	1093	ev_timer t1;
758	ev_timer t2;	1094	ev_timer t2;
759	}	1095	}
760		1096
761	In this case getting the pointer to C<my_biggy> is a bit more complicated,	1097	In this case getting the pointer to C<my_biggy> is a bit more
762	you need to use C<offsetof>:	1098	complicated: Either you store the address of your C<my_biggy> struct
		1099	in the C<data> member of the watcher (for woozies), or you need to use
		1100	some pointer arithmetic using C<offsetof> inside your watchers (for real
		1101	programmers):
763		1102
764	#include <stddef.h>	1103	#include <stddef.h>
765		1104
766	static void	1105	static void
767	t1_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_timer *w, int revents)	1106	t1_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_timer *w, int revents)
768	{	1107	{
769	struct my_biggy big = (struct my_biggy *	1108	struct my_biggy big = (struct my_biggy *
770	(((char *)w) - offsetof (struct my_biggy, t1));	1109	(((char *)w) - offsetof (struct my_biggy, t1));
771	}	1110	}
772		1111
773	static void	1112	static void
774	t2_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_timer *w, int revents)	1113	t2_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_timer *w, int revents)
775	{	1114	{
776	struct my_biggy big = (struct my_biggy *	1115	struct my_biggy big = (struct my_biggy *
777	(((char *)w) - offsetof (struct my_biggy, t2));	1116	(((char *)w) - offsetof (struct my_biggy, t2));
778	}	1117	}
779		1118
780		1119
781	=head1 WATCHER TYPES	1120	=head1 WATCHER TYPES
782		1121
783	This section describes each watcher in detail, but will not repeat	1122	This section describes each watcher in detail, but will not repeat
…		…
807	In general you can register as many read and/or write event watchers per	1146	In general you can register as many read and/or write event watchers per
808	fd as you want (as long as you don't confuse yourself). Setting all file	1147	fd as you want (as long as you don't confuse yourself). Setting all file
809	descriptors to non-blocking mode is also usually a good idea (but not	1148	descriptors to non-blocking mode is also usually a good idea (but not
810	required if you know what you are doing).	1149	required if you know what you are doing).
811		1150
812	You have to be careful with dup'ed file descriptors, though. Some backends	1151	If you cannot use non-blocking mode, then force the use of a
813	(the linux epoll backend is a notable example) cannot handle dup'ed file	1152	known-to-be-good backend (at the time of this writing, this includes only
814	descriptors correctly if you register interest in two or more fds pointing	1153	C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> and C<EVBACKEND_POLL>).
815	to the same underlying file/socket/etc. description (that is, they share
816	the same underlying "file open").
817
818	If you must do this, then force the use of a known-to-be-good backend
819	(at the time of this writing, this includes only C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> and
820	C<EVBACKEND_POLL>).
821		1154
822	Another thing you have to watch out for is that it is quite easy to	1155	Another thing you have to watch out for is that it is quite easy to
823	receive "spurious" readyness notifications, that is your callback might	1156	receive "spurious" readiness notifications, that is your callback might
824	be called with C<EV_READ> but a subsequent C<read>(2) will actually block	1157	be called with C<EV_READ> but a subsequent C<read>(2) will actually block
825	because there is no data. Not only are some backends known to create a	1158	because there is no data. Not only are some backends known to create a
826	lot of those (for example solaris ports), it is very easy to get into	1159	lot of those (for example Solaris ports), it is very easy to get into
827	this situation even with a relatively standard program structure. Thus	1160	this situation even with a relatively standard program structure. Thus
828	it is best to always use non-blocking I/O: An extra C<read>(2) returning	1161	it is best to always use non-blocking I/O: An extra C<read>(2) returning
829	C<EAGAIN> is far preferable to a program hanging until some data arrives.	1162	C<EAGAIN> is far preferable to a program hanging until some data arrives.
830		1163
831	If you cannot run the fd in non-blocking mode (for example you should not	1164	If you cannot run the fd in non-blocking mode (for example you should
832	play around with an Xlib connection), then you have to seperately re-test	1165	not play around with an Xlib connection), then you have to separately
833	wether a file descriptor is really ready with a known-to-be good interface	1166	re-test whether a file descriptor is really ready with a known-to-be good
834	such as poll (fortunately in our Xlib example, Xlib already does this on	1167	interface such as poll (fortunately in our Xlib example, Xlib already
835	its own, so its quite safe to use).	1168	does this on its own, so its quite safe to use). Some people additionally
		1169	use C<SIGALRM> and an interval timer, just to be sure you won't block
		1170	indefinitely.
		1171
		1172	But really, best use non-blocking mode.
		1173
		1174	=head3 The special problem of disappearing file descriptors
		1175
		1176	Some backends (e.g. kqueue, epoll) need to be told about closing a file
		1177	descriptor (either due to calling C<close> explicitly or any other means,
		1178	such as C<dup2>). The reason is that you register interest in some file
		1179	descriptor, but when it goes away, the operating system will silently drop
		1180	this interest. If another file descriptor with the same number then is
		1181	registered with libev, there is no efficient way to see that this is, in
		1182	fact, a different file descriptor.
		1183
		1184	To avoid having to explicitly tell libev about such cases, libev follows
		1185	the following policy: Each time C<ev_io_set> is being called, libev
		1186	will assume that this is potentially a new file descriptor, otherwise
		1187	it is assumed that the file descriptor stays the same. That means that
		1188	you I<have> to call C<ev_io_set> (or C<ev_io_init>) when you change the
		1189	descriptor even if the file descriptor number itself did not change.
		1190
		1191	This is how one would do it normally anyway, the important point is that
		1192	the libev application should not optimise around libev but should leave
		1193	optimisations to libev.
		1194
		1195	=head3 The special problem of dup'ed file descriptors
		1196
		1197	Some backends (e.g. epoll), cannot register events for file descriptors,
		1198	but only events for the underlying file descriptions. That means when you
		1199	have C<dup ()>'ed file descriptors or weirder constellations, and register
		1200	events for them, only one file descriptor might actually receive events.
		1201
		1202	There is no workaround possible except not registering events
		1203	for potentially C<dup ()>'ed file descriptors, or to resort to
		1204	C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> or C<EVBACKEND_POLL>.
		1205
		1206	=head3 The special problem of fork
		1207
		1208	Some backends (epoll, kqueue) do not support C<fork ()> at all or exhibit
		1209	useless behaviour. Libev fully supports fork, but needs to be told about
		1210	it in the child.
		1211
		1212	To support fork in your programs, you either have to call
		1213	C<ev_default_fork ()> or C<ev_loop_fork ()> after a fork in the child,
		1214	enable C<EVFLAG_FORKCHECK>, or resort to C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> or
		1215	C<EVBACKEND_POLL>.
		1216
		1217	=head3 The special problem of SIGPIPE
		1218
		1219	While not really specific to libev, it is easy to forget about C<SIGPIPE>:
		1220	when writing to a pipe whose other end has been closed, your program gets
		1221	sent a SIGPIPE, which, by default, aborts your program. For most programs
		1222	this is sensible behaviour, for daemons, this is usually undesirable.
		1223
		1224	So when you encounter spurious, unexplained daemon exits, make sure you
		1225	ignore SIGPIPE (and maybe make sure you log the exit status of your daemon
		1226	somewhere, as that would have given you a big clue).
		1227
		1228
		1229	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions
836		1230
837	=over 4	1231	=over 4
838		1232
839	=item ev_io_init (ev_io *, callback, int fd, int events)	1233	=item ev_io_init (ev_io *, callback, int fd, int events)
840		1234
841	=item ev_io_set (ev_io *, int fd, int events)	1235	=item ev_io_set (ev_io *, int fd, int events)
842		1236
843	Configures an C<ev_io> watcher. The C<fd> is the file descriptor to	1237	Configures an C<ev_io> watcher. The C<fd> is the file descriptor to
844	rceeive events for and events is either C<EV_READ>, C<EV_WRITE> or	1238	receive events for and C<events> is either C<EV_READ>, C<EV_WRITE> or
845	C<EV_READ | EV_WRITE> to receive the given events.	1239	C<EV_READ | EV_WRITE>, to express the desire to receive the given events.
846		1240
847	=item int fd [read-only]	1241	=item int fd [read-only]
848		1242
849	The file descriptor being watched.	1243	The file descriptor being watched.
850		1244
851	=item int events [read-only]	1245	=item int events [read-only]
852		1246
853	The events being watched.	1247	The events being watched.
854		1248
855	=back	1249	=back
		1250
		1251	=head3 Examples
856		1252
857	Example: Call C<stdin_readable_cb> when STDIN_FILENO has become, well	1253	Example: Call C<stdin_readable_cb> when STDIN_FILENO has become, well
858	readable, but only once. Since it is likely line-buffered, you could	1254	readable, but only once. Since it is likely line-buffered, you could
859	attempt to read a whole line in the callback.	1255	attempt to read a whole line in the callback.
860		1256
861	static void	1257	static void
862	stdin_readable_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w, int revents)	1258	stdin_readable_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w, int revents)
863	{	1259	{
864	ev_io_stop (loop, w);	1260	ev_io_stop (loop, w);
865	.. read from stdin here (or from w->fd) and haqndle any I/O errors	1261	.. read from stdin here (or from w->fd) and handle any I/O errors
866	}	1262	}
867		1263
868	...	1264	...
869	struct ev_loop *loop = ev_default_init (0);	1265	struct ev_loop *loop = ev_default_init (0);
870	struct ev_io stdin_readable;	1266	struct ev_io stdin_readable;
871	ev_io_init (&stdin_readable, stdin_readable_cb, STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ);	1267	ev_io_init (&stdin_readable, stdin_readable_cb, STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ);
872	ev_io_start (loop, &stdin_readable);	1268	ev_io_start (loop, &stdin_readable);
873	ev_loop (loop, 0);	1269	ev_loop (loop, 0);
874		1270
875		1271
876	=head2 C<ev_timer> - relative and optionally repeating timeouts	1272	=head2 C<ev_timer> - relative and optionally repeating timeouts
877		1273
878	Timer watchers are simple relative timers that generate an event after a	1274	Timer watchers are simple relative timers that generate an event after a
879	given time, and optionally repeating in regular intervals after that.	1275	given time, and optionally repeating in regular intervals after that.
880		1276
881	The timers are based on real time, that is, if you register an event that	1277	The timers are based on real time, that is, if you register an event that
882	times out after an hour and you reset your system clock to last years	1278	times out after an hour and you reset your system clock to January last
883	time, it will still time out after (roughly) and hour. "Roughly" because	1279	year, it will still time out after (roughly) one hour. "Roughly" because
884	detecting time jumps is hard, and some inaccuracies are unavoidable (the	1280	detecting time jumps is hard, and some inaccuracies are unavoidable (the
885	monotonic clock option helps a lot here).	1281	monotonic clock option helps a lot here).
		1282
		1283	The callback is guaranteed to be invoked only I<after> its timeout has
		1284	passed, but if multiple timers become ready during the same loop iteration
		1285	then order of execution is undefined.
		1286
		1287	=head3 The special problem of time updates
		1288
		1289	Establishing the current time is a costly operation (it usually takes at
		1290	least two system calls): EV therefore updates its idea of the current
		1291	time only before and after C<ev_loop> collects new events, which causes a
		1292	growing difference between C<ev_now ()> and C<ev_time ()> when handling
		1293	lots of events in one iteration.
886		1294
887	The relative timeouts are calculated relative to the C<ev_now ()>	1295	The relative timeouts are calculated relative to the C<ev_now ()>
888	time. This is usually the right thing as this timestamp refers to the time	1296	time. This is usually the right thing as this timestamp refers to the time
889	of the event triggering whatever timeout you are modifying/starting. If	1297	of the event triggering whatever timeout you are modifying/starting. If
890	you suspect event processing to be delayed and you I<need> to base the timeout	1298	you suspect event processing to be delayed and you I<need> to base the
891	on the current time, use something like this to adjust for this:	1299	timeout on the current time, use something like this to adjust for this:
892		1300
893	ev_timer_set (&timer, after + ev_now () - ev_time (), 0.);	1301	ev_timer_set (&timer, after + ev_now () - ev_time (), 0.);
894		1302
895	The callback is guarenteed to be invoked only when its timeout has passed,	1303	If the event loop is suspended for a long time, you can also force an
896	but if multiple timers become ready during the same loop iteration then	1304	update of the time returned by C<ev_now ()> by calling C<ev_now_update
897	order of execution is undefined.	1305	()>.
		1306
		1307	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
898		1308
899	=over 4	1309	=over 4
900		1310
901	=item ev_timer_init (ev_timer *, callback, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)	1311	=item ev_timer_init (ev_timer *, callback, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)
902		1312
903	=item ev_timer_set (ev_timer *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)	1313	=item ev_timer_set (ev_timer *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat)
904		1314
905	Configure the timer to trigger after C<after> seconds. If C<repeat> is	1315	Configure the timer to trigger after C<after> seconds. If C<repeat>
906	C<0.>, then it will automatically be stopped. If it is positive, then the	1316	is C<0.>, then it will automatically be stopped once the timeout is
907	timer will automatically be configured to trigger again C<repeat> seconds	1317	reached. If it is positive, then the timer will automatically be
908	later, again, and again, until stopped manually.	1318	configured to trigger again C<repeat> seconds later, again, and again,
		1319	until stopped manually.
909		1320
910	The timer itself will do a best-effort at avoiding drift, that is, if you	1321	The timer itself will do a best-effort at avoiding drift, that is, if
911	configure a timer to trigger every 10 seconds, then it will trigger at	1322	you configure a timer to trigger every 10 seconds, then it will normally
912	exactly 10 second intervals. If, however, your program cannot keep up with	1323	trigger at exactly 10 second intervals. If, however, your program cannot
913	the timer (because it takes longer than those 10 seconds to do stuff) the	1324	keep up with the timer (because it takes longer than those 10 seconds to
914	timer will not fire more than once per event loop iteration.	1325	do stuff) the timer will not fire more than once per event loop iteration.
915		1326
916	=item ev_timer_again (loop)	1327	=item ev_timer_again (loop, ev_timer *)
917		1328
918	This will act as if the timer timed out and restart it again if it is	1329	This will act as if the timer timed out and restart it again if it is
919	repeating. The exact semantics are:	1330	repeating. The exact semantics are:
920		1331
		1332	If the timer is pending, its pending status is cleared.
		1333
921	If the timer is started but nonrepeating, stop it.	1334	If the timer is started but non-repeating, stop it (as if it timed out).
922		1335
923	If the timer is repeating, either start it if necessary (with the repeat	1336	If the timer is repeating, either start it if necessary (with the
924	value), or reset the running timer to the repeat value.	1337	C<repeat> value), or reset the running timer to the C<repeat> value.
925		1338
926	This sounds a bit complicated, but here is a useful and typical	1339	This sounds a bit complicated, but here is a useful and typical
927	example: Imagine you have a tcp connection and you want a so-called	1340	example: Imagine you have a TCP connection and you want a so-called idle
928	idle timeout, that is, you want to be called when there have been,	1341	timeout, that is, you want to be called when there have been, say, 60
929	say, 60 seconds of inactivity on the socket. The easiest way to do	1342	seconds of inactivity on the socket. The easiest way to do this is to
930	this is to configure an C<ev_timer> with C<after>=C<repeat>=C<60> and calling	1343	configure an C<ev_timer> with a C<repeat> value of C<60> and then call
931	C<ev_timer_again> each time you successfully read or write some data. If	1344	C<ev_timer_again> each time you successfully read or write some data. If
932	you go into an idle state where you do not expect data to travel on the	1345	you go into an idle state where you do not expect data to travel on the
933	socket, you can stop the timer, and again will automatically restart it if	1346	socket, you can C<ev_timer_stop> the timer, and C<ev_timer_again> will
934	need be.	1347	automatically restart it if need be.
935		1348
936	You can also ignore the C<after> value and C<ev_timer_start> altogether	1349	That means you can ignore the C<after> value and C<ev_timer_start>
937	and only ever use the C<repeat> value:	1350	altogether and only ever use the C<repeat> value and C<ev_timer_again>:
938		1351
939	ev_timer_init (timer, callback, 0., 5.);	1352	ev_timer_init (timer, callback, 0., 5.);
940	ev_timer_again (loop, timer);	1353	ev_timer_again (loop, timer);
941	...	1354	...
942	timer->again = 17.;	1355	timer->again = 17.;
943	ev_timer_again (loop, timer);	1356	ev_timer_again (loop, timer);
944	...	1357	...
945	timer->again = 10.;	1358	timer->again = 10.;
946	ev_timer_again (loop, timer);	1359	ev_timer_again (loop, timer);
947		1360
948	This is more efficient then stopping/starting the timer eahc time you want	1361	This is more slightly efficient then stopping/starting the timer each time
949	to modify its timeout value.	1362	you want to modify its timeout value.
		1363
		1364	Note, however, that it is often even more efficient to remember the
		1365	time of the last activity and let the timer time-out naturally. In the
		1366	callback, you then check whether the time-out is real, or, if there was
		1367	some activity, you reschedule the watcher to time-out in "last_activity +
		1368	timeout - ev_now ()" seconds.
950		1369
951	=item ev_tstamp repeat [read-write]	1370	=item ev_tstamp repeat [read-write]
952		1371
953	The current C<repeat> value. Will be used each time the watcher times out	1372	The current C<repeat> value. Will be used each time the watcher times out
954	or C<ev_timer_again> is called and determines the next timeout (if any),	1373	or C<ev_timer_again> is called, and determines the next timeout (if any),
955	which is also when any modifications are taken into account.	1374	which is also when any modifications are taken into account.
956		1375
957	=back	1376	=back
958		1377
		1378	=head3 Examples
		1379
959	Example: Create a timer that fires after 60 seconds.	1380	Example: Create a timer that fires after 60 seconds.
960		1381
961	static void	1382	static void
962	one_minute_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_timer *w, int revents)	1383	one_minute_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_timer *w, int revents)
963	{	1384	{
964	.. one minute over, w is actually stopped right here	1385	.. one minute over, w is actually stopped right here
965	}	1386	}
966		1387
967	struct ev_timer mytimer;	1388	struct ev_timer mytimer;
968	ev_timer_init (&mytimer, one_minute_cb, 60., 0.);	1389	ev_timer_init (&mytimer, one_minute_cb, 60., 0.);
969	ev_timer_start (loop, &mytimer);	1390	ev_timer_start (loop, &mytimer);
970		1391
971	Example: Create a timeout timer that times out after 10 seconds of	1392	Example: Create a timeout timer that times out after 10 seconds of
972	inactivity.	1393	inactivity.
973		1394
974	static void	1395	static void
975	timeout_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_timer *w, int revents)	1396	timeout_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_timer *w, int revents)
976	{	1397	{
977	.. ten seconds without any activity	1398	.. ten seconds without any activity
978	}	1399	}
979		1400
980	struct ev_timer mytimer;	1401	struct ev_timer mytimer;
981	ev_timer_init (&mytimer, timeout_cb, 0., 10.); /* note, only repeat used */	1402	ev_timer_init (&mytimer, timeout_cb, 0., 10.); /* note, only repeat used */
982	ev_timer_again (&mytimer); /* start timer */	1403	ev_timer_again (&mytimer); /* start timer */
983	ev_loop (loop, 0);	1404	ev_loop (loop, 0);
984		1405
985	// and in some piece of code that gets executed on any "activity":	1406	// and in some piece of code that gets executed on any "activity":
986	// reset the timeout to start ticking again at 10 seconds	1407	// reset the timeout to start ticking again at 10 seconds
987	ev_timer_again (&mytimer);	1408	ev_timer_again (&mytimer);
988		1409
989		1410
990	=head2 C<ev_periodic> - to cron or not to cron?	1411	=head2 C<ev_periodic> - to cron or not to cron?
991		1412
992	Periodic watchers are also timers of a kind, but they are very versatile	1413	Periodic watchers are also timers of a kind, but they are very versatile
993	(and unfortunately a bit complex).	1414	(and unfortunately a bit complex).
994		1415
995	Unlike C<ev_timer>'s, they are not based on real time (or relative time)	1416	Unlike C<ev_timer>'s, they are not based on real time (or relative time)
996	but on wallclock time (absolute time). You can tell a periodic watcher	1417	but on wall clock time (absolute time). You can tell a periodic watcher
997	to trigger "at" some specific point in time. For example, if you tell a	1418	to trigger after some specific point in time. For example, if you tell a
998	periodic watcher to trigger in 10 seconds (by specifiying e.g. C<ev_now ()	1419	periodic watcher to trigger in 10 seconds (by specifying e.g. C<ev_now ()
999	+ 10.>) and then reset your system clock to the last year, then it will	1420	+ 10.>, that is, an absolute time not a delay) and then reset your system
		1421	clock to January of the previous year, then it will take more than year
1000	take a year to trigger the event (unlike an C<ev_timer>, which would trigger	1422	to trigger the event (unlike an C<ev_timer>, which would still trigger
1001	roughly 10 seconds later and of course not if you reset your system time	1423	roughly 10 seconds later as it uses a relative timeout).
1002	again).
1003		1424
1004	They can also be used to implement vastly more complex timers, such as	1425	C<ev_periodic>s can also be used to implement vastly more complex timers,
1005	triggering an event on eahc midnight, local time.	1426	such as triggering an event on each "midnight, local time", or other
		1427	complicated rules.
1006		1428
1007	As with timers, the callback is guarenteed to be invoked only when the	1429	As with timers, the callback is guaranteed to be invoked only when the
1008	time (C<at>) has been passed, but if multiple periodic timers become ready	1430	time (C<at>) has passed, but if multiple periodic timers become ready
1009	during the same loop iteration then order of execution is undefined.	1431	during the same loop iteration, then order of execution is undefined.
		1432
		1433	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
1010		1434
1011	=over 4	1435	=over 4
1012		1436
1013	=item ev_periodic_init (ev_periodic *, callback, ev_tstamp at, ev_tstamp interval, reschedule_cb)	1437	=item ev_periodic_init (ev_periodic *, callback, ev_tstamp at, ev_tstamp interval, reschedule_cb)
1014		1438
1015	=item ev_periodic_set (ev_periodic *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat, reschedule_cb)	1439	=item ev_periodic_set (ev_periodic *, ev_tstamp after, ev_tstamp repeat, reschedule_cb)
1016		1440
1017	Lots of arguments, lets sort it out... There are basically three modes of	1441	Lots of arguments, lets sort it out... There are basically three modes of
1018	operation, and we will explain them from simplest to complex:	1442	operation, and we will explain them from simplest to most complex:
1019		1443
1020	=over 4	1444	=over 4
1021		1445
1022	=item * absolute timer (interval = reschedule_cb = 0)	1446	=item * absolute timer (at = time, interval = reschedule_cb = 0)
1023		1447
1024	In this configuration the watcher triggers an event at the wallclock time	1448	In this configuration the watcher triggers an event after the wall clock
1025	C<at> and doesn't repeat. It will not adjust when a time jump occurs,	1449	time C<at> has passed. It will not repeat and will not adjust when a time
1026	that is, if it is to be run at January 1st 2011 then it will run when the	1450	jump occurs, that is, if it is to be run at January 1st 2011 then it will
1027	system time reaches or surpasses this time.	1451	only run when the system clock reaches or surpasses this time.
1028		1452
1029	=item * non-repeating interval timer (interval > 0, reschedule_cb = 0)	1453	=item * repeating interval timer (at = offset, interval > 0, reschedule_cb = 0)
1030		1454
1031	In this mode the watcher will always be scheduled to time out at the next	1455	In this mode the watcher will always be scheduled to time out at the next
1032	C<at + N * interval> time (for some integer N) and then repeat, regardless	1456	C<at + N * interval> time (for some integer N, which can also be negative)
1033	of any time jumps.	1457	and then repeat, regardless of any time jumps.
1034		1458
1035	This can be used to create timers that do not drift with respect to system	1459	This can be used to create timers that do not drift with respect to the
1036	time:	1460	system clock, for example, here is a C<ev_periodic> that triggers each
		1461	hour, on the hour:
1037		1462
1038	ev_periodic_set (&periodic, 0., 3600., 0);	1463	ev_periodic_set (&periodic, 0., 3600., 0);
1039		1464
1040	This doesn't mean there will always be 3600 seconds in between triggers,	1465	This doesn't mean there will always be 3600 seconds in between triggers,
1041	but only that the the callback will be called when the system time shows a	1466	but only that the callback will be called when the system time shows a
1042	full hour (UTC), or more correctly, when the system time is evenly divisible	1467	full hour (UTC), or more correctly, when the system time is evenly divisible
1043	by 3600.	1468	by 3600.
1044		1469
1045	Another way to think about it (for the mathematically inclined) is that	1470	Another way to think about it (for the mathematically inclined) is that
1046	C<ev_periodic> will try to run the callback in this mode at the next possible	1471	C<ev_periodic> will try to run the callback in this mode at the next possible
1047	time where C<time = at (mod interval)>, regardless of any time jumps.	1472	time where C<time = at (mod interval)>, regardless of any time jumps.
1048		1473
		1474	For numerical stability it is preferable that the C<at> value is near
		1475	C<ev_now ()> (the current time), but there is no range requirement for
		1476	this value, and in fact is often specified as zero.
		1477
		1478	Note also that there is an upper limit to how often a timer can fire (CPU
		1479	speed for example), so if C<interval> is very small then timing stability
		1480	will of course deteriorate. Libev itself tries to be exact to be about one
		1481	millisecond (if the OS supports it and the machine is fast enough).
		1482
1049	=item * manual reschedule mode (reschedule_cb = callback)	1483	=item * manual reschedule mode (at and interval ignored, reschedule_cb = callback)
1050		1484
1051	In this mode the values for C<interval> and C<at> are both being	1485	In this mode the values for C<interval> and C<at> are both being
1052	ignored. Instead, each time the periodic watcher gets scheduled, the	1486	ignored. Instead, each time the periodic watcher gets scheduled, the
1053	reschedule callback will be called with the watcher as first, and the	1487	reschedule callback will be called with the watcher as first, and the
1054	current time as second argument.	1488	current time as second argument.
1055		1489
1056	NOTE: I<This callback MUST NOT stop or destroy any periodic watcher,	1490	NOTE: I<This callback MUST NOT stop or destroy any periodic watcher,
1057	ever, or make any event loop modifications>. If you need to stop it,	1491	ever, or make ANY event loop modifications whatsoever>.
1058	return C<now + 1e30> (or so, fudge fudge) and stop it afterwards (e.g. by
1059	starting a prepare watcher).
1060		1492
		1493	If you need to stop it, return C<now + 1e30> (or so, fudge fudge) and stop
		1494	it afterwards (e.g. by starting an C<ev_prepare> watcher, which is the
		1495	only event loop modification you are allowed to do).
		1496
1061	Its prototype is C<ev_tstamp (*reschedule_cb)(struct ev_periodic *w,	1497	The callback prototype is C<ev_tstamp (*reschedule_cb)(struct ev_periodic
1062	ev_tstamp now)>, e.g.:	1498	*w, ev_tstamp now)>, e.g.:
1063		1499
1064	static ev_tstamp my_rescheduler (struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now)	1500	static ev_tstamp my_rescheduler (struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now)
1065	{	1501	{
1066	return now + 60.;	1502	return now + 60.;
1067	}	1503	}
…		…
1069	It must return the next time to trigger, based on the passed time value	1505	It must return the next time to trigger, based on the passed time value
1070	(that is, the lowest time value larger than to the second argument). It	1506	(that is, the lowest time value larger than to the second argument). It
1071	will usually be called just before the callback will be triggered, but	1507	will usually be called just before the callback will be triggered, but
1072	might be called at other times, too.	1508	might be called at other times, too.
1073		1509
1074	NOTE: I<< This callback must always return a time that is later than the	1510	NOTE: I<< This callback must always return a time that is higher than or
1075	passed C<now> value >>. Not even C<now> itself will do, it I<must> be larger.	1511	equal to the passed C<now> value >>.
1076		1512
1077	This can be used to create very complex timers, such as a timer that	1513	This can be used to create very complex timers, such as a timer that
1078	triggers on each midnight, local time. To do this, you would calculate the	1514	triggers on "next midnight, local time". To do this, you would calculate the
1079	next midnight after C<now> and return the timestamp value for this. How	1515	next midnight after C<now> and return the timestamp value for this. How
1080	you do this is, again, up to you (but it is not trivial, which is the main	1516	you do this is, again, up to you (but it is not trivial, which is the main
1081	reason I omitted it as an example).	1517	reason I omitted it as an example).
1082		1518
1083	=back	1519	=back
…		…
1087	Simply stops and restarts the periodic watcher again. This is only useful	1523	Simply stops and restarts the periodic watcher again. This is only useful
1088	when you changed some parameters or the reschedule callback would return	1524	when you changed some parameters or the reschedule callback would return
1089	a different time than the last time it was called (e.g. in a crond like	1525	a different time than the last time it was called (e.g. in a crond like
1090	program when the crontabs have changed).	1526	program when the crontabs have changed).
1091		1527
		1528	=item ev_tstamp ev_periodic_at (ev_periodic *)
		1529
		1530	When active, returns the absolute time that the watcher is supposed to
		1531	trigger next.
		1532
		1533	=item ev_tstamp offset [read-write]
		1534
		1535	When repeating, this contains the offset value, otherwise this is the
		1536	absolute point in time (the C<at> value passed to C<ev_periodic_set>).
		1537
		1538	Can be modified any time, but changes only take effect when the periodic
		1539	timer fires or C<ev_periodic_again> is being called.
		1540
1092	=item ev_tstamp interval [read-write]	1541	=item ev_tstamp interval [read-write]
1093		1542
1094	The current interval value. Can be modified any time, but changes only	1543	The current interval value. Can be modified any time, but changes only
1095	take effect when the periodic timer fires or C<ev_periodic_again> is being	1544	take effect when the periodic timer fires or C<ev_periodic_again> is being
1096	called.	1545	called.
…		…
1101	switched off. Can be changed any time, but changes only take effect when	1550	switched off. Can be changed any time, but changes only take effect when
1102	the periodic timer fires or C<ev_periodic_again> is being called.	1551	the periodic timer fires or C<ev_periodic_again> is being called.
1103		1552
1104	=back	1553	=back
1105		1554
		1555	=head3 Examples
		1556
1106	Example: Call a callback every hour, or, more precisely, whenever the	1557	Example: Call a callback every hour, or, more precisely, whenever the
1107	system clock is divisible by 3600. The callback invocation times have	1558	system time is divisible by 3600. The callback invocation times have
1108	potentially a lot of jittering, but good long-term stability.	1559	potentially a lot of jitter, but good long-term stability.
1109		1560
1110	static void	1561	static void
1111	clock_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w, int revents)	1562	clock_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_io *w, int revents)
1112	{	1563	{
1113	... its now a full hour (UTC, or TAI or whatever your clock follows)	1564	... its now a full hour (UTC, or TAI or whatever your clock follows)
1114	}	1565	}
1115		1566
1116	struct ev_periodic hourly_tick;	1567	struct ev_periodic hourly_tick;
1117	ev_periodic_init (&hourly_tick, clock_cb, 0., 3600., 0);	1568	ev_periodic_init (&hourly_tick, clock_cb, 0., 3600., 0);
1118	ev_periodic_start (loop, &hourly_tick);	1569	ev_periodic_start (loop, &hourly_tick);
1119		1570
1120	Example: The same as above, but use a reschedule callback to do it:	1571	Example: The same as above, but use a reschedule callback to do it:
1121		1572
1122	#include <math.h>	1573	#include <math.h>
1123		1574
1124	static ev_tstamp	1575	static ev_tstamp
1125	my_scheduler_cb (struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now)	1576	my_scheduler_cb (struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now)
1126	{	1577	{
1127	return fmod (now, 3600.) + 3600.;	1578	return now + (3600. - fmod (now, 3600.));
1128	}	1579	}
1129		1580
1130	ev_periodic_init (&hourly_tick, clock_cb, 0., 0., my_scheduler_cb);	1581	ev_periodic_init (&hourly_tick, clock_cb, 0., 0., my_scheduler_cb);
1131		1582
1132	Example: Call a callback every hour, starting now:	1583	Example: Call a callback every hour, starting now:
1133		1584
1134	struct ev_periodic hourly_tick;	1585	struct ev_periodic hourly_tick;
1135	ev_periodic_init (&hourly_tick, clock_cb,	1586	ev_periodic_init (&hourly_tick, clock_cb,
1136	fmod (ev_now (loop), 3600.), 3600., 0);	1587	fmod (ev_now (loop), 3600.), 3600., 0);
1137	ev_periodic_start (loop, &hourly_tick);	1588	ev_periodic_start (loop, &hourly_tick);
1138		1589
1139		1590
1140	=head2 C<ev_signal> - signal me when a signal gets signalled!	1591	=head2 C<ev_signal> - signal me when a signal gets signalled!
1141		1592
1142	Signal watchers will trigger an event when the process receives a specific	1593	Signal watchers will trigger an event when the process receives a specific
1143	signal one or more times. Even though signals are very asynchronous, libev	1594	signal one or more times. Even though signals are very asynchronous, libev
1144	will try it's best to deliver signals synchronously, i.e. as part of the	1595	will try it's best to deliver signals synchronously, i.e. as part of the
1145	normal event processing, like any other event.	1596	normal event processing, like any other event.
1146		1597
		1598	If you want signals asynchronously, just use C<sigaction> as you would
		1599	do without libev and forget about sharing the signal. You can even use
		1600	C<ev_async> from a signal handler to synchronously wake up an event loop.
		1601
1147	You can configure as many watchers as you like per signal. Only when the	1602	You can configure as many watchers as you like per signal. Only when the
1148	first watcher gets started will libev actually register a signal watcher	1603	first watcher gets started will libev actually register a signal handler
1149	with the kernel (thus it coexists with your own signal handlers as long	1604	with the kernel (thus it coexists with your own signal handlers as long as
1150	as you don't register any with libev). Similarly, when the last signal	1605	you don't register any with libev for the same signal). Similarly, when
1151	watcher for a signal is stopped libev will reset the signal handler to	1606	the last signal watcher for a signal is stopped, libev will reset the
1152	SIG_DFL (regardless of what it was set to before).	1607	signal handler to SIG_DFL (regardless of what it was set to before).
		1608
		1609	If possible and supported, libev will install its handlers with
		1610	C<SA_RESTART> behaviour enabled, so system calls should not be unduly
		1611	interrupted. If you have a problem with system calls getting interrupted by
		1612	signals you can block all signals in an C<ev_check> watcher and unblock
		1613	them in an C<ev_prepare> watcher.
		1614
		1615	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
1153		1616
1154	=over 4	1617	=over 4
1155		1618
1156	=item ev_signal_init (ev_signal *, callback, int signum)	1619	=item ev_signal_init (ev_signal *, callback, int signum)
1157		1620
…		…
1164		1627
1165	The signal the watcher watches out for.	1628	The signal the watcher watches out for.
1166		1629
1167	=back	1630	=back
1168		1631
		1632	=head3 Examples
		1633
		1634	Example: Try to exit cleanly on SIGINT.
		1635
		1636	static void
		1637	sigint_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_signal *w, int revents)
		1638	{
		1639	ev_unloop (loop, EVUNLOOP_ALL);
		1640	}
		1641
		1642	struct ev_signal signal_watcher;
		1643	ev_signal_init (&signal_watcher, sigint_cb, SIGINT);
		1644	ev_signal_start (loop, &signal_watcher);
		1645
1169		1646
1170	=head2 C<ev_child> - watch out for process status changes	1647	=head2 C<ev_child> - watch out for process status changes
1171		1648
1172	Child watchers trigger when your process receives a SIGCHLD in response to	1649	Child watchers trigger when your process receives a SIGCHLD in response to
1173	some child status changes (most typically when a child of yours dies).	1650	some child status changes (most typically when a child of yours dies or
		1651	exits). It is permissible to install a child watcher I<after> the child
		1652	has been forked (which implies it might have already exited), as long
		1653	as the event loop isn't entered (or is continued from a watcher), i.e.,
		1654	forking and then immediately registering a watcher for the child is fine,
		1655	but forking and registering a watcher a few event loop iterations later is
		1656	not.
		1657
		1658	Only the default event loop is capable of handling signals, and therefore
		1659	you can only register child watchers in the default event loop.
		1660
		1661	=head3 Process Interaction
		1662
		1663	Libev grabs C<SIGCHLD> as soon as the default event loop is
		1664	initialised. This is necessary to guarantee proper behaviour even if
		1665	the first child watcher is started after the child exits. The occurrence
		1666	of C<SIGCHLD> is recorded asynchronously, but child reaping is done
		1667	synchronously as part of the event loop processing. Libev always reaps all
		1668	children, even ones not watched.
		1669
		1670	=head3 Overriding the Built-In Processing
		1671
		1672	Libev offers no special support for overriding the built-in child
		1673	processing, but if your application collides with libev's default child
		1674	handler, you can override it easily by installing your own handler for
		1675	C<SIGCHLD> after initialising the default loop, and making sure the
		1676	default loop never gets destroyed. You are encouraged, however, to use an
		1677	event-based approach to child reaping and thus use libev's support for
		1678	that, so other libev users can use C<ev_child> watchers freely.
		1679
		1680	=head3 Stopping the Child Watcher
		1681
		1682	Currently, the child watcher never gets stopped, even when the
		1683	child terminates, so normally one needs to stop the watcher in the
		1684	callback. Future versions of libev might stop the watcher automatically
		1685	when a child exit is detected.
		1686
		1687	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
1174		1688
1175	=over 4	1689	=over 4
1176		1690
1177	=item ev_child_init (ev_child *, callback, int pid)	1691	=item ev_child_init (ev_child *, callback, int pid, int trace)
1178		1692
1179	=item ev_child_set (ev_child *, int pid)	1693	=item ev_child_set (ev_child *, int pid, int trace)
1180		1694
1181	Configures the watcher to wait for status changes of process C<pid> (or	1695	Configures the watcher to wait for status changes of process C<pid> (or
1182	I<any> process if C<pid> is specified as C<0>). The callback can look	1696	I<any> process if C<pid> is specified as C<0>). The callback can look
1183	at the C<rstatus> member of the C<ev_child> watcher structure to see	1697	at the C<rstatus> member of the C<ev_child> watcher structure to see
1184	the status word (use the macros from C<sys/wait.h> and see your systems	1698	the status word (use the macros from C<sys/wait.h> and see your systems
1185	C<waitpid> documentation). The C<rpid> member contains the pid of the	1699	C<waitpid> documentation). The C<rpid> member contains the pid of the
1186	process causing the status change.	1700	process causing the status change. C<trace> must be either C<0> (only
		1701	activate the watcher when the process terminates) or C<1> (additionally
		1702	activate the watcher when the process is stopped or continued).
1187		1703
1188	=item int pid [read-only]	1704	=item int pid [read-only]
1189		1705
1190	The process id this watcher watches out for, or C<0>, meaning any process id.	1706	The process id this watcher watches out for, or C<0>, meaning any process id.
1191		1707
…		…
1198	The process exit/trace status caused by C<rpid> (see your systems	1714	The process exit/trace status caused by C<rpid> (see your systems
1199	C<waitpid> and C<sys/wait.h> documentation for details).	1715	C<waitpid> and C<sys/wait.h> documentation for details).
1200		1716
1201	=back	1717	=back
1202		1718
1203	Example: Try to exit cleanly on SIGINT and SIGTERM.	1719	=head3 Examples
1204		1720
		1721	Example: C<fork()> a new process and install a child handler to wait for
		1722	its completion.
		1723
		1724	ev_child cw;
		1725
1205	static void	1726	static void
1206	sigint_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_signal *w, int revents)	1727	child_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_child *w, int revents)
1207	{	1728	{
1208	ev_unloop (loop, EVUNLOOP_ALL);	1729	ev_child_stop (EV_A_ w);
		1730	printf ("process %d exited with status %x\n", w->rpid, w->rstatus);
1209	}	1731	}
1210		1732
1211	struct ev_signal signal_watcher;	1733	pid_t pid = fork ();
1212	ev_signal_init (&signal_watcher, sigint_cb, SIGINT);	1734
1213	ev_signal_start (loop, &sigint_cb);	1735	if (pid < 0)
		1736	// error
		1737	else if (pid == 0)
		1738	{
		1739	// the forked child executes here
		1740	exit (1);
		1741	}
		1742	else
		1743	{
		1744	ev_child_init (&cw, child_cb, pid, 0);
		1745	ev_child_start (EV_DEFAULT_ &cw);
		1746	}
1214		1747
1215		1748
1216	=head2 C<ev_stat> - did the file attributes just change?	1749	=head2 C<ev_stat> - did the file attributes just change?
1217		1750
1218	This watches a filesystem path for attribute changes. That is, it calls	1751	This watches a file system path for attribute changes. That is, it calls
1219	C<stat> regularly (or when the OS says it changed) and sees if it changed	1752	C<stat> regularly (or when the OS says it changed) and sees if it changed
1220	compared to the last time, invoking the callback if it did.	1753	compared to the last time, invoking the callback if it did.
1221		1754
1222	The path does not need to exist: changing from "path exists" to "path does	1755	The path does not need to exist: changing from "path exists" to "path does
1223	not exist" is a status change like any other. The condition "path does	1756	not exist" is a status change like any other. The condition "path does
…		…
1226	the stat buffer having unspecified contents.	1759	the stat buffer having unspecified contents.
1227		1760
1228	The path I<should> be absolute and I<must not> end in a slash. If it is	1761	The path I<should> be absolute and I<must not> end in a slash. If it is
1229	relative and your working directory changes, the behaviour is undefined.	1762	relative and your working directory changes, the behaviour is undefined.
1230		1763
1231	Since there is no standard to do this, the portable implementation simply	1764	Since there is no standard kernel interface to do this, the portable
1232	calls C<stat (2)> regularly on the path to see if it changed somehow. You	1765	implementation simply calls C<stat (2)> regularly on the path to see if
1233	can specify a recommended polling interval for this case. If you specify	1766	it changed somehow. You can specify a recommended polling interval for
1234	a polling interval of C<0> (highly recommended!) then a I<suitable,	1767	this case. If you specify a polling interval of C<0> (highly recommended!)
1235	unspecified default> value will be used (which you can expect to be around	1768	then a I<suitable, unspecified default> value will be used (which
1236	five seconds, although this might change dynamically). Libev will also	1769	you can expect to be around five seconds, although this might change
1237	impose a minimum interval which is currently around C<0.1>, but thats	1770	dynamically). Libev will also impose a minimum interval which is currently
1238	usually overkill.	1771	around C<0.1>, but thats usually overkill.
1239		1772
1240	This watcher type is not meant for massive numbers of stat watchers,	1773	This watcher type is not meant for massive numbers of stat watchers,
1241	as even with OS-supported change notifications, this can be	1774	as even with OS-supported change notifications, this can be
1242	resource-intensive.	1775	resource-intensive.
1243		1776
1244	At the time of this writing, only the Linux inotify interface is	1777	At the time of this writing, the only OS-specific interface implemented
1245	implemented (implementing kqueue support is left as an exercise for the	1778	is the Linux inotify interface (implementing kqueue support is left as
1246	reader). Inotify will be used to give hints only and should not change the	1779	an exercise for the reader. Note, however, that the author sees no way
1247	semantics of C<ev_stat> watchers, which means that libev sometimes needs	1780	of implementing C<ev_stat> semantics with kqueue).
1248	to fall back to regular polling again even with inotify, but changes are	1781
1249	usually detected immediately, and if the file exists there will be no	1782	=head3 ABI Issues (Largefile Support)
1250	polling.	1783
		1784	Libev by default (unless the user overrides this) uses the default
		1785	compilation environment, which means that on systems with large file
		1786	support disabled by default, you get the 32 bit version of the stat
		1787	structure. When using the library from programs that change the ABI to
		1788	use 64 bit file offsets the programs will fail. In that case you have to
		1789	compile libev with the same flags to get binary compatibility. This is
		1790	obviously the case with any flags that change the ABI, but the problem is
		1791	most noticeably disabled with ev_stat and large file support.
		1792
		1793	The solution for this is to lobby your distribution maker to make large
		1794	file interfaces available by default (as e.g. FreeBSD does) and not
		1795	optional. Libev cannot simply switch on large file support because it has
		1796	to exchange stat structures with application programs compiled using the
		1797	default compilation environment.
		1798
		1799	=head3 Inotify and Kqueue
		1800
		1801	When C<inotify (7)> support has been compiled into libev (generally
		1802	only available with Linux 2.6.25 or above due to bugs in earlier
		1803	implementations) and present at runtime, it will be used to speed up
		1804	change detection where possible. The inotify descriptor will be created
		1805	lazily when the first C<ev_stat> watcher is being started.
		1806
		1807	Inotify presence does not change the semantics of C<ev_stat> watchers
		1808	except that changes might be detected earlier, and in some cases, to avoid
		1809	making regular C<stat> calls. Even in the presence of inotify support
		1810	there are many cases where libev has to resort to regular C<stat> polling,
		1811	but as long as the path exists, libev usually gets away without polling.
		1812
		1813	There is no support for kqueue, as apparently it cannot be used to
		1814	implement this functionality, due to the requirement of having a file
		1815	descriptor open on the object at all times, and detecting renames, unlinks
		1816	etc. is difficult.
		1817
		1818	=head3 The special problem of stat time resolution
		1819
		1820	The C<stat ()> system call only supports full-second resolution portably, and
		1821	even on systems where the resolution is higher, most file systems still
		1822	only support whole seconds.
		1823
		1824	That means that, if the time is the only thing that changes, you can
		1825	easily miss updates: on the first update, C<ev_stat> detects a change and
		1826	calls your callback, which does something. When there is another update
		1827	within the same second, C<ev_stat> will be unable to detect unless the
		1828	stat data does change in other ways (e.g. file size).
		1829
		1830	The solution to this is to delay acting on a change for slightly more
		1831	than a second (or till slightly after the next full second boundary), using
		1832	a roughly one-second-delay C<ev_timer> (e.g. C<ev_timer_set (w, 0., 1.02);
		1833	ev_timer_again (loop, w)>).
		1834
		1835	The C<.02> offset is added to work around small timing inconsistencies
		1836	of some operating systems (where the second counter of the current time
		1837	might be be delayed. One such system is the Linux kernel, where a call to
		1838	C<gettimeofday> might return a timestamp with a full second later than
		1839	a subsequent C<time> call - if the equivalent of C<time ()> is used to
		1840	update file times then there will be a small window where the kernel uses
		1841	the previous second to update file times but libev might already execute
		1842	the timer callback).
		1843
		1844	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
1251		1845
1252	=over 4	1846	=over 4
1253		1847
1254	=item ev_stat_init (ev_stat *, callback, const char *path, ev_tstamp interval)	1848	=item ev_stat_init (ev_stat *, callback, const char *path, ev_tstamp interval)
1255		1849
…		…
1259	C<path>. The C<interval> is a hint on how quickly a change is expected to	1853	C<path>. The C<interval> is a hint on how quickly a change is expected to
1260	be detected and should normally be specified as C<0> to let libev choose	1854	be detected and should normally be specified as C<0> to let libev choose
1261	a suitable value. The memory pointed to by C<path> must point to the same	1855	a suitable value. The memory pointed to by C<path> must point to the same
1262	path for as long as the watcher is active.	1856	path for as long as the watcher is active.
1263		1857
1264	The callback will be receive C<EV_STAT> when a change was detected,	1858	The callback will receive an C<EV_STAT> event when a change was detected,
1265	relative to the attributes at the time the watcher was started (or the	1859	relative to the attributes at the time the watcher was started (or the
1266	last change was detected).	1860	last change was detected).
1267		1861
1268	=item ev_stat_stat (ev_stat *)	1862	=item ev_stat_stat (loop, ev_stat *)
1269		1863
1270	Updates the stat buffer immediately with new values. If you change the	1864	Updates the stat buffer immediately with new values. If you change the
1271	watched path in your callback, you could call this fucntion to avoid	1865	watched path in your callback, you could call this function to avoid
1272	detecting this change (while introducing a race condition). Can also be	1866	detecting this change (while introducing a race condition if you are not
1273	useful simply to find out the new values.	1867	the only one changing the path). Can also be useful simply to find out the
		1868	new values.
1274		1869
1275	=item ev_statdata attr [read-only]	1870	=item ev_statdata attr [read-only]
1276		1871
1277	The most-recently detected attributes of the file. Although the type is of	1872	The most-recently detected attributes of the file. Although the type is
1278	C<ev_statdata>, this is usually the (or one of the) C<struct stat> types	1873	C<ev_statdata>, this is usually the (or one of the) C<struct stat> types
1279	suitable for your system. If the C<st_nlink> member is C<0>, then there	1874	suitable for your system, but you can only rely on the POSIX-standardised
		1875	members to be present. If the C<st_nlink> member is C<0>, then there was
1280	was some error while C<stat>ing the file.	1876	some error while C<stat>ing the file.
1281		1877
1282	=item ev_statdata prev [read-only]	1878	=item ev_statdata prev [read-only]
1283		1879
1284	The previous attributes of the file. The callback gets invoked whenever	1880	The previous attributes of the file. The callback gets invoked whenever
1285	C<prev> != C<attr>.	1881	C<prev> != C<attr>, or, more precisely, one or more of these members
		1882	differ: C<st_dev>, C<st_ino>, C<st_mode>, C<st_nlink>, C<st_uid>,
		1883	C<st_gid>, C<st_rdev>, C<st_size>, C<st_atime>, C<st_mtime>, C<st_ctime>.
1286		1884
1287	=item ev_tstamp interval [read-only]	1885	=item ev_tstamp interval [read-only]
1288		1886
1289	The specified interval.	1887	The specified interval.
1290		1888
1291	=item const char *path [read-only]	1889	=item const char *path [read-only]
1292		1890
1293	The filesystem path that is being watched.	1891	The file system path that is being watched.
1294		1892
1295	=back	1893	=back
1296		1894
		1895	=head3 Examples
		1896
1297	Example: Watch C</etc/passwd> for attribute changes.	1897	Example: Watch C</etc/passwd> for attribute changes.
1298		1898
1299	static void	1899	static void
1300	passwd_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, ev_stat *w, int revents)	1900	passwd_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, ev_stat *w, int revents)
1301	{	1901	{
1302	/* /etc/passwd changed in some way */	1902	/* /etc/passwd changed in some way */
1303	if (w->attr.st_nlink)	1903	if (w->attr.st_nlink)
1304	{	1904	{
1305	printf ("passwd current size %ld\n", (long)w->attr.st_size);	1905	printf ("passwd current size %ld\n", (long)w->attr.st_size);
1306	printf ("passwd current atime %ld\n", (long)w->attr.st_mtime);	1906	printf ("passwd current atime %ld\n", (long)w->attr.st_mtime);
1307	printf ("passwd current mtime %ld\n", (long)w->attr.st_mtime);	1907	printf ("passwd current mtime %ld\n", (long)w->attr.st_mtime);
1308	}	1908	}
1309	else	1909	else
1310	/* you shalt not abuse printf for puts */	1910	/* you shalt not abuse printf for puts */
1311	puts ("wow, /etc/passwd is not there, expect problems. "	1911	puts ("wow, /etc/passwd is not there, expect problems. "
1312	"if this is windows, they already arrived\n");	1912	"if this is windows, they already arrived\n");
1313	}	1913	}
1314		1914
1315	...	1915	...
1316	ev_stat passwd;	1916	ev_stat passwd;
1317		1917
1318	ev_stat_init (&passwd, passwd_cb, "/etc/passwd");	1918	ev_stat_init (&passwd, passwd_cb, "/etc/passwd", 0.);
1319	ev_stat_start (loop, &passwd);	1919	ev_stat_start (loop, &passwd);
		1920
		1921	Example: Like above, but additionally use a one-second delay so we do not
		1922	miss updates (however, frequent updates will delay processing, too, so
		1923	one might do the work both on C<ev_stat> callback invocation I<and> on
		1924	C<ev_timer> callback invocation).
		1925
		1926	static ev_stat passwd;
		1927	static ev_timer timer;
		1928
		1929	static void
		1930	timer_cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)
		1931	{
		1932	ev_timer_stop (EV_A_ w);
		1933
		1934	/* now it's one second after the most recent passwd change */
		1935	}
		1936
		1937	static void
		1938	stat_cb (EV_P_ ev_stat *w, int revents)
		1939	{
		1940	/* reset the one-second timer */
		1941	ev_timer_again (EV_A_ &timer);
		1942	}
		1943
		1944	...
		1945	ev_stat_init (&passwd, stat_cb, "/etc/passwd", 0.);
		1946	ev_stat_start (loop, &passwd);
		1947	ev_timer_init (&timer, timer_cb, 0., 1.02);
1320		1948
1321		1949
1322	=head2 C<ev_idle> - when you've got nothing better to do...	1950	=head2 C<ev_idle> - when you've got nothing better to do...
1323		1951
1324	Idle watchers trigger events when there are no other events are pending	1952	Idle watchers trigger events when no other events of the same or higher
1325	(prepare, check and other idle watchers do not count). That is, as long	1953	priority are pending (prepare, check and other idle watchers do not count
1326	as your process is busy handling sockets or timeouts (or even signals,	1954	as receiving "events").
1327	imagine) it will not be triggered. But when your process is idle all idle	1955
1328	watchers are being called again and again, once per event loop iteration -	1956	That is, as long as your process is busy handling sockets or timeouts
		1957	(or even signals, imagine) of the same or higher priority it will not be
		1958	triggered. But when your process is idle (or only lower-priority watchers
		1959	are pending), the idle watchers are being called once per event loop
1329	until stopped, that is, or your process receives more events and becomes	1960	iteration - until stopped, that is, or your process receives more events
1330	busy.	1961	and becomes busy again with higher priority stuff.
1331		1962
1332	The most noteworthy effect is that as long as any idle watchers are	1963	The most noteworthy effect is that as long as any idle watchers are
1333	active, the process will not block when waiting for new events.	1964	active, the process will not block when waiting for new events.
1334		1965
1335	Apart from keeping your process non-blocking (which is a useful	1966	Apart from keeping your process non-blocking (which is a useful
1336	effect on its own sometimes), idle watchers are a good place to do	1967	effect on its own sometimes), idle watchers are a good place to do
1337	"pseudo-background processing", or delay processing stuff to after the	1968	"pseudo-background processing", or delay processing stuff to after the
1338	event loop has handled all outstanding events.	1969	event loop has handled all outstanding events.
1339		1970
		1971	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
		1972
1340	=over 4	1973	=over 4
1341		1974
1342	=item ev_idle_init (ev_signal *, callback)	1975	=item ev_idle_init (ev_signal *, callback)
1343		1976
1344	Initialises and configures the idle watcher - it has no parameters of any	1977	Initialises and configures the idle watcher - it has no parameters of any
1345	kind. There is a C<ev_idle_set> macro, but using it is utterly pointless,	1978	kind. There is a C<ev_idle_set> macro, but using it is utterly pointless,
1346	believe me.	1979	believe me.
1347		1980
1348	=back	1981	=back
1349		1982
		1983	=head3 Examples
		1984
1350	Example: Dynamically allocate an C<ev_idle> watcher, start it, and in the	1985	Example: Dynamically allocate an C<ev_idle> watcher, start it, and in the
1351	callback, free it. Also, use no error checking, as usual.	1986	callback, free it. Also, use no error checking, as usual.
1352		1987
1353	static void	1988	static void
1354	idle_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_idle *w, int revents)	1989	idle_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_idle *w, int revents)
1355	{	1990	{
1356	free (w);	1991	free (w);
1357	// now do something you wanted to do when the program has	1992	// now do something you wanted to do when the program has
1358	// no longer asnything immediate to do.	1993	// no longer anything immediate to do.
1359	}	1994	}
1360		1995
1361	struct ev_idle *idle_watcher = malloc (sizeof (struct ev_idle));	1996	struct ev_idle *idle_watcher = malloc (sizeof (struct ev_idle));
1362	ev_idle_init (idle_watcher, idle_cb);	1997	ev_idle_init (idle_watcher, idle_cb);
1363	ev_idle_start (loop, idle_cb);	1998	ev_idle_start (loop, idle_cb);
1364		1999
1365		2000
1366	=head2 C<ev_prepare> and C<ev_check> - customise your event loop!	2001	=head2 C<ev_prepare> and C<ev_check> - customise your event loop!
1367		2002
1368	Prepare and check watchers are usually (but not always) used in tandem:	2003	Prepare and check watchers are usually (but not always) used in pairs:
1369	prepare watchers get invoked before the process blocks and check watchers	2004	prepare watchers get invoked before the process blocks and check watchers
1370	afterwards.	2005	afterwards.
1371		2006
1372	You I<must not> call C<ev_loop> or similar functions that enter	2007	You I<must not> call C<ev_loop> or similar functions that enter
1373	the current event loop from either C<ev_prepare> or C<ev_check>	2008	the current event loop from either C<ev_prepare> or C<ev_check>
…		…
1376	those watchers, i.e. the sequence will always be C<ev_prepare>, blocking,	2011	those watchers, i.e. the sequence will always be C<ev_prepare>, blocking,
1377	C<ev_check> so if you have one watcher of each kind they will always be	2012	C<ev_check> so if you have one watcher of each kind they will always be
1378	called in pairs bracketing the blocking call.	2013	called in pairs bracketing the blocking call.
1379		2014
1380	Their main purpose is to integrate other event mechanisms into libev and	2015	Their main purpose is to integrate other event mechanisms into libev and
1381	their use is somewhat advanced. This could be used, for example, to track	2016	their use is somewhat advanced. They could be used, for example, to track
1382	variable changes, implement your own watchers, integrate net-snmp or a	2017	variable changes, implement your own watchers, integrate net-snmp or a
1383	coroutine library and lots more. They are also occasionally useful if	2018	coroutine library and lots more. They are also occasionally useful if
1384	you cache some data and want to flush it before blocking (for example,	2019	you cache some data and want to flush it before blocking (for example,
1385	in X programs you might want to do an C<XFlush ()> in an C<ev_prepare>	2020	in X programs you might want to do an C<XFlush ()> in an C<ev_prepare>
1386	watcher).	2021	watcher).
1387		2022
1388	This is done by examining in each prepare call which file descriptors need	2023	This is done by examining in each prepare call which file descriptors
1389	to be watched by the other library, registering C<ev_io> watchers for	2024	need to be watched by the other library, registering C<ev_io> watchers
1390	them and starting an C<ev_timer> watcher for any timeouts (many libraries	2025	for them and starting an C<ev_timer> watcher for any timeouts (many
1391	provide just this functionality). Then, in the check watcher you check for	2026	libraries provide exactly this functionality). Then, in the check watcher,
1392	any events that occured (by checking the pending status of all watchers	2027	you check for any events that occurred (by checking the pending status
1393	and stopping them) and call back into the library. The I/O and timer	2028	of all watchers and stopping them) and call back into the library. The
1394	callbacks will never actually be called (but must be valid nevertheless,	2029	I/O and timer callbacks will never actually be called (but must be valid
1395	because you never know, you know?).	2030	nevertheless, because you never know, you know?).
1396		2031
1397	As another example, the Perl Coro module uses these hooks to integrate	2032	As another example, the Perl Coro module uses these hooks to integrate
1398	coroutines into libev programs, by yielding to other active coroutines	2033	coroutines into libev programs, by yielding to other active coroutines
1399	during each prepare and only letting the process block if no coroutines	2034	during each prepare and only letting the process block if no coroutines
1400	are ready to run (it's actually more complicated: it only runs coroutines	2035	are ready to run (it's actually more complicated: it only runs coroutines
1401	with priority higher than or equal to the event loop and one coroutine	2036	with priority higher than or equal to the event loop and one coroutine
1402	of lower priority, but only once, using idle watchers to keep the event	2037	of lower priority, but only once, using idle watchers to keep the event
1403	loop from blocking if lower-priority coroutines are active, thus mapping	2038	loop from blocking if lower-priority coroutines are active, thus mapping
1404	low-priority coroutines to idle/background tasks).	2039	low-priority coroutines to idle/background tasks).
1405		2040
		2041	It is recommended to give C<ev_check> watchers highest (C<EV_MAXPRI>)
		2042	priority, to ensure that they are being run before any other watchers
		2043	after the poll (this doesn't matter for C<ev_prepare> watchers).
		2044
		2045	Also, C<ev_check> watchers (and C<ev_prepare> watchers, too) should not
		2046	activate ("feed") events into libev. While libev fully supports this, they
		2047	might get executed before other C<ev_check> watchers did their job. As
		2048	C<ev_check> watchers are often used to embed other (non-libev) event
		2049	loops those other event loops might be in an unusable state until their
		2050	C<ev_check> watcher ran (always remind yourself to coexist peacefully with
		2051	others).
		2052
		2053	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
		2054
1406	=over 4	2055	=over 4
1407		2056
1408	=item ev_prepare_init (ev_prepare *, callback)	2057	=item ev_prepare_init (ev_prepare *, callback)
1409		2058
1410	=item ev_check_init (ev_check *, callback)	2059	=item ev_check_init (ev_check *, callback)
1411		2060
1412	Initialises and configures the prepare or check watcher - they have no	2061	Initialises and configures the prepare or check watcher - they have no
1413	parameters of any kind. There are C<ev_prepare_set> and C<ev_check_set>	2062	parameters of any kind. There are C<ev_prepare_set> and C<ev_check_set>
1414	macros, but using them is utterly, utterly and completely pointless.	2063	macros, but using them is utterly, utterly, utterly and completely
		2064	pointless.
1415		2065
1416	=back	2066	=back
1417		2067
1418	Example: To include a library such as adns, you would add IO watchers	2068	=head3 Examples
1419	and a timeout watcher in a prepare handler, as required by libadns, and	2069
		2070	There are a number of principal ways to embed other event loops or modules
		2071	into libev. Here are some ideas on how to include libadns into libev
		2072	(there is a Perl module named C<EV::ADNS> that does this, which you could
		2073	use as a working example. Another Perl module named C<EV::Glib> embeds a
		2074	Glib main context into libev, and finally, C<Glib::EV> embeds EV into the
		2075	Glib event loop).
		2076
		2077	Method 1: Add IO watchers and a timeout watcher in a prepare handler,
1420	in a check watcher, destroy them and call into libadns. What follows is	2078	and in a check watcher, destroy them and call into libadns. What follows
1421	pseudo-code only of course:	2079	is pseudo-code only of course. This requires you to either use a low
		2080	priority for the check watcher or use C<ev_clear_pending> explicitly, as
		2081	the callbacks for the IO/timeout watchers might not have been called yet.
1422		2082
1423	static ev_io iow [nfd];	2083	static ev_io iow [nfd];
1424	static ev_timer tw;	2084	static ev_timer tw;
1425		2085
1426	static void	2086	static void
1427	io_cb (ev_loop *loop, ev_io *w, int revents)	2087	io_cb (ev_loop *loop, ev_io *w, int revents)
1428	{	2088	{
1429	// set the relevant poll flags
1430	// could also call adns_processreadable etc. here
1431	struct pollfd *fd = (struct pollfd *)w->data;
1432	if (revents & EV_READ ) fd->revents |= fd->events & POLLIN;
1433	if (revents & EV_WRITE) fd->revents |= fd->events & POLLOUT;
1434	}	2089	}
1435		2090
1436	// create io watchers for each fd and a timer before blocking	2091	// create io watchers for each fd and a timer before blocking
1437	static void	2092	static void
1438	adns_prepare_cb (ev_loop *loop, ev_prepare *w, int revents)	2093	adns_prepare_cb (ev_loop *loop, ev_prepare *w, int revents)
1439	{	2094	{
1440	int timeout = 3600000;truct pollfd fds [nfd];	2095	int timeout = 3600000;
		2096	struct pollfd fds [nfd];
1441	// actual code will need to loop here and realloc etc.	2097	// actual code will need to loop here and realloc etc.
1442	adns_beforepoll (ads, fds, &nfd, &timeout, timeval_from (ev_time ()));	2098	adns_beforepoll (ads, fds, &nfd, &timeout, timeval_from (ev_time ()));
1443		2099
1444	/* the callback is illegal, but won't be called as we stop during check */	2100	/* the callback is illegal, but won't be called as we stop during check */
1445	ev_timer_init (&tw, 0, timeout * 1e-3);	2101	ev_timer_init (&tw, 0, timeout * 1e-3);
1446	ev_timer_start (loop, &tw);	2102	ev_timer_start (loop, &tw);
1447		2103
1448	// create on ev_io per pollfd	2104	// create one ev_io per pollfd
1449	for (int i = 0; i < nfd; ++i)	2105	for (int i = 0; i < nfd; ++i)
1450	{	2106	{
1451	ev_io_init (iow + i, io_cb, fds [i].fd,	2107	ev_io_init (iow + i, io_cb, fds [i].fd,
1452	((fds [i].events & POLLIN ? EV_READ : 0)	2108	((fds [i].events & POLLIN ? EV_READ : 0)
1453	| (fds [i].events & POLLOUT ? EV_WRITE : 0)));	2109	| (fds [i].events & POLLOUT ? EV_WRITE : 0)));
1454		2110
1455	fds [i].revents = 0;	2111	fds [i].revents = 0;
1456	iow [i].data = fds + i;
1457	ev_io_start (loop, iow + i);	2112	ev_io_start (loop, iow + i);
1458	}	2113	}
1459	}	2114	}
1460		2115
1461	// stop all watchers after blocking	2116	// stop all watchers after blocking
1462	static void	2117	static void
1463	adns_check_cb (ev_loop *loop, ev_check *w, int revents)	2118	adns_check_cb (ev_loop *loop, ev_check *w, int revents)
1464	{	2119	{
1465	ev_timer_stop (loop, &tw);	2120	ev_timer_stop (loop, &tw);
1466		2121
1467	for (int i = 0; i < nfd; ++i)	2122	for (int i = 0; i < nfd; ++i)
		2123	{
		2124	// set the relevant poll flags
		2125	// could also call adns_processreadable etc. here
		2126	struct pollfd *fd = fds + i;
		2127	int revents = ev_clear_pending (iow + i);
		2128	if (revents & EV_READ ) fd->revents |= fd->events & POLLIN;
		2129	if (revents & EV_WRITE) fd->revents |= fd->events & POLLOUT;
		2130
		2131	// now stop the watcher
1468	ev_io_stop (loop, iow + i);	2132	ev_io_stop (loop, iow + i);
		2133	}
1469		2134
1470	adns_afterpoll (adns, fds, nfd, timeval_from (ev_now (loop));	2135	adns_afterpoll (adns, fds, nfd, timeval_from (ev_now (loop));
1471	}	2136	}
		2137
		2138	Method 2: This would be just like method 1, but you run C<adns_afterpoll>
		2139	in the prepare watcher and would dispose of the check watcher.
		2140
		2141	Method 3: If the module to be embedded supports explicit event
		2142	notification (libadns does), you can also make use of the actual watcher
		2143	callbacks, and only destroy/create the watchers in the prepare watcher.
		2144
		2145	static void
		2146	timer_cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)
		2147	{
		2148	adns_state ads = (adns_state)w->data;
		2149	update_now (EV_A);
		2150
		2151	adns_processtimeouts (ads, &tv_now);
		2152	}
		2153
		2154	static void
		2155	io_cb (EV_P_ ev_io *w, int revents)
		2156	{
		2157	adns_state ads = (adns_state)w->data;
		2158	update_now (EV_A);
		2159
		2160	if (revents & EV_READ ) adns_processreadable (ads, w->fd, &tv_now);
		2161	if (revents & EV_WRITE) adns_processwriteable (ads, w->fd, &tv_now);
		2162	}
		2163
		2164	// do not ever call adns_afterpoll
		2165
		2166	Method 4: Do not use a prepare or check watcher because the module you
		2167	want to embed is not flexible enough to support it. Instead, you can
		2168	override their poll function. The drawback with this solution is that the
		2169	main loop is now no longer controllable by EV. The C<Glib::EV> module uses
		2170	this approach, effectively embedding EV as a client into the horrible
		2171	libglib event loop.
		2172
		2173	static gint
		2174	event_poll_func (GPollFD *fds, guint nfds, gint timeout)
		2175	{
		2176	int got_events = 0;
		2177
		2178	for (n = 0; n < nfds; ++n)
		2179	// create/start io watcher that sets the relevant bits in fds[n] and increment got_events
		2180
		2181	if (timeout >= 0)
		2182	// create/start timer
		2183
		2184	// poll
		2185	ev_loop (EV_A_ 0);
		2186
		2187	// stop timer again
		2188	if (timeout >= 0)
		2189	ev_timer_stop (EV_A_ &to);
		2190
		2191	// stop io watchers again - their callbacks should have set
		2192	for (n = 0; n < nfds; ++n)
		2193	ev_io_stop (EV_A_ iow [n]);
		2194
		2195	return got_events;
		2196	}
1472		2197
1473		2198
1474	=head2 C<ev_embed> - when one backend isn't enough...	2199	=head2 C<ev_embed> - when one backend isn't enough...
1475		2200
1476	This is a rather advanced watcher type that lets you embed one event loop	2201	This is a rather advanced watcher type that lets you embed one event loop
…		…
1482	prioritise I/O.	2207	prioritise I/O.
1483		2208
1484	As an example for a bug workaround, the kqueue backend might only support	2209	As an example for a bug workaround, the kqueue backend might only support
1485	sockets on some platform, so it is unusable as generic backend, but you	2210	sockets on some platform, so it is unusable as generic backend, but you
1486	still want to make use of it because you have many sockets and it scales	2211	still want to make use of it because you have many sockets and it scales
1487	so nicely. In this case, you would create a kqueue-based loop and embed it	2212	so nicely. In this case, you would create a kqueue-based loop and embed
1488	into your default loop (which might use e.g. poll). Overall operation will	2213	it into your default loop (which might use e.g. poll). Overall operation
1489	be a bit slower because first libev has to poll and then call kevent, but	2214	will be a bit slower because first libev has to call C<poll> and then
1490	at least you can use both at what they are best.	2215	C<kevent>, but at least you can use both mechanisms for what they are
		2216	best: C<kqueue> for scalable sockets and C<poll> if you want it to work :)
1491		2217
1492	As for prioritising I/O: rarely you have the case where some fds have	2218	As for prioritising I/O: under rare circumstances you have the case where
1493	to be watched and handled very quickly (with low latency), and even	2219	some fds have to be watched and handled very quickly (with low latency),
1494	priorities and idle watchers might have too much overhead. In this case	2220	and even priorities and idle watchers might have too much overhead. In
1495	you would put all the high priority stuff in one loop and all the rest in	2221	this case you would put all the high priority stuff in one loop and all
1496	a second one, and embed the second one in the first.	2222	the rest in a second one, and embed the second one in the first.
1497		2223
1498	As long as the watcher is active, the callback will be invoked every time	2224	As long as the watcher is active, the callback will be invoked every time
1499	there might be events pending in the embedded loop. The callback must then	2225	there might be events pending in the embedded loop. The callback must then
1500	call C<ev_embed_sweep (mainloop, watcher)> to make a single sweep and invoke	2226	call C<ev_embed_sweep (mainloop, watcher)> to make a single sweep and invoke
1501	their callbacks (you could also start an idle watcher to give the embedded	2227	their callbacks (you could also start an idle watcher to give the embedded
…		…
1509	interested in that.	2235	interested in that.
1510		2236
1511	Also, there have not currently been made special provisions for forking:	2237	Also, there have not currently been made special provisions for forking:
1512	when you fork, you not only have to call C<ev_loop_fork> on both loops,	2238	when you fork, you not only have to call C<ev_loop_fork> on both loops,
1513	but you will also have to stop and restart any C<ev_embed> watchers	2239	but you will also have to stop and restart any C<ev_embed> watchers
1514	yourself.	2240	yourself - but you can use a fork watcher to handle this automatically,
		2241	and future versions of libev might do just that.
1515		2242
1516	Unfortunately, not all backends are embeddable, only the ones returned by	2243	Unfortunately, not all backends are embeddable: only the ones returned by
1517	C<ev_embeddable_backends> are, which, unfortunately, does not include any	2244	C<ev_embeddable_backends> are, which, unfortunately, does not include any
1518	portable one.	2245	portable one.
1519		2246
1520	So when you want to use this feature you will always have to be prepared	2247	So when you want to use this feature you will always have to be prepared
1521	that you cannot get an embeddable loop. The recommended way to get around	2248	that you cannot get an embeddable loop. The recommended way to get around
1522	this is to have a separate variables for your embeddable loop, try to	2249	this is to have a separate variables for your embeddable loop, try to
1523	create it, and if that fails, use the normal loop for everything:	2250	create it, and if that fails, use the normal loop for everything.
1524		2251
1525	struct ev_loop *loop_hi = ev_default_init (0);	2252	=head3 C<ev_embed> and fork
1526	struct ev_loop *loop_lo = 0;
1527	struct ev_embed embed;
1528
1529	// see if there is a chance of getting one that works
1530	// (remember that a flags value of 0 means autodetection)
1531	loop_lo = ev_embeddable_backends () & ev_recommended_backends ()
1532	? ev_loop_new (ev_embeddable_backends () & ev_recommended_backends ())
1533	: 0;
1534		2253
1535	// if we got one, then embed it, otherwise default to loop_hi	2254	While the C<ev_embed> watcher is running, forks in the embedding loop will
1536	if (loop_lo)	2255	automatically be applied to the embedded loop as well, so no special
1537	{	2256	fork handling is required in that case. When the watcher is not running,
1538	ev_embed_init (&embed, 0, loop_lo);	2257	however, it is still the task of the libev user to call C<ev_loop_fork ()>
1539	ev_embed_start (loop_hi, &embed);	2258	as applicable.
1540	}	2259
1541	else	2260	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
1542	loop_lo = loop_hi;
1543		2261
1544	=over 4	2262	=over 4
1545		2263
1546	=item ev_embed_init (ev_embed *, callback, struct ev_loop *embedded_loop)	2264	=item ev_embed_init (ev_embed *, callback, struct ev_loop *embedded_loop)
1547		2265
…		…
1549		2267
1550	Configures the watcher to embed the given loop, which must be	2268	Configures the watcher to embed the given loop, which must be
1551	embeddable. If the callback is C<0>, then C<ev_embed_sweep> will be	2269	embeddable. If the callback is C<0>, then C<ev_embed_sweep> will be
1552	invoked automatically, otherwise it is the responsibility of the callback	2270	invoked automatically, otherwise it is the responsibility of the callback
1553	to invoke it (it will continue to be called until the sweep has been done,	2271	to invoke it (it will continue to be called until the sweep has been done,
1554	if you do not want thta, you need to temporarily stop the embed watcher).	2272	if you do not want that, you need to temporarily stop the embed watcher).
1555		2273
1556	=item ev_embed_sweep (loop, ev_embed *)	2274	=item ev_embed_sweep (loop, ev_embed *)
1557		2275
1558	Make a single, non-blocking sweep over the embedded loop. This works	2276	Make a single, non-blocking sweep over the embedded loop. This works
1559	similarly to C<ev_loop (embedded_loop, EVLOOP_NONBLOCK)>, but in the most	2277	similarly to C<ev_loop (embedded_loop, EVLOOP_NONBLOCK)>, but in the most
1560	apropriate way for embedded loops.	2278	appropriate way for embedded loops.
1561		2279
1562	=item struct ev_loop *loop [read-only]	2280	=item struct ev_loop *other [read-only]
1563		2281
1564	The embedded event loop.	2282	The embedded event loop.
1565		2283
1566	=back	2284	=back
		2285
		2286	=head3 Examples
		2287
		2288	Example: Try to get an embeddable event loop and embed it into the default
		2289	event loop. If that is not possible, use the default loop. The default
		2290	loop is stored in C<loop_hi>, while the embeddable loop is stored in
		2291	C<loop_lo> (which is C<loop_hi> in the case no embeddable loop can be
		2292	used).
		2293
		2294	struct ev_loop *loop_hi = ev_default_init (0);
		2295	struct ev_loop *loop_lo = 0;
		2296	struct ev_embed embed;
		2297
		2298	// see if there is a chance of getting one that works
		2299	// (remember that a flags value of 0 means autodetection)
		2300	loop_lo = ev_embeddable_backends () & ev_recommended_backends ()
		2301	? ev_loop_new (ev_embeddable_backends () & ev_recommended_backends ())
		2302	: 0;
		2303
		2304	// if we got one, then embed it, otherwise default to loop_hi
		2305	if (loop_lo)
		2306	{
		2307	ev_embed_init (&embed, 0, loop_lo);
		2308	ev_embed_start (loop_hi, &embed);
		2309	}
		2310	else
		2311	loop_lo = loop_hi;
		2312
		2313	Example: Check if kqueue is available but not recommended and create
		2314	a kqueue backend for use with sockets (which usually work with any
		2315	kqueue implementation). Store the kqueue/socket-only event loop in
		2316	C<loop_socket>. (One might optionally use C<EVFLAG_NOENV>, too).
		2317
		2318	struct ev_loop *loop = ev_default_init (0);
		2319	struct ev_loop *loop_socket = 0;
		2320	struct ev_embed embed;
		2321
		2322	if (ev_supported_backends () & ~ev_recommended_backends () & EVBACKEND_KQUEUE)
		2323	if ((loop_socket = ev_loop_new (EVBACKEND_KQUEUE))
		2324	{
		2325	ev_embed_init (&embed, 0, loop_socket);
		2326	ev_embed_start (loop, &embed);
		2327	}
		2328
		2329	if (!loop_socket)
		2330	loop_socket = loop;
		2331
		2332	// now use loop_socket for all sockets, and loop for everything else
1567		2333
1568		2334
1569	=head2 C<ev_fork> - the audacity to resume the event loop after a fork	2335	=head2 C<ev_fork> - the audacity to resume the event loop after a fork
1570		2336
1571	Fork watchers are called when a C<fork ()> was detected (usually because	2337	Fork watchers are called when a C<fork ()> was detected (usually because
…		…
1574	event loop blocks next and before C<ev_check> watchers are being called,	2340	event loop blocks next and before C<ev_check> watchers are being called,
1575	and only in the child after the fork. If whoever good citizen calling	2341	and only in the child after the fork. If whoever good citizen calling
1576	C<ev_default_fork> cheats and calls it in the wrong process, the fork	2342	C<ev_default_fork> cheats and calls it in the wrong process, the fork
1577	handlers will be invoked, too, of course.	2343	handlers will be invoked, too, of course.
1578		2344
		2345	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
		2346
1579	=over 4	2347	=over 4
1580		2348
1581	=item ev_fork_init (ev_signal *, callback)	2349	=item ev_fork_init (ev_signal *, callback)
1582		2350
1583	Initialises and configures the fork watcher - it has no parameters of any	2351	Initialises and configures the fork watcher - it has no parameters of any
…		…
1585	believe me.	2353	believe me.
1586		2354
1587	=back	2355	=back
1588		2356
1589		2357
		2358	=head2 C<ev_async> - how to wake up another event loop
		2359
		2360	In general, you cannot use an C<ev_loop> from multiple threads or other
		2361	asynchronous sources such as signal handlers (as opposed to multiple event
		2362	loops - those are of course safe to use in different threads).
		2363
		2364	Sometimes, however, you need to wake up another event loop you do not
		2365	control, for example because it belongs to another thread. This is what
		2366	C<ev_async> watchers do: as long as the C<ev_async> watcher is active, you
		2367	can signal it by calling C<ev_async_send>, which is thread- and signal
		2368	safe.
		2369
		2370	This functionality is very similar to C<ev_signal> watchers, as signals,
		2371	too, are asynchronous in nature, and signals, too, will be compressed
		2372	(i.e. the number of callback invocations may be less than the number of
		2373	C<ev_async_sent> calls).
		2374
		2375	Unlike C<ev_signal> watchers, C<ev_async> works with any event loop, not
		2376	just the default loop.
		2377
		2378	=head3 Queueing
		2379
		2380	C<ev_async> does not support queueing of data in any way. The reason
		2381	is that the author does not know of a simple (or any) algorithm for a
		2382	multiple-writer-single-reader queue that works in all cases and doesn't
		2383	need elaborate support such as pthreads.
		2384
		2385	That means that if you want to queue data, you have to provide your own
		2386	queue. But at least I can tell you how to implement locking around your
		2387	queue:
		2388
		2389	=over 4
		2390
		2391	=item queueing from a signal handler context
		2392
		2393	To implement race-free queueing, you simply add to the queue in the signal
		2394	handler but you block the signal handler in the watcher callback. Here is
		2395	an example that does that for some fictitious SIGUSR1 handler:
		2396
		2397	static ev_async mysig;
		2398
		2399	static void
		2400	sigusr1_handler (void)
		2401	{
		2402	sometype data;
		2403
		2404	// no locking etc.
		2405	queue_put (data);
		2406	ev_async_send (EV_DEFAULT_ &mysig);
		2407	}
		2408
		2409	static void
		2410	mysig_cb (EV_P_ ev_async *w, int revents)
		2411	{
		2412	sometype data;
		2413	sigset_t block, prev;
		2414
		2415	sigemptyset (&block);
		2416	sigaddset (&block, SIGUSR1);
		2417	sigprocmask (SIG_BLOCK, &block, &prev);
		2418
		2419	while (queue_get (&data))
		2420	process (data);
		2421
		2422	if (sigismember (&prev, SIGUSR1)
		2423	sigprocmask (SIG_UNBLOCK, &block, 0);
		2424	}
		2425
		2426	(Note: pthreads in theory requires you to use C<pthread_setmask>
		2427	instead of C<sigprocmask> when you use threads, but libev doesn't do it
		2428	either...).
		2429
		2430	=item queueing from a thread context
		2431
		2432	The strategy for threads is different, as you cannot (easily) block
		2433	threads but you can easily preempt them, so to queue safely you need to
		2434	employ a traditional mutex lock, such as in this pthread example:
		2435
		2436	static ev_async mysig;
		2437	static pthread_mutex_t mymutex = PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
		2438
		2439	static void
		2440	otherthread (void)
		2441	{
		2442	// only need to lock the actual queueing operation
		2443	pthread_mutex_lock (&mymutex);
		2444	queue_put (data);
		2445	pthread_mutex_unlock (&mymutex);
		2446
		2447	ev_async_send (EV_DEFAULT_ &mysig);
		2448	}
		2449
		2450	static void
		2451	mysig_cb (EV_P_ ev_async *w, int revents)
		2452	{
		2453	pthread_mutex_lock (&mymutex);
		2454
		2455	while (queue_get (&data))
		2456	process (data);
		2457
		2458	pthread_mutex_unlock (&mymutex);
		2459	}
		2460
		2461	=back
		2462
		2463
		2464	=head3 Watcher-Specific Functions and Data Members
		2465
		2466	=over 4
		2467
		2468	=item ev_async_init (ev_async *, callback)
		2469
		2470	Initialises and configures the async watcher - it has no parameters of any
		2471	kind. There is a C<ev_asynd_set> macro, but using it is utterly pointless,
		2472	trust me.
		2473
		2474	=item ev_async_send (loop, ev_async *)
		2475
		2476	Sends/signals/activates the given C<ev_async> watcher, that is, feeds
		2477	an C<EV_ASYNC> event on the watcher into the event loop. Unlike
		2478	C<ev_feed_event>, this call is safe to do from other threads, signal or
		2479	similar contexts (see the discussion of C<EV_ATOMIC_T> in the embedding
		2480	section below on what exactly this means).
		2481
		2482	This call incurs the overhead of a system call only once per loop iteration,
		2483	so while the overhead might be noticeable, it doesn't apply to repeated
		2484	calls to C<ev_async_send>.
		2485
		2486	=item bool = ev_async_pending (ev_async *)
		2487
		2488	Returns a non-zero value when C<ev_async_send> has been called on the
		2489	watcher but the event has not yet been processed (or even noted) by the
		2490	event loop.
		2491
		2492	C<ev_async_send> sets a flag in the watcher and wakes up the loop. When
		2493	the loop iterates next and checks for the watcher to have become active,
		2494	it will reset the flag again. C<ev_async_pending> can be used to very
		2495	quickly check whether invoking the loop might be a good idea.
		2496
		2497	Not that this does I<not> check whether the watcher itself is pending, only
		2498	whether it has been requested to make this watcher pending.
		2499
		2500	=back
		2501
		2502
1590	=head1 OTHER FUNCTIONS	2503	=head1 OTHER FUNCTIONS
1591		2504
1592	There are some other functions of possible interest. Described. Here. Now.	2505	There are some other functions of possible interest. Described. Here. Now.
1593		2506
1594	=over 4	2507	=over 4
1595		2508
1596	=item ev_once (loop, int fd, int events, ev_tstamp timeout, callback)	2509	=item ev_once (loop, int fd, int events, ev_tstamp timeout, callback)
1597		2510
1598	This function combines a simple timer and an I/O watcher, calls your	2511	This function combines a simple timer and an I/O watcher, calls your
1599	callback on whichever event happens first and automatically stop both	2512	callback on whichever event happens first and automatically stops both
1600	watchers. This is useful if you want to wait for a single event on an fd	2513	watchers. This is useful if you want to wait for a single event on an fd
1601	or timeout without having to allocate/configure/start/stop/free one or	2514	or timeout without having to allocate/configure/start/stop/free one or
1602	more watchers yourself.	2515	more watchers yourself.
1603		2516
1604	If C<fd> is less than 0, then no I/O watcher will be started and events	2517	If C<fd> is less than 0, then no I/O watcher will be started and the
1605	is being ignored. Otherwise, an C<ev_io> watcher for the given C<fd> and	2518	C<events> argument is being ignored. Otherwise, an C<ev_io> watcher for
1606	C<events> set will be craeted and started.	2519	the given C<fd> and C<events> set will be created and started.
1607		2520
1608	If C<timeout> is less than 0, then no timeout watcher will be	2521	If C<timeout> is less than 0, then no timeout watcher will be
1609	started. Otherwise an C<ev_timer> watcher with after = C<timeout> (and	2522	started. Otherwise an C<ev_timer> watcher with after = C<timeout> (and
1610	repeat = 0) will be started. While C<0> is a valid timeout, it is of	2523	repeat = 0) will be started. C<0> is a valid timeout.
1611	dubious value.
1612		2524
1613	The callback has the type C<void (*cb)(int revents, void *arg)> and gets	2525	The callback has the type C<void (*cb)(int revents, void *arg)> and gets
1614	passed an C<revents> set like normal event callbacks (a combination of	2526	passed an C<revents> set like normal event callbacks (a combination of
1615	C<EV_ERROR>, C<EV_READ>, C<EV_WRITE> or C<EV_TIMEOUT>) and the C<arg>	2527	C<EV_ERROR>, C<EV_READ>, C<EV_WRITE> or C<EV_TIMEOUT>) and the C<arg>
1616	value passed to C<ev_once>:	2528	value passed to C<ev_once>. Note that it is possible to receive I<both>
		2529	a timeout and an io event at the same time - you probably should give io
		2530	events precedence.
1617		2531
		2532	Example: wait up to ten seconds for data to appear on STDIN_FILENO.
		2533
1618	static void stdin_ready (int revents, void *arg)	2534	static void stdin_ready (int revents, void *arg)
1619	{	2535	{
1620	if (revents & EV_TIMEOUT)
1621	/* doh, nothing entered */;
1622	else if (revents & EV_READ)	2536	if (revents & EV_READ)
1623	/* stdin might have data for us, joy! */;	2537	/* stdin might have data for us, joy! */;
		2538	else if (revents & EV_TIMEOUT)
		2539	/* doh, nothing entered */;
1624	}	2540	}
1625		2541
1626	ev_once (STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ, 10., stdin_ready, 0);	2542	ev_once (STDIN_FILENO, EV_READ, 10., stdin_ready, 0);
1627		2543
1628	=item ev_feed_event (ev_loop *, watcher *, int revents)	2544	=item ev_feed_event (ev_loop *, watcher *, int revents)
1629		2545
1630	Feeds the given event set into the event loop, as if the specified event	2546	Feeds the given event set into the event loop, as if the specified event
1631	had happened for the specified watcher (which must be a pointer to an	2547	had happened for the specified watcher (which must be a pointer to an
…		…
1636	Feed an event on the given fd, as if a file descriptor backend detected	2552	Feed an event on the given fd, as if a file descriptor backend detected
1637	the given events it.	2553	the given events it.
1638		2554
1639	=item ev_feed_signal_event (ev_loop *loop, int signum)	2555	=item ev_feed_signal_event (ev_loop *loop, int signum)
1640		2556
1641	Feed an event as if the given signal occured (C<loop> must be the default	2557	Feed an event as if the given signal occurred (C<loop> must be the default
1642	loop!).	2558	loop!).
1643		2559
1644	=back	2560	=back
1645		2561
1646		2562
…		…
1662		2578
1663	=item * Priorities are not currently supported. Initialising priorities	2579	=item * Priorities are not currently supported. Initialising priorities
1664	will fail and all watchers will have the same priority, even though there	2580	will fail and all watchers will have the same priority, even though there
1665	is an ev_pri field.	2581	is an ev_pri field.
1666		2582
		2583	=item * In libevent, the last base created gets the signals, in libev, the
		2584	first base created (== the default loop) gets the signals.
		2585
1667	=item * Other members are not supported.	2586	=item * Other members are not supported.
1668		2587
1669	=item * The libev emulation is I<not> ABI compatible to libevent, you need	2588	=item * The libev emulation is I<not> ABI compatible to libevent, you need
1670	to use the libev header file and library.	2589	to use the libev header file and library.
1671		2590
1672	=back	2591	=back
1673		2592
1674	=head1 C++ SUPPORT	2593	=head1 C++ SUPPORT
1675		2594
1676	Libev comes with some simplistic wrapper classes for C++ that mainly allow	2595	Libev comes with some simplistic wrapper classes for C++ that mainly allow
1677	you to use some convinience methods to start/stop watchers and also change	2596	you to use some convenience methods to start/stop watchers and also change
1678	the callback model to a model using method callbacks on objects.	2597	the callback model to a model using method callbacks on objects.
1679		2598
1680	To use it,	2599	To use it,
1681		2600
1682	#include <ev++.h>	2601	#include <ev++.h>
1683		2602
1684	(it is not installed by default). This automatically includes F<ev.h>	2603	This automatically includes F<ev.h> and puts all of its definitions (many
1685	and puts all of its definitions (many of them macros) into the global	2604	of them macros) into the global namespace. All C++ specific things are
1686	namespace. All C++ specific things are put into the C<ev> namespace.	2605	put into the C<ev> namespace. It should support all the same embedding
		2606	options as F<ev.h>, most notably C<EV_MULTIPLICITY>.
1687		2607
1688	It should support all the same embedding options as F<ev.h>, most notably	2608	Care has been taken to keep the overhead low. The only data member the C++
1689	C<EV_MULTIPLICITY>.	2609	classes add (compared to plain C-style watchers) is the event loop pointer
		2610	that the watcher is associated with (or no additional members at all if
		2611	you disable C<EV_MULTIPLICITY> when embedding libev).
		2612
		2613	Currently, functions, and static and non-static member functions can be
		2614	used as callbacks. Other types should be easy to add as long as they only
		2615	need one additional pointer for context. If you need support for other
		2616	types of functors please contact the author (preferably after implementing
		2617	it).
1690		2618
1691	Here is a list of things available in the C<ev> namespace:	2619	Here is a list of things available in the C<ev> namespace:
1692		2620
1693	=over 4	2621	=over 4
1694		2622
…		…
1710		2638
1711	All of those classes have these methods:	2639	All of those classes have these methods:
1712		2640
1713	=over 4	2641	=over 4
1714		2642
1715	=item ev::TYPE::TYPE (object *, object::method *)	2643	=item ev::TYPE::TYPE ()
1716		2644
1717	=item ev::TYPE::TYPE (object *, object::method *, struct ev_loop *)	2645	=item ev::TYPE::TYPE (struct ev_loop *)
1718		2646
1719	=item ev::TYPE::~TYPE	2647	=item ev::TYPE::~TYPE
1720		2648
1721	The constructor takes a pointer to an object and a method pointer to	2649	The constructor (optionally) takes an event loop to associate the watcher
1722	the event handler callback to call in this class. The constructor calls	2650	with. If it is omitted, it will use C<EV_DEFAULT>.
1723	C<ev_init> for you, which means you have to call the C<set> method	2651
1724	before starting it. If you do not specify a loop then the constructor	2652	The constructor calls C<ev_init> for you, which means you have to call the
1725	automatically associates the default loop with this watcher.	2653	C<set> method before starting it.
		2654
		2655	It will not set a callback, however: You have to call the templated C<set>
		2656	method to set a callback before you can start the watcher.
		2657
		2658	(The reason why you have to use a method is a limitation in C++ which does
		2659	not allow explicit template arguments for constructors).
1726		2660
1727	The destructor automatically stops the watcher if it is active.	2661	The destructor automatically stops the watcher if it is active.
		2662
		2663	=item w->set<class, &class::method> (object *)
		2664
		2665	This method sets the callback method to call. The method has to have a
		2666	signature of C<void (*)(ev_TYPE &, int)>, it receives the watcher as
		2667	first argument and the C<revents> as second. The object must be given as
		2668	parameter and is stored in the C<data> member of the watcher.
		2669
		2670	This method synthesizes efficient thunking code to call your method from
		2671	the C callback that libev requires. If your compiler can inline your
		2672	callback (i.e. it is visible to it at the place of the C<set> call and
		2673	your compiler is good :), then the method will be fully inlined into the
		2674	thunking function, making it as fast as a direct C callback.
		2675
		2676	Example: simple class declaration and watcher initialisation
		2677
		2678	struct myclass
		2679	{
		2680	void io_cb (ev::io &w, int revents) { }
		2681	}
		2682
		2683	myclass obj;
		2684	ev::io iow;
		2685	iow.set <myclass, &myclass::io_cb> (&obj);
		2686
		2687	=item w->set<function> (void *data = 0)
		2688
		2689	Also sets a callback, but uses a static method or plain function as
		2690	callback. The optional C<data> argument will be stored in the watcher's
		2691	C<data> member and is free for you to use.
		2692
		2693	The prototype of the C<function> must be C<void (*)(ev::TYPE &w, int)>.
		2694
		2695	See the method-C<set> above for more details.
		2696
		2697	Example: Use a plain function as callback.
		2698
		2699	static void io_cb (ev::io &w, int revents) { }
		2700	iow.set <io_cb> ();
1728		2701
1729	=item w->set (struct ev_loop *)	2702	=item w->set (struct ev_loop *)
1730		2703
1731	Associates a different C<struct ev_loop> with this watcher. You can only	2704	Associates a different C<struct ev_loop> with this watcher. You can only
1732	do this when the watcher is inactive (and not pending either).	2705	do this when the watcher is inactive (and not pending either).
1733		2706
1734	=item w->set ([args])	2707	=item w->set ([arguments])
1735		2708
1736	Basically the same as C<ev_TYPE_set>, with the same args. Must be	2709	Basically the same as C<ev_TYPE_set>, with the same arguments. Must be
1737	called at least once. Unlike the C counterpart, an active watcher gets	2710	called at least once. Unlike the C counterpart, an active watcher gets
1738	automatically stopped and restarted.	2711	automatically stopped and restarted when reconfiguring it with this
		2712	method.
1739		2713
1740	=item w->start ()	2714	=item w->start ()
1741		2715
1742	Starts the watcher. Note that there is no C<loop> argument as the	2716	Starts the watcher. Note that there is no C<loop> argument, as the
1743	constructor already takes the loop.	2717	constructor already stores the event loop.
1744		2718
1745	=item w->stop ()	2719	=item w->stop ()
1746		2720
1747	Stops the watcher if it is active. Again, no C<loop> argument.	2721	Stops the watcher if it is active. Again, no C<loop> argument.
1748		2722
1749	=item w->again () C<ev::timer>, C<ev::periodic> only	2723	=item w->again () (C<ev::timer>, C<ev::periodic> only)
1750		2724
1751	For C<ev::timer> and C<ev::periodic>, this invokes the corresponding	2725	For C<ev::timer> and C<ev::periodic>, this invokes the corresponding
1752	C<ev_TYPE_again> function.	2726	C<ev_TYPE_again> function.
1753		2727
1754	=item w->sweep () C<ev::embed> only	2728	=item w->sweep () (C<ev::embed> only)
1755		2729
1756	Invokes C<ev_embed_sweep>.	2730	Invokes C<ev_embed_sweep>.
1757		2731
1758	=item w->update () C<ev::stat> only	2732	=item w->update () (C<ev::stat> only)
1759		2733
1760	Invokes C<ev_stat_stat>.	2734	Invokes C<ev_stat_stat>.
1761		2735
1762	=back	2736	=back
1763		2737
1764	=back	2738	=back
1765		2739
1766	Example: Define a class with an IO and idle watcher, start one of them in	2740	Example: Define a class with an IO and idle watcher, start one of them in
1767	the constructor.	2741	the constructor.
1768		2742
1769	class myclass	2743	class myclass
1770	{	2744	{
1771	ev_io io; void io_cb (ev::io &w, int revents);	2745	ev::io io ; void io_cb (ev::io &w, int revents);
1772	ev_idle idle void idle_cb (ev::idle &w, int revents);	2746	ev::idle idle; void idle_cb (ev::idle &w, int revents);
1773		2747
1774	myclass ();	2748	myclass (int fd)
1775	}	2749	{
		2750	io .set <myclass, &myclass::io_cb > (this);
		2751	idle.set <myclass, &myclass::idle_cb> (this);
1776		2752
1777	myclass::myclass (int fd)
1778	: io (this, &myclass::io_cb),
1779	idle (this, &myclass::idle_cb)
1780	{
1781	io.start (fd, ev::READ);	2753	io.start (fd, ev::READ);
		2754	}
1782	}	2755	};
		2756
		2757
		2758	=head1 OTHER LANGUAGE BINDINGS
		2759
		2760	Libev does not offer other language bindings itself, but bindings for a
		2761	number of languages exist in the form of third-party packages. If you know
		2762	any interesting language binding in addition to the ones listed here, drop
		2763	me a note.
		2764
		2765	=over 4
		2766
		2767	=item Perl
		2768
		2769	The EV module implements the full libev API and is actually used to test
		2770	libev. EV is developed together with libev. Apart from the EV core module,
		2771	there are additional modules that implement libev-compatible interfaces
		2772	to C<libadns> (C<EV::ADNS>, but C<AnyEvent::DNS> is preferred nowadays),
		2773	C<Net::SNMP> (C<Net::SNMP::EV>) and the C<libglib> event core (C<Glib::EV>
		2774	and C<EV::Glib>).
		2775
		2776	It can be found and installed via CPAN, its homepage is at
		2777	L<http://software.schmorp.de/pkg/EV>.
		2778
		2779	=item Python
		2780
		2781	Python bindings can be found at L<http://code.google.com/p/pyev/>. It
		2782	seems to be quite complete and well-documented. Note, however, that the
		2783	patch they require for libev is outright dangerous as it breaks the ABI
		2784	for everybody else, and therefore, should never be applied in an installed
		2785	libev (if python requires an incompatible ABI then it needs to embed
		2786	libev).
		2787
		2788	=item Ruby
		2789
		2790	Tony Arcieri has written a ruby extension that offers access to a subset
		2791	of the libev API and adds file handle abstractions, asynchronous DNS and
		2792	more on top of it. It can be found via gem servers. Its homepage is at
		2793	L<http://rev.rubyforge.org/>.
		2794
		2795	=item D
		2796
		2797	Leandro Lucarella has written a D language binding (F<ev.d>) for libev, to
		2798	be found at L<http://proj.llucax.com.ar/wiki/evd>.
		2799
		2800	=back
1783		2801
1784		2802
1785	=head1 MACRO MAGIC	2803	=head1 MACRO MAGIC
1786		2804
1787	Libev can be compiled with a variety of options, the most fundemantal is	2805	Libev can be compiled with a variety of options, the most fundamental
1788	C<EV_MULTIPLICITY>. This option determines wether (most) functions and	2806	of which is C<EV_MULTIPLICITY>. This option determines whether (most)
1789	callbacks have an initial C<struct ev_loop *> argument.	2807	functions and callbacks have an initial C<struct ev_loop *> argument.
1790		2808
1791	To make it easier to write programs that cope with either variant, the	2809	To make it easier to write programs that cope with either variant, the
1792	following macros are defined:	2810	following macros are defined:
1793		2811
1794	=over 4	2812	=over 4
…		…
1797		2815
1798	This provides the loop I<argument> for functions, if one is required ("ev	2816	This provides the loop I<argument> for functions, if one is required ("ev
1799	loop argument"). The C<EV_A> form is used when this is the sole argument,	2817	loop argument"). The C<EV_A> form is used when this is the sole argument,
1800	C<EV_A_> is used when other arguments are following. Example:	2818	C<EV_A_> is used when other arguments are following. Example:
1801		2819
1802	ev_unref (EV_A);	2820	ev_unref (EV_A);
1803	ev_timer_add (EV_A_ watcher);	2821	ev_timer_add (EV_A_ watcher);
1804	ev_loop (EV_A_ 0);	2822	ev_loop (EV_A_ 0);
1805		2823
1806	It assumes the variable C<loop> of type C<struct ev_loop *> is in scope,	2824	It assumes the variable C<loop> of type C<struct ev_loop *> is in scope,
1807	which is often provided by the following macro.	2825	which is often provided by the following macro.
1808		2826
1809	=item C<EV_P>, C<EV_P_>	2827	=item C<EV_P>, C<EV_P_>
1810		2828
1811	This provides the loop I<parameter> for functions, if one is required ("ev	2829	This provides the loop I<parameter> for functions, if one is required ("ev
1812	loop parameter"). The C<EV_P> form is used when this is the sole parameter,	2830	loop parameter"). The C<EV_P> form is used when this is the sole parameter,
1813	C<EV_P_> is used when other parameters are following. Example:	2831	C<EV_P_> is used when other parameters are following. Example:
1814		2832
1815	// this is how ev_unref is being declared	2833	// this is how ev_unref is being declared
1816	static void ev_unref (EV_P);	2834	static void ev_unref (EV_P);
1817		2835
1818	// this is how you can declare your typical callback	2836	// this is how you can declare your typical callback
1819	static void cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)	2837	static void cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)
1820		2838
1821	It declares a parameter C<loop> of type C<struct ev_loop *>, quite	2839	It declares a parameter C<loop> of type C<struct ev_loop *>, quite
1822	suitable for use with C<EV_A>.	2840	suitable for use with C<EV_A>.
1823		2841
1824	=item C<EV_DEFAULT>, C<EV_DEFAULT_>	2842	=item C<EV_DEFAULT>, C<EV_DEFAULT_>
1825		2843
1826	Similar to the other two macros, this gives you the value of the default	2844	Similar to the other two macros, this gives you the value of the default
1827	loop, if multiple loops are supported ("ev loop default").	2845	loop, if multiple loops are supported ("ev loop default").
1828		2846
		2847	=item C<EV_DEFAULT_UC>, C<EV_DEFAULT_UC_>
		2848
		2849	Usage identical to C<EV_DEFAULT> and C<EV_DEFAULT_>, but requires that the
		2850	default loop has been initialised (C<UC> == unchecked). Their behaviour
		2851	is undefined when the default loop has not been initialised by a previous
		2852	execution of C<EV_DEFAULT>, C<EV_DEFAULT_> or C<ev_default_init (...)>.
		2853
		2854	It is often prudent to use C<EV_DEFAULT> when initialising the first
		2855	watcher in a function but use C<EV_DEFAULT_UC> afterwards.
		2856
1829	=back	2857	=back
1830		2858
1831	Example: Declare and initialise a check watcher, working regardless of	2859	Example: Declare and initialise a check watcher, utilising the above
1832	wether multiple loops are supported or not.	2860	macros so it will work regardless of whether multiple loops are supported
		2861	or not.
1833		2862
1834	static void	2863	static void
1835	check_cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)	2864	check_cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)
1836	{	2865	{
1837	ev_check_stop (EV_A_ w);	2866	ev_check_stop (EV_A_ w);
1838	}	2867	}
1839		2868
1840	ev_check check;	2869	ev_check check;
1841	ev_check_init (&check, check_cb);	2870	ev_check_init (&check, check_cb);
1842	ev_check_start (EV_DEFAULT_ &check);	2871	ev_check_start (EV_DEFAULT_ &check);
1843	ev_loop (EV_DEFAULT_ 0);	2872	ev_loop (EV_DEFAULT_ 0);
1844
1845		2873
1846	=head1 EMBEDDING	2874	=head1 EMBEDDING
1847		2875
1848	Libev can (and often is) directly embedded into host	2876	Libev can (and often is) directly embedded into host
1849	applications. Examples of applications that embed it include the Deliantra	2877	applications. Examples of applications that embed it include the Deliantra
1850	Game Server, the EV perl module, the GNU Virtual Private Ethernet (gvpe)	2878	Game Server, the EV perl module, the GNU Virtual Private Ethernet (gvpe)
1851	and rxvt-unicode.	2879	and rxvt-unicode.
1852		2880
1853	The goal is to enable you to just copy the neecssary files into your	2881	The goal is to enable you to just copy the necessary files into your
1854	source directory without having to change even a single line in them, so	2882	source directory without having to change even a single line in them, so
1855	you can easily upgrade by simply copying (or having a checked-out copy of	2883	you can easily upgrade by simply copying (or having a checked-out copy of
1856	libev somewhere in your source tree).	2884	libev somewhere in your source tree).
1857		2885
1858	=head2 FILESETS	2886	=head2 FILESETS
1859		2887
1860	Depending on what features you need you need to include one or more sets of files	2888	Depending on what features you need you need to include one or more sets of files
1861	in your app.	2889	in your application.
1862		2890
1863	=head3 CORE EVENT LOOP	2891	=head3 CORE EVENT LOOP
1864		2892
1865	To include only the libev core (all the C<ev_*> functions), with manual	2893	To include only the libev core (all the C<ev_*> functions), with manual
1866	configuration (no autoconf):	2894	configuration (no autoconf):
1867		2895
1868	#define EV_STANDALONE 1	2896	#define EV_STANDALONE 1
1869	#include "ev.c"	2897	#include "ev.c"
1870		2898
1871	This will automatically include F<ev.h>, too, and should be done in a	2899	This will automatically include F<ev.h>, too, and should be done in a
1872	single C source file only to provide the function implementations. To use	2900	single C source file only to provide the function implementations. To use
1873	it, do the same for F<ev.h> in all files wishing to use this API (best	2901	it, do the same for F<ev.h> in all files wishing to use this API (best
1874	done by writing a wrapper around F<ev.h> that you can include instead and	2902	done by writing a wrapper around F<ev.h> that you can include instead and
1875	where you can put other configuration options):	2903	where you can put other configuration options):
1876		2904
1877	#define EV_STANDALONE 1	2905	#define EV_STANDALONE 1
1878	#include "ev.h"	2906	#include "ev.h"
1879		2907
1880	Both header files and implementation files can be compiled with a C++	2908	Both header files and implementation files can be compiled with a C++
1881	compiler (at least, thats a stated goal, and breakage will be treated	2909	compiler (at least, thats a stated goal, and breakage will be treated
1882	as a bug).	2910	as a bug).
1883		2911
1884	You need the following files in your source tree, or in a directory	2912	You need the following files in your source tree, or in a directory
1885	in your include path (e.g. in libev/ when using -Ilibev):	2913	in your include path (e.g. in libev/ when using -Ilibev):
1886		2914
1887	ev.h	2915	ev.h
1888	ev.c	2916	ev.c
1889	ev_vars.h	2917	ev_vars.h
1890	ev_wrap.h	2918	ev_wrap.h
1891		2919
1892	ev_win32.c required on win32 platforms only	2920	ev_win32.c required on win32 platforms only
1893		2921
1894	ev_select.c only when select backend is enabled (which is by default)	2922	ev_select.c only when select backend is enabled (which is enabled by default)
1895	ev_poll.c only when poll backend is enabled (disabled by default)	2923	ev_poll.c only when poll backend is enabled (disabled by default)
1896	ev_epoll.c only when the epoll backend is enabled (disabled by default)	2924	ev_epoll.c only when the epoll backend is enabled (disabled by default)
1897	ev_kqueue.c only when the kqueue backend is enabled (disabled by default)	2925	ev_kqueue.c only when the kqueue backend is enabled (disabled by default)
1898	ev_port.c only when the solaris port backend is enabled (disabled by default)	2926	ev_port.c only when the solaris port backend is enabled (disabled by default)
1899		2927
1900	F<ev.c> includes the backend files directly when enabled, so you only need	2928	F<ev.c> includes the backend files directly when enabled, so you only need
1901	to compile this single file.	2929	to compile this single file.
1902		2930
1903	=head3 LIBEVENT COMPATIBILITY API	2931	=head3 LIBEVENT COMPATIBILITY API
1904		2932
1905	To include the libevent compatibility API, also include:	2933	To include the libevent compatibility API, also include:
1906		2934
1907	#include "event.c"	2935	#include "event.c"
1908		2936
1909	in the file including F<ev.c>, and:	2937	in the file including F<ev.c>, and:
1910		2938
1911	#include "event.h"	2939	#include "event.h"
1912		2940
1913	in the files that want to use the libevent API. This also includes F<ev.h>.	2941	in the files that want to use the libevent API. This also includes F<ev.h>.
1914		2942
1915	You need the following additional files for this:	2943	You need the following additional files for this:
1916		2944
1917	event.h	2945	event.h
1918	event.c	2946	event.c
1919		2947
1920	=head3 AUTOCONF SUPPORT	2948	=head3 AUTOCONF SUPPORT
1921		2949
1922	Instead of using C<EV_STANDALONE=1> and providing your config in	2950	Instead of using C<EV_STANDALONE=1> and providing your configuration in
1923	whatever way you want, you can also C<m4_include([libev.m4])> in your	2951	whatever way you want, you can also C<m4_include([libev.m4])> in your
1924	F<configure.ac> and leave C<EV_STANDALONE> undefined. F<ev.c> will then	2952	F<configure.ac> and leave C<EV_STANDALONE> undefined. F<ev.c> will then
1925	include F<config.h> and configure itself accordingly.	2953	include F<config.h> and configure itself accordingly.
1926		2954
1927	For this of course you need the m4 file:	2955	For this of course you need the m4 file:
1928		2956
1929	libev.m4	2957	libev.m4
1930		2958
1931	=head2 PREPROCESSOR SYMBOLS/MACROS	2959	=head2 PREPROCESSOR SYMBOLS/MACROS
1932		2960
1933	Libev can be configured via a variety of preprocessor symbols you have to define	2961	Libev can be configured via a variety of preprocessor symbols you have to
1934	before including any of its files. The default is not to build for multiplicity	2962	define before including any of its files. The default in the absence of
1935	and only include the select backend.	2963	autoconf is documented for every option.
1936		2964
1937	=over 4	2965	=over 4
1938		2966
1939	=item EV_STANDALONE	2967	=item EV_STANDALONE
1940		2968
…		…
1945	F<event.h> that are not directly supported by the libev core alone.	2973	F<event.h> that are not directly supported by the libev core alone.
1946		2974
1947	=item EV_USE_MONOTONIC	2975	=item EV_USE_MONOTONIC
1948		2976
1949	If defined to be C<1>, libev will try to detect the availability of the	2977	If defined to be C<1>, libev will try to detect the availability of the
1950	monotonic clock option at both compiletime and runtime. Otherwise no use	2978	monotonic clock option at both compile time and runtime. Otherwise no use
1951	of the monotonic clock option will be attempted. If you enable this, you	2979	of the monotonic clock option will be attempted. If you enable this, you
1952	usually have to link against librt or something similar. Enabling it when	2980	usually have to link against librt or something similar. Enabling it when
1953	the functionality isn't available is safe, though, althoguh you have	2981	the functionality isn't available is safe, though, although you have
1954	to make sure you link against any libraries where the C<clock_gettime>	2982	to make sure you link against any libraries where the C<clock_gettime>
1955	function is hiding in (often F<-lrt>).	2983	function is hiding in (often F<-lrt>).
1956		2984
1957	=item EV_USE_REALTIME	2985	=item EV_USE_REALTIME
1958		2986
1959	If defined to be C<1>, libev will try to detect the availability of the	2987	If defined to be C<1>, libev will try to detect the availability of the
1960	realtime clock option at compiletime (and assume its availability at	2988	real-time clock option at compile time (and assume its availability at
1961	runtime if successful). Otherwise no use of the realtime clock option will	2989	runtime if successful). Otherwise no use of the real-time clock option will
1962	be attempted. This effectively replaces C<gettimeofday> by C<clock_get	2990	be attempted. This effectively replaces C<gettimeofday> by C<clock_get
1963	(CLOCK_REALTIME, ...)> and will not normally affect correctness. See tzhe note about libraries	2991	(CLOCK_REALTIME, ...)> and will not normally affect correctness. See the
1964	in the description of C<EV_USE_MONOTONIC>, though.	2992	note about libraries in the description of C<EV_USE_MONOTONIC>, though.
		2993
		2994	=item EV_USE_NANOSLEEP
		2995
		2996	If defined to be C<1>, libev will assume that C<nanosleep ()> is available
		2997	and will use it for delays. Otherwise it will use C<select ()>.
		2998
		2999	=item EV_USE_EVENTFD
		3000
		3001	If defined to be C<1>, then libev will assume that C<eventfd ()> is
		3002	available and will probe for kernel support at runtime. This will improve
		3003	C<ev_signal> and C<ev_async> performance and reduce resource consumption.
		3004	If undefined, it will be enabled if the headers indicate GNU/Linux + Glibc
		3005	2.7 or newer, otherwise disabled.
1965		3006
1966	=item EV_USE_SELECT	3007	=item EV_USE_SELECT
1967		3008
1968	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the	3009	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the
1969	C<select>(2) backend. No attempt at autodetection will be done: if no	3010	C<select>(2) backend. No attempt at auto-detection will be done: if no
1970	other method takes over, select will be it. Otherwise the select backend	3011	other method takes over, select will be it. Otherwise the select backend
1971	will not be compiled in.	3012	will not be compiled in.
1972		3013
1973	=item EV_SELECT_USE_FD_SET	3014	=item EV_SELECT_USE_FD_SET
1974		3015
1975	If defined to C<1>, then the select backend will use the system C<fd_set>	3016	If defined to C<1>, then the select backend will use the system C<fd_set>
1976	structure. This is useful if libev doesn't compile due to a missing	3017	structure. This is useful if libev doesn't compile due to a missing
1977	C<NFDBITS> or C<fd_mask> definition or it misguesses the bitset layout on	3018	C<NFDBITS> or C<fd_mask> definition or it mis-guesses the bitset layout on
1978	exotic systems. This usually limits the range of file descriptors to some	3019	exotic systems. This usually limits the range of file descriptors to some
1979	low limit such as 1024 or might have other limitations (winsocket only	3020	low limit such as 1024 or might have other limitations (winsocket only
1980	allows 64 sockets). The C<FD_SETSIZE> macro, set before compilation, might	3021	allows 64 sockets). The C<FD_SETSIZE> macro, set before compilation, might
1981	influence the size of the C<fd_set> used.	3022	influence the size of the C<fd_set> used.
1982		3023
…		…
1988	be used is the winsock select). This means that it will call	3029	be used is the winsock select). This means that it will call
1989	C<_get_osfhandle> on the fd to convert it to an OS handle. Otherwise,	3030	C<_get_osfhandle> on the fd to convert it to an OS handle. Otherwise,
1990	it is assumed that all these functions actually work on fds, even	3031	it is assumed that all these functions actually work on fds, even
1991	on win32. Should not be defined on non-win32 platforms.	3032	on win32. Should not be defined on non-win32 platforms.
1992		3033
		3034	=item EV_FD_TO_WIN32_HANDLE
		3035
		3036	If C<EV_SELECT_IS_WINSOCKET> is enabled, then libev needs a way to map
		3037	file descriptors to socket handles. When not defining this symbol (the
		3038	default), then libev will call C<_get_osfhandle>, which is usually
		3039	correct. In some cases, programs use their own file descriptor management,
		3040	in which case they can provide this function to map fds to socket handles.
		3041
1993	=item EV_USE_POLL	3042	=item EV_USE_POLL
1994		3043
1995	If defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the C<poll>(2)	3044	If defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the C<poll>(2)
1996	backend. Otherwise it will be enabled on non-win32 platforms. It	3045	backend. Otherwise it will be enabled on non-win32 platforms. It
1997	takes precedence over select.	3046	takes precedence over select.
1998		3047
1999	=item EV_USE_EPOLL	3048	=item EV_USE_EPOLL
2000		3049
2001	If defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the Linux	3050	If defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the Linux
2002	C<epoll>(7) backend. Its availability will be detected at runtime,	3051	C<epoll>(7) backend. Its availability will be detected at runtime,
2003	otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the	3052	otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the preferred
2004	preferred backend for GNU/Linux systems.	3053	backend for GNU/Linux systems. If undefined, it will be enabled if the
		3054	headers indicate GNU/Linux + Glibc 2.4 or newer, otherwise disabled.
2005		3055
2006	=item EV_USE_KQUEUE	3056	=item EV_USE_KQUEUE
2007		3057
2008	If defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the BSD style	3058	If defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the BSD style
2009	C<kqueue>(2) backend. Its actual availability will be detected at runtime,	3059	C<kqueue>(2) backend. Its actual availability will be detected at runtime,
…		…
2022	otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the preferred	3072	otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the preferred
2023	backend for Solaris 10 systems.	3073	backend for Solaris 10 systems.
2024		3074
2025	=item EV_USE_DEVPOLL	3075	=item EV_USE_DEVPOLL
2026		3076
2027	reserved for future expansion, works like the USE symbols above.	3077	Reserved for future expansion, works like the USE symbols above.
2028		3078
2029	=item EV_USE_INOTIFY	3079	=item EV_USE_INOTIFY
2030		3080
2031	If defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the Linux inotify	3081	If defined to be C<1>, libev will compile in support for the Linux inotify
2032	interface to speed up C<ev_stat> watchers. Its actual availability will	3082	interface to speed up C<ev_stat> watchers. Its actual availability will
2033	be detected at runtime.	3083	be detected at runtime. If undefined, it will be enabled if the headers
		3084	indicate GNU/Linux + Glibc 2.4 or newer, otherwise disabled.
		3085
		3086	=item EV_ATOMIC_T
		3087
		3088	Libev requires an integer type (suitable for storing C<0> or C<1>) whose
		3089	access is atomic with respect to other threads or signal contexts. No such
		3090	type is easily found in the C language, so you can provide your own type
		3091	that you know is safe for your purposes. It is used both for signal handler "locking"
		3092	as well as for signal and thread safety in C<ev_async> watchers.
		3093
		3094	In the absence of this define, libev will use C<sig_atomic_t volatile>
		3095	(from F<signal.h>), which is usually good enough on most platforms.
2034		3096
2035	=item EV_H	3097	=item EV_H
2036		3098
2037	The name of the F<ev.h> header file used to include it. The default if	3099	The name of the F<ev.h> header file used to include it. The default if
2038	undefined is C<< <ev.h> >> in F<event.h> and C<"ev.h"> in F<ev.c>. This	3100	undefined is C<"ev.h"> in F<event.h>, F<ev.c> and F<ev++.h>. This can be
2039	can be used to virtually rename the F<ev.h> header file in case of conflicts.	3101	used to virtually rename the F<ev.h> header file in case of conflicts.
2040		3102
2041	=item EV_CONFIG_H	3103	=item EV_CONFIG_H
2042		3104
2043	If C<EV_STANDALONE> isn't C<1>, this variable can be used to override	3105	If C<EV_STANDALONE> isn't C<1>, this variable can be used to override
2044	F<ev.c>'s idea of where to find the F<config.h> file, similarly to	3106	F<ev.c>'s idea of where to find the F<config.h> file, similarly to
2045	C<EV_H>, above.	3107	C<EV_H>, above.
2046		3108
2047	=item EV_EVENT_H	3109	=item EV_EVENT_H
2048		3110
2049	Similarly to C<EV_H>, this macro can be used to override F<event.c>'s idea	3111	Similarly to C<EV_H>, this macro can be used to override F<event.c>'s idea
2050	of how the F<event.h> header can be found.	3112	of how the F<event.h> header can be found, the default is C<"event.h">.
2051		3113
2052	=item EV_PROTOTYPES	3114	=item EV_PROTOTYPES
2053		3115
2054	If defined to be C<0>, then F<ev.h> will not define any function	3116	If defined to be C<0>, then F<ev.h> will not define any function
2055	prototypes, but still define all the structs and other symbols. This is	3117	prototypes, but still define all the structs and other symbols. This is
…		…
2062	will have the C<struct ev_loop *> as first argument, and you can create	3124	will have the C<struct ev_loop *> as first argument, and you can create
2063	additional independent event loops. Otherwise there will be no support	3125	additional independent event loops. Otherwise there will be no support
2064	for multiple event loops and there is no first event loop pointer	3126	for multiple event loops and there is no first event loop pointer
2065	argument. Instead, all functions act on the single default loop.	3127	argument. Instead, all functions act on the single default loop.
2066		3128
		3129	=item EV_MINPRI
		3130
		3131	=item EV_MAXPRI
		3132
		3133	The range of allowed priorities. C<EV_MINPRI> must be smaller or equal to
		3134	C<EV_MAXPRI>, but otherwise there are no non-obvious limitations. You can
		3135	provide for more priorities by overriding those symbols (usually defined
		3136	to be C<-2> and C<2>, respectively).
		3137
		3138	When doing priority-based operations, libev usually has to linearly search
		3139	all the priorities, so having many of them (hundreds) uses a lot of space
		3140	and time, so using the defaults of five priorities (-2 .. +2) is usually
		3141	fine.
		3142
		3143	If your embedding application does not need any priorities, defining these
		3144	both to C<0> will save some memory and CPU.
		3145
2067	=item EV_PERIODIC_ENABLE	3146	=item EV_PERIODIC_ENABLE
2068		3147
2069	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then periodic timers are supported. If	3148	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then periodic timers are supported. If
2070	defined to be C<0>, then they are not. Disabling them saves a few kB of	3149	defined to be C<0>, then they are not. Disabling them saves a few kB of
2071	code.	3150	code.
2072		3151
		3152	=item EV_IDLE_ENABLE
		3153
		3154	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then idle watchers are supported. If
		3155	defined to be C<0>, then they are not. Disabling them saves a few kB of
		3156	code.
		3157
2073	=item EV_EMBED_ENABLE	3158	=item EV_EMBED_ENABLE
2074		3159
2075	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then embed watchers are supported. If	3160	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then embed watchers are supported. If
2076	defined to be C<0>, then they are not.	3161	defined to be C<0>, then they are not. Embed watchers rely on most other
		3162	watcher types, which therefore must not be disabled.
2077		3163
2078	=item EV_STAT_ENABLE	3164	=item EV_STAT_ENABLE
2079		3165
2080	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then stat watchers are supported. If	3166	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then stat watchers are supported. If
2081	defined to be C<0>, then they are not.	3167	defined to be C<0>, then they are not.
…		…
2083	=item EV_FORK_ENABLE	3169	=item EV_FORK_ENABLE
2084		3170
2085	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then fork watchers are supported. If	3171	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then fork watchers are supported. If
2086	defined to be C<0>, then they are not.	3172	defined to be C<0>, then they are not.
2087		3173
		3174	=item EV_ASYNC_ENABLE
		3175
		3176	If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then async watchers are supported. If
		3177	defined to be C<0>, then they are not.
		3178
2088	=item EV_MINIMAL	3179	=item EV_MINIMAL
2089		3180
2090	If you need to shave off some kilobytes of code at the expense of some	3181	If you need to shave off some kilobytes of code at the expense of some
2091	speed, define this symbol to C<1>. Currently only used for gcc to override	3182	speed, define this symbol to C<1>. Currently this is used to override some
2092	some inlining decisions, saves roughly 30% codesize of amd64.	3183	inlining decisions, saves roughly 30% code size on amd64. It also selects a
		3184	much smaller 2-heap for timer management over the default 4-heap.
2093		3185
2094	=item EV_PID_HASHSIZE	3186	=item EV_PID_HASHSIZE
2095		3187
2096	C<ev_child> watchers use a small hash table to distribute workload by	3188	C<ev_child> watchers use a small hash table to distribute workload by
2097	pid. The default size is C<16> (or C<1> with C<EV_MINIMAL>), usually more	3189	pid. The default size is C<16> (or C<1> with C<EV_MINIMAL>), usually more
2098	than enough. If you need to manage thousands of children you might want to	3190	than enough. If you need to manage thousands of children you might want to
2099	increase this value (I<must> be a power of two).	3191	increase this value (I<must> be a power of two).
2100		3192
2101	=item EV_INOTIFY_HASHSIZE	3193	=item EV_INOTIFY_HASHSIZE
2102		3194
2103	C<ev_staz> watchers use a small hash table to distribute workload by	3195	C<ev_stat> watchers use a small hash table to distribute workload by
2104	inotify watch id. The default size is C<16> (or C<1> with C<EV_MINIMAL>),	3196	inotify watch id. The default size is C<16> (or C<1> with C<EV_MINIMAL>),
2105	usually more than enough. If you need to manage thousands of C<ev_stat>	3197	usually more than enough. If you need to manage thousands of C<ev_stat>
2106	watchers you might want to increase this value (I<must> be a power of	3198	watchers you might want to increase this value (I<must> be a power of
2107	two).	3199	two).
2108		3200
		3201	=item EV_USE_4HEAP
		3202
		3203	Heaps are not very cache-efficient. To improve the cache-efficiency of the
		3204	timer and periodics heaps, libev uses a 4-heap when this symbol is defined
		3205	to C<1>. The 4-heap uses more complicated (longer) code but has noticeably
		3206	faster performance with many (thousands) of watchers.
		3207
		3208	The default is C<1> unless C<EV_MINIMAL> is set in which case it is C<0>
		3209	(disabled).
		3210
		3211	=item EV_HEAP_CACHE_AT
		3212
		3213	Heaps are not very cache-efficient. To improve the cache-efficiency of the
		3214	timer and periodics heaps, libev can cache the timestamp (I<at>) within
		3215	the heap structure (selected by defining C<EV_HEAP_CACHE_AT> to C<1>),
		3216	which uses 8-12 bytes more per watcher and a few hundred bytes more code,
		3217	but avoids random read accesses on heap changes. This improves performance
		3218	noticeably with many (hundreds) of watchers.
		3219
		3220	The default is C<1> unless C<EV_MINIMAL> is set in which case it is C<0>
		3221	(disabled).
		3222
		3223	=item EV_VERIFY
		3224
		3225	Controls how much internal verification (see C<ev_loop_verify ()>) will
		3226	be done: If set to C<0>, no internal verification code will be compiled
		3227	in. If set to C<1>, then verification code will be compiled in, but not
		3228	called. If set to C<2>, then the internal verification code will be
		3229	called once per loop, which can slow down libev. If set to C<3>, then the
		3230	verification code will be called very frequently, which will slow down
		3231	libev considerably.
		3232
		3233	The default is C<1>, unless C<EV_MINIMAL> is set, in which case it will be
		3234	C<0>.
		3235
2109	=item EV_COMMON	3236	=item EV_COMMON
2110		3237
2111	By default, all watchers have a C<void *data> member. By redefining	3238	By default, all watchers have a C<void *data> member. By redefining
2112	this macro to a something else you can include more and other types of	3239	this macro to a something else you can include more and other types of
2113	members. You have to define it each time you include one of the files,	3240	members. You have to define it each time you include one of the files,
2114	though, and it must be identical each time.	3241	though, and it must be identical each time.
2115		3242
2116	For example, the perl EV module uses something like this:	3243	For example, the perl EV module uses something like this:
2117		3244
2118	#define EV_COMMON \	3245	#define EV_COMMON \
2119	SV *self; /* contains this struct */ \	3246	SV *self; /* contains this struct */ \
2120	SV *cb_sv, *fh /* note no trailing ";" */	3247	SV *cb_sv, *fh /* note no trailing ";" */
2121		3248
2122	=item EV_CB_DECLARE (type)	3249	=item EV_CB_DECLARE (type)
2123		3250
2124	=item EV_CB_INVOKE (watcher, revents)	3251	=item EV_CB_INVOKE (watcher, revents)
2125		3252
2126	=item ev_set_cb (ev, cb)	3253	=item ev_set_cb (ev, cb)
2127		3254
2128	Can be used to change the callback member declaration in each watcher,	3255	Can be used to change the callback member declaration in each watcher,
2129	and the way callbacks are invoked and set. Must expand to a struct member	3256	and the way callbacks are invoked and set. Must expand to a struct member
2130	definition and a statement, respectively. See the F<ev.v> header file for	3257	definition and a statement, respectively. See the F<ev.h> header file for
2131	their default definitions. One possible use for overriding these is to	3258	their default definitions. One possible use for overriding these is to
2132	avoid the C<struct ev_loop *> as first argument in all cases, or to use	3259	avoid the C<struct ev_loop *> as first argument in all cases, or to use
2133	method calls instead of plain function calls in C++.	3260	method calls instead of plain function calls in C++.
		3261
		3262	=back
		3263
		3264	=head2 EXPORTED API SYMBOLS
		3265
		3266	If you need to re-export the API (e.g. via a DLL) and you need a list of
		3267	exported symbols, you can use the provided F<Symbol.*> files which list
		3268	all public symbols, one per line:
		3269
		3270	Symbols.ev for libev proper
		3271	Symbols.event for the libevent emulation
		3272
		3273	This can also be used to rename all public symbols to avoid clashes with
		3274	multiple versions of libev linked together (which is obviously bad in
		3275	itself, but sometimes it is inconvenient to avoid this).
		3276
		3277	A sed command like this will create wrapper C<#define>'s that you need to
		3278	include before including F<ev.h>:
		3279
		3280	<Symbols.ev sed -e "s/.*/#define & myprefix_&/" >wrap.h
		3281
		3282	This would create a file F<wrap.h> which essentially looks like this:
		3283
		3284	#define ev_backend myprefix_ev_backend
		3285	#define ev_check_start myprefix_ev_check_start
		3286	#define ev_check_stop myprefix_ev_check_stop
		3287	...
2134		3288
2135	=head2 EXAMPLES	3289	=head2 EXAMPLES
2136		3290
2137	For a real-world example of a program the includes libev	3291	For a real-world example of a program the includes libev
2138	verbatim, you can have a look at the EV perl module	3292	verbatim, you can have a look at the EV perl module
…		…
2141	interface) and F<EV.xs> (implementation) files. Only the F<EV.xs> file	3295	interface) and F<EV.xs> (implementation) files. Only the F<EV.xs> file
2142	will be compiled. It is pretty complex because it provides its own header	3296	will be compiled. It is pretty complex because it provides its own header
2143	file.	3297	file.
2144		3298
2145	The usage in rxvt-unicode is simpler. It has a F<ev_cpp.h> header file	3299	The usage in rxvt-unicode is simpler. It has a F<ev_cpp.h> header file
2146	that everybody includes and which overrides some autoconf choices:	3300	that everybody includes and which overrides some configure choices:
2147		3301
		3302	#define EV_MINIMAL 1
2148	#define EV_USE_POLL 0	3303	#define EV_USE_POLL 0
2149	#define EV_MULTIPLICITY 0	3304	#define EV_MULTIPLICITY 0
2150	#define EV_PERIODICS 0	3305	#define EV_PERIODIC_ENABLE 0
		3306	#define EV_STAT_ENABLE 0
		3307	#define EV_FORK_ENABLE 0
2151	#define EV_CONFIG_H <config.h>	3308	#define EV_CONFIG_H <config.h>
		3309	#define EV_MINPRI 0
		3310	#define EV_MAXPRI 0
2152		3311
2153	#include "ev++.h"	3312	#include "ev++.h"
2154		3313
2155	And a F<ev_cpp.C> implementation file that contains libev proper and is compiled:	3314	And a F<ev_cpp.C> implementation file that contains libev proper and is compiled:
2156		3315
2157	#include "ev_cpp.h"	3316	#include "ev_cpp.h"
2158	#include "ev.c"	3317	#include "ev.c"
2159		3318
		3319	=head1 INTERACTION WITH OTHER PROGRAMS OR LIBRARIES
2160		3320
		3321	=head2 THREADS AND COROUTINES
		3322
		3323	=head3 THREADS
		3324
		3325	All libev functions are reentrant and thread-safe unless explicitly
		3326	documented otherwise, but libev implements no locking itself. This means
		3327	that you can use as many loops as you want in parallel, as long as there
		3328	are no concurrent calls into any libev function with the same loop
		3329	parameter (C<ev_default_*> calls have an implicit default loop parameter,
		3330	of course): libev guarantees that different event loops share no data
		3331	structures that need any locking.
		3332
		3333	Or to put it differently: calls with different loop parameters can be done
		3334	concurrently from multiple threads, calls with the same loop parameter
		3335	must be done serially (but can be done from different threads, as long as
		3336	only one thread ever is inside a call at any point in time, e.g. by using
		3337	a mutex per loop).
		3338
		3339	Specifically to support threads (and signal handlers), libev implements
		3340	so-called C<ev_async> watchers, which allow some limited form of
		3341	concurrency on the same event loop, namely waking it up "from the
		3342	outside".
		3343
		3344	If you want to know which design (one loop, locking, or multiple loops
		3345	without or something else still) is best for your problem, then I cannot
		3346	help you, but here is some generic advice:
		3347
		3348	=over 4
		3349
		3350	=item * most applications have a main thread: use the default libev loop
		3351	in that thread, or create a separate thread running only the default loop.
		3352
		3353	This helps integrating other libraries or software modules that use libev
		3354	themselves and don't care/know about threading.
		3355
		3356	=item * one loop per thread is usually a good model.
		3357
		3358	Doing this is almost never wrong, sometimes a better-performance model
		3359	exists, but it is always a good start.
		3360
		3361	=item * other models exist, such as the leader/follower pattern, where one
		3362	loop is handed through multiple threads in a kind of round-robin fashion.
		3363
		3364	Choosing a model is hard - look around, learn, know that usually you can do
		3365	better than you currently do :-)
		3366
		3367	=item * often you need to talk to some other thread which blocks in the
		3368	event loop.
		3369
		3370	C<ev_async> watchers can be used to wake them up from other threads safely
		3371	(or from signal contexts...).
		3372
		3373	An example use would be to communicate signals or other events that only
		3374	work in the default loop by registering the signal watcher with the
		3375	default loop and triggering an C<ev_async> watcher from the default loop
		3376	watcher callback into the event loop interested in the signal.
		3377
		3378	=back
		3379
		3380	=head3 COROUTINES
		3381
		3382	Libev is very accommodating to coroutines ("cooperative threads"):
		3383	libev fully supports nesting calls to its functions from different
		3384	coroutines (e.g. you can call C<ev_loop> on the same loop from two
		3385	different coroutines, and switch freely between both coroutines running the
		3386	loop, as long as you don't confuse yourself). The only exception is that
		3387	you must not do this from C<ev_periodic> reschedule callbacks.
		3388
		3389	Care has been taken to ensure that libev does not keep local state inside
		3390	C<ev_loop>, and other calls do not usually allow for coroutine switches as
		3391	they do not clal any callbacks.
		3392
		3393	=head2 COMPILER WARNINGS
		3394
		3395	Depending on your compiler and compiler settings, you might get no or a
		3396	lot of warnings when compiling libev code. Some people are apparently
		3397	scared by this.
		3398
		3399	However, these are unavoidable for many reasons. For one, each compiler
		3400	has different warnings, and each user has different tastes regarding
		3401	warning options. "Warn-free" code therefore cannot be a goal except when
		3402	targeting a specific compiler and compiler-version.
		3403
		3404	Another reason is that some compiler warnings require elaborate
		3405	workarounds, or other changes to the code that make it less clear and less
		3406	maintainable.
		3407
		3408	And of course, some compiler warnings are just plain stupid, or simply
		3409	wrong (because they don't actually warn about the condition their message
		3410	seems to warn about). For example, certain older gcc versions had some
		3411	warnings that resulted an extreme number of false positives. These have
		3412	been fixed, but some people still insist on making code warn-free with
		3413	such buggy versions.
		3414
		3415	While libev is written to generate as few warnings as possible,
		3416	"warn-free" code is not a goal, and it is recommended not to build libev
		3417	with any compiler warnings enabled unless you are prepared to cope with
		3418	them (e.g. by ignoring them). Remember that warnings are just that:
		3419	warnings, not errors, or proof of bugs.
		3420
		3421
		3422	=head2 VALGRIND
		3423
		3424	Valgrind has a special section here because it is a popular tool that is
		3425	highly useful. Unfortunately, valgrind reports are very hard to interpret.
		3426
		3427	If you think you found a bug (memory leak, uninitialised data access etc.)
		3428	in libev, then check twice: If valgrind reports something like:
		3429
		3430	==2274== definitely lost: 0 bytes in 0 blocks.
		3431	==2274== possibly lost: 0 bytes in 0 blocks.
		3432	==2274== still reachable: 256 bytes in 1 blocks.
		3433
		3434	Then there is no memory leak, just as memory accounted to global variables
		3435	is not a memleak - the memory is still being refernced, and didn't leak.
		3436
		3437	Similarly, under some circumstances, valgrind might report kernel bugs
		3438	as if it were a bug in libev (e.g. in realloc or in the poll backend,
		3439	although an acceptable workaround has been found here), or it might be
		3440	confused.
		3441
		3442	Keep in mind that valgrind is a very good tool, but only a tool. Don't
		3443	make it into some kind of religion.
		3444
		3445	If you are unsure about something, feel free to contact the mailing list
		3446	with the full valgrind report and an explanation on why you think this
		3447	is a bug in libev (best check the archives, too :). However, don't be
		3448	annoyed when you get a brisk "this is no bug" answer and take the chance
		3449	of learning how to interpret valgrind properly.
		3450
		3451	If you need, for some reason, empty reports from valgrind for your project
		3452	I suggest using suppression lists.
		3453
		3454
		3455	=head1 PORTABILITY NOTES
		3456
		3457	=head2 WIN32 PLATFORM LIMITATIONS AND WORKAROUNDS
		3458
		3459	Win32 doesn't support any of the standards (e.g. POSIX) that libev
		3460	requires, and its I/O model is fundamentally incompatible with the POSIX
		3461	model. Libev still offers limited functionality on this platform in
		3462	the form of the C<EVBACKEND_SELECT> backend, and only supports socket
		3463	descriptors. This only applies when using Win32 natively, not when using
		3464	e.g. cygwin.
		3465
		3466	Lifting these limitations would basically require the full
		3467	re-implementation of the I/O system. If you are into these kinds of
		3468	things, then note that glib does exactly that for you in a very portable
		3469	way (note also that glib is the slowest event library known to man).
		3470
		3471	There is no supported compilation method available on windows except
		3472	embedding it into other applications.
		3473
		3474	Not a libev limitation but worth mentioning: windows apparently doesn't
		3475	accept large writes: instead of resulting in a partial write, windows will
		3476	either accept everything or return C<ENOBUFS> if the buffer is too large,
		3477	so make sure you only write small amounts into your sockets (less than a
		3478	megabyte seems safe, but this apparently depends on the amount of memory
		3479	available).
		3480
		3481	Due to the many, low, and arbitrary limits on the win32 platform and
		3482	the abysmal performance of winsockets, using a large number of sockets
		3483	is not recommended (and not reasonable). If your program needs to use
		3484	more than a hundred or so sockets, then likely it needs to use a totally
		3485	different implementation for windows, as libev offers the POSIX readiness
		3486	notification model, which cannot be implemented efficiently on windows
		3487	(Microsoft monopoly games).
		3488
		3489	A typical way to use libev under windows is to embed it (see the embedding
		3490	section for details) and use the following F<evwrap.h> header file instead
		3491	of F<ev.h>:
		3492
		3493	#define EV_STANDALONE /* keeps ev from requiring config.h */
		3494	#define EV_SELECT_IS_WINSOCKET 1 /* configure libev for windows select */
		3495
		3496	#include "ev.h"
		3497
		3498	And compile the following F<evwrap.c> file into your project (make sure
		3499	you do I<not> compile the F<ev.c> or any other embedded source files!):
		3500
		3501	#include "evwrap.h"
		3502	#include "ev.c"
		3503
		3504	=over 4
		3505
		3506	=item The winsocket select function
		3507
		3508	The winsocket C<select> function doesn't follow POSIX in that it
		3509	requires socket I<handles> and not socket I<file descriptors> (it is
		3510	also extremely buggy). This makes select very inefficient, and also
		3511	requires a mapping from file descriptors to socket handles (the Microsoft
		3512	C runtime provides the function C<_open_osfhandle> for this). See the
		3513	discussion of the C<EV_SELECT_USE_FD_SET>, C<EV_SELECT_IS_WINSOCKET> and
		3514	C<EV_FD_TO_WIN32_HANDLE> preprocessor symbols for more info.
		3515
		3516	The configuration for a "naked" win32 using the Microsoft runtime
		3517	libraries and raw winsocket select is:
		3518
		3519	#define EV_USE_SELECT 1
		3520	#define EV_SELECT_IS_WINSOCKET 1 /* forces EV_SELECT_USE_FD_SET, too */
		3521
		3522	Note that winsockets handling of fd sets is O(n), so you can easily get a
		3523	complexity in the O(n²) range when using win32.
		3524
		3525	=item Limited number of file descriptors
		3526
		3527	Windows has numerous arbitrary (and low) limits on things.
		3528
		3529	Early versions of winsocket's select only supported waiting for a maximum
		3530	of C<64> handles (probably owning to the fact that all windows kernels
		3531	can only wait for C<64> things at the same time internally; Microsoft
		3532	recommends spawning a chain of threads and wait for 63 handles and the
		3533	previous thread in each. Great).
		3534
		3535	Newer versions support more handles, but you need to define C<FD_SETSIZE>
		3536	to some high number (e.g. C<2048>) before compiling the winsocket select
		3537	call (which might be in libev or elsewhere, for example, perl does its own
		3538	select emulation on windows).
		3539
		3540	Another limit is the number of file descriptors in the Microsoft runtime
		3541	libraries, which by default is C<64> (there must be a hidden I<64> fetish
		3542	or something like this inside Microsoft). You can increase this by calling
		3543	C<_setmaxstdio>, which can increase this limit to C<2048> (another
		3544	arbitrary limit), but is broken in many versions of the Microsoft runtime
		3545	libraries.
		3546
		3547	This might get you to about C<512> or C<2048> sockets (depending on
		3548	windows version and/or the phase of the moon). To get more, you need to
		3549	wrap all I/O functions and provide your own fd management, but the cost of
		3550	calling select (O(n²)) will likely make this unworkable.
		3551
		3552	=back
		3553
		3554	=head2 PORTABILITY REQUIREMENTS
		3555
		3556	In addition to a working ISO-C implementation and of course the
		3557	backend-specific APIs, libev relies on a few additional extensions:
		3558
		3559	=over 4
		3560
		3561	=item C<void (*)(ev_watcher_type *, int revents)> must have compatible
		3562	calling conventions regardless of C<ev_watcher_type *>.
		3563
		3564	Libev assumes not only that all watcher pointers have the same internal
		3565	structure (guaranteed by POSIX but not by ISO C for example), but it also
		3566	assumes that the same (machine) code can be used to call any watcher
		3567	callback: The watcher callbacks have different type signatures, but libev
		3568	calls them using an C<ev_watcher *> internally.
		3569
		3570	=item C<sig_atomic_t volatile> must be thread-atomic as well
		3571
		3572	The type C<sig_atomic_t volatile> (or whatever is defined as
		3573	C<EV_ATOMIC_T>) must be atomic with respect to accesses from different
		3574	threads. This is not part of the specification for C<sig_atomic_t>, but is
		3575	believed to be sufficiently portable.
		3576
		3577	=item C<sigprocmask> must work in a threaded environment
		3578
		3579	Libev uses C<sigprocmask> to temporarily block signals. This is not
		3580	allowed in a threaded program (C<pthread_sigmask> has to be used). Typical
		3581	pthread implementations will either allow C<sigprocmask> in the "main
		3582	thread" or will block signals process-wide, both behaviours would
		3583	be compatible with libev. Interaction between C<sigprocmask> and
		3584	C<pthread_sigmask> could complicate things, however.
		3585
		3586	The most portable way to handle signals is to block signals in all threads
		3587	except the initial one, and run the default loop in the initial thread as
		3588	well.
		3589
		3590	=item C<long> must be large enough for common memory allocation sizes
		3591
		3592	To improve portability and simplify its API, libev uses C<long> internally
		3593	instead of C<size_t> when allocating its data structures. On non-POSIX
		3594	systems (Microsoft...) this might be unexpectedly low, but is still at
		3595	least 31 bits everywhere, which is enough for hundreds of millions of
		3596	watchers.
		3597
		3598	=item C<double> must hold a time value in seconds with enough accuracy
		3599
		3600	The type C<double> is used to represent timestamps. It is required to
		3601	have at least 51 bits of mantissa (and 9 bits of exponent), which is good
		3602	enough for at least into the year 4000. This requirement is fulfilled by
		3603	implementations implementing IEEE 754 (basically all existing ones).
		3604
		3605	=back
		3606
		3607	If you know of other additional requirements drop me a note.
		3608
		3609
2161	=head1 COMPLEXITIES	3610	=head1 ALGORITHMIC COMPLEXITIES
2162		3611
2163	In this section the complexities of (many of) the algorithms used inside	3612	In this section the complexities of (many of) the algorithms used inside
2164	libev will be explained. For complexity discussions about backends see the	3613	libev will be documented. For complexity discussions about backends see
2165	documentation for C<ev_default_init>.	3614	the documentation for C<ev_default_init>.
		3615
		3616	All of the following are about amortised time: If an array needs to be
		3617	extended, libev needs to realloc and move the whole array, but this
		3618	happens asymptotically rarer with higher number of elements, so O(1) might
		3619	mean that libev does a lengthy realloc operation in rare cases, but on
		3620	average it is much faster and asymptotically approaches constant time.
2166		3621
2167	=over 4	3622	=over 4
2168		3623
2169	=item Starting and stopping timer/periodic watchers: O(log skipped_other_timers)	3624	=item Starting and stopping timer/periodic watchers: O(log skipped_other_timers)
2170		3625
		3626	This means that, when you have a watcher that triggers in one hour and
		3627	there are 100 watchers that would trigger before that, then inserting will
		3628	have to skip roughly seven (C<ld 100>) of these watchers.
		3629
2171	=item Changing timer/periodic watchers (by autorepeat, again): O(log skipped_other_timers)	3630	=item Changing timer/periodic watchers (by autorepeat or calling again): O(log skipped_other_timers)
2172		3631
		3632	That means that changing a timer costs less than removing/adding them,
		3633	as only the relative motion in the event queue has to be paid for.
		3634
2173	=item Starting io/check/prepare/idle/signal/child watchers: O(1)	3635	=item Starting io/check/prepare/idle/signal/child/fork/async watchers: O(1)
2174		3636
		3637	These just add the watcher into an array or at the head of a list.
		3638
2175	=item Stopping check/prepare/idle watchers: O(1)	3639	=item Stopping check/prepare/idle/fork/async watchers: O(1)
2176		3640
2177	=item Stopping an io/signal/child watcher: O(number_of_watchers_for_this_(fd/signal/pid % EV_PID_HASHSIZE))	3641	=item Stopping an io/signal/child watcher: O(number_of_watchers_for_this_(fd/signal/pid % EV_PID_HASHSIZE))
2178		3642
		3643	These watchers are stored in lists, so they need to be walked to find the
		3644	correct watcher to remove. The lists are usually short (you don't usually
		3645	have many watchers waiting for the same fd or signal: one is typical, two
		3646	is rare).
		3647
2179	=item Finding the next timer per loop iteration: O(1)	3648	=item Finding the next timer in each loop iteration: O(1)
		3649
		3650	By virtue of using a binary or 4-heap, the next timer is always found at a
		3651	fixed position in the storage array.
2180		3652
2181	=item Each change on a file descriptor per loop iteration: O(number_of_watchers_for_this_fd)	3653	=item Each change on a file descriptor per loop iteration: O(number_of_watchers_for_this_fd)
2182		3654
2183	=item Activating one watcher: O(1)	3655	A change means an I/O watcher gets started or stopped, which requires
		3656	libev to recalculate its status (and possibly tell the kernel, depending
		3657	on backend and whether C<ev_io_set> was used).
		3658
		3659	=item Activating one watcher (putting it into the pending state): O(1)
		3660
		3661	=item Priority handling: O(number_of_priorities)
		3662
		3663	Priorities are implemented by allocating some space for each
		3664	priority. When doing priority-based operations, libev usually has to
		3665	linearly search all the priorities, but starting/stopping and activating
		3666	watchers becomes O(1) with respect to priority handling.
		3667
		3668	=item Sending an ev_async: O(1)
		3669
		3670	=item Processing ev_async_send: O(number_of_async_watchers)
		3671
		3672	=item Processing signals: O(max_signal_number)
		3673
		3674	Sending involves a system call I<iff> there were no other C<ev_async_send>
		3675	calls in the current loop iteration. Checking for async and signal events
		3676	involves iterating over all running async watchers or all signal numbers.
2184		3677
2185	=back	3678	=back
2186		3679
2187		3680
2188	=head1 AUTHOR	3681	=head1 AUTHOR

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