1 EMBEDDING THE LIBEV CODE INTO YOUR OWN PROGRAMS
3 Instead of building the libev library you can also include the code
4 as-is into your programs. To update, you only have to copy a few files
13 To include only the libev core (all the ev_* functions):
15 #define EV_STANDALONE 1
18 This will automatically include ev.h, too, and should be done in a
19 single C source file only to provide the function implementations. To
20 use it, do the same for ev.h in all files wishing to use this API
21 (best done by writing a wrapper around ev.h that you can include
22 instead and where you can put other configuration options):
24 #define EV_STANDALONE 1
27 Both header files and implementation files can be compiled with a C++
28 compiler (at least, thats a stated goal, and breakage will be treated
31 You need the following files in your source tree, or in a directory
32 in your include path (e.g. in libev/ when using -Ilibev):
39 ev_win32.c required on win32 platforms only
41 ev_select.c only when select backend is enabled (which is is by default)
42 ev_poll.c only when poll backend is enabled (disabled by default)
43 ev_epoll.c only when the epoll backend is enabled (disabled by default)
44 ev_kqueue.c only when the kqueue backend is enabled (disabled by default)
45 ev_port.c only when the solaris port backend is enabled (disabled by default)
47 "ev.c" includes the backend files directly when enabled.
49 LIBEVENT COMPATIBILITY API
51 To include the libevent compatibility API, also include:
55 in the file including "ev.c", and:
59 in the files that want to use the libevent API. This also includes "ev.h".
61 You need the following additional files for this:
68 Instead of using EV_STANDALONE=1 and providing your config in whatever
69 way you want, you can also m4_include([libev.m4]) in your configure.ac
70 and leave EV_STANDALONE off. ev.c will then include "config.h" and
71 configure itself accordingly.
75 Libev can be configured via a variety of preprocessor symbols you have to define
76 before including any of its files. The default is not to build for multiplicity
77 and only include the select backend.
81 Must always be "1", which keeps libev from including config.h or
82 other files, and it also defines dummy implementations for some
83 libevent functions (such as logging, which is not supported). It
84 will also not define any of the structs usually found in "event.h"
85 that are not directly supported by libev code alone.
89 If defined to be "1", libev will try to detect the availability
90 of the monotonic clock option at both compiletime and
91 runtime. Otherwise no use of the monotonic clock option will be
92 attempted. If you enable this, you usually have to link against
93 librt or something similar. Enabling it when the functionality
94 isn't available is safe, though.
98 If defined to be "1", libev will try to detect the availability
99 of the realtime clock option at compiletime (and assume its
100 availability at runtime if successful). Otherwise no use of the
101 realtime clock option will be attempted. This effectively replaces
102 gettimeofday by clock_get (CLOCK_REALTIME, ...) and will not normally
107 If undefined or defined to be "1", libev will compile in support
108 for the select(2) backend. No attempt at autodetection will be
109 done: if no other method takes over, select will be it. Otherwise
110 the select backend will not be compiled in.
114 If defined to 1, then the select backend will use the system fd_set
115 structure. This is useful if libev doesn't compile due to a missing
116 NFDBITS or fd_mask definition or it misguesses the bitset layout on
117 exotic systems. This usually limits the range of file descriptors
118 to some low limit such as 1024 or might have other limitations
119 (winsocket only allows 64 sockets). The FD_SETSIZE macro, set
120 before compilation, might influence the size of the fd_set used.
122 EV_SELECT_IS_WINSOCKET
124 When defined to 1, the select backend will assume that select
125 doesn't understand file descriptors but wants osf handles on
126 win32 (this is the case when the select to be used is the winsock
127 select). This means that it will call _get_osfhandle on the fd to
128 convert it to an OS handle. Should not be defined on non-win32
133 If defined to be "1", libev will compile in support for the poll(2)
134 backend. Otherwise it will be enabled on non-win32 platforms. It
135 takes precedence over select.
139 If defined to be "1", libev will compile in support for the Linux
140 epoll backend. Its availability will be detected at runtime,
141 otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the
142 preferred backend for GNU/Linux systems.
146 If defined to be "1", libev will compile in support for the BSD
147 style kqueue backend. Its availability will be detected at runtime,
148 otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the
149 preferred backend for BSD and BSD-like systems. Darwin brokenness
150 will be detected at runtime and routed around by disabling this
155 If defined to be "1", libev will compile in support for the Solaris
156 10 port style backend. Its availability will be detected at runtime,
157 otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the
158 preferred backend for Solaris 10 systems.
162 reserved for future expansion, works like the USE symbols above.
166 The name of the ev.h header file used to include it. The default
167 if undefined is <ev.h> in event.h and "ev.h" in ev.c. This can
168 be used to virtually rename the ev.h header file in case of
173 Similarly to EV_H, this macro cna be used to override event.c's idea
174 of how the event.h header can be found.
178 If defined to be "0", then "ev.h" will not define any function
179 prototypes, but still define all the structs and other
180 symbols. This is occasionally useful.
184 If undefined or defined to "1", then all event-loop-specific
185 functions will have the "struct ev_loop *" as first argument, and
186 you can create additional independent event loops. Otherwise there
187 will be no support for multiple event loops and there is no first
188 event loop pointer argument. Instead, all functions act on the
193 If undefined or defined to be "1", then periodic timers are
194 supported, otherwise not. This saves a few kb of code.
198 By default, all watchers have a "void *data" member. By redefining
199 this macro to a something else you can include more and other types
200 of members. You have to define it each time you include one of the
201 files, though, and it must be identical each time.
203 For example, the perl EV module uses this:
206 SV *self; /* contains this struct */ \
207 SV *cb_sv, *fh /* note no trailing ";" */
210 EV_CB_INVOKE(watcher,revents)
213 Can be used to change the callback member declaration in each
214 watcher, and the way callbacks are invoked and set. Must expand
215 to a struct member definition and a statement, respectively. See
216 the ev.v header file for their default definitions. One possible
217 use for overriding these is to avoid the ev_loop pointer as first
218 argument in all cases, or to use method calls instead of plain
219 function calls in C++.
223 For a real-world example of a program the includes libev
224 verbatim, you can have a look at the EV perl module
225 (http://software.schmorp.de/pkg/EV.html). It has the libev files in
226 the libev/ subdirectory and includes them in the EV/EVAPI.h (public
227 interface) and EV.xs (implementation) files. Only the EV.xs file will