=head1 SYNOPSIS
+ /* this is the only header you need */
#include <ev.h>
+ /* what follows is a fully working example program */
+ ev_io stdin_watcher;
+ ev_timer timeout_watcher;
+
+ /* called when data readable on stdin */
+ static void
+ stdin_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_io *w, int revents)
+ {
+ /* puts ("stdin ready"); */
+ ev_io_stop (EV_A_ w); /* just a syntax example */
+ ev_unloop (EV_A_ EVUNLOOP_ALL); /* leave all loop calls */
+ }
+
+ static void
+ timeout_cb (EV_P_ struct ev_timer *w, int revents)
+ {
+ /* puts ("timeout"); */
+ ev_unloop (EV_A_ EVUNLOOP_ONE); /* leave one loop call */
+ }
+
+ int
+ main (void)
+ {
+ struct ev_loop *loop = ev_default_loop (0);
+
+ /* initialise an io watcher, then start it */
+ ev_io_init (&stdin_watcher, stdin_cb, /*STDIN_FILENO*/ 0, EV_READ);
+ ev_io_start (loop, &stdin_watcher);
+
+ /* simple non-repeating 5.5 second timeout */
+ ev_timer_init (&timeout_watcher, timeout_cb, 5.5, 0.);
+ ev_timer_start (loop, &timeout_watcher);
+
+ /* loop till timeout or data ready */
+ ev_loop (loop, 0);
+
+ return 0;
+ }
+
=head1 DESCRIPTION
Libev is an event loop: you register interest in certain events (such as a
to the C<double> type in C, and when you need to do any calculations on
it, you should treat it as such.
-
=head1 GLOBAL FUNCTIONS
These functions can be called anytime, even before initialising the
See the description of C<ev_embed> watchers for more info.
-=item ev_set_allocator (void *(*cb)(void *ptr, long size))
+=item ev_set_allocator (void *(*cb)(void *ptr, size_t size))
-Sets the allocation function to use (the prototype is similar to the
-realloc C function, the semantics are identical). It is used to allocate
-and free memory (no surprises here). If it returns zero when memory
-needs to be allocated, the library might abort or take some potentially
-destructive action. The default is your system realloc function.
+Sets the allocation function to use (the prototype and semantics are
+identical to the realloc C function). It is used to allocate and free
+memory (no surprises here). If it returns zero when memory needs to be
+allocated, the library might abort or take some potentially destructive
+action. The default is your system realloc function.
You could override this function in high-availability programs to, say,
free some memory if it cannot allocate memory, to use a special allocator,
retries: better than mine).
static void *
- persistent_realloc (void *ptr, long size)
+ persistent_realloc (void *ptr, size_t size)
{
for (;;)
{
The pid specified in the C<ev_child> watcher has received a status change.
+=item C<EV_STAT>
+
+The path specified in the C<ev_stat> watcher changed its attributes somehow.
+
=item C<EV_IDLE>
The C<ev_idle> watcher has determined that you have nothing better to do.
(for example, a C<ev_prepare> watcher might start an idle watcher to keep
C<ev_loop> from blocking).
+=item C<EV_EMBED>
+
+The embedded event loop specified in the C<ev_embed> watcher needs attention.
+
+=item C<EV_FORK>
+
+The event loop has been resumed in the child process after fork (see
+C<ev_fork>).
+
=item C<EV_ERROR>
An unspecified error has occured, the watcher has been stopped. This might
=head1 WATCHER TYPES
This section describes each watcher in detail, but will not repeat
-information given in the last section.
+information given in the last section. Any initialisation/set macros,
+functions and members specific to the watcher type are explained.
+
+Members are additionally marked with either I<[read-only]>, meaning that,
+while the watcher is active, you can look at the member and expect some
+sensible content, but you must not modify it (you can modify it while the
+watcher is stopped to your hearts content), or I<[read-write]>, which
+means you can expect it to have some sensible content while the watcher
+is active, but you can also modify it. Modifying it may not do something
+sensible or take immediate effect (or do anything at all), but libev will
+not crash or malfunction in any way.
=head2 C<ev_io> - is this file descriptor readable or writable?
rceeive events for and events is either C<EV_READ>, C<EV_WRITE> or
C<EV_READ | EV_WRITE> to receive the given events.
+=item int fd [read-only]
+
+The file descriptor being watched.
+
+=item int events [read-only]
+
+The events being watched.
+
=back
Example: call C<stdin_readable_cb> when STDIN_FILENO has become, well
value), or reset the running timer to the repeat value.
This sounds a bit complicated, but here is a useful and typical
-example: Imagine you have a tcp connection and you want a so-called idle
-timeout, that is, you want to be called when there have been, say, 60
-seconds of inactivity on the socket. The easiest way to do this is to
-configure an C<ev_timer> with after=repeat=60 and calling ev_timer_again each
-time you successfully read or write some data. If you go into an idle
-state where you do not expect data to travel on the socket, you can stop
-the timer, and again will automatically restart it if need be.
+example: Imagine you have a tcp connection and you want a so-called
+idle timeout, that is, you want to be called when there have been,
+say, 60 seconds of inactivity on the socket. The easiest way to do
+this is to configure an C<ev_timer> with C<after>=C<repeat>=C<60> and calling
+C<ev_timer_again> each time you successfully read or write some data. If
+you go into an idle state where you do not expect data to travel on the
+socket, you can stop the timer, and again will automatically restart it if
+need be.
+
+You can also ignore the C<after> value and C<ev_timer_start> altogether
+and only ever use the C<repeat> value:
+
+ ev_timer_init (timer, callback, 0., 5.);
+ ev_timer_again (loop, timer);
+ ...
+ timer->again = 17.;
+ ev_timer_again (loop, timer);
+ ...
+ timer->again = 10.;
+ ev_timer_again (loop, timer);
+
+This is more efficient then stopping/starting the timer eahc time you want
+to modify its timeout value.
+
+=item ev_tstamp repeat [read-write]
+
+The current C<repeat> value. Will be used each time the watcher times out
+or C<ev_timer_again> is called and determines the next timeout (if any),
+which is also when any modifications are taken into account.
=back
a different time than the last time it was called (e.g. in a crond like
program when the crontabs have changed).
+=item ev_tstamp interval [read-write]
+
+The current interval value. Can be modified any time, but changes only
+take effect when the periodic timer fires or C<ev_periodic_again> is being
+called.
+
+=item ev_tstamp (*reschedule_cb)(struct ev_periodic *w, ev_tstamp now) [read-write]
+
+The current reschedule callback, or C<0>, if this functionality is
+switched off. Can be changed any time, but changes only take effect when
+the periodic timer fires or C<ev_periodic_again> is being called.
+
=back
Example: call a callback every hour, or, more precisely, whenever the
Configures the watcher to trigger on the given signal number (usually one
of the C<SIGxxx> constants).
+=item int signum [read-only]
+
+The signal the watcher watches out for.
+
=back
C<waitpid> documentation). The C<rpid> member contains the pid of the
process causing the status change.
+=item int pid [read-only]
+
+The process id this watcher watches out for, or C<0>, meaning any process id.
+
+=item int rpid [read-write]
+
+The process id that detected a status change.
+
+=item int rstatus [read-write]
+
+The process exit/trace status caused by C<rpid> (see your systems
+C<waitpid> and C<sys/wait.h> documentation for details).
+
=back
Example: try to exit cleanly on SIGINT and SIGTERM.
ev_signal_start (loop, &sigint_cb);
+=head2 C<ev_stat> - did the file attributes just change?
+
+This watches a filesystem path for attribute changes. That is, it calls
+C<stat> regularly (or when the OS says it changed) and sees if it changed
+compared to the last time, invoking the callback if it did.
+
+The path does not need to exist: changing from "path exists" to "path does
+not exist" is a status change like any other. The condition "path does
+not exist" is signified by the C<st_nlink> field being zero (which is
+otherwise always forced to be at least one) and all the other fields of
+the stat buffer having unspecified contents.
+
+Since there is no standard to do this, the portable implementation simply
+calls C<stat (2)> regulalry on the path to see if it changed somehow. You
+can specify a recommended polling interval for this case. If you specify
+a polling interval of C<0> (highly recommended!) then a I<suitable,
+unspecified default> value will be used (which you can expect to be around
+five seconds, although this might change dynamically). Libev will also
+impose a minimum interval which is currently around C<0.1>, but thats
+usually overkill.
+
+This watcher type is not meant for massive numbers of stat watchers,
+as even with OS-supported change notifications, this can be
+resource-intensive.
+
+At the time of this writing, no specific OS backends are implemented, but
+if demand increases, at least a kqueue and inotify backend will be added.
+
+=over 4
+
+=item ev_stat_init (ev_stat *, callback, const char *path, ev_tstamp interval)
+
+=item ev_stat_set (ev_stat *, const char *path, ev_tstamp interval)
+
+Configures the watcher to wait for status changes of the given
+C<path>. The C<interval> is a hint on how quickly a change is expected to
+be detected and should normally be specified as C<0> to let libev choose
+a suitable value. The memory pointed to by C<path> must point to the same
+path for as long as the watcher is active.
+
+The callback will be receive C<EV_STAT> when a change was detected,
+relative to the attributes at the time the watcher was started (or the
+last change was detected).
+
+=item ev_stat_stat (ev_stat *)
+
+Updates the stat buffer immediately with new values. If you change the
+watched path in your callback, you could call this fucntion to avoid
+detecting this change (while introducing a race condition). Can also be
+useful simply to find out the new values.
+
+=item ev_statdata attr [read-only]
+
+The most-recently detected attributes of the file. Although the type is of
+C<ev_statdata>, this is usually the (or one of the) C<struct stat> types
+suitable for your system. If the C<st_nlink> member is C<0>, then there
+was some error while C<stat>ing the file.
+
+=item ev_statdata prev [read-only]
+
+The previous attributes of the file. The callback gets invoked whenever
+C<prev> != C<attr>.
+
+=item ev_tstamp interval [read-only]
+
+The specified interval.
+
+=item const char *path [read-only]
+
+The filesystem path that is being watched.
+
+=back
+
+Example: Watch C</etc/passwd> for attribute changes.
+
+ static void
+ passwd_cb (struct ev_loop *loop, ev_stat *w, int revents)
+ {
+ /* /etc/passwd changed in some way */
+ if (w->attr.st_nlink)
+ {
+ printf ("passwd current size %ld\n", (long)w->attr.st_size);
+ printf ("passwd current atime %ld\n", (long)w->attr.st_mtime);
+ printf ("passwd current mtime %ld\n", (long)w->attr.st_mtime);
+ }
+ else
+ /* you shalt not abuse printf for puts */
+ puts ("wow, /etc/passwd is not there, expect problems. "
+ "if this is windows, they already arrived\n");
+ }
+
+ ...
+ ev_stat passwd;
+
+ ev_stat_init (&passwd, passwd_cb, "/etc/passwd");
+ ev_stat_start (loop, &passwd);
+
+
=head2 C<ev_idle> - when you've got nothing better to do...
Idle watchers trigger events when there are no other events are pending
similarly to C<ev_loop (embedded_loop, EVLOOP_NONBLOCK)>, but in the most
apropriate way for embedded loops.
+=item struct ev_loop *loop [read-only]
+
+The embedded event loop.
+
+=back
+
+
+=head2 C<ev_fork> - the audacity to resume the event loop after a fork
+
+Fork watchers are called when a C<fork ()> was detected (usually because
+whoever is a good citizen cared to tell libev about it by calling
+C<ev_default_fork> or C<ev_loop_fork>). The invocation is done before the
+event loop blocks next and before C<ev_check> watchers are being called,
+and only in the child after the fork. If whoever good citizen calling
+C<ev_default_fork> cheats and calls it in the wrong process, the fork
+handlers will be invoked, too, of course.
+
+=over 4
+
+=item ev_fork_init (ev_signal *, callback)
+
+Initialises and configures the fork watcher - it has no parameters of any
+kind. There is a C<ev_fork_set> macro, but using it is utterly pointless,
+believe me.
+
=back
Invokes C<ev_embed_sweep>.
+=item w->update () C<ev::stat> only
+
+Invokes C<ev_stat_stat>.
+
=back
=back
io.start (fd, ev::READ);
}
+
+=head1 MACRO MAGIC
+
+Libev can be compiled with a variety of options, the most fundemantal is
+C<EV_MULTIPLICITY>. This option determines wether (most) functions and
+callbacks have an initial C<struct ev_loop *> argument.
+
+To make it easier to write programs that cope with either variant, the
+following macros are defined:
+
+=over 4
+
+=item C<EV_A>, C<EV_A_>
+
+This provides the loop I<argument> for functions, if one is required ("ev
+loop argument"). The C<EV_A> form is used when this is the sole argument,
+C<EV_A_> is used when other arguments are following. Example:
+
+ ev_unref (EV_A);
+ ev_timer_add (EV_A_ watcher);
+ ev_loop (EV_A_ 0);
+
+It assumes the variable C<loop> of type C<struct ev_loop *> is in scope,
+which is often provided by the following macro.
+
+=item C<EV_P>, C<EV_P_>
+
+This provides the loop I<parameter> for functions, if one is required ("ev
+loop parameter"). The C<EV_P> form is used when this is the sole parameter,
+C<EV_P_> is used when other parameters are following. Example:
+
+ // this is how ev_unref is being declared
+ static void ev_unref (EV_P);
+
+ // this is how you can declare your typical callback
+ static void cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)
+
+It declares a parameter C<loop> of type C<struct ev_loop *>, quite
+suitable for use with C<EV_A>.
+
+=item C<EV_DEFAULT>, C<EV_DEFAULT_>
+
+Similar to the other two macros, this gives you the value of the default
+loop, if multiple loops are supported ("ev loop default").
+
+=back
+
+Example: Declare and initialise a check watcher, working regardless of
+wether multiple loops are supported or not.
+
+ static void
+ check_cb (EV_P_ ev_timer *w, int revents)
+ {
+ ev_check_stop (EV_A_ w);
+ }
+
+ ev_check check;
+ ev_check_init (&check, check_cb);
+ ev_check_start (EV_DEFAULT_ &check);
+ ev_loop (EV_DEFAULT_ 0);
+
+
=head1 EMBEDDING
Libev can (and often is) directly embedded into host
If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then stat watchers are supported. If
defined to be C<0>, then they are not.
+=item EV_FORK_ENABLE
+
+If undefined or defined to be C<1>, then fork watchers are supported. If
+defined to be C<0>, then they are not.
+
=item EV_MINIMAL
If you need to shave off some kilobytes of code at the expense of some
speed, define this symbol to C<1>. Currently only used for gcc to override
some inlining decisions, saves roughly 30% codesize of amd64.
+=item EV_PID_HASHSIZE
+
+C<ev_child> watchers use a small hash table to distribute workload by
+pid. The default size is C<16> (or C<1> with C<EV_MINIMAL>), usually more
+than enough. If you need to manage thousands of children you might want to
+increase this value.
+
=item EV_COMMON
By default, all watchers have a C<void *data> member. By redefining