ev_io - is this file descriptor readable or writableev_timer - relative and optionally recurring timeoutsev_periodic - to cron or not to cronev_signal - signal me when a signal gets signalledev_child - wait for pid status changesev_idle - when you've got nothing better to doev_prepare and ev_check - customise your event loopev_embed - when one backend isn't enoughev_io - is this file descriptor readable or writable?ev_timer - relative and optionally repeating timeoutsev_periodic - to cron or not to cron?ev_signal - signal me when a signal gets signalled!ev_child - watch out for process status changesev_idle - when you've got nothing better to do...ev_prepare and ev_check - customise your event loop!ev_embed - when one backend isn't enough...Destroys the default loop again (frees all memory and kernel state -etc.). This stops all registered event watchers (by not touching them in -any way whatsoever, although you cannot rely on this :).
+etc.). None of the active event watchers will be stopped in the normal +sense, so e.g.ev_is_active might still return true. It is your
+responsibility to either stop all watchers cleanly yoursef before
+calling this function, or cope with the fact afterwards (which is usually
+the easiest thing, youc na just ignore the watchers and/or free () them
+for example).
ev_<type>_start (loop, watch
corresponding stop function (ev_<type>_stop (loop, watcher *).
As long as your watcher is active (has been started but not stopped) you
must not touch the values stored in it. Most specifically you must never
-reinitialise it or call its set macro.
-You can check whether an event is active by calling the ev_is_active
-(watcher *) macro. To see whether an event is outstanding (but the
-callback for it has not been called yet) you can use the ev_is_pending
-(watcher *) macro.
+reinitialise it or call its set macro.
Each and every callback receives the event loop pointer as first, the
registered watcher structure as second, and a bitset of received events as
third argument.
@@ -601,6 +618,84 @@ programs, though, so beware.
+In the following description, TYPE stands for the watcher type,
+e.g. timer for ev_timer watchers and io for ev_io watchers.
ev_init (ev_TYPE *watcher, callback)This macro initialises the generic portion of a watcher. The contents
+of the watcher object can be arbitrary (so malloc will do). Only
+the generic parts of the watcher are initialised, you need to call
+the type-specific ev_TYPE_set macro afterwards to initialise the
+type-specific parts. For each type there is also a ev_TYPE_init macro
+which rolls both calls into one.
You can reinitialise a watcher at any time as long as it has been stopped +(or never started) and there are no pending events outstanding.
+The callback is always of type void (*)(ev_loop *loop, ev_TYPE *watcher,
+int revents).
ev_TYPE_set (ev_TYPE *, [args])This macro initialises the type-specific parts of a watcher. You need to
+call ev_init at least once before you call this macro, but you can
+call ev_TYPE_set any number of times. You must not, however, call this
+macro on a watcher that is active (it can be pending, however, which is a
+difference to the ev_init macro).
Although some watcher types do not have type-specific arguments
+(e.g. ev_prepare) you still need to call its set macro.
ev_TYPE_init (ev_TYPE *watcher, callback, [args])This convinience macro rolls both ev_init and ev_TYPE_set macro
+calls into a single call. This is the most convinient method to initialise
+a watcher. The same limitations apply, of course.
ev_TYPE_start (loop *, ev_TYPE *watcher)Starts (activates) the given watcher. Only active watchers will receive +events. If the watcher is already active nothing will happen.
+ev_TYPE_stop (loop *, ev_TYPE *watcher)Stops the given watcher again (if active) and clears the pending
+status. It is possible that stopped watchers are pending (for example,
+non-repeating timers are being stopped when they become pending), but
+ev_TYPE_stop ensures that the watcher is neither active nor pending. If
+you want to free or reuse the memory used by the watcher it is therefore a
+good idea to always call its ev_TYPE_stop function.
Returns a true value iff the watcher is active (i.e. it has been started +and not yet been stopped). As long as a watcher is active you must not modify +it.
+Returns a true value iff the watcher is pending, (i.e. it has outstanding
+events but its callback has not yet been invoked). As long as a watcher
+is pending (but not active) you must not call an init function on it (but
+ev_TYPE_set is safe) and you must make sure the watcher is available to
+libev (e.g. you cnanot free () it).
Returns the callback currently set on the watcher.
+Change the callback. You can change the callback at virtually any time +(modulo threads).
+ev_io - is this file descriptor readable or writableev_io - is this file descriptor readable or writable?I/O watchers check whether a file descriptor is readable or writable -in each iteration of the event loop (This behaviour is called -level-triggering because you keep receiving events as long as the -condition persists. Remember you can stop the watcher if you don't want to -act on the event and neither want to receive future events).
+in each iteration of the event loop, or, more precisely, when reading +would not block the process and writing would at least be able to write +some data. This behaviour is called level-triggering because you keep +receiving events as long as the condition persists. Remember you can stop +the watcher if you don't want to act on the event and neither want to +receive future events.In general you can register as many read and/or write event watchers per fd as you want (as long as you don't confuse yourself). Setting all file descriptors to non-blocking mode is also usually a good idea (but not @@ -660,28 +757,31 @@ required if you know what you are doing).
You have to be careful with dup'ed file descriptors, though. Some backends (the linux epoll backend is a notable example) cannot handle dup'ed file descriptors correctly if you register interest in two or more fds pointing -to the same underlying file/socket etc. description (that is, they share +to the same underlying file/socket/etc. description (that is, they share the same underlying "file open").
If you must do this, then force the use of a known-to-be-good backend
(at the time of this writing, this includes only EVBACKEND_SELECT and
EVBACKEND_POLL).
Another thing you have to watch out for is that it is quite easy to
+receive "spurious" readyness notifications, that is your callback might
+be called with EV_READ but a subsequent read(2) will actually block
+because there is no data. Not only are some backends known to create a
+lot of those (for example solaris ports), it is very easy to get into
+this situation even with a relatively standard program structure. Thus
+it is best to always use non-blocking I/O: An extra read(2) returning
+EAGAIN is far preferable to a program hanging until some data arrives.
If you cannot run the fd in non-blocking mode (for example you should not +play around with an Xlib connection), then you have to seperately re-test +wether a file descriptor is really ready with a known-to-be good interface +such as poll (fortunately in our Xlib example, Xlib already does this on +its own, so its quite safe to use).
Configures an ev_io watcher. The fd is the file descriptor to rceeive
-events for and events is either EV_READ, EV_WRITE or EV_READ |
-EV_WRITE to receive the given events.
Please note that most of the more scalable backend mechanisms (for example
-epoll and solaris ports) can result in spurious readyness notifications
-for file descriptors, so you practically need to use non-blocking I/O (and
-treat callback invocation as hint only), or retest separately with a safe
-interface before doing I/O (XLib can do this), or force the use of either
-EVBACKEND_SELECT or EVBACKEND_POLL, which don't suffer from this
-problem. Also note that it is quite easy to have your callback invoked
-when the readyness condition is no longer valid even when employing
-typical ways of handling events, so its a good idea to use non-blocking
-I/O unconditionally.
Configures an ev_io watcher. The fd is the file descriptor to
+rceeive events for and events is either EV_READ, EV_WRITE or
+EV_READ | EV_WRITE to receive the given events.
Example: call stdin_readable_cb when STDIN_FILENO has become, well
@@ -707,7 +807,7 @@ attempt to read a whole line in the callback:
ev_timer - relative and optionally recurring timeoutsev_timer - relative and optionally repeating timeoutsTimer watchers are simple relative timers that generate an event after a given time, and optionally repeating in regular intervals after that.
@@ -793,15 +893,15 @@ inactivity.ev_periodic - to cron or not to cronev_periodic - to cron or not to cron?Periodic watchers are also timers of a kind, but they are very versatile (and unfortunately a bit complex).
Unlike ev_timer's, they are not based on real time (or relative time)
but on wallclock time (absolute time). You can tell a periodic watcher
to trigger "at" some specific point in time. For example, if you tell a
-periodic watcher to trigger in 10 seconds (by specifiying e.g. c<ev_now ()
-+ 10.>) and then reset your system clock to the last year, then it will
+periodic watcher to trigger in 10 seconds (by specifiying e.g. ev_now ()
++ 10.) and then reset your system clock to the last year, then it will
take a year to trigger the event (unlike an ev_timer, which would trigger
roughly 10 seconds later and of course not if you reset your system time
again).
ev_signal - signal me when a signal gets signalledev_signal - signal me when a signal gets signalled!Signal watchers will trigger an event when the process receives a specific
signal one or more times. Even though signals are very asynchronous, libev
@@ -948,8 +1048,8 @@ of the SIGxxx constants).
ev_child - wait for pid status changesev_child - watch out for process status changesChild watchers trigger when your process receives a SIGCHLD in response to some child status changes (most typically when a child of yours dies).
ev_idle - when you've got nothing better to doev_idle - when you've got nothing better to do...Idle watchers trigger events when there are no other events are pending (prepare, check and other idle watchers do not count). That is, as long @@ -1024,15 +1124,25 @@ callback, free it. Alos, use no error checking, as usual.
ev_prepare and ev_check - customise your event loopev_prepare and ev_check - customise your event loop!Prepare and check watchers are usually (but not always) used in tandem: prepare watchers get invoked before the process blocks and check watchers afterwards.
+You must not call ev_loop or similar functions that enter
+the current event loop from either ev_prepare or ev_check
+watchers. Other loops than the current one are fine, however. The
+rationale behind this is that you do not need to check for recursion in
+those watchers, i.e. the sequence will always be ev_prepare, blocking,
+ev_check so if you have one watcher of each kind they will always be
+called in pairs bracketing the blocking call.
Their main purpose is to integrate other event mechanisms into libev and their use is somewhat advanced. This could be used, for example, to track variable changes, implement your own watchers, integrate net-snmp or a -coroutine library and lots more.
+coroutine library and lots more. They are also occasionally useful if +you cache some data and want to flush it before blocking (for example, +in X programs you might want to do anXFlush () in an ev_prepare
+watcher).
This is done by examining in each prepare call which file descriptors need
to be watched by the other library, registering ev_io watchers for
them and starting an ev_timer watcher for any timeouts (many libraries
@@ -1058,17 +1168,72 @@ parameters of any kind. There are ev_prepare_set and ev_check
macros, but using them is utterly, utterly and completely pointless.
Example: *TODO*.
+Example: To include a library such as adns, you would add IO watchers +and a timeout watcher in a prepare handler, as required by libadns, and +in a check watcher, destroy them and call into libadns. What follows is +pseudo-code only of course:
+ static ev_io iow [nfd];
+ static ev_timer tw;
+
+ static void
+ io_cb (ev_loop *loop, ev_io *w, int revents)
+ {
+ // set the relevant poll flags
+ // could also call adns_processreadable etc. here
+ struct pollfd *fd = (struct pollfd *)w->data;
+ if (revents & EV_READ ) fd->revents |= fd->events & POLLIN;
+ if (revents & EV_WRITE) fd->revents |= fd->events & POLLOUT;
+ }
+
+ // create io watchers for each fd and a timer before blocking
+ static void
+ adns_prepare_cb (ev_loop *loop, ev_prepare *w, int revents)
+ {
+ int timeout = 3600000;truct pollfd fds [nfd];
+ // actual code will need to loop here and realloc etc.
+ adns_beforepoll (ads, fds, &nfd, &timeout, timeval_from (ev_time ()));
+
+ /* the callback is illegal, but won't be called as we stop during check */
+ ev_timer_init (&tw, 0, timeout * 1e-3);
+ ev_timer_start (loop, &tw);
+
+ // create on ev_io per pollfd
+ for (int i = 0; i < nfd; ++i)
+ {
+ ev_io_init (iow + i, io_cb, fds [i].fd,
+ ((fds [i].events & POLLIN ? EV_READ : 0)
+ | (fds [i].events & POLLOUT ? EV_WRITE : 0)));
+
+ fds [i].revents = 0;
+ iow [i].data = fds + i;
+ ev_io_start (loop, iow + i);
+ }
+ }
+
+ // stop all watchers after blocking
+ static void
+ adns_check_cb (ev_loop *loop, ev_check *w, int revents)
+ {
+ ev_timer_stop (loop, &tw);
+
+ for (int i = 0; i < nfd; ++i)
+ ev_io_stop (loop, iow + i);
+
+ adns_afterpoll (adns, fds, nfd, timeval_from (ev_now (loop));
+ }
+
ev_embed - when one backend isn't enoughev_embed - when one backend isn't enough...This is a rather advanced watcher type that lets you embed one event loop -into another.
+into another (currently onlyev_io events are supported in the embedded
+loop, other types of watchers might be handled in a delayed or incorrect
+fashion and must not be used).
There are primarily two reasons you would want that: work around bugs and prioritise I/O.
As an example for a bug workaround, the kqueue backend might only support @@ -1083,6 +1248,13 @@ to be watched and handled very quickly (with low latency), and even priorities and idle watchers might have too much overhead. In this case you would put all the high priority stuff in one loop and all the rest in a second one, and embed the second one in the first.
+As long as the watcher is active, the callback will be invoked every time
+there might be events pending in the embedded loop. The callback must then
+call ev_embed_sweep (mainloop, watcher) to make a single sweep and invoke
+their callbacks (you could also start an idle watcher to give the embedded
+loop strictly lower priority for example). You can also set the callback
+to 0, in which case the embed watcher will automatically execute the
+embedded loop sweep.
As long as the watcher is started it will automatically handle events. The
callback will be invoked whenever some events have been handled. You can
set the callback to 0 to avoid having to specify one if you are not
@@ -1119,10 +1291,20 @@ create it, and if that fails, use the normal loop for everything:
Configures the watcher to embed the given loop, which must be embeddable.
+Configures the watcher to embed the given loop, which must be
+embeddable. If the callback is 0, then ev_embed_sweep will be
+invoked automatically, otherwise it is the responsibility of the callback
+to invoke it (it will continue to be called until the sweep has been done,
+if you do not want thta, you need to temporarily stop the embed watcher).
Make a single, non-blocking sweep over the embedded loop. This works
+similarly to ev_loop (embedded_loop, EVLOOP_NONBLOCK), but in the most
+apropriate way for embedded loops.
ev_once:
- Feeds the given event set into the event loop, as if the specified event had happened for the specified watcher (which must be a pointer to an initialised but not necessarily started event watcher).
Feed an event on the given fd, as if a file descriptor backend detected the given events it.
Feed an event as if the given signal occured (loop must be the default loop!).
+Feed an event as if the given signal occured (loop must be the default
+loop!).
TBD.
+Libev comes with some simplistic wrapper classes for C++ that mainly allow +you to use some convinience methods to start/stop watchers and also change +the callback model to a model using method callbacks on objects.
+To use it,
+#include <ev++.h> + ++
(it is not installed by default). This automatically includes ev.h
+and puts all of its definitions (many of them macros) into the global
+namespace. All C++ specific things are put into the ev namespace.
It should support all the same embedding options as ev.h, most notably
+EV_MULTIPLICITY.
Here is a list of things available in the ev namespace:
ev::READ, ev::WRITE etc.These are just enum values with the same values as the EV_READ etc.
+macros from ev.h.
ev::tstamp, ev::nowAliases to the same types/functions as with the ev_ prefix.
ev::io, ev::timer, ev::periodic, ev::idle, ev::sig etc.For each ev_TYPE watcher in ev.h there is a corresponding class of
+the same name in the ev namespace, with the exception of ev_signal
+which is called ev::sig to avoid clashes with the signal macro
+defines by many implementations.
All of those classes have these methods:
++
The constructor takes a pointer to an object and a method pointer to
+the event handler callback to call in this class. The constructor calls
+ev_init for you, which means you have to call the set method
+before starting it. If you do not specify a loop then the constructor
+automatically associates the default loop with this watcher.
The destructor automatically stops the watcher if it is active.
+Associates a different struct ev_loop with this watcher. You can only
+do this when the watcher is inactive (and not pending either).
Basically the same as ev_TYPE_set, with the same args. Must be
+called at least once. Unlike the C counterpart, an active watcher gets
+automatically stopped and restarted.
Starts the watcher. Note that there is no loop argument as the
+constructor already takes the loop.
Stops the watcher if it is active. Again, no loop argument.
ev::timer, ev::periodic onlyFor ev::timer and ev::periodic, this invokes the corresponding
+ev_TYPE_again function.
ev::embed onlyInvokes ev_embed_sweep.
Example: Define a class with an IO and idle watcher, start one of them in +the constructor.
+ class myclass
+ {
+ ev_io io; void io_cb (ev::io &w, int revents);
+ ev_idle idle void idle_cb (ev::idle &w, int revents);
+
+ myclass ();
+ }
+
+ myclass::myclass (int fd)
+ : io (this, &myclass::io_cb),
+ idle (this, &myclass::idle_cb)
+ {
+ io.start (fd, ev::READ);
+ }
+
+
+
+Libev can (and often is) directly embedded into host +applications. Examples of applications that embed it include the Deliantra +Game Server, the EV perl module, the GNU Virtual Private Ethernet (gvpe) +and rxvt-unicode.
+The goal is to enable you to just copy the neecssary files into your +source directory without having to change even a single line in them, so +you can easily upgrade by simply copying (or having a checked-out copy of +libev somewhere in your source tree).
+ +Depending on what features you need you need to include one or more sets of files +in your app.
+ +To include only the libev core (all the ev_* functions), with manual
+configuration (no autoconf):
#define EV_STANDALONE 1 + #include "ev.c" + ++
This will automatically include ev.h, too, and should be done in a +single C source file only to provide the function implementations. To use +it, do the same for ev.h in all files wishing to use this API (best +done by writing a wrapper around ev.h that you can include instead and +where you can put other configuration options):
+#define EV_STANDALONE 1 + #include "ev.h" + ++
Both header files and implementation files can be compiled with a C++ +compiler (at least, thats a stated goal, and breakage will be treated +as a bug).
+You need the following files in your source tree, or in a directory +in your include path (e.g. in libev/ when using -Ilibev):
+ev.h + ev.c + ev_vars.h + ev_wrap.h + + ev_win32.c required on win32 platforms only + + ev_select.c only when select backend is enabled (which is by default) + ev_poll.c only when poll backend is enabled (disabled by default) + ev_epoll.c only when the epoll backend is enabled (disabled by default) + ev_kqueue.c only when the kqueue backend is enabled (disabled by default) + ev_port.c only when the solaris port backend is enabled (disabled by default) + ++
ev.c includes the backend files directly when enabled, so you only need +to compile this single file.
+ +To include the libevent compatibility API, also include:
+#include "event.c" + ++
in the file including ev.c, and:
+#include "event.h" + ++
in the files that want to use the libevent API. This also includes ev.h.
+You need the following additional files for this:
+event.h + event.c + ++ +
Instead of using EV_STANDALONE=1 and providing your config in
+whatever way you want, you can also m4_include([libev.m4]) in your
+configure.ac and leave EV_STANDALONE undefined. ev.c will then
+include config.h and configure itself accordingly.
For this of course you need the m4 file:
+libev.m4 + ++ +
Libev can be configured via a variety of preprocessor symbols you have to define +before including any of its files. The default is not to build for multiplicity +and only include the select backend.
+Must always be 1 if you do not use autoconf configuration, which
+keeps libev from including config.h, and it also defines dummy
+implementations for some libevent functions (such as logging, which is not
+supported). It will also not define any of the structs usually found in
+event.h that are not directly supported by the libev core alone.
If defined to be 1, libev will try to detect the availability of the
+monotonic clock option at both compiletime and runtime. Otherwise no use
+of the monotonic clock option will be attempted. If you enable this, you
+usually have to link against librt or something similar. Enabling it when
+the functionality isn't available is safe, though, althoguh you have
+to make sure you link against any libraries where the clock_gettime
+function is hiding in (often -lrt).
If defined to be 1, libev will try to detect the availability of the
+realtime clock option at compiletime (and assume its availability at
+runtime if successful). Otherwise no use of the realtime clock option will
+be attempted. This effectively replaces gettimeofday by clock_get
+(CLOCK_REALTIME, ...) and will not normally affect correctness. See tzhe note about libraries
+in the description of EV_USE_MONOTONIC, though.
If undefined or defined to be 1, libev will compile in support for the
+select(2) backend. No attempt at autodetection will be done: if no
+other method takes over, select will be it. Otherwise the select backend
+will not be compiled in.
If defined to 1, then the select backend will use the system fd_set
+structure. This is useful if libev doesn't compile due to a missing
+NFDBITS or fd_mask definition or it misguesses the bitset layout on
+exotic systems. This usually limits the range of file descriptors to some
+low limit such as 1024 or might have other limitations (winsocket only
+allows 64 sockets). The FD_SETSIZE macro, set before compilation, might
+influence the size of the fd_set used.
When defined to 1, the select backend will assume that
+select/socket/connect etc. don't understand file descriptors but
+wants osf handles on win32 (this is the case when the select to
+be used is the winsock select). This means that it will call
+_get_osfhandle on the fd to convert it to an OS handle. Otherwise,
+it is assumed that all these functions actually work on fds, even
+on win32. Should not be defined on non-win32 platforms.
If defined to be 1, libev will compile in support for the poll(2)
+backend. Otherwise it will be enabled on non-win32 platforms. It
+takes precedence over select.
If defined to be 1, libev will compile in support for the Linux
+epoll(7) backend. Its availability will be detected at runtime,
+otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the
+preferred backend for GNU/Linux systems.
If defined to be 1, libev will compile in support for the BSD style
+kqueue(2) backend. Its actual availability will be detected at runtime,
+otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the preferred
+backend for BSD and BSD-like systems, although on most BSDs kqueue only
+supports some types of fds correctly (the only platform we found that
+supports ptys for example was NetBSD), so kqueue might be compiled in, but
+not be used unless explicitly requested. The best way to use it is to find
+out whether kqueue supports your type of fd properly and use an embedded
+kqueue loop.
If defined to be 1, libev will compile in support for the Solaris
+10 port style backend. Its availability will be detected at runtime,
+otherwise another method will be used as fallback. This is the preferred
+backend for Solaris 10 systems.
reserved for future expansion, works like the USE symbols above.
+The name of the ev.h header file used to include it. The default if
+undefined is <ev.h> in event.h and "ev.h" in ev.c. This
+can be used to virtually rename the ev.h header file in case of conflicts.
If EV_STANDALONE isn't 1, this variable can be used to override
+ev.c's idea of where to find the config.h file, similarly to
+EV_H, above.
Similarly to EV_H, this macro can be used to override event.c's idea
+of how the event.h header can be found.
If defined to be 0, then ev.h will not define any function
+prototypes, but still define all the structs and other symbols. This is
+occasionally useful if you want to provide your own wrapper functions
+around libev functions.
If undefined or defined to 1, then all event-loop-specific functions
+will have the struct ev_loop * as first argument, and you can create
+additional independent event loops. Otherwise there will be no support
+for multiple event loops and there is no first event loop pointer
+argument. Instead, all functions act on the single default loop.
If undefined or defined to be 1, then periodic timers are supported,
+otherwise not. This saves a few kb of code.
By default, all watchers have a void *data member. By redefining
+this macro to a something else you can include more and other types of
+members. You have to define it each time you include one of the files,
+though, and it must be identical each time.
For example, the perl EV module uses something like this:
+#define EV_COMMON \ + SV *self; /* contains this struct */ \ + SV *cb_sv, *fh /* note no trailing ";" */ + ++
Can be used to change the callback member declaration in each watcher,
+and the way callbacks are invoked and set. Must expand to a struct member
+definition and a statement, respectively. See the ev.v header file for
+their default definitions. One possible use for overriding these is to
+avoid the struct ev_loop * as first argument in all cases, or to use
+method calls instead of plain function calls in C++.
For a real-world example of a program the includes libev +verbatim, you can have a look at the EV perl module +(http://software.schmorp.de/pkg/EV.html). It has the libev files in +the libev/ subdirectory and includes them in the EV/EVAPI.h (public +interface) and EV.xs (implementation) files. Only the EV.xs file +will be compiled. It is pretty complex because it provides its own header +file.
+The usage in rxvt-unicode is simpler. It has a ev_cpp.h header file +that everybody includes and which overrides some autoconf choices:
+#define EV_USE_POLL 0 + #define EV_MULTIPLICITY 0 + #define EV_PERIODICS 0 + #define EV_CONFIG_H <config.h> + + #include "ev++.h" + ++
And a ev_cpp.C implementation file that contains libev proper and is compiled:
+#include "ev_cpp.h" + #include "ev.c" + + + + ++ +
In this section the complexities of (many of) the algorithms used inside
+libev will be explained. For complexity discussions about backends see the
+documentation for ev_default_init.
+
Marc Lehmann <libev@schmorp.de>.
+Marc Lehmann <libev@schmorp.de>.