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=head1 NAME
Prima::File - asynchronous stream I/O
=head1 SYNOPSIS
use strict;
use Prima qw(Application);
# create pipe and autoflush the writer end
pipe(READ, WRITE) or die "pipe():$!\n";
select WRITE;
$|=1;
select STDOUT;
# create a Prima listener on the reader end
my $read = Prima::File-> new(
file => \*READ,
mask => fe::Read,
onRead => sub {
$_ = <READ>;
print "read:$_\n";
},
);
print WRITE "line\n";
Prima->run;
=head1 DESCRIPTION
The Prima::File class provides access to the I/O stream notifications that are
called when a file handle becomes readable, writable, or if an
exception/out-of-band message occurs. Registering file handles to Prima::File
objects makes it possible for the stream operations to coexist with the event
loop.
=head1 USAGE
Prima::File is a descendant of Prima::Component. Objects of the Prima::File
class must be bounded to a valid file handle object before the associated
events can occur:
my $f = Prima::File-> new();
$f-> file( *STDIN);
When a file handle bound via the C<::file> property becomes readable, writable,
or when an exception/out-of-band message is signaled, one of three
corresponding events is sent - C<Read>, C<Write>, or C<Exception>. When the
file handle is always readable, or always writable, or, on the contrary, some
of these events are desired to be blocked, the file event mask can be set via
the C<::mask> property:
$f-> mask( fe::Read | fe::Exception);
When the file handle is not needed anymore it is expected to
be detached from the object explicitly:
$f-> file( undef);
However, if the system detects that the file handle is no longer valid,
it is automatically detached. It is possible to check if a file handle
is still valid by calling the C<is_active()> method.
Prima::File events based on the events provided by the C<select()> function on
unix or on the C<WSAEnumNetworkEvents> function on Win32.
=head1 API
=head2 Properties
=over
=item file HANDLE
Selects the file handle to be monitored for the I/O events. If the HANDLE is
C<undef>, the object is returned to the passive state, and the previously bonded
file handle is de-selected.
If the OS reports an error when attaching the file, f ex because there are too
many objects to monitor, the file handle is reverted to C<undef>. Use that to
check for an error.
=item fd INTEGER
Same as file(), but to be used for the file descriptors instead. When this
property is used, consequent get-calls to file() will return undef.
If the OS reports an error when attaching the file, f ex because there are
too many objects to monitor, the file handle is reverted to C<undef>. Use that
to check for an error.
=item mask EVENT_MASK
Selects the event mask that is a combination of the C<fe::XXX> integer constants,
each representing an event:
fe::Read
fe::Write
fe::Exception
The masked events are effectively excluded from the system file event
multiplexing mechanism.
=back
=head2 Methods
=over
=item get_handle
Returns C<sprintf("0x%08x", fileno( file ))> string.
If C<::file> is C<undef>, -1 is used instead of the fileno() result.
=item is_active AUTODETACH = 0
Returns the boolean flag indicating if the file handle is valid. If AUTODETACH
is 1 and the file handle is not valid C<file(undef)> is called.
=back
=head2 Events
=over
=item Read
Called when the file handle becomes readable. The callback procedure
is expected to call a non-blocking read() on the file handle.
=item Write
Called when the file handle becomes writable. The callback procedure
is expected to call a non-blocking write() on the file handle.
=item Exception
Called when an exception is signaled on the file handle. The exceptions are
specific to the handle type and the operating system. For example, a unix
socket may signal the C<Exception> event when control status data for a
pseudoterminal or an out-of-band message arrives.
=back
=head1 OS considerations
=head2 Unix
Prima can monitor max FD_SETSIZE file handles (not Prima::File objects, these can
refer to the same file handles just fine). See also C<man 2 select>.
=head2 Win32
=over
=item Files
If Prima detects that the handle is neither a socket nor a console, it assumes that
it is a regular file. Prima doesn't use any win32 api for checking on regular
file handle availability for reading and writing and therefore sends synthetic
events without actual correlation on whether the file handle is readable
or writable.
=item Pipes
Pipe handles are not implemented and won't work.
=item Sockets
Sockets work natively, however, there's a single catch: according to the MSDN,
WSAEventSelect() sets sockets in a non-blocking mode, however, I couldn't
confirm that when I was experimenting. If you want to be 100% covered, remember
to save and restore the blocking flag in your event handlers.
There can be normally a maximum of 63 sockets (not Prima::File objects, these can refer to the same
sockets just fine). Or a maximum of 62 sockets if STDIN is monitored too. See also
=item STDIN
STDIN works fine when it is a console. Use C<Prima::sys::win32::ReadConsoleInput>
=back
=head1 AUTHOR
Dmitry Karasik, E<lt>dmitry@karasik.eu.orgE<gt>.
=head1 SEE ALSO
L<Prima>, L<Prima::Object>