foolio 0.0.3

data/ext/libuv/src/unix/eio/eio.pod

@@ -0,0 +1,969 @@
+=head1 NAME
+
+libeio - truly asynchronous POSIX I/O
+
+=head1 SYNOPSIS
+
+  #include <eio.h>
+
+=head1 DESCRIPTION
+
+The newest version of this document is also available as an html-formatted
+web page you might find easier to navigate when reading it for the first
+time: L<http://pod.tst.eu/http://cvs.schmorp.de/libeio/eio.pod>.
+
+Note that this library is a by-product of the C<IO::AIO> perl
+module, and many of the subtler points regarding requests lifetime
+and so on are only documented in its documentation at the
+moment: L<http://pod.tst.eu/http://cvs.schmorp.de/IO-AIO/AIO.pm>.
+
+=head2 FEATURES
+
+This library provides fully asynchronous versions of most POSIX functions
+dealing with I/O. Unlike most asynchronous libraries, this not only
+includes C<read> and C<write>, but also C<open>, C<stat>, C<unlink> and
+similar functions, as well as less rarely ones such as C<mknod>, C<futime>
+or C<readlink>.
+
+It also offers wrappers around C<sendfile> (Solaris, Linux, HP-UX and
+FreeBSD, with emulation on other platforms) and C<readahead> (Linux, with
+emulation elsewhere>).
+
+The goal is to enable you to write fully non-blocking programs. For
+example, in a game server, you would not want to freeze for a few seconds
+just because the server is running a backup and you happen to call
+C<readdir>.
+
+=head2 TIME REPRESENTATION
+
+Libeio represents time as a single floating point number, representing the
+(fractional) number of seconds since the (POSIX) epoch (somewhere near
+the beginning of 1970, details are complicated, don't ask). This type is
+called C<eio_tstamp>, but it is guaranteed to be of type C<double> (or
+better), so you can freely use C<double> yourself.
+
+Unlike the name component C<stamp> might indicate, it is also used for
+time differences throughout libeio.
+
+=head2 FORK SUPPORT
+
+Usage of pthreads in a program changes the semantics of fork
+considerably. Specifically, only async-safe functions can be called after
+fork. Libeio uses pthreads, so this applies, and makes using fork hard for
+anything but relatively fork + exec uses.
+
+This library only works in the process that initialised it: Forking is
+fully supported, but using libeio in any other process than the one that
+called C<eio_init> is not.
+
+You might get around by not I<using> libeio before (or after) forking in
+the parent, and using it in the child afterwards. You could also try to
+call the L<eio_init> function again in the child, which will brutally
+reinitialise all data structures, which isn't POSIX conformant, but
+typically works.
+
+Otherwise, the only recommendation you should follow is: treat fork code
+the same way you treat signal handlers, and only ever call C<eio_init> in
+the process that uses it, and only once ever.
+
+=head1 INITIALISATION/INTEGRATION
+
+Before you can call any eio functions you first have to initialise the
+library. The library integrates into any event loop, but can also be used
+without one, including in polling mode.
+
+You have to provide the necessary glue yourself, however.
+
+=over 4
+
+=item int eio_init (void (*want_poll)(void), void (*done_poll)(void))
+
+This function initialises the library. On success it returns C<0>, on
+failure it returns C<-1> and sets C<errno> appropriately.
+
+It accepts two function pointers specifying callbacks as argument, both of
+which can be C<0>, in which case the callback isn't called.
+
+There is currently no way to change these callbacks later, or to
+"uninitialise" the library again.
+
+=item want_poll callback
+
+The C<want_poll> callback is invoked whenever libeio wants attention (i.e.
+it wants to be polled by calling C<eio_poll>). It is "edge-triggered",
+that is, it will only be called once when eio wants attention, until all
+pending requests have been handled.
+
+This callback is called while locks are being held, so I<you must
+not call any libeio functions inside this callback>. That includes
+C<eio_poll>. What you should do is notify some other thread, or wake up
+your event loop, and then call C<eio_poll>.
+
+=item done_poll callback
+
+This callback is invoked when libeio detects that all pending requests
+have been handled. It is "edge-triggered", that is, it will only be
+called once after C<want_poll>. To put it differently, C<want_poll> and
+C<done_poll> are invoked in pairs: after C<want_poll> you have to call
+C<eio_poll ()> until either C<eio_poll> indicates that everything has been
+handled or C<done_poll> has been called, which signals the same.
+
+Note that C<eio_poll> might return after C<done_poll> and C<want_poll>
+have been called again, so watch out for races in your code.
+
+As with C<want_poll>, this callback is called while locks are being held,
+so you I<must not call any libeio functions form within this callback>.
+
+=item int eio_poll ()
+
+This function has to be called whenever there are pending requests that
+need finishing. You usually call this after C<want_poll> has indicated
+that you should do so, but you can also call this function regularly to
+poll for new results.
+
+If any request invocation returns a non-zero value, then C<eio_poll ()>
+immediately returns with that value as return value.
+
+Otherwise, if all requests could be handled, it returns C<0>. If for some
+reason not all requests have been handled, i.e. some are still pending, it
+returns C<-1>.
+
+=back
+
+For libev, you would typically use an C<ev_async> watcher: the
+C<want_poll> callback would invoke C<ev_async_send> to wake up the event
+loop. Inside the callback set for the watcher, one would call C<eio_poll
+()>.
+
+If C<eio_poll ()> is configured to not handle all results in one go
+(i.e. it returns C<-1>) then you should start an idle watcher that calls
+C<eio_poll> until it returns something C<!= -1>.
+
+A full-featured connector between libeio and libev would look as follows
+(if C<eio_poll> is handling all requests, it can of course be simplified a
+lot by removing the idle watcher logic):
+
+  static struct ev_loop *loop;
+  static ev_idle repeat_watcher;
+  static ev_async ready_watcher;
+
+  /* idle watcher callback, only used when eio_poll */
+  /* didn't handle all results in one call */
+  static void
+  repeat (EV_P_ ev_idle *w, int revents)
+  {
+    if (eio_poll () != -1)
+      ev_idle_stop (EV_A_ w);
+  }
+
+  /* eio has some results, process them */
+  static void
+  ready (EV_P_ ev_async *w, int revents)
+  {
+    if (eio_poll () == -1)
+      ev_idle_start (EV_A_ &repeat_watcher);
+  }
+
+  /* wake up the event loop */
+  static void
+  want_poll (void)
+  {
+    ev_async_send (loop, &ready_watcher)
+  }
+
+  void
+  my_init_eio ()
+  {
+    loop = EV_DEFAULT;
+
+    ev_idle_init (&repeat_watcher, repeat);
+    ev_async_init (&ready_watcher, ready);
+    ev_async_start (loop &watcher);
+
+    eio_init (want_poll, 0);
+  }
+
+For most other event loops, you would typically use a pipe - the event
+loop should be told to wait for read readiness on the read end. In
+C<want_poll> you would write a single byte, in C<done_poll> you would try
+to read that byte, and in the callback for the read end, you would call
+C<eio_poll>.
+
+You don't have to take special care in the case C<eio_poll> doesn't handle
+all requests, as the done callback will not be invoked, so the event loop
+will still signal readiness for the pipe until I<all> results have been
+processed.
+
+
+=head1 HIGH LEVEL REQUEST API
+
+Libeio has both a high-level API, which consists of calling a request
+function with a callback to be called on completion, and a low-level API
+where you fill out request structures and submit them.
+
+This section describes the high-level API.
+
+=head2 REQUEST SUBMISSION AND RESULT PROCESSING
+
+You submit a request by calling the relevant C<eio_TYPE> function with the
+required parameters, a callback of type C<int (*eio_cb)(eio_req *req)>
+(called C<eio_cb> below) and a freely usable C<void *data> argument.
+
+The return value will either be 0, in case something went really wrong
+(which can basically only happen on very fatal errors, such as C<malloc>
+returning 0, which is rather unlikely), or a pointer to the newly-created
+and submitted C<eio_req *>.
+
+The callback will be called with an C<eio_req *> which contains the
+results of the request. The members you can access inside that structure
+vary from request to request, except for:
+
+=over 4
+
+=item C<ssize_t result>
+
+This contains the result value from the call (usually the same as the
+syscall of the same name).
+
+=item C<int errorno>
+
+This contains the value of C<errno> after the call.
+
+=item C<void *data>
+
+The C<void *data> member simply stores the value of the C<data> argument.
+
+=back
+
+The return value of the callback is normally C<0>, which tells libeio to
+continue normally. If a callback returns a nonzero value, libeio will
+stop processing results (in C<eio_poll>) and will return the value to its
+caller.
+
+Memory areas passed to libeio must stay valid as long as a request
+executes, with the exception of paths, which are being copied
+internally. Any memory libeio itself allocates will be freed after the
+finish callback has been called. If you want to manage all memory passed
+to libeio yourself you can use the low-level API.
+
+For example, to open a file, you could do this:
+
+  static int
+  file_open_done (eio_req *req)
+  {
+    if (req->result < 0)
+      {
+        /* open() returned -1 */
+        errno = req->errorno;
+        perror ("open");
+      }
+    else
+      {
+        int fd = req->result;
+        /* now we have the new fd in fd */
+      }
+
+    return 0;
+  }
+
+  /* the first three arguments are passed to open(2) */
+  /* the remaining are priority, callback and data */
+  if (!eio_open ("/etc/passwd", O_RDONLY, 0, 0, file_open_done, 0))
+    abort (); /* something went wrong, we will all die!!! */
+
+Note that you additionally need to call C<eio_poll> when the C<want_cb>
+indicates that requests are ready to be processed.
+
+=head2 CANCELLING REQUESTS
+
+Sometimes the need for a request goes away before the request is
+finished. In that case, one can cancel the request by a call to
+C<eio_cancel>:
+
+=over 4
+
+=item eio_cancel (eio_req *req)
+
+Cancel the request (and all its subrequests). If the request is currently
+executing it might still continue to execute, and in other cases it might
+still take a while till the request is cancelled.
+
+Even if cancelled, the finish callback will still be invoked - the
+callbacks of all cancellable requests need to check whether the request
+has been cancelled by calling C<EIO_CANCELLED (req)>:
+
+  static int
+  my_eio_cb (eio_req *req)
+  {
+    if (EIO_CANCELLED (req))
+      return 0;
+  }
+
+In addition, cancelled requests will I<either> have C<< req->result >>
+set to C<-1> and C<errno> to C<ECANCELED>, or I<otherwise> they were
+successfully executed, despite being cancelled (e.g. when they have
+already been executed at the time they were cancelled).
+
+C<EIO_CANCELLED> is still true for requests that have successfully
+executed, as long as C<eio_cancel> was called on them at some point.
+
+=back
+
+=head2 AVAILABLE REQUESTS
+
+The following request functions are available. I<All> of them return the
+C<eio_req *> on success and C<0> on failure, and I<all> of them have the
+same three trailing arguments: C<pri>, C<cb> and C<data>. The C<cb> is
+mandatory, but in most cases, you pass in C<0> as C<pri> and C<0> or some
+custom data value as C<data>.
+
+=head3 POSIX API WRAPPERS
+
+These requests simply wrap the POSIX call of the same name, with the same
+arguments. If a function is not implemented by the OS and cannot be emulated
+in some way, then all of these return C<-1> and set C<errorno> to C<ENOSYS>.
+
+=over 4
+
+=item eio_open      (const char *path, int flags, mode_t mode, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+=item eio_truncate  (const char *path, off_t offset, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+=item eio_chown     (const char *path, uid_t uid, gid_t gid, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+=item eio_chmod     (const char *path, mode_t mode, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+=item eio_mkdir     (const char *path, mode_t mode, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+=item eio_rmdir     (const char *path, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+=item eio_unlink    (const char *path, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+=item eio_utime     (const char *path, eio_tstamp atime, eio_tstamp mtime, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+=item eio_mknod     (const char *path, mode_t mode, dev_t dev, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+=item eio_link      (const char *path, const char *new_path, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+=item eio_symlink   (const char *path, const char *new_path, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+=item eio_rename    (const char *path, const char *new_path, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+=item eio_mlock     (void *addr, size_t length, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+=item eio_close     (int fd, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+=item eio_sync      (int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+=item eio_fsync     (int fd, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+=item eio_fdatasync (int fd, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+=item eio_futime    (int fd, eio_tstamp atime, eio_tstamp mtime, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+=item eio_ftruncate (int fd, off_t offset, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+=item eio_fchmod    (int fd, mode_t mode, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+=item eio_fchown    (int fd, uid_t uid, gid_t gid, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+=item eio_dup2      (int fd, int fd2, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+These have the same semantics as the syscall of the same name, their
+return value is available as C<< req->result >> later.
+
+=item eio_read      (int fd, void *buf, size_t length, off_t offset, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+=item eio_write     (int fd, void *buf, size_t length, off_t offset, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+These two requests are called C<read> and C<write>, but actually wrap
+C<pread> and C<pwrite>. On systems that lack these calls (such as cygwin),
+libeio uses lseek/read_or_write/lseek and a mutex to serialise the
+requests, so all these requests run serially and do not disturb each
+other. However, they still disturb the file offset while they run, so it's
+not safe to call these functions concurrently with non-libeio functions on
+the same fd on these systems.
+
+Not surprisingly, pread and pwrite are not thread-safe on Darwin (OS/X),
+so it is advised not to submit multiple requests on the same fd on this
+horrible pile of garbage.
+
+=item eio_mlockall  (int flags, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+Like C<mlockall>, but the flag value constants are called
+C<EIO_MCL_CURRENT> and C<EIO_MCL_FUTURE>.
+
+=item eio_msync     (void *addr, size_t length, int flags, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+Just like msync, except that the flag values are called C<EIO_MS_ASYNC>,
+C<EIO_MS_INVALIDATE> and C<EIO_MS_SYNC>.
+
+=item eio_readlink  (const char *path, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+If successful, the path read by C<readlink(2)> can be accessed via C<<
+req->ptr2 >> and is I<NOT> null-terminated, with the length specified as
+C<< req->result >>.
+
+  if (req->result >= 0)
+    {
+      char *target = strndup ((char *)req->ptr2, req->result);
+
+      free (target);
+    }
+
+=item eio_realpath  (const char *path, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+Similar to the realpath libc function, but unlike that one, C<<
+req->result >> is C<-1> on failure. On success, the result is the length
+of the returned path in C<ptr2> (which is I<NOT> 0-terminated) - this is
+similar to readlink.
+
+=item eio_stat      (const char *path, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+=item eio_lstat     (const char *path, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+=item eio_fstat     (int fd, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+   
+Stats a file - if C<< req->result >> indicates success, then you can
+access the C<struct stat>-like structure via C<< req->ptr2 >>:
+
+  EIO_STRUCT_STAT *statdata = (EIO_STRUCT_STAT *)req->ptr2;
+
+=item eio_statvfs   (const char *path, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+=item eio_fstatvfs  (int fd, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+Stats a filesystem - if C<< req->result >> indicates success, then you can
+access the C<struct statvfs>-like structure via C<< req->ptr2 >>:
+
+  EIO_STRUCT_STATVFS *statdata = (EIO_STRUCT_STATVFS *)req->ptr2;
+
+=back
+
+=head3 READING DIRECTORIES
+
+Reading directories sounds simple, but can be rather demanding, especially
+if you want to do stuff such as traversing a directory hierarchy or
+processing all files in a directory. Libeio can assist these complex tasks
+with it's C<eio_readdir> call.
+
+=over 4
+
+=item eio_readdir (const char *path, int flags, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+This is a very complex call. It basically reads through a whole directory
+(via the C<opendir>, C<readdir> and C<closedir> calls) and returns either
+the names or an array of C<struct eio_dirent>, depending on the C<flags>
+argument.
+
+The C<< req->result >> indicates either the number of files found, or
+C<-1> on error. On success, null-terminated names can be found as C<< req->ptr2 >>,
+and C<struct eio_dirents>, if requested by C<flags>, can be found via C<<
+req->ptr1 >>.
+
+Here is an example that prints all the names:
+
+  int i;
+  char *names = (char *)req->ptr2;
+
+  for (i = 0; i < req->result; ++i)
+    {
+      printf ("name #%d: %s\n", i, names);
+
+      /* move to next name */
+      names += strlen (names) + 1;
+    }
+
+Pseudo-entries such as F<.> and F<..> are never returned by C<eio_readdir>.
+
+C<flags> can be any combination of:
+
+=over 4
+
+=item EIO_READDIR_DENTS
+
+If this flag is specified, then, in addition to the names in C<ptr2>,
+also an array of C<struct eio_dirent> is returned, in C<ptr1>. A C<struct
+eio_dirent> looks like this:
+
+  struct eio_dirent
+  {
+    int nameofs; /* offset of null-terminated name string in (char *)req->ptr2 */
+    unsigned short namelen; /* size of filename without trailing 0 */
+    unsigned char type; /* one of EIO_DT_* */
+    signed char score; /* internal use */
+    ino_t inode; /* the inode number, if available, otherwise unspecified */
+  };
+
+The only members you normally would access are C<nameofs>, which is the
+byte-offset from C<ptr2> to the start of the name, C<namelen> and C<type>.
+
+C<type> can be one of:
+
+C<EIO_DT_UNKNOWN> - if the type is not known (very common) and you have to C<stat>
+the name yourself if you need to know,
+one of the "standard" POSIX file types (C<EIO_DT_REG>, C<EIO_DT_DIR>, C<EIO_DT_LNK>,
+C<EIO_DT_FIFO>, C<EIO_DT_SOCK>, C<EIO_DT_CHR>, C<EIO_DT_BLK>)
+or some OS-specific type (currently
+C<EIO_DT_MPC> - multiplexed char device (v7+coherent),
+C<EIO_DT_NAM> - xenix special named file,
+C<EIO_DT_MPB> - multiplexed block device (v7+coherent),
+C<EIO_DT_NWK> - HP-UX network special,
+C<EIO_DT_CMP> - VxFS compressed,
+C<EIO_DT_DOOR> - solaris door, or
+C<EIO_DT_WHT>).
+
+This example prints all names and their type:
+
+  int i;
+  struct eio_dirent *ents = (struct eio_dirent *)req->ptr1;
+  char *names = (char *)req->ptr2;
+
+  for (i = 0; i < req->result; ++i)
+    {
+      struct eio_dirent *ent = ents + i;
+      char *name = names + ent->nameofs;
+
+      printf ("name #%d: %s (type %d)\n", i, name, ent->type);
+    }
+
+=item EIO_READDIR_DIRS_FIRST
+
+When this flag is specified, then the names will be returned in an order
+where likely directories come first, in optimal C<stat> order. This is
+useful when you need to quickly find directories, or you want to find all
+directories while avoiding to stat() each entry.
+
+If the system returns type information in readdir, then this is used
+to find directories directly. Otherwise, likely directories are names
+beginning with ".", or otherwise names with no dots, of which names with
+short names are tried first.
+
+=item EIO_READDIR_STAT_ORDER
+
+When this flag is specified, then the names will be returned in an order
+suitable for stat()'ing each one. That is, when you plan to stat()
+all files in the given directory, then the returned order will likely
+be fastest.
+
+If both this flag and C<EIO_READDIR_DIRS_FIRST> are specified, then the
+likely directories come first, resulting in a less optimal stat order.
+
+=item EIO_READDIR_FOUND_UNKNOWN
+
+This flag should not be specified when calling C<eio_readdir>. Instead,
+it is being set by C<eio_readdir> (you can access the C<flags> via C<<
+req->int1 >>, when any of the C<type>'s found were C<EIO_DT_UNKNOWN>. The
+absence of this flag therefore indicates that all C<type>'s are known,
+which can be used to speed up some algorithms.
+
+A typical use case would be to identify all subdirectories within a
+directory - you would ask C<eio_readdir> for C<EIO_READDIR_DIRS_FIRST>. If
+then this flag is I<NOT> set, then all the entries at the beginning of the
+returned array of type C<EIO_DT_DIR> are the directories. Otherwise, you
+should start C<stat()>'ing the entries starting at the beginning of the
+array, stopping as soon as you found all directories (the count can be
+deduced by the link count of the directory).
+
+=back
+
+=back
+
+=head3 OS-SPECIFIC CALL WRAPPERS
+
+These wrap OS-specific calls (usually Linux ones), and might or might not
+be emulated on other operating systems. Calls that are not emulated will
+return C<-1> and set C<errno> to C<ENOSYS>.
+
+=over 4
+
+=item eio_sendfile (int out_fd, int in_fd, off_t in_offset, size_t length, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+Wraps the C<sendfile> syscall. The arguments follow the Linux version, but
+libeio supports and will use similar calls on FreeBSD, HP/UX, Solaris and
+Darwin.
+
+If the OS doesn't support some sendfile-like call, or the call fails,
+indicating support for the given file descriptor type (for example,
+Linux's sendfile might not support file to file copies), then libeio will
+emulate the call in userspace, so there are almost no limitations on its
+use.
+
+=item eio_readahead (int fd, off_t offset, size_t length, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+Calls C<readahead(2)>. If the syscall is missing, then the call is
+emulated by simply reading the data (currently in 64kiB chunks).
+
+=item eio_syncfs (int fd, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+Calls Linux' C<syncfs> syscall, if available. Returns C<-1> and sets
+C<errno> to C<ENOSYS> if the call is missing I<but still calls sync()>,
+if the C<fd> is C<< >= 0 >>, so you can probe for the availability of the
+syscall with a negative C<fd> argument and checking for C<-1/ENOSYS>.
+
+=item eio_sync_file_range (int fd, off_t offset, size_t nbytes, unsigned int flags, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+Calls C<sync_file_range>. If the syscall is missing, then this is the same
+as calling C<fdatasync>.
+
+Flags can be any combination of C<EIO_SYNC_FILE_RANGE_WAIT_BEFORE>,
+C<EIO_SYNC_FILE_RANGE_WRITE> and C<EIO_SYNC_FILE_RANGE_WAIT_AFTER>.
+
+=item eio_fallocate (int fd, int mode, off_t offset, off_t len, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+Calls C<fallocate> (note: I<NOT> C<posix_fallocate>!). If the syscall is
+missing, then it returns failure and sets C<errno> to C<ENOSYS>.
+
+The C<mode> argument can be C<0> (for behaviour similar to
+C<posix_fallocate>), or C<EIO_FALLOC_FL_KEEP_SIZE>, which keeps the size
+of the file unchanged (but still preallocates space beyond end of file).
+
+=back
+
+=head3 LIBEIO-SPECIFIC REQUESTS
+
+These requests are specific to libeio and do not correspond to any OS call.
+
+=over 4
+
+=item eio_mtouch (void *addr, size_t length, int flags, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+Reads (C<flags == 0>) or modifies (C<flags == EIO_MT_MODIFY) the given
+memory area, page-wise, that is, it reads (or reads and writes back) the
+first octet of every page that spans the memory area.
+
+This can be used to page in some mmapped file, or dirty some pages. Note
+that dirtying is an unlocked read-write access, so races can ensue when
+the some other thread modifies the data stored in that memory area.
+
+=item eio_custom (void (*)(eio_req *) execute, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+Executes a custom request, i.e., a user-specified callback.
+
+The callback gets the C<eio_req *> as parameter and is expected to read
+and modify any request-specific members. Specifically, it should set C<<
+req->result >> to the result value, just like other requests.
+
+Here is an example that simply calls C<open>, like C<eio_open>, but it
+uses the C<data> member as filename and uses a hardcoded C<O_RDONLY>. If
+you want to pass more/other parameters, you either need to pass some
+struct or so via C<data> or provide your own wrapper using the low-level
+API.
+
+  static int
+  my_open_done (eio_req *req)
+  {
+    int fd = req->result;
+
+    return 0;
+  }
+
+  static void
+  my_open (eio_req *req)
+  {
+    req->result = open (req->data, O_RDONLY);
+  }
+
+  eio_custom (my_open, 0, my_open_done, "/etc/passwd");
+
+=item eio_busy (eio_tstamp delay, int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+This is a request that takes C<delay> seconds to execute, but otherwise
+does nothing - it simply puts one of the worker threads to sleep for this
+long.
+
+This request can be used to artificially increase load, e.g. for debugging
+or benchmarking reasons.
+
+=item eio_nop (int pri, eio_cb cb, void *data)
+   
+This request does nothing, except go through the whole request cycle. This
+can be used to measure latency or in some cases to simplify code, but is
+not really of much use.
+
+=back
+
+=head3 GROUPING AND LIMITING REQUESTS
+
+There is one more rather special request, C<eio_grp>. It is a very special
+aio request: Instead of doing something, it is a container for other eio
+requests.
+
+There are two primary use cases for this: a) bundle many requests into a
+single, composite, request with a definite callback and the ability to
+cancel the whole request with its subrequests and b) limiting the number
+of "active" requests.
+
+Further below you will find more discussion of these topics - first
+follows the reference section detailing the request generator and other
+methods.
+
+=over 4
+
+=item eio_req *grp = eio_grp (eio_cb cb, void *data)
+
+Creates, submits and returns a group request. Note that it doesn't have a
+priority, unlike all other requests.
+
+=item eio_grp_add (eio_req *grp, eio_req *req)
+
+Adds a request to the request group.
+
+=item eio_grp_cancel (eio_req *grp)
+
+Cancels all requests I<in> the group, but I<not> the group request
+itself. You can cancel the group request I<and> all subrequests via a
+normal C<eio_cancel> call.
+
+=back
+
+=head4 GROUP REQUEST LIFETIME
+
+Left alone, a group request will instantly move to the pending state and
+will be finished at the next call of C<eio_poll>.
+
+The usefulness stems from the fact that, if a subrequest is added to a
+group I<before> a call to C<eio_poll>, via C<eio_grp_add>, then the group
+will not finish until all the subrequests have finished.
+
+So the usage cycle of a group request is like this: after it is created,
+you normally instantly add a subrequest. If none is added, the group
+request will finish on it's own. As long as subrequests are added before
+the group request is finished it will be kept from finishing, that is the
+callbacks of any subrequests can, in turn, add more requests to the group,
+and as long as any requests are active, the group request itself will not
+finish.
+
+=head4 CREATING COMPOSITE REQUESTS
+
+Imagine you wanted to create an C<eio_load> request that opens a file,
+reads it and closes it. This means it has to execute at least three eio
+requests, but for various reasons it might be nice if that request looked
+like any other eio request.
+
+This can be done with groups:
+
+=over 4
+
+=item 1) create the request object
+
+Create a group that contains all further requests. This is the request you
+can return as "the load request".
+
+=item 2) open the file, maybe
+
+Next, open the file with C<eio_open> and add the request to the group
+request and you are finished setting up the request.
+
+If, for some reason, you cannot C<eio_open> (path is a null ptr?) you
+can set C<< grp->result >> to C<-1> to signal an error and let the group
+request finish on its own.
+
+=item 3) open callback adds more requests
+
+In the open callback, if the open was not successful, copy C<<
+req->errorno >> to C<< grp->errorno >> and set C<< grp->errorno >> to
+C<-1> to signal an error.
+
+Otherwise, malloc some memory or so and issue a read request, adding the
+read request to the group.
+
+=item 4) continue issuing requests till finished
+
+In the real callback, check for errors and possibly continue with
+C<eio_close> or any other eio request in the same way.
+
+As soon as no new requests are added the group request will finish. Make
+sure you I<always> set C<< grp->result >> to some sensible value.
+
+=back
+
+=head4 REQUEST LIMITING
+
+
+#TODO
+
+void eio_grp_limit     (eio_req *grp, int limit);
+
+
+=back
+
+
+=head1 LOW LEVEL REQUEST API
+
+#TODO
+
+
+=head1 ANATOMY AND LIFETIME OF AN EIO REQUEST
+
+A request is represented by a structure of type C<eio_req>. To initialise
+it, clear it to all zero bytes:
+
+  eio_req req;
+
+  memset (&req, 0, sizeof (req));
+
+A more common way to initialise a new C<eio_req> is to use C<calloc>:
+
+  eio_req *req = calloc (1, sizeof (*req));
+
+In either case, libeio neither allocates, initialises or frees the
+C<eio_req> structure for you - it merely uses it.
+
+zero
+
+#TODO
+
+=head2 CONFIGURATION
+
+The functions in this section can sometimes be useful, but the default
+configuration will do in most case, so you should skip this section on
+first reading.
+
+=over 4
+
+=item eio_set_max_poll_time (eio_tstamp nseconds)
+
+This causes C<eio_poll ()> to return after it has detected that it was
+running for C<nsecond> seconds or longer (this number can be fractional).
+
+This can be used to limit the amount of time spent handling eio requests,
+for example, in interactive programs, you might want to limit this time to
+C<0.01> seconds or so.
+
+Note that:
+
+=over 4
+
+=item a) libeio doesn't know how long your request callbacks take, so the
+time spent in C<eio_poll> is up to one callback invocation longer then
+this interval.
+
+=item b) this is implemented by calling C<gettimeofday> after each
+request, which can be costly.
+
+=item c) at least one request will be handled.
+
+=back
+
+=item eio_set_max_poll_reqs (unsigned int nreqs)
+
+When C<nreqs> is non-zero, then C<eio_poll> will not handle more than
+C<nreqs> requests per invocation. This is a less costly way to limit the
+amount of work done by C<eio_poll> then setting a time limit.
+
+If you know your callbacks are generally fast, you could use this to
+encourage interactiveness in your programs by setting it to C<10>, C<100>
+or even C<1000>.
+
+=item eio_set_min_parallel (unsigned int nthreads)
+
+Make sure libeio can handle at least this many requests in parallel. It
+might be able handle more.
+
+=item eio_set_max_parallel (unsigned int nthreads)
+
+Set the maximum number of threads that libeio will spawn.
+
+=item eio_set_max_idle (unsigned int nthreads)
+
+Libeio uses threads internally to handle most requests, and will start and stop threads on demand.
+
+This call can be used to limit the number of idle threads (threads without
+work to do): libeio will keep some threads idle in preparation for more
+requests, but never longer than C<nthreads> threads.
+
+In addition to this, libeio will also stop threads when they are idle for
+a few seconds, regardless of this setting.
+
+=item unsigned int eio_nthreads ()
+
+Return the number of worker threads currently running.
+
+=item unsigned int eio_nreqs ()
+
+Return the number of requests currently handled by libeio. This is the
+total number of requests that have been submitted to libeio, but not yet
+destroyed.
+
+=item unsigned int eio_nready ()
+
+Returns the number of ready requests, i.e. requests that have been
+submitted but have not yet entered the execution phase.
+
+=item unsigned int eio_npending ()
+
+Returns the number of pending requests, i.e. requests that have been
+executed and have results, but have not been finished yet by a call to
+C<eio_poll>).
+
+=back
+
+=head1 EMBEDDING
+
+Libeio can be embedded directly into programs. This functionality is not
+documented and not (yet) officially supported.
+
+Note that, when including C<libeio.m4>, you are responsible for defining
+the compilation environment (C<_LARGEFILE_SOURCE>, C<_GNU_SOURCE> etc.).
+
+If you need to know how, check the C<IO::AIO> perl module, which does
+exactly that.
+
+
+=head1 COMPILETIME CONFIGURATION
+
+These symbols, if used, must be defined when compiling F<eio.c>.
+
+=over 4
+
+=item EIO_STACKSIZE
+
+This symbol governs the stack size for each eio thread. Libeio itself
+was written to use very little stackspace, but when using C<EIO_CUSTOM>
+requests, you might want to increase this.
+
+If this symbol is undefined (the default) then libeio will use its default
+stack size (C<sizeof (void *) * 4096> currently). If it is defined, but
+C<0>, then the default operating system stack size will be used. In all
+other cases, the value must be an expression that evaluates to the desired
+stack size.
+
+=back
+
+
+=head1 PORTABILITY REQUIREMENTS
+
+In addition to a working ISO-C implementation, libeio relies on a few
+additional extensions:
+
+=over 4
+
+=item POSIX threads
+
+To be portable, this module uses threads, specifically, the POSIX threads
+library must be available (and working, which partially excludes many xBSD
+systems, where C<fork ()> is buggy).
+
+=item POSIX-compatible filesystem API
+
+This is actually a harder portability requirement: The libeio API is quite
+demanding regarding POSIX API calls (symlinks, user/group management
+etc.).
+
+=item C<double> must hold a time value in seconds with enough accuracy
+
+The type C<double> is used to represent timestamps. It is required to
+have at least 51 bits of mantissa (and 9 bits of exponent), which is good
+enough for at least into the year 4000. This requirement is fulfilled by
+implementations implementing IEEE 754 (basically all existing ones).
+
+=back
+
+If you know of other additional requirements drop me a note.
+
+
+=head1 AUTHOR
+
+Marc Lehmann <libeio@schmorp.de>.
+