Provided by: libthread-pool-perl_0.35-3_all bug

NAME

       Thread::Pool - group of threads for performing similar jobs

VERSION

       This documentation describes version 0.35.

SYNOPSIS

        use Thread::Pool;
        $pool = Thread::Pool->new(
         {
          optimize => 'cpu', # default: 'memory'

          pre => sub {shift; print "starting worker with @_\n",
          do => sub {shift; print "doing job for @_\n"; reverse @_},
          post => sub {shift; print "stopping worker with @_\n",

          stream => sub {shift; print "streamline with @_\n",

          monitor => sub { print "monitor with @_\n",
          pre_post_monitor_only => 0, # default: 0 = also for "do"

          checkpoint => sub { print "checkpointing\n" },
          frequency => 1000,

          autoshutdown => 1, # default: 1 = yes

          workers => 10,     # default: 1
          maxjobs => 50,     # default: 5 * workers
          minjobs => 5,      # default: maxjobs / 2
         },
         qw(a b c)           # parameters to "pre" and "post" routine
        );

        $pool->job( qw(d e f) );              # not interested in result

        $jobid = $pool->job( qw(g h i) );
        @result = $pool->result( $jobid );    # wait for result to be ready

        $jobid = $pool->job( qw(j k l) );
        @result = $pool->result_dontwait( $jobid ); # do _not_ wait for result

        @result = $pool->waitfor( qw(m n o) ); # submit and wait for result

        $pool->add;           # add worker(s)
        $pool->remove;        # remove worker(s)
        $pool->workers( 10 ); # adapt number of workers
        $pool->join;          # wait for all removed worker threads to finish

        $workers = $pool->workers;
        $todo    = $pool->todo;
        $removed = $pool->removed;

        $pool->maxjobs( 100 );  # adapt or (de-)activate job throttling
        $pool->minjobs( 10 );

        $pool->autoshutdown( 1 ); # shutdown when object is destroyed
        $pool->shutdown;          # wait until all jobs done
        $pool->abort;             # finish current job and remove all workers

        $done    = $pool->done;   # simple thread-use statistics
        $notused = $pool->notused;

        Thread::Pool->remove_me;  # inside "do" only

DESCRIPTION

                         *** A note of CAUTION ***

        This module only functions on Perl versions 5.8.0 and later.
        And then only when threads are enabled with -Dusethreads.
        It is of no use with any version of Perl before 5.8.0 or
        without threads enabled.

                         *************************

       The Thread::Pool allows you to set up a group of (worker) threads to execute a (large) number of similar
       jobs that need to be executed asynchronously.  The routine that actually performs the job (the "do"
       routine), must be specified as a name or a reference to a (anonymous) subroutine.

       Once a pool is created, jobs can be executed at will and will be assigned to the next available worker.
       If the result of the job is important, a job ID is issued.  The job ID can then later be used to obtain
       the result.

       Initialization parameters can be passed during the creation of the Thread::Pool object.  The
       initialization ("pre") routine can be specified as a name or as a reference to a (anonymous) subroutine.
       The "pre" routine can e.g. be used to create a connection to an external source using a non-threadsafe
       library.

       When a worker is told to finish, the "post" routine is executed if available.

       Results of jobs must be obtained separately, unless a "stream" or a "monitor" routine is specified.  Then
       the result of each job will be streamed to the "stream" or "monitor" routine in the order in which the
       jobs were submitted.

       Unless told otherwise, all jobs that are assigned, will be executed before the pool is allowed to be
       destroyed.  If a "stream" or "monitor" routine is specified, then all results will be handled by that
       routine before the pool is allowed to be destroyed.

CLASS METHODS

       The following class methods are available.

   new
        $pool = Thread::Pool->new(
         {
          optimize => 'cpu',                            # default: memory

          do => sub { print "doing with @_\n" },        # must have
          pre => sub { print "starting with @_\n",      # default: none
          post => sub { print "stopping with @_\n",     # default: none

          stream => sub { print "streamline with @_\n", # default: none

          monitor => sub { print "monitor with @_\n",   # default: none
          pre_post_monitor_only => 0, # default: 0 = also for "do"
          checkpoint => \&checkpoint,
          frequency => 1000,

          autoshutdown => 1, # default: 1 = yes

          workers => 10,     # default: 1
          maxjobs => 50,     # default: 5 * workers
          minjobs => 5,      # default: maxjobs / 2
         },

         qw(a b c)           # parameters to "pre" and "post" routines

        );

       The "new" method returns the Thread::Pool object.

       The first input parameter is a reference to a hash that should at least contain the "do" key with a
       subroutine reference.

       The other input parameters are optional.  If specified, they are passed to the the "pre" subroutine
       whenever a new worker is added.

       Each time a worker thread is added, the "pre" subroutine (if available) will be called inside the thread.
       Each time a worker thread is removed, the "post" routine is called.  Its return value(s) are saved only
       if a job ID was requested when removing the thread.  Then the result method can be called to obtain the
       results of the "post" subroutine.

       The following field must be specified in the hash reference:

       optimize
          optimize => 'cpu', # default: 'memory'

         The  "optimize" field specifies which implementation of the belt will be selected.  Currently there are
         two choices: 'cpu' and 'memory'.  By default, the "memory" optimization will be selected if no specific
         optimization is specified.

         You can call the class method optimize to change the default optimization.

       do
          do => 'do_the_job',            # assume caller's namespace

         or:

          do => 'Package::do_the_job',

         or:

          do => \&SomeOther::do_the_job,

         or:

          do => sub {print "anonymous sub doing the job\n"},

         The "do" field specifies the subroutine to be executed for each job.  It must be  specified  as  either
         the name of a subroutine or as a reference to a (anonymous) subroutine.

         The specified subroutine should expect the following parameters to be passed:

          1..N  any parameters that were passed with the call to L<job>.

         Any values that are returned by this subroutine after finishing each job, are accessible with result if
         a job ID was requested when assigning the job.

       The following fields are optional in the hash reference:

       pre
          pre => 'prepare_jobs',         # assume caller's namespace

         or:

          pre => 'Package::prepare_jobs',

         or:

          pre => \&SomeOther::prepare_jobs,

         or:

          pre => sub {print "anonymous sub preparing the jobs\n"},

         The  "pre"  field  specifies  the  subroutine  to  be executed each time a new worker thread is started
         (either when starting the pool, or when new worker threads are added with  a  call  to  either  add  or
         workers)  and once when a "monitor" routine is specified.  It must be specified as either the name of a
         subroutine or as a reference to a (anonymous) subroutine.

         The specified subroutine should expect the following parameters to be passed:

          1..N  any additional parameters that were passed with the call to L<new>.

         You can determine whether the "pre" routine is called for a new  worker  thread  or  for  a  monitoring
         thread by checking the self or monitor class method inside the "pre" routine.

       post
          post => 'cleanup_after_worker',        # assume caller's namespace

         or:

          post => 'Package::cleanup_after_worker',

         or:

          post => \&SomeOther::cleanup_after_worker,

         or:

          post => sub {print "anonymous sub cleaning up after the worker removed\n"},

         The  "post"  field specifies the subroutine to be executed each time a worker thread is removed (either
         when being specifically removed, or when the pool is  shutdown  specifically  or  implicitly  when  the
         Thread::Pool  object  is  destroyed.   It  must be specified as either the name of a subroutine or as a
         reference to a (anonymous) subroutine.

         The specified subroutine should expect the following parameters to be passed:

          1..N  any additional parameters that were passed with the call to L<new>.

         Any values that are returned by this subroutine after closing down the thread, are accessible with  the
         result method, but only if the thread was removed and a job ID was requested.

         You  can  determine  whether  the  "post" routine is called for a new worker thread or for a monitoring
         thread by checking the self or monitor class method inside the "post" routine.

       stream
          stream => 'in_order_of_submit',        # assume caller's namespace

         or:

          stream => 'Package::in_order_of_submit',

         or:

          stream => \&SomeOther::in_order_of_submit,

         or:

          stream => sub {print "anonymous sub called in order of submit\n"},

         The "stream" field specifies the subroutine to be executed  for  streaming  the  results  of  the  "do"
         routine.  If specified, the "stream" routine is called once for the result of each "do" subroutine, but
         in  the  order  in  which  the  jobs  were  submitted rather than in the order in which the result were
         obtained (which is by the very nature of threads, indeterminate).

         The specified subroutine should expect the following parameters to be passed:

          1     the Thread::Pool object to which the worker thread belongs.
          2..N  the values that were returned by the "do" subroutine

         The "stream" routine is executed in any of the threads that are created for  the  Thread::Pool  object.
         The system attempts to call the "stream" routine in the same thread from which the values are obtained,
         but  when  things  get out of sync, other threads may stream the result of a job.  If you want only one
         thread to stream all results, use the "monitor" routine.

       monitor
          monitor => 'in_order_of_submit',       # assume caller's namespace

         or:

          monitor => 'Package::in_order_of_submit',

         or:

          monitor => \&SomeOther::in_order_of_submit,

         or:

          monitor => sub {print "anonymous sub called in order of submit\n"},

         The "monitor" field specifies the subroutine to be executed for monitoring  the  results  of  the  "do"
         routine.   If  specified,  the "monitor" routine is called once for the result of each "do" subroutine,
         but in the order in which the jobs were submitted rather than in the order in  which  the  result  were
         obtained (which is by the very nature of threads, indeterminate).

         The specified subroutine should expect the following parameters to be passed:

          1..N  the values that were returned by the "do" subroutine

         The  "monitor"  routine  is  executed in its own thread.  This means that all results have to be passed
         between threads, and therefore be frozen and thawed with Storable.  If you  can  handle  the  streaming
         from different threads, it is probably wiser to use the "stream" routine feature.

       pre_post_monitor_only
          pre_post_monitor_only => 1, # default 0

         The  "pre_post_monitor_only"  field only makes sense if a "monitor" routine is specified.  If specified
         with a true value, indicates that the "pre" and "post" routines (if specified) should  only  be  called
         for  the  "monitor"  routine  only  and not for the "do" routine.  Otherwise, the same "pre" and "post"
         routine will be called for both the "do" as well as the "monitor" routine.

         When the "pre" and "post" routine are called for the "do" subroutine, the self class method returns the
         Thread::Pool object (which it doesn't do when called in the "monitor" routine).

       checkpoint
          checkpoint => 'checkpointing',                 # assume caller's namespace

         or:

          checkpoint => 'Package::checkpointing',

         or:

          checkpoint => \&SomeOther::checkpointing,

         or:

          checkpoint => sub {print "anonymous sub to do checkpointing\n"},

         The "checkpoint" field specifies the subroutine to be executed every time a checkpoint should  be  made
         by  a monitoring routine (e.g. for saving or updating status).  It must be specified as either the name
         of a subroutine or as a reference to a (anonymous) subroutine.

         It only makes sense to specify a checkpoint routine if there is also a  monitoring  routine  specified.
         No  checkpointing  will  occur  by  default  if  a  monitoring  routine is specified.  The frequency of
         checkpointing can be specified with the "frequency" field.

         The specified subroutine should not expect any parameters to be passed.  Any  values  returned  by  the
         checkpointing routine, will be lost.

       frequency
          frequency => 100,                             # default = 1000

         The  "frequency"  field  specifies  the  number  of  jobs  that  should  have been monitored before the
         "checkpoint" routine is called.  If a checkpoint  routine  is  specified  but  no  frequency  field  is
         specified, then a frequency of 1000 will be assumed.

         This  field  has  no  meaning  if  no checkpoint routine is specified with the "checkpoint" field.  The
         default frequency can be changed with the frequency method.

       autoshutdown
          autoshutdown => 0, # default: 1

         The "autoshutdown" field specified whether the shutdown method should be  called  when  the  object  is
         destroyed.  By default, this flag is set to 1 indicating that the shutdown method should be called when
         the  object  is being destroyed.  Setting the flag to a false value, will cause the shutdown method not
         to be called, causing potential loss of data and error messages when threads are not finished when  the
         program exits.

         The setting of the flag can be later changed by calling the autoshutdown method.

       workers
          workers => 5, # default: 1

         The  "workers"  field  specifies  the  number of worker threads that should be created when the pool is
         created.  If no "workers" field is specified, then only one worker thread will be created.  The workers
         method can be used to change the number of workers later.

       maxjobs
          maxjobs => 25, # default: 5 * workers

         The "maxjobs" field specifies the maximum number of jobs that can be sitting on the belt to be  handled
         (job  throttling).   If  a  new  job submission would exceed this amount, job submission will be halted
         until the number of jobs waiting to be handled has become at least as low as the amount specified  with
         the "minjobs" field.

         If the "maxjobs" field is not specified, an amount of 5 * the number of worker threads will be assumed.
         If  you  do  not want to have any job throttling, you can specify the value "undef" for the field.  But
         beware!  If you do not have job throttling active, you may wind up using excessive  amounts  of  memory
         used for storing all of the job submission information.

         The  maxjobs  method  can  be  called  to change the job throttling settings during the lifetime of the
         object.

       minjobs
          minjobs => 10, # default: maxjobs / 2

         The "minjobs" field specified the minimum number of jobs that can be waiting on the belt to be  handled
         before job submission is allowed again (job throttling).

         If  job throttling is active and the "minjobs" field is not specified, then half of the "maxjobs" value
         will be assumed.

         The minjobs method can be called to change the job throttling  settings  during  the  lifetime  of  the
         object.

   frequency
        Thread::Pool->frequency( 100 );

        $frequency = Thread::Pool->frequency;

       The  "frequency"  class  method  allows  you  to  specify  the default frequency that will be used when a
       checkpoint routine is specified with the "checkpoint" field.  The default frequency is set to 1000 if  no
       other value has been previously specified.

   optimize
        Thread::Pool->optimize( 'cpu' );

        $optimize = Thread::Pool->optimize;

       The  "optimize"  class method allows you to specify the default optimization type that will be used if no
       "optimize" field has been explicitly specified with a call to new.  It returns the current  default  type
       of optimization.

       Currently two types of optimization can be selected:

       memory
         Attempt to use as little memory as possible.  Currently, this is achieved by starting a separate thread
         which hosts an unshared array.  This uses the "Thread::Conveyor::Thread" sub-class.

       cpu
         Attempt  to  use as little CPU as possible.  Currently, this is achieved by using a shared array (using
         the "Thread::Conveyor::Array" sub-class), encapsulated in a hash reference if throttling  is  activated
         (then also using the "Thread::Conveyor::Throttled" sub-class).

POOL METHODS

       The following methods can be executed on the Thread::Pool object.

   job
        $jobid = $pool->job( @parameter );     # saves result
        $pool->job( @parameter );              # does not save result

       The  "job"  method  specifies  a  job  to be executed by any of the available workers.  Which worker will
       execute the job, is indeterminate.  When it will happen, depends on the number of jobs that still have to
       be done when this job was submitted.

       The input parameters are passed to the "do" subroutine as is.

       If a return value is requested, then the return value(s) of the  "do"  subroutine  will  be  saved.   The
       returned value is a job ID that should be used as the input parameter to result or result_dontwait.

   waitfor
        @result = $pool->waitfor( @parameter ); # submit job and wait for result

       The  "waitfor"  method specifies a job to be executed, wait for the result to become ready and return the
       result.  It is in fact a shortcut for using job and result.

       The input parameters are passed to the "do" subroutine as is.

       The return value(s) are what was returned by the "do" routine.  The meaning of  the  return  value(s)  is
       entirely up to you as the developer.

   result
        @result = $pool->result( $jobid );

       The "result" method waits for the specified job to be finished and returns the result of that job.

       The input parameter is the job id as returned from the job assignment.

       The  return  value(s)  are  what was returned by the "do" routine.  The meaning of the return value(s) is
       entirely up to you as the developer.

       If you want to wait for any job to be finished, use the result_any method.

       If you don't want to wait for the job to be finished, but just want to see if there is a result  already,
       use the result_dontwait method.

   result_any
        @result = $pool->result_any;

        @result = $pool->result_any( \$jobid );

       The "result_any" method waits for any job to be finished and returns the result of that job.

       The optional input parameter is the reference to a scalar variable in which the job id will be stored.

       The  return  value(s)  are  what was returned by the "do" routine.  The meaning of the return value(s) is
       entirely up to you as the developer.

       If you don't want to wait for a job to be finished, but just want to see if there is  a  result  already,
       use the result_dontwait method.

   result_dontwait
        @result = $pool->result_dontwait( $jobid );

       The  "result_dontwait"  method  returns  the  result  of  the  job if it is available.  If the job is not
       finished yet, it will return undef in scalar context or the empty list in list context.

       The input parameter is the job id as returned from the job assignment.

       If the result of the job is available, then the return  value(s)  are  what  was  returned  by  the  "do"
       routine.  The meaning of the return value(s) is entirely up to you as the developer.

       If you want to wait for the job to be finished, use the result method.

   todo
        $todo = $pool->todo;

       The "todo" method returns the number of jobs that are still left to be done.

   results
        $results = $pool->results;
        @result = $pool->results;

       The  "results" method returns the jobids of which there are results available and which have not yet been
       fetched with result.  Returns the number of results available in scalar context.

   add
        $tid = $pool->add;             # add 1 worker thread
        @tid = $pool->add( 5 );

       The "add" method adds the specified number of worker threads to the pool  and  returns  the  thread  ID's
       (tid) of the threads that were created.

       The  input  parameter specifies the number of workers to be added.  If no number of workers is specified,
       then 1 worker thread will be added.

       In scalar context, returns the thread ID (tid) of the first worker thread that was added.   This  usually
       only makes sense if you're adding only one worker thread.

       In list context, returns the thread ID's (tid) of the worker threads that were created.

       Each time a worker thread is added, the "pre" routine (if available) will be called inside the thread.

   remove
        $pool->remove;                 # remove 1 worker thread
        $pool->remove( 5 );            # remove 5 worker threads

        $jobid = $pool->remove;        # remove 1 worker thread, save result
        @jobid = $pool->remove( 5 );   # remove 5 worker threads, save results

       The  "remove"  method  adds the specified number of special "remove" job to the lists of jobs to be done.
       It will return the job ID's if called in a non-void context.

       The input parameter specifies the number of workers to be removed.  If no number of workers is specified,
       then 1 worker thread will be removed.

       In void context, the results of the execution of the "post" subroutine(s) is discarded.

       In scalar context, returns the job ID of the result of the first worker thread that  was  removed.   This
       usually only makes sense if you're removing only one worker thread.

       In list context, returns the job ID's of the result of all the worker threads that were removed.

       Each  time  a worker thread is removed, the "post" routine is called.  Its return value(s) are saved only
       if a job ID was requested when removing the thread.  Then the result method can be called to  obtain  the
       results of the "post" subroutine.

   workers
        $workers = $pool->workers;     # find out number of worker threads
        $pool->workers( 10 );          # set number of worker threads

       The "workers" method can be used to find out how many worker threads there are currently available, or it
       can be used to set the number of worker threads.

       The input value, if specified, specifies the number of worker threads that should be available.  If there
       are  more  worker  threads  available  than the number specified, then superfluous worker threads will be
       removed.  If there are not enough worker threads available, new worker threads will be added.

       The return value is the current number of worker threads.

   frequency
        $frequency = $pool->frequency;

       The "frequency" instance method returns the frequency with which the checkpoint routine is being  called.
       Returns undef if no checkpointing is being done.

   maxjobs
        $pool->maxjobs( 100 );
        $maxjobs = $pool->maxjobs;

       The  "maxjobs"  method  returns  the maximum number of jobs that can be on the belt before job throttling
       sets in.  The input value, if specified, specifies the new maximum number of jobs  that  may  be  on  the
       belt.  Job throttling will be switched off if the value 0 is specified.

       Specifying  the  "maxjobs"  field  when  creating  the pool object with new is equivalent to calling this
       method.

       The minjobs method can be called to specify the minimum number of jobs that must be on  the  belt  before
       job  submission  is  allowed  again  after  reaching the maximum number of jobs.  By default, half of the
       "maxjobs" value is assumed.

   minjobs
        $pool->minjobs( 50 );
        $minjobs = $pool->minjobs;

       The "minjobs" method returns the minimum number of jobs that must be on the belt before job submission is
       allowed again after reaching the maximum number of jobs.  The input value, if  specified,  specifies  the
       new minimum number of jobs that must be on the belt.

       Specifying  the  "minjobs"  field  when  creating  the pool object with new is equivalent to calling this
       method.

       The maxjobs method can be called to set the maximum number of jobs that may be on  the  belt  before  job
       submission will be halted.

   join
        $pool->join;

       The  "join" method waits until all of the worker threads that have been removed have finished their jobs.
       It basically cleans up the threads that are not needed anymore.

       The "shutdown" method call the "join" method after removing all the active worker threads.  You therefore
       seldom need to call the "join" method separately.

   removed
        $removed = $pool->removed;

       The "removed" method returns the number of worker threads that were removed  over  the  lifetime  of  the
       object.

   autoshutdown
        $pool->autoshutdown( 1 );
        $autoshutdown = $pool->autoshutdown;

       The "autoshutdown" method sets and/or returns the flag indicating whether an automatic shutdown should be
       performed when the object is destroyed.

   shutdown
        $pool->shutdown;

       The  "shutdown" method waits for all jobs to be executed, removes all worker threads, handles any results
       that still need to be streamed, before it returns.  Call the abort method if you  do  not  want  to  wait
       until all jobs have been executed.

       It  is  called  automatically  when  the object is destroyed, unless specifically disabled by providing a
       false value with the "autoshutdown" field when creating the pool with new, or by calling the autoshutdown
       method.

   abort
       The "abort" method waits for all worker threads to finish their current job, removes all worker  threads,
       before it returns.  Call the shutdown method if you want to wait until all jobs have been done.

       You can restart the job handling process after calling "abort" by adding workers again.

   done
        $done = $pool->done;

       The "done" method returns the number of jobs that has been performed by the removed worker threads of the
       pool.

       The "done" method is typically called after the shutdown method has been called.

   notused
        $notused = $pool->notused;

       The "notused" method returns the number of removed threads that have not performed any jobs.  It provides
       a  heuristic  to  determine  how  many  workers you actually need for a specific application: a value > 0
       indicates that you have specified too many worker threads for this application.

       The "notused" method is typically called after the shutdown method has been called.

INSIDE JOB METHODS

       The following methods only make sense inside the "pre", "do", "post", "stream" and "monitor" routines.

   self
        $self = Thread::Pool->self;

       The class method "self" returns the object to which this thread belongs.   It  is  available  within  the
       "pre", "do", "post", "stream" and "monitor" subroutines only.

   monitor
        $monitor = Thread::Pool->monitor;

       The  class  method  "monitor"  returns the Thread::Conveyor::Monitored object that is associated with the
       pool.  It is available only if the "monitor" field was specified in new.  And then only within the "pre",
       "do", "post", "stream" and "monitor" subroutines only.

   remove_me
        Thread::Pool->remove_me;

       The "remove_me" class method only makes sense within the  "do"  subroutine.   It  indicates  to  the  job
       dispatcher  that  this worker thread should be removed from the pool.  After the "do" subroutine returns,
       the worker thread will be removed.

   jobid
        $jobid = Thread::Pool->jobid;

       The "jobid" class method only makes sense within the "do" subroutine in streaming mode.  It  returns  the
       job ID value of the current job.  This can be used connection with the dont_set_result and the set_result
       methods to have another thread set the result of the current job.

   dont_set_result
        Thread::Pool->dont_set_result;

       The  "dont_set_result" class method only makes sense within the "do" subroutine.  It indicates to the job
       dispatcher that the result of this job should not be saved.  This is for cases where the result  of  this
       job  will  be placed in the result hash at some time in the future by another thread using the set_result
       method.

   set_result
        Thread::Pool->self->set_result( $jobid,@param );

       The "set_result" object method only makes sense within the "do" subroutine.  It allows  you  to  set  the
       result of other jobs than the one currently being performed.

       This  method  is  only  needed in very special situations.  Normally, just returning values from the "do"
       subroutine is enough to have the result saved.  This method is exposed to  the  outside  world  in  those
       cases where a specific thread becomes responsible for setting the result of other threads (which used the
       dont_set_result method to defer saving their result.

       The  first  input parameter specifies the job ID of the job for which to set the result.  The rest of the
       input parameters is considered to be the result to be saved.  Whatever is specified in the  rest  of  the
       input parameters, will be returned with the result or result_dontwait methods.

REQUIRED MODULES

        Thread::Conveyor (0.15)
        Thread::Conveyor::Monitored (0.11)

OPTIMIZATIONS

       This  module  uses  load to reduce memory and CPU usage. This causes subroutines only to be compiled in a
       thread when they are actually needed at the expense of more CPU when they need to  be  compiled.   Simple
       benchmarks  however  revealed  that  the  overhead of the compiling single routines is not much more (and
       sometimes a lot less) than the overhead of cloning a Perl interpreter with  a  lot  of  subroutines  pre-
       loaded.

CAVEATS

       Passing  unshared  values  between  threads  is  accomplished  by  serializing the specified values using
       Thread::Serialize.  Please see the CAVEATS section there for an up-to-date status of what can  be  passed
       around between threads.

EXAMPLES

       There are currently two examples.

   simple asynchronous log file resolving filter
       This is an example of a very simple asynchronous log file resolver filter.

       Because  the IP number to domain name translation is dependent on external DNS servers, it can take quite
       some (wallclock) time before a response is  returned  by  the  "gethostbyaddr"  function.   In  a  single
       threaded  environment,  a  single  bad  DNS  server  can  severely slow down the resolving process.  In a
       threaded environment, you can have one thread waiting for a slow DNS server while other threads are  able
       to obtain answers in the mean time.

       This  example  uses  a shared hash to keep results from DNS server responses, so that if an IP number was
       attempted to be resolved once (either successfully or unsuccessfully), it will not  be  attempted  again:
       instead the value from the hash will be assumed.

        # You should always use strict!
        # Using Thread::Pool by itself is enough, no "use threads;" needed
        # Initialize the shared hash with IP numbers and their results

        use strict;
        use Thread::Pool;
        my %resolved : shared;

        # Create the pool of threads

        my $pool = Thread::Pool->new(
         {
          workers => 10,
          do => \&do,
          monitor => \&monitor,
         }
        );

        # Submit each line as a job to the pool

        $pool->job( $_ ) while <>;

        #--------------------------------------------------------------------
        # Handle a single job
        #  IN: 1 log line to resolve
        # OUT: 1 resolved log line

        sub do {

        # Substitute the IP number at the start with the name or with the original
        # Return the adapted value

          $_[0] =~ s#^(\d+\.\d+\.\d+\.\d+)#
           $resolved{$1} ||= gethostbyaddr( pack( 'C4',split(/\./,$1)),2 ) || $1#e;
          $_[0];
        } #do

        #--------------------------------------------------------------------
        # Output the results in the order they were submitted
        #  IN: 1 resolved log line

        sub monitor { print $_[0] } #monitor

       This  is  a  very  simple  filter.   The main drawback is that many threads can be looking up the same IP
       number at the same time.

   another asynchronous log file resolving filter
       This is an example of a not so very simple asynchronous log file resolver filter.  This is  in  fact  the
       base code for the Thread::Pool::Resolve module.

       In  this  example,  the dont_set_result and set_result methods are used to put up all lines with the same
       unresolved IP number in the same thread until the DNS server returns, either with or  without  a  result.
       Then  all  the  lines  with that IP number are handled by that thread: the other threads have long before
       that already continued attempting to handle other lines.

       Because only the "do" subroutine is different from the previous example, we're only showing that.

        #--------------------------------------------------------------------
        # Handle a single job
        #  IN: 1 log line to resolve
        # OUT: 1 resolved log line (if already resolved, else ignored)

        sub do {

        # Obtain the line to work with
        # Return it now if it is already resolved (at least not an IP number there)
        # Save the IP number for later usage, line is now without IP number

          my $line = shift;
          return $line unless $line =~ s#^(\d+\.\d+\.\d+\.\d+)##;
          my $ip = $1;

        # Make sure we're the only one to access the resolved hash now
        # If there is already information for this IP number
        #  Return what is there with the line if it was resolved already

          {lock( %resolved );
           if (exists( $resolved{$ip} )) {
             return ($resolved{$ip} || $ip).$line unless ref( $resolved{$ip} );

        #  Set the rest of the line in the todo hash, keyed to jobid
        #  Set the flag that this result should not be set in the result hash
        #  And return without anything (thread will continue with next job)

             $resolved{$ip}->{Thread::Pool->jobid} = $line;
             Thread::Pool->dont_set_result;
             return;

        # Else (first time this IP number is encountered)
        #  Create a empty shared hash
        #  Save a reference to the hash in the todo hash as info for this IP number

           } else {
             my %hash : shared;
             $resolved{$ip} = \%hash;
           }
          } #%resolved

        # Do the actual name resolving (may take quite some time) or use IP number
        # Obtain local copy of the Thread::Pool object
        # Obtain local copy of the todo hash

          my $domain = gethostbyaddr( pack( 'C4',split(/\./,$ip)),2 ) || $ip;
          my $pool = Thread::Pool->self;
          my $todo = $resolved{$ip};

        # Make sure we're the only one accessing the resolved hash (rest of this sub)
        # For all the lines with this IP number
        #  Set the results
        # Remove the todo hash and replace by domain or blank string if unresolvable
        # Return the result for this job

          lock( %resolved );
          while (my $key = each %{$todo}) {
              $pool->set_result( $key,$domain.$todo->{$key} )
          }
          $resolved{$ip} = $domain eq $ip ? undef : $domain;
          $domain.$line;
        } #do

AUTHOR

       Elizabeth Mattijsen, <liz@dijkmat.nl>.

       Please report bugs to <perlbugs@dijkmat.nl>.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (c) 2002, 2003, 2010 Elizabeth Mattijsen <liz@dijkmat.nl>. All rights reserved.   This  program
       is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

SEE ALSO

       threads, Thread::Conveyor, Thread::Conveyor::Monitored, Thread::Serialize.

perl v5.36.0                                       2022-10-14                                  Thread::Pool(3pm)