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lib/gen_server.ex

defmodule EQC.Pulse.GenServer do
@compile {:parse_transform, :pulse_instrument}
@compile {:pulse_replace_module, [{:gen, :pulse_gen}, {:gen_server, :pulse_gen_server}]}
@moduledoc """
A behaviour module for implementing the server of a client-server relation.
A GenServer is a process as any other Elixir process and it can be used
to keep state, execute code asynchronously and so on. The advantage of using
a generic server process (GenServer) implemented using this module is that it
will have a standard set of interface functions and include functionality for
tracing and error reporting. It will also fit into a supervision tree.
## Example
The GenServer behaviour abstracts the common client-server interaction.
Developers are only required to implement the callbacks and functionality they are
interested in.
Let's start with a code example and then explore the available callbacks.
Imagine we want a GenServer that works like a stack, allowing us to push
and pop items:
defmodule Stack do
use GenServer
# Callbacks
def handle_call(:pop, _from, [h|t]) do
{:reply, h, t}
end
def handle_cast({:push, item}, state) do
{:noreply, [item|state]}
end
end
# Start the server
{:ok, pid} = GenServer.start_link(Stack, [:hello])
# This is the client
GenServer.call(pid, :pop)
#=> :hello
GenServer.cast(pid, {:push, :world})
#=> :ok
GenServer.call(pid, :pop)
#=> :world
We start our `Stack` by calling `start_link/3`, passing the module
with the server implementation and its initial argument (a list
representing the stack containing the item `:hello`). We can primarily
interact with the server by sending two types of messages. **call**
messages expect a reply from the server (and are therefore synchronous)
while **cast** messages do not.
Every time you do a `GenServer.call/3`, the client will send a message
that must be handled by the `handle_call/3` callback in the GenServer.
A `cast/2` message must be handled by `handle_cast/2`.
## Callbacks
There are 6 callbacks required to be implemented in a `GenServer`. By
adding `use GenServer` to your module, Elixir will automatically define
all 6 callbacks for you, leaving it up to you to implement the ones
you want to customize. The callbacks are:
* `init(args)` - invoked when the server is started.
It must return:
- `{:ok, state}`
- `{:ok, state, timeout}`
- `:ignore`
- `{:stop, reason}`
* `handle_call(msg, {from, ref}, state)` and `handle_cast(msg, state)` -
invoked to handle call (sync) and cast (async) messages.
It must return:
- `{:reply, reply, new_state}`
- `{:reply, reply, new_state, timeout}`
- `{:reply, reply, new_state, :hibernate}`
- `{:noreply, new_state}`
- `{:noreply, new_state, timeout}`
- `{:noreply, new_state, :hibernate}`
- `{:stop, reason, new_state}`
- `{:stop, reason, reply, new_state}`
* `handle_info(msg, state)` - invoked to handle all other messages which
are received by the process.
It must return:
- `{:noreply, state}`
- `{:noreply, state, timeout}`
- `{:stop, reason, state}`
* `terminate(reason, state)` - called when the server is about to
terminate, useful for cleaning up. It must return `:ok`.
* `code_change(old_vsn, state, extra)` - called when the application
code is being upgraded live (hot code swapping).
It must return:
- `{:ok, new_state}`
- `{:error, reason}`
## Name Registration
Both `start_link/3` and `start/3` support the `GenServer` to register
a name on start via the `:name` option. Registered names are also
automatically cleaned up on termination. The supported values are:
* an atom - the GenServer is registered locally with the given name
using `Process.register/2`.
* `{:global, term}`- the GenServer is registered globally with the given
term using the functions in the `:global` module.
* `{:via, module, term}` - the GenServer is registered with the given
mechanism and name. The `:via` option expects a module name to control
the registration mechanism alongside a name which can be any term.
For example, we could start and register our Stack server locally as follows:
# Start the server and register it locally with name MyStack
{:ok, _} = GenServer.start_link(Stack, [:hello], name: MyStack)
# Now messages can be sent directly to MyStack
GenServer.call(MyStack, :pop) #=> :hello
Once the server is started, the remaining functions in this module (`call/3`,
`cast/2`, and friends) will also accept an atom, or any `:global` or `:via`
tuples. In general, the following formats are supported:
* a `pid`
* an `atom` if the server is locally registered
* `{atom, node}` if the server is locally registered at another node
* `{:global, term}` if the server is globally registered
* `{:via, module, name}` if the server is registered through an alternative
registry
## Client / Server APIs
Although in the example above we have used `GenServer.start_link/3` and
friends to directly start and communicate with the server, most of the
time we don't call the `GenServer` functions directly. Instead, we wrap
the calls in new functions representing the public API of the server.
Here is a better implementation of our Stack module:
defmodule Stack do
use GenServer
# Client
def start_link(default) do
GenServer.start_link(__MODULE__, default)
end
def push(pid, item) do
GenServer.cast(pid, {:push, item})
end
def pop(pid) do
GenServer.call(pid, :pop)
end
# Server (callbacks)
def handle_call(:pop, _from, [h|t]) do
{:reply, h, t}
end
def handle_call(request, from, state) do
# Call the default implementation from GenServer
super(request, from, state)
end
def handle_cast({:push, item}, state) do
{:noreply, [item|state]}
end
def handle_cast(request, state) do
super(request, state)
end
end
In practice, it is common to have both server and client functions in
the same module. If the server and/or client implementations are growing
complex, you may want to have them in different modules.
## Learn more
If you wish to find out more about gen servers, Elixir getting started
guides provide a tutorial-like introduction. The documentation and links
in Erlang can also provide extra insight.
* http://elixir-lang.org/getting_started/mix/1.html
* http://www.erlang.org/doc/man/gen_server.html
* http://www.erlang.org/doc/design_principles/gen_server_concepts.html
* http://learnyousomeerlang.com/clients-and-servers
"""
@typedoc "Return values of `start*` functions"
@type on_start :: {:ok, pid} | :ignore | {:error, {:already_started, pid} | term}
@typedoc "The GenServer name"
@type name :: atom | {:global, term} | {:via, module, term}
@typedoc "Options used by the `start*` functions"
@type options :: [debug: debug,
name: name,
timeout: timeout,
spawn_opt: Process.spawn_opt]
@typedoc "debug options supported by the `start*` functions"
@type debug :: [:trace | :log | :statistics | {:log_to_file, Path.t}]
@typedoc "The server reference"
@type server :: pid | name | {atom, node}
@doc false
defmacro __using__(_) do
quote location: :keep do
@behaviour :gen_server
@doc false
def init(args) do
{:ok, args}
end
@doc false
def handle_call(msg, _from, state) do
{:stop, {:bad_call, msg}, state}
end
@doc false
def handle_info(_msg, state) do
{:noreply, state}
end
@doc false
def handle_cast(msg, state) do
{:stop, {:bad_cast, msg}, state}
end
@doc false
def terminate(_reason, _state) do
:ok
end
@doc false
def code_change(_old, state, _extra) do
{:ok, state}
end
defoverridable [init: 1, handle_call: 3, handle_info: 2,
handle_cast: 2, terminate: 2, code_change: 3]
end
end
@doc """
Starts a `GenServer` process linked to the current process.
This is often used to start the `GenServer` as part of a supervision tree.
Once the server is started, it calls the `init/1` function in the given `module`
passing the given `args` to initialize it. To ensure a synchronized start-up
procedure, this function does not return until `init/1` has returned.
Note that a `GenServer` started with `start_link/3` is linked to the
parent process and will exit in case of crashes. The GenServer will also
exit due to the `:normal` reasons in case it is configured to trap exits
in the `init/1` callback.
## Options
The `:name` option is used for name registration as described in the module
documentation. If the option `:timeout` option is present, the server is
allowed to spend the given milliseconds initializing or it will be
terminated and the start function will return `{:error, :timeout}`.
If the `:debug` option is present, the corresponding function in the
[`:sys` module](http://www.erlang.org/doc/man/sys.html) will be invoked.
If the `:spawn_opt` option is present, its value will be passed as options
to the underlying process as in `Process.spawn/4`.
## Return values
If the server is successfully created and initialized, the function returns
`{:ok, pid}`, where pid is the pid of the server. If there already exists a
process with the specified server name, the function returns
`{:error, {:already_started, pid}}` with the pid of that process.
If the `init/1` callback fails with `reason`, the function returns
`{:error, reason}`. Otherwise, if it returns `{:stop, reason}`
or `:ignore`, the process is terminated and the function returns
`{:error, reason}` or `:ignore`, respectively.
"""
@spec start_link(module, any, options) :: on_start
def start_link(module, args, options \\ []) when is_atom(module) and is_list(options) do
do_start(:link, module, args, options)
end
@doc """
Starts a `GenServer` process without links (outside of a supervision tree).
See `start_link/3` for more information.
"""
@spec start(module, any, options) :: on_start
def start(module, args, options \\ []) when is_atom(module) and is_list(options) do
do_start(:nolink, module, args, options)
end
defp do_start(link, module, args, options) do
case Keyword.pop(options, :name) do
{nil, opts} ->
:gen.start(:pulse_gen_server, link, module, args, opts)
{atom, opts} when is_atom(atom) ->
:gen.start(:pulse_gen_server, link, {:local, atom}, module, args, opts)
{other, opts} when is_tuple(other) ->
:gen.start(:pulse_gen_server, link, other, module, args, opts)
end
end
@doc """
Makes a synchronous call to the `server` and waits for its reply.
The client sends the given `request` to the server and waits until a reply
arrives or a timeout occurs. `handle_call/3` will be called on the server
to handle the request.
The server can be any of the values described in the `Name Registration`
section of the module documentation.
## Timeouts
The `timeout` is an integer greater than zero which specifies how many
milliseconds to wait for a reply, or the atom `:infinity` to wait
indefinitely. The default value is 5000. If no reply is received within
the specified time, the function call fails. If the caller catches the
failure and continues running, and the server is just late with the reply,
it may arrive at any time later into the caller's message queue. The caller
must in this case be prepared for this and discard any such garbage messages
that are two element tuples with a reference as the first element.
"""
@spec call(server, term, timeout) :: term
def call(server, request, timeout \\ 5000) do
try do
:gen.call(server, :"$gen_call", request, timeout)
catch
:exit, reason ->
exit({reason, {__MODULE__, :call, [server, request, timeout]}})
else
{:ok, res} -> res
end
end
@doc """
Sends an asynchronous request to the `server`.
This function returns `:ok` immediately, regardless of
whether the destination node or server does exists, unless
the server is specified as an atom.
`handle_cast/2` will be called on the server to handle
the request. In case the server is a node which is not
yet connected to the caller one, the call is going to
block until a connection happens. This is different than
the behaviour in OTP's `:gen_server` where the message
would be sent by another process, which could cause
messages to arrive out of order.
"""
@spec cast(server, term) :: :ok
def cast(server, request)
def cast({:global, name}, request) do
try do
:global.send(name, cast_msg(request))
:ok
catch
_, _ -> :ok
end
end
def cast({:via, mod, name}, request) do
try do
mod.send(name, cast_msg(request))
:ok
catch
_, _ -> :ok
end
end
def cast({name, node}, request) when is_atom(name) and is_atom(node),
do: do_send({name, node}, cast_msg(request))
def cast(dest, request) when is_atom(dest) or is_pid(dest),
do: do_send(dest, cast_msg(request))
@doc """
Casts all servers locally registered as `name` at the specified nodes.
The function returns immediately and ignores nodes that do not exist, or where the
server name does not exist.
See `multi_call/4` for more information.
"""
@spec abcast([node], name :: atom, term) :: :abcast
def abcast(nodes \\ nodes(), name, request) when is_list(nodes) and is_atom(name) do
msg = cast_msg(request)
_ = for node <- nodes, do: do_send({name, node}, msg)
:abcast
end
defp cast_msg(req) do
{:"$gen_cast", req}
end
defp do_send(dest, msg) do
send(dest, msg)
:ok
end
@doc """
Calls all servers locally registered as `name` at the specified `nodes`.
The `request` is first sent to every node and then we wait for the
replies. This function returns a tuple containing the node and its reply
as first element and all bad nodes as second element. The bad nodes is a
list of nodes that either did not exist, or where a server with the given
`name` did not exist or did not reply.
Nodes is a list of node names to which the request is sent. The default
value is the list of all known nodes.
To avoid that late answers (after the timeout) pollute the caller's message
queue, a middleman process is used to do the actual calls. Late answers will
then be discarded when they arrive to a terminated process.
"""
@spec multi_call([node], name :: atom, term, timeout) ::
{replies :: [{node, term}], bad_nodes :: [node]}
def multi_call(nodes \\ nodes(), name, request, timeout \\ :infinity) do
:gen_server.multi_call(nodes, name, request, timeout)
end
@doc """
Replies to a client.
This function can be used by a server to explicitly send a reply to a
client that called `call/3` or `multi_call/4`. When the reply cannot be
defined in the return value of `handle_call/3`.
The `client` must be the `from` argument (the second argument) received
in `handle_call/3` callbacks. Reply is an arbitrary term which will be
given back to the client as the return value of the call.
This function always returns `:ok`.
"""
@spec reply({pid, reference}, term) :: :ok
def reply(client, reply)
def reply({to, tag}, reply) do
try do
send(to, {tag, reply})
:ok
catch
_, _ -> :ok
end
end
@compile {:inline, [nodes: 0]}
defp nodes do
[node()|:erlang.nodes()]
end
end