Class: Concurrent::IVar

Inherits:
Synchronization::LockableObject
  • Object
show all
Includes:
Concern::Obligation, Concern::Observable
Defined in:
lib/concurrent/ivar.rb

Overview

An IVar is like a future that you can assign. As a future is a value that is being computed that you can wait on, an IVar is a value that is waiting to be assigned, that you can wait on. IVars are single assignment and deterministic.

Then, express futures as an asynchronous computation that assigns an IVar. The IVar becomes the primitive on which futures and dataflow are built.

An IVar is a single-element container that is normally created empty, and can only be set once. The I in IVar stands for immutable. Reading an IVar normally blocks until it is set. It is safe to set and read an IVar from different threads.

If you want to have some parallel task set the value in an IVar, you want a Future. If you want to create a graph of parallel tasks all executed when the values they depend on are ready you want dataflow. IVar is generally a low-level primitive.

Examples

Create, set and get an IVar

ivar = Concurrent::IVar.new
ivar.set 14
ivar.value #=> 14
ivar.set 2 # would now be an error

See Also

  1. For the theory: Arvind, R. Nikhil, and K. Pingali. I-Structures: Data structures for parallel computing. In Proceedings of Workshop on Graph Reduction, 1986.
  2. For recent application: DataDrivenFuture in Habanero Java from Rice.

Direct Known Subclasses

Future, Promise, ScheduledTask

Instance Method Summary (collapse)

Constructor Details

- (IVar) initialize(value = NULL, opts = {}, &block)

Create a new IVar in the :pending state with the (optional) initial value.

Parameters:

  • value (Object) (defaults to: NULL) —

    the initial value

  • opts (Hash) (defaults to: {}) —

    the options to create a message with

Options Hash (opts):

  • :dup_on_deref (String) — default: false —

    call #dup before returning the data

  • :freeze_on_deref (String) — default: false —

    call #freeze before returning the data

  • :copy_on_deref (String) — default: nil —

    call the given Proc passing the internal value and returning the value returned from the proc



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# File 'lib/concurrent/ivar.rb', line 61

def initialize(value = NULL, opts = {}, &block)
  if value != NULL && block_given?
    raise ArgumentError.new('provide only a value or a block')
  end
  super(&nil)
  synchronize { ns_initialize(value, opts, &block) }
end

Instance Method Details

- (undocumented) add_observer(observer = nil, func = :update, &block)

Add an observer on this object that will receive notification on update.

Upon completion the IVar will notify all observers in a thread-safe way. The func method of the observer will be called with three arguments: the Time at which the Future completed the asynchronous operation, the final value (or nil on rejection), and the final reason (or nil on fulfillment).

Parameters:

  • observer (Object) (defaults to: nil) —

    the object that will be notified of changes

  • func (Symbol) (defaults to: :update) —

    symbol naming the method to call when this Observable has changes`

Raises:

  • (ArgumentError) 


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# File 'lib/concurrent/ivar.rb', line 80

def add_observer(observer = nil, func = :update, &block)
  raise ArgumentError.new('cannot provide both an observer and a block') if observer && block
  direct_notification = false

  if block
    observer = block
    func = :call
  end

  synchronize do
    if event.set?
      direct_notification = true
    else
      observers.add_observer(observer, func)
    end
  end

  observer.send(func, Time.now, self.value, reason) if direct_notification
  observer
end

- (Boolean) complete? Originally defined in module Concern::Obligation

Has the obligation completed processing?

Returns:

  • (Boolean)

- (Integer) count_observers Originally defined in module Concern::Observable

Return the number of observers associated with this object.

Returns:

  • (Integer) —

    the observers count

- (Object) delete_observer(observer) Originally defined in module Concern::Observable

Remove observer as an observer on this object so that it will no longer receive notifications.

Parameters:

  • observer (Object) —

    the observer to remove

Returns:

  • (Object) —

    the deleted observer

- (Observable) delete_observers Originally defined in module Concern::Observable

Remove all observers associated with this object.

Returns:

- (undocumented) exception(*args) Originally defined in module Concern::Obligation

Examples:

allows Obligation to be risen

rejected_ivar = Ivar.new.fail
raise rejected_ivar

- (IVar) fail(reason = StandardError.new)

Set the IVar to failed due to some error and wake or notify all threads waiting on it.

Parameters:

  • reason (Object) (defaults to: StandardError.new) —

    for the failure

Returns:

Raises:



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# File 'lib/concurrent/ivar.rb', line 134

def fail(reason = StandardError.new)
  complete(false, nil, reason)
end

- (Boolean) fulfilled? Also known as: realized? Originally defined in module Concern::Obligation

Has the obligation been fulfilled?

Returns:

  • (Boolean)

- (Boolean) incomplete? Originally defined in module Concern::Obligation

Is the obligation still awaiting completion of processing?

Returns:

  • (Boolean)

- (Boolean) pending? Originally defined in module Concern::Obligation

Is obligation completion still pending?

Returns:

  • (Boolean)

- (Exception) reason Originally defined in module Concern::Obligation

If an exception was raised during processing this will return the exception object. Will return nil when the state is pending or if the obligation has been successfully fulfilled.

Returns:

  • (Exception) —

    the exception raised during processing or nil

- (Boolean) rejected? Originally defined in module Concern::Obligation

Has the obligation been rejected?

Returns:

  • (Boolean)

- (IVar) set(value = NULL) { ... }

Set the IVar to a value and wake or notify all threads waiting on it.

Parameters:

  • value (Object) (defaults to: NULL) —

    the value to store in the IVar

Yields:

  • A block operation to use for setting the value

Returns:

Raises:



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# File 'lib/concurrent/ivar.rb', line 112

def set(value = NULL)
  check_for_block_or_value!(block_given?, value)
  raise MultipleAssignmentError unless compare_and_set_state(:processing, :pending)

  begin
    value = yield if block_given?
    complete_without_notification(true, value, nil)
  rescue => ex
    complete_without_notification(false, nil, ex)
  end

  notify_observers(self.value, reason)
  self
end

- (Symbol) state Originally defined in module Concern::Obligation

The current state of the obligation.

Returns:

  • (Symbol) —

    the current state

- (Boolean) try_set(value = NULL) { ... }

Attempt to set the IVar with the given value or block. Return a boolean indicating the success or failure of the set operation.

Parameters:

  • value (Object) (defaults to: NULL) —

    the value to store in the IVar

Yields:

  • A block operation to use for setting the value

Returns:

  • (Boolean) —

    true if the value was set else false

Raises:



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# File 'lib/concurrent/ivar.rb', line 144

def try_set(value = NULL, &block)
  set(value, &block)
  true
rescue MultipleAssignmentError
  false
end

- (Boolean) unscheduled? Originally defined in module Concern::Obligation

Is the obligation still unscheduled?

Returns:

  • (Boolean)

- (Object) value(timeout = nil) Originally defined in module Concern::Obligation

The current value of the obligation. Will be nil while the state is pending or the operation has been rejected.

Parameters:

  • timeout (Numeric) (defaults to: nil) —

    the maximum time in seconds to wait.

Returns:

  • (Object) —

    see Dereferenceable#deref

- (Object) value!(timeout = nil) Originally defined in module Concern::Obligation

The current value of the obligation. Will be nil while the state is pending or the operation has been rejected. Will re-raise any exceptions raised during processing (but will not raise an exception on timeout).

Parameters:

  • timeout (Numeric) (defaults to: nil) —

    the maximum time in seconds to wait.

Returns:

  • (Object) —

    see Dereferenceable#deref

Raises:

  • (Exception) —

    raises the reason when rejected

- (Obligation) wait(timeout = nil) Originally defined in module Concern::Obligation

Wait until obligation is complete or the timeout has been reached.

Parameters:

  • timeout (Numeric) (defaults to: nil) —

    the maximum time in seconds to wait.

Returns:

- (Obligation) wait!(timeout = nil) Also known as: no_error! Originally defined in module Concern::Obligation

Wait until obligation is complete or the timeout is reached. Will re-raise any exceptions raised during processing (but will not raise an exception on timeout).

Parameters:

  • timeout (Numeric) (defaults to: nil) —

    the maximum time in seconds to wait.

Returns:

Raises:

  • (Exception) —

    raises the reason when rejected

- (Observable) with_observer(observer = nil, func = :update, &block) Originally defined in module Concern::Observable

As #add_observer but can be used for chaining.

Parameters:

  • observer (Object) (defaults to: nil) —

    the observer to add

  • func (Symbol) (defaults to: :update) —

    the function to call on the observer during notification.

Returns: