NAME
Reflex - Class library for flexible, reactive programs.

VERSION
This document describes version 0.099, released on April 21, 2013.

SYNOPSIS
The distribution includes a few different versions of this synopsis. See
eg/eg-18-synopsis-no-moose.pl if you don't like Moose. See
eg/eg-32-promise-tiny.pl if you prefer promises (condvar-like). See
eg/eg-36-coderefs-tiny.pl if you prefer coderefs and/or closures.

{
package App;
use Moose;
extends 'Reflex::Base';
use Reflex::Interval;
use Reflex::Trait::Watched qw(watches);

watches ticker => (
isa => 'Reflex::Interval',
setup => { interval => 1, auto_repeat => 1 },
);

sub on_ticker_tick {
print "tick at ", scalar(localtime), "...\n";
}
}

exit App->new()->run_all();

DESCRIPTION
Reflex is a class library that assists with writing reactive (AKA
event-driven) programs. Reflex uses Moose internally, but it doesn't
enforce programs to use Moose's syntax.

Those who enjoy Moose should find useful Reflex's comprehensive suite of
reactive roles.

Reflex is considered "reactive" because it's an implementation of the
reactor pattern. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactor_pattern

About Reactive Objects
Reactive objects provide responses to interesting (to them) stimuli. For
example, an object might be waiting for input from a client, a signal
from an administrator, a particular time of day, and so on. The App
object in the SYNOPSIS is waiting for timer tick events. It generates
console messages in response to those events.

Example Reactive Objects
Here an Echoer class emits "pong" events in response to ping() commands.
It uses Moose's extends(), but it could about as easily use warnings,
strict, and base instead. Reflex::Base gets its emit() method from
Reflex::Role::Reactive.

package Echoer;
use Moose;
extends 'Reflex::Base';

sub ping {
my ($self, $args) = @_;
print "Echoer was pinged!\n";
$self->emit( -name => "pong" );
}

The next object uses Echoer. It creates an Echoer and pings it to get
started. It also reacts to "pong" events by pinging the Echoer again.
Reflex::Trait::Watched (via its exported watches() declarative syntax)
implicitly watches the object in echoer(), mapping its "pong" event to
the on_echoer_pong() method.

package Pinger;
use Moose;
extends 'Reflex::Base';
use Reflex::Trait::Watched qw(watches);

watches echoer => (
isa => 'Echoer',
default => sub { Echoer->new() },
);

sub BUILD {
my $self = shift;
$self->echoer->ping();
}

sub on_echoer_pong {
my $self = shift;
print "Pinger got echoer's pong!\n";
$self->echoer->ping();
}

Then the Pinger would be created and run.

Pinger->new()->run_all();

A complete, runnable version of this example is in the distribution as
eg/eg-37-ping-pong.pl.

Coderef Callbacks
Reflex supports any conceivable callback type, even the simple ones:
plain old coderefs. You don't need to write objects to handle events.

Here we'll start a periodic timer and handle its ticks with a simple
callback. The program is still reactive. Every second it prints "timer
ticked" in response Reflex::Interval's events.

my $t = Reflex::Interval->new(
interval => 1,
auto_repeat => 1,
on_tick => sub { say "timer ticked" },
);

$t->run_all();

A complete, runnable version of the above example is available as
eg/eg-36-tiny-coderefs.pl in the distribution.

Promises Instead of Callbacks
Callback haters are not left out. Reflex objects may also be used as
asynchronous event generators. The following example is identical in
function to the previous coderef callback example, but it doesn't use
callbacks at all.

It may not be obvious that the same emit() method drives all of Reflex's
forms of callback. The same Reflex::Interval class can be used in many
different ways.

use Reflex::Interval;

my $t = Reflex::Interval->new(
interval => 1,
auto_repeat => 1,
);

while (my $event = $t->next()) {
say "next() returned an event (@$event)";
}

PUBLIC METHODS
Reflex itself contains some convenience methods for cleaner semantics.

run_all
Run all active Reflex objects until they destruct.

# (Omitted: First you'll need to create some Reflex objects.)

Reflex->run_all();
exit;

BUNDLED MODULES AND DOCUMENTATION INDEX
Reflex bundles a number of helpful base classes to get things started.

Core Modules
The basic modules upon which most everything else is built.

Reflex - You're reading it!
Reflex::Base - A base class for reactive (aka, event driven) objects.
Reflex::Role - Define a new Reflex parameterized role.
Reflex::Role::Reactive - Add non-blocking reactive behavior to a class.
Callback Adapters
Reflex provides adapters for nearly every kind of callback that exists,
including condvar-like promises that allow Reflex objects to be used
inline without callbacks at all.

Reflex::Callback - A base class for callback adapters.
Reflex::Callback::CodeRef - Implement plain coderef callbacks.
Reflex::Callback::Method - Implement class and object method callbacks.
Reflex::Callback::Promise - Return events procedurally rather than via callbacks.
Reflex::Callbacks - Convenience functions to creating and use callbacks.
POE Adapters
POE provides over 400 modules for various useful things. Reflex can work
with them using these adapters.

Reflex::POE::Event - Communicate with POE components that expect command events.
Reflex::POE::Postback - Communicate with POE components that respond via postbacks.
Reflex::POE::Session - Communicate with POE components that expect to talk to POE sessions.
Reflex::POE::Wheel - A generic POE::Wheel adapter to use them in Reflex.
Reflex::POE::Wheel::Run - Adapt POE::Wheel::Run by wrapping it in a Reflex class.
Object Collections
It's often useful to manage collections of like-typed modules, such as
connections or jobs.

Reflex::Collection - Automatically manage a collection of collectible objects.
Reflex::Role::Collectible - Allow objects to be managed by Reflex::Collection.
Reflex::Sender - API to access the objects an event has passed through.
I/O
Event driven programs most often react to I/O of some sort. These
modules provide reactive I/O support.

Reflex::Acceptor - A non-blocking server (client socket acceptor).
Reflex::Client - A non-blocking socket client.
Reflex::Connector - A non-blocking client socket connector.
Reflex::Role::Accepting - Add non-blocking connection accepting to a role.
Reflex::Role::Connecting - Add non-blocking client connecting to a class.
Reflex::Role::InStreaming - Add non-blocking streaming input behavior to a class.
Reflex::Role::OutStreaming - Add non-blocking streaming output behavior to a class.
Reflex::Role::Readable - Add non-blocking readable-watching behavior to a class.
Reflex::Role::Reading - Add standard non-blocking sysread() behavior to a class.
Reflex::Role::Recving - Add standard non-blocking send/recv behavior to a class.
Reflex::Role::Streaming - Add non-blocking streaming I/O behavior to a class.
Reflex::Role::Writable - Add non-blocking writable-watching behavior to a class.
Reflex::Role::Writing - Add standard non-blocking syswrite() behavior to a class.
Reflex::Stream - A non-blocking, buffered and translated I/O stream.
Reflex::UdpPeer - A base class for non-blocking UDP networking peers.
Signals and Child Processes
Modules that provide signal support, including SIGCHLD for child process
management.

Reflex::PID - A non-blocking SIGCHLD watcher for a specific process.
Reflex::Role::PidCatcher - Add non-blocking SIGCHLD watching to a class.
Reflex::Role::SigCatcher - Add non-blocking signal handling behavior to a class.
Reflex::Signal - A non-blocking signal watcher.
Timers
Timer management has been relatively overlooked so far. We'll get to it
eventually, and you're welcome to help.

Reflex::Interval - A non-blocking periodic interval timer.
Reflex::Role::Interval - Add non-blocking periodic callbacks to a class.
Reflex::Role::Timeout - Add non-blocking timeout timer behavior to a class.
Reflex::Role::Wakeup - Add non-blocking wakeup alarm behavior to a class.
Reflex::Timeout - A non-blocking single-shot delayed timer.
Reflex::Wakeup - A non-blocking single-shot alarm for a specific time.
Breadboarding Traits
Reflex also implements signal/slot style object interaction, through
emit() and watch() methods. These traits were inspired by Smalltalk's
watchable object attributes.

Reflex::Trait::EmitsOnChange - Cause a Moose attribute to emit() an event when it changes.
Reflex::Trait::Observed - (Deprecated. See Reflex::Trait::Watched.)
Reflex::Trait::Watched - Automatically watch a Reactive object stored in a Moose attribute.
ASSISTANCE
Thank you for volunteering to assist with this project. You can find
like-minded people in a few places, in descending order of preference.
Or, oh, wait, maybe you wanted assistance using it? We'll help you, too.
:)

See irc.perl.org #reflex for help with Reflex.

See irc.perl.org #poe for help with POE and Reflex.

See irc.perl.org #moose for help with Moose.

Support is officially available from POE's mailing list as well. Send a
blank message to poe-subscribe@perl.org to join.

The Reflex package also has helpful examples which may serve as a
tutorial until Reflex is documented more.

BUGS
We appreciate your feedback, bug reports, feature requests, patches and
kudos. You may enter them into our request tracker by following the
instructions at <https://rt.cpan.org/Dist/Display.html?&Queue=Reflex>.

We also accept e-mail at bug-Reflex@rt.cpan.org.

AUTHORS
Rocco Caputo, RCAPUTO on CPAN.

CONTRIBUTORS
Reflex is open source, and we welcome involvement.

Chris Fedde, CFEDDE on CPAN

* <https://github.com/rcaputo/reflex>

* <http://gitorious.org/reflex>

TODO
Please browse the source for the TODO marker. Some are visible in the
documentation, and others are sprinlked around in the code's comments.

Also see "TODO.otl" in docs in the distribution. This is a Vim Outliner
file with the current roadmap and progress.

Set up Dist::Zilla to reduce technical debt and make releasing code fun
again.

Reflex is free software. You may redistribute and/or modify it under the
same terms as Perl itself.

SEE ALSO
Please see those modules/websites for more information related to this
module.

* Moose, POE, the Reflex and Reflexive namespaces on CPAN.

* Ohlo - https://www.ohloh.net/p/reflex-perl

* CIA - http://cia.vc/stats/project/reflex

SUPPORT
Perldoc
You can find documentation for this module with the perldoc command.

perldoc Reflex

Websites
The following websites have more information about this module, and may
be of help to you. As always, in addition to those websites please use
your favorite search engine to discover more resources.

* MetaCPAN

A modern, open-source CPAN search engine, useful to view POD in HTML
format.

<http://metacpan.org/release/Reflex>

* Search CPAN

The default CPAN search engine, useful to view POD in HTML format.

<http://search.cpan.org/dist/Reflex>

* RT: CPAN's Bug Tracker

The RT ( Request Tracker ) website is the default bug/issue tracking
system for CPAN.

<http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=Reflex>

* AnnoCPAN

The AnnoCPAN is a website that allows community annotations of Perl
module documentation.

<http://annocpan.org/dist/Reflex>

* CPAN Ratings

The CPAN Ratings is a website that allows community ratings and
reviews of Perl modules.

<http://cpanratings.perl.org/d/Reflex>

* CPAN Forum

The CPAN Forum is a web forum for discussing Perl modules.

<http://cpanforum.com/dist/Reflex>

* CPANTS

The CPANTS is a website that analyzes the Kwalitee ( code metrics )
of a distribution.

<http://cpants.perl.org/dist/overview/Reflex>

* CPAN Testers

The CPAN Testers is a network of smokers who run automated tests on
uploaded CPAN distributions.

<http://www.cpantesters.org/distro/R/Reflex>

* CPAN Testers Matrix

The CPAN Testers Matrix is a website that provides a visual overview
of the test results for a distribution on various Perls/platforms.

<http://matrix.cpantesters.org/?dist=Reflex>

* CPAN Testers Dependencies

The CPAN Testers Dependencies is a website that shows a chart of the
test results of all dependencies for a distribution.

<http://deps.cpantesters.org/?module=Reflex>

Email
You can email the author of this module at "poe-subscribe@perl.org"
asking for help with any problems you have.

Internet Relay Chat
You can get live help by using IRC ( Internet Relay Chat ). If you don't
know what IRC is, please read this excellent guide:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Relay_Chat>. Please be courteous
and patient when talking to us, as we might be busy or sleeping! You can
join those networks/channels and get help:

* irc.perl.org

You can connect to the server at 'irc.perl.org' and join this
channel: #reflex to get help.

Bugs / Feature Requests
Please report any bugs or feature requests by email to "bug-reflex at
rt.cpan.org", or through the web interface at
<http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=Reflex>. You will be
automatically notified of any progress on the request by the system.

Source Code
The code is open to the world, and available for you to hack on. Please
feel free to browse it and play with it, or whatever. If you want to
contribute patches, please send me a diff or prod me to pull from your
repository :)

<http://github.com/rcaputo/reflex>

git clone git://github.com/rcaputo/reflex.git

BUGS AND LIMITATIONS
You can make new bug reports, and view existing ones, through the web
interface at <http://rt.cpan.org/Public/Dist/Display.html?Name=Reflex>.

AUTHOR
Rocco Caputo <rcaputo@cpan.org>

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
irc.perl.org channel #moose and #poe. The former for assisting in
learning their fine libraries, sometimes against everyone's better
judgement. The latter for putting up with lengthy and sometimes
irrelevant design discussion for oh so long.

This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.

AVAILABILITY
The latest version of this module is available from the Comprehensive
Perl Archive Network (CPAN). Visit <http://www.perl.com/CPAN/> to find a
CPAN site near you, or see <https://metacpan.org/module/Reflex/>.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY
BECAUSE THIS SOFTWARE IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY
FOR THE SOFTWARE, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN
OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES
PROVIDE THE SOFTWARE "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER
EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE
ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE IS WITH
YOU. SHOULD THE SOFTWARE PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL
NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR, OR CORRECTION.

IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING
WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR
REDISTRIBUTE THE SOFTWARE AS PERMITTED BY THE ABOVE LICENCE, BE LIABLE
TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR
CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE
SOFTWARE (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING
RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A
FAILURE OF THE SOFTWARE TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER SOFTWARE), EVEN IF
SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGES.