README

NAME
    AnyEvent::XMPP - An implementation of the XMPP Protocol

VERSION
    Version 0.55

SYNOPSIS
       use AnyEvent::XMPP::Connection;

    or:

       use AnyEvent::XMPP::IM::Connection;

    or:

       use AnyEvent::XMPP::Client;

DESCRIPTION
    This is the head module of the AnyEvent::XMPP XMPP client protocol (as
    described in RFC 3920 and RFC 3921) framework.

    AnyEvent::XMPP::Connection is a RFC 3920 conforming "XML" stream
    implementation for clients, which handles TCP connect up to the resource
    binding. And provides low level access to the XML nodes on the XML
    stream along with some high level methods to send the predefined XML
    stanzas.

    AnyEvent::XMPP::IM::Connection is a more high level module, which is
    derived from AnyEvent::XMPP::Connection. It handles all the instant
    messaging client functionality described in RFC 3921.

    AnyEvent::XMPP::Client is a multi account client class. It manages
    connections to multiple XMPP accounts and tries to offer a nice high
    level interface to XMPP communication.

    For a list of "Supported extensions" see below.

    There are also other modules in this distribution, for example:
    AnyEvent::XMPP::Util, AnyEvent::XMPP::Writer, AnyEvent::XMPP::Parser and
    those I forgot :-) Those modules might be helpful and/or required if you
    want to use this framework for XMPP.

    See also AnyEvent::XMPP::Writer for a discussion about the brokenness of
    XML in the XMPP specification.

    If you have any questions or seek for help look below under "SUPPORT".

REQUIREMENTS
    One of the major drawbacks I see for AnyEvent::XMPP is the long list of
    required modules to make it work.

    AnyEvent
        For the I/O events, timers, TCP, TLS, DNS and I/O buffering.

    Object::Event
        The former AnyEvent::XMPP::Event module has been outsourced to the
        Object::Event module to provide a more generic way for more other
        modules to register and call event callbacks.

    XML::Writer
        For writing "XML".

    XML::Parser::Expat
        For parsing partial "XML" stuff.

    MIME::Base64
        For SASL authentication

    Authen::SASL
        For SASL authentication

    Net::LibIDN
        For stringprep profiles to handle JIDs.

    Digest::SHA
        For component authentication and old-style authentication.

    And yes, all these are essential for XMPP communication. Even though
    'instant messaging' and 'presence' is a quite simple problem XMPP
    somehow was successful at making the task complicated enough to keep me
    busy for a long time. But all of that time wasn't only for the
    technology required to get it started, mostly it was for all the quirks,
    hacks and badly applied "XML" in the protocol which complicated the
    matter.

RELEASE NOTES
    Here are some notes to the last releases (release of this version is at
    top):

  Version
    *   0.55

        Bugfixes, see Changes file.

    *   0.54

        Add AnyEvent::XMPP::Ext::Receipts, small bugfixes, see Changes file.

    *   0.53

        Maintenance release. Patches for various small issues, see Changes
        file.

    *   0.52

        Maintenance release.

    *   0.51

        Maintenance release. Added a patch which fixes Object::Event
        compatibility and another fix w.r.t. memory leak in the parser. And
        added the original node to AnyEvent::XMPP::IM::Message (thanks go to
        mons@cpan.org).

        NOTE: Version 0.6 of AnyEvent::XMPP will be API incompatible! If you
        are already eager to try the new version out contact me!

    *   0.5

        Maintenance release. Added a patch from Marcus Dubois for
        Ext::Pubsub. Also fixed some memleaks in AnyEvent::XMPP::Parser.

        Also wanted to note that the next version of AnyEvent::XMPP will
        have an incompatible API. If you are eager to try out the new
        complete rewrite of AnyEvent::XMPP contact me.

    *   0.4

        Minor fixes and feature enhancements: Added old_style_ssl option for
        direct port 5223 SSL connections. Providing 'get_own_contact' for
        keeping track of own resources.

        The AnyEvent::XMPP::Ext::MUC extension was rewritten and provides a
        more sane API now.

        For details consult the Changes file in the distribution.

    *   0.3

        Fixed some small bugs and improved documentation a bit, especially
        w.r.t. parameter passing of host and ports.

    *   0.2

        Renamed module from Net::XMPP2 to AnyEvent::XMPP. Net::XMPP2 is
        herby deprecated!

        Rewrote the low-level socket stuff to use AnyEvent::Socket and
        AnyEvent::Handle. Removed blocking write functionality, which can't
        be supported that easily with AnyEvent::Handle (however, if you want
        to wait until the send-buffer is empty you best use the
        "send_buffer_empty" event of AnyEvent::XMPP::Connection).

        For more details consult the Changes file of the AnyEvent::XMPP
        distribution.

    *   older

        For older release notes please have a look at the Changes file or
        CPAN.

  TODO
    There are still lots of items on the TODO list (see also the TODO file
    in the distribution of AnyEvent::XMPP).

TEST SUITE
    If you are a developer and want to test either a server or maybe just
    whether this module passes some basic tests you might want to run the
    developer test suite.

    This test suite is not enabled by default because it requires some human
    interaction to set it up, please see AnyEvent::XMPP::TestClient for
    hints about the setup procedure for the test suite.

    I wrote the test suite mostly because I wanted to make sure I didn't
    break something essential before a release. The tests don't cover
    everything and I don't plan to write a test for every single function in
    the API, that would slow down development considerably for me. But I
    hope that some grave show stopper bugs in releases are prevented with
    this test suite.

    The tests are also useful if you want to test a server implementation.
    But there are maybe of course conformance issues with AnyEvent::XMPP
    itself, so if you find something where AnyEvent::XMPP doesn't conform to
    the XMPP RFCs or XEPs consult the BUGS section below.

    If you find a server that doesn't handle something correctly but you
    need to interact with it you are free to implement workarounds and send
    me a patch, or even ask me whether I might want to look into the issue
    (I can't guarantee anything here, but I want this module to be as
    interoperable as possible. But if the implementation of a workaround for
    some non-conformant software will complicate the code too much I'm
    probably not going to implement it.).

    Of course, if you find a bug in some server implementation don't forget
    to file a bugreport to them, one hack less in AnyEvent::XMPP means more
    time for bug fixing and improvements and new features.

Why (yet) another XMPP module?
    The main outstanding feature of this module in comparison to the other
    XMPP (aka Jabber) modules out there is the support for AnyEvent.
    AnyEvent permits you to use this module together with other I/O event
    based programs and libraries (ie. Gtk2 or Event).

    The other modules could often only be integrated in those applications
    or libraries by using threads. I decided to write this module because I
    think CPAN lacks an event based XMPP module. Threads are unfortunately
    not an alternative in Perl at the moment due the limited threading
    functionality they provide and the global speed hit. I also think that a
    simple event based I/O framework might be a bit easier to handle than
    threads.

    Another thing was that I didn't like the APIs of the other modules. In
    AnyEvent::XMPP I try to provide low level modules for speaking XMPP as
    defined in RFC 3920 and RFC 3921 (see also AnyEvent::XMPP::Connection
    and AnyEvent::XMPP::IM::Connection). But I also try to provide a high
    level API for easier usage for instant messaging tasks and clients (eg.
    AnyEvent::XMPP::Client).

Supported extensions
    See AnyEvent::XMPP::Ext for a list.

EXAMPLES
    Following examples are included in this distribution:

    samples/simple_example_1
        This example script just connects to a server and sends a message
        and also displays incoming messages on stdout.

    samples/conference_lister
        See below.

    samples/room_lister
        See below.

    samples/room_lister_stat
        These three scripts implements a global room scan.
        "conference_lister" takes a list of servers (the file is called
        "servers.xml" which has the same format as the xml file at
        <http://www.jabber.org/servers.xml>). It then scans all servers for
        chat room services and lists them into a file "conferences.stor",
        which is a Storable dump.

        "room_lister" then reads that file and queries all services for
        rooms, and then all rooms for their occupants. The output file is
        "room_data.stor", also a Storable dump, which in turn can be read
        with "room_lister_stat", which transform the data structures into
        something human readable.

        These scripts are a bit hacky and quite complicated, but maybe it's
        of any value for someone. You might note "EVQ.pm" in samples which
        is a module that handles request-throttling (You don't want to flood
        the server and risk getting the admins attention :).

    samples/simple_component
        This is a (basic) skeleton for a jabber component.

    samples/simple_oob_retriever
        This is a simple out of band file transfer receiver bot. It uses
        "curl" to fetch the files and also has the sample functionality of
        sending a file url for someone who sends the bot a 'send <filename>'
        message.

    samples/simple_register_example
        This is a example script which allows you to register, unregister
        and change your password for accounts. Execute it without arguments
        for more details.

    samples/disco_info
        This is a small example tool that allows you to fetch the software
        version, disco info and disco items information about a JID.

    samples/talkbot
        This is a simple bot that will read lines from a file and recite
        them when you send it a message. It will also automatically allow
        you to subscribe to it. Start it without commandline arguments to be
        informed about the usage.

    samples/retrieve_roster
        This is a simple example script that will retrieve the roster for an
        account and print it to stdout. You start it like this:

           samples/# ./retrieve_roster <jid> <password>

    samples/display_avatar
        This is just a small example which should display the avatar of the
        account you connect to. It can be used like this:

           samples/# ./display_avatar <jid> <password>

    For others, which the author might forgot or didn't want to list here
    see the "samples/" directory.

    More examples will be included in later releases, please feel free to
    ask the "AUTHOR" if you have any questions about the API. There is also
    an IRC channel, see "SUPPORT".

AUTHOR
    Robin Redeker, "<elmex at ta-sa.org>", JID: "<elmex at jabber.org>"

BUGS
    Please note that I'm currently (July 2007) the only developer on this
    project and I'm very busy with my studies in Computer Science. If you
    want to ease my workload or want timely releases, please send me patches
    instead of bug reports or feature requests. I won't forget the reports
    or requests if you can't or didn't send patches, but I can't gurantee
    immediate response. But I will of course try to fix/implement them as
    soon as possible!

    Also try to be as precise as possible with bug reports, if you can't
    send a patch, it would be best if you find out which code doesn't work
    and tell me why.

    Please report any bugs or feature requests to "bug-net-xmpp2 at
    rt.cpan.org", or through the web interface at
    <http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=AnyEvent-XMPP>. I will
    be notified and then you'll automatically be notified of progress on
    your bug as I make changes.

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

        perldoc AnyEvent::XMPP

    You can also look for information at:

    *   IRC: AnyEvent::XMPP IRC Channel

          IRC Network: http://freenode.net/
          Server     : chat.freenode.net
          Channel    : #ae_xmpp

          Feel free to join and ask questions!

    *   AnyEvent::XMPP Project Site

        <http://www.ta-sa.org/net_xmpp2>

    *   AnnoCPAN: Annotated CPAN documentation

        <http://annocpan.org/dist/AnyEvent-XMPP>

    *   CPAN Ratings

        <http://cpanratings.perl.org/d/AnyEvent-XMPP>

    *   RT: CPAN's request tracker

        <http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=AnyEvent-XMPP>

    *   Search CPAN

        <http://search.cpan.org/dist/AnyEvent-XMPP>

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
    Thanks to the XSF for the development of an open instant messaging
    protocol (even though it uses "XML").

    And thanks to all people who had to listen to my desperate curses about
    the brokenness/braindeadness of XMPP. Without you I would've never
    brought this module to a usable state.

    Thanks to:

    *   J. Cameijo Cerdeira

        For pointing out a serious bug in "split_jid" in
        AnyEvent::XMPP::Util and suggesting to add a timeout argument to the
        "connect" method of AnyEvent::XMPP::SimpleConnection.

    *   Carlo von Loesch (aka lynX) <http://www.psyced.org/>

        For pointing out some typos.

    *   All other people ..

        ... I mentioned in the CONTRIBUTORS file which comes with the
        AnyEvent::XMPP distribution.

COPYRIGHT & LICENSE
    Copyright 2007, 2008 Robin Redeker, all rights reserved.

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