NAME
    Parallel::ForkManager - A simple parallel processing fork manager

SYNOPSIS
      use Parallel::ForkManager;

      $pm = Parallel::ForkManager->new($MAX_PROCESSES);

      foreach $data (@all_data) {
        # Forks and returns the pid for the child:
        my $pid = $pm->start and next;

        ... do some work with $data in the child process ...

        $pm->finish; # Terminates the child process
      }

DESCRIPTION
    This module is intended for use in operations that can be done in
    parallel where the number of processes to be forked off should be
    limited. Typical use is a downloader which will be retrieving
    hundreds/thousands of files.

    The code for a downloader would look something like this:

      use LWP::Simple;
      use Parallel::ForkManager;

      ...

      @links=(
        ["http://www.foo.bar/rulez.data","rulez_data.txt"],
        ["http://new.host/more_data.doc","more_data.doc"],
        ...
      );

      ...

      # Max 30 processes for parallel download
      my $pm = Parallel::ForkManager->new(30);

      foreach my $linkarray (@links) {
        $pm->start and next; # do the fork

        my ($link,$fn) = @$linkarray;
        warn "Cannot get $fn from $link"
          if getstore($link,$fn) != RC_OK;

        $pm->finish; # do the exit in the child process
      }
      $pm->wait_all_children;

    First you need to instantiate the ForkManager with the "new"
    constructor. You must specify the maximum number of processes to be
    created. If you specify 0, then NO fork will be done; this is good for
    debugging purposes.

    Next, use $pm->start to do the fork. $pm returns 0 for the child
    process, and child pid for the parent process (see also "fork()" in
    perlfunc(1p)). The "and next" skips the internal loop in the parent
    process. NOTE: $pm->start dies if the fork fails.

    $pm->finish terminates the child process (assuming a fork was done in
    the "start").

    NOTE: You cannot use $pm->start if you are already in the child process.
    If you want to manage another set of subprocesses in the child process,
    you must instantiate another Parallel::ForkManager object!

METHODS
    The comment letter indicates where the method should be run. P for
    parent, C for child.

    new $processes
         Instantiate a new Parallel::ForkManager object. You must specify
         the maximum number of children to fork off. If you specify 0
         (zero), then no children will be forked. This is intended for
         debugging purposes.

         The optional second parameter, $tempdir, is only used if you want
         the children to send back a reference to some data (see RETRIEVING
         DATASTRUCTURES below). If not provided, it is set via a call to
         File::Temp::tempdir().

         The new method will die if the temporary directory does not exist
         or it is not a directory.

    start [ $process_identifier ]
         This method does the fork. It returns the pid of the child process
         for the parent, and 0 for the child process. If the $processes
         parameter for the constructor is 0 then, assuming you're in the
         child process, $pm->start simply returns 0.

         An optional $process_identifier can be provided to this method...
         It is used by the "run_on_finish" callback (see CALLBACKS) for
         identifying the finished process.

    finish [ $exit_code [, $data_structure_reference] ]
         Closes the child process by exiting and accepts an optional exit
         code (default exit code is 0) which can be retrieved in the parent
         via callback. If the second optional parameter is provided, the
         child attempts to send it's contents back to the parent. If you use
         the program in debug mode ($processes == 0), this method just calls
         the callback.

         If the $data_structure_reference is provided, then it is serialized
         and passed to the parent process. See RETRIEVING DATASTRUCTURES for
         more info.

    set_max_procs $processes
         Allows you to set a new maximum number of children to maintain.

    wait_all_children
         You can call this method to wait for all the processes which have
         been forked. This is a blocking wait.

CALLBACKS
    You can define callbacks in the code, which are called on events like
    starting a process or upon finish. Declare these before the first call
    to start().

    The callbacks can be defined with the following methods:

    run_on_finish $code [, $pid ]
        You can define a subroutine which is called when a child is
        terminated. It is called in the parent process.

        The parameters of the $code are the following:

          - pid of the process, which is terminated
          - exit code of the program
          - identification of the process (if provided in the "start" method)
          - exit signal (0-127: signal name)
          - core dump (1 if there was core dump at exit)
          - datastructure reference or undef (see RETRIEVING DATASTRUCTURES)

    run_on_start $code
        You can define a subroutine which is called when a child is started.
        It called after the successful startup of a child in the parent
        process.

        The parameters of the $code are the following:

          - pid of the process which has been started
          - identification of the process (if provided in the "start" method)

    run_on_wait $code, [$period]
        You can define a subroutine which is called when the child process
        needs to wait for the startup. If $period is not defined, then one
        call is done per child. If $period is defined, then $code is called
        periodically and the module waits for $period seconds between the
        two calls. Note, $period can be fractional number also. The exact
        "$period seconds" is not guaranteed, signals can shorten and the
        process scheduler can make it longer (on busy systems).

        The $code called in the "start" and the "wait_all_children" method
        also.

        No parameters are passed to the $code on the call.

RETRIEVING DATASTRUCTURES from child processes
    The ability for the parent to retrieve data structures is new as of
    version 0.7.6.

    Each child process may optionally send 1 data structure back to the
    parent. By data structure, we mean a reference to a string, hash or
    array. The contents of the data structure are written out to temporary
    files on disc using the Storable modules' store() method. The reference
    is then retrieved from within the code you send to the run_on_finish
    callback.

    The data structure can be any scalar perl data structure which makes
    sense: string, numeric value or a reference to an array, hash or object.

    There are 2 steps involved in retrieving data structures:

    1) A reference to the data structure the child wishes to send back to
    the parent is provided as the second argument to the finish() call. It
    is up to the child to decide whether or not to send anything back to the
    parent.

    2) The data structure reference is retrieved using the callback provided
    in the run_on_finish() method.

    Keep in mind that data structure retrieval is not the same as returning
    a data structure from a method call. That is not what actually occurs.
    The data structure referenced in a given child process is serialized and
    written out to a file by Storable. The file is subsequently read back
    into memory and a new data structure belonging to the parent process is
    created. Please consider the performance penality it can imply, so try
    to keep the returned structure small.

EXAMPLES
  Parallel get
    This small example can be used to get URLs in parallel.

      use Parallel::ForkManager;
      use LWP::Simple;
      my $pm= Parallel::ForkManager->new(10);
      for my $link (@ARGV) {
        $pm->start and next;
        my ($fn)= $link =~ /^.*\/(.*?)$/;
        if (!$fn) {
          warn "Cannot determine filename from $fn\n";
        } else {
          $0.=" ".$fn;
          print "Getting $fn from $link\n";
          my $rc=getstore($link,$fn);
          print "$link downloaded. response code: $rc\n";
        };
        $pm->finish;
      };

  Callbacks
    Example of a program using callbacks to get child exit codes:

      use strict;
      use Parallel::ForkManager;

      my $max_procs = 5;
      my @names = qw( Fred Jim Lily Steve Jessica Bob Dave Christine Rico Sara );
      # hash to resolve PID's back to child specific information

      my $pm = Parallel::ForkManager->new($max_procs);

      # Setup a callback for when a child finishes up so we can
      # get it's exit code
      $pm->run_on_finish( sub {
          my ($pid, $exit_code, $ident) = @_;
          print "** $ident just got out of the pool ".
            "with PID $pid and exit code: $exit_code\n";
      });

      $pm->run_on_start( sub {
          my ($pid,$ident)=@_;
          print "** $ident started, pid: $pid\n";
      });

      $pm->run_on_wait( sub {
          print "** Have to wait for one children ...\n"
        },
        0.5
      );

      foreach my $child ( 0 .. $#names ) {
        my $pid = $pm->start($names[$child]) and next;

        # This code is the child process
        print "This is $names[$child], Child number $child\n";
        sleep ( 2 * $child );
        print "$names[$child], Child $child is about to get out...\n";
        sleep 1;
        $pm->finish($child); # pass an exit code to finish
      }

      print "Waiting for Children...\n";
      $pm->wait_all_children;
      print "Everybody is out of the pool!\n";

  Data structure retrieval
    In this simple example, each child sends back a string reference.

      use Parallel::ForkManager 0.7.6;
      use strict;

      my $pm = Parallel::ForkManager->new(2, '/server/path/to/temp/dir/');

      # data structure retrieval and handling
      $pm -> run_on_finish ( # called BEFORE the first call to start()
        sub {
          my ($pid, $exit_code, $ident, $exit_signal, $core_dump, $data_structure_reference) = @_;

          # retrieve data structure from child
          if (defined($data_structure_reference)) {  # children are not forced to send anything
            my $string = ${$data_structure_reference};  # child passed a string reference
            print "$string\n";
          } else {  # problems occuring during storage or retrieval will throw a warning
            print qq|No message received from child process $pid!\n|;
          }
        }
      );

      # prep random statement components
      my @foods = ('chocolate', 'ice cream', 'peanut butter', 'pickles', 'pizza', 'bacon', 'pancakes', 'spaghetti', 'cookies');
      my @preferences = ('loves', q|can't stand|, 'always wants more', 'will walk 100 miles for', 'only eats', 'would starve rather than eat');

      # run the parallel processes
      my $person = '';
      foreach $person (qw(Fred Wilma Ernie Bert Lucy Ethel Curly Moe Larry)) {
        $pm->start() and next;

        # generate a random statement about food preferences
        my $statement = $person . ' ' . $preferences[int(rand @preferences)] . ' ' . $foods[int(rand @foods)];

        # send it back to the parent process
        $pm->finish(0, \$statement);  # note that it's a scalar REFERENCE, not the scalar itself
      }
      $pm->wait_all_children;

    A second datastructure retrieval example demonstrates how children
    decide whether or not to send anything back, what to send and how the
    parent should process whatever is retrieved.

      use Parallel::ForkManager 0.7.6;
      use Data::Dumper;  # to display the data structures retrieved.
      use strict;

      my $pm = Parallel::ForkManager->new(20);  # using the system temp dir $L<File::Temp::tempdir()

      # data structure retrieval and handling
      my %retrieved_responses = ();  # for collecting responses
      $pm -> run_on_finish (
        sub {
          my ($pid, $exit_code, $ident, $exit_signal, $core_dump, $data_structure_reference) = @_;

          # see what the child sent us, if anything
          if (defined($data_structure_reference)) {  # test rather than assume child sent anything
            my $reftype = ref($data_structure_reference);
            print qq|ident "$ident" returned a "$reftype" reference.\n\n|;
            if (1) {  # simple on/off switch to display the contents
              print &Dumper($data_structure_reference) . qq|end of "$ident" sent structure\n\n|;
            }

            # we can also collect retrieved data structures for processing after all children have exited
            $retrieved_responses{$ident} = $data_structure_reference;
          } else {
            print qq|ident "$ident" did not send anything.\n\n|;
          }
        }
      );

      # generate a list of instructions
      my @instructions = (  # a unique identifier and what the child process should send
        {'name' => '%ENV keys as a string', 'send' => 'keys'},
        {'name' => 'Send Nothing'},  # not instructing the child to send anything back to the parent
        {'name' => 'Childs %ENV', 'send' => 'all'},
        {'name' => 'Child chooses randomly', 'send' => 'random'},
        {'name' => 'Invalid send instructions', 'send' => 'Na Na Nana Na'},
        {'name' => 'ENV values in an array', 'send' => 'values'},
      );

      my $instruction = '';
      foreach $instruction (@instructions) {
        $pm->start($instruction->{'name'}) and next;  # this time we are using an explicit, unique child process identifier

        # last step in child processing
        $pm->finish(0) unless $instruction->{'send'};  # no data structure is sent unless this child is told what to send.

        if ($instruction->{'send'} eq 'keys') {
          $pm->finish(0, \join(', ', keys %ENV));

        } elsif ($instruction->{'send'} eq 'values') {
          $pm->finish(0, [values %ENV]);  # kinda useless without knowing which keys they belong to...

        } elsif ($instruction->{'send'} eq 'all') {
          $pm->finish(0, \%ENV);  # remember, we are not "returning" anything, just copying the hash to disc

        # demonstrate clearly that the child determines what type of reference to send
        } elsif ($instruction->{'send'} eq 'random') {
          my $string = q|I'm just a string.|;
          my @array = qw(I am an array);
          my %hash = (type => 'associative array', synonym => 'hash', cool => 'very :)');
          my $return_choice = ('string', 'array', 'hash')[int(rand 3)];  # randomly choose return data type
          $pm->finish(0, \$string) if ($return_choice eq 'string');
          $pm->finish(0, \@array) if ($return_choice eq 'array');
          $pm->finish(0, \%hash) if ($return_choice eq 'hash');

        # as a responsible child, inform parent that their instruction was invalid
        } else {
          $pm->finish(0, \qq|Invalid instructions: "$instruction->{'send'}".|);  # ordinarily I wouldn't include invalid input in a response...
        }
      }
      $pm->wait_all_children;  # blocks until all forked processes have exited

      # post fork processing of returned data structures
      for (sort keys %retrieved_responses) {
        print qq|Post processing "$_"...\n|;
      }

BUGS AND LIMITATIONS
    Do not use Parallel::ForkManager in an environment, where other child
    processes can affect the run of the main program, so using this module
    is not recommended in an environment where fork() / wait() is already
    used.

    If you want to use more than one copies of the Parallel::ForkManager,
    then you have to make sure that all children processes are terminated,
    before you use the second object in the main program.

    You are free to use a new copy of Parallel::ForkManager in the child
    processes, although I don't think it makes sense.

COPYRIGHT
    Copyright (c) 2000-2010 Szabó, Balázs (dLux)

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

AUTHOR
      dLux (Szabó, Balázs) <dlux@dlux.hu>

CREDITS
      Gábor Szabó (szabgab@cpan.org)  (co-maintainer)
      Michael Gang (bug report)
      Noah Robin <sitz@onastick.net> (documentation tweaks)
      Chuck Hirstius <chirstius@megapathdsl.net> (callback exit status, example)
      Grant Hopwood <hopwoodg@valero.com> (win32 port)
      Mark Southern <mark_southern@merck.com> (bugfix)
      Ken Clarke <www.perlprogrammer.net>  (datastructure retrieval)