NAME

Win32::IPC - Base class for Win32 synchronization objects

SYNOPSIS

use Win32::Event 1.00 qw(wait_any);
#Create objects.

wait_any(@ListOfObjects,$timeout);

DESCRIPTION

This module is loaded by the other Win32 synchronization modules. You shouldn't need to load it yourself. It supplies the wait functions to those modules.

The synchronization modules are "Win32::ChangeNotify", "Win32::Event", "Win32::Mutex", & "Win32::Semaphore".

In addition, you can use wait_any and wait_all with "Win32::Console" and "Win32::Process" objects. (However, those modules do not export the wait functions; you must load one of the synchronization modules (or just Win32::IPC)).

Methods

Win32::IPC supplies one method to all synchronization objects.

$obj->wait([$timeout])

Waits for $obj to become signalled. $timeout is the maximum time to wait (in milliseconds). If $timeout is omitted, waits forever. If $timeout is 0, returns immediately.

Returns:

 +1    The object is signalled
 -1    The object is an abandoned mutex
  0    Timed out
undef  An error occurred

Functions

wait_any(@objects, [$timeout])

Waits for at least one of the @objects to become signalled. $timeout is the maximum time to wait (in milliseconds). If $timeout is omitted, waits forever. If $timeout is 0, returns immediately.

The return value indicates which object ended the wait:

 +N    $object[N-1] is signalled
 -N    $object[N-1] is an abandoned mutex
  0    Timed out
undef  An error occurred

If more than one object became signalled, the one with the lowest index is used.

wait_all(@objects, [$timeout])

This is the same as wait_any, but it waits for all the @objects to become signalled. The return value indicates the last object to become signalled, and is negative if at least one of the @objects is an abandoned mutex.

Deprecated Functions and Methods

Win32::IPC still supports the ActiveWare syntax, but its use is deprecated.

INFINITE

Constant value for an infinite timeout. Omit the $timeout argument instead.

WaitForMultipleObjects(\@objects, $wait_all, $timeout)

Warning: WaitForMultipleObjects erases @objects! Use wait_all or wait_any instead.

$obj->Wait($timeout)

Similar to not $obj->wait($timeout).

INTERNALS

The wait_any and wait_all functions support two kinds of objects. Objects derived from Win32::IPC are expected to consist of a reference to a scalar containing the Win32 HANDLE as an IV.

Other objects (for which UNIVERSAL::isa($object, "Win32::IPC") is false), are expected to implement a get_Win32_IPC_HANDLE method. When called in scalar context with no arguments, this method should return a Win32 HANDLE (as an IV) suitable for passing to the Win32 WaitForMultipleObjects API function.

AUTHOR

Christopher J. Madsen <cjm@pobox.com>

Loosely based on the original module by ActiveWare Internet Corp., http://www.ActiveWare.com