Thread::Queue::Any(3pm) 				User Contributed Perl Documentation				   Thread::Queue::Any(3pm)

NAME

       Thread::Queue::Any - thread-safe queues for any data-structure

SYNOPSIS

	   use Thread::Queue::Any;
	   my $q= Thread::Queue::Any->new;
	   $q->enqueue("foo", ["bar"], {"zoo"});
	   my ( $foo, $bar, $zoo )= $q->dequeue;
	   my ( $foo, $bar, $zoo )= $q->dequeue_dontwait;
	   my ( $iffoo, $ifbar, $ifzoo)= $q->dequeue_keep;
	   my $left= $q->pending;

	   # specify class with "freeze" and "thaw" methods
	   use Thread::Queue::Any serializer => 'Storable';

	   # specify custom freeze and thaw subroutines
	   use Thread::Queue::Any freeze => &solid, thaw => &liquid;

	   # thaw hook for subclasses
	   package Thread::Queue::Any::Foo;
	   @ISA= 'Thread::Queue::Any';
	   my $THAW= __PACKAGE__->THAW;

VERSION

       This documentation describes version 1.12.

DESCRIPTION

			   *** A note of CAUTION ***

	This module only functions if threading has been enabled when building
	Perl, or if the "forks" module has been installed on an unthreaded Perl.

			   *************************

       A queue, as implemented by "Thread::Queue::Any" is a thread-safe data structure that inherits from "Thread::Queue".  But unlike the
       standard "Thread::Queue", you can pass (a reference to) any data structure to the queue.

       Apart from the fact that the parameters to "enqueue" are considered to be a set that needs to be enqueued together and that "dequeue"
       returns all of the parameters that were enqueued together, this module is a drop-in replacement for "Thread::Queue" in every other aspect.

       Any number of threads can safely add elements to the end of the list, or remove elements from the head of the list.

CLASS METHODS

   new
	$queue= Thread::Queue::Any->new;

       The "new" function creates a new empty queue.

   THAW
	$THAW= $subclass->THAW;

       Return the code reference for de-serializing enqueued data.  Intended to be used by subclasses only, such as Thread::Queue::Any::Monitored.

OBJECT METHODS

   enqueue LIST
	$queue->enqueue( 'string', $scalar, [], {} );

       The "enqueue" method adds a reference to all the specified parameters on to the end of the queue.  The queue will grow as needed.

   dequeue
	( $string, $scalar, $listref, $hashref )= $queue->dequeue;

	$string= $queue->dequeue;	   # first only in scalar context

       The "dequeue" method removes a reference from the head of the queue, dereferences it and returns the resulting values.  If the queue is
       currently empty, "dequeue" will block the thread until another thread "enqueue"s.

       If called in scalar context, only the first value will be returned.  This is only recommended if enqueue is always only called with one
       parameter.

   dequeue_dontwait
	( $string, $scalar, $listref, $hashref )= $queue->dequeue_dontwait;

	$string= $queue->dequeue_dontwait; # first only in scalar context

       The "dequeue_dontwait" method, like the "dequeue" method, removes a reference from the head of the queue, dereferences it and returns the
       resulting values.  Unlike "dequeue", though, "dequeue_dontwait" won't wait if the queue is empty, instead returning an empty list if the
       queue is empty.

       For compatibility with Thread::Queue, the name "dequeue_nb" is available as a synonym for this method.

       If called in scalar context, only the first value will be returned.  This is only recommended if enqueue is always only called with one
       parameter.

   dequeue_keep
	( $string, $scalar, $listref, $hashref )= $queue->dequeue_keep;

	$string= $queue->dequeue_keep;	   # first only in scalar context

       The "dequeue_keep" method, like the "dequeue_dontwait" method, takes a reference from the head of the queue, dereferences it and returns
       the resulting values.  Unlike "dequeue_dontwait", though, the "dequeue_keep" won't remove the set from the queue.  It can therefore be used
       to test if the next set to be returned from the queue with "dequeue" or "dequeue_dontwait" will have a specific value.

       If called in scalar context, only the first value will be returned.  This is only recommended if enqueue is always only called with one
       parameter.

   pending
	$pending= $queue->pending;

       The "pending" method returns the number of items still in the queue.

USING ANOTHER SERIALIZER

       Passing unshared values between threads is accomplished by serializing the specified values when enqueuing and de-serializing the queued
       value on equeuing.  This allows for great flexibility at the expense of more CPU usage.	It also limits what can be passed, as e.g. code
       references can not be serialized with the default serializer and therefore not be passed.

       By default, the Storable module is used to serialize data.  If you want to use a different serializer, you can specify this when you load
       this module with the "serializer" parameter:

	use Thread::Queue::Any serializer => 'Thread::Serialize';

       The value of the parameter is the name of the class that will provide a "freeze" and "thaw" subroutine.	It will be automatically loaded if
       specified.

       If you happen to have subroutines in another module with a different name, you can also specify the "freeze" and "thaw" parameter with a
       code reference of the subroutine to be called.  So the above example could also be specified as:

	use Thread::Serialize;
	use Thread::Queue::Any
	  freeze => &Thread::Serialize::freeze,
	  thaw	 => &Thread::Serialize::thaw,
	;

REQUIRED MODULES

	Test::More (0.88)
	Thread::Queue (any)

INSTALLATION

       This distribution contains two versions of the code: one maintenance version for versions of perl < 5.014 (known as 'maint'), and the
       version currently in development (known as 'blead').  The standard build for your perl version is:

	perl Makefile.PL
	make
	make test
	make install

       This will try to test and install the "blead" version of the code.  If the Perl version does not support the "blead" version, then the
       running of the Makefile.PL will *fail*.	In such a case, one can force the installing of the "maint" version of the code by doing:

	perl Makefile.PL maint

       Alternately, if you want automatic selection behavior, you can set the AUTO_SELECT_MAINT_OR_BLEAD environment variable to a true value.	On
       Unix-like systems like so:

	AUTO_SELECT_MAINT_OR_BLEAD=1 perl Makefile.PL

       If your perl does not support the "blead" version of the code, then it will automatically install the "maint" version of the code.

AUTHOR

       Elizabeth Mattijsen, <liz@dijkmat.nl>.

       Please report bugs to <perlbugs@dijkmat.nl>.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (c) 2002, 2003, 2007, 2012 Elizabeth Mattijsen <liz@dijkmat.nl>.  All rights reserved.  This program is free software; you can
       redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

SEE ALSO

       threads, threads::shared, Thread::Queue, Storable.

perl v5.14.2							    2012-06-04						   Thread::Queue::Any(3pm)