Erlix

Changelog

erlix-0.5 changlog [alpha]

• Ruby 1.9.x support
• All classes (Term/Int/List/Tuple/Atom/...) are under the Erlix module now
• Convenient new for Erlix::List and Erlix::Tuple

20090430 update

• features
  • Type auto-convert
  • [] singleton method for ErlixTuple and ErlixList
  • add ErlixTerm.to_s, remove ErlixTerm.puts

erlix-0.3 changelog

• bugfix:
  • IO block bug in ErlixConnection#erecv
• feature:
  • ErlixList#new("string")
  • ErlixConnection#close
  • ErlixConnection#closed?
  • ErlixConnection#rpc("module","function",ErlixTermList)
  • ErlixConnection#peer

Intsall erlix

On Linux/Unix only, need erlang installed.

gem install erlix

OR

unzip erlix-version.zip
cd erlix-version
./configure
make
make install

Tutorial

Play with the Erlix::Term

Erlix::Term is a Module, represents the erlang-term, It is mixed into some particular classes,like Erlix::Atom,Erlix::Int,Erlix::List... Now we will play with these classes in irb:

First,open irb,and require the erlix lib:

kdr2@kdr2-pc:~$ irb
irb(main):001:0> require "erlix"
=> true
irb(main):002:0>

Find all Erlix::Term's subclasses:

irb(main):002:0> ObjectSpace.each_object(Class).inject([]){|a,i|a<< i if i.ancestors.any?{|k|k==Erlix::Term};a}
=> [Erlix::Binary, Erlix::Tuple, Erlix::List, Erlix::Atom, Erlix::Ref, Erlix::Pid, Erlix::Float, Erlix::UInt, Erlix::Int]
irb(main):003:0>

We see,there are 9 Erlix::Term classes we hava implemented:

• Erlix::Binary
• Erlix::Tuple
• Erlix::List
• Erlix::Atom
• Erlix::Ref
• Erlix::Pid
• Erlix::Float
• Erlix::UInt
• Erlix::Int

Here we go on:

1.9.3-p194 :015 >a1=Erlix::Atom.new("atom1")
 => #<Erlix::Atom:atom1>
1.9.3-p194 :016 > a2=Erlix::Atom.new("atom2")
 => #<Erlix::Atom:atom2>
1.9.3-p194 :017 > f=Erlix::Float.new(17.0)
 => #<Erlix::Float:17.000000>
1.9.3-p194 :018 > b=Erlix::Binary.new("data\0data")
 => #<Erlix::Binary:#Bin>
1.9.3-p194 :019 > b.data
 => "data\x00data"
1.9.3-p194 :020 > i=Erlix::Int.new(101)
 => #<Erlix::Int:101>
1.9.3-p194 :021 > t=Erlix::Tuple.new([a1,f,b,a2,i])
 => #<Erlix::Tuple:{atom1,17.000000,#Bin,atom2,101}>
1.9.3-p194 :022 > list=Erlix::List.new([a1,i,t])
 => #<Erlix::List:[atom1,101,{atom1,17.000000,#Bin,atom2,101}]>
1.9.3-p194 :023 > t[2]
 => #<Erlix::Float:17.000000>
1.9.3-p194 :024 > t[2].class
 => Erlix::Float
1.9.3-p194 :025 > t[3].class
 => Erlix::Binary
1.9.3-p194 :026 > t.nth(3)==t[3]
 => true
1.9.3-p194 :027 > list.head
 => #<Erlix::Atom:atom1>
1.9.3-p194 :028 > list.tail
 => #<Erlix::List:[101,{atom1,17.000000,#Bin,atom2,101}]>
1.9.3-p194 :029 > list2=list.cons(b)
 => #<Erlix::List:[#Bin,atom1,101,{atom1,17.000000,#Bin,atom2,101}]>
1.9.3-p194 :030 >

Some Ruby-Type var can be auto-converted to particular Erlang-Type

|Ruby-Type | -> | Erlang-Type   |
|FixNum    | -> | Erlix::Int    |
|Float     | -> | Erlix::Float  |
|String    | -> | Erlix::List   |
|Symbol    | -> | Erlix::Atom   |

1.9.3-p194 :032 >c=Erlix::List.new(["string-to-list",1,:symbol_to_atom,1.00])
 => #<Erlix::List:["string-to-list",1,symbol_to_atom,1.000000]>
1.9.3-p194 :033 > c.head.class
 => Erlix::List
1.9.3-p194 :034 >

Use singleton method [] to create Erlix::Tuple/Erlix::List

1.9.3-p194 :037 > c=Erlix::List["string-to-list",1,:symbol_to_atom,1.00]
 => #<Erlix::List:["string-to-list",1,symbol_to_atom,1.000000]>
1.9.3-p194 :038 > t=Erlix::Tuple["string-to-list",1,:symbol_to_atom,1.00]
 => #<Erlix::Tuple:{"string-to-list",1,symbol_to_atom,1.000000}>
1.9.3-p194 :039 > t[1]
 => #<Erlix::List:"string-to-list">
1.9.3-p194 :040 > t[3]
 => #<Erlix::Atom:symbol_to_atom>
1.9.3-p194 :041 > sl=%w[abc def xyz]
 => ["abc", "def", "xyz"]
1.9.3-p194 :042 > Erlix::Tuple[*sl]
 => #<Erlix::Tuple:{"abc","def","xyz"}>
1.9.3-p194 :043 >

And we can use match to test a Erlix::Term's format, use mget to get a particular Erlix::Term inside another Erlix::Term:

1.9.3-p194 :043 > list2
 => #<Erlix::List:[#Bin,atom1,101,{atom1,17.000000,#Bin,atom2,101}]>
1.9.3-p194 :044 > list2.match("[B,Atom,101,Tuple]")
 => true
1.9.3-p194 :045 > list2.match("[nomatch,B,Atom,101,Tuple]")
 => false
1.9.3-p194 :046 > t2=list2.mget("[B,Atom,101,Tuple]","Tuple")
 => #<Erlix::Tuple:{atom1,17.000000,#Bin,atom2,101}>
1.9.3-p194 :047 >

Play with the Real-Erlang-Node

First write a erlang module for our test:

-module(test).
-compile(export_all).
loop()->
    %% receive msg,the msg's format is {FromPid,Msg}
    %% the FromPid is a pid in our ruby program,
    %% we use "FromPid ! Msg" to echo the Msg back
    receive
        {FromPid,Msg} ->
            io:format("From:[~w], MSG From Ruby:[~w] ~n",[FromPid,Msg]),
            FromPid ! Msg,
            loop()
    end.

run()->
    Pid=spawn(fun loop/0),
    %% Associates the name "my_pid" with Pid
    %% so that our ruby code can find this pid and send message to it!
    register(my_pid,Pid).

Then we satrt an Erlang-Node to run the test module,you must give the erlang-node a short name or name:

kdr2@kdr2-pc:~/work/erlix/test$ erl -sname foo
Erlang (BEAM) emulator version 5.6.5 [source] [smp:2] [async-threads:0] [kernel-poll:false]

Eshell V5.6.5  (abort with ^G)
(foo@kdr2-pc)1> c(test).
{ok,test}
(foo@kdr2-pc)2> test:run().
true
(foo@kdr2-pc)3>

My hostname is "kdr2-pc", with the option "-sname foo",the erlang-node name is "foo@kdr2-pc".

The time we write ruby code with erlix now:

#!/usr/bin/ruby
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-

require "erlix"

# init Erlix::Node,
#  the first argument is the short-name of the Erlix::Node
#  the second argument is the erlang cookie, use nil it's will read ~/.erlang.cookie
# after init, my Erlix::Node's name is inited to "ruby@kdr2-pc"
Erlix::Node.init("ruby",nil)

# connect to the real Erlang-Node:
c=Erlix::Connection.new("foo@kdr2-pc")
puts "connect ok"

# create a new Pid with the connection
# we will use this Pid as the FromPid
p=Erlix::Pid.new(c)

# make a Erlix::Tuple {Pid,test_atom} and send it to the real erlang-node
c.esend("my_pid",Erlix::Tuple.new([p,Erlix::Atom.new("test_atom")]))
puts "send ok"

# start a new thread to receive the msg from the real erlang-node
puts "receiving"
t=Thread.new{
    while true do
        m=c.erecv
        puts m.mtype
        puts m.message
        puts m.class
        puts m.from
        puts m.to
   end
}

t.join

Run the test code:

kdr2@kdr2-pc:~/work/erlix$ ruby test/erlix_test.rb
connect ok
send ok
receiving
ERL_SEND
test_atom
Erlix::Message
nil
<3.6.3>
...

The output of erlang:

(foo@kdr2-pc)2> test:run().
true
From:[<6027.3.6>], MSG From Ruby:[test_atom]
(foo@kdr2-pc)3>

About the class Erlix::Message

The method Erlix::Connection#erecv return an instance of Erlix::Message, Erlix::Message represents the struct ErlMessge in erl_interface,it has several fields:

• type
• msg
• from
• to

You can call Erlix::Message#mtype, Erlix::Message#message, Erlix::Message#from, Erlix::Message#to to get them.

There's the description of ErlMessage from the erl_connect manual:

This function receives the message into the specified buffer, and decodes into the (ErlMessage *) emsg.

         fd is an open descriptor to an Erlang connection.

         bufp is a buffer large enough to hold the expected message.

         bufsize indicates the size of bufp.

         emsg is a pointer to an ErlMessage structure, into which the message will be decoded. ErlMessage is defined as follows:

         typedef struct {
           int type;
           ETERM *msg;
           ETERM *to;
           ETERM *from;
           char to_name[MAXREGLEN];
         } ErlMessage;

Note:
  The definition of ErlMessage has changed since earlier versions of Erl_Interface.

  type identifies the type of message, one of ERL_SEND, ERL_REG_SEND, ERL_LINK, ERL_UNLINK and ERL_EXIT.

  If  type  contains  ERL_SEND  this indicates that an ordinary send operation has taken place, and emsg->to contains the Pid of the
  recipient. If type contains ERL_REG_SEND then a registered send operation took place, and  emsg->from  contains  the  Pid  of  the
  sender. In both cases, the actual message will be in emsg->msg.

  If  type contains one of ERL_LINK or ERL_UNLINK, then emsg->to and emsg->from contain the pids of the sender and receipient of the
  link or unlink. emsg->msg is not used in these cases.

  If type contains ERL_EXIT, then this indicates that a link has been broken. In this case, emsg->to and emsg->from contain the pids
  of the linked processes, and emsg->msg contains the reason for the exit.

Erlix RPC

c=Erlix::Connection.new("foo@kdr2-pc")

#rpc call
fmt=Erlix::List.new("abc~n")
tmp=Erlix::List.new
args=Erlix::List.new([fmt,tmp])
ret=c.rpc("io","format",args)
puts ret;
puts ret.class

Note

Before you make a Erlix::Connection#rpc call, Erlix::Connection#erecv and Erlix::Connection#esend calls must be stopped(There may be an thread runing and blocking on erecv call,you can make rpc-thead and erecv-thread as two mutual exclusive threads). After the Erlix::Connection#rpc call returned, Erlix::Connection#erecv and Erlix::Connection#esend can be called again.