Introduce latches. A latch is a boolean variable, with the capability to

[postgresql] / src / backend / port / unix_latch.c

/*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 *
 * unix_latch.c
 *        Routines for inter-process latches
 *
 * A latch is a boolean variable, with operations that let you to sleep
 * until it is set. A latch can be set from another process, or a signal
 * handler within the same process.
 *
 * The latch interface is a reliable replacement for the common pattern of
 * using pg_usleep() or select() to wait until a signal arrives, where the
 * signal handler sets a global variable. Because on some platforms, an
 * incoming signal doesn't interrupt sleep, and even on platforms where it
 * does there is a race condition if the signal arrives just before
 * entering the sleep, the common pattern must periodically wake up and
 * poll the global variable. pselect() system call was invented to solve
 * the problem, but it is not portable enough. Latches are designed to
 * overcome these limitations, allowing you to sleep without polling and
 * ensuring a quick response to signals from other processes.
 *
 * There are two kinds of latches: local and shared. A local latch is
 * initialized by InitLatch, and can only be set from the same process.
 * A local latch can be used to wait for a signal to arrive, by calling
 * SetLatch in the signal handler. A shared latch resides in shared memory,
 * and must be initialized at postmaster startup by InitSharedLatch. Before
 * a shared latch can be waited on, it must be associated with a process
 * with OwnLatch. Only the process owning the latch can wait on it, but any
 * process can set it.
 *
 * There are three basic operations on a latch:
 *
 * SetLatch             - Sets the latch
 * ResetLatch   - Clears the latch, allowing it to be set again
 * WaitLatch    - Waits for the latch to become set
 *
 * The correct pattern to wait for an event is:
 *
 * for (;;)
 * {
 *     ResetLatch();
 *     if (work to do)
 *         Do Stuff();
 *
 *     WaitLatch();
 * }
 *
 * It's important to reset the latch *before* checking if there's work to
 * do. Otherwise, if someone sets the latch between the check and the
 * ResetLatch call, you will miss it and Wait will block.
 *
 * To wake up the waiter, you must first set a global flag or something
 * else that the main loop tests in the "if (work to do)" part, and call
 * SetLatch *after* that. SetLatch is designed to return quickly if the
 * latch is already set.
 *
 *
 * Implementation
 * --------------
 *
 * The Unix implementation uses the so-called self-pipe trick to overcome
 * the race condition involved with select() and setting a global flag
 * in the signal handler. When a latch is set and the current process
 * is waiting for it, the signal handler wakes up the select() in
 * WaitLatch by writing a byte to a pipe. A signal by itself doesn't
 * interrupt select() on all platforms, and even on platforms where it
 * does, a signal that arrives just before the select() call does not
 * prevent the select() from entering sleep. An incoming byte on a pipe
 * however reliably interrupts the sleep, and makes select() to return
 * immediately if the signal arrives just before select() begins.
 *
 * When SetLatch is called from the same process that owns the latch,
 * SetLatch writes the byte directly to the pipe. If it's owned by another
 * process, SIGUSR1 is sent and the signal handler in the waiting process
 * writes the byte to the pipe on behalf of the signaling process.
 *
 * Portions Copyright (c) 1996-2010, PostgreSQL Global Development Group
 * Portions Copyright (c) 1994, Regents of the University of California
 *
 * IDENTIFICATION
 *        $PostgreSQL: pgsql/src/backend/port/unix_latch.c,v 1.1 2010/09/11 15:48:04 heikki Exp $
 *
 *-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 */
#include "postgres.h"

#include <fcntl.h>
#include <signal.h>
#include <unistd.h>

#include "miscadmin.h"
#include "storage/latch.h"
#include "storage/shmem.h"

/* Are we currently in WaitLatch? The signal handler would like to know. */
static volatile sig_atomic_t waiting = false;

/* Read and write end of the self-pipe */
static int selfpipe_readfd = -1;
static int selfpipe_writefd = -1;

/* private function prototypes */
static void initSelfPipe(void);
static void drainSelfPipe(void);
static void sendSelfPipeByte(void);


/*
 * Initialize a backend-local latch.
 */
void
InitLatch(volatile Latch *latch)
{
        /* Initialize the self pipe if this is our first latch in the process */
        if (selfpipe_readfd == -1)
                initSelfPipe();

        latch->is_set = false;
        latch->owner_pid = MyProcPid;
        latch->is_shared = false;
}

/*
 * Initialize a shared latch that can be set from other processes. The latch
 * is initially owned by no-one, use OwnLatch to associate it with the
 * current process.
 *
 * NB: When you introduce a new shared latch, you must increase the shared
 * latch count in NumSharedLatches in win32_latch.c!
 */
void
InitSharedLatch(volatile Latch *latch)
{
        latch->is_set = false;
        latch->owner_pid = 0;
        latch->is_shared = true;
}

/*
 * Associate a shared latch with the current process, allowing it to
 * wait on it.
 *
 * Make sure that latch_sigusr1_handler() is called from the SIGUSR1 signal
 * handler, as shared latches use SIGUSR1 to for inter-process communication.
 */
void
OwnLatch(volatile Latch *latch)
{
        Assert(latch->is_shared);

        /* Initialize the self pipe if this is our first latch in the process */
        if (selfpipe_readfd == -1)
                initSelfPipe();

        if (latch->owner_pid != 0)
                elog(ERROR, "latch already owned");
        latch->owner_pid = MyProcPid;
}

/*
 * Disown a shared latch currently owned by the current process.
 */
void
DisownLatch(volatile Latch *latch)
{
        Assert(latch->is_shared);
        Assert(latch->owner_pid == MyProcPid);
        latch->owner_pid = 0;
}

/*
 * Wait for given latch to be set or until timeout is exceeded.
 * If the latch is already set, the function returns immediately.
 *
 * The 'timeout' is given in microseconds, and -1 means wait forever.
 * On some platforms, signals cause the timeout to be restarted, so beware
 * that the function can sleep for several times longer than the specified
 * timeout.
 *
 * The latch must be owned by the current process, ie. it must be a
 * backend-local latch initialized with InitLatch, or a shared latch
 * associated with the current process by calling OwnLatch.
 *
 * Returns 'true' if the latch was set, or 'false' if timeout was reached.
 */
bool
WaitLatch(volatile Latch *latch, long timeout)
{
        return WaitLatchOrSocket(latch, PGINVALID_SOCKET, timeout) > 0;
}

/*
 * Like WaitLatch, but will also return when there's data available in
 * 'sock' for reading. Returns 0 if timeout was reached, 1 if the latch
 * was set, or 2 if the scoket became readable.
 */
int
WaitLatchOrSocket(volatile Latch *latch, pgsocket sock, long timeout)
{
        struct timeval tv, *tvp = NULL;
        fd_set          input_mask;
        int                     rc;
        int                     result = 0;

        if (latch->owner_pid != MyProcPid)
                elog(ERROR, "cannot wait on a latch owned by another process");

        /* Initialize timeout */
        if (timeout >= 0)
        {
                tv.tv_sec = timeout / 1000000L;
                tv.tv_usec = timeout % 1000000L;
                tvp = &tv;
        }

        waiting = true;
        for (;;)
        {
                int hifd;

                /*
                 * Clear the pipe, and check if the latch is set already. If someone
                 * sets the latch between this and the select() below, the setter
                 * will write a byte to the pipe (or signal us and the signal handler
                 * will do that), and the select() will return immediately.
                 */
                drainSelfPipe();
                if (latch->is_set)
                {
                        result = 1;
                        break;
                }

                FD_ZERO(&input_mask);
                FD_SET(selfpipe_readfd, &input_mask);
                hifd = selfpipe_readfd;
                if (sock != PGINVALID_SOCKET)
                {
                        FD_SET(sock, &input_mask);
                        if (sock > hifd)
                                hifd = sock;
                }

                rc = select(hifd + 1, &input_mask, NULL, NULL, tvp);
                if (rc < 0)
                {
                        if (errno == EINTR)
                                continue;
                        ereport(ERROR,
                                        (errcode_for_socket_access(),
                                         errmsg("select() failed: %m")));
                }
                if (rc == 0)
                {
                        /* timeout exceeded */
                        result = 0;
                        break;
                }
                if (sock != PGINVALID_SOCKET && FD_ISSET(sock, &input_mask))
                {
                        result = 2;
                        break;          /* data available in socket */
                }
        }
        waiting = false;

        return result;
}

/*
 * Sets a latch and wakes up anyone waiting on it. Returns quickly if the
 * latch is already set.
 */
void
SetLatch(volatile Latch *latch)
{
        pid_t owner_pid;

        /* Quick exit if already set */
        if (latch->is_set)
                return;

        latch->is_set = true;

        /*
         * See if anyone's waiting for the latch. It can be the current process
         * if we're in a signal handler. We use the self-pipe to wake up the
         * select() in that case. If it's another process, send a signal.
         *
         * Fetch owner_pid only once, in case the owner simultaneously disowns
         * the latch and clears owner_pid. XXX: This assumes that pid_t is
         * atomic, which isn't guaranteed to be true! In practice, the effective
         * range of pid_t fits in a 32 bit integer, and so should be atomic. In
         * the worst case, we might end up signaling wrong process if the right
         * one disowns the latch just as we fetch owner_pid. Even then, you're
         * very unlucky if a process with that bogus pid exists.
         */
        owner_pid = latch->owner_pid;
        if (owner_pid == 0)
                return;
        else if (owner_pid == MyProcPid)
                sendSelfPipeByte();
        else
                kill(owner_pid, SIGUSR1);
}

/*
 * Clear the latch. Calling WaitLatch after this will sleep, unless
 * the latch is set again before the WaitLatch call.
 */
void
ResetLatch(volatile Latch *latch)
{
        /* Only the owner should reset the latch */
        Assert(latch->owner_pid == MyProcPid);

        latch->is_set = false;
}

/*
 * LatchShmemSize
 *              Compute space needed for latch's shared memory
 *
 * Not needed for Unix implementation.
 */
Size
LatchShmemSize(void)
{
        return 0;
}

/*
 * LatchShmemInit
 *              Allocate and initialize shared memory needed for latches
 *
 * Not needed for Unix implementation.
 */
void
LatchShmemInit(void)
{
}

/*
 * SetLatch uses SIGUSR1 to wake up the process waiting on the latch. Wake
 * up WaitLatch.
 */
void
latch_sigusr1_handler(void)
{
        if (waiting)
                sendSelfPipeByte();
}

/* initialize the self-pipe */
static void
initSelfPipe(void)
{
        int pipefd[2];

        /*
         * Set up the self-pipe that allows a signal handler to wake up the
         * select() in WaitLatch. Make the write-end non-blocking, so that
         * SetLatch won't block if the event has already been set many times
         * filling the kernel buffer. Make the read-end non-blocking too, so
         * that we can easily clear the pipe by reading until EAGAIN or
         * EWOULDBLOCK.
         */
        if (pipe(pipefd) < 0)
                elog(FATAL, "pipe() failed: %m");
        if (fcntl(pipefd[0], F_SETFL, O_NONBLOCK) < 0)
                elog(FATAL, "fcntl() failed on read-end of self-pipe: %m");
        if (fcntl(pipefd[1], F_SETFL, O_NONBLOCK) < 0)
                elog(FATAL, "fcntl() failed on write-end of self-pipe: %m");

        selfpipe_readfd = pipefd[0];
        selfpipe_writefd = pipefd[1];
}

/* Send one byte to the self-pipe, to wake up WaitLatch */
static void
sendSelfPipeByte(void)
{
        int rc;
        char dummy = 0;

retry:
        rc = write(selfpipe_writefd, &dummy, 1);
        if (rc < 0)
        {
                /* If interrupted by signal, just retry */
                if (errno == EINTR)
                        goto retry;

                /*
                 * If the pipe is full, we don't need to retry, the data that's
                 * there already is enough to wake up WaitLatch.
                 */
                if (errno == EAGAIN || errno == EWOULDBLOCK)
                        return;

                /*
                 * Oops, the write() failed for some other reason. We might be in
                 * a signal handler, so it's not safe to elog(). We have no choice
                 * but silently ignore the error.
                 */
                return;
        }
}

/* Read all available data from the self-pipe */
static void
drainSelfPipe(void)
{
        /*
         * There shouldn't normally be more than one byte in the pipe, or maybe
         * a few more if multiple processes run SetLatch at the same instant.
         */
        char buf[16];
        int rc;

        for (;;)
        {
                rc = read(selfpipe_readfd, buf, sizeof(buf));
                if (rc < 0)
                {
                        if (errno == EAGAIN || errno == EWOULDBLOCK)
                                break;          /* the pipe is empty */
                        else if (errno == EINTR)
                                continue;       /* retry */
                        else
                                elog(ERROR, "read() on self-pipe failed: %m");
                }
                else if (rc == 0)
                        elog(ERROR, "unexpected EOF on self-pipe");
        }
}