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NAME

       ggAddTask,       ggDelTask,      ggTimeBase,      GG_SCHED_TICKS2USECS,
       GG_SCHED_USECS2TICKS - LibGG simple task scheduler routines

SYNOPSIS

       #include <ggi/gg.h>

       struct gg_task {
             gg_task_callback_fn     *cb;    /* Function to call to run task      */
             void                    *hook;  /* Task data can be hung here        */
             int                     pticks; /* Run once every pticks ticks.      */
             int                     ncalls; /* Run ncalls times (0 = infinite)   */
             int                     lasttick; /* last tick run (read-only)       */

             /* Other members present but are for internal use only. */
       };

       typedef int (gg_task_callback_fn)(struct gg_task *task);

       GG_SCHED_TICKS2USECS(uint32_t ticks);
       GG_SCHED_USECS2TICKS(uint32_t usecs);

       uint32_t ggTimeBase(void);

       int ggAddTask(struct gg_task *task);

       int ggDelTask(struct gg_task *task);

DESCRIPTION

       LibGG implements a task scheduler in  both  threaded  and  non-threaded
       environments.  Tasks can be registered with the scheduler to run short,
       asynchronous routines called "handlers" which may interrupt or  run  in
       parallel  with  the  normal  flow-of-control.  It is recommended to use
       LibGG tasks in lieue of threads when writing for  maximum  portability,
       if  they  can  meet  the  demands  of  the  application,  since not all
       environments support threads.

       The LibGG task scheduler uses a unit of time called a "tick", which may
       vary  between architectures.  The tick is guaranteed to be no more than
       one second, however, most environments will support at least  60  ticks
       per  second.  By default LibGG will select 60 ticks per second if it is
       supported, see below for instructions on modifying this behavior.   The
       function ggTimeBase is used to find out the size of a tick.

       GG_SCHED_TICKS2USECS  and  GG_SCHED_USECS2TICKS  are  convenient macros
       that simplifies conversion between  ticks  and  microseconds  and  vice
       versa.

       The  maximum  rate  at  which a periodic task may run is once per tick.
       The maximum period (minimum rate) of a LibGG task is the value  of  the
       macro GG_SCHED_TICK_WRAP minus one, and is also measured in ticks.

       ggAddTask will examine the values in the offered task control structure
       task.  Before calling ggAddTask the  task  control  structure  must  be
       initialized  by  filling it with zeros, including the internal-use-only
       area.  The task control structure  should  be  further  initialized  by
       providing  at  least  a  pointer  to a callback handler function in the
       member cb, and initializing the pticks member to contain the number  of
       ticks between each call to the handler function.  The ncalls member may
       be left at zero, in which case the task remains scheduled to  run  once
       every  pticks  until explicitly deleted, or it may be set to a positive
       integer to indicate that the task should be automatically deleted after
       the  handler  has  been called ncalls times. The int return type on the
       callback hook is only there for  possible  future  expansion.  For  now
       callbacks should always return 0. Other values are undefined.

       The  task  control  structure must only be used for one task, however a
       task handler may be called by  multiple  tasks.   The  member  hook  is
       provided  for  the application’s use in the task control structure as a
       means to easily transport task-local data to the handler.   If  a  tick
       arrives  during  a call to ggAddTask, the handler may be invoked before
       ggAddTask returns; A memory barrier  is  included  in  ggAddTask  which
       ensures that all values in the task control structure are up to date on
       multiprocessor systems even in this case.  The task  control  structure
       should  not  be altered, except by a task handler as noted below, while
       the task is scheduled.

       ggDelTask will remove a task from  the  scheduler.   The  task  may  be
       called  after  ggDelTask  is called, but is guaranteed not to be called
       after ggDelTask has returned, until such a point as it is  added  again
       with ggAddTask.

       A task can be put to sleep for a certain amount of time in microseconds
       by altering the period of the task to the correct number of ticks,  and
       then  that  task  itself can reset it’s period back based on a value in
       it’s private hook when it next runs.

       A task can wait for an other task to finish either by writing  code  to
       poll  the  other task’s flags, or by writing a callback into the latter
       task when it is done to reschedule a list of waiting tasks.  How a task
       terminates is entirely up to the author.

       Each  scheduled  task  is  guaranteed  never  to  be  reentered  by the
       scheduler.  That is, only one call to a task handler for a  given  task
       control  structure  will  be  run  at  a  time, though a single handler
       function that handles more than  one  task  control  structure  may  be
       entered simultaneously once per structure.

       When  a  task  executes,  the handler is invoked and the parameter task
       given to the handler contains the same pointer value as  was  given  to
       ggAddTask.   The ncalls member will be updated to contain the number of
       calls, including the current call, which  remain  before  the  task  is
       automatically  deleted (or zero if the task will never be automatically
       deleted.)  Thus it is safe to call ggAddTask again to  reuse  the  task
       control structure once the handler has returned with ncalls equal to 1.
       The lasttick member will contain the number of the LibGG scheduler tick
       being  executed,  which  should increase monotonically unless a problem
       occurs  as   noted   below,   wrapping   around   modulus   the   value
       GG_SCHED_TICK_WRAP.

       ggAddTask  and  ggDelTask may not be called from within a task handler,
       however, the task handler is  free  to  alter  the  pticks  and  ncalls
       members  in  the  task  control  structure  task in order to change its
       period, or increase or  decrease  the  number  of  calls  before  auto-
       deletion.   For  example, to cancel itself, a task need only set ncalls
       to 1 before returning.  The task handler may also change it’s  callback
       function  or  data hook members.  A write memory barrier is included in
       the scheduler to prevent old values from being seen by other processors
       on SMP systems.

       LibGG  ticks  are  measured  in  real (wall clock) time and LibGG makes
       every effort to ensure that drift due to runtime factors is kept  at  a
       minimum.   When  a  process is suspended, however, LibGG ticks stop and
       resume where they left off.  Likewise, when system utilization is  very
       high  or tasks are misused the LibGG scheduler may fail to count ticks.
       However the ggCurTime(3) function will still be accurate in these cases
       and can be used to detect such situations.

       All  scheduled  LibGG  tasks  may  in  the  worst  case  have to be run
       serialized, and may be postponed slightly while a call to ggAddTask  or
       ggDelTask  is in progress, so there may be some delay between the start
       of a LibGG tick and the actual execution of  the  task.   This  can  be
       minimized  by limiting the duties of task handlers to very short, quick
       operations.

       When utilization is high or tasks misbehave, the  scheduler  may  elect
       simply  not  to  call  a task handler even though it is scheduled to be
       called on a given tick.  This may happen either  to  all  tasks  or  to
       select  individual  tasks.    The "lasttick" member of the task control
       structure can be safely read from within a task  handler  in  order  to
       detect  such  a  circumstance (it will always contain the current tick,
       but can be compared to a previously stored value.)

       Since LibGG tasks may be called in  a  signal  handler  or  other  non-
       interruptible context, they should not call ggLock(3) on any locks that
       may already be locked.  In addition, there may be limits imposed on the
       functions  which  are  safe  to use inside task handlers (that is, only
       reentrant functions may be safe.)  More detailed information  on  using
       locks  inside  LibGG  task  handlers  is  contained  in the manpage for
       ggLock(3).

       Scheduled tasks will be canceled, in a somewhat precarious fashion,  by
       a normal call to ggExit(3).  As such, it is considered best practice to
       use ggDelTask to cancel tasks when gracefully deinitializing LibGG or a
       library that uses LibGG.

RETURN VALUE

       ggAddTask returns GGI_OK on success or:

       ·   GGI_EARGREQ if called with NULL argument;

       ·   GGI_EARGINVAL if the task is incorrectly set;

       ·   GGI_EBUSY if the task is already added;

       ·   GGI_ENOMEM if the task lock could not be created.

       ggDelTask returns  GGI_OK on success or:

       ·   GGI_EARGREQ if called with NULL argument;

       ·   GGI_EARGINVAL if the task is not currently scheduled.

       ggTimeBase  returns  an integer between 1 and 1000000, inclusive, which
       represents the number on microseconds between each tick  of  the  LibGG
       scheduler.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       If  the  "-schedhz=speed"  option is present in the GG_OPTS environment
       variable when ggInit is first called, the scheduler time base  will  be
       set  such  that the scheduler executes speed ticks per second.  If this
       is not possible, ggInit(3) will fail.  The default speed  is  60HZ,  or
       the maximum that the environment can support, whichever is less.

       If  the  "-signum=n"  option  is  present  in  the  GG_OPTS environment
       variable when ggInit is first called, and LibGG is  not  compiled  with
       threads support, the UNIX signal used by the scheduler may be selected.
       If n is not a valid signal for this purpose, the results are undefined,
       but  should  not be unsafe for SUID processes.  The default signal used
       is usually SIGPROF, but may be chosen differently based on the needs of
       the   package   maintainer   for  any  particular  LibGG  distribution.
       Applications using LibGG are forbidden from using this signal for other
       purposes, whether or not tasks are used.

       If  the  "-schedthreads=numthreads"  option  is  present in the GG_OPTS
       environment variable when ggInit is first called, and LibGG is compiled
       with threading support, the scheduler will create numthreads additional
       threads to call task handlers.  The default is one  additional  thread.
       If  numthreads is not valid or causes resource allocation problems, the
       results are undefined, but should not be  unsafe  for  SUID  (or  other
       elevated privilege) processes.