forks

Changes for version 0.28

Bug fixes *****
join() and detach() now correctly propagate and throw exceptions to threads, in such cases as joining or detaching an already joined or detached thread.
Threads now supports circular self-referential shared variables (i.e. my $x:shared; $x = \$x;) and consistently returns the correct REF value; circular-referental sets of variables are also supported, if defined before sharing with shared_clone()).
forks::shared function is_shared() now understands REF type input and circular referential shared variables.
is_shared() should now return a consistent address in all threads and for all variable types; however, note since it refences memory in the shared process, do NOT use the return value to perform direct memory access (not that it was intended for this purpose, anyway).
Using single-declaration form of 'use constant' for Perl 5.6.x compatibility.
Explicitly registering 'threads' warnings pragma, for Perl 5.6.x compatibility.
Added more XS prototype compatibility with 5.6.x, allowing second forms of cond_wait and cond_timedwait to be better supported.
Added second forms of cond_wait and cond_timedwait to Perl < 5.8 source filters (eliminates segfaults).
Identified and implemented additional internal state conditions when error 'Cannot detach a joined thread' should occur.
threads->list(threads::all) no longer returns threads that already have a thread blocking to join them.
Corrected a few uses of hash and array iterators that modify structure in loop (using each() for hashes, separate array copy).
Threads API consistency changes *****
forks::shared now implements standard threads::shared function shared_clone().
Scalars that have a value and are shared afterwards will retain the shared value when running in native threads emulation mode.
Restartable system calls (platform-dependent) and sleep (including Time::HiRes sleep, usleep, and nanosleep) should no longer be interrupted by CHLD signal, unless CHLD signal handler is defined in user code. This should more accurately represent process behavior with slow system calls, as would be expected with native ithreads.
Bumped threads $VERSION to 1.71 and threads::shared $VERSION to 1.26 to match version-supported features and behavior.
forks::shared share() now correctly checks the function prototype when disabled (e.g. when forks::shared is loaded without or before forks).
CLONE method/function is now supported in main:: package (was ignored).
CLONE_SKIP method/function is now supported. Usage details at: http://perldoc.perl.org/perl593delta.html#'CLONE_SKIP()'
threads->object(0) now returns undef (main thread is not considered an object).
Support for 'array' context type (alias for already supported 'list' type) when creating a new thread.
Thread attempting to join self (while non-detached) returns an error.
Now correctly storing/returning stack size settings, although not internally used for anything useful at this time.
Core function rand() is now reseeded in each new thread (via srand()).
Miscellaneous changes *****
Added THREADS_NATIVE_EMULATION environment variable to allow users to have forks behave more like native ithreads ("buggy" behaviors and all).
Removed source filter requirement for Perl 5.9+. (Now using internal PL_sharehook instead of Attribute::Handlers whenver possible, including with Perl 5.8.x.)
Removed use of AUTOLOAD in forks::shared; may see a minor shared variable access performance improvement.
Added signal blocking when doing fork() system call, to insure most reliable thread startup behavior (i.e. custom CHLD signal handler won't create instability).
Made minor changes to the test suite to improve descriptions and suppress a few unnecessary warnings.
Added internal patching mechanism to allow Test::More to work with Perl 5.8.1 and older (primarily for test suite backward compatibility).
Silenced spurious Test::More "WOAH! ..." warnings in test suite, regarding Test::More being unaware of global test counting when mixing forks and threads.
Added extra parameter error checking to XS code.
Modified internal data manipulation for broadcast() to protect against occasional memory corruption with Perl 5.6.x (delete() on array appeared to cause rare segfaults).
Added 'if' CPAN module to package requirements, for Perl 5.6 support (test suite).
Updated to ppport.h 3.14.