Erlang Language

director

Introduction#

Flexible, fast and powerful supervisor library for Erlang processes.

Remarks#

Warnings

  • Do not use 'count'=>infinity and element restart in your plan.

like:

Childspec = #{id => foo
             ,start => {bar, baz, [arg1, arg2]}
             ,plan => [restart]
             ,count => infinity}.

If your process did not start after crash, director will lock and retries to restart your process infinity times ! If you are using infinity for 'count', always use {restart, MiliSeconds} in 'plan' instead of restart.

  • If you have plans like:
Childspec1 = #{id => foo
              ,start => {bar, baz}
              ,plan => [restart,restart,delete,wait,wait, {restart, 4000}]
              ,count => infinity}.

Childspec2 = #{id => foo
              ,start => {bar, baz}
              ,plan => [restart,restart,stop,wait, {restart, 20000}, restart]
              ,count => infinity}.

Childspec3 = #{id => foo
              ,start => {bar, baz}
              ,plan => [restart,restart,stop,wait, {restart, 20000}, restart]
              ,count => 0}.

Childspec4 = #{id => foo
              ,start => {bar, baz}
              ,plan => []
              ,count => infinity}.

The rest of delete element in Childspec1 and the rest of stop element in Childspec2 will never evaluate!
In Childspec3 you want to run your plan 0 times!
In ChildSpec4 you have not any plan to run infinity times!

  • When you upgrade a release using release_handler, release_handler calls supervisor:get_callback_module/1 for fetching its callback module.

In OTP<19 get_callback_module/1 uses supervisor internal state record for giving its callback module. Our director does not know about supervisor internal state record, then supervisor:get_callback_module/1 does not work with directors.
Good news is that in OTP>=19 supervisor:get_callback_module/1 works perfectly with directors :).

1> foo:start_link().
{ok,<0.105.0>}

2> supervisor:get_callback_module(foo_sup).
foo

3>

Download

Pouriya@Jahanbakhsh ~ $ git clone https://github.com/Pouriya-Jahanbakhsh/director.git

Compile

Note that OTP>=19 required (if you want to upgrade it using release_handler).
Go to director and use rebar or rebar3.

Pouriya@Jahanbakhsh ~ $ cd director

rebar

Pouriya@Jahanbakhsh ~/director $ rebar compile
==> director_test (compile)
Compiled src/director.erl
Pouriya@Jahanbakhsh ~/director $

rebar3

Pouriya@Jahanbakhsh ~/director $ rebar3 compile
===> Verifying dependencies...
===> Compiling director
Pouriya@Jahanbakhsh ~/director $

How it works

director needs a callback module (like OTP supervisor).
In callback module you should export function init/1.
What init/1 should return? wait, i’ll explain step by step.

-module(foo).
-export([init/1]).

init(_InitArg) ->
    {ok, []}.

Save above code in foo.erl in director directory and go to the Erlang shell.
Use erl -pa ./ebin if you used rebar to compile it and use rebar3 shell if you used rebar3.

Erlang/OTP 19 [erts-8.3] [source-d5c06c6] [64-bit] [smp:8:8] [async-threads:0] [hipe] [kernel-poll:false]

Eshell V8.3  (abort with ^G)
1> c(foo).
{ok,foo}

2> Mod = foo.
foo

3> InitArg = undefined. %% i don't need it yet.
undefined

4> {ok, Pid} = director:start_link(Mod, InitArg).
{ok,<0.112.0>}

5>

Now we have a supervisor without children.
Good news is that director comes with full OTP/supervisor API and it has its advanced features and specific approach too.

5> director:which_children(Pid). %% You can use supervisor:which_children(Pid) too :)
[]

6> director:count_children(Pid). %% You can use supervisor:count_children(Pid) too :)
[{specs,0},{active,0},{supervisors,0},{workers,0}]

7> director:get_pids(Pid). %% You can NOT use supervisor:get_pids(Pid) because it hasn't :D
[]

OK, I’ll make simple gen_server and give it to our director.

-module(bar).
-behaviour(gen_server).
-export([start_link/0
        ,init/1
        ,terminate/2]). %% i am not going to use handle_call, handle_cast ,etc.


start_link() ->
    gen_server:start_link(?MODULE, null, []).

init(_GenServerInitArg) ->
    {ok, state}.

terminate(_Reason, _State) ->
    ok.

Save above code in bar.erl and got back to the Shell.

8> c(bar).                                       
bar.erl:2: Warning: undefined callback function code_change/3 (behaviour 'gen_server')
bar.erl:2: Warning: undefined callback function handle_call/3 (behaviour 'gen_server')
bar.erl:2: Warning: undefined callback function handle_cast/2 (behaviour 'gen_server')
bar.erl:2: Warning: undefined callback function handle_info/2 (behaviour 'gen_server')
{ok,bar}

%% You should define unique id for your process.
9> Id = bar_id.
bar_id

%% You should tell diector about start module and function for your process.
%% Should be tuple {Module, Function, Args}.
%% If your start function doesn't need arguments (like our example)
%% just use {Module, function}.
10> start = {bar, start_link}.
{bar,start_link}

%% What is your plan for your process?
%% I asked you some questions at the first of this README file.
%% Plan should be an empty list or list with n elemenst.
%% Every element can be one of
%% 'restart'
%% 'delete'
%% 'stop'
%% {'stop', Reason::term()}
%% {'restart', Time::pos_integer()}
%% for example my plan is:
%% [restart, {restart, 5000}, delete]
%% In first crash director will restart my process, 
%% after next crash director will restart it after 5000 mili-seconds
%% and after third crash director will not restart it and will delete it
11> Plan = [restart, {restart, 5000}, delete].
[restart,{restart,5000},delete]

%% What if i want to restart my process 500 times?
%% Do i need a list with 500 'restart's?
%% No, you just need a list with one element, I'll explain it later.

12> Childspec = #{id => Id
                 ,start => Start
                 ,plan => Plan}.
#{id => bar_id,
  plan => [restart,{restart,5000},delete],
  start => {bar,start_link}}

13> director:start_child(Pid, Childspec). %% You can use supervisor:start_child(Pid, ChildSpec) too :)
{ok,<0.160.0>}

14>

Lets check it

14> director:which_children(Pid).
[{bar_id,<0.160.0>,worker,[bar]}]

15> director:count_children(Pid). 
[{specs,1},{active,1},{supervisors,0},{workers,1}]

%% What was get_pids/1?
%% It will returns all RUNNING ids with their pids.
16> director:get_pids(Pid).
[{bar_id,<0.160.0>}]

%% We can get Pid for specific RUNNING id too
17> {ok, BarPid1} = director:get_pid(Pid, bar_id). 
{ok,<0.160.0>}


%% I want to kill that process
18> erlang:exit(BarPid1, kill).
true

%% Check all running pids again
19> director:get_pids(Pid).                       
[{bar_id,<0.174.0>}] %% changed (restarted)

%% I want to kill that process again
%% and i will check children before spending time
20> {ok, BarPid2} = director:get_pid(Pid, bar_id), erlang:exit(BarPid2, kill).
true

21> director:get_pids(Pid).
[]

22> director:which_children(Pid).
[{bar_id,restarting,worker,[bar]}] %% restarting

23> director:get_pid(Pid, bare_id).
{error,not_found}

%% after 5000 ms
24> director:get_pids(Pid).      
[{bar_id,<0.181.0>}]

25> %% Yoooohoooooo

I mentioned advanced features, what are they? Lets see other acceptable keys for Childspec map.

-type childspec() :: #{'id' => id()      
                      ,'start' => start()
                      ,'plan' => plan()
                      ,'count' => count()
                      ,'terminate_timeout' => terminate_timeout()
                      ,'type' => type()
                      ,'modules' => modules()
                      ,'append' => append()}.

%% 'id' is mandatory and can be any Erlang term
-type  id() :: term().

%% Sometimes 'start' is optional ! just wait and read carefully
-type  start() :: {module(), function()} % default Args is []
                | mfa().

%% I explained 'restart', 'delete' and {'restart', MiliSeconds}
%% 'stop': director will crash with reason {stop, [info about process crash]}.
%% {'stop', Reason}: director exactly will crash with reason Reason.
%% 'wait': director will not restart process, 
%%  but you can restart it using director:restart_child/2 and you can use supervisor:restart_child/2 too.
%% fun/2: director will execute fun with 2 arguments.
%%  First argument is crash reason for process and second argument is restart count for process.
%%  Fun should return terms like other plan elements.
%% Default plan is:
%% [fun
%%      (normal, _RestartCount) ->
%%          delete;
%%      (shutdown, _RestartCount) ->
%%          delete;
%%      ({shutdown, _Reason}, _RestartCount) ->
%%          delete;
%%      (_Reason, _RestartCount) ->
%%          restart
%%  end]
-type  plan() :: [plan_element()] | [].
-type   plan_element() :: 'restart'
                        | {'restart', pos_integer()}
                        | 'wait'
                        | 'stop'
                        | {'stop', Reason::term()}
                        | fun((Reason::term()
                              ,RestartCount::pos_integer()) ->
                                  'restart'
                                | {'restart', pos_integer()}
                                | 'wait'
                                | 'stop'
                                | {'stop', Reason::term()}).

%% How much time you want to run plan?
%% Default value of 'count' is 1.
%% Again, What if i want to restart my process 500 times?
%%  Do i need a list with 500 'restart's?
%%  You just need plan ['restart'] and 'count' 500 :)
-type  count() :: 'infinity' | non_neg_integer().

%% How much time director should wait for process termination?
%% 0 means brutal kill and director will kill your process using erlang:exit(YourProcess, kill).
%% For workers default value is 1000 mili-seconds and for supervisors default value is 'infinity'.
-type  terminate_timeout() :: 'infinity' | non_neg_integer().

%% default is 'worker'
-type  type() :: 'worker' | 'supervisor'.

%% Default is first element of 'start' (process start module)
-type  modules() :: [module()] | 'dynamic'.

%% :)
%% Default value is 'false'
%% I'll explan it 
-type  append() :: boolean().

Edit foo module:

-module(foo).
-export([start_link/0
        ,init/1]).

start_link() ->
    director:start_link({local, foo_sup}, ?MODULE, null).

init(_InitArg) ->
    Childspec = #{id => bar_id
                 ,plan => [wait]
                 ,start => {bar,start_link}
                 ,count => 1
                 ,terminate_timeout => 2000},
    {ok, [Childspec]}.

Go to the Erlang shell again:

1> c(foo).
{ok,foo}

2> foo:start_link().
{ok,<0.121.0>}

3> director:get_childspec(foo_sup, bar_id). 
{ok,#{append => false,count => 1,id => bar_id,
      modules => [bar],
      plan => [wait],
      start => {bar,start_link,[]},
      terminate_timeout => 2000,type => worker}}

4> {ok, Pid} = director:get_pid(foo_sup, bar_id), erlang:exit(Pid, kill).
true

5> director:which_children(foo_sup).
[{bar_id,undefined,worker,[bar]}] %% undefined

6> director:count_children(foo_sup).
[{specs,1},{active,0},{supervisors,0},{workers,1}]

7> director:get_plan(foo_sup, bar_id).
{ok,[wait]}

%% I can change process plan
%% I killed process one time.
%% If i kill it again, entire supervisor will crash with reason {reached_max_restart_plan... because 'count' is 1
%% But after changing plan, its counter will restart from 0.
8> director:change_plan(foo_sup, bar_id, [restart]).
ok

9> director:get_childspec(foo_sup, bar_id).
{ok,#{append => false,count => 1,id => bar_id,
      modules => [bar],
      plan => [restart], %% here
      start => {bar,start_link,[]},
      terminate_timeout => 2000,type => worker}}

10> director:get_pids(foo_sup).
[]

11> director:restart_child(foo_sup, bar_id).
{ok,<0.111.0>}

12> {ok, Pid2} = director:get_pid(foo_sup, bar_id), erlang:exit(Pid2, kill).
true

13> director:get_pid(foo_sup, bar_id).
{ok,<0.113.0>}

14> %% Hold on
Finally what the append key is?

actually always we have one DefaultChildspec.

14> director:get_default_childspec(foo_sup).
{ok,#{count => 0,modules => [],plan => [],terminate_timeout => 0}}

15>

DefaultChildspec is like normal childspecs except that it can’t accept id and append keys.
If i change append value to true in my Childspec:
My terminate_timeout will be added to terminate_timeout of DefaultChildspec.
My count will be added to count of DefaultChildspec.
My modules will be added to modules of DefaultChildspec.
My plan will be added to plan of DefaultChildspec.
And if i have start key with value {ModX, FuncX, ArgsX} in DefaultChildspec and start key with value {ModY, FunY, ArgsY} in Childspec, final value will be {ModY, FuncY, ArgsX ++ ArgsY}.
And finally if i have start key with value {Mod, Func, Args} in DefaultChildspec, start key in Childspec is optional for me.
You can return your own DefaultChildspec as third element of tuple in init/1.
Edit foo.erl:

-module(foo).
-behaviour(director). %% Yes, this is a behaviour
-export([start_link/0
        ,init/1]).

start_link() ->
    director:start_link({local, foo_sup}, ?MODULE, null).

init(_InitArg) ->
    Childspec = #{id => bar_id
                 ,plan => [wait]
                 ,start => {bar,start_link}
                 ,count => 1
                 ,terminate_timeout => 2000},
    DefaultChildspec = #{start => {bar, start_link}
                        ,terminate_timeout => 1000
                        ,plan => [restart]
                        ,count => 5},
    {ok, [Childspec], DefaultChildspec}.

Restart the shell:

1> c(foo).
{ok,foo}

2> foo:start_link().
{ok,<0.111.0>}

3> director:get_pids(foo_sup).
[{bar_id,<0.112.0>}]

4> director:get_default_childspec(foo_sup).
{ok,#{count => 5,
      plan => [restart],
      start => {bar,start_link,[]},
      terminate_timeout => 1000}}

5> Childspec1 = #{id => 1, append => true},
%% Default 'plan' is [Fun], so 'plan' will be [restart] ++ [Fun] or [restart, Fun].
%% Default 'count' is 1, so 'count' will be 1 + 5 or 6.
%% Args in above Childspec is [], so Args will be [] ++ [] or [].
%% Default 'terminate_timeout' is 1000, so 'terminate_timeout' will be 1000 + 1000 or 2000.
%% Default 'modules' is [bar], so 'modules' will be [bar] ++ [] or [bar].
5> director:start_child(foo_sup, Childspec1).
{ok,<0.116.0>}

%% Test
6> director:get_childspec(foo_sup, 1).       
{ok,#{append => true,
      count => 6,
      id => 1,
      modules => [bar],
      plan => [restart,#Fun<director.default_plan_element_fun.2>],
      start => {bar,start_link,[]},
      terminate_timeout => 2000,
      type => worker}}

7> director:get_pids(foo_sup).
[{bar_id,<0.112.0>},{1,<0.116.0>}]

%% I want to have 9 more children like that
8> [director:start_child(foo_sup
                        ,#{id => Count, append => true})
   || Count <- lists:seq(2, 10)].
[{ok,<0.126.0>},
 {ok,<0.127.0>},
 {ok,<0.128.0>},
 {ok,<0.129.0>},
 {ok,<0.130.0>},
 {ok,<0.131.0>},
 {ok,<0.132.0>},
 {ok,<0.133.0>},
 {ok,<0.134.0>}]

10> director:count_children(foo_sup).
[{specs,11},{active,11},{supervisors,0},{workers,11}]

11>

You can change defaultChildspec dynamically using change_default_childspec/2 !
And you can change Childspec of children dynamically too and set their append to true !
But with changing them in different parts of code, you will make spaghetti code

Can i debug director?

Yessssss, diorector has its own debug and accepts standard sys:dbg_opt/0.
director sends valid logs to sasl and error_logger in different states too.

1> Name = {local, dname},
   Mod = foo,
   InitArg = undefined,
   DbgOpts = [trace],
   Opts = [{debug, DbgOpts}].
[{debug,[trace]}]

2> director:start_link(Name, Mod, InitArg, Opts).
{ok,<0.106.0>}
3> 
3> director:count_children(dname).
*DBG* director "dname" got request "count_children" from "<0.102.0>" 
*DBG* director "dname" sent "[{specs,1},
                              {active,1},
                              {supervisors,0},
                              {workers,1}]" to "<0.102.0>"
[{specs,1},{active,1},{supervisors,0},{workers,1}]

4> director:change_plan(dname, bar_id, [{restart, 5000}]).
*DBG* director "dname" got request "{change_plan,bar_id,[{restart,5000}]}" from "<0.102.0>" 
*DBG* director "dname" sent "ok" to "<0.102.0>"
ok

5> {ok, Pid} = director:get_pid(dname, bar_id).
*DBG* director "dname" got request "{get_pid,bar_id}" from "<0.102.0>" 
*DBG* director "dname" sent "{ok,<0.107.0>}" to "<0.102.0>"
{ok,<0.107.0>}

%% Start SASL
6> application:start(sasl).
ok
... %% Log about starting SASL

7> erlang:exit(Pid, kill).
*DBG* director "dname" got exit signal for pid "<0.107.0>" with reason "killed"
true

=SUPERVISOR REPORT==== 4-May-2017::12:37:41 ===
     Supervisor: dname
     Context:    child_terminated
     Reason:     killed
     Offender:   [{id,bar_id},
                  {pid,<0.107.0>},
                  {plan,[{restart,5000}]},
                  {count,1},
                  {count2,0},
                  {restart_count,0},
                  {mfargs,{bar,start_link,[]}},
                  {plan_element_index,1},
                  {plan_length,1},
                  {timer_reference,undefined},
                  {terminate_timeout,2000},
                  {extra,undefined},
                  {modules,[bar]},
                  {type,worker},
                  {append,false}]
8>

%% After 5000 mili-seconds 
*DBG* director "dname" got timer event for child-id "bar_id" with timer reference "#Ref<0.0.1.176>"

=PROGRESS REPORT==== 4-May-2017::12:37:46 ===
          supervisor: dname
             started: [{id,bar_id},
                       {pid,<0.122.0>},
                       {plan,[{restart,5000}]},
                       {count,1},
                       {count2,1},
                       {restart_count,1},
                       {mfargs,{bar,start_link,[]}},
                       {plan_element_index,1},
                       {plan_length,1},
                       {timer_reference,#Ref<0.0.1.176>},
                       {terminate_timeout,2000},
                       {extra,undefined},
                       {modules,[bar]},
                       {type,worker},
                       {append,false}]
8>

Generate API documentation

rebar:

Pouriya@Jahanbakhsh ~/director $ rebar doc

rebar3:

Pouriya@Jahanbakhsh ~/director $ rebar3 edoc

erl

Pouriya@Jahanbakhsh ~/director $ mkdir -p doc && 
                                 erl -noshell\
                                     -eval "edoc:file(\"./src/director.erl\", [{dir, \"./doc\"}]),init:stop()."

After running one of the above commands, HTML documentation should be in doc directory.

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