A Channel is an unbounded channel:
data Chan a newChan :: IO (Chan a) writeChan :: Chan a -> a -> IO () readChan :: Chan a -> IO a dupChan :: Chan a -> IO (Chan a) unGetChan :: Chan a -> a -> IO () getChanContents :: Chan a -> IO [a] writeList2Chan :: Chan a -> [a] -> IO () |
A channel variable (CVar) is a one-element channel, as described in the paper:
data CVar a newCVar :: IO (CVar a) writeCVar :: CVar a -> a -> IO () readCVar :: CVar a -> IO a |
The MVar interface provides access to “MVars” (pronounced “em-vars”), which are synchronising variables. An MVar is simply a box, which may be empty or full. The basic operations available over MVars are given below:
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data MVar a -- abstract instance Eq (MVar a) newEmptyMVar :: IO (MVar a) newMVar :: a -> IO (MVar a) takeMVar :: MVar a -> IO a putMVar :: MVar a -> a -> IO () readMVar :: MVar a -> IO a swapMVar :: MVar a -> a -> IO a tryTakeMVar :: MVar a -> IO (Maybe a) tryPutMVar :: MVar a -> a -> IO Bool isEmptyMVar :: MVar a -> IO Bool withMVar :: MVar a -> (a -> IO b) -> IO b modifyMVar_ :: MVar a -> (a -> IO a) -> IO () modifyMVar :: MVar a -> (a -> IO (a,b)) -> IO b addMVarFinalizer :: MVar a -> IO () -> IO () |
New empty MVars can be created with newEmptyMVar. To create an MVar with an initial value, use newMVar.
The takeMVar operation returns the contents of the MVar if it was full, or waits until it becomes full otherwise.
The putMVar operation puts a value into an empty MVar. Calling putMVar on an already full MVar will cause the calling thread to block until the MVar becomes empty again (NOTE: this is a change from the previous behaviour, where putMVar on a full MVar would raise an exception).
The tryTakeMVar function is a non-blocking version of takeMVar. If the MVar is full, then it returns Just a (where a is the contents of the MVar) and empties the MVar. If the MVar is empty, it immediately returns Nothing.
The tryPutMVar function is a non-blocking version of putMVar. If the MVar is empty, then it behaves as putMVar, and returns True. If the MVar is full, instead of blocking it returns False immediately.
This is a combination of takeMVar and putMVar; ie. it takes the value from the MVar, puts it back, and also returns it.
swapMVar swaps the contents of an MVar for a new value.
The operation isEmptyMVar returns a flag indicating whether the MVar is currently empty or filled in, i.e., will a thread block when performing a takeMVar on that MVar or not?
Please notice that the Boolean value returned from isEmptyMVar represent just a snapshot of the state of the MVar. By the time a thread gets to inspect the result and act upon it, other threads may have accessed the MVar and changed the 'filled-in' status of the variable. The same proviso applies to isEmptyChan (next sub-section).
withMVar is a safe wrapper for operating on the contents of an MVar. This operation is exception-safe: it will replace the MVar if an exception is raised (see Section 4.12).
modifyMVar and modifyMVar_ are safe wrappers for replacing the contents of an MVar with a new value. These operations are exception-safe: in the event that an exception is raised during the operation, the old contents of the MVar will be replaced.
addMVarFinalizer places a finalizer on an MVar object, in the same way as addForeignPtrFinalizer (see Section 4.15).
data QSem newQSem :: Int -> IO QSem waitQSem :: QSem -> IO () signalQSem :: QSem -> IO () |
data QSemN newQSemN :: Int -> IO QSemN signalQSemN :: QSemN -> Int -> IO () waitQSemN :: QSemN -> Int -> IO () |
A sample variable (SampleVar) is slightly different from a normal MVar:
Reading an empty SampleVar causes the reader to block (same as takeMVar on empty MVar).
Reading a filled SampleVar empties it and returns value. (same as takeMVar)
Writing to an empty SampleVar fills it with a value, and potentially, wakes up a blocked reader (same as for putMVar on empty MVar).
Writing to a filled SampleVar overwrites the current value. (different from putMVar on full MVar.)
type SampleVar a = MVar (Int, MVar a) emptySampleVar :: SampleVar a -> IO () newSampleVar :: IO (SampleVar a) readSample :: SampleVar a -> IO a writeSample :: SampleVar a -> a -> IO () |
Merging streams---binary and n-ary:
mergeIO :: [a] -> [a] -> IO [a] nmergeIO :: [[a]] -> IO [a] |
These actions fork one thread for each input list that concurrently evaluates that list; the results are merged into a single output list.
Note: Hugs does not provide the functions mergeIO or nmergeIO since these require preemptive multitasking.