AG_EVENT(3)

NAME
AG_Event - agar event system

SYNOPSIS

    #include <agar/core.h>

DESCRIPTION
The AG_Event interface implements a system of virtual functions for purposes of servicing events. An AG_Object(3) may act as an event sender, or an event receiver. Event handler functions are passed a list of zero or more arguments. Execution of event handlers can be delayed for a set amount of time, or marked for execution in a separate thread (where thread support is available).

Event processing is triggered by the AG_PostEvent() function, which causes the execution the event handler routine(s) previously registered by AG_SetEvent() or AG_AddEvent(). Event handlers are declared as:

void MyEventHandler(AG_Event *event)

The event structure contains the event arguments, which are most convenient retrieved using macros; see EVENT ARGUMENTS below for details.

NOTE: This manual page documents Agar's high-level event processing interface. For more information on low-level event processing, see AG_EventLoop(3).

EVENT PROCESSING
AG_Event * AG_SetEvent(AG_Object *obj, const char *event_name, void (*fn)(AG_Event *event), const char *fnArgs, ...)

AG_Event * AG_AddEvent(AG_Object *obj, const char *event_name, void (*fn)(AG_Event *event), const char *fnArgs, ...)

AG_Function * AG_SetVoidFn(AG_Object *obj, void (*fn)(AG_Event *event), const char *fnArgs, ...)

AG_Function * AG_SetIntFn(AG_Object *obj, int (*fn)(AG_Event *event), const char *fnArgs, ...)

AG_Function * AG_SetUint8Fn(AG_Object *obj, Uint8 (*fn)(AG_Event *event), const char *fnArgs, ...)

AG_Function * AG_SetSint8Fn(AG_Object *obj, Sint8 (*fn)(AG_Event *event), const char *fnArgs, ...)

AG_Function * AG_SetUint16Fn(AG_Object *obj, Uint16 (*fn)(AG_Event *event), const char *fnArgs, ...)

AG_Function * AG_SetSint16Fn(AG_Object *obj, Sint16 (*fn)(AG_Event *event), const char *fnArgs, ...)

AG_Function * AG_SetUint32Fn(AG_Object *obj, Uint32 (*fn)(AG_Event *event), const char *fnArgs, ...)

AG_Function * AG_SetSint32Fn(AG_Object *obj, Sint32 (*fn)(AG_Event *event), const char *fnArgs, ...)

AG_Function * AG_SetUint64Fn(AG_Object *obj, Uint64 (*fn)(AG_Event *event), const char *fnArgs, ...)

AG_Function * AG_SetSint64Fn(AG_Object *obj, Sint64 (*fn)(AG_Event *event), const char *fnArgs, ...)

AG_Function * AG_SetFloatFn(AG_Object *obj, float (*fn)(AG_Event *event), const char *fnArgs, ...)

AG_Function * AG_SetDoubleFn(AG_Object *obj, double (*fn)(AG_Event *event), const char *fnArgs, ...)

AG_Function * AG_SetLongDoubleFn(AG_Object *obj, long double (*fn)(AG_Event *event), const char *fnArgs, ...)

AG_Function * AG_SetStringFn(AG_Object *obj, size_t (*fn)(AG_Event *event, char *buf, size_f buf_size), const char *fnArgs, ...)

AG_Function * AG_SetPointerFn(AG_Object *obj, void *(*fn)(AG_Event *event), const char *fnArgs, ...)

AG_Function * AG_SetConstPointerFn(AG_Object *obj, const void *(*fn)(AG_Event *event), const char *fnArgs, ...)

AG_Function * AG_SetTextFn(AG_Object *obj, AG_Text *(*fn)(AG_Event *event), const char *fnArgs, ...)

AG_Event * AG_FindEventHandler(AG_Object *obj, const char *name)

void AG_UnsetEvent(AG_Object *obj, const char *event_name)

int AG_PostEvent(AG_Object *sndr, AG_Object *rcvr, const char *event_name, const char *fmt, ...)

int AG_PostEventByPtr(AG_Object *sndr, AG_Object *rcvr, AG_Event *event, const char *fmt, ...)

int AG_SchedEvent(AG_Object *sndr, AG_Object *rcvr, Uint32 ticks, const char *event_name, const char *fmt, ...)

void AG_ForwardEvent(AG_Object *sndr, AG_Object *rcvr, AG_Event *event)

The AG_SetEvent() function registers a new event handler to service events of type name. If an event handler is already registered for the given event type, it is replaced. The AG_AddEvent() variant preserves any existing event handler, such that multiple handlers can be invoked when the event is raised. The fn argument is a pointer to the event handler function, and fnArgs is a special kind of format string specifying a list of arguments that should be passed on to the event handler function. See EVENT ARGUMENTS below for details.

The AG_Set<TYPE>Fn() family of functions create a virtual function with a return value of the specified TYPE. By default, virtual functions are unnamed (and referenced by the returned AG_Function() handle). Names can still be assigned to virtual functions by setting the name field. Since event handlers and virtual functions are implemented identically, the AG_Function() type is just an alias for AG_Event().

The AG_FindEventHandler() function searches for an event handler by name, returning a pointer to the AG_Event element on success or NULL if there is no match.

The AG_UnsetEvent() function deletes the named event handler.

The AG_PostEvent() function immediately executes the event handler function associated with the given event type, if there is any. The fn and fnArgs arguments to AG_PostEvent() are interpreted in the same way as AG_SetEvent() and AG_AddEvent(), but the arguments are appended at the end of the argument list. When the event handler function retrieves arguments by index (as opposed to using argument names), it is important to remember that the arguments to AG_PostEvent() follow the arguments given to AG_SetEvent() or AG_AddEvent().

The AG_PostEvent() function returns 1 if an event handler was invoked, or 0 if there is no registered event handler for the specified event.

The AG_PostEventByPtr() variant accepts a pointer to an AG_Event element, as opposed to looking up the event handler by name.

The AG_SchedEvent() function provides an interface similar to AG_PostEvent(), except that the event is scheduled to occur in the given number of ticks AG_SchedEvent() returns 0 on success or -1 if the timer could not be created. If the object is detached or destroyed, all events scheduled for execution are automatically cancelled. A more flexible interface for implementing timers is described in AG_Timer(3) (which AG_SchedEvent() uses internally).

The AG_ForwardEvent() function relays the given event to object rcvr, passing sndr as the sender pointer.

EVENT ARGUMENTS
The AG_SetEvent(), AG_AddEvent() and AG_PostEvent() routines accept a special fnArgs format string specifying a list of arguments to be passed to the event handler function. For example, the ‘%s,%p,%i’ string specifies that the following arguments are a string, a pointer and an int. The arguments would retrieved by the event handler function like so:

    void
    MyEventHandler(AG_Event *event)
    {
    	char *s = AG_STRING(1);
    	void *p = AG_PTR(2);
    	int i = AG_INT(3);
    }

Named arguments are also supported. For example, the format string ‘%s(foo),%p(bar),%i(baz)’ specifies string, pointer and integer arguments, which can be retrieved using:

    void
    MyEventHandler(AG_Event *event)
    {
    	char *s = AG_STRING_NAMED("foo");
    	void *p = AG_PTR_NAMED("bar");
    	int i = AG_INT_NAMED("baz");
    }

The following argument specifiers are accepted:
%p  An arbitrary pointer (void *).
%Cp An arbitrary pointer (const void *).
%i  A signed integer argument (int).
%u  An unsigned integer argument (Uint).
%li A signed long integer argument (long).
%lu An unsigned long integer argument (Ulong).
%f  A real argument (float).
%d  A real argument (double).
%s  A string argument (char *).
%Cs A string argument (const char *).

The following macros allow event handler routines to retrieve the arguments passed to them. Variable arguments are supported - in that case, arguments can be retrieved directly from the event structure (see STRUCTURE DATA).

AG_Object * AG_SELF(void)

AG_Object * AG_SENDER(void)

void * AG_PTR(int index)

AG_Object * AG_OBJECT(int index, const char *classSpec)

char * AG_STRING(int index)

int AG_INT(int index)

Uint AG_UINT(int index)

long AG_LONG(int index)

Ulong AG_ULONG(int index)

float AG_FLOAT(int index)

double AG_DOUBLE(int index)

void * AG_PTR_NAMED(const char *key)

AG_Object * AG_OBJECT_NAMED(const char *key, const char *classSpec)

char * AG_STRING_NAMED(const char *key)

int AG_INT_NAMED(const char *key)

Uint AG_UINT_NAMED(const char *key)

long AG_LONG_NAMED(const char *key)

Ulong AG_ULONG_NAMED(const char *key)

float AG_FLOAT_NAMED(const char *key)

double AG_DOUBLE_NAMED(const char *key)

The AG_SELF() macro (equivalent to AG_PTR(0)) returns a pointer to the AG_Object(3) receiving the event (the rcvr argument to AG_PostEvent()). AG_SENDER() returns a pointer to the object sending the event (the sndr argument to AG_PostEvent()), if there is one.

The following macros return a specific item in the list of arguments. When retrieving arguments by index, keep in mind that the list of arguments passed by AG_PostEvent() follow the list of arguments provided by AG_SetEvent(). If debugging was enabled at compile time, these macros also ensure type safety.

AG_PTR() returns a pointer, previously passed as a ‘%p’ argument.

AG_OBJECT() returns a pointer to an AG_Object(3) (previously passed as a ‘%p’ argument). It differs from AG_PTR() in that the object pointer is verified against the specified object class and a fatal error is raised if runtime type checking is in effect.

AG_STRING() returns a pointer to a string, previously passed as a ‘%s’ argument. The event handler is not allowed to modify the string.

AG_INT(), AG_UINT(), AG_LONG() and AG_ULONG() return the specified native integral number, previously passed as a ‘%i’, ‘%u’, ‘%li’ or ‘%lu’ argument respectively.

AG_FLOAT() and AG_DOUBLE() return the specified native floating-point number, previously passed as ‘%f’ or ‘%F’ argument respectively.

The AG_*_NAMED() macros retrieve the given argument by name instead of by index. If there is no argument matching the name, a fatal error is raised.

ARGUMENT MANIPULATION
In some cases it is desirable for functions to accept a list of event handler arguments like AG_SetEvent(), and possibly manipulate its entries directly. For example, the AG_MenuAction(3) function of the GUI widget AG_Menu(3) accepts a pointer to an event handler function, followed by an AG_SetEvent() style format string and a variable list of arguments. The following functions allow such manipulations.

void AG_EventInit(AG_Event *ev)

void AG_EventArgs(AG_Event *ev, const char *fmt, ...)

void AG_EventPushPointer(AG_Event *ev, const char *key, void *val)

void AG_EventPushString(AG_Event *ev, const char *key, char *val)

void AG_EventPushInt(AG_Event *ev, const char *key, int val)

void AG_EventPushUint(AG_Event *ev, const char *key, Uint val)

void AG_EventPushLong(AG_Event *ev, const char *key, long val)

void AG_EventPushULong(AG_Event *ev, const char *key, Ulong val)

void AG_EventPushFloat(AG_Event *ev, const char *key, float val)

void AG_EventPushDouble(AG_Event *ev, const char *key, douvle val)

void AG_EVENT_PUSH_ARG(va_list ap, char formatChar, AG_Event *ev)

void AG_EventPopArgument(AG_Event *ev)

The AG_EventInit() routine initializes an AG_Event structure with no arguments.

AG_EventArgs() initializes ev and also specifies a list of arguments (in the same format as AG_SetEvent()).

The AG_EventPush*() functions append an argument to the end of the argument list for the specified AG_Event structure.

The AG_EVENT_PUSH_ARG() macro also insert an argument, except that the type is obtained from formatChar, assumed to be a character from an AG_SetEvent() style format string, and the argument is retrieved using va_arg(3).

AG_EventPopArgument() removes the last argument from the list.

EVENT QUEUES
Under some circumstances, it is useful to gather AG_Event objects into a simple queue. For example, a custom event loop routine (see AG_EventLoop(3)) or a low-level Agar driver (see AG_Driver(3)) may gather events from input devices and later process them. The AG_EventQ structure describes a queue of events:

    typedef struct ag_event_queue {
    	Uint     nEvents;
    	AG_Event *events;
    } AG_EventQ;

The following routines operate on the AG_EventQ structure:

void AG_InitEventQ(AG_EventQ *eq)

void AG_FreeEventQ(AG_EventQ *eq)

void AG_QueueEvent(AG_EventQ *eq, const char *event_name, const char *fmt, ...)

The AG_InitEventQ() function initializes an AG_EventQ structure. AG_FreeEventQ() releases all resources allocated under an event queue.

AG_QueueEvent() inserts an event in an event queue structure. The meaning of event_name as well as the syntax of fmt are identical to. AG_PostEvent().

STRUCTURE DATA
For the AG_Event structure:

char * name
    String identifier for the event.
Uint flags
    See EVENT FLAGS section below.
int argc
    Argument count.
AG_Variable *argv
    Argument data (see AG_Variable(3)).

EVENT FLAGS
Acceptable flags for the AG_Event structure include:

AG_EVENT_ASYNC
    Arrange for the event handler to execute inside a separate thread that will be automatically created (and managed by the receiver object). This flag is only available if Agar was compiled with the AG_THREADS option.

AG_EVENT_PROPAGATE
    Automatically forward events of this type to all attached child objects. If AG_EVENT_ASYNC is also set, the event handlers of the child objects are executed concurrently.

EXAMPLES
The following code fragment demonstrates a typical AG_Event usage in the Agar-GUI library. We bind an action to the button press event, which is called ‘button-pushed’. This event is documented in the AG_Button(3) manual, and so are the arguments it appends to the list of arguments passed to the event handler (in this case, a single int).

    void
    SayHello(AG_Event *event)
    {
    	char *s = AG_STRING(1);    /* Given in AG_SetEvent() */
    	int new_state = AG_INT(2); /* Passed by 'button-pushed',
    	                              see AG_Button(3) */
    	AG_TextMsg(AG_MSG_INFO, "Hello, %s! (state = %d)",
    	    s, new_state);
    }
    AG_Button *btn = AG_ButtonNew(NULL, 0, "Say hello");
    AG_SetEvent(btn, "button-pushed", SayHello, "%s", "World");

The AG_Button API provides a shorthand constructor routine, AG_ButtonNewFn(), which accepts the ‘button-pushed’ event handler as argument:

    AG_ButtonNewFn(NULL, 0, "Say hello", SayHello, "%s", "World");

The following code fragment is equivalent:

    AG_Button *btn = AG_ButtonNew(NULL, 0, "Say hello");
    AG_Event *event = AG_SetEvent(btn, "button-pushed", SayHello, NULL);
    AG_EventPushString(event, NULL, "World");

The following code fragment invokes a handler routine artificially:

    void
    SayHello(AG_Event *event)
    {
    	char *foostring = AG_STRING(1);
    	int fooint = AG_INT(2);
    }
    AG_Event event;
    AG_EventArgs(&event, "%s,%d", "Foo string", 1234);
    SayHello(&event);

SEE ALSO
AG_EventLoop(3), AG_Intro(3), AG_Object(3), AG_Timer(3), AG_Variable(3)

HISTORY
The AG_Event mechanism first appeared in Agar 1.0. The AG_Variable(3) structure was first used to represent event handler arguments in Agar 1.3.4.