git-annex/doc/design/external_special_remote_protocol/async_appendix.mdwn
Joey Hess 7546e686a2
async proto basically working
Simplified the protocol by removing END-ASYNC.

There's a STM crash when a non-async protocol message is sent, which
needs to be fixed.
2020-08-13 15:52:12 -04:00

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(This is a draft and not implemented yet.)
This is an appendix to the [[external_special_remote_protocol]].
[[!toc]]
## introduction
Normally, an external special remote can only be used to do one thing at a
time. When git-annex has concurrency enabled, it will start up multiple
processes for the same external special remote.
This extension lets a single external special remote process handle
multiple concurrent requests, which can be useful if multiple processes
would use too many resources, or if it can be better coordinated using a
single process.
## protocol overview
As usual, the protocol starts by the external special remote sending
the version of the protocol it's using.
VERSION 1
This extension is negotiated by git-annex sending an `EXTENSIONS` message
that includes `ASYNC`, and the external special remote responding in kind.
EXTENSIONS INFO ASYNC
EXTENSIONS ASYNC
From this point forward, *everything* that the external special remote
has to be wrapped in the async protocol. Messages git-annex sends are
unchanged.
Generally the first message git-annex sends will be PREPARE.
PREPARE
Rather than just responding PREPARE-SUCCESS, it has to be wrapped
in the async protocol:
RESULT-ASYNC PREPARE-SUCCESS
Suppose git-annex wants to make some transfers. So it sends:
TRANSFER RETRIEVE Key1 file1
The special remote should respond with an unique identifier for this
async job that it's going to start. The identifier can
be anything you want to use, but an incrementing number is a
reasonable choice. (The Key itself is not a good choice, because git-annex
could make different requests involving the same Key.)
START-ASYNC 1
Once that's sent, git-annex can send its next request immediately,
while that transfer is still running. For example, it might request a
second transfer, and the special remote can reply when it's started that
transfer too:
TRANSFER RETRIEVE 2 file2
START-ASYNC 2
When the special remote sends a message, such as PROGRESS, it has to
wrap it in ASYNC, to specify the job identifier.
ASYNC 1 PROGRESS 10
ASYNC 2 PROGRESS 500
ASYNC 1 PROGRESS 20
This can also be used to query git-annex for some information.
The reply to a query is eventually sent back wrapped in `REPLY-ASYNC`.
ASYNC 1 GETCONFIG url
TRANSFER RETRIEVE 3 file3
REPLY-ASYNC 1 VALUE http://example.com/
Once a transfer is done, the special remote indicates this by
wrapping the usual `TRANSFER-SUCCESS` or
`TRANSFER-FAILURE` message in `ASYNC`.
ASYNC 2 TRANSFER-SUCCESS RETRIEVE Key2
ASYNC Key1 PROGRESS 100
ASYNC 1 TRANSFER-SUCCESS RETRIEVE Key1
Not only transfers, but everything the special remote sends to git-annex
has to be wrapped in the async protocol.
CHECKPRESENT Key3
START-ASYNC 3
CHECKPRESENT Key4
START-ASYNC 4
ASYNC 3 CHECKPRESENT-SUCCESS Key3
REMOVE Key3
ASYNC 4 CHECKPRESENT-FAILURE Key4
START-ASYNC 5
ASYNC 5 REMOVE-SUCCESS Key3
## added messages
Here's the details about the additions to the protocol.
* `START-ASYNC JobId`
This (or `RESULT-ASYNC` must be sent in response to all requests
git-annex sends after `EXTENSIONS` has been used to negotiate the
async protocol.
The JobId is a unique value, typically an incrementing number.
This does not need to be sent immediately after git-annex sends a request;
other messages can be sent in between. But the next START-ASYNC git-annex sees
after sending a request tells it the JobId that will be used for that request.
* `ASYNC JobId Msg`
All the usual protocol messages that are sent by the external special
remote must be wrapped in this, to specify which job the message relates
to.
* `RESULT-ASYNC ResultMsg`
This is the same as sending `START-ASYNC` immediately followed by
`ASYNC` with a result message. This is often used to respond to
`PREPARE` other things that are trivial or just don't need to be handled
async.
* `REPLY-ASYNC JobId Reply`
Sent by git-annex when an `ASYNC` requested a reply.
Note that this may not be the next message received from
git-annex immediately after sending an `ASYNC` request.