Elixir v1.3.0-rc.0 Task View Source

Conveniences for spawning and awaiting tasks.

Tasks are processes meant to execute one particular action throughout their lifetime, often with little or no communication with other processes. The most common use case for tasks is to convert sequential code into concurrent code by computing a value asynchronously:

task = Task.async(fn -> do_some_work() end)
res  = do_some_other_work()
res + Task.await(task)

Tasks spawned with async can be awaited on by their caller process (and only their caller) as shown in the example above. They are implemented by spawning a process that sends a message to the caller once the given computation is performed.

Besides async/1 and await/2, tasks can also be started as part of a supervision tree and dynamically spawned on remote nodes. We will explore all three scenarios next.

async and await

One of the common uses of tasks is to convert sequential code into concurrent code with Task.async/1 while keeping its semantics. When invoked, a new process will be created, linked and monitored by the caller. Once the task action finishes, a message will be sent to the caller with the result.

Task.await/2 is used to read the message sent by the task.

There are two important things to consider when using async:

If you are using async tasks, you must await a reply as they are always sent. If you are not expecting a reply, consider using Task.start_link/1 detailed below.
async tasks link the caller and the spawned process. This means that, if the caller crashes, the task will crash too and vice-versa. This is on purpose: if the process meant to receive the result no longer exists, there is no purpose in completing the computation.

If this is not desired, use Task.start/1 or consider starting the task under a Task.Supervisor using async_nolink or start_child.

Task.yield/2 is an alternative to await/2 where the caller will temporarily block, waiting until the task replies or crashes. If the result does not arrive within the timeout, it can be called again at a later moment. This allows checking for the result of a task multiple times. If a reply does not arrive within the desired time, Task.shutdown/2 can be used to stop the task.

Supervised tasks

It is also possible to spawn a task under a supervisor with start_link/1 and start_link/3:

Task.start_link(fn -> IO.puts "ok" end)

Such tasks can be mounted in your supervision tree as:

import Supervisor.Spec

children = [
  worker(Task, [fn -> IO.puts "ok" end])
]

Since these tasks are supervised and not directly linked to the caller, they cannot be awaited on. Note start_link/1, unlike async/1, returns {:ok, pid} (which is the result expected by supervision trees).

By default, most supervision strategies will try to restart a worker after it exits regardless of the reason. If you design the task to terminate normally (as in the example with IO.puts/2 above), consider passing restart: :transient in the options to worker/3.

Dynamically supervised tasks

The Task.Supervisor module allows developers to dynamically create multiple supervised tasks.

A short example is:

{:ok, pid} = Task.Supervisor.start_link()
task = Task.Supervisor.async(pid, fn ->
  # Do something
end)
Task.await(task)

However, in the majority of cases, you want to add the task supervisor to your supervision tree:

import Supervisor.Spec

children = [
  supervisor(Task.Supervisor, [[name: MyApp.TaskSupervisor]])
]

Now you can dynamically start supervised tasks:

Task.Supervisor.start_child(MyApp.TaskSupervisor, fn ->
  # Do something
end)

Or even use the async/await pattern:

Task.Supervisor.async(MyApp.TaskSupervisor, fn ->
  # Do something
end) |> Task.await()

Finally, check Task.Supervisor for other supported operations.

Distributed tasks

Since Elixir provides a Task supervisor, it is easy to use one to dynamically spawn tasks across nodes:

# On the remote node
Task.Supervisor.start_link(name: MyApp.DistSupervisor)

# On the client
Task.Supervisor.async({MyApp.DistSupervisor, :remote@local},
                      MyMod, :my_fun, [arg1, arg2, arg3])

Note that, when working with distributed tasks, one should use the async/4 function that expects explicit module, function and arguments, instead of async/2 that works with anonymous functions. That’s because anonymous functions expect the same module version to exist on all involved nodes. Check the Agent module documentation for more information on distributed processes as the limitations described there apply to the whole ecosystem.

Link to this section Summary

Types

t()

Functions

%Task{}

The Task struct

async(fun)

Starts a task that must be awaited on

async(mod, fun, args)

Starts a task that must be awaited on

await(task, timeout \\ 5000)

Awaits a task reply

shutdown(task, shutdown \\ 5000)

Unlinks and shuts down the task, and then checks for a reply

start(fun)

Starts a task

start(mod, fun, args)

Starts a task

start_link(fun)

Starts a task as part of a supervision tree

start_link(mod, fun, args)

Starts a task as part of a supervision tree

yield(task, timeout \\ 5000)

Temporarily blocks the current process waiting for a task reply

yield_many(tasks, timeout \\ 5000)

Yields to multiple tasks in the given time interval

Link to this section Types

t()

t() :: %Task{owner: term, pid: term, ref: term}

Link to this section Functions

%Task{} (struct)

The Task struct.

It contains these fields:

:pid - the PID of the task process; nil if the task does not use a task process
:ref - the task monitor reference
:owner - the PID of the process that started the task

async(fun)

async((... -> any)) :: t

Starts a task that must be awaited on.

This function spawns a process that is linked to and monitored by the caller process. A Task struct is returned containing the relevant information.

Read the Task module documentation for more info on general usage of async/1 and async/3.

Linking

This function spawns a process that is linked to and monitored by the caller process. The linking part is important because it aborts the task if the parent process dies. It also guarantees the code before async/await has the same properties after you add the async call. For example, imagine you have this:

x = heavy_fun()
y = some_fun()
x + y

Now you want to make the heavy_fun() async:

x = Task.async(&heavy_fun/0)
y = some_fun()
Task.await(x) + y

As before, if heavy_fun/0 fails, the whole computation will fail, including the parent process. If you don’t want the task to fail then you must change the heavy_fun/0 code in the same way you would achieve it if you didn’t have the async call. For example, to either return {:ok, val} | :error results or, in more extreme cases, by using try/rescue. In other words, an asynchronous task should be thought of as an extension of a process rather than a mechanism to isolate it from all errors.

If you don’t want to link the caller to the task, then you must use a supervised task with Task.Supervisor and call Task.Supervisor.async_nolink/2.

In any case, avoid any of the following:

Setting :trap_exit to true - trapping exits should be used only in special circumstances as it would make your process immune to not only exits from the task but from any other processes.

Moreover, even when trapping exists, calling await will still exit if the task has terminated without sending its result back.
Unlinking the task process started with async/await. If you unlink the processes and the task does not belong to any supervisor, you may leave dangling tasks in case the parent dies.

Message format

The reply sent by the task will be in the format {ref, result}, where ref is the monitor reference held by the task struct and result is the return value of the task function.

await(task, timeout \\ 5000)

await(t, timeout) :: term | no_return

Awaits a task reply.

A timeout, in milliseconds, can be given with default value of 5000. In case the task process dies, this function will exit with the same reason as the task.

If the timeout is exceeded, await will exit; however, the task will continue to run. When the calling process exits, its exit signal will terminate the task if it is not trapping exits.

This function assumes the task’s monitor is still active or the monitor’s :DOWN message is in the message queue. If it has been demonitored, or the message already received, this function will wait for the duration of the timeout awaiting the message.

This function can only be called once for any given task. If you want to be able to check multiple times if a long-running task has finished its computation, use yield/2 instead.

Compatibility with OTP behaviours

It is not recommended to await a long-running task inside an OTP behaviour such as GenServer. Instead, you should match on the message coming from a task inside your handle_info callback.

shutdown(task, shutdown \\ 5000)

shutdown(t, timeout | :brutal_kill) ::
  {:ok, term} |
  {:exit, term} |
  nil

Unlinks and shuts down the task, and then checks for a reply.

Returns {:ok, reply} if the reply is received while shutting down the task, {:exit, reason} if the task died, otherwise nil.

The shutdown method is either a timeout or :brutal_kill. In case of a timeout, a :shutdown exit signal is sent to the task process and if it does not exit within the timeout, it is killed. With :brutal_kill the task is killed straight away. In case the task terminates abnormally (possibly killed by another process), this function will exit with the same reason.

It is not required to call this function when terminating the caller, unless exiting with reason :normal or if the task is trapping exits. If the caller is exiting with a reason other than :normal and the task is not trapping exits, the caller’s exit signal will stop the task. The caller can exit with reason :shutdown to shutdown all of its linked processes, including tasks, that are not trapping exits without generating any log messages.

start(fun)

start((... -> any)) :: {:ok, pid}

Starts a task.

This is only used when the task is used for side-effects (i.e. no interest in the returned result) and it should not be linked to the current process.

start(mod, fun, args)

start(module, atom, [term]) :: {:ok, pid}

Starts a task.

This is only used when the task is used for side-effects (i.e. no interest in the returned result) and it should not be linked to the current process.

start_link(fun)

start_link((... -> any)) :: {:ok, pid}

Starts a task as part of a supervision tree.

start_link(mod, fun, args)

start_link(module, atom, [term]) :: {:ok, pid}

Starts a task as part of a supervision tree.

yield(task, timeout \\ 5000)

yield(t, timeout) :: {:ok, term} | {:exit, term} | nil

Temporarily blocks the current process waiting for a task reply.

Returns {:ok, reply} if the reply is received, nil if no reply has arrived, or {:exit, reason} if the task has already exited. Keep in mind that normally a task failure also causes the process owning the task to exit. Therefore this function can return {:exit, reason} only if

the task process exited with the reason :normal
it isn’t linked to the caller
the caller is trapping exits

A timeout, in milliseconds, can be given with default value of 5000. If the time runs out before a message from the task is received, this function will return nil and the monitor will remain active. Therefore yield/2 can be called multiple times on the same task.

This function assumes the task’s monitor is still active or the monitor’s :DOWN message is in the message queue. If it has been demonitored or the message already received, this function will wait for the duration of the timeout awaiting the message.

yield_many(tasks, timeout \\ 5000)

yield_many([t], timeout) :: [{t, {:ok, term} | {:exit, term} | nil}]

Yields to multiple tasks in the given time interval.

This function receives a list of tasks and waits for their replies in the given time interval. It returns a list of tuples of two elements, with the task as the first element and the yielded result as the second.

Similarly to yield/2, each task’s result will be

{:ok, term} if the task has successfully reported its result back in the given time interval
{:exit, reason} if the task has died
nil if the task keeps running past the timeout

Check yield/2 for more information.

Example

Task.yield_many/2 allows developers to spawn multiple tasks and retrieve the results received in a given timeframe. If we combine it with Task.shutdown/2, it allows us to gather those results and cancel the tasks that have not replied in time.

Let’s see an example.

tasks =
  for i <- 1..10 do
    Task.async(fn ->
      :timer.sleep(i * 1000)
      i
    end)
  end

tasks_with_results = Task.yield_many(tasks, 5000)

results = Enum.map(tasks_with_results, fn {task, res} ->
  # Shutdown the tasks that did not reply nor exit
  res || Task.shutdown(task, :brutal_kill)
end)

# Here we are matching only on {:ok, value} and
# ignoring {:exit, _} (crashed tasks) and `nil` (no replies)
for {:ok, value} <- results do
  IO.inspect value
end

In the example above, we create tasks that sleep from 1 up to 10 seconds and return the amount of seconds they slept. If you execute the code all at once, you should see 1 up to 5 printed, as those were the tasks that have replied in the given time. All other tasks will have been shut down using the Task.shutdown/2 call.