NEWS.md
mirai() and everywhere():
environment() to be supplied to ‘.args’ or as the only element of ‘…’.stop_mirai() now resolves to an ‘errorValue’ 20 (operation canceled) in the case the asynchronous task was still ongoing (thanks @jcheng5 #110).nanonext >= [0.13.6.9010].mirai() and everywhere() behaviour changed such that ‘…’ args are now assigned to the global environment of the daemon process.with() method for mirai daemons, allowing for example: with(daemons(4), {expr}), where the daemons last for the duration of ‘expr’.register_cluster() for registering ‘miraiCluster’ as a parallel Cluster type (requires R >= 4.4).is.promising() method for ‘mirai’ for the promises package.$stack.trace, and includes the trailing line break for consistency with ‘as.character.error()’.serialization adds arguments ‘class’ and ‘vec’ for custom serialisation of all reference object types.ssh_config() argument ‘timeout’ widened to 10 (seconds).daemons() specifying ‘output = FALSE’ registering as TRUE instead.everywhere() specifying ‘.args’ as an unnamed list or ‘.expr’ as a language object.local_url() helper to construct a random inter-process communications URL for local daemons (thanks @noamross #90).daemon() argument ‘autoexit’ now accepts a signal value such as tools::SIGINT in order to raise it upon exit.daemon() now records the state of initial global environment objects (e.g. those created in .Rprofile) for cleanup purposes (thanks @noamross #91).as.promise() method for ‘mirai’.serialization() for registering custom serialization and unserialization functions when using daemons.call_mirai_(), a user-interruptible version of call_mirai() suitable for interactive use.mirai() interface:
everywhere() now returns invisible NULL in the case the specified compute profile is not set up, rather than error.mirai() specifying a timeout when daemons() has not been set - the timeout begins immediately rather than after the ephemeral daemon has connected - please factor in a small amount of time for the daemon to launch.make_cluster() now prints daemon launch commands where ‘url’ is specified without ‘remote’ whether or not interactive.make_cluster() specifying only ‘url’ now succeeds with implied ‘n’ of one.mirai() specifying a language object by name for ‘.expr’ in R versions 4.0 and earlier.%...>% with a ‘mirai’.everywhere() evaluates an expression ‘everywhere’ on all connected daemons for a compute profile. Resulting changes to the global environment, loaded pacakges or options are persisted regardless of the ‘cleanup’ setting (request by @krlmlr #80).host_url() implemented as a helper function to automatically construct the host URL using the computer’s hostname.daemon() adds argument ‘autoexit’, which replaces ‘asyncdial’, to govern persistence settings for a daemon. A daemon can now survive a host session and re-connect to another one (request by @krlmlr #81).daemons(NULL) implemented as a variant of daemons(0) which also sends exit signals to connected persistent daemons.dispatcher() argument ‘lock’ removed as this is now applied in all cases to prevent more than one daemon dialling into a dispatcher URL at any one time.daemon() argument ‘cleanup’ simplified to a logical argument, with more granular control offered by the existing integer bitmask (thanks @krlmlr #79).ssh_config() specifying tunnelling to the ‘remote’ argument of daemons().%>>%.make_cluster() creates a ‘miraiCluster’, compatible with all existing functions taking a ‘cluster’ object, for example in the ‘parallel’ and ‘doParallel’ / ‘foreach’ packages.status() can now take a ‘miraiCluster’ as the argument to query its connection status.launch_remote() improvements:
daemons() gains the following features:
launch_remote().remote_config() added to generate configurations for directly launching remote daemons, and can be supplied directly to a ‘remote’ argument.ssh_config() added as a convenience method to generate launch configurations using SSH, including SSH tunnelling.mirai() adds logical argument ‘.signal’ for whether to signal the condition variable within the compute profile upon resolution of the ‘mirai’.daemon() argument ‘exitlinger’ retired as daemons now synchronise with the host/dispatcher and exit as soon as possible (although a default ‘exitlinger’ period still applies to ephemeral daemons).daemons() or dispatcher() now raise an error early rather than attempting to launch daemons that fail.status() if there is no longer a connection to dispatcher.daemons(), dispatcher() and daemon() to clearly delineate core vs peripheral options.%>>% in favour of a recommendation to use package mirai.promises for performing side effects upon ‘mirai’ resolution.server() for daemon() is retired.daemons() gains the new argument ‘seed’ to set a random seed for generating these streams.daemon() and dispatcher() gain the argument ‘rs’ which takes a L’Ecuyer-CMRG random seed.nextstream() and nextget(), opening interfaces for packages which extend mirai.--vanilla flags for efficiency, avoiding lengthy startup configurations (thanks @alexpiper).status() occasionally failing to communicate with dispatcher.saisei():
status():
saisei() or launch_local().saisei() no longer resets the counter but instead turns it negative until a new daemon connects.launch_remote().daemons() and dispatcher() gain the argument ‘pass’ to support password-protected private keys when supplying TLS credentials (thanks @wlandau #76).daemons(), launch_local() or launch_remote() now works correctly as documented.tls+tcp:// or wss:// URL in daemons(). Single-use keys and certificates are automatically generated.daemons() and daemon(), such as those generated via a Ceritficate Signing Request (CSR) to a Certificate Authority (CA).launch_remote() launches daemons on remote machines and/or returns the shell command for launching daemons as a character vector.
launch_remote("ws://192.168.0.1:5555", command = "ssh", args = c("-p 22 192.168.0.2", .).daemon() replaces server(), which is deprecated (although currently retained as an alias).launch_local() replaces launch_server() and now accepts a vector argument for ‘url’ as well as numeric values to select the relevant dispatcher or host URL, returning invisible NULL instead of an integer value.status() now retrieves connections and daemons status, replacing the call to daemons() with no arguments (which is deprecated). The return value of $daemons is now always the host URL when not using dispatcher.output=TRUE for daemons() or launch_local(). daemon() accepts a new ‘output’ argument.saisei() argument validation now happens prior to sending a request to dispatcher rather than on dispatcher.saisei(i = 1L) is called.daemons() status requests have been rendered more robust.saisei() always returns NULL if ‘tcp://’ URLs are being used as they do not support tokens.server() and dispatcher() argument ‘asyncdial’ is now FALSE by default, causing these functions to exit if a connection is not immediately available. This means that for distributed computing purposes, daemons() should be called before server() is launched on remote resources, or else server(asyncdial = TRUE) allows servers to wait for a connection.launch_server() now parses the passed URL for correctness before attempting to launch a server, producing an error if not valid.%>>% gains the following enhancements:
.() implemented to wrap a piped expression, ensuring return of either an ‘unresolvedExpr’ or ‘resolvedExpr’.unresolved() in the same way as a ‘mirai’.mirai() gains the following enhancements (thanks @HenrikBengtsson):
dispatcher() gains the following arguments:
token for appending a unique token to each URL the dispatcher listens at.lock for locking sockets to prevent more than one server connecting at a unique URL.saisei() implemented to regenerate the token used by a given dispatcher socket.launch_server() replaces launch() for launching local instances, with a simpler interface directly mapping to server().mirai() with timeouts and no connection to a server.dispatcher() re-implemented using an innovative non-polling design. Efficient process consumes zero processor usage when idle and features significantly higher throughput and lower latency.
launch() exported as a utility for easily re-launching daemons that have timed out, for instance.... variables in the daemons() call..compute argument in daemons() and mirai() for sending tasks with heterogeneous compute requirements.
daemons() interface has a new url argument along with dispatcher for using a background dispatcher process to ensure optimal FIFO task scheduling (now the default).
:0 will automatically assign a free ephemeral port, with the actual port number subsequently reported by daemons().daemons("view") functionality.dispatcher() is implemented as a new function for the dispatcher.server() gains the following arguments:
asyncdial to specify how the server dials into the client.maxtasks for specifying a maximum number of tasks before exiting.idletime for specifying an idle time, since completion of the last task before exiting.walltime for specifying a soft walltime before exiting.timerstart for specifying a minimum number of task completions before starting timers.daemons() and server() now error and return immediately instead of potentially causing a hang.eval_mirai() is removed as an alias for mirai().--vanilla argument to enable site / user profile and environment files to be read.call_mirai() again (regression in 0.7.0), now returning a ‘miraiInterrupt’.is_mirai_interrupt() to test if an object is a ‘miraiInterrupt’.daemons() now takes ‘n’ and ‘.url’ arguments. ‘.url’ is an optional client URL allowing mirai tasks to be distributed across the network. Compatibility with existing interface is retained.server() is exported for creating daemon / ephemeral processes on network resources.daemons() and %>>% deferred evaluation pipe.mirai() gains a ‘.args’ argument for passing a list of objects already in the calling environment, allowing for example mirai(func(x, y, z), .args = list(x, y, z)) rather than having to specify mirai(func(x, y, z), x = x, y = y, z = z).is_mirai_error() should be used in place of is_nul_byte(), which is no longer re-exported.is_error_value() can be used to test for all errors, including timeouts where the ‘.timeout’ argument has been used.%>>% deferred evaluation pipe.mirai() to ensure a mirai always resolves even if the child process crashes etc.is_mirai() to test if an object is a mirai.$data to optimally align with the underlying implementation.mirai() added as an alias for eval_mirai(); supports evaluating arbitrary length expressions wrapped in {}.call_mirai(). Access the $value directly and an ‘unresolved’ logical NA will be returned if the async operation is yet to complete.stop_mirai() added as a function to stop evaluation of an ongoing async operation.is_nul_byte() and unresolved() re-exported from {nanonext} to test for evaluation errors and resolution of a ‘mirai’ respectively.daemons() interface to set and manage persistent background processes for receiving ‘mirai’ requests.