NAME
    CGI::SpeedyCGI - Speed up CGI scripts by running them persistently

SYNOPSIS
     #!/usr/local/bin/speedy

     ### Your CGI Script Here

     ##
     ## Optionally, use the CGI::SpeedyCGI module for various things
     ##

     # Create a SpeedyCGI object
     use CGI::SpeedyCGI;
     my $sp = CGI::SpeedyCGI->new;

     # See if we are running under SpeedyCGI or not.
     print "Running under speedy=", $sp->i_am_speedy ? 'yes' : 'no', "\n";

     # Set up a shutdown handler
     $sp->set_shutdown_handler(sub { do something here });

     # Set/get some SpeedyCGI options
     $sp->setopt('timeout', 30);
     print "maxruns=", $sp->getopt('maxruns'), "\n";

DESCRIPTION
    SpeedyCGI is a way to run CGI perl scripts persistently, which usually
    makes them run much more quickly. Converting scripts to use SpeedyCGI is
    in most cases as simple has changing the interpreter line at the top of
    the script from

        #!/usr/local/bin/perl

    to

        #!/usr/local/bin/speedy

    After the script is initially run, instead of exiting, SpeedyCGI keeps
    the perl interpreter running in memory. During subsequent runs, this
    interpreter is used to handle new requests, instead of starting a new
    perl interpreter for each execution.

    SpeedyCGI conforms to the CGI specification, and does not work inside
    the web server. A very fast cgi-bin (written in C) is executed for each
    request. This fast cgi-bin then contacts the persistent Perl process,
    which is usually already in memory, to do the work and return the
    results.

    Since all of these processes run outside the web server, they can't
    cause problems for the web server itself. Also, each perl program runs
    as its own Unix process, so one program can't interfere with another.
    Command line options can also be used to deal with programs that have
    memory leaks or other problems that might keep them from otherwise
    running persistently.

OPTIONS
  How to Set

    SpeedyCGI options can be set in several ways:

    Command Line
        The speedy command line is the same as for regular perl, with the
        exception that SpeedyCGI specific options can be passed in after a
        "--".

        For example:

                #!/usr/local/bin/speedy -w -- -t300

        at the top of your script will call SpeedyCGI with the perl option
        "`-w'" and will pass the "`-t'" option to speedy, telling it to exit
        if no new requests have been received after 300 seconds.

    Environment
        Environment variables can be used to pass in options. This can only
        be done before the initial execution (ie not from within the script
        itself).

    CGI::SpeedyCGI
        The CGI::SpeedyCGI module provides a method, setopt, to set options
        from within the perl script at runtime. There is also a getopt
        method to retrieve the current options.

    mod_speedycgi
        If you are using the optional Apache module, SpeedyCGI options can
        be set in the httpd.conf file.

  Options Available

    The following options are available:

    TIMEOUT
            Command Line        : -tN
            Environment         : SPEEDY_TIMEOUT
            CGI::SpeedyCGI      : TIMEOUT
            mod_speedycgi       : SpeedyTimeout
            Default Value       : 3600 (one hour)

            Description:

                If no new requests have been received after N
                seconds, exit the persistent perl interpreter.
                Use 0 to indicate no timeout.

    MAXRUNS
            Command Line        : -rN
            Environment         : SPEEDY_MAXRUNS
            CGI::SpeedyCGI      : MAXRUNS
            mod_speedycgi       : SpeedyMaxruns
            Default Value       : 0 (ie no max)

            Description:

                Once the perl interpreter has run N times, exit.

    TMPBASE
            Command Line        : -Tstr
            Environment         : SPEEDY_TMPBASE
            CGI::SpeedyCGI      : n/a
            mod_speedycgi       : SpeedyTmpbase
            Default Value       : /tmp/speedy

            Description:

                Use the given prefix for creating temporary files.
                This must be a filename prefix, not a directory name.

    BUFSIZ_POST
            Command Line        : -bN
            Environment         : SPEEDY_BUFSIZ_POST
            CGI::SpeedyCGI      : n/a
            mod_speedycgi       : n/a
            Default Value       : 1024

            Description:

                Use N bytes for the buffer that sends data
                to the CGI script.

    BUFSIZ_GET
            Command Line        : -BN
            Environment         : SPEEDY_BUFSIZ_GET
            CGI::SpeedyCGI      : n/a
            mod_speedycgi       : n/a
            Default Value       : 8192

            Description:

                Use N bytes for the buffer that receives data
                from the CGI script.

METHODS
    The following methods are available in the CGI::SpeedyCGI module.

    new 
        Create a new CGI::SpeedyCGI object.

            my $sp = CGI::SpeedyCGI->new;

    set_shutdown_handler($function_ref)
        Register a function that will be called right before the perl
        interpreter exits. This is not at the end of each request, it is
        when the perl interpreter decides to exit completely (due to a
        timeout, maxruns, etc)

            $sp->set_shutdown_handler(sub {$dbh->logout});

    i_am_speedy
        Returns a boolean telling whether this script is running under
        SpeedyCGI or not. A CGI script can run under regular perl, or under
        SpeedyCGI. This method allows the script to tell which environment
        it is in.

            $sp->i_am_speedy;

    setopt($optname, $value)
        Set one of the SpeedyCGI options given in the OPTIONS section.
        Returns the previous value that the option had. $optname is case-
        insensitive.

            $sp->setopt('TIMEOUT', 300);

    getopt($optname)
        Return the current value of one of the SpeedyCGI options. $optname
        is case-insensitive.

            $sp->getopt('TIMEOUT');

INSTALLATION
    SpeedyCGI has been tried with perl versions 5.004_04 and 5.005_02, and
    under Solaris 2.6, Redhat Linux 5.1, and FreeBSD 3.1. There may be
    problems wither other OSes or earlier versions of Perl.

    To install, do the following:

        perl Makefile.PL
        make
        make test
        make install

    This will install a "speedy" binary in the same directory where "perl"
    was installed. If you want to install the optional Apache module, see
    the README in the apache directory.

BUGS
    *   Under heavy load we may run out of sockets (especially on FreeBSD),
        since they hang around in a TIME_WAIT state after closing. Might do
        better with fifos (named pipes).

        Workaround on FreeBSD is to increase the "maxusers" value in the
        kernel config file and compile/install a new kernel. The default
        value of 32 is too low -- use 256 or more.

    *   On Solaris w/Netscape Enterprise 3.x, occasionally the CGI front-end
        gets stuck in the poll() call in speedy.c.

    *   "make test" reportedly fails under sun4 sunos 4.1.4

    *   Release 1.6 reportedly runs very slow on Dec Alpha running Unix 4.0b and
        fails the intial_eof test. 1.5 runs OK.

TODO
    *   Need benchmarks of speedy vs mod_perl

    *   Pass file descriptors 0/1 to the Perl prog using I_SENDFD on systems
        that support it (like Solaris). Avoids the overhead of copying
        through the CGI front-end.

    *   Need to figure out whether speedyhandler still works/is useful, and if
        so document how to use it.

    *   In start_perl, use a poll() timeout instead of an alarm to implement the
        timeout while waiting for an accept. It's cleaner than a signal.

    *   Need to allow more program control from perl via the CGI::SpeedyCGI
        module. Should be able to have the perl prog wait for a new
        connection, etc.

    *   Need an option to limit the maximum number of processes per cgi-bin.

    *   Add option to check the amount of memory in use and exit when it gets
        too high.

    *   Need tests for:

    *       getopt, setopt and i_am_speedy methods.

    *       multiple persistent perl processes

    *       mod_speedycgi

    *   Add option to have a single perl process handle multiple cgi-bin's.

MAILING LIST
    speedycgi@newlug.org. Subscribe by sending a message to speedycgi-
    request@newlug.org with "subscribe" in the body.

    Archive is at http://newlug.org/mailArchive/speedycgi

DOWNLOADING
    SpeedyCGI can be retrieved from:

        http://daemoninc.com/speedycgi
        http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-authors/id/H/HO/HORROCKS/

AUTHOR
        Sam Horrocks
        Daemon Consulting Inc.
        http://daemoninc.com
        sam@daemoninc.com

COPYRIGHT
    Copyright (c) 1999 Daemon Consulting Inc. All rights reserved. This
    program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
    the same terms as Perl itself.

