<chapter id="user-building-blocks"><title>Building Blocks</title>

  <para>Building blocks are layered on top of channels. Most of them
  do not even need a channel, all they need is a class that implements
  interface <classname>Transport</classname> (channels do). This
  enables them to work on any type of group transport that obeys this
  interface.  Building blocks can be used instead of channels whenever
  a higher-level interface is required. Whereas channels are simple
  socket-like constructs, building blocks may offer a far more
  sophisticated interface. In some cases, building blocks offer access
  to the underlying channel, so that -- if the building block at hand
  does not offer a certain functionality -- the channel can be
  accessed directly.  Building blocks are located in the
  <classname>org.jgroups.blocks</classname> package. Only the ones
  that are relevant for application programmers are discussed
  below.</para>


  <section><title>PullPushAdapter</title>

      <para>
          Note that this building block has been deprecated and should not be used anymore !
      </para>

    <para>This class is a converter (or adapter, as used in <xref
    linkend="Gamma:1995"/> between the pull-style of actively
    receiving messages from the channel and the push-style where
    clients register a callback which is invoked whenever a message
    has been received. Clients of a channel do not have to allocate a
    separate thread for message reception.</para>

    <para>A <classname>PullPushAdapter</classname> is always created
    on top of a class that implements interface
    <classname>Transport</classname> (e.g. a channel). Clients
    interested in being called when a message is received can register
    with the <classname>PullPushAdapter</classname> using method
    <methodname>setListener()</methodname>. They have to implement
    interface <classname>MessageListener</classname>, whose
    <methodname>receive()</methodname> method will be called when a
    message arrives. When a client is interested in getting view,
    suspicion messages and blocks, then it must additionally register
    as a <classname>MembershipListener</classname> using method
    <methodname>setMembershipListener()</methodname>. Whenever a view,
    suspicion or block is received, the corresponding method will be
    called.</para>

    <para>Upon creation, an instance of
    <classname>PullPushAdapter</classname> creates a thread which
    constantly calls the <methodname>receive()</methodname> method of
    the underlying <classname>Transport</classname> instance, blocking
    until a message is available. When a message is received, if there
    is a registered message listener, its
    <methodname>receive()</methodname> method will be called.</para>

    <para>As this class does not implement interface
    <classname>Transport</classname>, but merely uses it for receiving
    messages, an underlying object has to be used to send messages
    (e.g. the channel on top of which an object of this class
    resides). This is shown in <xref
    linkend="PullPushAdapterFig"/>.</para>

    <figure id="PullPushAdapterFig">
      <title>Class <classname>PullPushAdapter</classname></title>
      <mediaobject>
	<!--imageobject>
	  <imagedata align="center" fileref="PullPushAdapter.png"/>
        </imageobject-->
	<textobject>
	  <phrase>A diagram representing the PullPushAdapter.</phrase>
	</textobject>
      </mediaobject>
    </figure>

    <para>As is shown, the thread constantly pulls messages from the
    channel and forwards them to the registered listeners. An
    application thus does not have to actively pull for messages, but
    the <classname>PullPushAdapter</classname> does this for it. Note
    however, that the application has to <emphasis>directly</emphasis>
    access the channel if it wants to <emphasis>send</emphasis> a
    message.</para>

    <section><title>Example</title>

      <para>This section shows sample code for using a
      <classname>PullPushAdapter</classname>. The example has been
      shortened for readability (error handling has been
      removed).</para>

      <screen>
    public class PullPushTest implements MessageListener {
        Channel          channel;
        PullPushAdapter  adapter;
        byte[]           data="Hello world".getBytes();
        String           props; // fetch properties

        public void receive(Message msg) {
            System.out.println("Received msg: " + msg);
        }

        public void start() throws Exception {
            channel=new JChannel(props);
            channel.connect("PullPushTest");
            adapter=new PullPushAdapter(channel);
            adapter.setListener(this);

            for(int i=0; i &lt; 10; i++) {
                System.out.println("Sending msg #" + i);
                channel.send(new Message(null, null, data));
                Thread.currentThread().sleep(1000);
            }
            adapter.stop();
            channel.close();
        }


        public static void main(String args[]) {
            try {
                new PullPushTest().start();
            }
            catch(Exception e) { /* error */ }
        }
    }
      </screen>

      <para>First a channel is created and connected to. Then an
      instance of <classname>PullPushAdapter</classname> is created
      with the channel as argument. The constructor of
      <classname>PullPushAdapter</classname> starts its own thread
      which continually reads on the channel. Then the
      <classname>MessageListener</classname> is set, which causes all
      messages received on the channel to be sent to
      <methodname>receive()</methodname>. Then a number of messages
      are sent via the channel to the entire group. As group messages
      are also received by the sender, the
      <methodname>receive()</methodname> method will be called every
      time a message is received. Finally the
      <classname>PullPushAdapter</classname> is stopped and the
      channel closed. Note that explicitly stopping the
      <classname>PullPushAdapter</classname> is not actually
      necessary, a closing the channel would cause the
      <classname>PullPushAdapter</classname> to terminate
      anyway.</para>

      <para>Note that, compared to the pull-style example, push-style
      message reception is considerably easier (no separate thread
      management) and requires less code to program.</para>

        <note>
            The PullPushAdapter has been deprecated, and will be removed in 3.0. Use a Receiver implementation
            instead. The advantage of the Receiver-based (push) model is that we save 1 thread.
        </note>

    </section>
    
  </section>

  <section><title>MessageDispatcher</title>

    <para>Channels are simple patterns to
    <emphasis>asynchronously</emphasis> send a receive
    messages. However, a significant number of communication patterns
    in group communication require <emphasis>synchronous
    communication</emphasis>. For example, a sender would like to send
    a message to the group and wait for all responses. Or another
    application would like to send a message to the group and wait
    only until the majority of the receivers have sent a response, or
    until a timeout occurred.</para>

    <para><classname>MessageDispatcher</classname> offers a
    combination of the above pattern with other patterns. It provides
    synchronous (as well as asynchronous) message sending with
    request-response correlation, e.g. matching responses with the
    original request. It also offers push-style message reception (by
    internally using the
    <classname>PullPushAdapter</classname>).</para>

    <para>An instance of <classname>MessageDispatcher</classname> is
    created with a channel as argument. It can now be used in both
    <emphasis>client and server role</emphasis>: a client sends
    requests and receives responses and a server receives requests and
    send responses. <classname>MessageDispatcher</classname> allows a
    application to be both at the same time. To be able to serve
    requests, the <methodname>RequestHandler.handle()</methodname>
    method has to be implemented:</para>

    <screen>
    Object handle(Message msg);
    </screen>

    <para>The <methodname>handle()</methodname> method is called any
    time a request is received. It must return a return value (must be
    serializable, but can be null) or throw an exception. The return
    value will be returned to the sender (as a null response, see
    below). The exception will also be propagated to the
    requester.</para>

    <para>The two methods to send requests are:</para>

    <screen>
    public RspList castMessage(Vector dests, Message msg, int mode, long timeout);
    public Object sendMessage(Message msg, int mode, long timeout)
        throws TimeoutException;
    </screen>

    <para>The <methodname>castMessage()</methodname> method sends a
    message to all members defined in <parameter>dests</parameter>. If
    <parameter>dests</parameter> is null the message will be sent to
    all members of the current group. Note that a possible destination
    set in the message will be overridden. If a message is sent
    synchronously then the <parameter>timeout</parameter> argument
    defines the maximum amount of time in milliseconds to wait for the
    responses.</para>

    <para>The <parameter>mode</parameter> parameter defines whether
    the message will be sent synchronously or asynchronously. The
    following values are valid (from
    <classname>org.jgroups.blocks.GroupRequest</classname>):</para>

    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
	<term>GET_FIRST</term> 
    	<listitem><para>Returns the first response
    	received.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
	<term>GET_ALL</term>
    	<listitem><para>Waits for all responses (minus the ones from
        suspected members)</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
	<term>GET_MAJORITY</term>
    	<listitem><para>Waits for a majority of all responses
        (relative to the group size)</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
	<term>GET_ABS_MAJORITY</term>
    	<listitem><para>Waits for the majority (absolute, computed
        once)</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
	<term>GET_N</term>
    	<listitem><para>Wait for n responses (may block if n > group
        size)</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
	<term>GET_NONE</term>
    	<listitem><para>Wait for no responses, return immediately
        (non-blocking). This make the call
        asynchronous.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>

    
    <para>The <methodname>sendMessage()</methodname> method allows an
    application programmer to send a unicast message to a receiver and
    optionally receive the response. The destination of the message
    has to be non-null (valid address of a receiver). The
    <parameter>mode</parameter> argument is ignored (it is by default
    set to <constant>GroupRequest.GET_FIRST</constant>) unless it is
    set to <constant>GET_NONE</constant> in which case the request
    becomes asynchronous, ie. we will not wait for the
    response.</para>

    <para>One advantage of using this building block is that failed
    members are removed from the set of expected responses. For
    example, when sending a message to 10 members and waiting for all
    responses, and 2 members crash before being able to send a
    response, the call will return with 8 valid responses and 2 marked
    as failed. The return value of
    <methodname>castMessage()</methodname> is a
    <classname>RspList</classname> which contains all responses (not
    all methods shown):</para>

    <screen>
    public class RspList {
        public boolean isReceived(Address sender);
        public int     numSuspectedMembers();
        public Vector  getResults();
        public Vector  getSuspectedMembers();
        public boolean isSuspected(Address sender);
        public Object  get(Address sender);
        public int     size();
        public Object  elementAt(int i) throws ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException;
    }
    </screen>

    <para>Method <methodname>isReceived()</methodname> checks whether
    a response from <parameter>sender</parameter> has already been
    received. Note that this is only true as long as no response has
    yet been received, and the member has not been marked as
    failed. <methodname>numSuspectedMembers()</methodname> returns the
    number of members that failed (e.g. crashed) during the wait for
    responses. <methodname>getResults()</methodname> returns a list of
    return values. <methodname>get()</methodname> returns the return
    value for a specific member.</para>

    <section><title>Example</title>

      <para>This section describes an example of how to use a
      <classname>MessageDispatcher</classname>.</para>
    
      <screen>
    public class MessageDispatcherTest implements RequestHandler {
        Channel            channel;
        MessageDispatcher  disp;
        RspList            rsp_list;
        String             props; // to be set by application programmer

        public void start() throws Exception {
            channel=new JChannel(props);
            disp=new MessageDispatcher(channel, null, null, this);
            channel.connect("MessageDispatcherTestGroup");

            for(int i=0; i &lt; 10; i++) {
                Util.sleep(100);
                System.out.println("Casting message #" + i);
                rsp_list=disp.castMessage(null,
                    new Message(null, null, new String("Number #" + i)),
                    GroupRequest.GET_ALL, 0);
                System.out.println("Responses:\n" +rsp_list);
            }
            channel.close();
            disp.stop();
        }

        public Object handle(Message msg) {
            System.out.println("handle(): " + msg);
            return new String("Success !");
        }

        public static void main(String[] args) {
            try {
                new MessageDispatcherTest().start();
            }
            catch(Exception e) {
                System.err.println(e);
            }
        }
    }
      </screen>
    
      <para>The example starts with the creation of a channel. Next,
      an instance of <classname>MessageDispatcher</classname> is
      created on top of the channel. Then the channel is
      connected. The <classname>MessageDispatcher</classname> will
      from now on send requests, receive matching responses (client
      role) and receive requests and send responses (server
      role).</para>

      <para>We then send 10 messages to the group and wait for all
      responses. The <parameter>timeout</parameter> argument is 0,
      which causes the call to block until all responses have been
      received.</para>

      <para>The <methodname>handle()</methodname> method simply prints
      out a message and returns a string.</para>

      <para>Finally both the <classname>MessageDispatcher</classname>
      and channel are closed.</para>

    </section>
    
  </section>

  <section><title>RpcDispatcher</title>

    <para>This class is derived from
    <classname>MessageDispatcher</classname>. It allows a programmer
    to invoke remote methods in all (or single) group members and
    optionally wait for the return value(s). An application will
    typically create a channel and layer the
    <classname>RpcDispatcher</classname> building block on top of it,
    which allows it to dispatch remote methods (client role) and at
    the same time be called by other members (server role).</para>

    <para>Compared to <classname>MessageDispatcher</classname>, no
    <methodname>handle()</methodname> method needs to be
    implemented. Instead the methods to be called can be placed
    directly in the class using regular method definitions (see
    example below). The invoke remote method calls (unicast and
    multicast) the following methods are used (not all methods
    shown):</para>

    <screen>
    public RspList callRemoteMethods(Vector dests, String method_name, 
                                     int mode, long timeout);
    public RspList callRemoteMethods(Vector dests, String method_name, 
                                     Object arg1, int mode, long timeout);
    public Object callRemoteMethod(Address dest, String method_name,
                                   int mode, long timeout);
    public Object callRemoteMethod(Address dest, String method_name, 
                                   Object arg1, int mode, long timeout);
    </screen>

    <para>The family of <methodname>callRemoteMethods()</methodname>
    is invoked with a list of receiver addresses. If null, the method
    will be invoked in all group members (including the sender). Each
    call takes the name of the method to be invoked and the
    <parameter>mode</parameter> and <parameter>timeout</parameter>
    parameters, which are the same as for
    <classname>MessageDispatcher</classname>. Additionally, each
    method takes zero or more parameters: there are
    <methodname>callRemoteMethods()</methodname> methods with up to 3
    arguments. As shown in the example above, the first 2 methods take
    zero and one parameters respectively.</para>

    <para>The family of <methodname>callRemoteMethod()</methodname>
    methods takes almost the same parameters, except that there is
    only one destination address instead of a list. If the
    <parameter>dest</parameter> argument is null, the call will
    fail.</para>

    <para>If a sender needs to use more than 3 arguments, it can use
    the generic versions of
    <methodname>callRemoteMethod()</methodname> and
    <methodname>callRemoteMethods()</methodname> which use a
    <classname>MethodCall</classname><footnote><para>See the
    Programmer's Guide and the Javadoc documentation for more
    information about this class.</para></footnote> instance rather
    than explicit arguments.</para>

    <para>Java's Reflection API is used to find the correct method in
    the receiver according to the method name and number and types of
    supplied arguments. There is a runtime exception if a method
    cannot be resolved.</para>

    <para><emphasis>(* Update: these methods are deprecated; must use
    MethodCall argument now *)</emphasis></para>

    <section><title>Example</title>

      <para>The code below shows an example:</para>

      <screen>
    public class RpcDispatcherTest {
        Channel            channel;
        RpcDispatcher      disp;
        RspList            rsp_list;
        String             props; // set by application

        public int print(int number) throws Exception {
            return number * 2;
        }

        public void start() throws Exception {
            channel=new JChannel(props);
            disp=new RpcDispatcher(channel, null, null, this);
            channel.connect("RpcDispatcherTestGroup");

            for(int i=0; i &lt; 10; i++) {
                Util.sleep(100);
                rsp_list=disp.callRemoteMethods(null, "print",
                     new Integer(i), GroupRequest.GET_ALL, 0);
                System.out.println("Responses: " +rsp_list);
            }
            channel.close();
            disp.stop();
         }

        public static void main(String[] args) {
            try {
                new RpcDispatcherTest().start();
            }
            catch(Exception e) {
                System.err.println(e);
            }
        }
    }
     </screen>

      <para>Class <classname>RpcDispatcher</classname> defines method
      <methodname>print()</methodname> which will be called
      subsequently. The entry point <methodname>start()</methodname>
      method creates a channel and an
      <classname>RpcDispatcher</classname> which is layered on
      top. Method <methodname>callRemoteMethods()</methodname> then
      invokes the remote <methodname>print()</methodname> method in
      all group members (also in the caller). When all responses have
      been received, the call returns and the responses are
      printed.</para>

      <para>As can be seen, the <classname>RpcDispatcher</classname>
      building block reduces the amount of code that needs to be
      written to implement RPC-based group communication applications
      by providing a higher abstraction level between the application
      and the primitive channels.</para>

    </section>
    
  </section>


  <section><title>ReplicatedHashMap</title>

      <para>
          This class was written as a demo of how state can be shared between nodes of a cluster. It has never been
          heavily tested and is therefore not meant to be used in production, and unsupported.
      </para>

      <para>A <classname>ReplicatedHashMap</classname> uses a concurrent hashmap internally
          and allows to
          create several instances of hashmaps in different processes. All
          of these instances have exactly the same state at all times. When
          creating such an instance, a group name determines which group of
          replicated hashmaps will be joined. The new instance will then query the
          state from existing members and update itself before starting to
          service requests. If there are no existing members, it will simply
          start with an empty state.
      </para>

      <para>Modifications such as <methodname>put()</methodname>,
          <methodname>clear()</methodname> or
          <methodname>remove()</methodname> will be propagated in orderly
          fashion to all replicas. Read-only requests such as
          <methodname>get()</methodname> will only be sent to the local
          copy.
      </para>

      <para>Since both keys and values of a hashtable will be sent
          across the network, both of them have to be
          serializable. This allows for example to register remote RMI
          objects with any local instance of a hashtable, which can
          subsequently be looked up by another process which can then invoke
          remote methods (remote RMI objects are serializable). Thus, a
          distributed naming and registration service can be built in just a
          couple of lines.
      </para>

      <para>A <classname>ReplicatedHashMap</classname> allows to
          register for notifications, e.g. when a new item is set, or an
          existing one removed. All registered listeners will notified when
          such an event occurs. Notification is always local; for example in
          the case of removing an element, first the element is removed in
          all replicas, which then notify their listener(s) of the removal
          (after the fact).
      </para>

      <para><classname>ReplicatedHashMap</classname> allow members in
          a group to share common state across process and machine
          boundaries.
      </para>

  </section>
    



  <section><title>NotificationBus</title>

    <para>This class provides notification sending and handling
    capability. Also, it allows an application programmer to maintain
    a local cache which is replicated by all
    instances. <classname>NotificationBus</classname> also sits on top
    of a channel, however it creates its channel itself, so the
    application programmers do not have to provide their own
    channel. Notification consumers can subscribe to receive
    notifications by calling <methodname>setConsumer()</methodname>
    and implementing interface
    <classname>NotificationBus.Consumer</classname>:</para>

    <screen>
    public interface Consumer {
        void          handleNotification(Serializable n);
        Serializable  getCache();
        void          memberJoined(Address mbr);
        void          memberLeft(Address mbr);
    }
    </screen>

    <para>Method <methodname>handleNotification()</methodname> is
    called whenever a notification is received from the channel. A
    notification is any object that is serializable. Method
    <methodname>getCache()</methodname> is called when someone wants
    to retrieve our state; the state can be returned as a serializable
    object. The <methodname>memberJoined()</methodname> and
    <methodname>memberLeft()</methodname> callbacks are invoked
    whenever a member joins or leaves (or crashes).</para>

    <para>The most important methods of
    <classname>NotificationBus</classname> are:</para>

    <screen>
    public class NotificationBus {
         public void setConsumer(Consumer c);
         public void start() throws Exception;
         public void stop();
         public void sendNotification(Serializable n);
         public Serializable getCacheFromCoordinator(long timeout, int max_tries);
         public Serializable getCacheFromMember(Address mbr, long timeout, int max_tries);
    } 
    </screen>

    <para>Method <methodname>setConsumer()</methodname> allows a
    consumer to register itself for notifications.</para>

    <para>The <methodname>start()</methodname> and
    <methodname>stop()</methodname> methods start and stop the
    <classname>NotificationBus</classname>.</para>

    <para>Method <methodname>sendNotification()</methodname> sends the
    serializable object given as argument to all members of the group,
    invoking their <methodname>handleNotification()</methodname>
    methods on reception.</para>

    <para>Methods <methodname>getCacheFromCoordinator()</methodname>
    and <methodname>getCacheFromMember()</methodname> provide
    functionality to fetch the group state from the coordinator (first
    member in membership list) or any other member (if its address is
    known). They take as arguments a timeout and a maximum number of
    unsuccessful attempts until they return null. Typically one of
    these methods would be called just after creating a new
    <classname>NotificationBus</classname> to acquire the group
    state. Note that if these methods are used, then the consumers
    must implement <methodname>Consumer.getCache()</methodname>,
    otherwise the two methods above would always return null.</para>
    
  </section>

  
    
</chapter>

