Pykka API

pykka

pykka.__version__

Pykka’s PEP 386 and PEP 396 compatible version number

pykka.VERSION = (0, 15)

Pykka’s version as a tuple that can be used for comparison

Deprecated since version 0.14: Use __version__ instead. This will be removed in a future release.

pykka.get_version()[source]

Returns Pykka’s version as a formatted string

Deprecated since version 0.14: Use __version__ instead. This will be removed in a future release.

exception pykka.ActorDeadError[source]

Exception raised when trying to use a dead or unavailable actor.

exception pykka.Timeout[source]

Exception raised at future timeout.

pykka.actor

class pykka.actor.Actor[source]

To create an actor:

  1. subclass one of the Actor implementations, e.g. GeventActor or ThreadingActor,
  2. implement your methods, including __init__(), as usual,
  3. call Actor.start() on your actor class, passing the method any arguments for your constructor.

To stop an actor, call Actor.stop() or ActorRef.stop().

For example:

from pykka.actor import ThreadingActor

class MyActor(ThreadingActor):
    def __init__(self, my_arg=None):
        ... # My optional init code with access to start() arguments

    def on_start(self):
        ... # My optional setup code in same context as on_receive()

    def on_stop(self):
        ... # My optional cleanup code in same context as on_receive()

    def on_failure(self, exception_type, exception_value, traceback):
        ... # My optional cleanup code in same context as on_receive()

    def on_receive(self, message):
        ... # My optional message handling code for a plain actor

    def a_method(self, ...):
        ... # My regular method to be used through an ActorProxy

my_actor_ref = MyActor.start(my_arg=...)
my_actor_ref.stop()
classmethod start(*args, **kwargs)[source]

Start an actor and register it in the ActorRegistry.

Any arguments passed to start() will be passed on to the class constructor.

Returns a ActorRef which can be used to access the actor in a safe manner.

Behind the scenes, the following is happening when you call start():

Actor.start()
    Actor.__new__()
        superclass.__new__()
        superclass.__init__()
        URN assignment
        Inbox creation
        ActorRef creation
    Actor.__init__()        # Your code can run here
    ActorRegistry.register()
    superclass.start()
actor_urn = None

The actor URN string is a universally unique identifier for the actor. It may be used for looking up a specific actor using ActorRegistry.get_by_urn.

actor_inbox = None

The actor’s inbox. Use ActorRef.tell(), ActorRef.ask(), and friends to put messages in the inbox.

actor_ref = None

The actor’s ActorRef instance.

stop()[source]

Stop the actor.

The actor will finish processing any messages already in its queue before stopping. It may not be restarted.

on_start()[source]

Hook for doing any setup that should be done after the actor is started, but before it starts processing messages.

For ThreadingActor, this method is executed in the actor’s own thread, while __init__() is executed in the thread that created the actor.

on_stop()[source]

Hook for doing any cleanup that should be done after the actor has processed the last message, and before the actor stops.

This hook is not called when the actor stops because of an unhandled exception. In that case, the on_failure() hook is called instead.

For ThreadingActor this method is executed in the actor’s own thread, immediately before the thread exits.

on_failure(exception_type, exception_value, traceback)[source]

Hook for doing any cleanup after an unhandled exception is raised, and before the actor stops.

For ThreadingActor this method is executed in the actor’s own thread, immediately before the thread exits.

The method’s arguments are the relevant information from sys.exc_info().

on_receive(message)[source]

May be implemented for the actor to handle regular non-proxy messages.

Messages where the value of the “command” key matches “pykka_*” are reserved for internal use in Pykka.

Parameters:message (picklable dict) – the message to handle
Returns:anything that should be sent as a reply to the sender
class pykka.actor.ThreadingActor[source]

ThreadingActor implements Actor using regular Python threads.

This implementation is slower than GeventActor, but can be used in a process with other threads that are not Pykka actors.

class pykka.actor.ActorRef(actor)[source]

Reference to a running actor which may safely be passed around.

ActorRef instances are returned by Actor.start() and the lookup methods in ActorRegistry. You should never need to create ActorRef instances yourself.

Parameters:actor (Actor) – the actor to wrap
actor_urn = None

See Actor.actor_urn

is_alive()[source]

Check if actor is alive.

This is based on whether the actor is registered in the actor registry or not. The actor is not guaranteed to be alive and responding even though is_alive() returns True.

Returns:Returns True if actor is alive, False otherwise.
tell(message)[source]

Send message to actor without waiting for any response.

Will generally not block, but if the underlying queue is full it will block until a free slot is available.

Parameters:message (picklable dict) – message to send
Raise :pykka.ActorDeadError if actor is not available
Returns:nothing
send_one_way(message)[source]

Send message to actor without waiting for any response.

Deprecated since version 0.14: Use tell() instead. This will be removed in a future release.

ask(message, block=True, timeout=None)[source]

Send message to actor and wait for the reply.

The message must be a picklable dict. If block is False, it will immediately return a Future instead of blocking.

If block is True, and timeout is None, as default, the method will block until it gets a reply, potentially forever. If timeout is an integer or float, the method will wait for a reply for timeout seconds, and then raise pykka.Timeout.

Parameters:
  • message (picklable dict) – message to send
  • block (boolean) – whether to block while waiting for a reply
  • timeout (float or None) – seconds to wait before timeout if blocking
Raise :

pykka.Timeout if timeout is reached

Raise :

pykka.ActorDeadError if actor is not available

Returns:

pykka.future.Future or response

send_request_reply(message, block=True, timeout=None)[source]

Send message to actor and wait for the reply.

Deprecated since version 0.14: Use ask() instead. This will be removed in a future release.

stop(block=True, timeout=None)[source]

Send a message to the actor, asking it to stop.

The actor will finish processing any messages already in its queue before stopping. It may not be restarted.

block and timeout works as for ask().

Returns:True if actor is stopped. False if actor was already dead.
proxy()[source]

Wraps the ActorRef in an ActorProxy.

Using this method like this:

proxy = AnActor.start().proxy()

is analogous to:

proxy = ActorProxy(AnActor.start())
Raise :pykka.ActorDeadError if actor is not available
Returns:pykka.proxy.ActorProxy

pykka.future

class pykka.future.Future[source]

A Future is a handle to a value which are available or will be available in the future.

Typically returned by calls to actor methods or accesses to actor fields.

To get hold of the encapsulated value, call Future.get().

get(timeout=None)[source]

Get the value encapsulated by the future.

If the encapsulated value is an exception, it is raised instead of returned.

If timeout is None, as default, the method will block until it gets a reply, potentially forever. If timeout is an integer or float, the method will wait for a reply for timeout seconds, and then raise pykka.Timeout.

The encapsulated value can be retrieved multiple times. The future will only block the first time the value is accessed.

Parameters:timeout (float or None) – seconds to wait before timeout
Raise :pykka.Timeout if timeout is reached
Raise :encapsulated value if it is an exception
Returns:encapsulated value if it is not an exception
set(value=None)[source]

Set the encapsulated value.

Parameters:value (any picklable object or None) – the encapsulated value or nothing
set_exception(exc_info=None)[source]

Set an exception as the encapsulated value.

You can pass an exc_info three-tuple, as returned by sys.exc_info(). If you don’t pass exc_info, sys.exc_info() will be called and the value returned by it used.

In other words, if you’re calling set_exception(), without any arguments, from an except block, the exception you’re currently handling will automatically be set on the future.

Changed in version 0.15: Previously, set_exception() accepted an exception instance as its only argument. This still works, but it is deprecated and will be removed in a future release.

Parameters:exc_info (three-tuple of (exc_class, exc_instance, traceback)) – the encapsulated exception
class pykka.future.ThreadingFuture[source]

ThreadingFuture implements Future for use with ThreadingActor.

The future is implemented using a Queue.Queue.

The future does not make a copy of the object which is set() on it. It is the setters responsibility to only pass immutable objects or make a copy of the object before setting it on the future.

Changed in version 0.14: Previously, the encapsulated value was a copy made with copy.deepcopy(), unless the encapsulated value was a future, in which case the original future was encapsulated.

pykka.future.get_all(futures, timeout=None)[source]

Collect all values encapsulated in the list of futures.

If timeout is not None, the method will wait for a reply for timeout seconds, and then raise pykka.Timeout.

Parameters:
  • futures (list of pykka.future.Future) – futures for the results to collect
  • timeout (float or None) – seconds to wait before timeout
Raise :

pykka.Timeout if timeout is reached

Returns:

list of results

pykka.gevent

class pykka.gevent.GeventFuture(async_result=None)[source]

GeventFuture implements pykka.future.Future for use with GeventActor.

It encapsulates a gevent.event.AsyncResult object which may be used directly, though it will couple your code with gevent.

async_result = None

The encapsulated gevent.event.AsyncResult

class pykka.gevent.GeventActor[source]

GeventActor implements pykka.actor.Actor using the gevent library. gevent is a coroutine-based Python networking library that uses greenlet to provide a high-level synchronous API on top of libevent event loop.

This is a very fast implementation, but it does not work in combination with other threads.

pykka.proxy

class pykka.proxy.ActorProxy(actor_ref, attr_path=None)[source]

An ActorProxy wraps an ActorRef instance. The proxy allows the referenced actor to be used through regular method calls and field access.

You can create an ActorProxy from any ActorRef:

actor_ref = MyActor.start()
actor_proxy = ActorProxy(actor_ref)

You can also get an ActorProxy by using proxy():

actor_proxy = MyActor.start().proxy()

When reading an attribute or getting a return value from a method, you get a Future object back. To get the enclosed value from the future, you must call get() on the returned future:

print actor_proxy.string_attribute.get()
print actor_proxy.count().get() + 1

If you call a method just for it’s side effects and do not care about the return value, you do not need to accept the returned future or call get() on the future. Simply call the method, and it will be executed concurrently with your own code:

actor_proxy.method_with_side_effect()

If you want to block your own code from continuing while the other method is processing, you can use get() to block until it completes:

actor_proxy.method_with_side_effect().get()

An example of ActorProxy usage:

#! /usr/bin/env python

from pykka.actor import ThreadingActor
from pykka.registry import ActorRegistry

class Adder(ThreadingActor):
    def add_one(self, i):
        print '%s is increasing %d' % (self, i)
        return i + 1

class Bookkeeper(ThreadingActor):
    def __init__(self, adder):
        self.adder = adder

    def count_to(self, target):
        i = 0
        while i < target:
            i = self.adder.add_one(i).get()
            print '%s got %d back' % (self, i)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    adder = Adder.start().proxy()
    bookkeeper = Bookkeeper.start(adder).proxy()
    bookkeeper.count_to(10).get()
    ActorRegistry.stop_all()
Parameters:actor_ref (pykka.actor.ActorRef) – reference to the actor to proxy
Raise :pykka.ActorDeadError if actor is not available
actor_ref = None

The actor’s pykka.actor.ActorRef instance.

pykka.registry

class pykka.registry.ActorRegistry[source]

Registry which provides easy access to all running actors.

Contains global state, but should be thread-safe.

classmethod broadcast(message, target_class=None)[source]

Broadcast message to all actors of the specified target_class.

If no target_class is specified, the message is broadcasted to all actors.

Parameters:
  • message (picklable dict) – the message to send
  • target_class (class or class name) – optional actor class to broadcast the message to
classmethod get_all()[source]

Get ActorRef for all running actors.

Returns:list of pykka.actor.ActorRef
classmethod get_by_class(actor_class)[source]

Get ActorRef for all running actors of the given class, or of any subclass of the given class.

Parameters:actor_class (class) – actor class, or any superclass of the actor
Returns:list of pykka.actor.ActorRef
classmethod get_by_class_name(actor_class_name)[source]

Get ActorRef for all running actors of the given class name.

Parameters:actor_class_name (string) – actor class name
Returns:list of pykka.actor.ActorRef
classmethod get_by_urn(actor_urn)[source]

Get an actor by its universally unique URN.

Parameters:actor_urn (string) – actor URN
Returns:pykka.actor.ActorRef or None if not found
classmethod register(actor_ref)[source]

Register an ActorRef in the registry.

This is done automatically when an actor is started, e.g. by calling Actor.start().

Parameters:actor_ref (pykka.actor.ActorRef) – reference to the actor to register
classmethod stop_all(block=True, timeout=None)[source]

Stop all running actors.

block and timeout works as for ActorRef.stop().

If block is True, the actors are guaranteed to be stopped in the reverse of the order they were started in. This is helpful if you have simple dependencies in between your actors, where it is sufficient to shut down actors in a LIFO manner: last started, first stopped.

If you have more complex dependencies in between your actors, you should take care to shut them down in the required order yourself, e.g. by stopping dependees from a dependency’s on_stop() method.

Returns:If not blocking, a list with a future for each stop action. If blocking, a list of return values from pykka.actor.ActorRef.stop().
classmethod unregister(actor_ref)[source]

Remove an ActorRef from the registry.

This is done automatically when an actor is stopped, e.g. by calling Actor.stop().

Parameters:actor_ref (pykka.actor.ActorRef) – reference to the actor to unregister