dista.frame

Every frame is a 4-byte little-endian length, then that many bytes:

offset	field
0	kind (below)
1	object ID, u64
9	task ID, u64 (0 unless the kind uses it)
17	payload

kind	sent by	payload
1 task	driver to head, head to worker	the encoded argument
2 result	worker to head, head to driver	the encoded result
3 error	worker to head, head to driver	a UTF-8 message
4 hello	driver, worker or observer to head	role byte (ROLE_*), the registry hash u64 (an observer's is ignored); a worker adds its object server's address
5 welcome	head to driver	the driver's number, u64
6 task-after	driver to head	flags byte (GATHER, WITH_VALUE), count u64, then that many object IDs; with WITH_VALUE, a length u64 and the encoded value
7 stored	worker to head	the result's size, u64: it stayed on the worker
8 located	head to driver	the address of the worker holding the result
9 fetch	driver or worker to a worker	none: send that object back as a result frame
10 task-inputs	head to worker	flags byte, count u64, then per input a tag byte, its object ID, then for tag 0 a length u64 and the bytes, or for tag 1 its location; with WITH_VALUE, a length u64 and the value
11 release	driver to head	none: the driver is done with this object
12 free	head to worker	none: delete this object
13 stats	driver to head, head to driver	none; the reply is five u64 counts (see HeadStats)
14 holding	worker to head, on rejoining	count u64, then per object its ID u64 and its location
15 claim	driver to head, on resuming	none: this driver still holds this object, which lives on a worker
16 resumed	driver to head	none: this driver has restored, claimed or resubmitted everything
17 span	worker to head, before the result	three u64 wall-clock nanoseconds: when the task arrived, started and ended
18 timeline	driver to head, head to driver	none; the reply is a count u64, then per finished task its object ID, task ID, the four head stamps (submitted, queued, dispatched, settled), the three worker stamps, and the worker's address
19 actor-create	driver to head, head to worker	from the driver, checkpoint_every u64 first; then the encoded constructor argument. The object ID names the actor, the task ID its type
20 actor-call	driver to head, head to worker	the actor's ID u64, then the encoded argument; the task ID is the method's
21 actor-kill	driver to head, head to worker	none: destroy the actor the object ID names
22 checkpoint	driver to head, head to worker	from the driver, the actor's ID u64, and the object ID is the checkpoint's own; from the head, the calls covered by the checkpoint it would restore from, i64 (-1 for none), the object ID names the actor and the task ID is the number of calls the new one covers
23 checkpointed	worker to head	none if the checkpoint is written, else why not; the object and task IDs are the checkpoint frame's
24 actor-restore	head to worker	the number of calls the checkpoint covers, u64; the object ID names the actor, the task ID its type
25 covered	head to driver	the newest of this driver's calls to the actor a checkpoint now includes, u64; the object ID names the actor
26 status	observer to head, head to observer	none; the reply is the head's state as UTF-8 text
27 stop	observer to head, head to worker	none: shut down; a worker exits instead of rejoining
28 task-many	driver to head, head to worker	the number of results u64, then the encoded argument; the results are this object ID and the ones after it
29 drain	worker to head	none: the worker was told to stop; it takes no more work, and leaves once the head says stop
30 adopt	head to worker	a draining worker's location of the object: fetch it and keep it
31 adopted	worker to head	1 and the object's new location, or 0 and why not

An observer (dista status, timeline, stop) says hello without a registry and owns no objects. Its timeline frame gets every driver's finished tasks, and leaves them for the drivers too.

After a head restart, a driver's hello carries its old number as a u64 after the registry hash, so its object IDs stay valid. It then sends, in order of submission, each object it still needs: a small result or error back as a result or error frame, a result on a worker as claim, and an unfinished task as the task or task-after frame it first sent; then resumed. A rejoining worker sends holding.

An actor lives on one worker, which runs nothing else while it hosts it. The worker answers actor-create with an empty result, or the constructor's error, and each call like a task: a result, stored or error frame for the call's object ID. Calls run in the order the driver sent them. A checkpoint runs between calls too: the worker writes the actor's state to DISTA_CHECKPOINT_URI and answers checkpointed. Actor-restore builds an actor from its checkpoint instead of its constructor, and is answered like actor-create.

Actors survive a head restart through their checkpoints. Every caller keeps its calls to an actor until covered says a checkpoint includes them. A resuming driver sends each live actor's actor-create again, in order with everything else, then every call it still keeps: those answered too, after their answers, since the actor's state hasn't seen them. The new head restores the actor from its newest checkpoint; a call that checkpoint already includes isn't run again. A rejoining worker destroys the actor it hosted: its state may hold calls no caller would resend.

A task-after frame queues a task whose argument is built from other results: the single result as is, or with gather set, a Seq of all of them; with WITH_VALUE set, after an encoded value (a TaskWith). With MANY set it's a TaskMany, whose results, the object ID and the ones after it, number the u64 that follows the flags byte; the task-inputs frame carries it on.

A task-many frame runs a TaskMany: its worker answers each of its results with its own result, stored or error frame, as if each were a task. When some of those results live on workers, the head sends the task as task-inputs, and the worker fetches them before it runs the task. An address is 12 bytes: the IPv4 address, then the port as a u64.

The head counts references to every object: its driver's, until a release, and one per submitted task that takes it as input, until that task settles. At zero it forgets the object, and sends free to the worker holding it.

struct Frame

def __init__(out self, kind: UInt8, object_id: UInt64, task_id: UInt64, var payload: List[UInt8])

def take_payload(deinit self) -> List[UInt8]

def message(payload: Span[UInt8]) -> String

def append_frame(mut out: List[UInt8], kind: UInt8, object_id: UInt64, task_id: UInt64, payload: Span[UInt8])

def write_frame(s: Stream, kind: UInt8, object_id: UInt64, task_id: UInt64, payload: Span[UInt8])

def frame_length(head: Span[UInt8]) -> Int

def parse_body(body: Span[UInt8]) -> Frame

def read_frame(s: Stream) -> Optional[Frame]

def encode_addr(ip: Array[UInt8, Int(4)], port: Int) -> List[UInt8]

def decode_addr(buf: Span[UInt8], mut pos: Int) -> Tuple[Array[UInt8, Int(4)], Int]

comptime KIND_TASK = UInt8(1)

comptime KIND_RESULT = UInt8(2)

comptime KIND_ERROR = UInt8(3)

comptime KIND_HELLO = UInt8(4)

comptime KIND_WELCOME = UInt8(5)

comptime KIND_TASK_AFTER = UInt8(6)

comptime KIND_STORED = UInt8(7)

comptime KIND_LOCATED = UInt8(8)

comptime KIND_FETCH = UInt8(9)

comptime KIND_TASK_INPUTS = UInt8(10)

comptime KIND_RELEASE = UInt8(11)

comptime KIND_FREE = UInt8(12)

comptime KIND_STATS = UInt8(13)

comptime KIND_HOLDING = UInt8(14)

comptime KIND_CLAIM = UInt8(15)

comptime KIND_RESUMED = UInt8(16)

comptime KIND_SPAN = UInt8(17)

comptime KIND_TIMELINE = UInt8(18)

comptime KIND_ACTOR_CREATE = UInt8(19)

comptime KIND_ACTOR_CALL = UInt8(20)

comptime KIND_ACTOR_KILL = UInt8(21)

comptime KIND_CHECKPOINT = UInt8(22)

comptime KIND_CHECKPOINTED = UInt8(23)

comptime KIND_ACTOR_RESTORE = UInt8(24)

comptime KIND_COVERED = UInt8(25)

comptime KIND_STATUS = UInt8(26)

comptime KIND_STOP = UInt8(27)

comptime KIND_TASK_MANY = UInt8(28)

comptime KIND_DRAIN = UInt8(29)

comptime KIND_ADOPT = UInt8(30)

comptime KIND_ADOPTED = UInt8(31)

comptime GATHER = UInt8(1)

comptime WITH_VALUE = UInt8(2)

comptime MANY = UInt8(4)

comptime ADDR_SIZE = 12

comptime ROLE_DRIVER = UInt8(1)

comptime ROLE_WORKER = UInt8(2)

comptime ROLE_CLIENT = UInt8(3)

comptime ROLE_OBSERVER = UInt8(4)

comptime HEADER = 17

comptime MAX_FRAME = 1073741824