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NAME

       pool - Load distribution facility.

DESCRIPTION

       This  module  can  be  used  to  run  a  set  of  Erlang  nodes as a pool of computational
       processors. It is organized as a master  and  a  set  of  slave  nodes  and  includes  the
       following features:

         * The slave nodes send regular reports to the master about their current load.

         * Queries can be sent to the master to determine which node will have the least load.

       The  BIF  statistics(run_queue) is used for estimating future loads. It returns the length
       of the queue of ready to run processes in the Erlang runtime system.

       The slave nodes are started with the slave(3erl) module. This effects terminal  I/O,  file
       I/O, and code loading.

       If the master node fails, the entire pool exits.

EXPORTS

       attach(Node) -> already_attached | attached

              Types:

                 Node = node()

              Ensures  that  a pool master is running and includes Node in the pool master's pool
              of nodes.

       get_node() -> node()

              Returns the node with the expected lowest future load.

       get_nodes() -> [node()]

              Returns a list of the current member nodes of the pool.

       pspawn(Mod, Fun, Args) -> pid()

              Types:

                 Mod = module()
                 Fun = atom()
                 Args = [term()]

              Spawns a process on the pool node that is expected to have the lowest future load.

       pspawn_link(Mod, Fun, Args) -> pid()

              Types:

                 Mod = module()
                 Fun = atom()
                 Args = [term()]

              Spawns and links to a process on the pool node that is expected to have the  lowest
              future load.

       start(Name) -> Nodes

       start(Name, Args) -> Nodes

              Types:

                 Name = atom()
                 Args = string()
                 Nodes = [node()]

              Starts a new pool. The file .hosts.erlang is read to find host names where the pool
              nodes can be started; see section Files. The startup procedure fails if the file is
              not found.

              The  slave  nodes  are  started  with  slave:start/2,3,  passing along Name and, if
              provided, Args. Name is used as the first part of the node names, Args is  used  to
              specify command-line arguments.

              Access  rights  must  be  set  so  that all nodes in the pool have the authority to
              access each other.

              The function is synchronous and all the nodes, and  all  the  system  servers,  are
              running when it returns a value.

       stop() -> stopped

              Stops the pool and kills all the slave nodes.

FILES

       .hosts.erlang  is  used  to  pick  hosts where nodes can be started. For information about
       format and location of this file, see net_adm:host_file/0.

       $HOME/.erlang.slave.out.HOST is used for all extra I/O that can come from the slave  nodes
       on  standard  I/O.  If  the  startup  procedure  does not work, this file can indicate the
       reason.