Ruby Server #eliminate garbage build up - ruby

Question

I have a working TCP/IP socket server that loads 3-flash files in succession. How can I unload previous files and eliminate the garbage build up?
2-Flash clients are active, 1-the loader, 2-the next Flash file being loaded, however "the Flash files don't unload." Maybe there's a "put - kill" method or something similar to addChild removeChild in as3. Any resource would help, since I'm not very familiar with Ruby.
Files involved
POLICY SERVER "server lets Flash files play"
policyserver_little.rb
RUBY TCP/IP SOCKET SERVER "server plays loader, that loads 3-Flash files"
server_little#.rb
FLASH LOADER "client"
loader_little.swf
FLASH MOVIES "numbers_odom.swf, numbers_fruits.swf, $mil.swf"
"msg1, msg2, msg3"
WHAT I SEE
def worker==>end
There's no method to unload.
RUBY SERVER server_little#.rb
require 'socket'
require 'rexml/document'
include Socket::Constants
def create_xml_msg(msg, parent)
el = nil
msg.each do |key, value|
if parent
el = parent.add_element(key)
else
el = REXML::Element.new(key)
end
if value.instance_of?(Hash)
create_xml_msg(value, el)
else
el.text = value.to_s
end
end
return el
end
def worker(client, client_sockaddr, worker_number)
$tid << Thread.new([client, client_sockaddr, worker_number]) do |cl|
Thread.current[:number] = cl[2]
puts("\nThread #{cl[2]} servicing #{Socket.unpack_sockaddr_in(cl[1]).join(':')}")
#2
seq_no = cl[2] * 10000000
loop do
begin
msg1 = {"msg" => {"head" => {"type" => "frctl", "seq_no" => seq_no, "version" => 1.0},
"body" => {"file" => "numbers_odom.swf", "start" => 5,
"end" => 3000, "rate" => 40, "duration" => 60}}}
msg2 = {"msg" => {"head" => {"type" => "frctl", "seq_no" => seq_no, "version" => 1.0},
"body" => {"file" => "numbers_fruits.swf", "start" => 5, "end" => 3000, "rate" => 40, "duration" => 60}}}
msg3 = {"msg" => {"head" => {"type" => "frctl", "seq_no" => seq_no, "version" => 1.0},
"body" => {"file" => "$mil.swf", "start" => 5,
"end" => 3000, "rate" => 40, "duration" => 60}}}
[ msg1, msg2, msg3 ].each do |m|
seq_no += 1
m["msg"]["head"]["seq_no"] = seq_no
xml_msg = create_xml_msg(m, nil)
xml_msg.write(cl[0], 0)
cl[0].putc 0
sleep 10
end
rescue
cl[0].close
puts "\nThread #{Thread.current[:number]} exiting..."
Thread.exit
end
end
end
end
$tid = [] # array of active worker thread ids
$wno = [] # array of active worker numbers
$worker_count = 0
$max_workers = 3
$wlist = Array(1..$max_workers) #array of all possible worker numbers
socket = Socket.new( AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0 )
sockaddr = Socket.pack_sockaddr_in( 1999, '0.0.0.0' )
begin
socket.bind( sockaddr )
socket.listen( 5 )
rescue
print $!.class, " ", $!
sleep 3
retry
end
loop do
begin
$tid.each do |t|
if (t.status == false || t.status == "aborting" )
t.join
$wno.delete(t[:number])
$tid.delete(t)
$worker_count -= 1
puts("\nWorker count #{$worker_count}")
end
end
client, client_sockaddr = socket.accept_nonblock
if (client)
if ($worker_count >= $max_workers)
puts "\n too many clients...\n"
client.puts("<msg>error: too many clients; closing connection...</msg>")
client.close
else
$worker_count += 1
$wlist.each do |w| #find a hole in worker number list
if (!$wno.include?(w))
$wno << w #add new worker number to the active worker num array
worker(client, client_sockaddr, w)
break
end
end
puts("\nWorker count #{$worker_count}")
end
end
rescue Errno::EAGAIN, Errno::ECONNABORTED, Errno::EINTR, Errno::EWOULDBLOCK
IO.select([socket], nil, nil, 1)
retry
end
end
REFERENCE
Ruby version 186-25
http://rubylearning.com/satishtalim/ruby_threads.html

Answer 1

A very good resource for socket programming in ruby:
Ruby Sockets: IBM
It was tough for me to get a feel for your code by reading through it, so I can't give you a direct answer. However I can tell you that if you want a good resource for sockets in ruby that pdf is it.

Answer 2

In general i think the only way to eliminate garbage is to fork off a process, let it do the garbage-y stuff then die. If that's your question. NB that jruby, macruby, and rubinius have more advanced GC's.
-r