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authorNick Coghlan <ncoghlan@gmail.com>2011-08-22 01:55:57 (GMT)
committerNick Coghlan <ncoghlan@gmail.com>2011-08-22 01:55:57 (GMT)
commit96fe56abec36d2cb82c56c9ddafea0096f4f6c7e (patch)
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Add support for the send/recvmsg API to the socket module. Patch by David Watson and Heiko Wundram. (Closes #6560)
Diffstat (limited to 'Doc/library/socket.rst')
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diff --git a/Doc/library/socket.rst b/Doc/library/socket.rst
index f587977..196fe8b 100644
--- a/Doc/library/socket.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/socket.rst
@@ -198,6 +198,7 @@ The module :mod:`socket` exports the following constants and functions:
SOMAXCONN
MSG_*
SOL_*
+ SCM_*
IPPROTO_*
IPPORT_*
INADDR_*
@@ -511,6 +512,49 @@ The module :mod:`socket` exports the following constants and functions:
Availability: Unix (maybe not all platforms).
+..
+ XXX: Are sendmsg(), recvmsg() and CMSG_*() available on any
+ non-Unix platforms? The old (obsolete?) 4.2BSD form of the
+ interface, in which struct msghdr has no msg_control or
+ msg_controllen members, is not currently supported.
+
+.. function:: CMSG_LEN(length)
+
+ Return the total length, without trailing padding, of an ancillary
+ data item with associated data of the given *length*. This value
+ can often be used as the buffer size for :meth:`~socket.recvmsg` to
+ receive a single item of ancillary data, but :rfc:`3542` requires
+ portable applications to use :func:`CMSG_SPACE` and thus include
+ space for padding, even when the item will be the last in the
+ buffer. Raises :exc:`OverflowError` if *length* is outside the
+ permissible range of values.
+
+ Availability: most Unix platforms, possibly others.
+
+ .. versionadded:: 3.3
+
+
+.. function:: CMSG_SPACE(length)
+
+ Return the buffer size needed for :meth:`~socket.recvmsg` to
+ receive an ancillary data item with associated data of the given
+ *length*, along with any trailing padding. The buffer space needed
+ to receive multiple items is the sum of the :func:`CMSG_SPACE`
+ values for their associated data lengths. Raises
+ :exc:`OverflowError` if *length* is outside the permissible range
+ of values.
+
+ Note that some systems might support ancillary data without
+ providing this function. Also note that setting the buffer size
+ using the results of this function may not precisely limit the
+ amount of ancillary data that can be received, since additional
+ data may be able to fit into the padding area.
+
+ Availability: most Unix platforms, possibly others.
+
+ .. versionadded:: 3.3
+
+
.. function:: getdefaulttimeout()
Return the default timeout in seconds (float) for new socket objects. A value
@@ -742,6 +786,109 @@ correspond to Unix system calls applicable to sockets.
to zero. (The format of *address* depends on the address family --- see above.)
+.. method:: socket.recvmsg(bufsize[, ancbufsize[, flags]])
+
+ Receive normal data (up to *bufsize* bytes) and ancillary data from
+ the socket. The *ancbufsize* argument sets the size in bytes of
+ the internal buffer used to receive the ancillary data; it defaults
+ to 0, meaning that no ancillary data will be received. Appropriate
+ buffer sizes for ancillary data can be calculated using
+ :func:`CMSG_SPACE` or :func:`CMSG_LEN`, and items which do not fit
+ into the buffer might be truncated or discarded. The *flags*
+ argument defaults to 0 and has the same meaning as for
+ :meth:`recv`.
+
+ The return value is a 4-tuple: ``(data, ancdata, msg_flags,
+ address)``. The *data* item is a :class:`bytes` object holding the
+ non-ancillary data received. The *ancdata* item is a list of zero
+ or more tuples ``(cmsg_level, cmsg_type, cmsg_data)`` representing
+ the ancillary data (control messages) received: *cmsg_level* and
+ *cmsg_type* are integers specifying the protocol level and
+ protocol-specific type respectively, and *cmsg_data* is a
+ :class:`bytes` object holding the associated data. The *msg_flags*
+ item is the bitwise OR of various flags indicating conditions on
+ the received message; see your system documentation for details.
+ If the receiving socket is unconnected, *address* is the address of
+ the sending socket, if available; otherwise, its value is
+ unspecified.
+
+ On some systems, :meth:`sendmsg` and :meth:`recvmsg` can be used to
+ pass file descriptors between processes over an :const:`AF_UNIX`
+ socket. When this facility is used (it is often restricted to
+ :const:`SOCK_STREAM` sockets), :meth:`recvmsg` will return, in its
+ ancillary data, items of the form ``(socket.SOL_SOCKET,
+ socket.SCM_RIGHTS, fds)``, where *fds* is a :class:`bytes` object
+ representing the new file descriptors as a binary array of the
+ native C :c:type:`int` type. If :meth:`recvmsg` raises an
+ exception after the system call returns, it will first attempt to
+ close any file descriptors received via this mechanism.
+
+ Some systems do not indicate the truncated length of ancillary data
+ items which have been only partially received. If an item appears
+ to extend beyond the end of the buffer, :meth:`recvmsg` will issue
+ a :exc:`RuntimeWarning`, and will return the part of it which is
+ inside the buffer provided it has not been truncated before the
+ start of its associated data.
+
+ On systems which support the :const:`SCM_RIGHTS` mechanism, the
+ following function will receive up to *maxfds* file descriptors,
+ returning the message data and a list containing the descriptors
+ (while ignoring unexpected conditions such as unrelated control
+ messages being received). See also :meth:`sendmsg`. ::
+
+ import socket, array
+
+ def recv_fds(sock, msglen, maxfds):
+ fds = array.array("i") # Array of ints
+ msg, ancdata, flags, addr = sock.recvmsg(msglen, socket.CMSG_LEN(maxfds * fds.itemsize))
+ for cmsg_level, cmsg_type, cmsg_data in ancdata:
+ if (cmsg_level == socket.SOL_SOCKET and cmsg_type == socket.SCM_RIGHTS):
+ # Append data, ignoring any truncated integers at the end.
+ fds.fromstring(cmsg_data[:len(cmsg_data) - (len(cmsg_data) % fds.itemsize)])
+ return msg, list(fds)
+
+ Availability: most Unix platforms, possibly others.
+
+ .. versionadded:: 3.3
+
+
+.. method:: socket.recvmsg_into(buffers[, ancbufsize[, flags]])
+
+ Receive normal data and ancillary data from the socket, behaving as
+ :meth:`recvmsg` would, but scatter the non-ancillary data into a
+ series of buffers instead of returning a new bytes object. The
+ *buffers* argument must be an iterable of objects that export
+ writable buffers (e.g. :class:`bytearray` objects); these will be
+ filled with successive chunks of the non-ancillary data until it
+ has all been written or there are no more buffers. The operating
+ system may set a limit (:func:`~os.sysconf` value ``SC_IOV_MAX``)
+ on the number of buffers that can be used. The *ancbufsize* and
+ *flags* arguments have the same meaning as for :meth:`recvmsg`.
+
+ The return value is a 4-tuple: ``(nbytes, ancdata, msg_flags,
+ address)``, where *nbytes* is the total number of bytes of
+ non-ancillary data written into the buffers, and *ancdata*,
+ *msg_flags* and *address* are the same as for :meth:`recvmsg`.
+
+ Example::
+
+ >>> import socket
+ >>> s1, s2 = socket.socketpair()
+ >>> b1 = bytearray(b'----')
+ >>> b2 = bytearray(b'0123456789')
+ >>> b3 = bytearray(b'--------------')
+ >>> s1.send(b'Mary had a little lamb')
+ 22
+ >>> s2.recvmsg_into([b1, memoryview(b2)[2:9], b3])
+ (22, [], 0, None)
+ >>> [b1, b2, b3]
+ [bytearray(b'Mary'), bytearray(b'01 had a 9'), bytearray(b'little lamb---')]
+
+ Availability: most Unix platforms, possibly others.
+
+ .. versionadded:: 3.3
+
+
.. method:: socket.recvfrom_into(buffer[, nbytes[, flags]])
Receive data from the socket, writing it into *buffer* instead of creating a
@@ -789,6 +936,41 @@ correspond to Unix system calls applicable to sockets.
above.)
+.. method:: socket.sendmsg(buffers[, ancdata[, flags[, address]]])
+
+ Send normal and ancillary data to the socket, gathering the
+ non-ancillary data from a series of buffers and concatenating it
+ into a single message. The *buffers* argument specifies the
+ non-ancillary data as an iterable of buffer-compatible objects
+ (e.g. :class:`bytes` objects); the operating system may set a limit
+ (:func:`~os.sysconf` value ``SC_IOV_MAX``) on the number of buffers
+ that can be used. The *ancdata* argument specifies the ancillary
+ data (control messages) as an iterable of zero or more tuples
+ ``(cmsg_level, cmsg_type, cmsg_data)``, where *cmsg_level* and
+ *cmsg_type* are integers specifying the protocol level and
+ protocol-specific type respectively, and *cmsg_data* is a
+ buffer-compatible object holding the associated data. Note that
+ some systems (in particular, systems without :func:`CMSG_SPACE`)
+ might support sending only one control message per call. The
+ *flags* argument defaults to 0 and has the same meaning as for
+ :meth:`send`. If *address* is supplied and not ``None``, it sets a
+ destination address for the message. The return value is the
+ number of bytes of non-ancillary data sent.
+
+ The following function sends the list of file descriptors *fds*
+ over an :const:`AF_UNIX` socket, on systems which support the
+ :const:`SCM_RIGHTS` mechanism. See also :meth:`recvmsg`. ::
+
+ import socket, array
+
+ def send_fds(sock, msg, fds):
+ return sock.sendmsg([msg], [(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SCM_RIGHTS, array.array("i", fds))])
+
+ Availability: most Unix platforms, possibly others.
+
+ .. versionadded:: 3.3
+
+
.. method:: socket.setblocking(flag)
Set blocking or non-blocking mode of the socket: if *flag* is false, the