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Diffstat (limited to 'Doc/libdbm.tex')
| -rw-r--r-- | Doc/libdbm.tex | 35 |
1 files changed, 23 insertions, 12 deletions
diff --git a/Doc/libdbm.tex b/Doc/libdbm.tex index 7e004d2..ee2d39f 100644 --- a/Doc/libdbm.tex +++ b/Doc/libdbm.tex @@ -1,11 +1,15 @@ \section{Built-in Module \sectcode{dbm}} \bimodindex{dbm} -Dbm provides python programs with an interface to the unix \code{ndbm} -database library. Dbm objects are of the mapping type, so they can be -handled just like objects of the built-in \dfn{dictionary} type, -except that keys and values are always strings, and printing a dbm -object doesn't print the keys and values. +The \code{dbm} module provides an interface to the {\UNIX} +\code{(n)dbm} library. Dbm objects behave like mappings +(dictionaries), except that keys and values are always strings. +Printing a dbm object doesn't print the keys and values, and the +\code{items()} and \code{values()} methods are not supported. + +See also the \code{gdbm} module, which provides a similar interface +using the GNU GDBM library. +\bimodindex{gdbm} The module defines the following constant and functions: @@ -15,11 +19,18 @@ Raised on dbm-specific errors, such as I/O errors. \code{KeyError} is raised for general mapping errors like specifying an incorrect key. \end{excdesc} -\begin{funcdesc}{open}{filename\, rwmode\, filemode} -Open a dbm database and return a mapping object. \var{filename} is -the name of the database file (without the \file{.dir} or \file{.pag} -extensions), \var{rwmode} is \code{'r'}, \code{'w'} or \code{'rw'} to -open the database fore reading, writing or both respectively, -and \var{filemode} is the \UNIX{} mode of the file, used only -when the database has to be created (but to be supplied at all times). +\begin{funcdesc}{open}{filename\, \optional{flag\, \optional{mode}}} +Open a dbm database and return a dbm object. The \var{filename} +argument is the name of the database file (without the \file{.dir} or +\file{.pag} extensions). + +The optional \var{flag} argument can be +\code{'r'} (to open an existing database for reading only --- default), +\code{'w'} (to open an existing database for reading and writing), +\code{'c'} (which creates the database if it doesn't exist), or +\code{'n'} (which always creates a new empty database). + +The optional \var{mode} argument is the \UNIX{} mode of the file, used +only when the database has to be created. It defaults to octal +\code{0666}. \end{funcdesc} |