summaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/Doc/library/socket.rst
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'Doc/library/socket.rst')
-rw-r--r--Doc/library/socket.rst414
1 files changed, 381 insertions, 33 deletions
diff --git a/Doc/library/socket.rst b/Doc/library/socket.rst
index 0aef183..02af9ca 100644
--- a/Doc/library/socket.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/socket.rst
@@ -40,9 +40,23 @@ Socket families
Depending on the system and the build options, various socket families
are supported by this module.
-Socket addresses are represented as follows:
-
-- A single string is used for the :const:`AF_UNIX` address family.
+The address format required by a particular socket object is automatically
+selected based on the address family specified when the socket object was
+created. Socket addresses are represented as follows:
+
+- The address of an :const:`AF_UNIX` socket bound to a file system node
+ is represented as a string, using the file system encoding and the
+ ``'surrogateescape'`` error handler (see :pep:`383`). An address in
+ Linux's abstract namespace is returned as a :class:`bytes` object with
+ an initial null byte; note that sockets in this namespace can
+ communicate with normal file system sockets, so programs intended to
+ run on Linux may need to deal with both types of address. A string or
+ :class:`bytes` object can be used for either type of address when
+ passing it as an argument.
+
+ .. versionchanged:: 3.3
+ Previously, :const:`AF_UNIX` socket paths were assumed to use UTF-8
+ encoding.
- A pair ``(host, port)`` is used for the :const:`AF_INET` address family,
where *host* is a string representing either a hostname in Internet domain
@@ -80,6 +94,19 @@ Socket addresses are represented as follows:
If *addr_type* is :const:`TIPC_ADDR_ID`, then *v1* is the node, *v2* is the
reference, and *v3* should be set to 0.
+- A tuple ``(interface, )`` is used for the :const:`AF_CAN` address family,
+ where *interface* is a string representing a network interface name like
+ ``'can0'``. The network interface name ``''`` can be used to receive packets
+ from all network interfaces of this family.
+
+- A string or a tuple ``(id, unit)`` is used for the :const:`SYSPROTO_CONTROL`
+ protocol of the :const:`PF_SYSTEM` family. The string is the name of a
+ kernel control using a dynamically-assigned ID. The tuple can be used if ID
+ and unit number of the kernel control are known or if a registered ID is
+ used.
+
+ .. versionadded:: 3.3
+
- Certain other address families (:const:`AF_BLUETOOTH`, :const:`AF_PACKET`)
support specific representations.
@@ -99,8 +126,9 @@ resolution and/or the host configuration. For deterministic behavior use a
numeric address in *host* portion.
All errors raise exceptions. The normal exceptions for invalid argument types
-and out-of-memory conditions can be raised; errors related to socket or address
-semantics raise :exc:`socket.error` or one of its subclasses.
+and out-of-memory conditions can be raised; starting from Python 3.3, errors
+related to socket or address semantics raise :exc:`OSError` or one of its
+subclasses (they used to raise :exc:`socket.error`).
Non-blocking mode is supported through :meth:`~socket.setblocking`. A
generalization of this based on timeouts is supported through
@@ -115,20 +143,15 @@ The module :mod:`socket` exports the following constants and functions:
.. exception:: error
- .. index:: module: errno
-
- A subclass of :exc:`IOError`, this exception is raised for socket-related
- errors. It is recommended that you inspect its ``errno`` attribute to
- discriminate between different kinds of errors.
+ A deprecated alias of :exc:`OSError`.
- .. seealso::
- The :mod:`errno` module contains symbolic names for the error codes
- defined by the underlying operating system.
+ .. versionchanged:: 3.3
+ Following :pep:`3151`, this class was made an alias of :exc:`OSError`.
.. exception:: herror
- A subclass of :exc:`socket.error`, this exception is raised for
+ A subclass of :exc:`OSError`, this exception is raised for
address-related errors, i.e. for functions that use *h_errno* in the POSIX
C API, including :func:`gethostbyname_ex` and :func:`gethostbyaddr`.
The accompanying value is a pair ``(h_errno, string)`` representing an
@@ -136,10 +159,12 @@ The module :mod:`socket` exports the following constants and functions:
*string* represents the description of *h_errno*, as returned by the
:c:func:`hstrerror` C function.
+ .. versionchanged:: 3.3
+ This class was made a subclass of :exc:`OSError`.
.. exception:: gaierror
- A subclass of :exc:`socket.error`, this exception is raised for
+ A subclass of :exc:`OSError`, this exception is raised for
address-related errors by :func:`getaddrinfo` and :func:`getnameinfo`.
The accompanying value is a pair ``(error, string)`` representing an error
returned by a library call. *string* represents the description of
@@ -147,15 +172,19 @@ The module :mod:`socket` exports the following constants and functions:
numeric *error* value will match one of the :const:`EAI_\*` constants
defined in this module.
+ .. versionchanged:: 3.3
+ This class was made a subclass of :exc:`OSError`.
.. exception:: timeout
- A subclass of :exc:`socket.error`, this exception is raised when a timeout
+ A subclass of :exc:`OSError`, this exception is raised when a timeout
occurs on a socket which has had timeouts enabled via a prior call to
:meth:`~socket.settimeout` (or implicitly through
:func:`~socket.setdefaulttimeout`). The accompanying value is a string
whose value is currently always "timed out".
+ .. versionchanged:: 3.3
+ This class was made a subclass of :exc:`OSError`.
.. data:: AF_UNIX
AF_INET
@@ -198,6 +227,7 @@ The module :mod:`socket` exports the following constants and functions:
SOMAXCONN
MSG_*
SOL_*
+ SCM_*
IPPROTO_*
IPPORT_*
INADDR_*
@@ -215,6 +245,32 @@ The module :mod:`socket` exports the following constants and functions:
in the Unix header files are defined; for a few symbols, default values are
provided.
+.. data:: AF_CAN
+ PF_CAN
+ SOL_CAN_*
+ CAN_*
+
+ Many constants of these forms, documented in the Linux documentation, are
+ also defined in the socket module.
+
+ Availability: Linux >= 2.6.25.
+
+ .. versionadded:: 3.3
+
+
+.. data:: AF_RDS
+ PF_RDS
+ SOL_RDS
+ RDS_*
+
+ Many constants of these forms, documented in the Linux documentation, are
+ also defined in the socket module.
+
+ Availability: Linux >= 2.6.30.
+
+ .. versionadded:: 3.3
+
+
.. data:: SIO_*
RCVALL_*
@@ -393,10 +449,15 @@ The module :mod:`socket` exports the following constants and functions:
Create a new socket using the given address family, socket type and protocol
number. The address family should be :const:`AF_INET` (the default),
- :const:`AF_INET6` or :const:`AF_UNIX`. The socket type should be
- :const:`SOCK_STREAM` (the default), :const:`SOCK_DGRAM` or perhaps one of the
- other ``SOCK_`` constants. The protocol number is usually zero and may be
- omitted in that case.
+ :const:`AF_INET6`, :const:`AF_UNIX`, :const:`AF_CAN` or :const:`AF_RDS`. The
+ socket type should be :const:`SOCK_STREAM` (the default),
+ :const:`SOCK_DGRAM`, :const:`SOCK_RAW` or perhaps one of the other ``SOCK_``
+ constants. The protocol number is usually zero and may be omitted in that
+ case or :const:`CAN_RAW` in case the address family is :const:`AF_CAN`.
+
+ .. versionchanged:: 3.3
+ The AF_CAN family was added.
+ The AF_RDS family was added.
.. function:: socketpair([family[, type[, proto]]])
@@ -464,7 +525,7 @@ The module :mod:`socket` exports the following constants and functions:
Unix manual page :manpage:`inet(3)` for details.
If the IPv4 address string passed to this function is invalid,
- :exc:`socket.error` will be raised. Note that exactly what is valid depends on
+ :exc:`OSError` will be raised. Note that exactly what is valid depends on
the underlying C implementation of :c:func:`inet_aton`.
:func:`inet_aton` does not support IPv6, and :func:`inet_pton` should be used
@@ -481,7 +542,7 @@ The module :mod:`socket` exports the following constants and functions:
argument.
If the byte sequence passed to this function is not exactly 4 bytes in
- length, :exc:`socket.error` will be raised. :func:`inet_ntoa` does not
+ length, :exc:`OSError` will be raised. :func:`inet_ntoa` does not
support IPv6, and :func:`inet_ntop` should be used instead for IPv4/v6 dual
stack support.
@@ -495,7 +556,7 @@ The module :mod:`socket` exports the following constants and functions:
Supported values for *address_family* are currently :const:`AF_INET` and
:const:`AF_INET6`. If the IP address string *ip_string* is invalid,
- :exc:`socket.error` will be raised. Note that exactly what is valid depends on
+ :exc:`OSError` will be raised. Note that exactly what is valid depends on
both the value of *address_family* and the underlying implementation of
:c:func:`inet_pton`.
@@ -513,11 +574,54 @@ The module :mod:`socket` exports the following constants and functions:
Supported values for *address_family* are currently :const:`AF_INET` and
:const:`AF_INET6`. If the string *packed_ip* is not the correct length for the
specified address family, :exc:`ValueError` will be raised. A
- :exc:`socket.error` is raised for errors from the call to :func:`inet_ntop`.
+ :exc:`OSError` is raised for errors from the call to :func:`inet_ntop`.
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
@@ -533,6 +637,59 @@ The module :mod:`socket` exports the following constants and functions:
meanings.
+.. function:: sethostname(name)
+
+ Set the machine's hostname to *name*. This will raise a
+ :exc:`OSError` if you don't have enough rights.
+
+ Availability: Unix.
+
+ .. versionadded:: 3.3
+
+
+.. function:: if_nameindex()
+
+ Return a list of network interface information
+ (index int, name string) tuples.
+ :exc:`OSError` if the system call fails.
+
+ Availability: Unix.
+
+ .. versionadded:: 3.3
+
+
+.. function:: if_nametoindex(if_name)
+
+ Return a network interface index number corresponding to an
+ interface name.
+ :exc:`OSError` if no interface with the given name exists.
+
+ Availability: Unix.
+
+ .. versionadded:: 3.3
+
+
+.. function:: if_indextoname(if_index)
+
+ Return a network interface name corresponding to a
+ interface index number.
+ :exc:`OSError` if no interface with the given index exists.
+
+ Availability: Unix.
+
+ .. versionadded:: 3.3
+
+
+.. function:: fromshare(data)
+
+ Instantiate a socket from data obtained from :meth:`~socket.share`.
+ The socket is assumed to be in blocking mode.
+
+ Availability: Windows.
+
+ .. versionadded:: 3.3
+
+
.. data:: SocketType
This is a Python type object that represents the socket object type. It is the
@@ -706,6 +863,109 @@ 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
@@ -754,6 +1014,41 @@ 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
@@ -795,9 +1090,22 @@ correspond to Unix system calls applicable to sockets.
Shut down one or both halves of the connection. If *how* is :const:`SHUT_RD`,
further receives are disallowed. If *how* is :const:`SHUT_WR`, further sends
are disallowed. If *how* is :const:`SHUT_RDWR`, further sends and receives are
- disallowed. Depending on the platform, shutting down one half of the connection
- can also close the opposite half (e.g. on Mac OS X, ``shutdown(SHUT_WR)`` does
- not allow further reads on the other end of the connection).
+ disallowed.
+
+
+.. method:: socket.share(process_id)
+
+ :platform: Windows
+
+ Duplacet a socket and prepare it for sharing with a target process. The
+ target process must be provided with *process_id*. The resulting bytes object
+ can then be passed to the target process using some form of interprocess
+ communication and the socket can be recreated there using :func:`fromshare`.
+ Once this method has been called, it is safe to close the socket since
+ the operating system has already duplicated it for the target process.
+
+ .. versionadded:: 3.3
+
Note that there are no methods :meth:`read` or :meth:`write`; use
:meth:`~socket.recv` and :meth:`~socket.send` without *flags* argument instead.
@@ -942,13 +1250,13 @@ sends traffic to the first one connected successfully. ::
af, socktype, proto, canonname, sa = res
try:
s = socket.socket(af, socktype, proto)
- except socket.error as msg:
+ except OSError as msg:
s = None
continue
try:
s.bind(sa)
s.listen(1)
- except socket.error as msg:
+ except OSError as msg:
s.close()
s = None
continue
@@ -977,12 +1285,12 @@ sends traffic to the first one connected successfully. ::
af, socktype, proto, canonname, sa = res
try:
s = socket.socket(af, socktype, proto)
- except socket.error as msg:
+ except OSError as msg:
s = None
continue
try:
s.connect(sa)
- except socket.error as msg:
+ except OSError as msg:
s.close()
s = None
continue
@@ -996,7 +1304,7 @@ sends traffic to the first one connected successfully. ::
print('Received', repr(data))
-The last example shows how to write a very simple network sniffer with raw
+The next example shows how to write a very simple network sniffer with raw
sockets on Windows. The example requires administrator privileges to modify
the interface::
@@ -1021,11 +1329,51 @@ the interface::
# disabled promiscuous mode
s.ioctl(socket.SIO_RCVALL, socket.RCVALL_OFF)
+The last example shows how to use the socket interface to communicate to a CAN
+network. This example might require special priviledge::
+
+ import socket
+ import struct
+
+
+ # CAN frame packing/unpacking (see 'struct can_frame' in <linux/can.h>)
+
+ can_frame_fmt = "=IB3x8s"
+ can_frame_size = struct.calcsize(can_frame_fmt)
+
+ def build_can_frame(can_id, data):
+ can_dlc = len(data)
+ data = data.ljust(8, b'\x00')
+ return struct.pack(can_frame_fmt, can_id, can_dlc, data)
+
+ def dissect_can_frame(frame):
+ can_id, can_dlc, data = struct.unpack(can_frame_fmt, frame)
+ return (can_id, can_dlc, data[:can_dlc])
+
+
+ # create a raw socket and bind it to the 'vcan0' interface
+ s = socket.socket(socket.AF_CAN, socket.SOCK_RAW, socket.CAN_RAW)
+ s.bind(('vcan0',))
+
+ while True:
+ cf, addr = s.recvfrom(can_frame_size)
+
+ print('Received: can_id=%x, can_dlc=%x, data=%s' % dissect_can_frame(cf))
+
+ try:
+ s.send(cf)
+ except OSError:
+ print('Error sending CAN frame')
+
+ try:
+ s.send(build_can_frame(0x01, b'\x01\x02\x03'))
+ except OSError:
+ print('Error sending CAN frame')
Running an example several times with too small delay between executions, could
lead to this error::
- socket.error: [Errno 98] Address already in use
+ OSError: [Errno 98] Address already in use
This is because the previous execution has left the socket in a ``TIME_WAIT``
state, and can't be immediately reused.