summaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/Doc/library/msvcrt.rst
blob: ac3458c86fd4c4f0c17136b3c0d1ff862ba36e74 (plain)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
:mod:`msvcrt` --- Useful routines from the MS VC++ runtime
==========================================================

.. module:: msvcrt
   :platform: Windows
   :synopsis: Miscellaneous useful routines from the MS VC++ runtime.

.. sectionauthor:: Fred L. Drake, Jr. <fdrake@acm.org>

--------------

These functions provide access to some useful capabilities on Windows platforms.
Some higher-level modules use these functions to build the Windows
implementations of their services. For example, the :mod:`getpass` module uses
this in the implementation of the :func:`getpass` function.

Further documentation on these functions can be found in the Platform API
documentation.

The module implements both the normal and wide char variants of the console I/O
api. The normal API deals only with ASCII characters and is of limited use
for internationalized applications. The wide char API should be used where
ever possible.

.. versionchanged:: 3.3
   Operations in this module now raise :exc:`OSError` where :exc:`IOError`
   was raised.


.. _msvcrt-files:

File Operations
---------------


.. function:: locking(fd, mode, nbytes)

   Lock part of a file based on file descriptor *fd* from the C runtime. Raises
   :exc:`OSError` on failure. The locked region of the file extends from the
   current file position for *nbytes* bytes, and may continue beyond the end of the
   file. *mode* must be one of the :const:`!LK_\*` constants listed below. Multiple
   regions in a file may be locked at the same time, but may not overlap. Adjacent
   regions are not merged; they must be unlocked individually.

   .. audit-event:: msvcrt.locking fd,mode,nbytes msvcrt.locking


.. data:: LK_LOCK
          LK_RLCK

   Locks the specified bytes. If the bytes cannot be locked, the program
   immediately tries again after 1 second. If, after 10 attempts, the bytes cannot
   be locked, :exc:`OSError` is raised.


.. data:: LK_NBLCK
          LK_NBRLCK

   Locks the specified bytes. If the bytes cannot be locked, :exc:`OSError` is
   raised.


.. data:: LK_UNLCK

   Unlocks the specified bytes, which must have been previously locked.


.. function:: setmode(fd, flags)

   Set the line-end translation mode for the file descriptor *fd*. To set it to
   text mode, *flags* should be :const:`os.O_TEXT`; for binary, it should be
   :const:`os.O_BINARY`.


.. function:: open_osfhandle(handle, flags)

   Create a C runtime file descriptor from the file handle *handle*. The *flags*
   parameter should be a bitwise OR of :const:`os.O_APPEND`,
   :const:`os.O_RDONLY`, :const:`os.O_TEXT` and :const:`os.O_NOINHERIT`.
   The returned file descriptor may be used as a parameter
   to :func:`os.fdopen` to create a file object.

   The file descriptor is inheritable by default. Pass :const:`os.O_NOINHERIT`
   flag to make it non inheritable.

   .. audit-event:: msvcrt.open_osfhandle handle,flags msvcrt.open_osfhandle


.. function:: get_osfhandle(fd)

   Return the file handle for the file descriptor *fd*. Raises :exc:`OSError` if
   *fd* is not recognized.

   .. audit-event:: msvcrt.get_osfhandle fd msvcrt.get_osfhandle


.. _msvcrt-console:

Console I/O
-----------


.. function:: kbhit()

   Returns a nonzero value if a keypress is waiting to be read. Otherwise,
   return 0.


.. function:: getch()

   Read a keypress and return the resulting character as a byte string.
   Nothing is echoed to the console. This call will block if a keypress
   is not already available, but will not wait for :kbd:`Enter` to be
   pressed. If the pressed key was a special function key, this will
   return ``'\000'`` or ``'\xe0'``; the next call will return the keycode.
   The :kbd:`Control-C` keypress cannot be read with this function.


.. function:: getwch()

   Wide char variant of :func:`getch`, returning a Unicode value.


.. function:: getche()

   Similar to :func:`getch`, but the keypress will be echoed if it represents a
   printable character.


.. function:: getwche()

   Wide char variant of :func:`getche`, returning a Unicode value.


.. function:: putch(char)

   Print the byte string *char* to the console without buffering.


.. function:: putwch(unicode_char)

   Wide char variant of :func:`putch`, accepting a Unicode value.


.. function:: ungetch(char)

   Cause the byte string *char* to be "pushed back" into the console buffer;
   it will be the next character read by :func:`getch` or :func:`getche`.


.. function:: ungetwch(unicode_char)

   Wide char variant of :func:`ungetch`, accepting a Unicode value.


.. _msvcrt-other:

Other Functions
---------------


.. function:: heapmin()

   Force the :c:func:`malloc` heap to clean itself up and return unused blocks to
   the operating system. On failure, this raises :exc:`OSError`.


.. function:: set_error_mode(mode)

   Changes the location where the C runtime writes an error message for an error
   that might end the program. *mode* must be one of the :const:`!OUT_\*`
   constants listed below  or :const:`REPORT_ERRMODE`. Returns the old setting
   or -1 if an error occurs. Only available in
   :ref:`debug build of Python <debug-build>`.


.. data:: OUT_TO_DEFAULT

   Error sink is determined by the app's type. Only available in
   :ref:`debug build of Python <debug-build>`.


.. data:: OUT_TO_STDERR

   Error sink is a standard error. Only available in
   :ref:`debug build of Python <debug-build>`.


.. data:: OUT_TO_MSGBOX

   Error sink is a message box. Only available in
   :ref:`debug build of Python <debug-build>`.


.. data:: REPORT_ERRMODE

   Report the current error mode value. Only available in
   :ref:`debug build of Python <debug-build>`.


.. function:: CrtSetReportMode(type, mode)

   Specifies the destination or destinations for a specific report type
   generated by :c:func:`!_CrtDbgReport` in the MS VC++ runtime. *type* must be
   one of the :const:`!CRT_\*` constants listed below. *mode* must be one of the
   :const:`!CRTDBG_\*` constants listed below. Only available in
   :ref:`debug build of Python <debug-build>`.


.. function:: CrtSetReportFile(type, file)

   After you use :func:`CrtSetReportMode` to specify :const:`CRTDBG_MODE_FILE`,
   you can specify the file handle to receive the message text. *type* must be
   one of the :const:`!CRT_\*` constants listed below. *file* shuld be the file
   handle your want specified. Only available in
   :ref:`debug build of Python <debug-build>`.


.. data:: CRT_WARN

   Warnings, messages, and information that doesn't need immediate attention.


.. data:: CRT_ERROR

   Errors, unrecoverable problems, and issues that require immediate attention.


.. data:: CRT_ASSERT

   Assertion failures.


.. data:: CRTDBG_MODE_DEBUG

   Writes the message to the debugger's output window.


.. data:: CRTDBG_MODE_FILE

   Writes the message to a user-supplied file handle. :func:`CrtSetReportFile`
   should be called to define the specific file or stream to use as
   the destination.


.. data:: CRTDBG_MODE_WNDW

   Creates a message box to display the message along with the ``Abort``,
   ``Retry``, and ``Ignore`` buttons.


.. data:: CRTDBG_REPORT_MODE

   Returns current *mode* for the specified *type*.


.. data:: CRT_ASSEMBLY_VERSION

   The CRT Assembly version, from the :file:`crtassem.h` header file.


.. data:: VC_ASSEMBLY_PUBLICKEYTOKEN

   The VC Assembly public key token, from the :file:`crtassem.h` header file.


.. data:: LIBRARIES_ASSEMBLY_NAME_PREFIX

   The Libraries Assembly name prefix, from the :file:`crtassem.h` header file.