author | andy simpson <andrews@symbian.org> |
Fri, 08 Oct 2010 16:52:59 +0100 | |
changeset 119 | 931f2bbaabf7 |
parent 1 | 2fb8b9db1c86 |
permissions | -rw-r--r-- |
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**************************** |
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Socket Programming HOWTO |
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**************************** |
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:Author: Gordon McMillan |
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.. topic:: Abstract |
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Sockets are used nearly everywhere, but are one of the most severely |
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misunderstood technologies around. This is a 10,000 foot overview of sockets. |
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It's not really a tutorial - you'll still have work to do in getting things |
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operational. It doesn't cover the fine points (and there are a lot of them), but |
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I hope it will give you enough background to begin using them decently. |
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Sockets |
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======= |
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Sockets are used nearly everywhere, but are one of the most severely |
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misunderstood technologies around. This is a 10,000 foot overview of sockets. |
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It's not really a tutorial - you'll still have work to do in getting things |
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working. It doesn't cover the fine points (and there are a lot of them), but I |
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hope it will give you enough background to begin using them decently. |
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I'm only going to talk about INET sockets, but they account for at least 99% of |
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the sockets in use. And I'll only talk about STREAM sockets - unless you really |
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know what you're doing (in which case this HOWTO isn't for you!), you'll get |
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better behavior and performance from a STREAM socket than anything else. I will |
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try to clear up the mystery of what a socket is, as well as some hints on how to |
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work with blocking and non-blocking sockets. But I'll start by talking about |
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blocking sockets. You'll need to know how they work before dealing with |
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non-blocking sockets. |
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Part of the trouble with understanding these things is that "socket" can mean a |
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number of subtly different things, depending on context. So first, let's make a |
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distinction between a "client" socket - an endpoint of a conversation, and a |
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"server" socket, which is more like a switchboard operator. The client |
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application (your browser, for example) uses "client" sockets exclusively; the |
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web server it's talking to uses both "server" sockets and "client" sockets. |
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History |
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------- |
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Of the various forms of IPC (*Inter Process Communication*), sockets are by far |
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the most popular. On any given platform, there are likely to be other forms of |
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IPC that are faster, but for cross-platform communication, sockets are about the |
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only game in town. |
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They were invented in Berkeley as part of the BSD flavor of Unix. They spread |
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like wildfire with the Internet. With good reason --- the combination of sockets |
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with INET makes talking to arbitrary machines around the world unbelievably easy |
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(at least compared to other schemes). |
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Creating a Socket |
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================= |
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Roughly speaking, when you clicked on the link that brought you to this page, |
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your browser did something like the following:: |
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#create an INET, STREAMing socket |
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s = socket.socket( |
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socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM) |
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#now connect to the web server on port 80 |
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# - the normal http port |
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s.connect(("www.mcmillan-inc.com", 80)) |
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|
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When the ``connect`` completes, the socket ``s`` can now be used to send in a |
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request for the text of this page. The same socket will read the reply, and then |
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be destroyed. That's right - destroyed. Client sockets are normally only used |
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for one exchange (or a small set of sequential exchanges). |
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What happens in the web server is a bit more complex. First, the web server |
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creates a "server socket". :: |
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#create an INET, STREAMing socket |
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serversocket = socket.socket( |
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80 |
socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM) |
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#bind the socket to a public host, |
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# and a well-known port |
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serversocket.bind((socket.gethostname(), 80)) |
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#become a server socket |
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serversocket.listen(5) |
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|
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A couple things to notice: we used ``socket.gethostname()`` so that the socket |
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would be visible to the outside world. If we had used ``s.bind(('', 80))`` or |
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``s.bind(('localhost', 80))`` or ``s.bind(('127.0.0.1', 80))`` we would still |
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have a "server" socket, but one that was only visible within the same machine. |
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|
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A second thing to note: low number ports are usually reserved for "well known" |
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services (HTTP, SNMP etc). If you're playing around, use a nice high number (4 |
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digits). |
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Finally, the argument to ``listen`` tells the socket library that we want it to |
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queue up as many as 5 connect requests (the normal max) before refusing outside |
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connections. If the rest of the code is written properly, that should be plenty. |
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OK, now we have a "server" socket, listening on port 80. Now we enter the |
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mainloop of the web server:: |
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while 1: |
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#accept connections from outside |
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(clientsocket, address) = serversocket.accept() |
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changeset
|
106 |
#now do something with the clientsocket |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
107 |
#in this case, we'll pretend this is a threaded server |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
108 |
ct = client_thread(clientsocket) |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
109 |
ct.run() |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
110 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
111 |
There's actually 3 general ways in which this loop could work - dispatching a |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
112 |
thread to handle ``clientsocket``, create a new process to handle |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
113 |
``clientsocket``, or restructure this app to use non-blocking sockets, and |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
114 |
mulitplex between our "server" socket and any active ``clientsocket``\ s using |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
115 |
``select``. More about that later. The important thing to understand now is |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
116 |
this: this is *all* a "server" socket does. It doesn't send any data. It doesn't |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
117 |
receive any data. It just produces "client" sockets. Each ``clientsocket`` is |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
118 |
created in response to some *other* "client" socket doing a ``connect()`` to the |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
119 |
host and port we're bound to. As soon as we've created that ``clientsocket``, we |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
120 |
go back to listening for more connections. The two "clients" are free to chat it |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
121 |
up - they are using some dynamically allocated port which will be recycled when |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
122 |
the conversation ends. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
123 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
124 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
125 |
IPC |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
126 |
--- |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
127 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
128 |
If you need fast IPC between two processes on one machine, you should look into |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
129 |
whatever form of shared memory the platform offers. A simple protocol based |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
130 |
around shared memory and locks or semaphores is by far the fastest technique. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
131 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
132 |
If you do decide to use sockets, bind the "server" socket to ``'localhost'``. On |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
133 |
most platforms, this will take a shortcut around a couple of layers of network |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
134 |
code and be quite a bit faster. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
135 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
136 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
137 |
Using a Socket |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
138 |
============== |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
139 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
140 |
The first thing to note, is that the web browser's "client" socket and the web |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
141 |
server's "client" socket are identical beasts. That is, this is a "peer to peer" |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
142 |
conversation. Or to put it another way, *as the designer, you will have to |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
143 |
decide what the rules of etiquette are for a conversation*. Normally, the |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
144 |
``connect``\ ing socket starts the conversation, by sending in a request, or |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
145 |
perhaps a signon. But that's a design decision - it's not a rule of sockets. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
146 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
147 |
Now there are two sets of verbs to use for communication. You can use ``send`` |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
148 |
and ``recv``, or you can transform your client socket into a file-like beast and |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
149 |
use ``read`` and ``write``. The latter is the way Java presents their sockets. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
150 |
I'm not going to talk about it here, except to warn you that you need to use |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
151 |
``flush`` on sockets. These are buffered "files", and a common mistake is to |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
152 |
``write`` something, and then ``read`` for a reply. Without a ``flush`` in |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
153 |
there, you may wait forever for the reply, because the request may still be in |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
154 |
your output buffer. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
155 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
156 |
Now we come the major stumbling block of sockets - ``send`` and ``recv`` operate |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
157 |
on the network buffers. They do not necessarily handle all the bytes you hand |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
158 |
them (or expect from them), because their major focus is handling the network |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
159 |
buffers. In general, they return when the associated network buffers have been |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
160 |
filled (``send``) or emptied (``recv``). They then tell you how many bytes they |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
161 |
handled. It is *your* responsibility to call them again until your message has |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
162 |
been completely dealt with. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
163 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
164 |
When a ``recv`` returns 0 bytes, it means the other side has closed (or is in |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
165 |
the process of closing) the connection. You will not receive any more data on |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
166 |
this connection. Ever. You may be able to send data successfully; I'll talk |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
167 |
about that some on the next page. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
168 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
169 |
A protocol like HTTP uses a socket for only one transfer. The client sends a |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
170 |
request, the reads a reply. That's it. The socket is discarded. This means that |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
171 |
a client can detect the end of the reply by receiving 0 bytes. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
172 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
173 |
But if you plan to reuse your socket for further transfers, you need to realize |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
174 |
that *there is no "EOT" (End of Transfer) on a socket.* I repeat: if a socket |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
175 |
``send`` or ``recv`` returns after handling 0 bytes, the connection has been |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
176 |
broken. If the connection has *not* been broken, you may wait on a ``recv`` |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
177 |
forever, because the socket will *not* tell you that there's nothing more to |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
178 |
read (for now). Now if you think about that a bit, you'll come to realize a |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
179 |
fundamental truth of sockets: *messages must either be fixed length* (yuck), *or |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
180 |
be delimited* (shrug), *or indicate how long they are* (much better), *or end by |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
181 |
shutting down the connection*. The choice is entirely yours, (but some ways are |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
182 |
righter than others). |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
183 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
184 |
Assuming you don't want to end the connection, the simplest solution is a fixed |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
185 |
length message:: |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
186 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
187 |
class mysocket: |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
188 |
'''demonstration class only |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
189 |
- coded for clarity, not efficiency |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
190 |
''' |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
191 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
192 |
def __init__(self, sock=None): |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
193 |
if sock is None: |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
194 |
self.sock = socket.socket( |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
195 |
socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM) |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
196 |
else: |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
197 |
self.sock = sock |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
198 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
199 |
def connect(self, host, port): |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
200 |
self.sock.connect((host, port)) |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
201 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
202 |
def mysend(self, msg): |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
203 |
totalsent = 0 |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
204 |
while totalsent < MSGLEN: |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
205 |
sent = self.sock.send(msg[totalsent:]) |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
206 |
if sent == 0: |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
207 |
raise RuntimeError, \ |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
208 |
"socket connection broken" |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
209 |
totalsent = totalsent + sent |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
210 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
211 |
def myreceive(self): |
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Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
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parents:
diff
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|
212 |
msg = '' |
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Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
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parents:
diff
changeset
|
213 |
while len(msg) < MSGLEN: |
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Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
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parents:
diff
changeset
|
214 |
chunk = self.sock.recv(MSGLEN-len(msg)) |
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Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
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parents:
diff
changeset
|
215 |
if chunk == '': |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
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parents:
diff
changeset
|
216 |
raise RuntimeError, \ |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
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parents:
diff
changeset
|
217 |
"socket connection broken" |
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Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
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parents:
diff
changeset
|
218 |
msg = msg + chunk |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
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parents:
diff
changeset
|
219 |
return msg |
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Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
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parents:
diff
changeset
|
220 |
|
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Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
221 |
The sending code here is usable for almost any messaging scheme - in Python you |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
222 |
send strings, and you can use ``len()`` to determine its length (even if it has |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
223 |
embedded ``\0`` characters). It's mostly the receiving code that gets more |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
224 |
complex. (And in C, it's not much worse, except you can't use ``strlen`` if the |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
225 |
message has embedded ``\0``\ s.) |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
226 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
227 |
The easiest enhancement is to make the first character of the message an |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
228 |
indicator of message type, and have the type determine the length. Now you have |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
229 |
two ``recv``\ s - the first to get (at least) that first character so you can |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
230 |
look up the length, and the second in a loop to get the rest. If you decide to |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
231 |
go the delimited route, you'll be receiving in some arbitrary chunk size, (4096 |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
232 |
or 8192 is frequently a good match for network buffer sizes), and scanning what |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
233 |
you've received for a delimiter. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
234 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
235 |
One complication to be aware of: if your conversational protocol allows multiple |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
236 |
messages to be sent back to back (without some kind of reply), and you pass |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
237 |
``recv`` an arbitrary chunk size, you may end up reading the start of a |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
238 |
following message. You'll need to put that aside and hold onto it, until it's |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
239 |
needed. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
240 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
241 |
Prefixing the message with it's length (say, as 5 numeric characters) gets more |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
242 |
complex, because (believe it or not), you may not get all 5 characters in one |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
243 |
``recv``. In playing around, you'll get away with it; but in high network loads, |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
244 |
your code will very quickly break unless you use two ``recv`` loops - the first |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
245 |
to determine the length, the second to get the data part of the message. Nasty. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
246 |
This is also when you'll discover that ``send`` does not always manage to get |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
247 |
rid of everything in one pass. And despite having read this, you will eventually |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
248 |
get bit by it! |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
249 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
250 |
In the interests of space, building your character, (and preserving my |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
251 |
competitive position), these enhancements are left as an exercise for the |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
252 |
reader. Lets move on to cleaning up. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
253 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
254 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
255 |
Binary Data |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
256 |
----------- |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
257 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
258 |
It is perfectly possible to send binary data over a socket. The major problem is |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
259 |
that not all machines use the same formats for binary data. For example, a |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
260 |
Motorola chip will represent a 16 bit integer with the value 1 as the two hex |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
261 |
bytes 00 01. Intel and DEC, however, are byte-reversed - that same 1 is 01 00. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
262 |
Socket libraries have calls for converting 16 and 32 bit integers - ``ntohl, |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
263 |
htonl, ntohs, htons`` where "n" means *network* and "h" means *host*, "s" means |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
264 |
*short* and "l" means *long*. Where network order is host order, these do |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
265 |
nothing, but where the machine is byte-reversed, these swap the bytes around |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
266 |
appropriately. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
267 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
268 |
In these days of 32 bit machines, the ascii representation of binary data is |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
269 |
frequently smaller than the binary representation. That's because a surprising |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
270 |
amount of the time, all those longs have the value 0, or maybe 1. The string "0" |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
271 |
would be two bytes, while binary is four. Of course, this doesn't fit well with |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
272 |
fixed-length messages. Decisions, decisions. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
273 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
274 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
275 |
Disconnecting |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
276 |
============= |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
277 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
278 |
Strictly speaking, you're supposed to use ``shutdown`` on a socket before you |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
279 |
``close`` it. The ``shutdown`` is an advisory to the socket at the other end. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
280 |
Depending on the argument you pass it, it can mean "I'm not going to send |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
281 |
anymore, but I'll still listen", or "I'm not listening, good riddance!". Most |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
282 |
socket libraries, however, are so used to programmers neglecting to use this |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
283 |
piece of etiquette that normally a ``close`` is the same as ``shutdown(); |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
284 |
close()``. So in most situations, an explicit ``shutdown`` is not needed. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
285 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
286 |
One way to use ``shutdown`` effectively is in an HTTP-like exchange. The client |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
287 |
sends a request and then does a ``shutdown(1)``. This tells the server "This |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
288 |
client is done sending, but can still receive." The server can detect "EOF" by |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
289 |
a receive of 0 bytes. It can assume it has the complete request. The server |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
290 |
sends a reply. If the ``send`` completes successfully then, indeed, the client |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
291 |
was still receiving. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
292 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
293 |
Python takes the automatic shutdown a step further, and says that when a socket |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
294 |
is garbage collected, it will automatically do a ``close`` if it's needed. But |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
295 |
relying on this is a very bad habit. If your socket just disappears without |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
296 |
doing a ``close``, the socket at the other end may hang indefinitely, thinking |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
297 |
you're just being slow. *Please* ``close`` your sockets when you're done. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
298 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
299 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
300 |
When Sockets Die |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
301 |
---------------- |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
302 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
303 |
Probably the worst thing about using blocking sockets is what happens when the |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
304 |
other side comes down hard (without doing a ``close``). Your socket is likely to |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
305 |
hang. SOCKSTREAM is a reliable protocol, and it will wait a long, long time |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
306 |
before giving up on a connection. If you're using threads, the entire thread is |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
307 |
essentially dead. There's not much you can do about it. As long as you aren't |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
308 |
doing something dumb, like holding a lock while doing a blocking read, the |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
309 |
thread isn't really consuming much in the way of resources. Do *not* try to kill |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
310 |
the thread - part of the reason that threads are more efficient than processes |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
311 |
is that they avoid the overhead associated with the automatic recycling of |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
312 |
resources. In other words, if you do manage to kill the thread, your whole |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
313 |
process is likely to be screwed up. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
314 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
315 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
316 |
Non-blocking Sockets |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
317 |
==================== |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
318 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
319 |
If you've understood the preceeding, you already know most of what you need to |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
320 |
know about the mechanics of using sockets. You'll still use the same calls, in |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
321 |
much the same ways. It's just that, if you do it right, your app will be almost |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
322 |
inside-out. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
323 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
324 |
In Python, you use ``socket.setblocking(0)`` to make it non-blocking. In C, it's |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
325 |
more complex, (for one thing, you'll need to choose between the BSD flavor |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
326 |
``O_NONBLOCK`` and the almost indistinguishable Posix flavor ``O_NDELAY``, which |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
327 |
is completely different from ``TCP_NODELAY``), but it's the exact same idea. You |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
328 |
do this after creating the socket, but before using it. (Actually, if you're |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
329 |
nuts, you can switch back and forth.) |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
330 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
331 |
The major mechanical difference is that ``send``, ``recv``, ``connect`` and |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
332 |
``accept`` can return without having done anything. You have (of course) a |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
333 |
number of choices. You can check return code and error codes and generally drive |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
334 |
yourself crazy. If you don't believe me, try it sometime. Your app will grow |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
335 |
large, buggy and suck CPU. So let's skip the brain-dead solutions and do it |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
336 |
right. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
337 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
338 |
Use ``select``. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
339 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
340 |
In C, coding ``select`` is fairly complex. In Python, it's a piece of cake, but |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
341 |
it's close enough to the C version that if you understand ``select`` in Python, |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
342 |
you'll have little trouble with it in C. :: |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
343 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
344 |
ready_to_read, ready_to_write, in_error = \ |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
345 |
select.select( |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
346 |
potential_readers, |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
347 |
potential_writers, |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
348 |
potential_errs, |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
349 |
timeout) |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
350 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
351 |
You pass ``select`` three lists: the first contains all sockets that you might |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
352 |
want to try reading; the second all the sockets you might want to try writing |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
353 |
to, and the last (normally left empty) those that you want to check for errors. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
354 |
You should note that a socket can go into more than one list. The ``select`` |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
355 |
call is blocking, but you can give it a timeout. This is generally a sensible |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
356 |
thing to do - give it a nice long timeout (say a minute) unless you have good |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
357 |
reason to do otherwise. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
358 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
359 |
In return, you will get three lists. They have the sockets that are actually |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
360 |
readable, writable and in error. Each of these lists is a subset (possibly |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
361 |
empty) of the corresponding list you passed in. And if you put a socket in more |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
362 |
than one input list, it will only be (at most) in one output list. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
363 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
364 |
If a socket is in the output readable list, you can be |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
365 |
as-close-to-certain-as-we-ever-get-in-this-business that a ``recv`` on that |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
366 |
socket will return *something*. Same idea for the writable list. You'll be able |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
367 |
to send *something*. Maybe not all you want to, but *something* is better than |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
368 |
nothing. (Actually, any reasonably healthy socket will return as writable - it |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
369 |
just means outbound network buffer space is available.) |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
370 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
371 |
If you have a "server" socket, put it in the potential_readers list. If it comes |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
372 |
out in the readable list, your ``accept`` will (almost certainly) work. If you |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
373 |
have created a new socket to ``connect`` to someone else, put it in the |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
374 |
potential_writers list. If it shows up in the writable list, you have a decent |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
375 |
chance that it has connected. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
376 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
377 |
One very nasty problem with ``select``: if somewhere in those input lists of |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
378 |
sockets is one which has died a nasty death, the ``select`` will fail. You then |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
379 |
need to loop through every single damn socket in all those lists and do a |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
380 |
``select([sock],[],[],0)`` until you find the bad one. That timeout of 0 means |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
381 |
it won't take long, but it's ugly. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
382 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
383 |
Actually, ``select`` can be handy even with blocking sockets. It's one way of |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
384 |
determining whether you will block - the socket returns as readable when there's |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
385 |
something in the buffers. However, this still doesn't help with the problem of |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
386 |
determining whether the other end is done, or just busy with something else. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
387 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
388 |
**Portability alert**: On Unix, ``select`` works both with the sockets and |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
389 |
files. Don't try this on Windows. On Windows, ``select`` works with sockets |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
390 |
only. Also note that in C, many of the more advanced socket options are done |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
391 |
differently on Windows. In fact, on Windows I usually use threads (which work |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
392 |
very, very well) with my sockets. Face it, if you want any kind of performance, |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
393 |
your code will look very different on Windows than on Unix. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
394 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
395 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
396 |
Performance |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
397 |
----------- |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
398 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
399 |
There's no question that the fastest sockets code uses non-blocking sockets and |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
400 |
select to multiplex them. You can put together something that will saturate a |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
401 |
LAN connection without putting any strain on the CPU. The trouble is that an app |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
402 |
written this way can't do much of anything else - it needs to be ready to |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
403 |
shuffle bytes around at all times. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
404 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
405 |
Assuming that your app is actually supposed to do something more than that, |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
406 |
threading is the optimal solution, (and using non-blocking sockets will be |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
407 |
faster than using blocking sockets). Unfortunately, threading support in Unixes |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
408 |
varies both in API and quality. So the normal Unix solution is to fork a |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
409 |
subprocess to deal with each connection. The overhead for this is significant |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
410 |
(and don't do this on Windows - the overhead of process creation is enormous |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
411 |
there). It also means that unless each subprocess is completely independent, |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
412 |
you'll need to use another form of IPC, say a pipe, or shared memory and |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
413 |
semaphores, to communicate between the parent and child processes. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
414 |
|
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
415 |
Finally, remember that even though blocking sockets are somewhat slower than |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
416 |
non-blocking, in many cases they are the "right" solution. After all, if your |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
417 |
app is driven by the data it receives over a socket, there's not much sense in |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
418 |
complicating the logic just so your app can wait on ``select`` instead of |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
419 |
``recv``. |
2fb8b9db1c86
Initial QEMU (symbian-qemu-0.9.1-12) import
martin.trojer@nokia.com
parents:
diff
changeset
|
420 |