tcl7.6 C API - CrtChannel
NAME
Tcl_CreateChannel, Tcl_GetChannelInstanceData,
Tcl_GetChannelType, Tcl_GetChannelName, Tcl_GetChannelFile,
Tcl_GetChannelMode, Tcl_GetChannelBufferSize,
Tcl_SetDefaultTranslation, Tcl_SetChannelBufferSize - pro-
cedures for creating and manipulating channels
SYNOPSIS
#include <tcl.h>
Tcl_Channel
Tcl_CreateChannel(typePtr, channelName, instanceData, mask)
ClientData
Tcl_GetChannelInstanceData(channel)
Tcl_ChannelType *
Tcl_GetChannelType(channel)
char *
Tcl_GetChannelName(channel)
Tcl_File
Tcl_GetChannelFile(channel, direction)
int
Tcl_GetChannelFlags(channel)
void
Tcl_SetDefaultTranslation(channel, transMode)
int
Tcl_GetChannelBufferSize(channel)
void
Tcl_SetChannelBufferSize(channel, size)
ARGUMENTS
Tcl_ChannelType *typePtr (in) Points to a struc-
ture containing
the addresses of
procedures that
can be called to
perform I/O and
other functions on
the channel.
char *channelName (in) The name of this
channel, such as
file3; must not be
in use by any
other channel. Can
be NULL, in which
case the channel
is created without
a name.
ClientData instanceData (in) Arbitrary one-word
value to be asso-
ciated with this
channel. This
value is passed to
procedures in
typePtr when they
are invoked.
int mask (in) OR-ed combination
of TCL_READABLE
and TCL_WRITABLE
to indicate
whether a channel
is readable and
writable.
Tcl_Channel channel (in) The channel to
operate on.
int direction (in) TCL_READABLE means
the input file is
wanted;
TCL_WRITABLE means
the output file is
wanted.
Tcl_EolTranslation transMode(in)
The translation
mode; one of the
constants
TCL_TRANSLATE_AUTO,
TCL_TRANSLATE_CR,
TCL_TRANSLATE_LF
and
TCL_TRANSLATE_CRLF.
int size (in) The size, in
bytes, of buffers
to allocate in
this channel.
DESCRIPTION
Tcl uses a two-layered channel architecture. It provides a
generic upper layer to enable C and Tcl programs to perform
input and output using the same APIs for a variety of files,
devices, sockets etc. The generic C APIs are described in
the manual entry for Tcl_OpenFileChannel.
The lower layer provides type-specific channel drivers for
each type of file, socket and device supported on each plat-
form. This manual entry describes the C APIs used by the
generic layer to communicate with type-specific channel
drivers to perform the input and output operations. It also
explains how new types of channels can be added by providing
new channel drivers.
Channel drivers consist of a number of components: First,
each channel driver provides a Tcl_ChannelType structure
containing pointers to functions implementing the various
operations used by the generic layer to communicate with the
channel driver. The Tcl_ChannelType structure and the func-
tions referenced by it are described in the section
TCL_CHANNELTYPE, below.
Second, channel drivers usually provide a Tcl command to
create instances of that type of channel. For example, the
Tcl open command creates channels that use the file and com-
mand channel drivers, and the Tcl socket command creates
channels that use TCP sockets for network communication.
Third, a channel driver optionally provides a C function to
open channel instances of that type. For example,
Tcl_OpenFileChannel opens a channel that uses the file chan-
nel driver, and Tcl_OpenTcpClient opens a channel that uses
the TCP network protocol. These creation functions typi-
cally use Tcl_CreateChannel internally to open the channel.
To add a new type of channel you must implement a C API or a
Tcl command that opens a channel by invoking
Tcl_CreateChannel. When your driver calls Tcl_CreateChannel
it passes in a Tcl_ChannelType structure describing the
driver's I/O procedures. The generic layer will then invoke
the functions referenced in that structure to perform opera-
tions on the channel.
Tcl_CreateChannel opens a new channel and associates the
supplied typePtr and instanceData with it. The channel is
opened in the mode indicated by mask. For a discussion of
channel drivers, their operations and the Tcl_ChannelType
structure, see the section TCL_CHANNELTYPE, below.
Tcl_GetChannelInstanceData returns the instance data associ-
ated with the channel in channel. This is the same as the
instanceData argument in the call to Tcl_CreateChannel that
created this channel.
Tcl_GetChannelType returns a pointer to the Tcl_ChannelType
structure used by the channel in the channel argument. This
is the same as the typePtr argument in the call to
Tcl_CreateChannel that created this channel.
Tcl_GetChannelName returns a string containing the name
associated with the channel, or NULL if the channelName
argument to Tcl_CreateChannel was NULL.
Tcl_GetChannelFile returns the inFile associated with chan-
nel if direction is TCL_READABLE, or the outFile if direc-
tion is TCL_WRITABLE. The operation returns NULL if the
channel is not based on Tcl_Files or if the channel is not
open for the specified direction.
Tcl_GetChannelMode returns an OR-ed combination of
TCL_READABLE and TCL_WRITABLE, indicating whether the chan-
nel is open for input and output.
Tcl_SetDefaultTranslation sets the default end of line
translation mode. This mode will be installed as the trans-
lation mode for the channel if an attempt is made to output
on the channel while it is still in TCL_TRANSLATE_AUTO mode.
For a description of end of line translation modes, see the
manual entry for fconfigure.
Tcl_GetChannelBufferSize returns the size, in bytes, of
buffers allocated to store input or output in chan. If the
value was not set by a previous call to
Tcl_SetChannelBufferSize, described below, then the default
value of 4096 is returned.
Tcl_SetChannelBufferSize sets the size, in bytes, of buffers
that will be allocated in subsequent operations on the chan-
nel to store input or output. The size argument should be
between ten and one million, allowing buffers of ten bytes
to one million bytes. If size is outside this range,
Tcl_SetChannelBufferSize sets the buffer size to 4096.
TCL_CHANNELTYPE
A channel driver provides a Tcl_ChannelType structure that
contains pointers to functions that implement the various
operations on a channel; these operations are invoked as
needed by the generic layer. The Tcl_ChannelType structure
contains the following fields:
typedef struct Tcl_ChannelType {
char *typeName;
Tcl_DriverBlockModeProc *blockModeProc;
Tcl_DriverCloseProc *closeProc;
Tcl_DriverInputProc *inputProc;
Tcl_DriverOutputProc *outputProc;
Tcl_DriverSeekProc *seekProc;
Tcl_DriverSetOptionProc *setOptionProc;
Tcl_DriverGetOptionProc *getOptionProc;
Tcl_DriverWatchChannelProc *watchChannelProc;
Tcl_DriverChannelReadyProc *channelReadyProc;
Tcl_DriverGetFileProc *getFileProc;
} Tcl_ChannelType;
The driver must provide implementations for all functions
except blockModeProc, seekProc, setOptionProc, and getOp-
tionProc, which may be specified as NULL to indicate that
the channel does not support seeking. Other functions that
can not be implemented for this type of device should return
EINVAL when invoked to indicate that they are not imple-
mented.
TYPENAME
The typeName field contains a null-terminated string that
identifies the type of the device implemented by this
driver, e.g. file or socket.
BLOCKMODEPROC
The blockModeProc field contains the address of a function
called by the generic layer to set blocking and nonblocking
mode on the device. BlockModeProc should match the follow-
ing prototype:
typedef int Tcl_DriverBlockModeProc(
ClientData instanceData,
int mode);
The instanceData is the same as the value passed to
Tcl_CreateChannel when this channel was created. The mode
argument is either TCL_MODE_BLOCKING or TCL_MODE_NONBLOCKING
to set the device into blocking or nonblocking mode. The
function should return zero if the operation was successful,
or a nonzero POSIX error code if the operation failed.
If the operation is successful, the function can modify the
supplied instanceData to record that the channel entered
blocking or nonblocking mode and to implement the blocking
or nonblocking behavior. For some device types, the block-
ing and nonblocking behavior can be implemented by the
underlying operating system; for other device types, the
behavior must be emulated in the channel driver.
CLOSEPROC
The closeProc field contains the address of a function
called by the generic layer to clean up driver-related
information when the channel is closed. CloseProc must match
the following prototype:
typedef int Tcl_DriverCloseProc(
ClientData instanceData,
Tcl_Interp *interp);
The instanceData argument is the same as the value provided
to Tcl_CreateChannel when the channel was created. The func-
tion should release any storage maintained by the channel
driver for this channel, and close the input and output dev-
ices encapsulated by this channel. All queued output will
have been flushed to the device before this function is
called, and no further driver operations will be invoked on
this instance after calling the closeProc. If the close
operation is successful, the procedure should return zero;
otherwise it should return a nonzero POSIX error code. In
addition, if an error occurs and interp is not NULL, the
procedure should store an error message in interp->result.
INPUTPROC
The inputProc field contains the address of a function
called by the generic layer to read data from the file or
device and store it in an internal buffer. InputProc must
match the following prototype:
typedef int Tcl_DriverInputProc(
ClientData instanceData,
char *buf,
int bufSize,
int *errorCodePtr);
InstanceData is the same as the value passed to
Tcl_CreateChannel when the channel was created. The buf
argument points to an array of bytes in which to store input
from the device, and the bufSize argument indicates how many
bytes are available at buf.
The errorCodePtr argument points to an integer variable pro-
vided by the generic layer. If an error occurs, the function
should set the variable to a POSIX error code that identi-
fies the error that occurred.
The function should read data from the input device encapsu-
lated by the channel and store it at buf. On success, the
function should return a nonnegative integer indicating how
many bytes were read from the input device and stored at
buf. On error, the function should return -1. If an error
occurs after some data has been read from the device, that
data is lost.
If inputProc can determine that the input device has some
data available but less than requested by the bufSize argu-
ment, the function should only attempt to read as much data
as is available and return without blocking. If the input
device has no data available whatsoever and the channel is
in nonblocking mode, the function should return an EAGAIN
error. If the input device has no data available whatsoever
and the channel is in blocking mode, the function should
block for the shortest possible time until at least one byte
of data can be read from the device; then, it should return
as much data as it can read without blocking.
OUTPUTPROC
The outputProc field contains the address of a function
called by the generic layer to transfer data from an inter-
nal buffer to the output device. OutputProc must match the
following prototype:
typedef int Tcl_DriverOutputProc(
ClientData instanceData,
char *buf,
int toWrite,
int *errorCodePtr);
InstanceData is the same as the value passed to
Tcl_CreateChannel when the channel was created. The buf
argument contains an array of bytes to be written to the
device, and the toWrite argument indicates how many bytes
are to be written from the buf argument.
The errorCodePtr argument points to an integer variable pro-
vided by the generic layer. If an error occurs, the function
should set this variable to a POSIX error code that identi-
fies the error.
The function should write the data at buf to the output dev-
ice encapsulated by the channel. On success, the function
should return a nonnegative integer indicating how many
bytes were written to the output device. The return value
is normally the same as toWrite, but may be less in some
cases such as if the output operation is interrupted by a
signal. If an error occurs the function should return -1.
In case of error, some data may have been written to the
device.
If the channel is nonblocking and the output device is
unable to absorb any data whatsoever, the function should
return -1 with an EAGAIN error without writing any data.
SEEKPROC
The seekProc field contains the address of a function called
by the generic layer to move the access point at which sub-
sequent input or output operations will be applied. SeekProc
must match the following prototype:
typedef int Tcl_DriverSeekProc(
ClientData instanceData,
long offset,
int seekMode,
int *errorCodePtr);
The instanceData argument is the same as the value given to
Tcl_CreateChannel when this channel was created. Offset and
seekMode have the same meaning as for the Tcl_SeekChannel
procedure (described in the manual entry for
Tcl_OpenFileChannel).
The errorCodePtr argument points to an integer variable pro-
vided by the generic layer for returning errno values from
the function. The function should set this variable to a
POSIX error code if an error occurs. The function should
store an EINVAL error code if the channel type does not
implement seeking.
The return value is the new access point or -1 in case of
error. If an error occurred, the function should not move
the access point.
SETOPTIONPROC
The setOptionProc field contains the address of a function
called by the generic layer to set a channel type specific
option on a channel. setOptionProc must match the following
prototype:
typedef int Tcl_DriverSetOptionProc(
ClientData instanceData,
Tcl_Interp *interp,
char *optionName,
char *optionValue);
optionName is the name of an option to set, and optionValue
is the new value for that option, as a string. The instance-
Data is the same as the value given to Tcl_CreateChannel
when this channel was created. The function should do what-
ever channel type specific action is required to implement
the new value of the option.
Some options are handled by the generic code and this func-
tion is never called to set them, e.g. -blockmode. Other
options are specific to each channel type and the
setOptionProc procedure of the channel driver will get
called to implement them. The setOptionProc field can be
NULL, which indicates that this channel type supports no
type specific options.
If the option value is successfully modified to the new
value, the function returns TCL_OK. It returns TCL_ERROR if
the optionName is unrecognized or if optionValue specifies a
value for the option that is not supported. In this case,
the function leaves an error message in the result field of
interp if interp is not NULL. The function should also call
Tcl_SetErrno to store an appropriate POSIX error code.
GETOPTIONPROC
The getOptionProc field contains the address of a function
called by the generic layer to get the value of a channel
type specific option on a channel. getOptionProc must match
the following prototype:
typedef int Tcl_DriverGetOptionProc(
ClientData instanceData,
char *optionName,
Tcl_DString *dsPtr);
OptionName is the name of an option supported by this type
of channel. If the option name is not NULL, the function
stores its current value, as a string, in the Tcl dynamic
string dsPtr. If optionName is NULL, the function stores in
dsPtr an alternating list of all supported options and their
current values. On success, the function returns TCL_OK. If
an error occurs, the function returns TCL_ERROR and calls
Tcl_SetErrno to store an appropriate POSIX error code.
Some options are handled by the generic code and this func-
tion is never called to retrieve their value, e.g. -block-
mode. Other options are specific to each channel type and
the getOptionProc procedure of the channel driver will get
called to implement them. The getOptionProc field can be
NULL, which indicates that this channel type supports no
type specific options.
WATCHCHANNELPROC
The watchChannelProc field contains the address of a func-
tion called by the generic layer to initialize the event
notification mechanism to notice events of interest on this
channel. WatchChannelProc should match the following proto-
type:
typeded void Tcl_DriverWatchChannelProc(
ClientData instanceData,
int mask);
The instanceData is the same as the value passed to
Tcl_CreateChannel when this channel was created. The mask
argument is an OR-ed combination of TCL_READABLE,
TCL_WRITABLE and TCL_EXCEPTION; it indicates events the
caller is interested in noticing on this channel.
The function should initialize device type specific mechan-
isms to notice when an event of interest is present on the
channel. It may invoke Tcl_SetMaxBlockTime to specify an
upper limit on the length of time to wait for an event, and
it may invoke Tcl_WatchFile if the channel implementation is
based on Tcl_Files.
CHANNELREADYPROC
The channelReadyProc field contains the address of a func-
tion called by the generic layer to sense whether events of
interest have occurred for this channel. ChannelReadyProc
should match the following prototype:
typedef int Tcl_DriverChannelReadyProc(
ClientData instanceData,
int mask);
InstanceData is the same as the value passed to
Tcl_CreateChannel when this channel was created. The mask
argument is an OR-ed combination of TCL_READABLE,
TCL_WRITABLE and TCL_EXCEPTION indicating what events are of
interest. The function returns a mask containing an OR-ed
combination of a subset of the flags in mask to indicate
what events have actually occurred on the channel.
The function should use a device type dependent mechanism to
detect whether events of interest have occurred on the chan-
nel. It may invoke Tcl_FileReady if the channel implementa-
tion is based on Tcl_Files.
GETFILEPROC
The getFileProc field contains the address of a function
called by the generic layer to retrieve a Tcl_File from the
channel. GetFileProc should match the following prototype:
typedef Tcl_File Tcl_DriverGetFileProc(
ClientData instanceData,
int direction);
InstanceData is the same as the value passed to
Tcl_CreateChannel when this channel was created. The direc-
tion argument is either TCL_READABLE to retrieve the
Tcl_File used for input, or TCL_WRITABLE to retrieve the
Tcl_File used for output.
If the channel implementation is based on Tcl_Files, the
function should retrieve the appropriate Tcl_File associated
with the channel, according the direction argument; it can
return NULL if the channel is not open for that direction.
If the channel implementation does not use Tcl_Files, the
function should always return NULL.
SEE ALSO
Tcl_Close(3), Tcl_OpenFileChannel(3), Tcl_SetErrno(3),
Tcl_SetMaxBlockTime(3), Tcl_WatchFile(3), Tcl_FileReady(3)
KEYWORDS
blocking, channel driver, channel registration, channel
type, nonblocking