1072 lines
41 KiB
ReStructuredText
1072 lines
41 KiB
ReStructuredText
:mod:`io` --- Core tools for working with streams
|
|
=================================================
|
|
|
|
.. module:: io
|
|
:synopsis: Core tools for working with streams.
|
|
|
|
.. moduleauthor:: Guido van Rossum <guido@python.org>
|
|
.. moduleauthor:: Mike Verdone <mike.verdone@gmail.com>
|
|
.. moduleauthor:: Mark Russell <mark.russell@zen.co.uk>
|
|
.. moduleauthor:: Antoine Pitrou <solipsis@pitrou.net>
|
|
.. moduleauthor:: Amaury Forgeot d'Arc <amauryfa@gmail.com>
|
|
.. moduleauthor:: Benjamin Peterson <benjamin@python.org>
|
|
.. sectionauthor:: Benjamin Peterson <benjamin@python.org>
|
|
|
|
**Source code:** :source:`Lib/io.py`
|
|
|
|
--------------
|
|
|
|
.. _io-overview:
|
|
|
|
Overview
|
|
--------
|
|
|
|
.. index::
|
|
single: file object; io module
|
|
|
|
The :mod:`io` module provides Python's main facilities for dealing with various
|
|
types of I/O. There are three main types of I/O: *text I/O*, *binary I/O*
|
|
and *raw I/O*. These are generic categories, and various backing stores can
|
|
be used for each of them. A concrete object belonging to any of these
|
|
categories is called a :term:`file object`. Other common terms are *stream*
|
|
and *file-like object*.
|
|
|
|
Independent of its category, each concrete stream object will also have
|
|
various capabilities: it can be read-only, write-only, or read-write. It can
|
|
also allow arbitrary random access (seeking forwards or backwards to any
|
|
location), or only sequential access (for example in the case of a socket or
|
|
pipe).
|
|
|
|
All streams are careful about the type of data you give to them. For example
|
|
giving a :class:`str` object to the ``write()`` method of a binary stream
|
|
will raise a :exc:`TypeError`. So will giving a :class:`bytes` object to the
|
|
``write()`` method of a text stream.
|
|
|
|
.. versionchanged:: 3.3
|
|
Operations that used to raise :exc:`IOError` now raise :exc:`OSError`, since
|
|
:exc:`IOError` is now an alias of :exc:`OSError`.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Text I/O
|
|
^^^^^^^^
|
|
|
|
Text I/O expects and produces :class:`str` objects. This means that whenever
|
|
the backing store is natively made of bytes (such as in the case of a file),
|
|
encoding and decoding of data is made transparently as well as optional
|
|
translation of platform-specific newline characters.
|
|
|
|
The easiest way to create a text stream is with :meth:`open()`, optionally
|
|
specifying an encoding::
|
|
|
|
f = open("myfile.txt", "r", encoding="utf-8")
|
|
|
|
In-memory text streams are also available as :class:`StringIO` objects::
|
|
|
|
f = io.StringIO("some initial text data")
|
|
|
|
The text stream API is described in detail in the documentation of
|
|
:class:`TextIOBase`.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Binary I/O
|
|
^^^^^^^^^^
|
|
|
|
Binary I/O (also called *buffered I/O*) expects
|
|
:term:`bytes-like objects <bytes-like object>` and produces :class:`bytes`
|
|
objects. No encoding, decoding, or newline translation is performed. This
|
|
category of streams can be used for all kinds of non-text data, and also when
|
|
manual control over the handling of text data is desired.
|
|
|
|
The easiest way to create a binary stream is with :meth:`open()` with ``'b'`` in
|
|
the mode string::
|
|
|
|
f = open("myfile.jpg", "rb")
|
|
|
|
In-memory binary streams are also available as :class:`BytesIO` objects::
|
|
|
|
f = io.BytesIO(b"some initial binary data: \x00\x01")
|
|
|
|
The binary stream API is described in detail in the docs of
|
|
:class:`BufferedIOBase`.
|
|
|
|
Other library modules may provide additional ways to create text or binary
|
|
streams. See :meth:`socket.socket.makefile` for example.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Raw I/O
|
|
^^^^^^^
|
|
|
|
Raw I/O (also called *unbuffered I/O*) is generally used as a low-level
|
|
building-block for binary and text streams; it is rarely useful to directly
|
|
manipulate a raw stream from user code. Nevertheless, you can create a raw
|
|
stream by opening a file in binary mode with buffering disabled::
|
|
|
|
f = open("myfile.jpg", "rb", buffering=0)
|
|
|
|
The raw stream API is described in detail in the docs of :class:`RawIOBase`.
|
|
|
|
|
|
High-level Module Interface
|
|
---------------------------
|
|
|
|
.. data:: DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE
|
|
|
|
An int containing the default buffer size used by the module's buffered I/O
|
|
classes. :func:`open` uses the file's blksize (as obtained by
|
|
:func:`os.stat`) if possible.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. function:: open(file, mode='r', buffering=-1, encoding=None, errors=None, newline=None, closefd=True, opener=None)
|
|
|
|
This is an alias for the builtin :func:`open` function.
|
|
|
|
.. audit-event:: open path,mode,flags io.open
|
|
|
|
This function raises an :ref:`auditing event <auditing>` ``open`` with
|
|
arguments ``path``, ``mode`` and ``flags``. The ``mode`` and ``flags``
|
|
arguments may have been modified or inferred from the original call.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. function:: open_code(path)
|
|
|
|
Opens the provided file with mode ``'rb'``. This function should be used
|
|
when the intent is to treat the contents as executable code.
|
|
|
|
``path`` should be a :class:`str` and an absolute path.
|
|
|
|
The behavior of this function may be overridden by an earlier call to the
|
|
:c:func:`PyFile_SetOpenCodeHook`. However, assuming that ``path`` is a
|
|
:class:`str` and an absolute path, ``open_code(path)`` should always behave
|
|
the same as ``open(path, 'rb')``. Overriding the behavior is intended for
|
|
additional validation or preprocessing of the file.
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 3.8
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. exception:: BlockingIOError
|
|
|
|
This is a compatibility alias for the builtin :exc:`BlockingIOError`
|
|
exception.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. exception:: UnsupportedOperation
|
|
|
|
An exception inheriting :exc:`OSError` and :exc:`ValueError` that is raised
|
|
when an unsupported operation is called on a stream.
|
|
|
|
|
|
In-memory streams
|
|
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|
|
|
|
It is also possible to use a :class:`str` or :term:`bytes-like object` as a
|
|
file for both reading and writing. For strings :class:`StringIO` can be used
|
|
like a file opened in text mode. :class:`BytesIO` can be used like a file
|
|
opened in binary mode. Both provide full read-write capabilities with random
|
|
access.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. seealso::
|
|
|
|
:mod:`sys`
|
|
contains the standard IO streams: :data:`sys.stdin`, :data:`sys.stdout`,
|
|
and :data:`sys.stderr`.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Class hierarchy
|
|
---------------
|
|
|
|
The implementation of I/O streams is organized as a hierarchy of classes. First
|
|
:term:`abstract base classes <abstract base class>` (ABCs), which are used to
|
|
specify the various categories of streams, then concrete classes providing the
|
|
standard stream implementations.
|
|
|
|
.. note::
|
|
|
|
The abstract base classes also provide default implementations of some
|
|
methods in order to help implementation of concrete stream classes. For
|
|
example, :class:`BufferedIOBase` provides unoptimized implementations of
|
|
:meth:`~IOBase.readinto` and :meth:`~IOBase.readline`.
|
|
|
|
At the top of the I/O hierarchy is the abstract base class :class:`IOBase`. It
|
|
defines the basic interface to a stream. Note, however, that there is no
|
|
separation between reading and writing to streams; implementations are allowed
|
|
to raise :exc:`UnsupportedOperation` if they do not support a given operation.
|
|
|
|
The :class:`RawIOBase` ABC extends :class:`IOBase`. It deals with the reading
|
|
and writing of bytes to a stream. :class:`FileIO` subclasses :class:`RawIOBase`
|
|
to provide an interface to files in the machine's file system.
|
|
|
|
The :class:`BufferedIOBase` ABC deals with buffering on a raw byte stream
|
|
(:class:`RawIOBase`). Its subclasses, :class:`BufferedWriter`,
|
|
:class:`BufferedReader`, and :class:`BufferedRWPair` buffer streams that are
|
|
readable, writable, and both readable and writable. :class:`BufferedRandom`
|
|
provides a buffered interface to random access streams. Another
|
|
:class:`BufferedIOBase` subclass, :class:`BytesIO`, is a stream of in-memory
|
|
bytes.
|
|
|
|
The :class:`TextIOBase` ABC, another subclass of :class:`IOBase`, deals with
|
|
streams whose bytes represent text, and handles encoding and decoding to and
|
|
from strings. :class:`TextIOWrapper`, which extends it, is a buffered text
|
|
interface to a buffered raw stream (:class:`BufferedIOBase`). Finally,
|
|
:class:`StringIO` is an in-memory stream for text.
|
|
|
|
Argument names are not part of the specification, and only the arguments of
|
|
:func:`open` are intended to be used as keyword arguments.
|
|
|
|
The following table summarizes the ABCs provided by the :mod:`io` module:
|
|
|
|
.. tabularcolumns:: |l|l|L|L|
|
|
|
|
========================= ================== ======================== ==================================================
|
|
ABC Inherits Stub Methods Mixin Methods and Properties
|
|
========================= ================== ======================== ==================================================
|
|
:class:`IOBase` ``fileno``, ``seek``, ``close``, ``closed``, ``__enter__``,
|
|
and ``truncate`` ``__exit__``, ``flush``, ``isatty``, ``__iter__``,
|
|
``__next__``, ``readable``, ``readline``,
|
|
``readlines``, ``seekable``, ``tell``,
|
|
``writable``, and ``writelines``
|
|
:class:`RawIOBase` :class:`IOBase` ``readinto`` and Inherited :class:`IOBase` methods, ``read``,
|
|
``write`` and ``readall``
|
|
:class:`BufferedIOBase` :class:`IOBase` ``detach``, ``read``, Inherited :class:`IOBase` methods, ``readinto``,
|
|
``read1``, and ``write`` and ``readinto1``
|
|
:class:`TextIOBase` :class:`IOBase` ``detach``, ``read``, Inherited :class:`IOBase` methods, ``encoding``,
|
|
``readline``, and ``errors``, and ``newlines``
|
|
``write``
|
|
========================= ================== ======================== ==================================================
|
|
|
|
|
|
I/O Base Classes
|
|
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|
|
|
|
.. class:: IOBase
|
|
|
|
The abstract base class for all I/O classes, acting on streams of bytes.
|
|
There is no public constructor.
|
|
|
|
This class provides empty abstract implementations for many methods
|
|
that derived classes can override selectively; the default
|
|
implementations represent a file that cannot be read, written or
|
|
seeked.
|
|
|
|
Even though :class:`IOBase` does not declare :meth:`read`
|
|
or :meth:`write` because their signatures will vary, implementations and
|
|
clients should consider those methods part of the interface. Also,
|
|
implementations may raise a :exc:`ValueError` (or :exc:`UnsupportedOperation`)
|
|
when operations they do not support are called.
|
|
|
|
The basic type used for binary data read from or written to a file is
|
|
:class:`bytes`. Other :term:`bytes-like objects <bytes-like object>` are
|
|
accepted as method arguments too. Text I/O classes work with :class:`str` data.
|
|
|
|
Note that calling any method (even inquiries) on a closed stream is
|
|
undefined. Implementations may raise :exc:`ValueError` in this case.
|
|
|
|
:class:`IOBase` (and its subclasses) supports the iterator protocol, meaning
|
|
that an :class:`IOBase` object can be iterated over yielding the lines in a
|
|
stream. Lines are defined slightly differently depending on whether the
|
|
stream is a binary stream (yielding bytes), or a text stream (yielding
|
|
character strings). See :meth:`~IOBase.readline` below.
|
|
|
|
:class:`IOBase` is also a context manager and therefore supports the
|
|
:keyword:`with` statement. In this example, *file* is closed after the
|
|
:keyword:`!with` statement's suite is finished---even if an exception occurs::
|
|
|
|
with open('spam.txt', 'w') as file:
|
|
file.write('Spam and eggs!')
|
|
|
|
:class:`IOBase` provides these data attributes and methods:
|
|
|
|
.. method:: close()
|
|
|
|
Flush and close this stream. This method has no effect if the file is
|
|
already closed. Once the file is closed, any operation on the file
|
|
(e.g. reading or writing) will raise a :exc:`ValueError`.
|
|
|
|
As a convenience, it is allowed to call this method more than once;
|
|
only the first call, however, will have an effect.
|
|
|
|
.. attribute:: closed
|
|
|
|
``True`` if the stream is closed.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: fileno()
|
|
|
|
Return the underlying file descriptor (an integer) of the stream if it
|
|
exists. An :exc:`OSError` is raised if the IO object does not use a file
|
|
descriptor.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: flush()
|
|
|
|
Flush the write buffers of the stream if applicable. This does nothing
|
|
for read-only and non-blocking streams.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: isatty()
|
|
|
|
Return ``True`` if the stream is interactive (i.e., connected to
|
|
a terminal/tty device).
|
|
|
|
.. method:: readable()
|
|
|
|
Return ``True`` if the stream can be read from. If ``False``, :meth:`read`
|
|
will raise :exc:`OSError`.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: readline(size=-1)
|
|
|
|
Read and return one line from the stream. If *size* is specified, at
|
|
most *size* bytes will be read.
|
|
|
|
The line terminator is always ``b'\n'`` for binary files; for text files,
|
|
the *newline* argument to :func:`open` can be used to select the line
|
|
terminator(s) recognized.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: readlines(hint=-1)
|
|
|
|
Read and return a list of lines from the stream. *hint* can be specified
|
|
to control the number of lines read: no more lines will be read if the
|
|
total size (in bytes/characters) of all lines so far exceeds *hint*.
|
|
|
|
Note that it's already possible to iterate on file objects using ``for
|
|
line in file: ...`` without calling ``file.readlines()``.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: seek(offset, whence=SEEK_SET)
|
|
|
|
Change the stream position to the given byte *offset*. *offset* is
|
|
interpreted relative to the position indicated by *whence*. The default
|
|
value for *whence* is :data:`SEEK_SET`. Values for *whence* are:
|
|
|
|
* :data:`SEEK_SET` or ``0`` -- start of the stream (the default);
|
|
*offset* should be zero or positive
|
|
* :data:`SEEK_CUR` or ``1`` -- current stream position; *offset* may
|
|
be negative
|
|
* :data:`SEEK_END` or ``2`` -- end of the stream; *offset* is usually
|
|
negative
|
|
|
|
Return the new absolute position.
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 3.1
|
|
The ``SEEK_*`` constants.
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 3.3
|
|
Some operating systems could support additional values, like
|
|
:data:`os.SEEK_HOLE` or :data:`os.SEEK_DATA`. The valid values
|
|
for a file could depend on it being open in text or binary mode.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: seekable()
|
|
|
|
Return ``True`` if the stream supports random access. If ``False``,
|
|
:meth:`seek`, :meth:`tell` and :meth:`truncate` will raise :exc:`OSError`.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: tell()
|
|
|
|
Return the current stream position.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: truncate(size=None)
|
|
|
|
Resize the stream to the given *size* in bytes (or the current position
|
|
if *size* is not specified). The current stream position isn't changed.
|
|
This resizing can extend or reduce the current file size. In case of
|
|
extension, the contents of the new file area depend on the platform
|
|
(on most systems, additional bytes are zero-filled). The new file size
|
|
is returned.
|
|
|
|
.. versionchanged:: 3.5
|
|
Windows will now zero-fill files when extending.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: writable()
|
|
|
|
Return ``True`` if the stream supports writing. If ``False``,
|
|
:meth:`write` and :meth:`truncate` will raise :exc:`OSError`.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: writelines(lines)
|
|
|
|
Write a list of lines to the stream. Line separators are not added, so it
|
|
is usual for each of the lines provided to have a line separator at the
|
|
end.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: __del__()
|
|
|
|
Prepare for object destruction. :class:`IOBase` provides a default
|
|
implementation of this method that calls the instance's
|
|
:meth:`~IOBase.close` method.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. class:: RawIOBase
|
|
|
|
Base class for raw binary I/O. It inherits :class:`IOBase`. There is no
|
|
public constructor.
|
|
|
|
Raw binary I/O typically provides low-level access to an underlying OS
|
|
device or API, and does not try to encapsulate it in high-level primitives
|
|
(this is left to Buffered I/O and Text I/O, described later in this page).
|
|
|
|
In addition to the attributes and methods from :class:`IOBase`,
|
|
:class:`RawIOBase` provides the following methods:
|
|
|
|
.. method:: read(size=-1)
|
|
|
|
Read up to *size* bytes from the object and return them. As a convenience,
|
|
if *size* is unspecified or -1, all bytes until EOF are returned.
|
|
Otherwise, only one system call is ever made. Fewer than *size* bytes may
|
|
be returned if the operating system call returns fewer than *size* bytes.
|
|
|
|
If 0 bytes are returned, and *size* was not 0, this indicates end of file.
|
|
If the object is in non-blocking mode and no bytes are available,
|
|
``None`` is returned.
|
|
|
|
The default implementation defers to :meth:`readall` and
|
|
:meth:`readinto`.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: readall()
|
|
|
|
Read and return all the bytes from the stream until EOF, using multiple
|
|
calls to the stream if necessary.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: readinto(b)
|
|
|
|
Read bytes into a pre-allocated, writable
|
|
:term:`bytes-like object` *b*, and return the
|
|
number of bytes read. For example, *b* might be a :class:`bytearray`.
|
|
If the object is in non-blocking mode and no bytes
|
|
are available, ``None`` is returned.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: write(b)
|
|
|
|
Write the given :term:`bytes-like object`, *b*, to the
|
|
underlying raw stream, and return the number of
|
|
bytes written. This can be less than the length of *b* in
|
|
bytes, depending on specifics of the underlying raw
|
|
stream, and especially if it is in non-blocking mode. ``None`` is
|
|
returned if the raw stream is set not to block and no single byte could
|
|
be readily written to it. The caller may release or mutate *b* after
|
|
this method returns, so the implementation should only access *b*
|
|
during the method call.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. class:: BufferedIOBase
|
|
|
|
Base class for binary streams that support some kind of buffering.
|
|
It inherits :class:`IOBase`. There is no public constructor.
|
|
|
|
The main difference with :class:`RawIOBase` is that methods :meth:`read`,
|
|
:meth:`readinto` and :meth:`write` will try (respectively) to read as much
|
|
input as requested or to consume all given output, at the expense of
|
|
making perhaps more than one system call.
|
|
|
|
In addition, those methods can raise :exc:`BlockingIOError` if the
|
|
underlying raw stream is in non-blocking mode and cannot take or give
|
|
enough data; unlike their :class:`RawIOBase` counterparts, they will
|
|
never return ``None``.
|
|
|
|
Besides, the :meth:`read` method does not have a default
|
|
implementation that defers to :meth:`readinto`.
|
|
|
|
A typical :class:`BufferedIOBase` implementation should not inherit from a
|
|
:class:`RawIOBase` implementation, but wrap one, like
|
|
:class:`BufferedWriter` and :class:`BufferedReader` do.
|
|
|
|
:class:`BufferedIOBase` provides or overrides these methods and attribute in
|
|
addition to those from :class:`IOBase`:
|
|
|
|
.. attribute:: raw
|
|
|
|
The underlying raw stream (a :class:`RawIOBase` instance) that
|
|
:class:`BufferedIOBase` deals with. This is not part of the
|
|
:class:`BufferedIOBase` API and may not exist on some implementations.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: detach()
|
|
|
|
Separate the underlying raw stream from the buffer and return it.
|
|
|
|
After the raw stream has been detached, the buffer is in an unusable
|
|
state.
|
|
|
|
Some buffers, like :class:`BytesIO`, do not have the concept of a single
|
|
raw stream to return from this method. They raise
|
|
:exc:`UnsupportedOperation`.
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 3.1
|
|
|
|
.. method:: read(size=-1)
|
|
|
|
Read and return up to *size* bytes. If the argument is omitted, ``None``,
|
|
or negative, data is read and returned until EOF is reached. An empty
|
|
:class:`bytes` object is returned if the stream is already at EOF.
|
|
|
|
If the argument is positive, and the underlying raw stream is not
|
|
interactive, multiple raw reads may be issued to satisfy the byte count
|
|
(unless EOF is reached first). But for interactive raw streams, at most
|
|
one raw read will be issued, and a short result does not imply that EOF is
|
|
imminent.
|
|
|
|
A :exc:`BlockingIOError` is raised if the underlying raw stream is in
|
|
non blocking-mode, and has no data available at the moment.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: read1([size])
|
|
|
|
Read and return up to *size* bytes, with at most one call to the
|
|
underlying raw stream's :meth:`~RawIOBase.read` (or
|
|
:meth:`~RawIOBase.readinto`) method. This can be useful if you are
|
|
implementing your own buffering on top of a :class:`BufferedIOBase`
|
|
object.
|
|
|
|
If *size* is ``-1`` (the default), an arbitrary number of bytes are
|
|
returned (more than zero unless EOF is reached).
|
|
|
|
.. method:: readinto(b)
|
|
|
|
Read bytes into a pre-allocated, writable
|
|
:term:`bytes-like object` *b* and return the number of bytes read.
|
|
For example, *b* might be a :class:`bytearray`.
|
|
|
|
Like :meth:`read`, multiple reads may be issued to the underlying raw
|
|
stream, unless the latter is interactive.
|
|
|
|
A :exc:`BlockingIOError` is raised if the underlying raw stream is in non
|
|
blocking-mode, and has no data available at the moment.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: readinto1(b)
|
|
|
|
Read bytes into a pre-allocated, writable
|
|
:term:`bytes-like object` *b*, using at most one call to
|
|
the underlying raw stream's :meth:`~RawIOBase.read` (or
|
|
:meth:`~RawIOBase.readinto`) method. Return the number of bytes read.
|
|
|
|
A :exc:`BlockingIOError` is raised if the underlying raw stream is in non
|
|
blocking-mode, and has no data available at the moment.
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 3.5
|
|
|
|
.. method:: write(b)
|
|
|
|
Write the given :term:`bytes-like object`, *b*, and return the number
|
|
of bytes written (always equal to the length of *b* in bytes, since if
|
|
the write fails an :exc:`OSError` will be raised). Depending on the
|
|
actual implementation, these bytes may be readily written to the
|
|
underlying stream, or held in a buffer for performance and latency
|
|
reasons.
|
|
|
|
When in non-blocking mode, a :exc:`BlockingIOError` is raised if the
|
|
data needed to be written to the raw stream but it couldn't accept
|
|
all the data without blocking.
|
|
|
|
The caller may release or mutate *b* after this method returns,
|
|
so the implementation should only access *b* during the method call.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Raw File I/O
|
|
^^^^^^^^^^^^
|
|
|
|
.. class:: FileIO(name, mode='r', closefd=True, opener=None)
|
|
|
|
:class:`FileIO` represents an OS-level file containing bytes data.
|
|
It implements the :class:`RawIOBase` interface (and therefore the
|
|
:class:`IOBase` interface, too).
|
|
|
|
The *name* can be one of two things:
|
|
|
|
* a character string or :class:`bytes` object representing the path to the
|
|
file which will be opened. In this case closefd must be ``True`` (the default)
|
|
otherwise an error will be raised.
|
|
* an integer representing the number of an existing OS-level file descriptor
|
|
to which the resulting :class:`FileIO` object will give access. When the
|
|
FileIO object is closed this fd will be closed as well, unless *closefd*
|
|
is set to ``False``.
|
|
|
|
The *mode* can be ``'r'``, ``'w'``, ``'x'`` or ``'a'`` for reading
|
|
(default), writing, exclusive creation or appending. The file will be
|
|
created if it doesn't exist when opened for writing or appending; it will be
|
|
truncated when opened for writing. :exc:`FileExistsError` will be raised if
|
|
it already exists when opened for creating. Opening a file for creating
|
|
implies writing, so this mode behaves in a similar way to ``'w'``. Add a
|
|
``'+'`` to the mode to allow simultaneous reading and writing.
|
|
|
|
The :meth:`read` (when called with a positive argument), :meth:`readinto`
|
|
and :meth:`write` methods on this class will only make one system call.
|
|
|
|
A custom opener can be used by passing a callable as *opener*. The underlying
|
|
file descriptor for the file object is then obtained by calling *opener* with
|
|
(*name*, *flags*). *opener* must return an open file descriptor (passing
|
|
:mod:`os.open` as *opener* results in functionality similar to passing
|
|
``None``).
|
|
|
|
The newly created file is :ref:`non-inheritable <fd_inheritance>`.
|
|
|
|
See the :func:`open` built-in function for examples on using the *opener*
|
|
parameter.
|
|
|
|
.. versionchanged:: 3.3
|
|
The *opener* parameter was added.
|
|
The ``'x'`` mode was added.
|
|
|
|
.. versionchanged:: 3.4
|
|
The file is now non-inheritable.
|
|
|
|
In addition to the attributes and methods from :class:`IOBase` and
|
|
:class:`RawIOBase`, :class:`FileIO` provides the following data
|
|
attributes:
|
|
|
|
.. attribute:: mode
|
|
|
|
The mode as given in the constructor.
|
|
|
|
.. attribute:: name
|
|
|
|
The file name. This is the file descriptor of the file when no name is
|
|
given in the constructor.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Buffered Streams
|
|
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|
|
|
|
Buffered I/O streams provide a higher-level interface to an I/O device
|
|
than raw I/O does.
|
|
|
|
.. class:: BytesIO([initial_bytes])
|
|
|
|
A stream implementation using an in-memory bytes buffer. It inherits
|
|
:class:`BufferedIOBase`. The buffer is discarded when the
|
|
:meth:`~IOBase.close` method is called.
|
|
|
|
The optional argument *initial_bytes* is a :term:`bytes-like object` that
|
|
contains initial data.
|
|
|
|
:class:`BytesIO` provides or overrides these methods in addition to those
|
|
from :class:`BufferedIOBase` and :class:`IOBase`:
|
|
|
|
.. method:: getbuffer()
|
|
|
|
Return a readable and writable view over the contents of the buffer
|
|
without copying them. Also, mutating the view will transparently
|
|
update the contents of the buffer::
|
|
|
|
>>> b = io.BytesIO(b"abcdef")
|
|
>>> view = b.getbuffer()
|
|
>>> view[2:4] = b"56"
|
|
>>> b.getvalue()
|
|
b'ab56ef'
|
|
|
|
.. note::
|
|
As long as the view exists, the :class:`BytesIO` object cannot be
|
|
resized or closed.
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 3.2
|
|
|
|
.. method:: getvalue()
|
|
|
|
Return :class:`bytes` containing the entire contents of the buffer.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: read1([size])
|
|
|
|
In :class:`BytesIO`, this is the same as :meth:`~BufferedIOBase.read`.
|
|
|
|
.. versionchanged:: 3.7
|
|
The *size* argument is now optional.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: readinto1(b)
|
|
|
|
In :class:`BytesIO`, this is the same as :meth:`~BufferedIOBase.readinto`.
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 3.5
|
|
|
|
.. class:: BufferedReader(raw, buffer_size=DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE)
|
|
|
|
A buffer providing higher-level access to a readable, sequential
|
|
:class:`RawIOBase` object. It inherits :class:`BufferedIOBase`.
|
|
When reading data from this object, a larger amount of data may be
|
|
requested from the underlying raw stream, and kept in an internal buffer.
|
|
The buffered data can then be returned directly on subsequent reads.
|
|
|
|
The constructor creates a :class:`BufferedReader` for the given readable
|
|
*raw* stream and *buffer_size*. If *buffer_size* is omitted,
|
|
:data:`DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE` is used.
|
|
|
|
:class:`BufferedReader` provides or overrides these methods in addition to
|
|
those from :class:`BufferedIOBase` and :class:`IOBase`:
|
|
|
|
.. method:: peek([size])
|
|
|
|
Return bytes from the stream without advancing the position. At most one
|
|
single read on the raw stream is done to satisfy the call. The number of
|
|
bytes returned may be less or more than requested.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: read([size])
|
|
|
|
Read and return *size* bytes, or if *size* is not given or negative, until
|
|
EOF or if the read call would block in non-blocking mode.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: read1([size])
|
|
|
|
Read and return up to *size* bytes with only one call on the raw stream.
|
|
If at least one byte is buffered, only buffered bytes are returned.
|
|
Otherwise, one raw stream read call is made.
|
|
|
|
.. versionchanged:: 3.7
|
|
The *size* argument is now optional.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. class:: BufferedWriter(raw, buffer_size=DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE)
|
|
|
|
A buffer providing higher-level access to a writeable, sequential
|
|
:class:`RawIOBase` object. It inherits :class:`BufferedIOBase`.
|
|
When writing to this object, data is normally placed into an internal
|
|
buffer. The buffer will be written out to the underlying :class:`RawIOBase`
|
|
object under various conditions, including:
|
|
|
|
* when the buffer gets too small for all pending data;
|
|
* when :meth:`flush()` is called;
|
|
* when a :meth:`seek()` is requested (for :class:`BufferedRandom` objects);
|
|
* when the :class:`BufferedWriter` object is closed or destroyed.
|
|
|
|
The constructor creates a :class:`BufferedWriter` for the given writeable
|
|
*raw* stream. If the *buffer_size* is not given, it defaults to
|
|
:data:`DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE`.
|
|
|
|
:class:`BufferedWriter` provides or overrides these methods in addition to
|
|
those from :class:`BufferedIOBase` and :class:`IOBase`:
|
|
|
|
.. method:: flush()
|
|
|
|
Force bytes held in the buffer into the raw stream. A
|
|
:exc:`BlockingIOError` should be raised if the raw stream blocks.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: write(b)
|
|
|
|
Write the :term:`bytes-like object`, *b*, and return the
|
|
number of bytes written. When in non-blocking mode, a
|
|
:exc:`BlockingIOError` is raised if the buffer needs to be written out but
|
|
the raw stream blocks.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. class:: BufferedRandom(raw, buffer_size=DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE)
|
|
|
|
A buffered interface to random access streams. It inherits
|
|
:class:`BufferedReader` and :class:`BufferedWriter`.
|
|
|
|
The constructor creates a reader and writer for a seekable raw stream, given
|
|
in the first argument. If the *buffer_size* is omitted it defaults to
|
|
:data:`DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE`.
|
|
|
|
:class:`BufferedRandom` is capable of anything :class:`BufferedReader` or
|
|
:class:`BufferedWriter` can do. In addition, :meth:`seek` and :meth:`tell`
|
|
are guaranteed to be implemented.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. class:: BufferedRWPair(reader, writer, buffer_size=DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE)
|
|
|
|
A buffered I/O object combining two unidirectional :class:`RawIOBase`
|
|
objects -- one readable, the other writeable -- into a single bidirectional
|
|
endpoint. It inherits :class:`BufferedIOBase`.
|
|
|
|
*reader* and *writer* are :class:`RawIOBase` objects that are readable and
|
|
writeable respectively. If the *buffer_size* is omitted it defaults to
|
|
:data:`DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE`.
|
|
|
|
:class:`BufferedRWPair` implements all of :class:`BufferedIOBase`\'s methods
|
|
except for :meth:`~BufferedIOBase.detach`, which raises
|
|
:exc:`UnsupportedOperation`.
|
|
|
|
.. warning::
|
|
|
|
:class:`BufferedRWPair` does not attempt to synchronize accesses to
|
|
its underlying raw streams. You should not pass it the same object
|
|
as reader and writer; use :class:`BufferedRandom` instead.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Text I/O
|
|
^^^^^^^^
|
|
|
|
.. class:: TextIOBase
|
|
|
|
Base class for text streams. This class provides a character and line based
|
|
interface to stream I/O. It inherits :class:`IOBase`.
|
|
There is no public constructor.
|
|
|
|
:class:`TextIOBase` provides or overrides these data attributes and
|
|
methods in addition to those from :class:`IOBase`:
|
|
|
|
.. attribute:: encoding
|
|
|
|
The name of the encoding used to decode the stream's bytes into
|
|
strings, and to encode strings into bytes.
|
|
|
|
.. attribute:: errors
|
|
|
|
The error setting of the decoder or encoder.
|
|
|
|
.. attribute:: newlines
|
|
|
|
A string, a tuple of strings, or ``None``, indicating the newlines
|
|
translated so far. Depending on the implementation and the initial
|
|
constructor flags, this may not be available.
|
|
|
|
.. attribute:: buffer
|
|
|
|
The underlying binary buffer (a :class:`BufferedIOBase` instance) that
|
|
:class:`TextIOBase` deals with. This is not part of the
|
|
:class:`TextIOBase` API and may not exist in some implementations.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: detach()
|
|
|
|
Separate the underlying binary buffer from the :class:`TextIOBase` and
|
|
return it.
|
|
|
|
After the underlying buffer has been detached, the :class:`TextIOBase` is
|
|
in an unusable state.
|
|
|
|
Some :class:`TextIOBase` implementations, like :class:`StringIO`, may not
|
|
have the concept of an underlying buffer and calling this method will
|
|
raise :exc:`UnsupportedOperation`.
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 3.1
|
|
|
|
.. method:: read(size=-1)
|
|
|
|
Read and return at most *size* characters from the stream as a single
|
|
:class:`str`. If *size* is negative or ``None``, reads until EOF.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: readline(size=-1)
|
|
|
|
Read until newline or EOF and return a single ``str``. If the stream is
|
|
already at EOF, an empty string is returned.
|
|
|
|
If *size* is specified, at most *size* characters will be read.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: seek(offset, whence=SEEK_SET)
|
|
|
|
Change the stream position to the given *offset*. Behaviour depends on
|
|
the *whence* parameter. The default value for *whence* is
|
|
:data:`SEEK_SET`.
|
|
|
|
* :data:`SEEK_SET` or ``0``: seek from the start of the stream
|
|
(the default); *offset* must either be a number returned by
|
|
:meth:`TextIOBase.tell`, or zero. Any other *offset* value
|
|
produces undefined behaviour.
|
|
* :data:`SEEK_CUR` or ``1``: "seek" to the current position;
|
|
*offset* must be zero, which is a no-operation (all other values
|
|
are unsupported).
|
|
* :data:`SEEK_END` or ``2``: seek to the end of the stream;
|
|
*offset* must be zero (all other values are unsupported).
|
|
|
|
Return the new absolute position as an opaque number.
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 3.1
|
|
The ``SEEK_*`` constants.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: tell()
|
|
|
|
Return the current stream position as an opaque number. The number
|
|
does not usually represent a number of bytes in the underlying
|
|
binary storage.
|
|
|
|
.. method:: write(s)
|
|
|
|
Write the string *s* to the stream and return the number of characters
|
|
written.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. class:: TextIOWrapper(buffer, encoding=None, errors=None, newline=None, \
|
|
line_buffering=False, write_through=False)
|
|
|
|
A buffered text stream over a :class:`BufferedIOBase` binary stream.
|
|
It inherits :class:`TextIOBase`.
|
|
|
|
*encoding* gives the name of the encoding that the stream will be decoded or
|
|
encoded with. It defaults to
|
|
:func:`locale.getpreferredencoding(False) <locale.getpreferredencoding>`.
|
|
|
|
*errors* is an optional string that specifies how encoding and decoding
|
|
errors are to be handled. Pass ``'strict'`` to raise a :exc:`ValueError`
|
|
exception if there is an encoding error (the default of ``None`` has the same
|
|
effect), or pass ``'ignore'`` to ignore errors. (Note that ignoring encoding
|
|
errors can lead to data loss.) ``'replace'`` causes a replacement marker
|
|
(such as ``'?'``) to be inserted where there is malformed data.
|
|
``'backslashreplace'`` causes malformed data to be replaced by a
|
|
backslashed escape sequence. When writing, ``'xmlcharrefreplace'``
|
|
(replace with the appropriate XML character reference) or ``'namereplace'``
|
|
(replace with ``\N{...}`` escape sequences) can be used. Any other error
|
|
handling name that has been registered with
|
|
:func:`codecs.register_error` is also valid.
|
|
|
|
.. index::
|
|
single: universal newlines; io.TextIOWrapper class
|
|
|
|
*newline* controls how line endings are handled. It can be ``None``,
|
|
``''``, ``'\n'``, ``'\r'``, and ``'\r\n'``. It works as follows:
|
|
|
|
* When reading input from the stream, if *newline* is ``None``,
|
|
:term:`universal newlines` mode is enabled. Lines in the input can end in
|
|
``'\n'``, ``'\r'``, or ``'\r\n'``, and these are translated into ``'\n'``
|
|
before being returned to the caller. If it is ``''``, universal newlines
|
|
mode is enabled, but line endings are returned to the caller untranslated.
|
|
If it has any of the other legal values, input lines are only terminated
|
|
by the given string, and the line ending is returned to the caller
|
|
untranslated.
|
|
|
|
* When writing output to the stream, if *newline* is ``None``, any ``'\n'``
|
|
characters written are translated to the system default line separator,
|
|
:data:`os.linesep`. If *newline* is ``''`` or ``'\n'``, no translation
|
|
takes place. If *newline* is any of the other legal values, any ``'\n'``
|
|
characters written are translated to the given string.
|
|
|
|
If *line_buffering* is ``True``, :meth:`flush` is implied when a call to
|
|
write contains a newline character or a carriage return.
|
|
|
|
If *write_through* is ``True``, calls to :meth:`write` are guaranteed
|
|
not to be buffered: any data written on the :class:`TextIOWrapper`
|
|
object is immediately handled to its underlying binary *buffer*.
|
|
|
|
.. versionchanged:: 3.3
|
|
The *write_through* argument has been added.
|
|
|
|
.. versionchanged:: 3.3
|
|
The default *encoding* is now ``locale.getpreferredencoding(False)``
|
|
instead of ``locale.getpreferredencoding()``. Don't change temporary the
|
|
locale encoding using :func:`locale.setlocale`, use the current locale
|
|
encoding instead of the user preferred encoding.
|
|
|
|
:class:`TextIOWrapper` provides these members in addition to those of
|
|
:class:`TextIOBase` and its parents:
|
|
|
|
.. attribute:: line_buffering
|
|
|
|
Whether line buffering is enabled.
|
|
|
|
.. attribute:: write_through
|
|
|
|
Whether writes are passed immediately to the underlying binary
|
|
buffer.
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 3.7
|
|
|
|
.. method:: reconfigure(*[, encoding][, errors][, newline][, \
|
|
line_buffering][, write_through])
|
|
|
|
Reconfigure this text stream using new settings for *encoding*,
|
|
*errors*, *newline*, *line_buffering* and *write_through*.
|
|
|
|
Parameters not specified keep current settings, except
|
|
``errors='strict'`` is used when *encoding* is specified but
|
|
*errors* is not specified.
|
|
|
|
It is not possible to change the encoding or newline if some data
|
|
has already been read from the stream. On the other hand, changing
|
|
encoding after write is possible.
|
|
|
|
This method does an implicit stream flush before setting the
|
|
new parameters.
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 3.7
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. class:: StringIO(initial_value='', newline='\\n')
|
|
|
|
An in-memory stream for text I/O. The text buffer is discarded when the
|
|
:meth:`~IOBase.close` method is called.
|
|
|
|
The initial value of the buffer can be set by providing *initial_value*.
|
|
If newline translation is enabled, newlines will be encoded as if by
|
|
:meth:`~TextIOBase.write`. The stream is positioned at the start of
|
|
the buffer.
|
|
|
|
The *newline* argument works like that of :class:`TextIOWrapper`.
|
|
The default is to consider only ``\n`` characters as ends of lines and
|
|
to do no newline translation. If *newline* is set to ``None``,
|
|
newlines are written as ``\n`` on all platforms, but universal
|
|
newline decoding is still performed when reading.
|
|
|
|
:class:`StringIO` provides this method in addition to those from
|
|
:class:`TextIOBase` and its parents:
|
|
|
|
.. method:: getvalue()
|
|
|
|
Return a ``str`` containing the entire contents of the buffer.
|
|
Newlines are decoded as if by :meth:`~TextIOBase.read`, although
|
|
the stream position is not changed.
|
|
|
|
Example usage::
|
|
|
|
import io
|
|
|
|
output = io.StringIO()
|
|
output.write('First line.\n')
|
|
print('Second line.', file=output)
|
|
|
|
# Retrieve file contents -- this will be
|
|
# 'First line.\nSecond line.\n'
|
|
contents = output.getvalue()
|
|
|
|
# Close object and discard memory buffer --
|
|
# .getvalue() will now raise an exception.
|
|
output.close()
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. index::
|
|
single: universal newlines; io.IncrementalNewlineDecoder class
|
|
|
|
.. class:: IncrementalNewlineDecoder
|
|
|
|
A helper codec that decodes newlines for :term:`universal newlines` mode.
|
|
It inherits :class:`codecs.IncrementalDecoder`.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Performance
|
|
-----------
|
|
|
|
This section discusses the performance of the provided concrete I/O
|
|
implementations.
|
|
|
|
Binary I/O
|
|
^^^^^^^^^^
|
|
|
|
By reading and writing only large chunks of data even when the user asks for a
|
|
single byte, buffered I/O hides any inefficiency in calling and executing the
|
|
operating system's unbuffered I/O routines. The gain depends on the OS and the
|
|
kind of I/O which is performed. For example, on some modern OSes such as Linux,
|
|
unbuffered disk I/O can be as fast as buffered I/O. The bottom line, however,
|
|
is that buffered I/O offers predictable performance regardless of the platform
|
|
and the backing device. Therefore, it is almost always preferable to use
|
|
buffered I/O rather than unbuffered I/O for binary data.
|
|
|
|
Text I/O
|
|
^^^^^^^^
|
|
|
|
Text I/O over a binary storage (such as a file) is significantly slower than
|
|
binary I/O over the same storage, because it requires conversions between
|
|
unicode and binary data using a character codec. This can become noticeable
|
|
handling huge amounts of text data like large log files. Also,
|
|
:meth:`TextIOWrapper.tell` and :meth:`TextIOWrapper.seek` are both quite slow
|
|
due to the reconstruction algorithm used.
|
|
|
|
:class:`StringIO`, however, is a native in-memory unicode container and will
|
|
exhibit similar speed to :class:`BytesIO`.
|
|
|
|
Multi-threading
|
|
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|
|
|
|
:class:`FileIO` objects are thread-safe to the extent that the operating system
|
|
calls (such as ``read(2)`` under Unix) they wrap are thread-safe too.
|
|
|
|
Binary buffered objects (instances of :class:`BufferedReader`,
|
|
:class:`BufferedWriter`, :class:`BufferedRandom` and :class:`BufferedRWPair`)
|
|
protect their internal structures using a lock; it is therefore safe to call
|
|
them from multiple threads at once.
|
|
|
|
:class:`TextIOWrapper` objects are not thread-safe.
|
|
|
|
Reentrancy
|
|
^^^^^^^^^^
|
|
|
|
Binary buffered objects (instances of :class:`BufferedReader`,
|
|
:class:`BufferedWriter`, :class:`BufferedRandom` and :class:`BufferedRWPair`)
|
|
are not reentrant. While reentrant calls will not happen in normal situations,
|
|
they can arise from doing I/O in a :mod:`signal` handler. If a thread tries to
|
|
re-enter a buffered object which it is already accessing, a :exc:`RuntimeError`
|
|
is raised. Note this doesn't prohibit a different thread from entering the
|
|
buffered object.
|
|
|
|
The above implicitly extends to text files, since the :func:`open()` function
|
|
will wrap a buffered object inside a :class:`TextIOWrapper`. This includes
|
|
standard streams and therefore affects the built-in function :func:`print()` as
|
|
well.
|