864 lines
33 KiB
ReStructuredText
864 lines
33 KiB
ReStructuredText
|
|
:mod:`socket` --- Low-level networking interface
|
|
================================================
|
|
|
|
.. module:: socket
|
|
:synopsis: Low-level networking interface.
|
|
|
|
|
|
This module provides access to the BSD *socket* interface. It is available on
|
|
all modern Unix systems, Windows, Mac OS X, BeOS, OS/2, and probably additional
|
|
platforms.
|
|
|
|
.. note::
|
|
|
|
Some behavior may be platform dependent, since calls are made to the operating
|
|
system socket APIs.
|
|
|
|
For an introduction to socket programming (in C), see the following papers: An
|
|
Introductory 4.3BSD Interprocess Communication Tutorial, by Stuart Sechrest and
|
|
An Advanced 4.3BSD Interprocess Communication Tutorial, by Samuel J. Leffler et
|
|
al, both in the UNIX Programmer's Manual, Supplementary Documents 1 (sections
|
|
PS1:7 and PS1:8). The platform-specific reference material for the various
|
|
socket-related system calls are also a valuable source of information on the
|
|
details of socket semantics. For Unix, refer to the manual pages; for Windows,
|
|
see the WinSock (or Winsock 2) specification. For IPv6-ready APIs, readers may
|
|
want to refer to :rfc:`2553` titled Basic Socket Interface Extensions for IPv6.
|
|
|
|
.. index:: object: socket
|
|
|
|
The Python interface is a straightforward transliteration of the Unix system
|
|
call and library interface for sockets to Python's object-oriented style: the
|
|
:func:`socket` function returns a :dfn:`socket object` whose methods implement
|
|
the various socket system calls. Parameter types are somewhat higher-level than
|
|
in the C interface: as with :meth:`read` and :meth:`write` operations on Python
|
|
files, buffer allocation on receive operations is automatic, and buffer length
|
|
is implicit on send operations.
|
|
|
|
Socket addresses are represented as follows: A single string is used for the
|
|
:const:`AF_UNIX` address family. A pair ``(host, port)`` is used for the
|
|
:const:`AF_INET` address family, where *host* is a string representing either a
|
|
hostname in Internet domain notation like ``'daring.cwi.nl'`` or an IPv4 address
|
|
like ``'100.50.200.5'``, and *port* is an integral port number. For
|
|
:const:`AF_INET6` address family, a four-tuple ``(host, port, flowinfo,
|
|
scopeid)`` is used, where *flowinfo* and *scopeid* represents ``sin6_flowinfo``
|
|
and ``sin6_scope_id`` member in :const:`struct sockaddr_in6` in C. For
|
|
:mod:`socket` module methods, *flowinfo* and *scopeid* can be omitted just for
|
|
backward compatibility. Note, however, omission of *scopeid* can cause problems
|
|
in manipulating scoped IPv6 addresses. Other address families are currently not
|
|
supported. The address format required by a particular socket object is
|
|
automatically selected based on the address family specified when the socket
|
|
object was created.
|
|
|
|
For IPv4 addresses, two special forms are accepted instead of a host address:
|
|
the empty string represents :const:`INADDR_ANY`, and the string
|
|
``'<broadcast>'`` represents :const:`INADDR_BROADCAST`. The behavior is not
|
|
available for IPv6 for backward compatibility, therefore, you may want to avoid
|
|
these if you intend to support IPv6 with your Python programs.
|
|
|
|
If you use a hostname in the *host* portion of IPv4/v6 socket address, the
|
|
program may show a nondeterministic behavior, as Python uses the first address
|
|
returned from the DNS resolution. The socket address will be resolved
|
|
differently into an actual IPv4/v6 address, depending on the results from DNS
|
|
resolution and/or the host configuration. For deterministic behavior use a
|
|
numeric address in *host* portion.
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 2.5
|
|
AF_NETLINK sockets are represented as pairs ``pid, groups``.
|
|
|
|
All errors raise exceptions. The normal exceptions for invalid argument types
|
|
and out-of-memory conditions can be raised; errors related to socket or address
|
|
semantics raise the error :exc:`socket.error`.
|
|
|
|
Non-blocking mode is supported through :meth:`setblocking`. A generalization of
|
|
this based on timeouts is supported through :meth:`settimeout`.
|
|
|
|
The module :mod:`socket` exports the following constants and functions:
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. exception:: error
|
|
|
|
.. index:: module: errno
|
|
|
|
This exception is raised for socket-related errors. The accompanying value is
|
|
either a string telling what went wrong or a pair ``(errno, string)``
|
|
representing an error returned by a system call, similar to the value
|
|
accompanying :exc:`os.error`. See the module :mod:`errno`, which contains names
|
|
for the error codes defined by the underlying operating system.
|
|
|
|
.. versionchanged:: 2.6
|
|
:exc:`socket.error` is now a child class of :exc:`IOError`.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. exception:: herror
|
|
|
|
This exception is raised for address-related errors, i.e. for functions that use
|
|
*h_errno* in the C API, including :func:`gethostbyname_ex` and
|
|
:func:`gethostbyaddr`.
|
|
|
|
The accompanying value is a pair ``(h_errno, string)`` representing an error
|
|
returned by a library call. *string* represents the description of *h_errno*, as
|
|
returned by the :cfunc:`hstrerror` C function.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. exception:: gaierror
|
|
|
|
This exception is raised for address-related errors, for :func:`getaddrinfo` and
|
|
:func:`getnameinfo`. The accompanying value is a pair ``(error, string)``
|
|
representing an error returned by a library call. *string* represents the
|
|
description of *error*, as returned by the :cfunc:`gai_strerror` C function. The
|
|
*error* value will match one of the :const:`EAI_\*` constants defined in this
|
|
module.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. exception:: timeout
|
|
|
|
This exception is raised when a timeout occurs on a socket which has had
|
|
timeouts enabled via a prior call to :meth:`settimeout`. The accompanying value
|
|
is a string whose value is currently always "timed out".
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 2.3
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. data:: AF_UNIX
|
|
AF_INET
|
|
AF_INET6
|
|
|
|
These constants represent the address (and protocol) families, used for the
|
|
first argument to :func:`socket`. If the :const:`AF_UNIX` constant is not
|
|
defined then this protocol is unsupported.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. data:: SOCK_STREAM
|
|
SOCK_DGRAM
|
|
SOCK_RAW
|
|
SOCK_RDM
|
|
SOCK_SEQPACKET
|
|
|
|
These constants represent the socket types, used for the second argument to
|
|
:func:`socket`. (Only :const:`SOCK_STREAM` and :const:`SOCK_DGRAM` appear to be
|
|
generally useful.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. data:: SO_*
|
|
SOMAXCONN
|
|
MSG_*
|
|
SOL_*
|
|
IPPROTO_*
|
|
IPPORT_*
|
|
INADDR_*
|
|
IP_*
|
|
IPV6_*
|
|
EAI_*
|
|
AI_*
|
|
NI_*
|
|
TCP_*
|
|
|
|
Many constants of these forms, documented in the Unix documentation on sockets
|
|
and/or the IP protocol, are also defined in the socket module. They are
|
|
generally used in arguments to the :meth:`setsockopt` and :meth:`getsockopt`
|
|
methods of socket objects. In most cases, only those symbols that are defined
|
|
in the Unix header files are defined; for a few symbols, default values are
|
|
provided.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. data:: has_ipv6
|
|
|
|
This constant contains a boolean value which indicates if IPv6 is supported on
|
|
this platform.
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 2.3
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. function:: create_connection(address[, timeout])
|
|
|
|
Connects to the *address* received (as usual, a ``(host, port)`` pair), with an
|
|
optional timeout for the connection. Especially useful for higher-level
|
|
protocols, it is not normally used directly from application-level code.
|
|
Passing the optional *timeout* parameter will set the timeout on the socket
|
|
instance (if it is not given or ``None``, the global default timeout setting is
|
|
used).
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 2.6
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. function:: getaddrinfo(host, port[, family[, socktype[, proto[, flags]]]])
|
|
|
|
Resolves the *host*/*port* argument, into a sequence of 5-tuples that contain
|
|
all the necessary argument for the sockets manipulation. *host* is a domain
|
|
name, a string representation of IPv4/v6 address or ``None``. *port* is a string
|
|
service name (like ``'http'``), a numeric port number or ``None``.
|
|
|
|
The rest of the arguments are optional and must be numeric if specified. For
|
|
*host* and *port*, by passing either an empty string or ``None``, you can pass
|
|
``NULL`` to the C API. The :func:`getaddrinfo` function returns a list of
|
|
5-tuples with the following structure:
|
|
|
|
``(family, socktype, proto, canonname, sockaddr)``
|
|
|
|
*family*, *socktype*, *proto* are all integer and are meant to be passed to the
|
|
:func:`socket` function. *canonname* is a string representing the canonical name
|
|
of the *host*. It can be a numeric IPv4/v6 address when :const:`AI_CANONNAME` is
|
|
specified for a numeric *host*. *sockaddr* is a tuple describing a socket
|
|
address, as described above. See the source for :mod:`socket` and other
|
|
library modules for a typical usage of the function.
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 2.2
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. function:: getfqdn([name])
|
|
|
|
Return a fully qualified domain name for *name*. If *name* is omitted or empty,
|
|
it is interpreted as the local host. To find the fully qualified name, the
|
|
hostname returned by :func:`gethostbyaddr` is checked, then aliases for the
|
|
host, if available. The first name which includes a period is selected. In
|
|
case no fully qualified domain name is available, the hostname as returned by
|
|
:func:`gethostname` is returned.
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 2.0
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. function:: gethostbyname(hostname)
|
|
|
|
Translate a host name to IPv4 address format. The IPv4 address is returned as a
|
|
string, such as ``'100.50.200.5'``. If the host name is an IPv4 address itself
|
|
it is returned unchanged. See :func:`gethostbyname_ex` for a more complete
|
|
interface. :func:`gethostbyname` does not support IPv6 name resolution, and
|
|
:func:`getaddrinfo` should be used instead for IPv4/v6 dual stack support.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. function:: gethostbyname_ex(hostname)
|
|
|
|
Translate a host name to IPv4 address format, extended interface. Return a
|
|
triple ``(hostname, aliaslist, ipaddrlist)`` where *hostname* is the primary
|
|
host name responding to the given *ip_address*, *aliaslist* is a (possibly
|
|
empty) list of alternative host names for the same address, and *ipaddrlist* is
|
|
a list of IPv4 addresses for the same interface on the same host (often but not
|
|
always a single address). :func:`gethostbyname_ex` does not support IPv6 name
|
|
resolution, and :func:`getaddrinfo` should be used instead for IPv4/v6 dual
|
|
stack support.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. function:: gethostname()
|
|
|
|
Return a string containing the hostname of the machine where the Python
|
|
interpreter is currently executing. If you want to know the current machine's IP
|
|
address, you may want to use ``gethostbyname(gethostname())``. This operation
|
|
assumes that there is a valid address-to-host mapping for the host, and the
|
|
assumption does not always hold. Note: :func:`gethostname` doesn't always return
|
|
the fully qualified domain name; use ``getfqdn()`` (see above).
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. function:: gethostbyaddr(ip_address)
|
|
|
|
Return a triple ``(hostname, aliaslist, ipaddrlist)`` where *hostname* is the
|
|
primary host name responding to the given *ip_address*, *aliaslist* is a
|
|
(possibly empty) list of alternative host names for the same address, and
|
|
*ipaddrlist* is a list of IPv4/v6 addresses for the same interface on the same
|
|
host (most likely containing only a single address). To find the fully qualified
|
|
domain name, use the function :func:`getfqdn`. :func:`gethostbyaddr` supports
|
|
both IPv4 and IPv6.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. function:: getnameinfo(sockaddr, flags)
|
|
|
|
Translate a socket address *sockaddr* into a 2-tuple ``(host, port)``. Depending
|
|
on the settings of *flags*, the result can contain a fully-qualified domain name
|
|
or numeric address representation in *host*. Similarly, *port* can contain a
|
|
string port name or a numeric port number.
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 2.2
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. function:: getprotobyname(protocolname)
|
|
|
|
Translate an Internet protocol name (for example, ``'icmp'``) to a constant
|
|
suitable for passing as the (optional) third argument to the :func:`socket`
|
|
function. This is usually only needed for sockets opened in "raw" mode
|
|
(:const:`SOCK_RAW`); for the normal socket modes, the correct protocol is chosen
|
|
automatically if the protocol is omitted or zero.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. function:: getservbyname(servicename[, protocolname])
|
|
|
|
Translate an Internet service name and protocol name to a port number for that
|
|
service. The optional protocol name, if given, should be ``'tcp'`` or
|
|
``'udp'``, otherwise any protocol will match.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. function:: getservbyport(port[, protocolname])
|
|
|
|
Translate an Internet port number and protocol name to a service name for that
|
|
service. The optional protocol name, if given, should be ``'tcp'`` or
|
|
``'udp'``, otherwise any protocol will match.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. function:: socket([family[, type[, proto]]])
|
|
|
|
Create a new socket using the given address family, socket type and protocol
|
|
number. The address family should be :const:`AF_INET` (the default),
|
|
:const:`AF_INET6` or :const:`AF_UNIX`. The socket type should be
|
|
:const:`SOCK_STREAM` (the default), :const:`SOCK_DGRAM` or perhaps one of the
|
|
other ``SOCK_`` constants. The protocol number is usually zero and may be
|
|
omitted in that case.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. function:: socketpair([family[, type[, proto]]])
|
|
|
|
Build a pair of connected socket objects using the given address family, socket
|
|
type, and protocol number. Address family, socket type, and protocol number are
|
|
as for the :func:`socket` function above. The default family is :const:`AF_UNIX`
|
|
if defined on the platform; otherwise, the default is :const:`AF_INET`.
|
|
Availability: Unix.
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 2.4
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. function:: fromfd(fd, family, type[, proto])
|
|
|
|
Duplicate the file descriptor *fd* (an integer as returned by a file object's
|
|
:meth:`fileno` method) and build a socket object from the result. Address
|
|
family, socket type and protocol number are as for the :func:`socket` function
|
|
above. The file descriptor should refer to a socket, but this is not checked ---
|
|
subsequent operations on the object may fail if the file descriptor is invalid.
|
|
This function is rarely needed, but can be used to get or set socket options on
|
|
a socket passed to a program as standard input or output (such as a server
|
|
started by the Unix inet daemon). The socket is assumed to be in blocking mode.
|
|
Availability: Unix.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. function:: ntohl(x)
|
|
|
|
Convert 32-bit positive integers from network to host byte order. On machines
|
|
where the host byte order is the same as network byte order, this is a no-op;
|
|
otherwise, it performs a 4-byte swap operation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. function:: ntohs(x)
|
|
|
|
Convert 16-bit positive integers from network to host byte order. On machines
|
|
where the host byte order is the same as network byte order, this is a no-op;
|
|
otherwise, it performs a 2-byte swap operation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. function:: htonl(x)
|
|
|
|
Convert 32-bit positive integers from host to network byte order. On machines
|
|
where the host byte order is the same as network byte order, this is a no-op;
|
|
otherwise, it performs a 4-byte swap operation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. function:: htons(x)
|
|
|
|
Convert 16-bit positive integers from host to network byte order. On machines
|
|
where the host byte order is the same as network byte order, this is a no-op;
|
|
otherwise, it performs a 2-byte swap operation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. function:: inet_aton(ip_string)
|
|
|
|
Convert an IPv4 address from dotted-quad string format (for example,
|
|
'123.45.67.89') to 32-bit packed binary format, as a string four characters in
|
|
length. This is useful when conversing with a program that uses the standard C
|
|
library and needs objects of type :ctype:`struct in_addr`, which is the C type
|
|
for the 32-bit packed binary this function returns.
|
|
|
|
If the IPv4 address string passed to this function is invalid,
|
|
:exc:`socket.error` will be raised. Note that exactly what is valid depends on
|
|
the underlying C implementation of :cfunc:`inet_aton`.
|
|
|
|
:func:`inet_aton` does not support IPv6, and :func:`getnameinfo` should be used
|
|
instead for IPv4/v6 dual stack support.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. function:: inet_ntoa(packed_ip)
|
|
|
|
Convert a 32-bit packed IPv4 address (a string four characters in length) to its
|
|
standard dotted-quad string representation (for example, '123.45.67.89'). This
|
|
is useful when conversing with a program that uses the standard C library and
|
|
needs objects of type :ctype:`struct in_addr`, which is the C type for the
|
|
32-bit packed binary data this function takes as an argument.
|
|
|
|
If the string passed to this function is not exactly 4 bytes in length,
|
|
:exc:`socket.error` will be raised. :func:`inet_ntoa` does not support IPv6, and
|
|
:func:`getnameinfo` should be used instead for IPv4/v6 dual stack support.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. function:: inet_pton(address_family, ip_string)
|
|
|
|
Convert an IP address from its family-specific string format to a packed, binary
|
|
format. :func:`inet_pton` is useful when a library or network protocol calls for
|
|
an object of type :ctype:`struct in_addr` (similar to :func:`inet_aton`) or
|
|
:ctype:`struct in6_addr`.
|
|
|
|
Supported values for *address_family* are currently :const:`AF_INET` and
|
|
:const:`AF_INET6`. If the IP address string *ip_string* is invalid,
|
|
:exc:`socket.error` will be raised. Note that exactly what is valid depends on
|
|
both the value of *address_family* and the underlying implementation of
|
|
:cfunc:`inet_pton`.
|
|
|
|
Availability: Unix (maybe not all platforms).
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 2.3
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. function:: inet_ntop(address_family, packed_ip)
|
|
|
|
Convert a packed IP address (a string of some number of characters) to its
|
|
standard, family-specific string representation (for example, ``'7.10.0.5'`` or
|
|
``'5aef:2b::8'``) :func:`inet_ntop` is useful when a library or network protocol
|
|
returns an object of type :ctype:`struct in_addr` (similar to :func:`inet_ntoa`)
|
|
or :ctype:`struct in6_addr`.
|
|
|
|
Supported values for *address_family* are currently :const:`AF_INET` and
|
|
:const:`AF_INET6`. If the string *packed_ip* is not the correct length for the
|
|
specified address family, :exc:`ValueError` will be raised. A
|
|
:exc:`socket.error` is raised for errors from the call to :func:`inet_ntop`.
|
|
|
|
Availability: Unix (maybe not all platforms).
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 2.3
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. function:: getdefaulttimeout()
|
|
|
|
Return the default timeout in floating seconds for new socket objects. A value
|
|
of ``None`` indicates that new socket objects have no timeout. When the socket
|
|
module is first imported, the default is ``None``.
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 2.3
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. function:: setdefaulttimeout(timeout)
|
|
|
|
Set the default timeout in floating seconds for new socket objects. A value of
|
|
``None`` indicates that new socket objects have no timeout. When the socket
|
|
module is first imported, the default is ``None``.
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 2.3
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. data:: SocketType
|
|
|
|
This is a Python type object that represents the socket object type. It is the
|
|
same as ``type(socket(...))``.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. seealso::
|
|
|
|
Module :mod:`SocketServer`
|
|
Classes that simplify writing network servers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _socket-objects:
|
|
|
|
Socket Objects
|
|
--------------
|
|
|
|
Socket objects have the following methods. Except for :meth:`makefile` these
|
|
correspond to Unix system calls applicable to sockets.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: socket.accept()
|
|
|
|
Accept a connection. The socket must be bound to an address and listening for
|
|
connections. The return value is a pair ``(conn, address)`` where *conn* is a
|
|
*new* socket object usable to send and receive data on the connection, and
|
|
*address* is the address bound to the socket on the other end of the connection.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: socket.bind(address)
|
|
|
|
Bind the socket to *address*. The socket must not already be bound. (The format
|
|
of *address* depends on the address family --- see above.)
|
|
|
|
.. note::
|
|
|
|
This method has historically accepted a pair of parameters for :const:`AF_INET`
|
|
addresses instead of only a tuple. This was never intentional and is no longer
|
|
available in Python 2.0 and later.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: socket.close()
|
|
|
|
Close the socket. All future operations on the socket object will fail. The
|
|
remote end will receive no more data (after queued data is flushed). Sockets are
|
|
automatically closed when they are garbage-collected.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: socket.connect(address)
|
|
|
|
Connect to a remote socket at *address*. (The format of *address* depends on the
|
|
address family --- see above.)
|
|
|
|
.. note::
|
|
|
|
This method has historically accepted a pair of parameters for :const:`AF_INET`
|
|
addresses instead of only a tuple. This was never intentional and is no longer
|
|
available in Python 2.0 and later.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: socket.connect_ex(address)
|
|
|
|
Like ``connect(address)``, but return an error indicator instead of raising an
|
|
exception for errors returned by the C-level :cfunc:`connect` call (other
|
|
problems, such as "host not found," can still raise exceptions). The error
|
|
indicator is ``0`` if the operation succeeded, otherwise the value of the
|
|
:cdata:`errno` variable. This is useful to support, for example, asynchronous
|
|
connects.
|
|
|
|
.. note::
|
|
|
|
This method has historically accepted a pair of parameters for :const:`AF_INET`
|
|
addresses instead of only a tuple. This was never intentional and is no longer
|
|
available in Python 2.0 and later.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: socket.fileno()
|
|
|
|
Return the socket's file descriptor (a small integer). This is useful with
|
|
:func:`select.select`.
|
|
|
|
Under Windows the small integer returned by this method cannot be used where a
|
|
file descriptor can be used (such as :func:`os.fdopen`). Unix does not have
|
|
this limitation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: socket.getpeername()
|
|
|
|
Return the remote address to which the socket is connected. This is useful to
|
|
find out the port number of a remote IPv4/v6 socket, for instance. (The format
|
|
of the address returned depends on the address family --- see above.) On some
|
|
systems this function is not supported.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: socket.getsockname()
|
|
|
|
Return the socket's own address. This is useful to find out the port number of
|
|
an IPv4/v6 socket, for instance. (The format of the address returned depends on
|
|
the address family --- see above.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: socket.getsockopt(level, optname[, buflen])
|
|
|
|
Return the value of the given socket option (see the Unix man page
|
|
:manpage:`getsockopt(2)`). The needed symbolic constants (:const:`SO_\*` etc.)
|
|
are defined in this module. If *buflen* is absent, an integer option is assumed
|
|
and its integer value is returned by the function. If *buflen* is present, it
|
|
specifies the maximum length of the buffer used to receive the option in, and
|
|
this buffer is returned as a string. It is up to the caller to decode the
|
|
contents of the buffer (see the optional built-in module :mod:`struct` for a way
|
|
to decode C structures encoded as strings).
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: socket.listen(backlog)
|
|
|
|
Listen for connections made to the socket. The *backlog* argument specifies the
|
|
maximum number of queued connections and should be at least 1; the maximum value
|
|
is system-dependent (usually 5).
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: socket.makefile([mode[, bufsize]])
|
|
|
|
.. index:: single: I/O control; buffering
|
|
|
|
Return a :dfn:`file object` associated with the socket. (File objects are
|
|
described in :ref:`bltin-file-objects`.) The file object
|
|
references a :cfunc:`dup`\ ped version of the socket file descriptor, so the
|
|
file object and socket object may be closed or garbage-collected independently.
|
|
The socket must be in blocking mode (it can not have a timeout). The optional
|
|
*mode* and *bufsize* arguments are interpreted the same way as by the built-in
|
|
:func:`file` function; see :ref:`built-in-funcs` for more information.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: socket.recv(bufsize[, flags])
|
|
|
|
Receive data from the socket. The return value is a string representing the
|
|
data received. The maximum amount of data to be received at once is specified
|
|
by *bufsize*. See the Unix manual page :manpage:`recv(2)` for the meaning of
|
|
the optional argument *flags*; it defaults to zero.
|
|
|
|
.. note::
|
|
|
|
For best match with hardware and network realities, the value of *bufsize*
|
|
should be a relatively small power of 2, for example, 4096.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: socket.recvfrom(bufsize[, flags])
|
|
|
|
Receive data from the socket. The return value is a pair ``(string, address)``
|
|
where *string* is a string representing the data received and *address* is the
|
|
address of the socket sending the data. See the Unix manual page
|
|
:manpage:`recv(2)` for the meaning of the optional argument *flags*; it defaults
|
|
to zero. (The format of *address* depends on the address family --- see above.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: socket.recvfrom_into(buffer[, nbytes[, flags]])
|
|
|
|
Receive data from the socket, writing it into *buffer* instead of creating a
|
|
new string. The return value is a pair ``(nbytes, address)`` where *nbytes* is
|
|
the number of bytes received and *address* is the address of the socket sending
|
|
the data. See the Unix manual page :manpage:`recv(2)` for the meaning of the
|
|
optional argument *flags*; it defaults to zero. (The format of *address*
|
|
depends on the address family --- see above.)
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 2.5
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: socket.recv_into(buffer[, nbytes[, flags]])
|
|
|
|
Receive up to *nbytes* bytes from the socket, storing the data into a buffer
|
|
rather than creating a new string. If *nbytes* is not specified (or 0),
|
|
receive up to the size available in the given buffer. See the Unix manual page
|
|
:manpage:`recv(2)` for the meaning of the optional argument *flags*; it defaults
|
|
to zero.
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 2.5
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: socket.send(string[, flags])
|
|
|
|
Send data to the socket. The socket must be connected to a remote socket. The
|
|
optional *flags* argument has the same meaning as for :meth:`recv` above.
|
|
Returns the number of bytes sent. Applications are responsible for checking that
|
|
all data has been sent; if only some of the data was transmitted, the
|
|
application needs to attempt delivery of the remaining data.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: socket.sendall(string[, flags])
|
|
|
|
Send data to the socket. The socket must be connected to a remote socket. The
|
|
optional *flags* argument has the same meaning as for :meth:`recv` above.
|
|
Unlike :meth:`send`, this method continues to send data from *string* until
|
|
either all data has been sent or an error occurs. ``None`` is returned on
|
|
success. On error, an exception is raised, and there is no way to determine how
|
|
much data, if any, was successfully sent.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: socket.sendto(string[, flags], address)
|
|
|
|
Send data to the socket. The socket should not be connected to a remote socket,
|
|
since the destination socket is specified by *address*. The optional *flags*
|
|
argument has the same meaning as for :meth:`recv` above. Return the number of
|
|
bytes sent. (The format of *address* depends on the address family --- see
|
|
above.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: socket.setblocking(flag)
|
|
|
|
Set blocking or non-blocking mode of the socket: if *flag* is 0, the socket is
|
|
set to non-blocking, else to blocking mode. Initially all sockets are in
|
|
blocking mode. In non-blocking mode, if a :meth:`recv` call doesn't find any
|
|
data, or if a :meth:`send` call can't immediately dispose of the data, a
|
|
:exc:`error` exception is raised; in blocking mode, the calls block until they
|
|
can proceed. ``s.setblocking(0)`` is equivalent to ``s.settimeout(0)``;
|
|
``s.setblocking(1)`` is equivalent to ``s.settimeout(None)``.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: socket.settimeout(value)
|
|
|
|
Set a timeout on blocking socket operations. The *value* argument can be a
|
|
nonnegative float expressing seconds, or ``None``. If a float is given,
|
|
subsequent socket operations will raise an :exc:`timeout` exception if the
|
|
timeout period *value* has elapsed before the operation has completed. Setting
|
|
a timeout of ``None`` disables timeouts on socket operations.
|
|
``s.settimeout(0.0)`` is equivalent to ``s.setblocking(0)``;
|
|
``s.settimeout(None)`` is equivalent to ``s.setblocking(1)``.
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 2.3
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: socket.gettimeout()
|
|
|
|
Return the timeout in floating seconds associated with socket operations, or
|
|
``None`` if no timeout is set. This reflects the last call to
|
|
:meth:`setblocking` or :meth:`settimeout`.
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 2.3
|
|
|
|
Some notes on socket blocking and timeouts: A socket object can be in one of
|
|
three modes: blocking, non-blocking, or timeout. Sockets are always created in
|
|
blocking mode. In blocking mode, operations block until complete. In
|
|
non-blocking mode, operations fail (with an error that is unfortunately
|
|
system-dependent) if they cannot be completed immediately. In timeout mode,
|
|
operations fail if they cannot be completed within the timeout specified for the
|
|
socket. The :meth:`setblocking` method is simply a shorthand for certain
|
|
:meth:`settimeout` calls.
|
|
|
|
Timeout mode internally sets the socket in non-blocking mode. The blocking and
|
|
timeout modes are shared between file descriptors and socket objects that refer
|
|
to the same network endpoint. A consequence of this is that file objects
|
|
returned by the :meth:`makefile` method must only be used when the socket is in
|
|
blocking mode; in timeout or non-blocking mode file operations that cannot be
|
|
completed immediately will fail.
|
|
|
|
Note that the :meth:`connect` operation is subject to the timeout setting, and
|
|
in general it is recommended to call :meth:`settimeout` before calling
|
|
:meth:`connect`.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: socket.setsockopt(level, optname, value)
|
|
|
|
.. index:: module: struct
|
|
|
|
Set the value of the given socket option (see the Unix manual page
|
|
:manpage:`setsockopt(2)`). The needed symbolic constants are defined in the
|
|
:mod:`socket` module (:const:`SO_\*` etc.). The value can be an integer or a
|
|
string representing a buffer. In the latter case it is up to the caller to
|
|
ensure that the string contains the proper bits (see the optional built-in
|
|
module :mod:`struct` for a way to encode C structures as strings).
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: socket.shutdown(how)
|
|
|
|
Shut down one or both halves of the connection. If *how* is :const:`SHUT_RD`,
|
|
further receives are disallowed. If *how* is :const:`SHUT_WR`, further sends
|
|
are disallowed. If *how* is :const:`SHUT_RDWR`, further sends and receives are
|
|
disallowed.
|
|
|
|
Note that there are no methods :meth:`read` or :meth:`write`; use :meth:`recv`
|
|
and :meth:`send` without *flags* argument instead.
|
|
|
|
Socket objects also have these (read-only) attributes that correspond to the
|
|
values given to the :class:`socket` constructor.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. attribute:: socket.family
|
|
|
|
The socket family.
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 2.5
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. attribute:: socket.type
|
|
|
|
The socket type.
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 2.5
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. attribute:: socket.proto
|
|
|
|
The socket protocol.
|
|
|
|
.. versionadded:: 2.5
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _socket-example:
|
|
|
|
Example
|
|
-------
|
|
|
|
Here are four minimal example programs using the TCP/IP protocol: a server that
|
|
echoes all data that it receives back (servicing only one client), and a client
|
|
using it. Note that a server must perform the sequence :func:`socket`,
|
|
:meth:`bind`, :meth:`listen`, :meth:`accept` (possibly repeating the
|
|
:meth:`accept` to service more than one client), while a client only needs the
|
|
sequence :func:`socket`, :meth:`connect`. Also note that the server does not
|
|
:meth:`send`/:meth:`recv` on the socket it is listening on but on the new
|
|
socket returned by :meth:`accept`.
|
|
|
|
The first two examples support IPv4 only. ::
|
|
|
|
# Echo server program
|
|
import socket
|
|
|
|
HOST = '' # Symbolic name meaning the local host
|
|
PORT = 50007 # Arbitrary non-privileged port
|
|
s = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
|
|
s.bind((HOST, PORT))
|
|
s.listen(1)
|
|
conn, addr = s.accept()
|
|
print 'Connected by', addr
|
|
while 1:
|
|
data = conn.recv(1024)
|
|
if not data: break
|
|
conn.send(data)
|
|
conn.close()
|
|
|
|
::
|
|
|
|
# Echo client program
|
|
import socket
|
|
|
|
HOST = 'daring.cwi.nl' # The remote host
|
|
PORT = 50007 # The same port as used by the server
|
|
s = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
|
|
s.connect((HOST, PORT))
|
|
s.send('Hello, world')
|
|
data = s.recv(1024)
|
|
s.close()
|
|
print 'Received', repr(data)
|
|
|
|
The next two examples are identical to the above two, but support both IPv4 and
|
|
IPv6. The server side will listen to the first address family available (it
|
|
should listen to both instead). On most of IPv6-ready systems, IPv6 will take
|
|
precedence and the server may not accept IPv4 traffic. The client side will try
|
|
to connect to the all addresses returned as a result of the name resolution, and
|
|
sends traffic to the first one connected successfully. ::
|
|
|
|
# Echo server program
|
|
import socket
|
|
import sys
|
|
|
|
HOST = '' # Symbolic name meaning the local host
|
|
PORT = 50007 # Arbitrary non-privileged port
|
|
s = None
|
|
for res in socket.getaddrinfo(HOST, PORT, socket.AF_UNSPEC, socket.SOCK_STREAM, 0, socket.AI_PASSIVE):
|
|
af, socktype, proto, canonname, sa = res
|
|
try:
|
|
s = socket.socket(af, socktype, proto)
|
|
except socket.error, msg:
|
|
s = None
|
|
continue
|
|
try:
|
|
s.bind(sa)
|
|
s.listen(1)
|
|
except socket.error, msg:
|
|
s.close()
|
|
s = None
|
|
continue
|
|
break
|
|
if s is None:
|
|
print 'could not open socket'
|
|
sys.exit(1)
|
|
conn, addr = s.accept()
|
|
print 'Connected by', addr
|
|
while 1:
|
|
data = conn.recv(1024)
|
|
if not data: break
|
|
conn.send(data)
|
|
conn.close()
|
|
|
|
::
|
|
|
|
# Echo client program
|
|
import socket
|
|
import sys
|
|
|
|
HOST = 'daring.cwi.nl' # The remote host
|
|
PORT = 50007 # The same port as used by the server
|
|
s = None
|
|
for res in socket.getaddrinfo(HOST, PORT, socket.AF_UNSPEC, socket.SOCK_STREAM):
|
|
af, socktype, proto, canonname, sa = res
|
|
try:
|
|
s = socket.socket(af, socktype, proto)
|
|
except socket.error, msg:
|
|
s = None
|
|
continue
|
|
try:
|
|
s.connect(sa)
|
|
except socket.error, msg:
|
|
s.close()
|
|
s = None
|
|
continue
|
|
break
|
|
if s is None:
|
|
print 'could not open socket'
|
|
sys.exit(1)
|
|
s.send('Hello, world')
|
|
data = s.recv(1024)
|
|
s.close()
|
|
print 'Received', repr(data)
|
|
|