cpython/Doc/library/io.rst

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: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>
.. sectionauthor:: Benjamin Peterson <benjamin@python.org>
.. versionadded:: 2.6
The :mod:`io` module provides the Python interfaces to stream handling. The
built-in :func:`open` function is defined in this module.
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 throw an :exc:`IOError` if they do not support a given operation.
Extending :class:`IOBase` is :class:`RawIOBase` which deals simply with the
reading and writing of raw bytes to a stream. :class:`FileIO` subclasses
:class:`RawIOBase` to provide an interface to files in the machine's
file system.
:class:`BufferedIOBase` 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. :class:`BytesIO` is a simple stream of in-memory bytes.
Another :class:`IOBase` subclass, :class:`TextIOBase`, deals with
streams whose bytes represent text, and handles encoding and decoding
from and to 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.
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[, buffering[, encoding[, errors[, newline[, closefd=True]]]]]])
Open *file* and return a stream. If the file cannot be opened, an
:exc:`IOError` is raised.
*file* is either a string giving the name (and the path if the file isn't in
the current working directory) of the file to be opened or a file
descriptor of the file to be opened. (If a file descriptor is given,
for example, from :func:`os.fdopen`, it is closed when the returned
I/O object is closed, unless *closefd* is set to ``False``.)
*mode* is an optional string that specifies the mode in which the file is
opened. It defaults to ``'r'`` which means open for reading in text mode.
Other common values are ``'w'`` for writing (truncating the file if it
already exists), and ``'a'`` for appending (which on *some* Unix systems,
means that *all* writes append to the end of the file regardless of the
current seek position). In text mode, if *encoding* is not specified the
encoding used is platform dependent. (For reading and writing raw bytes use
binary mode and leave *encoding* unspecified.) The available modes are:
========= ===============================================================
Character Meaning
--------- ---------------------------------------------------------------
``'r'`` open for reading (default)
``'w'`` open for writing, truncating the file first
``'a'`` open for writing, appending to the end of the file if it exists
``'b'`` binary mode
``'t'`` text mode (default)
``'+'`` open a disk file for updating (reading and writing)
``'U'`` universal newline mode (for backwards compatibility; should
not be used in new code)
========= ===============================================================
The default mode is ``'rt'`` (open for reading text). For binary random
access, the mode ``'w+b'`` opens and truncates the file to 0 bytes, while
``'r+b'`` opens the file without truncation.
Python distinguishes between files opened in binary and text modes, even when
the underlying operating system doesn't. Files opened in binary mode
(including ``'b'`` in the *mode* argument) return contents as ``bytes``
objects without any decoding. In text mode (the default, or when ``'t'`` is
included in the *mode* argument), the contents of the file are returned as
strings, the bytes having been first decoded using a platform-dependent
encoding or using the specified *encoding* if given.
*buffering* is an optional integer used to set the buffering policy.
Pass 0 to switch buffering off (only allowed in binary mode), 1 to select
line buffering (only usable in text mode), and an integer > 1 to indicate
the size of a fixed-size chunk buffer. When no *buffering* argument is
given, the default buffering policy works as follows:
* Binary files are buffered in fixed-size chunks; the size of the buffer
is chosen using a heuristic trying to determine the underlying device's
"block size" and falling back on :attr:`DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE`.
On many systems, the buffer will typically be 4096 or 8192 bytes long.
* "Interactive" text files (files for which :meth:`isatty` returns True)
use line buffering. Other text files use the policy described above
for binary files.
*encoding* is the name of the encoding used to decode or encode the file.
This should only be used in text mode. The default encoding is platform
dependent, but any encoding supported by Python can be used. See the
:mod:`codecs` module for the list of supported encodings.
*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. When
writing, ``'xmlcharrefreplace'`` (replace with the appropriate XML character
reference) or ``'backslashreplace'`` (replace with backslashed escape
sequences) can be used. Any other error handling name that has been
registered with :func:`codecs.register_error` is also valid.
*newline* controls how universal newlines works (it only applies to text
mode). It can be ``None``, ``''``, ``'\n'``, ``'\r'``, and ``'\r\n'``. It
works as follows:
* On input, if *newline* is ``None``, 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 newline 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.
* On output, if *newline* is ``None``, any ``'\n'`` characters written are
translated to the system default line separator, :data:`os.linesep`. If
*newline* is ``''``, no translation takes place. If *newline* is any of
the other legal values, any ``'\n'`` characters written are translated to
the given string.
If *closefd* is ``False`` and a file descriptor rather than a
filename was given, the underlying file descriptor will be kept open
when the file is closed. If a filename is given *closefd* has no
effect but must be ``True`` (the default).
The type of file object returned by the :func:`.open` function depends
on the mode. When :func:`.open` is used to open a file in a text mode
(``'w'``, ``'r'``, ``'wt'``, ``'rt'``, etc.), it returns a
:class:`TextIOWrapper`. When used to open a file in a binary mode,
the returned class varies: in read binary mode, it returns a
:class:`BufferedReader`; in write binary and append binary modes, it
returns a :class:`BufferedWriter`, and in read/write mode, it returns
a :class:`BufferedRandom`.
It is also possible to use a string or bytearray as a file for both reading
and writing. For strings :class:`StringIO` can be used like a file opened in
a text mode, and for bytearrays a :class:`BytesIO` can be used like a
file opened in a binary mode.
.. exception:: BlockingIOError
Error raised when blocking would occur on a non-blocking stream. It inherits
:exc:`IOError`.
In addition to those of :exc:`IOError`, :exc:`BlockingIOError` has one
attribute:
.. attribute:: characters_written
An integer containing the number of characters written to the stream
before it blocked.
.. exception:: UnsupportedOperation
An exception inheriting :exc:`IOError` and :exc:`ValueError` that is raised
when an unsupported operation is called on a stream.
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`, :meth:`readinto`,
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:`IOError` 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`. :class:`bytearray`\s are accepted too, and in some cases
(such as :class:`readinto`) required. 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:`IOError` in this case.
IOBase (and its subclasses) support the iterator protocol, meaning that an
:class:`IOBase` object can be iterated over yielding the lines in a stream.
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 an :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:`IOError` 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:`IOError`.
.. method:: readline([limit])
Read and return one line from the stream. If *limit* is specified, at
most *limit* bytes will be read.
The line terminator is always ``b'\n'`` for binary files; for text files,
the *newlines* argument to :func:`.open` can be used to select the line
terminator(s) recognized.
.. method:: readlines([hint])
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*.
.. method:: seek(offset[, whence])
Change the stream position to the given byte *offset*. *offset* is
interpreted relative to the position indicated by *whence*. Values for
*whence* are:
* ``0`` -- start of the stream (the default); *offset* should be zero or positive
* ``1`` -- current stream position; *offset* may be negative
* ``2`` -- end of the stream; *offset* is usually negative
Return the new absolute position.
.. method:: seekable()
Return ``True`` if the stream supports random access. If ``False``,
:meth:`seek`, :meth:`tell` and :meth:`truncate` will raise :exc:`IOError`.
.. method:: tell()
Return the current stream position.
.. method:: truncate([size])
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, on Windows they're
undetermined). The new file size is returned.
.. method:: writable()
Return ``True`` if the stream supports writing. If ``False``,
:meth:`write` and :meth:`truncate` will raise :exc:`IOError`.
.. 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.
.. class:: RawIOBase
Base class for raw binary I/O. It inherits :class:`IOBase`. There is no
public constructor.
In addition to the attributes and methods from :class:`IOBase`,
RawIOBase provides the following methods:
.. method:: read([n])
Read and return all the bytes from the stream until EOF, or if *n* is
specified, up to *n* bytes. Only one system call is ever made. An empty
bytes object is returned on EOF; ``None`` is returned if the object is set
not to block and has no data to read.
.. 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 up to len(b) bytes into bytearray *b* and return the number of bytes
read.
.. method:: write(b)
Write the given bytes or bytearray object, *b*, to the underlying raw
stream and return the number of bytes written (This is never less than
``len(b)``, since if the write fails, an :exc:`IOError` will be raised).
.. class:: BufferedIOBase
Base class for streams that support buffering. It inherits :class:`IOBase`.
There is no public constructor.
The main difference with :class:`RawIOBase` is that the :meth:`read` method
supports omitting the *size* argument, and does not have a default
implementation that defers to :meth:`readinto`.
In addition, :meth:`read`, :meth:`readinto`, and :meth:`write` may raise
:exc:`BlockingIOError` if the underlying raw stream is in non-blocking mode
and not ready; unlike their raw counterparts, they will never return
``None``.
A typical implementation should not inherit from a :class:`RawIOBase`
implementation, but wrap one like :class:`BufferedWriter` and
:class:`BufferedReader`.
:class:`BufferedIOBase` provides or overrides these methods in addition to
those from :class:`IOBase`:
.. method:: read([n])
Read and return up to *n* bytes. If the argument is omitted, ``None``, or
negative, data is read and returned until EOF is reached. An empty 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 has no
data at the moment.
.. method:: readinto(b)
Read up to len(b) bytes into bytearray *b* and return the number of bytes
read.
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 has no
data at the moment.
.. method:: write(b)
Write the given bytes or bytearray object, *b*, to the underlying raw
stream and return the number of bytes written (never less than ``len(b)``,
since if the write fails an :exc:`IOError` will be raised).
A :exc:`BlockingIOError` is raised if the buffer is full, and the
underlying raw stream cannot accept more data at the moment.
Raw File I/O
------------
.. class:: FileIO(name[, mode])
:class:`FileIO` represents a file containing bytes data. It implements
the :class:`RawIOBase` interface (and therefore the :class:`IOBase`
interface, too).
The *mode* can be ``'r'``, ``'w'`` or ``'a'`` for reading (default), writing,
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. Add a
``'+'`` to the mode to allow simultaneous reading and writing.
In addition to the attributes and methods from :class:`IOBase` and
:class:`RawIOBase`, :class:`FileIO` provides the following data
attributes and methods:
.. 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.
.. method:: read([n])
Read and return at most *n* bytes. Only one system call is made, so it is
possible that less data than was requested is returned. Use :func:`len`
on the returned bytes object to see how many bytes were actually returned.
(In non-blocking mode, ``None`` is returned when no data is available.)
.. method:: readall()
Read and return the entire file's contents in a single bytes object. As
much as immediately available is returned in non-blocking mode. If the
EOF has been reached, ``b''`` is returned.
.. method:: write(b)
Write the bytes or bytearray object, *b*, to the file, and return
the number actually written. Only one system call is made, so it
is possible that only some of the data is written.
Note that the inherited ``readinto()`` method should not be used on
:class:`FileIO` objects.
Buffered Streams
----------------
.. class:: BytesIO([initial_bytes])
A stream implementation using an in-memory bytes buffer. It inherits
:class:`BufferedIOBase`.
The argument *initial_bytes* is an optional initial bytearray.
:class:`BytesIO` provides or overrides these methods in addition to those
from :class:`BufferedIOBase` and :class:`IOBase`:
.. method:: getvalue()
Return ``bytes`` containing the entire contents of the buffer.
.. method:: read1()
In :class:`BytesIO`, this is the same as :meth:`read`.
.. class:: BufferedReader(raw[, buffer_size])
A buffer for a readable, sequential :class:`RawIOBase` object. It inherits
:class:`BufferedIOBase`.
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([n])
Return 1 (or *n* if specified) bytes from a buffer without advancing the
position. Only a single read on the raw stream is done to satisfy the
call. The number of bytes returned may be less than requested since at
most all the buffer's bytes from the current position to the end are
returned.
.. method:: read([n])
Read and return *n* bytes, or if *n* is not given or negative, until EOF
or if the read call would block in non-blocking mode.
.. method:: read1(n)
Read and return up to *n* 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.
.. class:: BufferedWriter(raw[, buffer_size[, max_buffer_size]])
A buffer for a writeable sequential RawIO object. It inherits
:class:`BufferedIOBase`.
The constructor creates a :class:`BufferedWriter` for the given writeable
*raw* stream. If the *buffer_size* is not given, it defaults to
:data:`DEAFULT_BUFFER_SIZE`. If *max_buffer_size* is omitted, it defaults to
twice the 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 bytes or bytearray object, *b*, onto the raw stream and return
the number of bytes written. A :exc:`BlockingIOError` is raised when the
raw stream blocks.
.. class:: BufferedRWPair(reader, writer[, buffer_size[, max_buffer_size]])
A combined buffered writer and reader object for a raw stream that can be
written to and read from. It has and supports both :meth:`read`, :meth:`write`,
and their variants. This is useful for sockets and two-way pipes.
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`. The *max_buffer_size* (for the buffered writer)
defaults to twice the buffer size.
:class:`BufferedRWPair` implements all of :class:`BufferedIOBase`\'s methods.
.. class:: BufferedRandom(raw[, buffer_size[, max_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`. The *max_buffer_size* (for the buffered writer)
defaults to twice the buffer size.
:class:`BufferedRandom` is capable of anything :class:`BufferedReader` or
:class:`BufferedWriter` can do.
Text I/O
--------
.. class:: TextIOBase
Base class for text streams. This class provides a character and line based
interface to stream I/O. There is no :meth:`readinto` method because
Python's character strings are immutable. 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:: newlines
A string, a tuple of strings, or ``None``, indicating the newlines
translated so far.
.. method:: read(n)
Read and return at most *n* characters from the stream as a single
:class:`str`. If *n* is negative or ``None``, reads to EOF.
.. method:: readline()
Read until newline or EOF and return a single ``str``. If the stream is
already at EOF, an empty string is returned.
.. method:: write(s)
Write the string *s* to the stream and return the number of characters
written.
.. class:: TextIOWrapper(buffer[, encoding[, errors[, newline[, line_buffering]]]])
A buffered text stream over a :class:`BufferedIOBase` raw stream, *buffer*.
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`.
*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. When
writing, ``'xmlcharrefreplace'`` (replace with the appropriate XML character
reference) or ``'backslashreplace'`` (replace with backslashed escape
sequences) can be used. Any other error handling name that has been
registered with :func:`codecs.register_error` is also valid.
*newline* can be ``None``, ``''``, ``'\n'``, ``'\r'``, or ``'\r\n'``. It
controls the handling of line endings. If it is ``None``, universal newlines
is enabled. With this enabled, on input, the lines endings ``'\n'``,
``'\r'``, or ``'\r\n'`` are translated to ``'\n'`` before being returned to
the caller. Conversely, on output, ``'\n'`` is translated to the system
default line separator, :data:`os.linesep`. If *newline* is any other of its
legal values, that newline becomes the newline when the file is read and it
is returned untranslated. On output, ``'\n'`` is converted to the *newline*.
If *line_buffering* is ``True``, :meth:`flush` is implied when a call to
write contains a newline character.
:class:`TextIOWrapper` provides these data attributes in addition to those of
:class:`TextIOBase` and its parents:
.. attribute:: errors
The encoding and decoding error setting.
.. attribute:: line_buffering
Whether line buffering is enabled.
.. class:: StringIO([initial_value[, encoding[, errors[, newline]]]])
An in-memory stream for text. It inherits :class:`TextIOWrapper`.
Create a new StringIO stream with an inital value, encoding, error handling,
and newline setting. See :class:`TextIOWrapper`\'s constructor for more
information.
:class:`StringIO` provides this method in addition to those from
:class:`TextIOWrapper` and its parents:
.. method:: getvalue()
Return a ``str`` containing the entire contents of the buffer.
.. class:: IncrementalNewlineDecoder
A helper codec that decodes newlines for universal newlines mode. It
inherits :class:`codecs.IncrementalDecoder`.