306 lines
12 KiB
ReStructuredText
306 lines
12 KiB
ReStructuredText
:mod:`dbm` --- Interfaces to Unix "databases"
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=============================================
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.. module:: dbm
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:synopsis: Interfaces to various Unix "database" formats.
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:mod:`dbm` is a generic interface to variants of the DBM database ---
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:mod:`dbm.gnu` or :mod:`dbm.ndbm`. If none of these modules is installed, the
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slow-but-simple implementation in module :mod:`dbm.dumb` will be used. There
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is a `third party interface <http://www.jcea.es/programacion/pybsddb.htm>`_ to
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the Oracle Berkely DB.
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.. exception:: error
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A tuple containing the exceptions that can be raised by each of the supported
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modules, with a unique exception also named :exc:`dbm.error` as the first
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item --- the latter is used when :exc:`dbm.error` is raised.
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.. function:: whichdb(filename)
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This functionattempts to guess which of the several simple database modules
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available --- :mod:`dbm.bsd`, :mod:`dbm.gnu`, :mod:`dbm.ndbm` or
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:mod:`dbm.dumb` --- should be used to open a given file.
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Returns one of the following values: ``None`` if the file can't be opened
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because it's unreadable or doesn't exist; the empty string (``''``) if the
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file's format can't be guessed; or a string containing the required module
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name, such as ``'dbm.ndbm'`` or ``'dbm.gnu'``.
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.. function:: open(filename[, flag[, mode]])
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Open the database file *filename* and return a corresponding object.
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If the database file already exists, the :func:`whichdb` function is used to
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determine its type and the appropriate module is used; if it does not exist,
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the first module listed above that can be imported is used.
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The optional *flag* argument can be ``'r'`` to open an existing database for
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reading only, ``'w'`` to open an existing database for reading and writing,
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``'c'`` to create the database if it doesn't exist, or ``'n'``, which will
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always create a new empty database. If not specified, the default value is
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``'r'``.
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The optional *mode* argument is the Unix mode of the file, used only when the
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database has to be created. It defaults to octal ``0o666`` (and will be
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modified by the prevailing umask).
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The object returned by :func:`open` supports most of the same functionality as
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dictionaries; keys and their corresponding values can be stored, retrieved, and
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deleted, and the :keyword:`in` operator and the :meth:`keys` method are
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available. Keys and values must always be strings.
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The following example records some hostnames and a corresponding title, and
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then prints out the contents of the database::
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import dbm
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# Open database, creating it if necessary.
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db = dbm.open('cache', 'c')
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# Record some values
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db['www.python.org'] = 'Python Website'
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db['www.cnn.com'] = 'Cable News Network'
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# Loop through contents. Other dictionary methods
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# such as .keys(), .values() also work.
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for k, v in db.iteritems():
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print(k, '\t', v)
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# Storing a non-string key or value will raise an exception (most
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# likely a TypeError).
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db['www.yahoo.com'] = 4
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# Close when done.
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db.close()
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.. seealso::
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Module :mod:`shelve`
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Persistence module which stores non-string data.
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The individual submodules are described in the following sections.
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:mod:`dbm.gnu` --- GNU's reinterpretation of dbm
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------------------------------------------------
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.. module:: dbm.gnu
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:platform: Unix
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:synopsis: GNU's reinterpretation of dbm.
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This module is quite similar to the :mod:`dbm` module, but uses the GNU library
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``gdbm`` instead to provide some additional functionality. Please note that the
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file formats created by ``gdbm`` and ``dbm`` are incompatible.
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The :mod:`dbm.gnu` module provides an interface to the GNU DBM library.
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``gdbm`` objects behave like mappings (dictionaries), except that keys and
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values are always strings. Printing a :mod:`dbm.gnu` object doesn't print the
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keys and values, and the :meth:`items` and :meth:`values` methods are not
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supported.
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.. exception:: error
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Raised on ``gdbm``\ -specific errors, such as I/O errors. :exc:`KeyError` is
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raised for general mapping errors like specifying an incorrect key.
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.. function:: open(filename, [flag, [mode]])
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Open a ``gdbm`` database and return a :class:`gdbm` object. The *filename*
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argument is the name of the database file.
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The optional *flag* argument can be:
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+---------+-------------------------------------------+
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| Value | Meaning |
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+=========+===========================================+
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| ``'r'`` | Open existing database for reading only |
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| | (default) |
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+---------+-------------------------------------------+
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| ``'w'`` | Open existing database for reading and |
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| | writing |
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+---------+-------------------------------------------+
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| ``'c'`` | Open database for reading and writing, |
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| | creating it if it doesn't exist |
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+---------+-------------------------------------------+
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| ``'n'`` | Always create a new, empty database, open |
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| | for reading and writing |
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+---------+-------------------------------------------+
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The following additional characters may be appended to the flag to control
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how the database is opened:
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+---------+--------------------------------------------+
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| Value | Meaning |
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+=========+============================================+
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| ``'f'`` | Open the database in fast mode. Writes |
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| | to the database will not be synchronized. |
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+---------+--------------------------------------------+
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| ``'s'`` | Synchronized mode. This will cause changes |
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| | to the database to be immediately written |
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| | to the file. |
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+---------+--------------------------------------------+
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| ``'u'`` | Do not lock database. |
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+---------+--------------------------------------------+
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Not all flags are valid for all versions of ``gdbm``. The module constant
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:const:`open_flags` is a string of supported flag characters. The exception
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:exc:`error` is raised if an invalid flag is specified.
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The optional *mode* argument is the Unix mode of the file, used only when the
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database has to be created. It defaults to octal ``0o666``.
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In addition to the dictionary-like methods, ``gdbm`` objects have the
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following methods:
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.. method:: gdbm.firstkey()
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It's possible to loop over every key in the database using this method and the
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:meth:`nextkey` method. The traversal is ordered by ``gdbm``'s internal
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hash values, and won't be sorted by the key values. This method returns
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the starting key.
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.. method:: gdbm.nextkey(key)
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Returns the key that follows *key* in the traversal. The following code prints
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every key in the database ``db``, without having to create a list in memory that
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contains them all::
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k = db.firstkey()
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while k != None:
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print(k)
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k = db.nextkey(k)
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.. method:: gdbm.reorganize()
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If you have carried out a lot of deletions and would like to shrink the space
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used by the ``gdbm`` file, this routine will reorganize the database. ``gdbm``
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will not shorten the length of a database file except by using this
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reorganization; otherwise, deleted file space will be kept and reused as new
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(key, value) pairs are added.
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.. method:: gdbm.sync()
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When the database has been opened in fast mode, this method forces any
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unwritten data to be written to the disk.
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:mod:`dbm.ndbm` --- Interface based on ndbm
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-------------------------------------------
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.. module:: dbm.ndbm
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:platform: Unix
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:synopsis: The standard "database" interface, based on ndbm.
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The :mod:`dbm.ndbm` module provides an interface to the Unix "(n)dbm" library.
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Dbm objects behave like mappings (dictionaries), except that keys and values are
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always strings. Printing a dbm object doesn't print the keys and values, and the
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:meth:`items` and :meth:`values` methods are not supported.
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This module can be used with the "classic" ndbm interface, the BSD DB
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compatibility interface, or the GNU GDBM compatibility interface. On Unix, the
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:program:`configure` script will attempt to locate the appropriate header file
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to simplify building this module.
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.. exception:: error
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Raised on dbm-specific errors, such as I/O errors. :exc:`KeyError` is raised
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for general mapping errors like specifying an incorrect key.
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.. data:: library
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Name of the ``ndbm`` implementation library used.
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.. function:: open(filename[, flag[, mode]])
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Open a dbm database and return a dbm object. The *filename* argument is the
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name of the database file (without the :file:`.dir` or :file:`.pag` extensions;
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note that the BSD DB implementation of the interface will append the extension
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:file:`.db` and only create one file).
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The optional *flag* argument must be one of these values:
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+---------+-------------------------------------------+
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| Value | Meaning |
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+=========+===========================================+
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| ``'r'`` | Open existing database for reading only |
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| | (default) |
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+---------+-------------------------------------------+
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| ``'w'`` | Open existing database for reading and |
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| | writing |
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+---------+-------------------------------------------+
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| ``'c'`` | Open database for reading and writing, |
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| | creating it if it doesn't exist |
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+---------+-------------------------------------------+
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| ``'n'`` | Always create a new, empty database, open |
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| | for reading and writing |
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+---------+-------------------------------------------+
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The optional *mode* argument is the Unix mode of the file, used only when the
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database has to be created. It defaults to octal ``0o666`` (and will be
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modified by the prevailing umask).
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:mod:`dbm.dumb` --- Portable DBM implementation
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-----------------------------------------------
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.. module:: dbm.dumb
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:synopsis: Portable implementation of the simple DBM interface.
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.. index:: single: databases
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.. note::
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The :mod:`dbm.dumb` module is intended as a last resort fallback for the
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:mod:`dbm` module when no more robust module is available. The :mod:`dbm.dumb`
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module is not written for speed and is not nearly as heavily used as the other
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database modules.
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The :mod:`dbm.dumb` module provides a persistent dictionary-like interface which
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is written entirely in Python. Unlike other modules such as :mod:`gdbm` no
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external library is required. As with other persistent mappings, the keys and
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values must always be strings.
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The module defines the following:
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.. exception:: error
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Raised on dbm.dumb-specific errors, such as I/O errors. :exc:`KeyError` is
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raised for general mapping errors like specifying an incorrect key.
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.. function:: open(filename[, flag[, mode]])
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Open a dumbdbm database and return a dumbdbm object. The *filename* argument is
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the basename of the database file (without any specific extensions). When a
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dumbdbm database is created, files with :file:`.dat` and :file:`.dir` extensions
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are created.
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The optional *flag* argument is currently ignored; the database is always opened
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for update, and will be created if it does not exist.
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The optional *mode* argument is the Unix mode of the file, used only when the
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database has to be created. It defaults to octal ``0o666`` (and will be modified
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by the prevailing umask).
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In addition to the methods provided by the :class:`collections.MutableMapping` class,
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:class:`dumbdbm` objects provide the following method:
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.. method:: dumbdbm.sync()
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Synchronize the on-disk directory and data files. This method is called
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by the :meth:`Shelve.sync` method.
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