169 lines
7.5 KiB
TeX
169 lines
7.5 KiB
TeX
\section{\module{mmap} ---
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Memory-mapped file support}
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\declaremodule{builtin}{mmap}
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\modulesynopsis{Interface to memory-mapped files for \UNIX\ and Windows.}
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Memory-mapped file objects behave like both strings and like
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file objects. Unlike normal string objects, however, these are
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mutable. You can use mmap objects in most places where strings
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are expected; for example, you can use the \module{re} module to
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search through a memory-mapped file. Since they're mutable, you can
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change a single character by doing \code{obj[\var{index}] = 'a'}, or
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change a substring by assigning to a slice:
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\code{obj[\var{i1}:\var{i2}] = '...'}. You can also read and write
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data starting at the current file position, and \method{seek()}
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through the file to different positions.
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A memory-mapped file is created by the \function{mmap()} function,
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which is different on \UNIX{} and on Windows. In either case you must
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provide a file descriptor for a file opened for update.
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If you wish to map an existing Python file object, use its
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\method{fileno()} method to obtain the correct value for the
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\var{fileno} parameter. Otherwise, you can open the file using the
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\function{os.open()} function, which returns a file descriptor
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directly (the file still needs to be closed when done).
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For both the \UNIX{} and Windows versions of the function,
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\var{access} may be specified as an optional keyword parameter.
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\var{access} accepts one of three values: \constant{ACCESS_READ},
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\constant{ACCESS_WRITE}, or \constant{ACCESS_COPY} to specify
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readonly, write-through or copy-on-write memory respectively.
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\var{access} can be used on both \UNIX{} and Windows. If
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\var{access} is not specified, Windows mmap returns a write-through
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mapping. The initial memory values for all three access types are
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taken from the specified file. Assignment to an
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\constant{ACCESS_READ} memory map raises a \exception{TypeError}
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exception. Assignment to an \constant{ACCESS_WRITE} memory map
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affects both memory and the underlying file. Assignment to an
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\constant{ACCESS_COPY} memory map affects memory but does not update
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the underlying file.
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\begin{funcdesc}{mmap}{fileno, length\optional{, tagname\optional{, access}}}
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\strong{(Windows version)} Maps \var{length} bytes from the file
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specified by the file handle \var{fileno}, and returns a mmap
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object. If \var{length} is larger than the current size of the file,
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the file is extended to contain \var{length} bytes. If \var{length}
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is \code{0}, the maximum length of the map is the current size
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of the file, except that if the file is empty Windows raises an
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exception (you cannot create an empty mapping on Windows).
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\var{tagname}, if specified and not \code{None}, is a string giving
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a tag name for the mapping. Windows allows you to have many
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different mappings against the same file. If you specify the name
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of an existing tag, that tag is opened, otherwise a new tag of this
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name is created. If this parameter is omitted or \code{None}, the
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mapping is created without a name. Avoiding the use of the tag
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parameter will assist in keeping your code portable between \UNIX{}
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and Windows.
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\end{funcdesc}
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\begin{funcdescni}{mmap}{fileno, length\optional{, flags\optional{,
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prot\optional{, access}}}}
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\strong{(\UNIX{} version)} Maps \var{length} bytes from the file
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specified by the file descriptor \var{fileno}, and returns a mmap
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object. If \var{length} is \code{0}, the maximum length of the map
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will be the current size of the file when \function{mmap(} is
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called.
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\var{flags} specifies the nature of the mapping.
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\constant{MAP_PRIVATE} creates a private copy-on-write mapping, so
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changes to the contents of the mmap object will be private to this
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process, and \constant{MAP_SHARED} creates a mapping that's shared
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with all other processes mapping the same areas of the file. The
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default value is \constant{MAP_SHARED}.
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\var{prot}, if specified, gives the desired memory protection; the
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two most useful values are \constant{PROT_READ} and
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\constant{PROT_WRITE}, to specify that the pages may be read or
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written. \var{prot} defaults to \constant{PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE}.
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\var{access} may be specified in lieu of \var{flags} and \var{prot}
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as an optional keyword parameter. It is an error to specify both
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\var{flags}, \var{prot} and \var{access}. See the description of
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\var{access} above for information on how to use this parameter.
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\end{funcdescni}
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Memory-mapped file objects support the following methods:
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\begin{methoddesc}{close}{}
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Close the file. Subsequent calls to other methods of the object
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will result in an exception being raised.
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\end{methoddesc}
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\begin{methoddesc}{find}{string\optional{, start}}
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Returns the lowest index in the object where the substring
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\var{string} is found. Returns \code{-1} on failure. \var{start}
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is the index at which the search begins, and defaults to zero.
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\end{methoddesc}
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\begin{methoddesc}{flush}{\optional{offset, size}}
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Flushes changes made to the in-memory copy of a file back to disk.
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Without use of this call there is no guarantee that changes are
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written back before the object is destroyed. If \var{offset} and
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\var{size} are specified, only changes to the given range of bytes
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will be flushed to disk; otherwise, the whole extent of the mapping
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is flushed.
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\end{methoddesc}
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\begin{methoddesc}{move}{\var{dest}, \var{src}, \var{count}}
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Copy the \var{count} bytes starting at offset \var{src} to the
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destination index \var{dest}. If the mmap was created with
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\constant{ACCESS_READ}, then calls to move will throw a
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\exception{TypeError} exception.
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\end{methoddesc}
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\begin{methoddesc}{read}{\var{num}}
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Return a string containing up to \var{num} bytes starting from the
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current file position; the file position is updated to point after the
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bytes that were returned.
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\end{methoddesc}
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\begin{methoddesc}{read_byte}{}
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Returns a string of length 1 containing the character at the current
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file position, and advances the file position by 1.
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\end{methoddesc}
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\begin{methoddesc}{readline}{}
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Returns a single line, starting at the current file position and up to
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the next newline.
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\end{methoddesc}
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\begin{methoddesc}{resize}{\var{newsize}}
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If the mmap was created with \constant{ACCESS_READ} or
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\constant{ACCESS_COPY}, resizing the map will throw a \exception{TypeError} exception.
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\end{methoddesc}
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\begin{methoddesc}{seek}{pos\optional{, whence}}
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Set the file's current position. \var{whence} argument is optional
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and defaults to \code{0} (absolute file positioning); other values
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are \code{1} (seek relative to the current position) and \code{2}
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(seek relative to the file's end).
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\end{methoddesc}
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\begin{methoddesc}{size}{}
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Return the length of the file, which can be larger than the size of
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the memory-mapped area.
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\end{methoddesc}
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\begin{methoddesc}{tell}{}
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Returns the current position of the file pointer.
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\end{methoddesc}
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\begin{methoddesc}{write}{\var{string}}
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Write the bytes in \var{string} into memory at the current position
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of the file pointer; the file position is updated to point after the
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bytes that were written. If the mmap was created with
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\constant{ACCESS_READ}, then writing to it will throw a
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\exception{TypeError} exception.
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\end{methoddesc}
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\begin{methoddesc}{write_byte}{\var{byte}}
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Write the single-character string \var{byte} into memory at the
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current position of the file pointer; the file position is advanced
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by \code{1}.If the mmap was created with \constant{ACCESS_READ},
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then writing to it will throw a \exception{TypeError} exception.
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\end{methoddesc}
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