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diff --git a/lib/stdlib/doc/src/io_protocol.xml b/lib/stdlib/doc/src/io_protocol.xml index 0ff3d5c1ee..d36bf2042f 100644 --- a/lib/stdlib/doc/src/io_protocol.xml +++ b/lib/stdlib/doc/src/io_protocol.xml @@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ <header> <copyright> <year>1999</year> - <year>2011</year> + <year>2012</year> <holder>Ericsson AB. All Rights Reserved.</holder> </copyright> <legalnotice> @@ -35,10 +35,10 @@ <p>The I/O-protocol in Erlang specifies a way for a client to communicate -with an io_server and vice versa. The io_server is a process handling the -requests and that performs the requested task on i.e. a device. The +with an I/O server and vice versa. The I/O server is a process that handles +the requests and performs the requested task on e.g. an IO device. The client is any Erlang process wishing to read or write data from/to the -device.</p> +IO device.</p> <p>The common I/O-protocol has been present in OTP since the beginning, but has been fairly undocumented and has also somewhat @@ -53,85 +53,85 @@ implement than the original. It can certainly be argumented that the current protocol is too complex, but this text describes how it looks today, not how it should have looked.</p> -<p>The basic ideas from the original protocol still hold. The io_server +<p>The basic ideas from the original protocol still hold. The I/O server and client communicate with one single, rather simplistic protocol and -no server state is ever present in the client. Any io_server can be +no server state is ever present in the client. Any I/O server can be used together with any client code and client code need not be aware -of the actual device the io_server communicates with.</p> +of the actual IO device the I/O server communicates with.</p> <section> -<title>Protocol basics</title> +<title>Protocol Basics</title> -<p>As described in Robert's paper, servers and clients communicate using -io_request/io_reply tuples as follows:</p> +<p>As described in Robert's paper, I/O servers and clients communicate using +<c>io_request</c>/<c>io_reply</c> tuples as follows:</p> <p><em>{io_request, From, ReplyAs, Request}</em><br/> <em>{io_reply, ReplyAs, Reply}</em></p> -<p>The client sends an io_request to the io_server and the server -eventually sends a corresponding reply.</p> +<p>The client sends an <c>io_request</c> tuple to the I/O server and +the server eventually sends a corresponding <c>io_reply</c> tuple.</p> <list type="bulleted"> -<item>From is the pid() of the client, the process which the io_server -sends the reply to.</item> - -<item>ReplyAs can be any datum and is simply returned in the corresponding -io_reply. The io-module in the Erlang standard library simply uses the pid() -of the io_server as the ReplyAs datum, but a more complicated client -could have several outstanding io-requests to the same server and -would then use i.e. a reference() or something else to differentiate among -the incoming io_reply's. The ReplyAs element should be considered -opaque by the io_server. Note that the pid() of the server is not -explicitly present in the io_reply. The reply can be sent from any -process, not necessarily the actual io_server. The ReplyAs element is -the only thing that connects one io_request with an io_reply.</item> - -<item>Request and Reply are described below.</item> +<item><c>From</c> is the <c>pid()</c> of the client, the process which +the I/O server sends the IO reply to.</item> + +<item><c>ReplyAs</c> can be any datum and is returned in the corresponding +<c>io_reply</c>. The <seealso marker="stdlib:io">io</seealso> module simply uses the pid() +of the I/O server as the <c>ReplyAs</c> datum, but a more complicated client +could have several outstanding I/O requests to the same I/O server and +would then use i.e. a <c>reference()</c> or something else to differentiate among +the incoming IO replies. The <c>ReplyAs</c> element should be considered +opaque by the I/O server. Note that the <c>pid()</c> of the I/O server is not +explicitly present in the <c>io_reply</c> tuple. The reply can be sent from any +process, not necessarily the actual I/O server. The <c>ReplyAs</c> element is +the only thing that connects one I/O request with an I/O-reply.</item> + +<item><c>Request</c> and <c>Reply</c> are described below.</item> </list> -<p>When an io_server receives an io_request, it acts upon the actual -Request part and eventually sends an io_reply with the corresponding -Reply part.</p> +<p>When an I/O server receives an <c>io_request</c> tuple, it acts upon the actual +<c>Request</c> part and eventually sends an <c>io_reply</c> tuple with the corresponding +<c>Reply</c> part.</p> </section> <section> -<title>Output requests</title> +<title>Output Requests</title> -<p>To output characters on a device, the following Requests exist:</p> +<p>To output characters on an IO device, the following <c>Request</c>s exist:</p> <p> <em>{put_chars, Encoding, Characters}</em><br/> <em>{put_chars, Encoding, Module, Function, Args}</em> </p> <list type="bulleted"> -<item>Encoding is either 'unicode' or 'latin1', meaning that the +<item><c>Encoding</c> is either <c>unicode</c> or <c>latin1</c>, meaning that the characters are (in case of binaries) encoded as either UTF-8 or - iso-latin-1 (pure bytes). A well behaved io_server should also - return error if list elements contain integers > 255 when the - Encoding is set to latin1. Note that this does not in any way tell - how characters should be put on the actual device or how the - io_server should handle them. Different io_servers may handle the - characters however they want, this simply tells the io_server which - format the data is expected to have. In the Module/Function/argument - case, the Encoding tells which format the designated function - produces. Note that byte-oriented data is simplest sent using latin1 - Encoding</item> - -<item>Characters are the data to be put on the device. If Encoding is - latin1, this is an iolist(). If Encoding is unicode, this is an - Erlang standard mixed unicode list (one integer in a list per + ISO-latin-1 (pure bytes). A well behaved I/O server should also + return error if list elements contain integers > 255 when + <c>Encoding</c> is set to <c>latin1</c>. Note that this does not in any way tell + how characters should be put on the actual IO device or how the + I/O server should handle them. Different I/O servers may handle the + characters however they want, this simply tells the I/O server which + format the data is expected to have. In the <c>Module</c>/<c>Function</c>/<c>Args</c> + case, <c>Encoding</c> tells which format the designated function + produces. Note that byte-oriented data is simplest sent using the ISO-latin-1 + encoding.</item> + +<item>Characters are the data to be put on the IO device. If <c>Encoding</c> is + <c>latin1</c>, this is an <c>iolist()</c>. If <c>Encoding</c> is <c>unicode</c>, this is an + Erlang standard mixed Unicode list (one integer in a list per character, characters in binaries represented as UTF-8).</item> -<item>Module, Function, Args denotes a function which will be called to - produce the data (like io_lib:format). Args is a list of arguments +<item><c>Module</c>, <c>Function</c>, and <c>Args</c> denote a function which will be called to + produce the data (like <c>io_lib:format/2</c>). <c>Args</c> is a list of arguments to the function. The function should produce data in the given - Encoding. The io_server should call the function as apply(Mod, Func, - Args) and will put the returned data on the device as if it was sent - in a {put_chars, Encoding, Characters} request. If the function + <c>Encoding</c>. The I/O server should call the function as + <c>apply(Mod, Func, Args)</c> and will put the returned data on the IO device as if it was sent + in a <c>{put_chars, Encoding, Characters}</c> request. If the function returns anything else than a binary or list or throws an exception, an error should be sent back to the client.</item> </list> -<p>The server replies to the client with an io_reply where the Reply +<p>The I/O server replies to the client with an <c>io_reply</c> tuple where the <c>Reply</c> element is one of:</p> <p> <em>ok</em><br/> @@ -139,49 +139,50 @@ element is one of:</p> </p> <list type="bulleted"> -<item>Error describes the error to the client, which may do whatever it - wants with it. The Erlang io-module typically returns it as is.</item> +<item><c>Error</c> describes the error to the client, which may do whatever + it wants with it. The Erlang <seealso marker="stdlib:io">io</seealso> + module typically returns it as is.</item> </list> -<p>For backward compatibility the following Requests should also be -handled by an io_server (these messages should not be present after +<p>For backward compatibility the following <c>Request</c>s should also be +handled by an I/O server (these requests should not be present after R15B of OTP):</p> <p> <em>{put_chars, Characters}</em><br/> <em>{put_chars, Module, Function, Args}</em> </p> -<p>These should behave as {put_chars, latin1, Characters} and {put_chars, -latin1, Module, Function, Args} respectively. </p> +<p>These should behave as <c>{put_chars, latin1, Characters}</c> and +<c>{put_chars, latin1, Module, Function, Args}</c> respectively. </p> </section> <section> <title>Input Requests</title> -<p>To read characters from a device, the following Requests exist:</p> +<p>To read characters from an IO device, the following <c>Request</c>s exist:</p> <p><em>{get_until, Encoding, Prompt, Module, Function, ExtraArgs}</em></p> <list type="bulleted"> -<item>Encoding denotes how data is to be sent back to the client and +<item><c>Encoding</c> denotes how data is to be sent back to the client and what data is sent to the function denoted by - Module/Function/ExtraArgs. If the function supplied returns data as a + <c>Module</c>/<c>Function</c>/<c>ExtraArgs</c>. If the function supplied returns data as a list, the data is converted to this encoding. If however the function supplied returns data in some other format, no conversion - can be done and it's up to the client supplied function to return - data in a proper way. If Encoding is latin1, lists of integers + can be done and it is up to the client supplied function to return + data in a proper way. If <c>Encoding</c> is <c>latin1</c>, lists of integers 0..255 or binaries containing plain bytes are sent back to the - client when possible, if Encoding is unicode, lists with integers in - the whole unicode range or binaries encoded in UTF-8 are sent to the + client when possible; if <c>Encoding</c> is <c>unicode</c>, lists with integers in + the whole Unicode range or binaries encoded in UTF-8 are sent to the client. The user supplied function will always see lists of integers, never - binaries, but the list may contain numbers > 255 if the Encoding is - 'unicode'.</item> + binaries, but the list may contain numbers > 255 if the <c>Encoding</c> is + <c>unicode</c>.</item> -<item>Prompt is a list of characters (not mixed, no binaries) or an atom() - to be output as a prompt for input on the device. The Prompt is - often ignored by the io_server and a Prompt set to '' should always - be ignored (and result in nothing being written to the device).</item> +<item><c>Prompt</c> is a list of characters (not mixed, no binaries) or an atom + to be output as a prompt for input on the IO device. <c>Prompt</c> is + often ignored by the I/O server and if set to <c>''</c> it should always + be ignored (and result in nothing being written to the IO device).</item> -<item><p>Module, Function, ExtraArgs denotes a function and arguments to +<item><p><c>Module</c>, <c>Function</c>, and <c>ExtraArgs</c> denote a function and arguments to determine when enough data is written. The function should take two additional arguments, the last state, and a list of characters. The function should return one of:</p> @@ -189,23 +190,23 @@ latin1, Module, Function, Args} respectively. </p> <em>{done, Result, RestChars}</em><br/> <em>{more, Continuation}</em> </p> - <p>The Result can be any Erlang term, but if it is a list(), the - io_server may convert it to a binary() of appropriate format before - returning it to the client, if the server is set in binary mode (see + <p>The <c>Result</c> can be any Erlang term, but if it is a <c>list()</c>, the + I/O server may convert it to a <c>binary()</c> of appropriate format before + returning it to the client, if the I/O server is set in binary mode (see below).</p> - <p>The function will be called with the data the io_server finds on - its device, returning {done, Result, RestChars} when enough data is - read (in which case Result is sent to the client and RestChars are - kept in the io_server as a buffer for subsequent input) or {more, - Continuation}, indicating that more characters are needed to - complete the request. The Continuation will be sent as the state in + <p>The function will be called with the data the I/O server finds on + its IO device, returning <c>{done, Result, RestChars}</c> when enough data is + read (in which case <c>Result</c> is sent to the client and <c>RestChars</c> is + kept in the I/O server as a buffer for subsequent input) or + <c>{more, Continuation}</c>, indicating that more characters are needed to + complete the request. The <c>Continuation</c> will be sent as the state in subsequent calls to the function when more characters are available. When no more characters are available, the function - shall return {done,eof,Rest}. + shall return <c>{done, eof, Rest}</c>. The initial state is the empty list and the data when an - end of file is reached on the device is the atom 'eof'. An emulation - of the get_line request could be (inefficiently) implemented using + end of file is reached on the IO device is the atom <c>eof</c>. An emulation + of the <c>get_line</c> request could be (inefficiently) implemented using the following functions:</p> <code> -module(demo). @@ -214,7 +215,9 @@ latin1, Module, Function, Args} respectively. </p> until_newline(_ThisFar,eof,_MyStopCharacter) -> {done,eof,[]}; until_newline(ThisFar,CharList,MyStopCharacter) -> - case lists:splitwith(fun(X) -> X =/= MyStopCharacter end, CharList) of + case + lists:splitwith(fun(X) -> X =/= MyStopCharacter end, CharList) + of {L,[]} -> {more,ThisFar++L}; {L2,[MyStopCharacter|Rest]} -> @@ -222,45 +225,47 @@ until_newline(ThisFar,CharList,MyStopCharacter) -> end. get_line(IoServer) -> - IoServer ! {io_request, self(), IoServer, {get_until, unicode, '', - ?MODULE, until_newline, [$\n]}}, + IoServer ! {io_request, + self(), + IoServer, + {get_until, unicode, '', ?MODULE, until_newline, [$\n]}}, receive {io_reply, IoServer, Data} -> Data end. </code> - <p>Note especially that the last element in the Request tuple ([$\n]) + <p>Note especially that the last element in the <c>Request</c> tuple (<c>[$\n]</c>) is appended to the argument list when the function is called. The function should be called like - apply(Module, Function, [ State, Data | ExtraArgs ]) by the io_server</p> + <c>apply(Module, Function, [ State, Data | ExtraArgs ])</c> by the I/O server</p> </item> </list> -<p>A defined number of characters is requested using this Request:</p> +<p>A fixed number of characters is requested using this <c>Request</c>:</p> <p> <em>{get_chars, Encoding, Prompt, N}</em> </p> <list type="bulleted"> -<item>Encoding and Prompt as for get_until.</item> +<item><c>Encoding</c> and <c>Prompt</c> as for <c>get_until</c>.</item> -<item>N is the number of characters to be read from the device.</item> +<item><c>N</c> is the number of characters to be read from the IO device.</item> </list> -<p>A single line (like in the example above) is requested with this Request:</p> +<p>A single line (like in the example above) is requested with this <c>Request</c>:</p> <p> <em>{get_line, Encoding, Prompt}</em> </p> <list type="bulleted"> -<item>Encoding and prompt as above.</item> +<item><c>Encoding</c> and <c>Prompt</c> as above.</item> </list> -<p>Obviously, get_chars and get_line could be implemented with the -get_until request (and indeed was originally), but demands for +<p>Obviously, the <c>get_chars</c> and <c>get_line</c> could be implemented with the +<c>get_until</c> request (and indeed they were originally), but demands for efficiency has made these additions necessary.</p> -<p>The server replies to the client with an io_reply where the Reply +<p>The I/O server replies to the client with an <c>io_reply</c> tuple where the <c>Reply</c> element is one of:</p> <p> <em>Data</em><br/> @@ -269,16 +274,17 @@ element is one of:</p> </p> <list type="bulleted"> -<item>Data is the characters read, in either list or binary form - (depending on the io_server mode, see below).</item> -<item>Error describes the error to the client, which may do whatever it - wants with it. The Erlang io-module typically returns it as is.</item> -<item>eof is returned when input end is reached and no more data is +<item><c>Data</c> is the characters read, in either list or binary form + (depending on the I/O server mode, see below).</item> +<item><c>Error</c> describes the error to the client, which may do whatever it + wants with it. The Erlang <seealso marker="stdlib:io">io</seealso> + module typically returns it as is.</item> +<item><c>eof</c> is returned when input end is reached and no more data is available to the client process.</item> </list> -<p>For backward compatibility the following Requests should also be -handled by an io_server (these messages should not be present after +<p>For backward compatibility the following <c>Request</c>s should also be +handled by an I/O server (these reqeusts should not be present after R15B of OTP):</p> <p> @@ -287,30 +293,30 @@ R15B of OTP):</p> <em>{get_line, Prompt}</em><br/> </p> -<p>These should behave as {get_until, latin1, Prompt, Module, Function, -ExtraArgs}, {get_chars, latin1, Prompt, N} and {get_line, latin1, -Prompt} respectively.</p> +<p>These should behave as <c>{get_until, latin1, Prompt, Module, Function, +ExtraArgs}</c>, <c>{get_chars, latin1, Prompt, N}</c> and <c>{get_line, latin1, +Prompt}</c> respectively.</p> </section> <section> -<title>I/O-server modes</title> - -<p>Demands for efficiency when reading data from an io_server has not -only lead to the addition of the get_line and get_chars requests, but -has also added the concept of io_server options. No options are -mandatory to implement, but all io_servers in the Erlang standard -libraries honor the 'binary' option, which allows the Data in the -io_reply to be binary instead of in list form <em>when possible</em>. +<title>I/O-server Modes</title> + +<p>Demands for efficiency when reading data from an I/O server has not +only lead to the addition of the <c>get_line</c> and <c>get_chars</c> requests, but +has also added the concept of I/O server options. No options are +mandatory to implement, but all I/O servers in the Erlang standard +libraries honor the <c>binary</c> option, which allows the <c>Data</c> element of the +<c>io_reply</c> tuple to be a binary instead of a list <em>when possible</em>. If the data is sent as a binary, Unicode data will be sent in the -standard Erlang unicode -format, i.e. UTF-8 (note that the function in get_until still gets -list data regardless of the io_server mode).</p> +standard Erlang Unicode +format, i.e. UTF-8 (note that the function of the <c>get_until</c> request still gets +list data regardless of the I/O server mode).</p> -<p>Note that i.e. the <c>get_until</c> request allows for a function with the data specified as always being a list. Also the return value data from such a function can be of any type (as is indeed the case when an io:fread request is sent to an io_server). The client has to be prepared for data received as answers to those requests to be in a variety of forms, but the server should convert the results to binaries whenever possible (i.e. when the function supplied to get_until actually returns a list). The example shown later in this text does just that.</p> +<p>Note that i.e. the <c>get_until</c> request allows for a function with the data specified as always being a list. Also the return value data from such a function can be of any type (as is indeed the case when an <c>io:fread</c> request is sent to an I/O server). The client has to be prepared for data received as answers to those requests to be in a variety of forms, but the I/O server should convert the results to binaries whenever possible (i.e. when the function supplied to <c>get_until</c> actually returns a list). The example shown later in this text does just that.</p> <p>An I/O-server in binary mode will affect the data sent to the client, so that it has to be able to handle binary data. For convenience, it -is possible to set and retrieve the modes of an io_server using the -following I/O-requests:</p> +is possible to set and retrieve the modes of an I/O server using the +following I/O requests:</p> <p> <em>{setopts, Opts}</em> @@ -318,72 +324,72 @@ following I/O-requests:</p> <list type="bulleted"> -<item>Opts is a list of options in the format recognized by proplists (and - of course by the io_server itself).</item> +<item><c>Opts</c> is a list of options in the format recognized by <seealso marker="stdlib:proplists">proplists</seealso> (and + of course by the I/O server itself).</item> </list> -<p>As an example, the io_server for the interactive shell (in group.erl) +<p>As an example, the I/O server for the interactive shell (in <c>group.erl</c>) understands the following options:</p> <p> -<em>{binary, bool()} (or 'binary'/'list')</em><br/> -<em>{echo, bool()}</em><br/> +<em>{binary, boolean()}</em> (or <em>binary</em>/<em>list</em>)<br/> +<em>{echo, boolean()}</em><br/> <em>{expand_fun, fun()}</em><br/> -<em>{encoding, 'unicode'/'latin1'} (or 'unicode'/'latin1')</em> +<em>{encoding, unicode/latin1}</em> (or <em>unicode</em>/<em>latin1</em>) </p> -<p>- of which the 'binary' and 'encoding' options are common for all -io_servers in OTP, while 'echo' and 'expand' is valid only for this -io_server. It's worth noting that the 'unicode' option notifies how -characters are actually put on the physical device, i.e. if the -terminal per se is unicode aware, it does not affect how characters +<p>- of which the <c>binary</c> and <c>encoding</c> options are common for all +I/O servers in OTP, while <c>echo</c> and <c>expand</c> are valid only for this +I/O server. It is worth noting that the <c>unicode</c> option notifies how +characters are actually put on the physical IO device, i.e. if the +terminal per se is Unicode aware, it does not affect how characters are sent in the I/O-protocol, where each request contains encoding information for the provided or returned data.</p> -<p>The server should send one of the following as Reply:</p> +<p>The I/O server should send one of the following as <c>Reply</c>:</p> <p> <em>ok</em><br/> <em>{error, Error}</em> </p> -<p>An error (preferably enotsup) is to be expected if the option is -not supported by the io_server (like if an 'echo' option is sent in a -setopt Request to a plain file).</p> +<p>An error (preferably <c>enotsup</c>) is to be expected if the option is +not supported by the I/O server (like if an <c>echo</c> option is sent in a +<c>setopts</c> request to a plain file).</p> -<p>To retrieve options, this message is used:</p> +<p>To retrieve options, this request is used:</p> <p> <em>getopts</em> </p> -<p>The 'getopts' message requests a complete list of all options -supported by the io_server as well as their current values.</p> +<p>The <c>getopts</c> request asks for a complete list of all options +supported by the I/O server as well as their current values.</p> -<p>The server replies:</p> +<p>The I/O server replies:</p> <p> <em>OptList</em><br/> -<em>{error,Error}</em> +<em>{error, Error}</em> </p> <list type="bulleted"> -<item>OptList is a list of tuples {Option, Value} where Option is always +<item><c>OptList</c> is a list of tuples <c>{Option, Value}</c> where <c>Option</c> is always an atom.</item> </list> </section> <section> -<title>Multiple I/O requests</title> +<title>Multiple I/O Requests</title> -<p>The Request element can in itself contain several Requests by using +<p>The <c>Request</c> element can in itself contain several <c>Request</c>s by using the following format:</p> <p> <em>{requests, Requests}</em> </p> <list type="bulleted"> -<item>Requests is a list of valid Request tuples for the protocol, they +<item><c>Requests</c> is a list of valid <c>io_request</c> tuples for the protocol, they shall be executed in the order in which they appear in the list and the execution should continue until one of the requests result in an error or the list is consumed. The result of the last request is sent back to the client.</item> </list> -<p>The server can for a list of requests send any of the valid results in +<p>The I/O server can for a list of requests send any of the valid results in the reply:</p> <p> @@ -395,7 +401,7 @@ the reply:</p> <p>- depending on the actual requests in the list.</p> </section> <section> -<title>Optional I/O-requests</title> +<title>Optional I/O Requests</title> <p>The following I/O request is optional to implement and a client should be prepared for an error return:</p> @@ -403,47 +409,47 @@ should be prepared for an error return:</p> <em>{get_geometry, Geometry}</em> </p> <list type="bulleted"> -<item>Geometry is either the atom 'rows' or the atom 'columns'.</item> +<item><c>Geometry</c> is either the atom <c>rows</c> or the atom <c>columns</c>.</item> </list> -<p>The server should send the Reply as:</p> +<p>The I/O server should send the <c>Reply</c> as:</p> <p> <em>{ok, N}</em><br/> <em>{error, Error}</em> </p> <list type="bulleted"> -<item>N is the number of character rows or columns the device has, if - applicable to the device the io_server handles, otherwise {error, - enotsup} is a good answer.</item> +<item><c>N</c> is the number of character rows or columns the IO device has, if + applicable to the IO device the I/O server handles, otherwise <c>{error, + enotsup}</c> is a good answer.</item> </list> </section> <section> -<title>Unimplemented request types:</title> +<title>Unimplemented Request Types</title> -<p>If an io_server encounters a request it does not recognize (i.e. the -io_request tuple is in the expected format, but the actual Request is -unknown), the server should send a valid reply with the error tuple:</p> +<p>If an I/O server encounters a request it does not recognize (i.e. the +<c>io_request</c> tuple is in the expected format, but the actual <c>Request</c> is +unknown), the I/O server should send a valid reply with the error tuple:</p> <p> <em>{error, request}</em> </p> -<p>This makes it possible to extend the protocol with optional messages +<p>This makes it possible to extend the protocol with optional requests and for the clients to be somewhat backwards compatible.</p> </section> <section> -<title>An annotated and working example io_server:</title> +<title>An Annotated and Working Example I/O Server</title> -<p>An io_server is any process capable of handling the protocol. There is -no generic io_server behavior, but could well be. The framework is +<p>An I/O server is any process capable of handling the I/O protocol. There is +no generic I/O server behavior, but could well be. The framework is simple enough, a process handling incoming requests, usually both -io_requests and other device-specific requests (for i.e. positioning , +I/O-requests and other IO device-specific requests (for i.e. positioning, closing etc.).</p> -<p>Our example io_server stores characters in an ets table, making up a +<p>Our example I/O server stores characters in an ETS table, making up a fairly crude ram-file (it is probably not useful, but working).</p> <p>The module begins with the usual directives, a function to start the -server and a main loop handling the requests:</p> +I/O server and a main loop handling the requests:</p> <code> -module(ets_io_server). @@ -486,18 +492,19 @@ loop(State) -> </code> <p>The main loop receives messages from the client (which might be using -the io-module to send requests). For each request the function -request/2 is called and a reply is eventually sent using the reply/3 +the <seealso marker="stdlib:io">io</seealso> module to send requests). +For each request the function +<c>request/2</c> is called and a reply is eventually sent using the <c>reply/3</c> function.</p> -<p>The "private" message {From, rewind} results in the +<p>The "private" message <c>{From, rewind}</c> results in the current position in the pseudo-file to be reset to 0 (the beginning of -the "file"). This is a typical example of device-specific +the "file"). This is a typical example of IO device-specific messages not being part of the I/O-protocol. It is usually a bad idea -to embed such private messages in io_request tuples, as that might be +to embed such private messages in <c>io_request</c> tuples, as that might be confusing to the reader.</p> -<p>Let's look at the reply function first...</p> +<p>Let us look at the reply function first...</p> <code> @@ -506,8 +513,8 @@ reply(From, ReplyAs, Reply) -> </code> -<p>Simple enough, it sends the io_reply tuple back to the client, -providing the ReplyAs element received in the request along with the +<p>Simple enough, it sends the <c>io_reply</c> tuple back to the client, +providing the <c>ReplyAs</c> element received in the request along with the result of the request, as described above.</p> <p>Now look at the different requests we need to handle. First the @@ -525,18 +532,18 @@ request({put_chars, Encoding, Module, Function, Args}, State) -> end; </code> -<p>The Encoding tells us how the characters in the message are +<p>The <c>Encoding</c> tells us how the characters in the request are represented. We want to store the characters as lists in the -ets-table, so we convert them to lists using the -unicode:characters_to_list/2 function. The conversion function -conveniently accepts the encoding types unicode or latin1, so we can -use the Encoding parameter directly.</p> +ETS table, so we convert them to lists using the +<seealso marker="stdlib:unicode#characters_to_list/2"><c>unicode:characters_to_list/2</c></seealso> function. The conversion function +conveniently accepts the encoding types <c>unicode</c> or <c>latin1</c>, so we can +use <c>Encoding</c> directly.</p> -<p>When Module, Function and Arguments are provided, we simply apply it +<p>When <c>Module</c>, <c>Function</c> and <c>Arguments</c> are provided, we simply apply it and do the same thing with the result as if the data was provided directly.</p> -<p>Let's handle the requests for retrieving data too:</p> +<p>Let us handle the requests for retrieving data too:</p> <code> request({get_until, Encoding, _Prompt, M, F, As}, State) -> @@ -550,11 +557,11 @@ request({get_line, Encoding, _Prompt}, State) -> </code> <p>Here we have cheated a little by more or less only implementing -get_until and using internal helpers to implement get_chars and -get_line. In production code, this might be to inefficient, but that +<c>get_until</c> and using internal helpers to implement <c>get_chars</c> and +<c>get_line</c>. In production code, this might be too inefficient, but that of course depends on the frequency of the different requests. Before -we start actually implementing the functions put_chars/2 and -get_until/5, lets look into the few remaining requests:</p> +we start actually implementing the functions <c>put_chars/2</c> and +<c>get_until/5</c>, let us look into the few remaining requests:</p> <code> request({get_geometry,_}, State) -> @@ -567,18 +574,18 @@ request({requests, Reqs}, State) -> multi_request(Reqs, {ok, ok, State}); </code> -<p>The get_geometry request has no meaning for this io_server, so the -reply will be {error, enotsup}. The only option we handle is the -binary/list option, which is done in separate functions.</p> +<p>The <c>get_geometry</c> request has no meaning for this I/O server, so the +reply will be <c>{error, enotsup}</c>. The only option we handle is the +<c>binary</c>/<c>list</c> option, which is done in separate functions.</p> -<p>The multi-request tag (requests) is handled in a separate loop +<p>The multi-request tag (<c>requests</c>) is handled in a separate loop function applying the requests in the list one after another, returning the last result.</p> -<p>What's left is to handle backward compatibility and the file-module +<p>What is left is to handle backward compatibility and the <seealso marker="kernel:file">file</seealso> module (which uses the old requests until backward compatibility with pre-R13 -nodes is no longer needed). Note that the io_server will not work with -a simple file:write if these are not added:</p> +nodes is no longer needed). Note that the I/O server will not work with +a simple <c>file:write/2</c> if these are not added:</p> <code> request({put_chars,Chars}, State) -> @@ -593,7 +600,7 @@ request({get_until, Prompt,M,F,As}, State) -> request({get_until,latin1,Prompt,M,F,As}, State); </code> -<p>Ok, what's left now is to return {error, request} if the request is +<p>OK, what is left now is to return <c>{error, request}</c> if the request is not recognized:</p> <code> @@ -601,7 +608,7 @@ request(_Other, State) -> {error, {error, request}, State}. </code> -<p>Let's move further and actually handle the different requests, first +<p>Let us move further and actually handle the different requests, first the fairly generic multi-request type:</p> <code> @@ -615,10 +622,10 @@ multi_request([], Result) -> <p>We loop through the requests one at the time, stopping when we either encounter an error or the list is exhausted. The last return value is -sent back to the client (it's first returned to the main loop and then -sent back by the function io_reply).</p> +sent back to the client (it is first returned to the main loop and then +sent back by the function <c>io_reply</c>).</p> -<p>The getopt and setopt requests are also simple to handle, we just +<p>The <c>getopts</c> and <c>setopts</c> requests are also simple to handle, we just change or read our state record:</p> <code> @@ -656,24 +663,24 @@ getopts(#state{mode=M} = S) -> end}],S}. </code> -<p>As a convention, all io_servers handle both {setopts, [binary]}, -{setopts, [list]} and {setopts,[{binary, bool()}]}, hence the trick -with proplists:substitute_negations/2 and proplists:unfold/1. If -invalid options are sent to us, we send {error,enotsup} back to the +<p>As a convention, all I/O servers handle both <c>{setopts, [binary]}</c>, +<c>{setopts, [list]}</c> and <c>{setopts,[{binary, boolean()}]}</c>, hence the trick +with <c>proplists:substitute_negations/2</c> and <c>proplists:unfold/1</c>. If +invalid options are sent to us, we send <c>{error, enotsup}</c> back to the client.</p> -<p>The getopts request should return a list of {Option, Value} tuples, +<p>The <c>getopts</c> request should return a list of <c>{Option, Value}</c> tuples, which has the twofold function of providing both the current values -and the available options of this io_server. We have only one option, +and the available options of this I/O server. We have only one option, and hence return that.</p> -<p>So far our io_server has been fairly generic (except for the rewind -request handled in the main loop and the creation of an ets table). -Most io_servers contain code similar to what's above.</p> +<p>So far our I/O server has been fairly generic (except for the <c>rewind</c> +request handled in the main loop and the creation of an ETS table). +Most I/O servers contain code similar to the one above.</p> <p>To make the example runnable, we now start implementing the actual -reading and writing of the data to/from the ets-table. First the -put_chars function:</p> +reading and writing of the data to/from the ETS table. First the +<c>put_chars/3</c> function:</p> <code> put_chars(Chars, #state{table = T, position = P} = State) -> @@ -686,10 +693,10 @@ put_chars(Chars, #state{table = T, position = P} = State) -> <p>We already have the data as (Unicode) lists and therefore just split the list in runs of a predefined size and put each run in the table at the current position (and forward). The functions -split_data/3 and apply_update/2 are implemented below.</p> +<c>split_data/3</c> and <c>apply_update/2</c> are implemented below.</p> -<p>Now we want to read data from the table. The get_until function reads -data and applies the function until it says it's done. The result is +<p>Now we want to read data from the table. The <c>get_until/5</c> function reads +data and applies the function until it says it is done. The result is sent back to the client:</p> <code> @@ -700,11 +707,12 @@ get_until(Encoding, Mod, Func, As, if M =:= binary -> {ok, - unicode:characters_to_binary(Data,unicode,Encoding), + unicode:characters_to_binary(Data, unicode, Encoding), State#state{position = NewP}}; true -> case check(Encoding, - unicode:characters_to_list(Data, unicode)) of + unicode:characters_to_list(Data, unicode)) + of {error, _} = E -> {error, E, State}; List -> @@ -730,24 +738,24 @@ get_loop(M,F,A,T,P,C) -> end. </code> -<p>Here we also handle the mode (binary or list) that can be set by -the setopts request. By default, all OTP io_servers send data back to -the client as lists, but switching mode to binary might increase -efficiency if the server handles it in an appropriate way. The -implementation of get_until is hard to get efficient as the supplied -function is defined to take lists as arguments, but get_chars and -get_line can be optimized for binary mode. This example does not +<p>Here we also handle the mode (<c>binary</c> or <c>list</c>) that can be set by +the <c>setopts</c> request. By default, all OTP I/O servers send data back to +the client as lists, but switching mode to <c>binary</c> might increase +efficiency if the I/O server handles it in an appropriate way. The +implementation of <c>get_until</c> is hard to get efficient as the supplied +function is defined to take lists as arguments, but <c>get_chars</c> and +<c>get_line</c> can be optimized for binary mode. This example does not optimize anything however. It is important though that the returned data is of the right type depending on the options set, so we convert the lists to binaries in the correct encoding <em>if possible</em> -before returning. The function supplied in the get_until request may, +before returning. The function supplied in the <c>get_until</c> request tuple may, as its final result return anything, so only functions actually returning lists can get them converted to binaries. If the request -contained the encoding tag unicode, the lists can contain all unicode +contained the encoding tag <c>unicode</c>, the lists can contain all Unicode codepoints and the binaries should be in UTF-8, if the encoding tag -was latin1, the client should only get characters in the range -0..255. The function check/2 takes care of not returning arbitrary -unicode codepoints in lists if the encoding was given as latin1. If +was <c>latin1</c>, the client should only get characters in the range +0..255. The function <c>check/2</c> takes care of not returning arbitrary +Unicode codepoints in lists if the encoding was given as <c>latin1</c>. If the function did not return a list, the check cannot be performed and the result will be that of the supplied function untouched.</p> @@ -768,13 +776,13 @@ check(latin1, List) -> end. </code> -<p>The function check takes care of providing an error tuple if unicode +<p>The function check takes care of providing an error tuple if Unicode codepoints above 255 is to be returned if the client requested latin1.</p> -<p>The two functions until_newline/3 and until_enough/3 are helpers used -together with the get_until function to implement get_chars and -get_line (inefficiently):</p> +<p>The two functions <c>until_newline/3</c> and <c>until_enough/3</c> are helpers used +together with the <c>get_until/5</c> function to implement <c>get_chars</c> and +<c>get_line</c> (inefficiently):</p> <code> until_newline([],eof,_MyStopCharacter) -> @@ -782,7 +790,9 @@ until_newline([],eof,_MyStopCharacter) -> until_newline(ThisFar,eof,_MyStopCharacter) -> {done,ThisFar,[]}; until_newline(ThisFar,CharList,MyStopCharacter) -> - case lists:splitwith(fun(X) -> X =/= MyStopCharacter end, CharList) of + case + lists:splitwith(fun(X) -> X =/= MyStopCharacter end, CharList) + of {L,[]} -> {more,ThisFar++L}; {L2,[MyStopCharacter|Rest]} -> @@ -802,10 +812,10 @@ until_enough(ThisFar,CharList,_N) -> </code> <p>As can be seen, the functions above are just the type of functions -that should be provided in get_until requests.</p> +that should be provided in <c>get_until</c> requests.</p> <p>Now we only need to read and write the table in an appropriate way to -complete the server:</p> +complete the I/O server:</p> <code> get(P,Tab) -> @@ -847,13 +857,13 @@ apply_update(Table, {Row, Col, List}) -> end. </code> -<p>The table is read or written in chunks of ?CHARS_PER_REC, overwriting +<p>The table is read or written in chunks of <c>?CHARS_PER_REC</c>, overwriting when necessary. The implementation is obviously not efficient, it is just working.</p> <p>This concludes the example. It is fully runnable and you can read or -write to the io_server by using i.e. the io_module or even the file -module. It's as simple as that to implement a fully fledged io_server +write to the I/O server by using i.e. the <seealso marker="stdlib:io">io</seealso> module or even the <seealso marker="kernel:file">file</seealso> +module. It is as simple as that to implement a fully fledged I/O server in Erlang.</p> </section> </chapter> |