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Tcl_OpenTcpClient (3)

procedures to open channels using TCP sockets

SYNOPSIS

    #include <tcl.h> 
    Tcl_Channel
    Tcl_OpenTcpClient(interp, port, host, myaddr, myport, async)
    Tcl_Channel
    Tcl_MakeTcpClientChannel(sock)
    Tcl_Channel
    Tcl_OpenTcpServer(interp, port, myaddr, proc, clientData)
    

ARGUMENTS

    Tcl_ChannelType newClientProcPtr in Tcl_Interp *interp in Tcl interpreter to use for error reporting. If non-NULL and an error occurs, an error message is left in interp->result. int port in A port number to connect to as a client or to listen on as a server. char *host in A string specifying a host name or address for the remote end of the connection. int myport in A port number for the client's end of the socket. If 0, a port number is allocated at random. char *myaddr in A string specifying the host name or address for network interface to use for the local end of the connection. If NULL, a default interface is chosen. int async in If nonzero, the client socket is connected asynchronously to the server. ClientData sock in Platform-specific handle for client TCP socket. Tcl_TcpAcceptProc *proc in Pointer to a procedure to invoke each time a new connection is accepted via the socket. ClientData clientData in Arbitrary one-word value to pass to proc.

DESCRIPTION

    These functions are convenience procedures for creating channels that communicate over TCP sockets. The operations on a channel are described in the manual entry for Tcl_OpenFileChannel.

TCL_OPENTCPCLIENT

    Tcl_OpenTcpClient opens a client TCP socket connected to a port on a specific host, and returns a channel that can be used to communicate with the server. The host to connect to can be specified either as a domain name style name (e.g. www.sunlabs.com), or as a string containing the alphanumeric representation of its four-byte address (e.g. 127.0.0.1). Use the string localhost to connect to a TCP socket on the host on which the function is invoked.

    The myaddr and myport arguments allow a client to specify an address for the local end of the connection. If myaddr is NULL, then an interface is chosen automatically by the operating system. If myport is 0, then a port number is chosen at random by the operating system.

    If async is zero, the call to Tcl_OpenTcpClient returns only after the client socket has either successfully connected to the server, or the attempted connection has failed. If async is nonzero the socket is connected asynchronously and the returned channel may not yet be connected to the server when the call to Tcl_OpenTcpClient returns. If the channel is in blocking mode and an input or output operation is done on the channel before the connection is completed or fails, that operation will wait until the connection either completes successfully or fails. If the channel is in nonblocking mode, the input or output operation will return immediately and a subsequent call to Tcl_InputBlocked on the channel will return nonzero.

    The returned channel is opened for reading and writing. If an error occurs in opening the socket, Tcl_OpenTcpClient returns NULL and records a POSIX error code that can be retrieved with Tcl_GetErrno. In addition, if interp is non-NULL, an error message is left in interp->result.

    The newly created channel is not registered in the supplied interpreter; to register it, use Tcl_RegisterChannel. If one of the standard channels, stdin, stdout or stderr was previously closed, the act of creating the new channel also assigns it as a replacement for the standard channel.

TCL_MAKETCPCLIENTCHANNEL

    Tcl_MakeTcpClientChannel creates a Tcl_Channel around an existing, platform specific, handle for a client TCP socket.

    The newly created channel is not registered in the supplied interpreter; to register it, use Tcl_RegisterChannel. If one of the standard channels, stdin, stdout or stderr was previously closed, the act of creating the new channel also assigns it as a replacement for the standard channel.

TCL_OPENTCPSERVER

    Tcl_OpenTcpServer opens a TCP socket on the local host on a specified port and uses the Tcl event mechanism to accept requests from clients to connect to it. The myaddr argument specifies the network interface. If myaddr is NULL the special address INADDR_ANY should be used to allow connections from any network interface. Each time a client connects to this socket, Tcl creates a channel for the new connection and invokes proc with information about the channel. Proc must match the following prototype: typedef void Tcl_TcpAcceptProc( ClientData clientData, Tcl_Channel channel, char *hostName, int port);

    The clientData argument will be the same as the clientData argument to Tcl_OpenTcpServer, channel will be the handle for the new channel, hostName points to a string containing the name of the client host making the connection, and port will contain the client's port number. The new channel is opened for both input and output. If proc raises an error, the connection is closed automatically. Proc has no return value, but if it wishes to reject the connection it can close channel.

    Tcl_OpenTcpServer normally returns a pointer to a channel representing the server socket. If an error occurs, Tcl_OpenTcpServer returns NULL and records a POSIX error code that can be retrieved with Tcl_GetErrno. In addition, if interp->result is non-NULL, an error message is left in interp->result.

    The channel returned by Tcl_OpenTcpServer cannot be used for either input or output. It is simply a handle for the socket used to accept connections. The caller can close the channel to shut down the server and disallow further connections from new clients.

    TCP server channels operate correctly only in applications that dispatch events through Tcl_DoOneEvent or through Tcl commands such as vwait; otherwise Tcl will never notice that a connection request from a remote client is pending.

    The newly created channel is not registered in the supplied interpreter; to register it, use Tcl_RegisterChannel. If one of the standard channels, stdin, stdout or stderr was previously closed, the act of creating the new channel also assigns it as a replacement for the standard channel.

PLATFORM ISSUES

    On Unix platforms, the socket handle is a Unix file descriptor as returned by the socket system call. On the Windows platform, the socket handle is a SOCKET as defined in the WinSock API. On the Macintosh platform, the socket handle is a StreamPtr.

SEE ALSO

KEYWORDS

    client, server, TCP '\" '\" Copyright (c) 1996 Sun Microsystems, Inc. '\" '\" See the file "license.terms" for information on usage and redistribution '\" of this file, and for a DISCLAIMER OF ALL WARRANTIES. '\" '\" RCS: @(#) $Id: PkgRequire.3,v 1.2 1998/09/14 18:39:49 stanton Exp $ '\" '\" The definitions below are for supplemental macros used in Tcl/Tk '\" manual entries. '\" '\" .AP type name in/out ?indent? '\" Start paragraph describing an argument to a library procedure. '\" type is type of argument (int, etc.), in/out is either "in", "out", '\" or "in/out" to describe whether procedure reads or modifies arg, '\" and indent is equivalent to second arg of .IP (shouldn't ever be '\" needed; use .AS below instead) '\" '\" .AS ?type? ?name? '\" Give maximum sizes of arguments for setting tab stops. Type and '\" name are examples of largest possible arguments that will be passed '\" to .AP later. If args are omitted, default tab stops are used. '\" '\" .BS '\" Start box enclosure. From here until next .BE, everything will be '\" enclosed in one large box. '\" '\" .BE '\" End of box enclosure. '\" '\" .CS '\" Begin code excerpt. '\" '\" .CE '\" End code excerpt. '\" '\" .VS ?version? ?br? '\" Begin vertical sidebar, for use in marking newly-changed parts '\" of man pages. The first argument is ignored and used for recording '\" the version when the .VS was added, so that the sidebars can be '\" found and removed when they reach a certain age. If another argument '\" is present, then a line break is forced before starting the sidebar. '\" '\" .VE '\" End of vertical sidebar. '\" '\" .DS '\" Begin an indented unfilled display. '\" '\" .DE '\" End of indented unfilled display. '\" '\" .SO '\" Start of list of standard options for a Tk widget. The '\" options follow on successive lines, in four columns separated '\" by tabs. '\" '\" .SE '\" End of list of standard options for a Tk widget. '\" '\" .OP cmdName dbName dbClass '\" Start of description of a specific option. cmdName gives the '\" option's name as specified in the class command, dbName gives '\" the option's name in the option database, and dbClass gives '\" the option's class in the option database. '\" '\" .UL arg1 arg2 '\" Print arg1 underlined, then print arg2 normally. '\" '\" RCS: @(#) $Id: man.macros,v 1.2 1998/09/14 18:39:54 stanton Exp $ '\" '\" # Set up traps and other miscellaneous stuff for Tcl/Tk man pages. t .wh -1.3i ^B ^l \n(.l b '\" # Start an argument description AP !"\\$4"" .TP \\$4 \{\ !"\\$2"" .TP \\n()Cu .TP 15