[OpenSPARC-T2-SAM] / sam-t2 / devtools / amd64 / html / python / api / bufferObjects.html

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<link rel="STYLESHEET" href="api.css" type='text/css' />
<link rel="SHORTCUT ICON" href="../icons/pyfav.png" type="image/png" />
<link rel='start' href='../index.html' title='Python Documentation Index' />
<link rel="first" href="api.html" title='Python/C API Reference Manual' />
<link rel='contents' href='contents.html' title="Contents" />
<link rel='index' href='genindex.html' title='Index' />
<link rel='last' href='about.html' title='About this document...' />
<link rel='help' href='about.html' title='About this document...' />
<link rel="next" href="tupleObjects.html" />
<link rel="prev" href="unicodeObjects.html" />
<link rel="parent" href="sequenceObjects.html" />
<link rel="next" href="tupleObjects.html" />
<meta name='aesop' content='information' />
<title>7.3.3 Buffer Objects </title>
</head>
<body>
<DIV CLASS="navigation">
<div id='top-navigation-panel' xml:id='top-navigation-panel'>
<table align="center" width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2">
<tr>
<td class='online-navigation'><a rel="prev" title="7.3.2.2 Methods and Slot"
  href="unicodeMethodsAndSlots.html"><img src='../icons/previous.png'
  border='0' height='32'  alt='Previous Page' width='32' /></A></td>
<td class='online-navigation'><a rel="parent" title="7.3 Sequence Objects"
  href="sequenceObjects.html"><img src='../icons/up.png'
  border='0' height='32'  alt='Up One Level' width='32' /></A></td>
<td class='online-navigation'><a rel="next" title="7.3.4 Tuple Objects"
  href="tupleObjects.html"><img src='../icons/next.png'
  border='0' height='32'  alt='Next Page' width='32' /></A></td>
<td align="center" width="100%">Python/C API Reference Manual</td>
<td class='online-navigation'><a rel="contents" title="Table of Contents"
  href="contents.html"><img src='../icons/contents.png'
  border='0' height='32'  alt='Contents' width='32' /></A></td>
<td class='online-navigation'><img src='../icons/blank.png'
  border='0' height='32'  alt='' width='32' /></td>
<td class='online-navigation'><a rel="index" title="Index"
  href="genindex.html"><img src='../icons/index.png'
  border='0' height='32'  alt='Index' width='32' /></A></td>
</tr></table>
<div class='online-navigation'>
<b class="navlabel">Previous:</b>
<a class="sectref" rel="prev" href="unicodeMethodsAndSlots.html">7.3.2.2 Methods and Slot</A>
<b class="navlabel">Up:</b>
<a class="sectref" rel="parent" href="sequenceObjects.html">7.3 Sequence Objects</A>
<b class="navlabel">Next:</b>
<a class="sectref" rel="next" href="tupleObjects.html">7.3.4 Tuple Objects</A>
</div>
<hr /></div>
</DIV>
<!--End of Navigation Panel-->

<H2><A NAME="SECTION009330000000000000000"></A><A NAME="bufferObjects"></A>
<BR>
7.3.3 Buffer Objects 
</H2>

<P>
<a id='l2h-548' xml:id='l2h-548'></a>Python objects implemented in C can export a group of functions called
the ``buffer<a id='l2h-560' xml:id='l2h-560'></a> interface.''  These functions can
be used by an object to expose its data in a raw, byte-oriented
format. Clients of the object can use the buffer interface to access
the object data directly, without needing to copy it first.

<P>
Two examples of objects that support
the buffer interface are strings and arrays. The string object exposes
the character contents in the buffer interface's byte-oriented
form. An array can also expose its contents, but it should be noted
that array elements may be multi-byte values.

<P>
An example user of the buffer interface is the file object's
<tt class="method">write()</tt> method. Any object that can export a series of bytes
through the buffer interface can be written to a file. There are a
number of format codes to <tt class="cfunction">PyArg_ParseTuple()</tt> that operate
against an object's buffer interface, returning data from the target
object.

<P>
More information on the buffer interface is provided in the section
``Buffer Object Structures'' (section&nbsp;<A href="buffer-structs.html#buffer-structs">10.7</A>), under
the description for <tt class="ctype">PyBufferProcs</tt><a id='l2h-561' xml:id='l2h-561'></a>.

<P>
A ``buffer object'' is defined in the <span class="file">bufferobject.h</span> header
(included by <span class="file">Python.h</span>). These objects look very similar to
string objects at the Python programming level: they support slicing,
indexing, concatenation, and some other standard string
operations. However, their data can come from one of two sources: from
a block of memory, or from another object which exports the buffer
interface.

<P>
Buffer objects are useful as a way to expose the data from another
object's buffer interface to the Python programmer. They can also be
used as a zero-copy slicing mechanism. Using their ability to
reference a block of memory, it is possible to expose any data to the
Python programmer quite easily. The memory could be a large, constant
array in a C extension, it could be a raw block of memory for
manipulation before passing to an operating system library, or it
could be used to pass around structured data in its native, in-memory
format.

<P>
<dl><dt><b><tt class="ctype"><a id='l2h-549' xml:id='l2h-549'>PyBufferObject</a></tt></b></dt>
<dd>
  This subtype of <tt class="ctype">PyObject</tt> represents a buffer object.
</dl>

<P>
<dl><dt>PyTypeObject <b><tt id='l2h-550' xml:id='l2h-550' class="cdata">PyBuffer_Type</tt></b></dt>
<dd>
  The instance of <tt class="ctype">PyTypeObject</tt> which represents the Python
  buffer type; it is the same object as <code>types.BufferType</code> in the
  Python layer.<a id='l2h-552' xml:id='l2h-552'></a>.
</dd></dl>

<P>
<dl><dt>int <b><tt id='l2h-553' xml:id='l2h-553' class="cdata">Py_END_OF_BUFFER</tt></b></dt>
<dd>
  This constant may be passed as the <var>size</var> parameter to
  <tt class="cfunction">PyBuffer_FromObject()</tt> or
  <tt class="cfunction">PyBuffer_FromReadWriteObject()</tt>.  It indicates that the
  new <tt class="ctype">PyBufferObject</tt> should refer to <var>base</var> object from
  the specified <var>offset</var> to the end of its exported buffer.  Using
  this enables the caller to avoid querying the <var>base</var> object for
  its length.
</dd></dl>

<P>
<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline"><td><nobr>int&nbsp;<b><tt id='l2h-554' xml:id='l2h-554' class="cfunction">PyBuffer_Check</tt></b>(</nobr></td><td>PyObject *<var>p</var>)</td></tr></table></dt>
<dd>
  Return true if the argument has type <tt class="cdata">PyBuffer_Type</tt>.
</dd></dl>

<P>
<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline"><td><nobr>PyObject*&nbsp;<b><tt id='l2h-555' xml:id='l2h-555' class="cfunction">PyBuffer_FromObject</tt></b>(</nobr></td><td>PyObject *<var>base</var>,
                                                  int <var>offset</var>, int <var>size</var>)</td></tr></table></dt>
<dd>
<div class="refcount-info">
  <span class="label">Return value:</span>
  <span class="value">New reference.</span>
</div>
  Return a new read-only buffer object.  This raises
  <tt class="exception">TypeError</tt> if <var>base</var> doesn't support the read-only
  buffer protocol or doesn't provide exactly one buffer segment, or it
  raises <tt class="exception">ValueError</tt> if <var>offset</var> is less than zero. The
  buffer will hold a reference to the <var>base</var> object, and the
  buffer's contents will refer to the <var>base</var> object's buffer
  interface, starting as position <var>offset</var> and extending for
  <var>size</var> bytes. If <var>size</var> is <tt class="constant">Py_END_OF_BUFFER</tt>, then
  the new buffer's contents extend to the length of the <var>base</var>
  object's exported buffer data.
</dd></dl>

<P>
<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline"><td><nobr>PyObject*&nbsp;<b><tt id='l2h-556' xml:id='l2h-556' class="cfunction">PyBuffer_FromReadWriteObject</tt></b>(</nobr></td><td>PyObject *<var>base</var>,
                                                           int <var>offset</var>,
                                                           int <var>size</var>)</td></tr></table></dt>
<dd>
<div class="refcount-info">
  <span class="label">Return value:</span>
  <span class="value">New reference.</span>
</div>
  Return a new writable buffer object.  Parameters and exceptions are
  similar to those for <tt class="cfunction">PyBuffer_FromObject()</tt>.  If the
  <var>base</var> object does not export the writeable buffer protocol,
  then <tt class="exception">TypeError</tt> is raised.
</dd></dl>

<P>
<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline"><td><nobr>PyObject*&nbsp;<b><tt id='l2h-557' xml:id='l2h-557' class="cfunction">PyBuffer_FromMemory</tt></b>(</nobr></td><td>void *<var>ptr</var>, int <var>size</var>)</td></tr></table></dt>
<dd>
<div class="refcount-info">
  <span class="label">Return value:</span>
  <span class="value">New reference.</span>
</div>
  Return a new read-only buffer object that reads from a specified
  location in memory, with a specified size.  The caller is
  responsible for ensuring that the memory buffer, passed in as
  <var>ptr</var>, is not deallocated while the returned buffer object
  exists.  Raises <tt class="exception">ValueError</tt> if <var>size</var> is less than
  zero.  Note that <tt class="constant">Py_END_OF_BUFFER</tt> may <em>not</em> be
  passed for the <var>size</var> parameter; <tt class="exception">ValueError</tt> will be
  raised in that case.
</dd></dl>

<P>
<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline"><td><nobr>PyObject*&nbsp;<b><tt id='l2h-558' xml:id='l2h-558' class="cfunction">PyBuffer_FromReadWriteMemory</tt></b>(</nobr></td><td>void *<var>ptr</var>, int <var>size</var>)</td></tr></table></dt>
<dd>
<div class="refcount-info">
  <span class="label">Return value:</span>
  <span class="value">New reference.</span>
</div>
  Similar to <tt class="cfunction">PyBuffer_FromMemory()</tt>, but the returned
  buffer is writable.
</dd></dl>

<P>
<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline"><td><nobr>PyObject*&nbsp;<b><tt id='l2h-559' xml:id='l2h-559' class="cfunction">PyBuffer_New</tt></b>(</nobr></td><td>int <var>size</var>)</td></tr></table></dt>
<dd>
<div class="refcount-info">
  <span class="label">Return value:</span>
  <span class="value">New reference.</span>
</div>
  Return a new writable buffer object that maintains its own memory
  buffer of <var>size</var> bytes.  <tt class="exception">ValueError</tt> is returned if
  <var>size</var> is not zero or positive.  Note that the memory buffer (as
  returned by <tt class="cfunction">PyObject_AsWriteBuffer()</tt>) is not specifically
  aligned.
</dd></dl>

<P>

<DIV CLASS="navigation">
<div class='online-navigation'>
<p></p><hr />
<table align="center" width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2">
<tr>
<td class='online-navigation'><a rel="prev" title="7.3.2.2 Methods and Slot"
  href="unicodeMethodsAndSlots.html"><img src='../icons/previous.png'
  border='0' height='32'  alt='Previous Page' width='32' /></A></td>
<td class='online-navigation'><a rel="parent" title="7.3 Sequence Objects"
  href="sequenceObjects.html"><img src='../icons/up.png'
  border='0' height='32'  alt='Up One Level' width='32' /></A></td>
<td class='online-navigation'><a rel="next" title="7.3.4 Tuple Objects"
  href="tupleObjects.html"><img src='../icons/next.png'
  border='0' height='32'  alt='Next Page' width='32' /></A></td>
<td align="center" width="100%">Python/C API Reference Manual</td>
<td class='online-navigation'><a rel="contents" title="Table of Contents"
  href="contents.html"><img src='../icons/contents.png'
  border='0' height='32'  alt='Contents' width='32' /></A></td>
<td class='online-navigation'><img src='../icons/blank.png'
  border='0' height='32'  alt='' width='32' /></td>
<td class='online-navigation'><a rel="index" title="Index"
  href="genindex.html"><img src='../icons/index.png'
  border='0' height='32'  alt='Index' width='32' /></A></td>
</tr></table>
<div class='online-navigation'>
<b class="navlabel">Previous:</b>
<a class="sectref" rel="prev" href="unicodeMethodsAndSlots.html">7.3.2.2 Methods and Slot</A>
<b class="navlabel">Up:</b>
<a class="sectref" rel="parent" href="sequenceObjects.html">7.3 Sequence Objects</A>
<b class="navlabel">Next:</b>
<a class="sectref" rel="next" href="tupleObjects.html">7.3.4 Tuple Objects</A>
</div>
</div>
<hr />
<span class="release-info">Release 2.4.2, documentation updated on 28 September 2005.</span>
</DIV>
<!--End of Navigation Panel-->
<ADDRESS>
See <i><a href="about.html">About this document...</a></i> for information on suggesting changes.
</ADDRESS>
</BODY>
</HTML>
Commit	Line	Data
920dae64 AT	1	<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
	2	<html>
	3	<head>
	4	<link rel="STYLESHEET" href="api.css" type='text/css' />
	5	<link rel="SHORTCUT ICON" href="../icons/pyfav.png" type="image/png" />
	6	<link rel='start' href='../index.html' title='Python Documentation Index' />
	7	<link rel="first" href="api.html" title='Python/C API Reference Manual' />
	8	<link rel='contents' href='contents.html' title="Contents" />
	9	<link rel='index' href='genindex.html' title='Index' />
	10	<link rel='last' href='about.html' title='About this document...' />
	11	<link rel='help' href='about.html' title='About this document...' />
	12	<link rel="next" href="tupleObjects.html" />
	13	<link rel="prev" href="unicodeObjects.html" />
	14	<link rel="parent" href="sequenceObjects.html" />
	15	<link rel="next" href="tupleObjects.html" />
	16	<meta name='aesop' content='information' />
	17	<title>7.3.3 Buffer Objects </title>
	18	</head>
	19	<body>
	20	<DIV CLASS="navigation">
	21	<div id='top-navigation-panel' xml:id='top-navigation-panel'>
	22	<table align="center" width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2">
	23	<tr>
	24	<td class='online-navigation'><a rel="prev" title="7.3.2.2 Methods and Slot"
	25	href="unicodeMethodsAndSlots.html"><img src='../icons/previous.png'
	26	border='0' height='32' alt='Previous Page' width='32' /></A></td>
	27	<td class='online-navigation'><a rel="parent" title="7.3 Sequence Objects"
	28	href="sequenceObjects.html"><img src='../icons/up.png'
	29	border='0' height='32' alt='Up One Level' width='32' /></A></td>
	30	<td class='online-navigation'><a rel="next" title="7.3.4 Tuple Objects"
	31	href="tupleObjects.html"><img src='../icons/next.png'
	32	border='0' height='32' alt='Next Page' width='32' /></A></td>
	33	<td align="center" width="100%">Python/C API Reference Manual</td>
	34	<td class='online-navigation'><a rel="contents" title="Table of Contents"
	35	href="contents.html"><img src='../icons/contents.png'
	36	border='0' height='32' alt='Contents' width='32' /></A></td>
	37	<td class='online-navigation'><img src='../icons/blank.png'
	38	border='0' height='32' alt='' width='32' /></td>
	39	<td class='online-navigation'><a rel="index" title="Index"
	40	href="genindex.html"><img src='../icons/index.png'
	41	border='0' height='32' alt='Index' width='32' /></A></td>
	42	</tr></table>
	43	<div class='online-navigation'>
	44	<b class="navlabel">Previous:</b>
	45	<a class="sectref" rel="prev" href="unicodeMethodsAndSlots.html">7.3.2.2 Methods and Slot</A>
	46	<b class="navlabel">Up:</b>
	47	<a class="sectref" rel="parent" href="sequenceObjects.html">7.3 Sequence Objects</A>
	48	<b class="navlabel">Next:</b>
	49	<a class="sectref" rel="next" href="tupleObjects.html">7.3.4 Tuple Objects</A>
	50	</div>
	51	<hr /></div>
	52	</DIV>
	53	<!--End of Navigation Panel-->
	54
	55	<H2><A NAME="SECTION009330000000000000000"></A><A NAME="bufferObjects"></A>
	56	<BR>
	57	7.3.3 Buffer Objects
	58	</H2>
	59
	60	<P>
	61	<a id='l2h-548' xml:id='l2h-548'></a>Python objects implemented in C can export a group of functions called
	62	the ``buffer<a id='l2h-560' xml:id='l2h-560'></a> interface.'' These functions can
	63	be used by an object to expose its data in a raw, byte-oriented
	64	format. Clients of the object can use the buffer interface to access
65	the object data directly, without needing to copy it first.
66
67	<P>
68	Two examples of objects that support
69	the buffer interface are strings and arrays. The string object exposes
70	the character contents in the buffer interface's byte-oriented
71	form. An array can also expose its contents, but it should be noted
72	that array elements may be multi-byte values.
73
74	<P>
75	An example user of the buffer interface is the file object's
76	<tt class="method">write()</tt> method. Any object that can export a series of bytes
77	through the buffer interface can be written to a file. There are a
78	number of format codes to <tt class="cfunction">PyArg_ParseTuple()</tt> that operate
79	against an object's buffer interface, returning data from the target
80	object.
81
82	<P>
83	More information on the buffer interface is provided in the section
84	``Buffer Object Structures'' (section <A href="buffer-structs.html#buffer-structs">10.7</A>), under
85	the description for <tt class="ctype">PyBufferProcs</tt><a id='l2h-561' xml:id='l2h-561'></a>.
86
87	<P>
88	A ``buffer object'' is defined in the <span class="file">bufferobject.h</span> header
89	(included by <span class="file">Python.h</span>). These objects look very similar to
90	string objects at the Python programming level: they support slicing,
91	indexing, concatenation, and some other standard string
92	operations. However, their data can come from one of two sources: from
93	a block of memory, or from another object which exports the buffer
94	interface.
95
96	<P>
97	Buffer objects are useful as a way to expose the data from another
98	object's buffer interface to the Python programmer. They can also be
99	used as a zero-copy slicing mechanism. Using their ability to
100	reference a block of memory, it is possible to expose any data to the
101	Python programmer quite easily. The memory could be a large, constant
102	array in a C extension, it could be a raw block of memory for
103	manipulation before passing to an operating system library, or it
104	could be used to pass around structured data in its native, in-memory
105	format.
106
107	<P>
108	<dl><dt><b><tt class="ctype"><a id='l2h-549' xml:id='l2h-549'>PyBufferObject</a></tt></b></dt>
109	<dd>
110	This subtype of <tt class="ctype">PyObject</tt> represents a buffer object.
111	</dl>
112
113	<P>
114	<dl><dt>PyTypeObject <b><tt id='l2h-550' xml:id='l2h-550' class="cdata">PyBuffer_Type</tt></b></dt>
115	<dd>
116	The instance of <tt class="ctype">PyTypeObject</tt> which represents the Python
117	buffer type; it is the same object as <code>types.BufferType</code> in the
118	Python layer.<a id='l2h-552' xml:id='l2h-552'></a>.
119	</dd></dl>
120
121	<P>
122	<dl><dt>int <b><tt id='l2h-553' xml:id='l2h-553' class="cdata">Py_END_OF_BUFFER</tt></b></dt>
123	<dd>
124	This constant may be passed as the <var>size</var> parameter to
125	<tt class="cfunction">PyBuffer_FromObject()</tt> or
126	<tt class="cfunction">PyBuffer_FromReadWriteObject()</tt>. It indicates that the
127	new <tt class="ctype">PyBufferObject</tt> should refer to <var>base</var> object from
128	the specified <var>offset</var> to the end of its exported buffer. Using
129	this enables the caller to avoid querying the <var>base</var> object for
130	its length.
131	</dd></dl>
132
133	<P>
134	<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline"><td><nobr>int <b><tt id='l2h-554' xml:id='l2h-554' class="cfunction">PyBuffer_Check</tt></b>(</nobr></td><td>PyObject *<var>p</var>)</td></tr></table></dt>
135	<dd>
136	Return true if the argument has type <tt class="cdata">PyBuffer_Type</tt>.
137	</dd></dl>
138
139	<P>
140	<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline"><td><nobr>PyObject* <b><tt id='l2h-555' xml:id='l2h-555' class="cfunction">PyBuffer_FromObject</tt></b>(</nobr></td><td>PyObject *<var>base</var>,
141	int <var>offset</var>, int <var>size</var>)</td></tr></table></dt>
142	<dd>
143	<div class="refcount-info">
144	<span class="label">Return value:</span>
145	<span class="value">New reference.</span>
146	</div>
147	Return a new read-only buffer object. This raises
148	<tt class="exception">TypeError</tt> if <var>base</var> doesn't support the read-only
149	buffer protocol or doesn't provide exactly one buffer segment, or it
150	raises <tt class="exception">ValueError</tt> if <var>offset</var> is less than zero. The
151	buffer will hold a reference to the <var>base</var> object, and the
152	buffer's contents will refer to the <var>base</var> object's buffer
153	interface, starting as position <var>offset</var> and extending for
154	<var>size</var> bytes. If <var>size</var> is <tt class="constant">Py_END_OF_BUFFER</tt>, then
155	the new buffer's contents extend to the length of the <var>base</var>
156	object's exported buffer data.
157	</dd></dl>
158
159	<P>
160	<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline"><td><nobr>PyObject* <b><tt id='l2h-556' xml:id='l2h-556' class="cfunction">PyBuffer_FromReadWriteObject</tt></b>(</nobr></td><td>PyObject *<var>base</var>,
161	int <var>offset</var>,
162	int <var>size</var>)</td></tr></table></dt>
163	<dd>
164	<div class="refcount-info">
165	<span class="label">Return value:</span>
166	<span class="value">New reference.</span>
167	</div>
168	Return a new writable buffer object. Parameters and exceptions are
169	similar to those for <tt class="cfunction">PyBuffer_FromObject()</tt>. If the
170	<var>base</var> object does not export the writeable buffer protocol,
171	then <tt class="exception">TypeError</tt> is raised.
172	</dd></dl>
173
174	<P>
175	<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline"><td><nobr>PyObject* <b><tt id='l2h-557' xml:id='l2h-557' class="cfunction">PyBuffer_FromMemory</tt></b>(</nobr></td><td>void *<var>ptr</var>, int <var>size</var>)</td></tr></table></dt>
176	<dd>
177	<div class="refcount-info">
178	<span class="label">Return value:</span>
179	<span class="value">New reference.</span>
180	</div>
181	Return a new read-only buffer object that reads from a specified
182	location in memory, with a specified size. The caller is
183	responsible for ensuring that the memory buffer, passed in as
184	<var>ptr</var>, is not deallocated while the returned buffer object
185	exists. Raises <tt class="exception">ValueError</tt> if <var>size</var> is less than
186	zero. Note that <tt class="constant">Py_END_OF_BUFFER</tt> may <em>not</em> be
187	passed for the <var>size</var> parameter; <tt class="exception">ValueError</tt> will be
188	raised in that case.
189	</dd></dl>
190
191	<P>
192	<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline"><td><nobr>PyObject* <b><tt id='l2h-558' xml:id='l2h-558' class="cfunction">PyBuffer_FromReadWriteMemory</tt></b>(</nobr></td><td>void *<var>ptr</var>, int <var>size</var>)</td></tr></table></dt>
193	<dd>
194	<div class="refcount-info">
195	<span class="label">Return value:</span>
196	<span class="value">New reference.</span>
197	</div>
198	Similar to <tt class="cfunction">PyBuffer_FromMemory()</tt>, but the returned
199	buffer is writable.
200	</dd></dl>
201
202	<P>
203	<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline"><td><nobr>PyObject* <b><tt id='l2h-559' xml:id='l2h-559' class="cfunction">PyBuffer_New</tt></b>(</nobr></td><td>int <var>size</var>)</td></tr></table></dt>
204	<dd>
205	<div class="refcount-info">
206	<span class="label">Return value:</span>
207	<span class="value">New reference.</span>
208	</div>
209	Return a new writable buffer object that maintains its own memory
210	buffer of <var>size</var> bytes. <tt class="exception">ValueError</tt> is returned if
211	<var>size</var> is not zero or positive. Note that the memory buffer (as
212	returned by <tt class="cfunction">PyObject_AsWriteBuffer()</tt>) is not specifically
213	aligned.
214	</dd></dl>
215
216	<P>
217
218	<DIV CLASS="navigation">
219	<div class='online-navigation'>
220	<p></p><hr />
221	<table align="center" width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2">
222	<tr>
223	<td class='online-navigation'><a rel="prev" title="7.3.2.2 Methods and Slot"
224	href="unicodeMethodsAndSlots.html"><img src='../icons/previous.png'
225	border='0' height='32' alt='Previous Page' width='32' /></A></td>
226	<td class='online-navigation'><a rel="parent" title="7.3 Sequence Objects"
227	href="sequenceObjects.html"><img src='../icons/up.png'
228	border='0' height='32' alt='Up One Level' width='32' /></A></td>
229	<td class='online-navigation'><a rel="next" title="7.3.4 Tuple Objects"
230	href="tupleObjects.html"><img src='../icons/next.png'
231	border='0' height='32' alt='Next Page' width='32' /></A></td>
232	<td align="center" width="100%">Python/C API Reference Manual</td>
233	<td class='online-navigation'><a rel="contents" title="Table of Contents"
234	href="contents.html"><img src='../icons/contents.png'
235	border='0' height='32' alt='Contents' width='32' /></A></td>
236	<td class='online-navigation'><img src='../icons/blank.png'
237	border='0' height='32' alt='' width='32' /></td>
238	<td class='online-navigation'><a rel="index" title="Index"
239	href="genindex.html"><img src='../icons/index.png'
240	border='0' height='32' alt='Index' width='32' /></A></td>
241	</tr></table>
242	<div class='online-navigation'>
243	<b class="navlabel">Previous:</b>
244	<a class="sectref" rel="prev" href="unicodeMethodsAndSlots.html">7.3.2.2 Methods and Slot</A>
245	<b class="navlabel">Up:</b>
246	<a class="sectref" rel="parent" href="sequenceObjects.html">7.3 Sequence Objects</A>
247	<b class="navlabel">Next:</b>
248	<a class="sectref" rel="next" href="tupleObjects.html">7.3.4 Tuple Objects</A>
249	</div>
250	</div>
251	<hr />
252	<span class="release-info">Release 2.4.2, documentation updated on 28 September 2005.</span>
253	</DIV>
254	<!--End of Navigation Panel-->
255	<ADDRESS>
256	See <i><a href="about.html">About this document...</a></i> for information on suggesting changes.
257	</ADDRESS>
258	</BODY>
259	</HTML>