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<H1><A NAME="SECTION00101300000000000000000">
8.13 <tt class="module">posixfile</tt> --
         File-like objects with locking support</A>
</H1>

<P>
<A NAME="module-posixfile"></A>
<p class="availability">Availability: <span
 class="platform">Unix</span>.</p>

<P>
<a id='l2h-3040' xml:id='l2h-3040'></a>
<P>
<div class="versionnote"><b>Deprecated since release 1.5.</b>
The locking operation that this module provides is
done better and more portably by the
<tt class="function"><tt class="module"><a href="module-fcntl.html">fcntl</a></tt>.lockf()</tt> call.
<a id='l2h-3042' xml:id='l2h-3042'></a></div><p></p>

<P>
This module implements some additional functionality over the built-in
file objects.  In particular, it implements file locking, control over
the file flags, and an easy interface to duplicate the file object.
The module defines a new file object, the posixfile object.  It
has all the standard file object methods and adds the methods
described below.  This module only works for certain flavors of
<span class="Unix">Unix</span>, since it uses <tt class="function">fcntl.fcntl()</tt> for file locking.<a id='l2h-3044' xml:id='l2h-3044'></a>
<P>
To instantiate a posixfile object, use the <tt class="function">open()</tt> function
in the <tt class="module">posixfile</tt> module.  The resulting object looks and
feels roughly the same as a standard file object.

<P>
The <tt class="module">posixfile</tt> module defines the following constants:

<P>
<dl><dt><b><tt id='l2h-3045' xml:id='l2h-3045'>SEEK_SET</tt></b></dt>
<dd>
Offset is calculated from the start of the file.
</dd></dl>

<P>
<dl><dt><b><tt id='l2h-3046' xml:id='l2h-3046'>SEEK_CUR</tt></b></dt>
<dd>
Offset is calculated from the current position in the file.
</dd></dl>

<P>
<dl><dt><b><tt id='l2h-3047' xml:id='l2h-3047'>SEEK_END</tt></b></dt>
<dd>
Offset is calculated from the end of the file.
</dd></dl>

<P>
The <tt class="module">posixfile</tt> module defines the following functions:

<P>
<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline">
  <td><nobr><b><tt id='l2h-3048' xml:id='l2h-3048' class="function">open</tt></b>(</nobr></td>
  <td><var>filename</var><big>[</big><var>, mode</var><big>[</big><var>, bufsize</var><big>]</big><var></var><big>]</big><var></var>)</td></tr></table></dt>
<dd>
 Create a new posixfile object with the given filename and mode.  The
 <var>filename</var>, <var>mode</var> and <var>bufsize</var> arguments are
 interpreted the same way as by the built-in <tt class="function">open()</tt>
 function.
</dl>

<P>
<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline">
  <td><nobr><b><tt id='l2h-3049' xml:id='l2h-3049' class="function">fileopen</tt></b>(</nobr></td>
  <td><var>fileobject</var>)</td></tr></table></dt>
<dd>
 Create a new posixfile object with the given standard file object.
 The resulting object has the same filename and mode as the original
 file object.
</dl>

<P>
The posixfile object defines the following additional methods:

<P>

<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline">
  <td><nobr><b><tt id='l2h-3050' xml:id='l2h-3050' class="function">lock</tt></b>(</nobr></td>
  <td><var>fmt, </var><big>[</big><var>len</var><big>[</big><var>, start</var><big>[</big><var>, whence</var><big>]</big><var></var><big>]</big><var></var><big>]</big><var></var>)</td></tr></table></dt>
<dd>
 Lock the specified section of the file that the file object is
 referring to.  The format is explained
 below in a table.  The <var>len</var> argument specifies the length of the
 section that should be locked. The default is <code>0</code>. <var>start</var>
 specifies the starting offset of the section, where the default is
 <code>0</code>.  The <var>whence</var> argument specifies where the offset is
 relative to. It accepts one of the constants <tt class="constant">SEEK_SET</tt>,
 <tt class="constant">SEEK_CUR</tt> or <tt class="constant">SEEK_END</tt>.  The default is
 <tt class="constant">SEEK_SET</tt>.  For more information about the arguments refer
 to the <span class="manpage"><i>fcntl</i>(2)</span> manual page on your system.
</dl>

<P>
<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline">
  <td><nobr><b><tt id='l2h-3051' xml:id='l2h-3051' class="function">flags</tt></b>(</nobr></td>
  <td><var></var><big>[</big><var>flags</var><big>]</big><var></var>)</td></tr></table></dt>
<dd>
 Set the specified flags for the file that the file object is referring
 to.  The new flags are ORed with the old flags, unless specified
 otherwise.  The format is explained below in a table.  Without
 the <var>flags</var> argument
 a string indicating the current flags is returned (this is
 the same as the "<tt class="samp">?</tt>" modifier).  For more information about the
 flags refer to the <span class="manpage"><i>fcntl</i>(2)</span> manual page on your system.
</dl>

<P>
<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline">
  <td><nobr><b><tt id='l2h-3052' xml:id='l2h-3052' class="function">dup</tt></b>(</nobr></td>
  <td><var></var>)</td></tr></table></dt>
<dd>
 Duplicate the file object and the underlying file pointer and file
 descriptor.  The resulting object behaves as if it were newly
 opened.
</dl>

<P>
<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline">
  <td><nobr><b><tt id='l2h-3053' xml:id='l2h-3053' class="function">dup2</tt></b>(</nobr></td>
  <td><var>fd</var>)</td></tr></table></dt>
<dd>
 Duplicate the file object and the underlying file pointer and file
 descriptor.  The new object will have the given file descriptor.
 Otherwise the resulting object behaves as if it were newly opened.
</dl>

<P>
<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline">
  <td><nobr><b><tt id='l2h-3054' xml:id='l2h-3054' class="function">file</tt></b>(</nobr></td>
  <td><var></var>)</td></tr></table></dt>
<dd>
 Return the standard file object that the posixfile object is based
 on.  This is sometimes necessary for functions that insist on a
 standard file object.
</dl>

<P>
All methods raise <tt class="exception">IOError</tt> when the request fails.

<P>
Format characters for the <tt class="method">lock()</tt> method have the following
meaning:

<P>
<div class="center"><table class="realtable">
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th class="center">Format</th>
      <th class="left"  >Meaning</th>
      </tr>
    </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline"><samp>u</samp></td>
        <td class="left"  >unlock the specified region</td></tr>
    <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline"><samp>r</samp></td>
        <td class="left"  >request a read lock for the specified section</td></tr>
    <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline"><samp>w</samp></td>
        <td class="left"  >request a write lock for the specified section</td></tr></tbody>
</table></div>

<P>
In addition the following modifiers can be added to the format:

<P>
<div class="center"><table class="realtable">
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th class="center">Modifier</th>
      <th class="left"  >Meaning</th>
      <th class="center">Notes</th>
      </tr>
    </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline"><samp>|</samp></td>
        <td class="left"  >wait until the lock has been granted</td>
        <td class="center"></td></tr>
    <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline"><samp>?</samp></td>
        <td class="left"  >return the first lock conflicting with the requested lock, or
              <code>None</code> if there is no conflict.</td>
        <td class="center">(1)</td></tr></tbody>
</table></div>

<P>
Note:

<P>
<DL>
<DT><STRONG>(1)</STRONG></DT>
<DD>The lock returned is in the format <code>(<var>mode</var>, <var>len</var>,
<var>start</var>, <var>whence</var>, <var>pid</var>)</code> where <var>mode</var> is a character
representing the type of lock ('r' or 'w').  This modifier prevents a
request from being granted; it is for query purposes only.
</DD>
</DL>

<P>
Format characters for the <tt class="method">flags()</tt> method have the following
meanings:

<P>
<div class="center"><table class="realtable">
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th class="center">Format</th>
      <th class="left"  >Meaning</th>
      </tr>
    </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline"><samp>a</samp></td>
        <td class="left"  >append only flag</td></tr>
    <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline"><samp>c</samp></td>
        <td class="left"  >close on exec flag</td></tr>
    <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline"><samp>n</samp></td>
        <td class="left"  >no delay flag (also called non-blocking flag)</td></tr>
    <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline"><samp>s</samp></td>
        <td class="left"  >synchronization flag</td></tr></tbody>
</table></div>

<P>
In addition the following modifiers can be added to the format:

<P>
<div class="center"><table class="realtable">
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th class="center">Modifier</th>
      <th class="left"  >Meaning</th>
      <th class="center">Notes</th>
      </tr>
    </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline"><samp>!</samp></td>
        <td class="left"  >turn the specified flags 'off', instead of the default 'on'</td>
        <td class="center">(1)</td></tr>
    <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline"><samp>=</samp></td>
        <td class="left"  >replace the flags, instead of the default 'OR' operation</td>
        <td class="center">(1)</td></tr>
    <tr><td class="center" valign="baseline"><samp>?</samp></td>
        <td class="left"  >return a string in which the characters represent the flags that
  are set.</td>
        <td class="center">(2)</td></tr></tbody>
</table></div>

<P>
Notes:

<P>
<DL>
<DT><STRONG>(1)</STRONG></DT>
<DD>The "<tt class="samp">!</tt>" and "<tt class="samp">=</tt>" modifiers are mutually exclusive.

<P>
</DD>
<DT><STRONG>(2)</STRONG></DT>
<DD>This string represents the flags after they may have been altered
by the same call.
</DD>
</DL>

<P>
Examples:

<P>
<div class="verbatim"><pre>
import posixfile

file = posixfile.open('/tmp/test', 'w')
file.lock('w|')
...
file.lock('u')
file.close()
</pre></div>

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<span class="release-info">Release 2.4.2, documentation updated on 28 September 2005.</span>
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