transfer::receiver - Data source
package require Tcl 8.4
package require snit ?1.0?
package require transfer::data::destination ?0.2?
package require transfer::connect ?0.2?
package require transfer::receiver ?0.2?
transfer::receiver object ?options...?
transfer::receiver stream channel chan
host port ?arg...?
transfer::receiver stream file path
host port ?arg...?
objectName method ?arg arg ...?
objectName destroy
objectName start
objectName busy
This package pulls data destinations and connection setup together
into a combined object for the reception of information coming in over a
socket. These objects understand all the options from objects created by the
packages transfer::data::destination and
transfer::connect.
- transfer::receiver
object ?options...?
- This command creates a new receiver object with an associated Tcl command
whose name is objectName. This object command is explained
in full detail in the sections Object command and Object
methods. The set of supported options is explained in section
Options.
The object command will be created under the current namespace
if the objectName is not fully qualified, and in the specified
namespace otherwise. The fully qualified name of the object command is
returned as the result of the command.
- transfer::receiver
stream channel chan host port
?arg...?
- This method creates a fire-and-forget transfer for the data coming from
the source at host/port (details below) and writing to the channel
chan, starting at the current seek location. The channel is
configured to use binary translation and encoding for the transfer. The
channel is not closed when the transfer has completed. This is left
to the completion callback.
If both host and port are provided an
active connection to the data source is made. If only a
port is specified (with host the empty string) then a
passive connection is made instead, i.e. the receiver then waits
for a conneciton by the transmitter.
Any arguments after the port are treated as options and are
used to configure the internal receiver object. See the section
Options for a list of the supported options and their meaning.
Note however that the signature of the command prefix specified
for the -command callback differs from the signature for the same
option of the receiver object. This callback is only given the number of
bytes and transfered, and possibly an error message. No reference to the
internally used receiver object is made.
The result returned by the command is the empty string if it
was set to make an active connection, and the port the internal
receiver object is listening on otherwise, i.e when it is configured to
connect passively. See also the package transfer::connect
and the description of the method connect for where this
behaviour comes from.
- transfer::receiver
stream file path host port
?arg...?
- This method is like stream channel, except that the received data
is written to the file path, replacing any prior content.
All objects created by the ::transfer::receiver command
have the following general form:
- objectName
method ?arg arg ...?
- The method method and its arg'uments determine the exact
behavior of the command. See section Object methods for the
detailed specifications.
- objectName
destroy
- This method destroys the object. Doing so while a reception is on progress
will cause errors later on, when the reception completes and tries to
access the now missing data structures of the destroyed object.
- objectName
start
- This method initiates the data reception, setting up the connection first
and then copying the received information into the destination. The method
will throw an error if a reception is already/still in progress. I.e. it
is not possible to run two receptions in parallel, only in sequence.
Errors will also be thrown if the configuration of the data destination is
invalid, or if no completion callback was specified.
The result returned by the method is the empty string for an
object configured to make an active connection, and the port the
object is listening on otherwise, i.e when it is configured to connect
passively. See also the package transfer::connect and the
description of the method connect for where this behaviour comes
from.
- objectName
busy
- This method returns a boolean value telling us whether a reception is in
progress (True), or not (False).
All receiver objects support the union of the options supported by
their connect and data destination components, plus one of their own. See
also the documentation for the packages transfer::data::destination
and transfer::connect.
- -command
cmdprefix
- This option specifies the command to invoke when the reception of the
information has been completed. The arguments given to this command are
the same as given to the completion callback of the command
transfer::copy::do provided by the package
transfer::copy.
- -mode
mode
- This option specifies the mode the object is in. It is optional and
defaults to active mode. The two possible modes are:
- active
- In this mode the two options -host and -port are relevant
and specify the host and TCP port the object has to connect to. The host
is given by either name or IP address.
- passive
- In this mode the option -host has no relevance and is ignored
should it be configured. The only option the object needs is -port,
and it specifies the TCP port on which the listening socket is opened to
await the connection from the partner.
- -host
hostname-or-ipaddr
- This option specifies the host to connect to in active mode, either
by name or ip-address. An object configured for passive mode
ignores this option.
- -port
int
- For active mode this option specifies the port the object is
expected to connect to. For passive mode however it is the port
where the object creates the listening socket waiting for a connection. It
defaults to 0, which allows the OS to choose the actual port to
listen on.
- -socketcmd
command
- This option allows the user to specify which command to use to open a
socket. The default is to use the builtin ::socket. Any compatible
with that command is allowed.
The envisioned main use is the specfication of
tls::socket. I.e. this option allows the creation of secure
transfer channels, without making this package explicitly dependent on
the tls package.
See also section Secure connections.
- -encoding
encodingname
- -eofchar
eofspec
- -translation
transspec
- These options are the same as are recognized by the builtin command
fconfigure. They provide the configuration to be set for the
channel between the two partners after it has been established, but before
the callback is invoked (See method connect).
- -channel
handle
- This option specifies that the destination of the data is a channel, and
its associated argument is the handle of the channel to write the received
data to.
- -file
path
- This option specifies that the destination of the data is a file, and its
associated argument is the path of the file to write the received data
to.
- -variable
varname
- This option specifies that the destination of the data is a variable, and
its associated argument contains the name of the variable to write the
received data to. The variable is assumed to be global or namespaced,
anchored at the global namespace.
- -progress
command
- This option, if specified, defines a command to be invoked for each chunk
of bytes received, allowing the user to monitor the progress of the
reception of the data. The callback is always invoked with one additional
argument, the number of bytes received so far.
One way to secure connections made by objects of this package is
to require the package tls and then configure the option
-socketcmd to force the use of command tls::socket to open the
socket.
# Load and initialize tls
package require tls
tls::init -cafile /path/to/ca/cert -keyfile ...
# Create a connector with secure socket setup,
transfer::receiver R -socketcmd tls::socket ...
...
This document, and the package it describes, will undoubtedly
contain bugs and other problems. Please report such in the category
transfer of the Tcllib SF Trackers
[http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=12883]. Please also report any
ideas for enhancements you may have for either package and/or
documentation.
channel, copy, data destination, receiver, secure, ssl, tls,
transfer
Copyright (c) 2006 Andreas Kupries <andreas_kupries@users.sourceforge.net>