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authorcinap_lenrek <cinap_lenrek@localhost>2011-05-03 11:25:13 +0000
committercinap_lenrek <cinap_lenrek@localhost>2011-05-03 11:25:13 +0000
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+\section{\module{struct} ---
+ Interpret strings as packed binary data}
+\declaremodule{builtin}{struct}
+
+\modulesynopsis{Interpret strings as packed binary data.}
+
+\indexii{C}{structures}
+\indexiii{packing}{binary}{data}
+
+This module performs conversions between Python values and C
+structs represented as Python strings. It uses \dfn{format strings}
+(explained below) as compact descriptions of the lay-out of the C
+structs and the intended conversion to/from Python values. This can
+be used in handling binary data stored in files or from network
+connections, among other sources.
+
+The module defines the following exception and functions:
+
+
+\begin{excdesc}{error}
+ Exception raised on various occasions; argument is a string
+ describing what is wrong.
+\end{excdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{pack}{fmt, v1, v2, \textrm{\ldots}}
+ Return a string containing the values
+ \code{\var{v1}, \var{v2}, \textrm{\ldots}} packed according to the given
+ format. The arguments must match the values required by the format
+ exactly.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{pack_into}{fmt, buffer, offset, v1, v2, \moreargs}
+ Pack the values \code{\var{v1}, \var{v2}, \textrm{\ldots}} according to the given
+ format, write the packed bytes into the writable \var{buffer} starting at
+ \var{offset}.
+ Note that the offset is not an optional argument.
+
+ \versionadded{2.5}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{unpack}{fmt, string}
+ Unpack the string (presumably packed by \code{pack(\var{fmt},
+ \textrm{\ldots})}) according to the given format. The result is a
+ tuple even if it contains exactly one item. The string must contain
+ exactly the amount of data required by the format
+ (\code{len(\var{string})} must equal \code{calcsize(\var{fmt})}).
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{unpack_from}{fmt, buffer\optional{,offset \code{= 0}}}
+ Unpack the \var{buffer} according to tthe given format.
+ The result is a tuple even if it contains exactly one item. The
+ \var{buffer} must contain at least the amount of data required by the
+ format (\code{len(buffer[offset:])} must be at least
+ \code{calcsize(\var{fmt})}).
+
+ \versionadded{2.5}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{calcsize}{fmt}
+ Return the size of the struct (and hence of the string)
+ corresponding to the given format.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+Format characters have the following meaning; the conversion between
+C and Python values should be obvious given their types:
+
+\begin{tableiv}{c|l|l|c}{samp}{Format}{C Type}{Python}{Notes}
+ \lineiv{x}{pad byte}{no value}{}
+ \lineiv{c}{\ctype{char}}{string of length 1}{}
+ \lineiv{b}{\ctype{signed char}}{integer}{}
+ \lineiv{B}{\ctype{unsigned char}}{integer}{}
+ \lineiv{h}{\ctype{short}}{integer}{}
+ \lineiv{H}{\ctype{unsigned short}}{integer}{}
+ \lineiv{i}{\ctype{int}}{integer}{}
+ \lineiv{I}{\ctype{unsigned int}}{long}{}
+ \lineiv{l}{\ctype{long}}{integer}{}
+ \lineiv{L}{\ctype{unsigned long}}{long}{}
+ \lineiv{q}{\ctype{long long}}{long}{(1)}
+ \lineiv{Q}{\ctype{unsigned long long}}{long}{(1)}
+ \lineiv{f}{\ctype{float}}{float}{}
+ \lineiv{d}{\ctype{double}}{float}{}
+ \lineiv{s}{\ctype{char[]}}{string}{}
+ \lineiv{p}{\ctype{char[]}}{string}{}
+ \lineiv{P}{\ctype{void *}}{integer}{}
+\end{tableiv}
+
+\noindent
+Notes:
+
+\begin{description}
+\item[(1)]
+ The \character{q} and \character{Q} conversion codes are available in
+ native mode only if the platform C compiler supports C \ctype{long long},
+ or, on Windows, \ctype{__int64}. They are always available in standard
+ modes.
+ \versionadded{2.2}
+\end{description}
+
+
+A format character may be preceded by an integral repeat count. For
+example, the format string \code{'4h'} means exactly the same as
+\code{'hhhh'}.
+
+Whitespace characters between formats are ignored; a count and its
+format must not contain whitespace though.
+
+For the \character{s} format character, the count is interpreted as the
+size of the string, not a repeat count like for the other format
+characters; for example, \code{'10s'} means a single 10-byte string, while
+\code{'10c'} means 10 characters. For packing, the string is
+truncated or padded with null bytes as appropriate to make it fit.
+For unpacking, the resulting string always has exactly the specified
+number of bytes. As a special case, \code{'0s'} means a single, empty
+string (while \code{'0c'} means 0 characters).
+
+The \character{p} format character encodes a "Pascal string", meaning
+a short variable-length string stored in a fixed number of bytes.
+The count is the total number of bytes stored. The first byte stored is
+the length of the string, or 255, whichever is smaller. The bytes
+of the string follow. If the string passed in to \function{pack()} is too
+long (longer than the count minus 1), only the leading count-1 bytes of the
+string are stored. If the string is shorter than count-1, it is padded
+with null bytes so that exactly count bytes in all are used. Note that
+for \function{unpack()}, the \character{p} format character consumes count
+bytes, but that the string returned can never contain more than 255
+characters.
+
+For the \character{I}, \character{L}, \character{q} and \character{Q}
+format characters, the return value is a Python long integer.
+
+For the \character{P} format character, the return value is a Python
+integer or long integer, depending on the size needed to hold a
+pointer when it has been cast to an integer type. A \NULL{} pointer will
+always be returned as the Python integer \code{0}. When packing pointer-sized
+values, Python integer or long integer objects may be used. For
+example, the Alpha and Merced processors use 64-bit pointer values,
+meaning a Python long integer will be used to hold the pointer; other
+platforms use 32-bit pointers and will use a Python integer.
+
+By default, C numbers are represented in the machine's native format
+and byte order, and properly aligned by skipping pad bytes if
+necessary (according to the rules used by the C compiler).
+
+Alternatively, the first character of the format string can be used to
+indicate the byte order, size and alignment of the packed data,
+according to the following table:
+
+\begin{tableiii}{c|l|l}{samp}{Character}{Byte order}{Size and alignment}
+ \lineiii{@}{native}{native}
+ \lineiii{=}{native}{standard}
+ \lineiii{<}{little-endian}{standard}
+ \lineiii{>}{big-endian}{standard}
+ \lineiii{!}{network (= big-endian)}{standard}
+\end{tableiii}
+
+If the first character is not one of these, \character{@} is assumed.
+
+Native byte order is big-endian or little-endian, depending on the
+host system. For example, Motorola and Sun processors are big-endian;
+Intel and DEC processors are little-endian.
+
+Native size and alignment are determined using the C compiler's
+\keyword{sizeof} expression. This is always combined with native byte
+order.
+
+Standard size and alignment are as follows: no alignment is required
+for any type (so you have to use pad bytes);
+\ctype{short} is 2 bytes;
+\ctype{int} and \ctype{long} are 4 bytes;
+\ctype{long long} (\ctype{__int64} on Windows) is 8 bytes;
+\ctype{float} and \ctype{double} are 32-bit and 64-bit
+IEEE floating point numbers, respectively.
+
+Note the difference between \character{@} and \character{=}: both use
+native byte order, but the size and alignment of the latter is
+standardized.
+
+The form \character{!} is available for those poor souls who claim they
+can't remember whether network byte order is big-endian or
+little-endian.
+
+There is no way to indicate non-native byte order (force
+byte-swapping); use the appropriate choice of \character{<} or
+\character{>}.
+
+The \character{P} format character is only available for the native
+byte ordering (selected as the default or with the \character{@} byte
+order character). The byte order character \character{=} chooses to
+use little- or big-endian ordering based on the host system. The
+struct module does not interpret this as native ordering, so the
+\character{P} format is not available.
+
+Examples (all using native byte order, size and alignment, on a
+big-endian machine):
+
+\begin{verbatim}
+>>> from struct import *
+>>> pack('hhl', 1, 2, 3)
+'\x00\x01\x00\x02\x00\x00\x00\x03'
+>>> unpack('hhl', '\x00\x01\x00\x02\x00\x00\x00\x03')
+(1, 2, 3)
+>>> calcsize('hhl')
+8
+\end{verbatim}
+
+Hint: to align the end of a structure to the alignment requirement of
+a particular type, end the format with the code for that type with a
+repeat count of zero. For example, the format \code{'llh0l'}
+specifies two pad bytes at the end, assuming longs are aligned on
+4-byte boundaries. This only works when native size and alignment are
+in effect; standard size and alignment does not enforce any alignment.
+
+\begin{seealso}
+ \seemodule{array}{Packed binary storage of homogeneous data.}
+ \seemodule{xdrlib}{Packing and unpacking of XDR data.}
+\end{seealso}
+
+\subsection{Struct Objects \label{struct-objects}}
+
+The \module{struct} module also defines the following type:
+
+\begin{classdesc}{Struct}{format}
+ Return a new Struct object which writes and reads binary data according to
+ the format string \var{format}. Creating a Struct object once and calling
+ its methods is more efficient than calling the \module{struct} functions
+ with the same format since the format string only needs to be compiled once.
+
+ \versionadded{2.5}
+\end{classdesc}
+
+Compiled Struct objects support the following methods and attributes:
+
+\begin{methoddesc}[Struct]{pack}{v1, v2, \moreargs}
+ Identical to the \function{pack()} function, using the compiled format.
+ (\code{len(result)} will equal \member{self.size}.)
+\end{methoddesc}
+
+\begin{methoddesc}[Struct]{pack_into}{buffer, offset, v1, v2, \moreargs}
+ Identical to the \function{pack_into()} function, using the compiled format.
+\end{methoddesc}
+
+\begin{methoddesc}[Struct]{unpack}{string}
+ Identical to the \function{unpack()} function, using the compiled format.
+ (\code{len(string)} must equal \member{self.size}).
+\end{methoddesc}
+
+\begin{methoddesc}[Struct]{unpack_from}{buffer\optional{,offset
+ \code{= 0}}}
+ Identical to the \function{unpack_from()} function, using the compiled format.
+ (\code{len(buffer[offset:])} must be at least \member{self.size}).
+\end{methoddesc}
+
+\begin{memberdesc}[Struct]{format}
+ The format string used to construct this Struct object.
+\end{memberdesc}
+