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The QSocketNotifier class provides support for socket callbacks. More...
#include <QSocketNotifier>
Inherits QObject.
The QSocketNotifier class provides support for socket callbacks.
The QSocketNotifier class makes it possible to write asynchronous socket-based code in Qt. Synchronous socket operations block execution of the program, which is clearly not acceptable for an event-driven GUI application.
Once you have opened a non-blocking socket (whether for TCP, UDP, a UNIX-domain socket, or any other protocol family your operating system supports), you can create a socket notifier to monitor the socket. You can then connect the activated() signal to the slot you want to be called whenever a socket event occurs.
Note for Windows users: the socket passed to QSocketNotifier will become non-blocking, even if it was created as a blocking socket.
There are three types of socket notifiers (read, write and exception); you must specify one of these in the constructor.
The type specifies when the activated() signal is to be emitted:
For example, if you need to monitor both reads and writes for the same socket you must create two socket notifiers.
Example:
int sockfd; // socket identifier struct sockaddr_in sa; // should contain host address sockfd = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0); // create TCP socket // make the socket non-blocking here, usually using fcntl(O_NONBLOCK) ::connect(sockfd, (struct sockaddr*)&sa, sizeof(sa)); // connect to host // NOT QObject::connect()! QSocketNotifier *sn; sn = new QSocketNotifier(sockfd, QSocketNotifier::Read, parent); QObject::connect(sn, SIGNAL(activated(int)), myObject, SLOT(dataReceived()));
The optional parent argument can be set to make the socket notifier a child of any QObject; e.g. a widget. This will ensure that it is automatically destroyed when the widget is destroyed.
For read notifiers it makes little sense to connect the activated() signal to more than one slot because the data can be read from the socket only once.
Also observe that if you do not read all the available data when the read notifier fires, it fires again and again.
If you disable the read notifier your program may deadlock. (The same applies to exception notifiers if you must use them, for instance if you must use TCP urgent data.)
For write notifiers, immediately disable the notifier after the activated() signal has been received, and when you have sent the data to be written on the socket. When you have more data to be written, enable it again to get a new activated() signal. The exception is if the socket data writing operation (send() or equivalent) fails with a "would block" error, which means that some buffer is full and you must wait before sending more data. In that case you do not need to disable and re-enable the write notifier; it will fire again as soon as the system allows more data to be sent.
The behavior of a write notifier that is left in enabled state after having emitting the first activated() signal (and no "would block" error has occurred) is undefined. Depending on the operating system, it may fire on every pass of the event loop, or not at all.
If you need a timeout for your sockets you can use either timer events or the QTimer class.
Socket action is detected in the main event loop of Qt. The X11 version of Qt has a single UNIX select() call that incorporates all socket notifiers and the X socket.
See also QSocket, QServerSocket, and QSocketDevice.
The socket notifier can be used to inform the application of the following types of event:
QSocketNotifier::Read | There is incoming data. |
QSocketNotifier::Write | Data can be written. |
QSocketNotifier::Exception | An exception has occurred. |
Constructs a socket notifier with the given parent. It enables the socket, and watches for events of the given type.
It is generally advisable to explicitly enable or disable the socket notifier, especially for write notifiers.
See also setEnabled() and isEnabled().
Destroys the socket notifier.
This signal is emitted under certain conditions specified by the notifier type():
The socket is the socket identifier.
Returns true if the notifier is enabled; otherwise returns false.
See also setEnabled().
If enable is true, the notifier is enabled; otherwise the notifier is disabled.
The notifier is enabled by default.
If the notifier is enabled, it emits the activated() signal whenever a socket event corresponding to its type occurs. If it is disabled, it ignores socket events (the same effect as not creating the socket notifier).
Write notifiers should normally be disabled immediately after the activated() signal has been emitted; see discussion of write notifiers in the class description above.
See also isEnabled() and activated().
Returns the socket identifier specified to the constructor.
See also type().
Returns the socket event type specified to the constructor: QSocketNotifier::Read, QSocketNotifier::Write, or QSocketNotifier::Exception.
See also socket().
Copyright © 2004 Trolltech | Trademarks | Qt 4.0.0-b1 |