ref: 4410517b44fd2610abe0dcd1349bb3e6b3c5ddb8
dir: /sys/src/cmd/python/Doc/lib/libmmap.tex/
\section{\module{mmap} ---
Memory-mapped file support}
\declaremodule{builtin}{mmap}
\modulesynopsis{Interface to memory-mapped files for \UNIX\ and Windows.}
Memory-mapped file objects behave like both strings and like
file objects. Unlike normal string objects, however, these are
mutable. You can use mmap objects in most places where strings
are expected; for example, you can use the \module{re} module to
search through a memory-mapped file. Since they're mutable, you can
change a single character by doing \code{obj[\var{index}] = 'a'}, or
change a substring by assigning to a slice:
\code{obj[\var{i1}:\var{i2}] = '...'}. You can also read and write
data starting at the current file position, and \method{seek()}
through the file to different positions.
A memory-mapped file is created by the \function{mmap()} function,
which is different on \UNIX{} and on Windows. In either case you must
provide a file descriptor for a file opened for update.
If you wish to map an existing Python file object, use its
\method{fileno()} method to obtain the correct value for the
\var{fileno} parameter. Otherwise, you can open the file using the
\function{os.open()} function, which returns a file descriptor
directly (the file still needs to be closed when done).
For both the \UNIX{} and Windows versions of the function,
\var{access} may be specified as an optional keyword parameter.
\var{access} accepts one of three values: \constant{ACCESS_READ},
\constant{ACCESS_WRITE}, or \constant{ACCESS_COPY} to specify
readonly, write-through or copy-on-write memory respectively.
\var{access} can be used on both \UNIX{} and Windows. If
\var{access} is not specified, Windows mmap returns a write-through
mapping. The initial memory values for all three access types are
taken from the specified file. Assignment to an
\constant{ACCESS_READ} memory map raises a \exception{TypeError}
exception. Assignment to an \constant{ACCESS_WRITE} memory map
affects both memory and the underlying file. Assignment to an
\constant{ACCESS_COPY} memory map affects memory but does not update
the underlying file. \versionchanged[To map anonymous memory,
-1 should be passed as the fileno along with the length]{2.5}
\begin{funcdesc}{mmap}{fileno, length\optional{, tagname\optional{, access}}}
\strong{(Windows version)} Maps \var{length} bytes from the file
specified by the file handle \var{fileno}, and returns a mmap
object. If \var{length} is larger than the current size of the file,
the file is extended to contain \var{length} bytes. If \var{length}
is \code{0}, the maximum length of the map is the current size
of the file, except that if the file is empty Windows raises an
exception (you cannot create an empty mapping on Windows).
\var{tagname}, if specified and not \code{None}, is a string giving
a tag name for the mapping. Windows allows you to have many
different mappings against the same file. If you specify the name
of an existing tag, that tag is opened, otherwise a new tag of this
name is created. If this parameter is omitted or \code{None}, the
mapping is created without a name. Avoiding the use of the tag
parameter will assist in keeping your code portable between \UNIX{}
and Windows.
\end{funcdesc}
\begin{funcdescni}{mmap}{fileno, length\optional{, flags\optional{,
prot\optional{, access}}}}
\strong{(\UNIX{} version)} Maps \var{length} bytes from the file
specified by the file descriptor \var{fileno}, and returns a mmap
object. If \var{length} is \code{0}, the maximum length of the map
will be the current size of the file when \function{mmap()} is
called.
\var{flags} specifies the nature of the mapping.
\constant{MAP_PRIVATE} creates a private copy-on-write mapping, so
changes to the contents of the mmap object will be private to this
process, and \constant{MAP_SHARED} creates a mapping that's shared
with all other processes mapping the same areas of the file. The
default value is \constant{MAP_SHARED}.
\var{prot}, if specified, gives the desired memory protection; the
two most useful values are \constant{PROT_READ} and
\constant{PROT_WRITE}, to specify that the pages may be read or
written. \var{prot} defaults to \constant{PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE}.
\var{access} may be specified in lieu of \var{flags} and \var{prot}
as an optional keyword parameter. It is an error to specify both
\var{flags}, \var{prot} and \var{access}. See the description of
\var{access} above for information on how to use this parameter.
\end{funcdescni}
Memory-mapped file objects support the following methods:
\begin{methoddesc}{close}{}
Close the file. Subsequent calls to other methods of the object
will result in an exception being raised.
\end{methoddesc}
\begin{methoddesc}{find}{string\optional{, start}}
Returns the lowest index in the object where the substring
\var{string} is found. Returns \code{-1} on failure. \var{start}
is the index at which the search begins, and defaults to zero.
\end{methoddesc}
\begin{methoddesc}{flush}{\optional{offset, size}}
Flushes changes made to the in-memory copy of a file back to disk.
Without use of this call there is no guarantee that changes are
written back before the object is destroyed. If \var{offset} and
\var{size} are specified, only changes to the given range of bytes
will be flushed to disk; otherwise, the whole extent of the mapping
is flushed.
\end{methoddesc}
\begin{methoddesc}{move}{\var{dest}, \var{src}, \var{count}}
Copy the \var{count} bytes starting at offset \var{src} to the
destination index \var{dest}. If the mmap was created with
\constant{ACCESS_READ}, then calls to move will throw a
\exception{TypeError} exception.
\end{methoddesc}
\begin{methoddesc}{read}{\var{num}}
Return a string containing up to \var{num} bytes starting from the
current file position; the file position is updated to point after the
bytes that were returned.
\end{methoddesc}
\begin{methoddesc}{read_byte}{}
Returns a string of length 1 containing the character at the current
file position, and advances the file position by 1.
\end{methoddesc}
\begin{methoddesc}{readline}{}
Returns a single line, starting at the current file position and up to
the next newline.
\end{methoddesc}
\begin{methoddesc}{resize}{\var{newsize}}
Resizes the map and the underlying file, if any.
If the mmap was created with \constant{ACCESS_READ} or
\constant{ACCESS_COPY}, resizing the map will throw a \exception{TypeError} exception.
\end{methoddesc}
\begin{methoddesc}{seek}{pos\optional{, whence}}
Set the file's current position. \var{whence} argument is optional
and defaults to \code{os.SEEK_SET} or \code{0} (absolute file
positioning); other values are \code{os.SEEK_CUR} or \code{1} (seek
relative to the current position) and \code{os.SEEK_END} or \code{2}
(seek relative to the file's end).
\end{methoddesc}
\begin{methoddesc}{size}{}
Return the length of the file, which can be larger than the size of
the memory-mapped area.
\end{methoddesc}
\begin{methoddesc}{tell}{}
Returns the current position of the file pointer.
\end{methoddesc}
\begin{methoddesc}{write}{\var{string}}
Write the bytes in \var{string} into memory at the current position
of the file pointer; the file position is updated to point after the
bytes that were written. If the mmap was created with
\constant{ACCESS_READ}, then writing to it will throw a
\exception{TypeError} exception.
\end{methoddesc}
\begin{methoddesc}{write_byte}{\var{byte}}
Write the single-character string \var{byte} into memory at the
current position of the file pointer; the file position is advanced
by \code{1}. If the mmap was created with \constant{ACCESS_READ},
then writing to it will throw a \exception{TypeError} exception.
\end{methoddesc}