man
s socket
socket(n) Tcl Built-In Commands socket(n)
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NAME
socket - Open a TCP network connection
SYNOPSIS
socket ?options? host port
socket -server command ?options? port
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DESCRIPTION
This command opens a network socket and returns a channel identifier
that may be used in future invocations of commands like read, puts and
flush. At present only the TCP network protocol is supported; future
releases may include support for additional protocols. The socket com-
mand may be used to open either the client or server side of a connec-
tion, depending on whether the -server switch is specified.
CLIENT SOCKETS
If the -server option is not specified, then the client side of a con-
nection is opened and the command returns a channel identifier that can
be used for both reading and writing. Port and host specify a port to
connect to; there must be a server accepting connections on this port.
Port is an integer port number and host is either a domain-style name
such as www.sunlabs.com or a numerical IP address such as 127.0.0.1.
Use localhost to refer to the host on which the command is invoked.
The following options may also be present before host to specify addi-
tional information about the connection:
-myaddr addr
Addr gives the domain-style name or numerical IP address of the
client-side network interface to use for the connection. This
option may be useful if the client machine has multiple network
interfaces. If the option is omitted then the client-side in-
terface will be chosen by the system software.
-myport port
Port specifies an integer port number to use for the client's
side of the connection. If this option is omitted, the client's
port number will be chosen at random by the system software.
-async The -async option will cause the client socket to be connected
asynchronously. This means that the socket will be created imme-
diately but may not yet be connected to the server, when the
call to socket returns. When a gets or flush is done on the
socket before the connection attempt succeeds or fails, if the
socket is in blocking mode, the operation will wait until the
connection is completed or fails. If the socket is in nonblock-
ing mode and a gets or flush is done on the socket before the
connection attempt succeeds or fails, the operation returns im-
mediately and fblocked on the socket returns 1.
SERVER SOCKETS
If the -server option is specified then the new socket will be a server
for the port given by port. Tcl will automatically accept connections
to the given port. For each connection Tcl will create a new channel
that may be used to communicate with the client. Tcl then invokes com-
mand with three additional arguments: the name of the new channel, the
address, in network address notation, of the client's host, and the
client's port number.
The following additional option may also be specified before host:
-myaddr addr
Addr gives the domain-style name or numerical IP address of the
server-side network interface to use for the connection. This
option may be useful if the server machine has multiple network
interfaces. If the option is omitted then the server socket is
bound to the special address INADDR_ANY so that it can accept
connections from any interface.
Server channels cannot be used for input or output; their sole use is
to accept new client connections. The channels created for each incom-
ing client connection are opened for input and output. Closing the
server channel shuts down the server so that no new connections will be
accepted; however, existing connections will be unaffected.
Server sockets depend on the Tcl event mechanism to find out when new
connections are opened. If the application doesn't enter the event
loop, for example by invoking the vwait command or calling the C proce-
dure Tcl_DoOneEvent, then no connections will be accepted.
CONFIGURATION OPTIONS
The fconfigure command can be used to query several readonly configura-
tion options for socket channels:
-sockname
This option returns a list of three elements, the address, the
host name and the port number for the socket. If the host name
cannot be computed, the second element is identical to the ad-
dress, the first element of the list.
-peername
This option is not supported by server sockets. For client and
accepted sockets, this option returns a list of three elements;
these are the address, the host name and the port to which the
peer socket is connected or bound. If the host name cannot be
computed, the second element of the list is identical to the ad-
dress, its first element.
SEE ALSO
flush(n), open(n), read(n)
KEYWORDS
bind, channel, connection, domain name, host, network address, socket,
tcp
Tcl 7.5 socket(n)