NAME

IO::Socket - Object interface to socket communications

SYNOPSIS

use strict;use warnings;use IO::Socket qw(AF_INET AF_UNIX);# create a new AF_INET socketmy $sock = IO::Socket->new(Domain => AF_INET);# which is the same as$sock = IO::Socket::INET->new();# create a new AF_UNIX socket$sock = IO::Socket->new(Domain => AF_UNIX);# which is the same as$sock = IO::Socket::UNIX->new();

DESCRIPTION

IO::Socket provides an object-oriented,IO::Handle-based interface to creating and using sockets viaSocket, which provides a near one-to-one interface to the C socket library.

IO::Socket is a base class that really only defines methods for those operations which are common to all types of sockets. Operations which are specific to a particular socket domain have methods defined in subclasses ofIO::Socket. SeeIO::Socket::INET,IO::Socket::UNIX, andIO::Socket::IP for examples of such a subclass.

IO::Socket will export all functions (and constants) defined bySocket.

CONSTRUCTOR ARGUMENTS

Given thatIO::Socket doesn't have attributes in the traditional sense, the following arguments, rather than attributes, can be passed into the constructor.

Constructor arguments should be passed inKey => 'Value' pairs.

The only required argument is"Domain" in IO::Socket.

Blocking

my $sock = IO::Socket->new(..., Blocking => 1);$sock = IO::Socket->new(..., Blocking => 0);

If defined but false, the socket will be set to non-blocking mode. If not specified it defaults to1 (blocking mode).

Domain

my $sock = IO::Socket->new(Domain => IO::Socket::AF_INET);$sock = IO::Socket->new(Domain => IO::Socket::AF_UNIX);

The socket domain will define which subclass ofIO::Socket to use. The two options available along with this distribution areAF_INET andAF_UNIX.

AF_INET is for the internet address family of sockets and is handled viaIO::Socket::INET.AF_INET sockets are bound to an internet address and port.

AF_UNIX is for the unix domain socket and is handled viaIO::Socket::UNIX.AF_UNIX sockets are bound to the file system as their address name space.

This argument isrequired. All other arguments are optional.

Listen

my $sock = IO::Socket->new(..., Listen => 5);

Listen should be an integer value or left unset.

If provided, this argument will place the socket into listening mode. New connections can then be accepted using the"accept" in IO::Socket method. The value given is used as thelisten(2) queue size.

If theListen argument is given, but false, the queue size will be set to 5.

Timeout

my $sock = IO::Socket->new(..., Timeout => 5);

The timeout value, in seconds, for this socket connection. How exactly this value is utilized is defined in the socket domain subclasses that make use of the value.

Type

my $sock = IO::Socket->new(..., Type => IO::Socket::SOCK_STREAM);

The socket type that will be used. These are usuallySOCK_STREAM,SOCK_DGRAM, orSOCK_RAW. If this argument is left undefined an attempt will be made to infer the type from the service name.

For example, you'll usually useSOCK_STREAM with atcp connection andSOCK_DGRAM with audp connection.

CONSTRUCTORS

IO::Socket extends theIO::Handle constructor.

new

my $sock = IO::Socket->new();# get a new IO::Socket::INET instance$sock = IO::Socket->new(Domain => IO::Socket::AF_INET);# get a new IO::Socket::UNIX instance$sock = IO::Socket->new(Domain => IO::Socket::AF_UNIX);# Domain is the only required argument$sock = IO::Socket->new(    Domain => IO::Socket::AF_INET, # AF_INET, AF_UNIX    Type => IO::Socket::SOCK_STREAM, # SOCK_STREAM, SOCK_DGRAM, ...    Proto => 'tcp', # 'tcp', 'udp', IPPROTO_TCP, IPPROTO_UDP    # and so on...);

Creates anIO::Socket, which is a reference to a newly created symbol (see theSymbol package).new optionally takes arguments, these arguments are defined in"CONSTRUCTOR ARGUMENTS" in IO::Socket.

Any of the"CONSTRUCTOR ARGUMENTS" in IO::Socket may be passed to the constructor, but if any arguments are provided, then one of them must be the"Domain" in IO::Socket argument. The"Domain" in IO::Socket argument can, by default, be eitherAF_INET orAF_UNIX. Other domains can be used if a proper subclass for the domain family is registered. All other arguments will be passed to theconfiguration method of the package for that domain.

If the constructor fails it will returnundef and set the$errstr package variable to contain an error message.

$sock = IO::Socket->new(...)    or die "Cannot create socket - $IO::Socket::errstr\n";

For legacy reasons the error message is also set into the global$@ variable, and you may still find older code which looks here instead.

$sock = IO::Socket->new(...)    or die "Cannot create socket - $@\n";

METHODS

IO::Socket inherits all methods fromIO::Handle and implements the following new ones.

accept

my $client_sock = $sock->accept();my $inet_sock = $sock->accept('IO::Socket::INET');

The accept method will perform the system callaccept on the socket and return a new object. The new object will be created in the same class as the listen socket, unless a specific package name is specified. This object can be used to communicate with the client that was trying to connect.

This differs slightly from theaccept function inperlfunc.

In a scalar context the new socket is returned, orundef upon failure. In a list context a two-element array is returned containing the new socket and the peer address; the list will be empty upon failure.

atmark

my $integer = $sock->atmark();# read in some data on a given socketmy $data;$sock->read($data, 1024) until $sock->atmark;# or, export the function to use:use IO::Socket 'sockatmark';$sock->read($data, 1024) until sockatmark($sock);

True if the socket is currently positioned at the urgent data mark, false otherwise. If your system doesn't yet implementsockatmark this will throw an exception.

If your system does not supportsockatmark, theuse declaration will fail at compile time.

autoflush

# by default, autoflush will be turned on when referenced$sock->autoflush(); # turns on autoflush# turn off autoflush$sock->autoflush(0);# turn on autoflush$sock->autoflush(1);

This attribute isn't overridden fromIO::Handle's implementation. However, since we turn it on by default, it's worth mentioning here.

bind

use Socket qw(pack_sockaddr_in);my $port = 3000;my $ip_address = '0.0.0.0';my $packed_addr = pack_sockaddr_in($port, $ip_address);$sock->bind($packed_addr);

Binds a network address to a socket, just asbind(2) does. Returns true if it succeeded, false otherwise. You should provide a packed address of the appropriate type for the socket.

connected

my $peer_addr = $sock->connected();if ($peer_addr) {    say "We're connected to $peer_addr";}

If the socket is in a connected state, the peer address is returned. If the socket is not in a connected state,undef is returned.

Note that this method considers a half-open TCP socket to be "in a connected state". Specifically, it does not distinguish between theESTABLISHED andCLOSE-WAIT TCP states; it returns the peer address, rather thanundef, in either case. Thus, in general, it cannot be used to reliably learn whether the peer has initiated a graceful shutdown because in most cases (see below) the local TCP state machine remains inCLOSE-WAIT until the local application calls"shutdown" in IO::Socket orclose. Only at that point does this function returnundef.

The "in most cases" hedge is because local TCP state machine behavior may depend on the peer's socket options. In particular, if the peer socket hasSO_LINGER enabled with a zero timeout, then the peer'sclose will generate aRST segment. Upon receipt of that segment, the local TCP transitions immediately toCLOSED, and in that state, this methodwill returnundef.

getsockopt

my $value = $sock->getsockopt(SOL_SOCKET, SO_REUSEADDR);my $buf = $socket->getsockopt(SOL_SOCKET, SO_RCVBUF);say "Receive buffer is $buf bytes";

Get an option associated with the socket. Levels other thanSOL_SOCKET may be specified here. As a convenience, this method will unpack a byte buffer of the correct size back into a number.

listen

$sock->listen(5);

Does the same thing that thelisten(2) system call does. Returns true if it succeeded, false otherwise. Listens to a socket with a given queue size.

peername

my $sockaddr_in = $sock->peername();

Returns the packedsockaddr address of the other end of the socket connection. It callsgetpeername.

protocol

my $proto = $sock->protocol();

Returns the number for the protocol being used on the socket, if known. If the protocol is unknown, as with anAF_UNIX socket, zero is returned.

recv

my $buffer = "";my $length = 1024;my $flags = 0; # default. optional$sock->recv($buffer, $length);$sock->recv($buffer, $length, $flags);

Similar in functionality to"recv" in perlfunc.

Receives a message on a socket. Attempts to receive$length characters of data into$buffer from the specified socket.$buffer will be grown or shrunk to the length actually read. Takes the same flags as the system call of the same name. Returns the address of the sender if socket's protocol supports this; returns an empty string otherwise. If there's an error, returnsundef. This call is actually implemented in terms of therecvfrom(2) system call.

Flags are ORed together values, such asMSG_BCAST,MSG_OOB,MSG_TRUNC. The default value for the flags is0.

The cached value of"peername" in IO::Socket is updated with the result ofrecv.

Note: In Perl v5.30 and newer, if the socket has been marked as:utf8,recv will throw an exception. The:encoding(...) layer implicitly introduces the:utf8 layer. See"binmode" in perlfunc.

Note: In Perl versions older than v5.30, depending on the status of the socket, either (8-bit) bytes or characters are received. By default all sockets operate on bytes, but for example if the socket has been changed using"binmode" in perlfunc to operate with the:encoding(UTF-8) I/O layer (see the"open" in perlfunc pragma), the I/O will operate on UTF8-encoded Unicode characters, not bytes. Similarly for the:encoding layer: in that case pretty much any characters can be read.

send

my $message = "Hello, world!";my $flags = 0; # defaults to zeromy $to = '0.0.0.0'; # optional destinationmy $sent = $sock->send($message);$sent = $sock->send($message, $flags);$sent = $sock->send($message, $flags, $to);

Similar in functionality to"send" in perlfunc.

Sends a message on a socket. Attempts to send the scalar message to the socket. Takes the same flags as the system call of the same name. On unconnected sockets, you must specify a destination to send to, in which case it does asendto(2) syscall. Returns the number of characters sent, orundef on error. Thesendmsg(2) syscall is currently unimplemented.

Theflags option is optional and defaults to0.

After a successful send with$to, further calls tosend on an unconnected socket without$to will send to the same address, and$to will be used as the result of"peername" in IO::Socket.

Note: In Perl v5.30 and newer, if the socket has been marked as:utf8,send will throw an exception. The:encoding(...) layer implicitly introduces the:utf8 layer. See"binmode" in perlfunc.

Note: In Perl versions older than v5.30, depending on the status of the socket, either (8-bit) bytes or characters are sent. By default all sockets operate on bytes, but for example if the socket has been changed using"binmode" in perlfunc to operate with the:encoding(UTF-8) I/O layer (see the"open" in perlfunc pragma), the I/O will operate on UTF8-encoded Unicode characters, not bytes. Similarly for the:encoding layer: in that case pretty much any characters can be sent.

setsockopt

$sock->setsockopt(SOL_SOCKET, SO_REUSEADDR, 1);$sock->setsockopt(SOL_SOCKET, SO_RCVBUF, 64*1024);

Set option associated with the socket. Levels other thanSOL_SOCKET may be specified here. As a convenience, this method will convert a number into a packed byte buffer.

shutdown

$sock->shutdown(SHUT_RD); # we stopped reading data$sock->shutdown(SHUT_WR); # we stopped writing data$sock->shutdown(SHUT_RDWR); # we stopped using this socket

Shuts down a socket connection in the manner indicated by the value passed in, which has the same interpretation as in the syscall of the same name.

This is useful with sockets when you want to tell the other side you're done writing but not done reading, or vice versa. It's also a more insistent form ofclose because it also disables the file descriptor in any forked copies in other processes.

Returns1 for success; on error, returnsundef if the socket is not a valid filehandle, or returns0 and sets$! for any other failure.

sockdomain

my $domain = $sock->sockdomain();

Returns the number for the socket domain type. For example, for anAF_INET socket the value of&AF_INET will be returned.

socket

my $sock = IO::Socket->new(); # no values given# now let's actually get a socket with the socket method# domain, type, and protocol are required$sock = $sock->socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 'tcp');

Opens a socket of the specified kind and returns it. Domain, type, and protocol are specified the same as for the syscall of the same name.

socketpair

my ($r, $w) = $sock->socketpair(AF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM, PF_UNSPEC);($r, $w) = IO::Socket::UNIX    ->socketpair(AF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM, PF_UNSPEC);

Will return a list of two sockets created (read and write), or an empty list on failure.

Differs slightly fromsocketpair inperlfunc in that the argument list is a bit simpler.

sockname

my $packed_addr = $sock->sockname();

Returns the packedsockaddr address of this end of the connection. It's the same asgetsockname(2).

sockopt

my $value = $sock->sockopt(SO_REUSEADDR);$sock->sockopt(SO_REUSEADDR, 1);

Unified method to both set and get options in theSOL_SOCKET level. If called with one argument then"getsockopt" in IO::Socket is called, otherwise"setsockopt" in IO::Socket is called.

socktype

my $type = $sock->socktype();

Returns the number for the socket type. For example, for aSOCK_STREAM socket the value of&SOCK_STREAM will be returned.

timeout

my $seconds = $sock->timeout();my $old_val = $sock->timeout(5); # set new and return old value

Set or get the timeout value (in seconds) associated with this socket. If called without any arguments then the current setting is returned. If called with an argument the current setting is changed and the previous value returned.

This method is available to allIO::Socket implementations but may or may not be used by the individual domain subclasses.

EXAMPLES

Let's create a TCP server onlocalhost:3333.

use strict;use warnings;use feature 'say';use IO::Socket qw(AF_INET AF_UNIX SOCK_STREAM SHUT_WR);my $server = IO::Socket->new(    Domain => AF_INET,    Type => SOCK_STREAM,    Proto => 'tcp',    LocalHost => '0.0.0.0',    LocalPort => 3333,    ReusePort => 1,    Listen => 5,) || die "Can't open socket: $IO::Socket::errstr";say "Waiting on 3333";while (1) {    # waiting for a new client connection    my $client = $server->accept();    # get information about a newly connected client    my $client_address = $client->peerhost();    my $client_port = $client->peerport();    say "Connection from $client_address:$client_port";    # read up to 1024 characters from the connected client    my $data = "";    $client->recv($data, 1024);    say "received data: $data";    # write response data to the connected client    $data = "ok";    $client->send($data);    # notify client that response has been sent    $client->shutdown(SHUT_WR);}$server->close();

A client for such a server could be

use strict;use warnings;use feature 'say';use IO::Socket qw(AF_INET AF_UNIX SOCK_STREAM SHUT_WR);my $client = IO::Socket->new(    Domain => AF_INET,    Type => SOCK_STREAM,    proto => 'tcp',    PeerPort => 3333,    PeerHost => '0.0.0.0',) || die "Can't open socket: $IO::Socket::errstr";say "Sending Hello World!";my $size = $client->send("Hello World!");say "Sent data of length: $size";$client->shutdown(SHUT_WR);my $buffer;$client->recv($buffer, 1024);say "Got back $buffer";$client->close();

LIMITATIONS

On some systems, for an IO::Socket object created withnew_from_fd, or created with"accept" in IO::Socket from such an object, the"protocol" in IO::Socket,"sockdomain" in IO::Socket and"socktype" in IO::Socket methods may returnundef.

SEE ALSO

Socket,IO::Handle,IO::Socket::INET,IO::Socket::UNIX,IO::Socket::IP

AUTHOR

Graham Barr. atmark() by Lincoln Stein. Currently maintained by the Perl 5 Porters. Please report all bugs athttps://github.com/Perl/perl5/issues.

COPYRIGHT

Copyright (c) 1997-8 Graham Barr <gbarr@pobox.com>. All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

The atmark() implementation: Copyright 2001, Lincoln Stein <lstein@cshl.org>. This module is distributed under the same terms as Perl itself. Feel free to use, modify and redistribute it as long as you retain the correct attribution.