• Home
  • Line#
  • Scopes#
  • Navigate#
  • Raw
  • Download
1---
2c: Copyright (C) Daniel Stenberg, <daniel.se>, et al.
3SPDX-License-Identifier: curl
4Title: curl_multi_fdset
5Section: 3
6Source: libcurl
7See-also:
8  - curl_multi_cleanup (3)
9  - curl_multi_init (3)
10  - curl_multi_perform (3)
11  - curl_multi_timeout (3)
12  - curl_multi_wait (3)
13  - select (2)
14---
15
16# NAME
17
18curl_multi_fdset - extracts file descriptor information from a multi handle
19
20# SYNOPSIS
21
22~~~c
23#include <curl/curl.h>
24
25CURLMcode curl_multi_fdset(CURLM *multi_handle,
26                           fd_set *read_fd_set,
27                           fd_set *write_fd_set,
28                           fd_set *exc_fd_set,
29                           int *max_fd);
30~~~
31
32# DESCRIPTION
33
34This function extracts file descriptor information from a given multi_handle.
35libcurl returns its *fd_set* sets. The application can use these to
36select() on, but be sure to *FD_ZERO* them before calling this function as
37curl_multi_fdset(3) only adds its own descriptors, it does not zero or
38otherwise remove any others. The curl_multi_perform(3) function should
39be called as soon as one of them is ready to be read from or written to.
40
41The *read_fd_set* argument should point to an object of type **fd_set**
42that on returns specifies the file descriptors to be checked for being ready
43to read.
44
45The *write_fd_set* argument should point to an object of type **fd_set**
46that on return specifies the file descriptors to be checked for being ready to
47write.
48
49The *exc_fd_set* argument should point to an object of type **fd_set**
50that on return specifies the file descriptors to be checked for error
51conditions.
52
53If no file descriptors are set by libcurl, *max_fd* contain -1 when this
54function returns. Otherwise it contains the highest descriptor number libcurl
55set. When libcurl returns -1 in *max_fd*, it is because libcurl currently
56does something that is not possible for your application to monitor with a
57socket and unfortunately you can then not know exactly when the current action
58is completed using select(). You then need to wait a while before you proceed
59and call curl_multi_perform(3) anyway. How long to wait? Unless
60curl_multi_timeout(3) gives you a lower number, we suggest 100
61milliseconds or so, but you may want to test it out in your own particular
62conditions to find a suitable value.
63
64When doing select(), you should use curl_multi_timeout(3) to figure out
65how long to wait for action. Call curl_multi_perform(3) even if no
66activity has been seen on the **fd_sets** after the timeout expires as
67otherwise internal retries and timeouts may not work as you would think and
68want.
69
70If one of the sockets used by libcurl happens to be larger than what can be
71set in an **fd_set**, which on POSIX systems means that the file descriptor
72is larger than **FD_SETSIZE**, then libcurl tries to not set it. Setting a
73too large file descriptor in an **fd_set** implies an out of bounds write
74which can cause crashes, or worse. The effect of NOT storing it might possibly
75save you from the crash, but makes your program NOT wait for sockets it should
76wait for...
77
78# EXAMPLE
79
80~~~c
81int main(void)
82{
83  fd_set fdread;
84  fd_set fdwrite;
85  fd_set fdexcep;
86  int maxfd;
87  int rc;
88  CURLMcode mc;
89  struct timeval timeout = {1, 0};
90
91  CURLM *multi = curl_multi_init();
92
93  do {
94
95    /* call curl_multi_perform() */
96
97    /* get file descriptors from the transfers */
98    mc = curl_multi_fdset(multi, &fdread, &fdwrite, &fdexcep, &maxfd);
99
100    if(mc != CURLM_OK) {
101      fprintf(stderr, "curl_multi_fdset() failed, code %d.\n", mc);
102      break;
103    }
104
105    /* wait for activity on one of the sockets */
106    rc = select(maxfd + 1, &fdread, &fdwrite, &fdexcep, &timeout);
107
108  } while(!mc);
109}
110~~~
111
112# AVAILABILITY
113
114Added in 7.9.6
115
116# RETURN VALUE
117
118**CURLMcode** type, general libcurl multi interface error code. See
119libcurl-errors(3)
120