QLocalSocket Class Reference
[QtNetwork module]

Detailed Description

The QLocalSocket class provides a local socket.

On Windows this is a named pipe and on Unix this this is a local domain socket.

If an error occurs, socketError() returns the type of error, and errorString() can be called to get a human readable description of what happened.

Although QLocalSocket is designed for use with an event loop, it's possible to use it without one. In that case, you must use waitForConnected(), waitForReadyRead(), waitForBytesWritten(), and waitForDisconnected() which blocks until the operation is complete or the timeout expires.

Note that this feature is not supported on Window 9x or Windows CE.

See also QLocalServer.

Member Type Documentation

enum QLocalSocket::LocalSocketError

The LocalServerError enumeration represents the errors that can occur. The most recent error can be retrieved through a call to QLocalSocket::error().

enum QLocalSocket::LocalSocketState

This enum describes the different states in which a socket can be.

See also QLocalSocket::state().

Member Function Documentation

QLocalSocket::QLocalSocket ( QObject * parent = 0 )

Creates a new local socket. The parent argument is passed to QObject's constructor.

QLocalSocket::~QLocalSocket ()

Destroys the socket, closing the connection if necessary.

void QLocalSocket::abort ()

Aborts the current connection and resets the socket. Unlike disconnectFromServer(), this function immediately closes the socket, clearing any pending data in the write buffer.

See also disconnectFromServer() and close().

void QLocalSocket::connectToServer ( const QString & name, OpenMode openMode = ReadWrite )

Attempts to make a connection to name.

The socket is opened in the given openMode and first enters ConnectingState. It then attempts to connect to the address or addresses returned by the lookup. Finally, if a connection is established, QLocalSocket enters ConnectedState and emits connected().

At any point, the socket can emit error() to signal that an error occurred.

See also state(), serverName(), and waitForConnected().

void QLocalSocket::connected ()   [signal]

This signal is emitted after connectToServer() has been called and a connection has been successfully established.

See also connectToServer() and disconnected().

void QLocalSocket::disconnectFromServer ()

Attempts to close the socket. If there is pending data waiting to be written, QLocalSocket will enter ClosingState and wait until all data has been written. Eventually, it will enter UnconnectedState and emit the disconnectedFromServer() signal.

See also connectToServer().

void QLocalSocket::disconnected ()   [signal]

This signal is emitted when the socket has been disconnected.

See also connectToServer(), disconnectFromServer(), abort(), and connected().

LocalSocketError QLocalSocket::error () const

Returns the type of error that last occurred.

See also state() and errorString().

void QLocalSocket::error ( QLocalSocket::LocalSocketError socketError )   [signal]

This is an overloaded member function, provided for convenience.

This signal is emitted after an error occurred. The socketError parameter describes the type of error that occurred.

QLocalSocket::LocalSocketError is not a registered metatype, so for queued connections, you will have to register it with Q_DECLARE_METATYPE.

See also error() and errorString().

bool QLocalSocket::flush ()

This function writes as much as possible from the internal write buffer to the socket, without blocking. If any data was written, this function returns true; otherwise false is returned.

Call this function if you need QLocalSocket to start sending buffered data immediately. The number of bytes successfully written depends on the operating system. In most cases, you do not need to call this function, because QLocalSocket will start sending data automatically once control goes back to the event loop. In the absence of an event loop, call waitForBytesWritten() instead.

See also write() and waitForBytesWritten().

QString QLocalSocket::fullServerName () const

Returns the server path that the socket is connected to.

Note: This is platform specific

See also connectToServer() and serverName().

bool QLocalSocket::isValid () const

Returns true if the socket is valid and ready for use; otherwise returns false.

Note: The socket's state must be ConnectedState before reading and writing can occur.

See also state().

qint64 QLocalSocket::readBufferSize () const

Returns the size of the internal read buffer. This limits the amount of data that the client can receive before you call read() or readAll(). A read buffer size of 0 (the default) means that the buffer has no size limit, ensuring that no data is lost.

See also setReadBufferSize() and read().

QString QLocalSocket::serverName () const

Returns the name of the peer as specified by connectToServer(), or an empty QString if connectToServer() has not been called or it failed.

See also connectToServer() and fullServerName().

void QLocalSocket::setReadBufferSize ( qint64 size )

Sets the size of QLocalSocket's internal read buffer to be size bytes.

If the buffer size is limited to a certain size, QLocalSocket won't buffer more than this size of data. Exceptionally, a buffer size of 0 means that the read buffer is unlimited and all incoming data is buffered. This is the default.

This option is useful if you only read the data at certain points in time (e.g., in a real-time streaming application) or if you want to protect your socket against receiving too much data, which may eventually cause your application to run out of memory.

See also readBufferSize() and read().

bool QLocalSocket::setSocketDescriptor ( quintptr socketDescriptor, LocalSocketState socketState = ConnectedState, OpenMode openMode = ReadWrite )

Initializes QLocalSocket with the native socket descriptor socketDescriptor. Returns true if socketDescriptor is accepted as a valid socket descriptor; otherwise returns false. The socket is opened in the mode specified by openMode, and enters the socket state specified by socketState.

Note: It is not possible to initialize two local sockets with the same native socket descriptor.

See also socketDescriptor(), state(), and openMode().

quintptr QLocalSocket::socketDescriptor () const

Returns the native socket descriptor of the QLocalSocket object if this is available; otherwise returns -1.

The socket descriptor is not available when QLocalSocket is in UnconnectedState.

See also setSocketDescriptor().

LocalSocketState QLocalSocket::state () const

Returns the state of the socket.

See also error().

void QLocalSocket::stateChanged ( QLocalSocket::LocalSocketState socketState )   [signal]

This signal is emitted whenever QLocalSocket's state changes. The socketState parameter is the new state.

QLocalSocket::SocketState is not a registered metatype, so for queued connections, you will have to register it with Q_DECLARE_METATYPE.

See also state().

bool QLocalSocket::waitForConnected ( int msec = 30000 )

Waits until the socket is connected, up to msec milliseconds. If the connection has been established, this function returns true; otherwise it returns false. In the case where it returns false, you can call error() to determine the cause of the error.

The following example waits up to one second for a connection to be established:

 socket->connectToServer("market");
 if (socket->waitForConnected(1000))
     qDebug("Connected!");

If msecs is -1, this function will not time out.

See also connectToServer() and connected().

bool QLocalSocket::waitForDisconnected ( int msecs = 30000 )

Waits until the socket has disconnected, up to msecs milliseconds. If the connection has been disconnected, this function returns true; otherwise it returns false. In the case where it returns false, you can call error() to determine the cause of the error.

The following example waits up to one second for a connection to be closed:

 socket->disconnectFromServer();
 if (socket->waitForDisconnected(1000))
     qDebug("Disconnected!");

If msecs is -1, this function will not time out.

See also disconnectFromServer() and close().

bool QLocalSocket::waitForReadyRead ( int msecs = 30000 )   [virtual]

This function blocks until data is available for reading and the readyRead() signal has been emitted. The function will timeout after msecs milliseconds; the default timeout is 30000 milliseconds.

The function returns true if data is available for reading; otherwise it returns false (if an error occurred or the operation timed out).

Reimplemented from QIODevice.

See also waitForBytesWritten().