gen_tcp(3)

MODULE
gen_tcp - Interface to TCP/IP sockets

DESCRIPTION

The gen_tcp module provides functions for communicating with sockets using the TCP/IP protocol.

The following code fragment provides a simple example of a client connecting to a server at port 5678, transferring a binary and closing the connection:
client() ->
    SomeHostInNet = "localhost" % to make it runnable on one machine
    {ok, Sock} = gen_tcp:connect(SomeHostInNet, 5678,
                                 [binary, {packet, 0}]),
    ok = gen_tcp:send(Sock, "Some Data"),
    ok = gen_tcp:close(Sock).

At the other end a server is listening on port 5678, accepts the connection and receives the binary:
server() ->
    {ok, LSock} = gen_tcp:listen(5678, [binary, {packet, 0},
                                        {active, false}]),
    {ok, Sock} = gen_tcp:accept(LSock),
    {ok, Bin} = do_recv(Sock, []),
    ok = gen_tcp:close(Sock),
    Bin.
do_recv(Sock, Bs) ->
    case gen_tcp:recv(Sock, 0) of
        {ok, B} ->
            do_recv(Sock, [Bs, B]);
        {error, closed} ->
            {ok, list_to_binary(Bs)}
    end.

DATA TYPES
ip_address()
  see inet(3)
posix()
  see inet(3)
socket()
  as returned by accept/1,2 and connect/3,4

EXPORTS

connect(Address, Port, Options) -> {ok, Socket} | {error, Reason}
connect(Address, Port, Options, Timeout) -> {ok, Socket} | {error, Reason}

    Types
        Address = string() | atom() | ip_address()
        Port = 0..65535
        Options = [Opt]
        Opt -- see below
        Timeout = int() | infinity
        Socket = socket()
        Reason = posix()

    Connects to a server on TCP port Port on the host with IP address Address. The Address argument can be either a hostname, or an IP address.

    The available options are:

        list:
            Received Packet is delivered as a list.

        binary:
            Received Packet is delivered as a binary.

        {ip, ip_address()}:
            If the host has several network interfaces, this option specifies which one to use.

        {port, Port}:
            Specify which local port number to use.

        {fd, int()}:
            If a socket has somehow been connected without using gen_tcp, use this option to pass the file descriptor for it.

        inet6:
            Set up the socket for IPv6.

        inet:
            Set up the socket for IPv4.

        Opt:
            See inet:setopts/2.

    Packets can be sent to the returned socket Socket using send/2. Packets sent from the peer are delivered as messages:
    {tcp, Socket, Data}

    If the socket is closed, the following message is delivered:
    {tcp_closed, Socket}

    If an error occurs on the socket, the following message is delivered:
    {tcp_error, Socket, Reason}

    unless {active, false} is specified in the option list for the socket, in which case packets are retrieved by calling recv/2.

    The optional Timeout parameter specifies a timeout in milliseconds. The default value is infinity.

  Note:

The default values for options given to connect can be affected by the Kernel configuration parameter inet_default_connect_options. See inet(3) for details.

listen(Port, Options) -> {ok, ListenSocket} | {error, Reason}

    Types
        Port = 0..65535
        Options = [Opt]
        Opt -- see below
        ListenSocket -- see below
        Reason = posix()

    Sets up a socket to listen on the port Port on the local host.

    If Port == 0, the underlying OS assigns an available port number, use inet:port/1 to retrieve it.

    The available options are:

        list:
            Received Packet is delivered as a list.

        binary:
            Received Packet is delivered as a binary.

        {backlog, B}:
            B is an integer >= 0. The backlog value defaults to 5. The backlog value defines the maximum length that the queue of pending connections may grow to.

        {ip, ip_address()}:
            If the host has several network interfaces, this option specifies which one to listen on.

        {fd, Fd}:
            If a socket has somehow been connected without using gen_tcp, use this option to pass the file descriptor for it.

        inet6:
            Set up the socket for IPv6.

        inet:
            Set up the socket for IPv4.

        Opt:
            See inet:setopts/2.

    The returned socket ListenSocket can only be used in calls to accept/1, 2.

  Note:

The default values for options given to listen can be affected by the Kernel configuration parameter inet_default_listen_options. See inet(3) for details.

accept(ListenSocket) -> {ok, Socket} | {error, Reason}
accept(ListenSocket, Timeout) -> {ok, Socket} | {error, Reason}

    Types
        ListenSocket -- see listen/2
        Timeout = int() | infinity
        Socket = socket()
        Reason = closed | timeout | posix()

    Accepts an incoming connection request on a listen socket. Socket must be a socket returned from listen/2. Timeout specifies a timeout value in ms, defaults to infinity.

    Returns {ok, Socket} if a connection is established, or {error, closed} if ListenSocket is closed, or {error, timeout} if no connection is established within the specified time. May also return a POSIX error value if something else goes wrong, see inet(3) for possible error values.

    Packets can be sent to the returned socket Socket using send/2. Packets sent from the peer are delivered as messages:
    {tcp, Socket, Data}

    unless {active, false} was specified in the option list for the listen socket, in which case packets are retrieved by calling recv/2.

  Note:

It is worth noting that the accept call does not have to be issued from the socket owner process. Using version 5.5.3 and higher of the emulator, multiple simultaneous accept calls can be issued from different processes, which allows for a pool of acceptor processes handling incoming connections.

send(Socket, Packet) -> ok | {error, Reason}

    Types
        Socket = socket()
        Packet = [char()] | binary()
        Reason = posix()

    Sends a packet on a socket.

recv(Socket, Length) -> {ok, Packet} | {error, Reason}
recv(Socket, Length, Timeout) -> {ok, Packet} | {error, Reason}

    Types
        Socket = socket()
        Length = int()
        Packet = [char()] | binary()
        Timeout = int() | infinity
        Reason = closed | posix()

    This function receives a packet from a socket in passive mode. A closed socket is indicated by a return value {error, closed}.

    The Length argument is only meaningful when the socket is in raw mode and denotes the number of bytes to read. If Length = 0, all available bytes are returned. If Length > 0, exactly Length bytes are returned, or an error; possibly discarding less than Length bytes of data when the socket gets closed from the other side.

    The optional Timeout parameter specifies a timeout in milliseconds. The default value is infinity.

controlling_process(Socket, Pid) -> ok | {error, eperm}

    Types
        Socket = socket()
        Pid = pid()

    Assigns a new controlling process Pid to Socket. The controlling process is the process which receives messages from the socket. If called by any other process than the current controlling process, {error, eperm} is returned.

close(Socket) -> ok | {error, Reason}

    Types
        Socket = socket()
        Reason = posix()

    Closes a TCP socket.

shutdown(Socket, How) -> ok | {error, Reason}

    Types
        Socket = socket()
        How = read | write | read_write
        Reason = posix()

    Immediately close a socket in one or two directions.

    How == write means closing the socket for writing, reading from it is still possible.

    To be able to handle that the peer has done a shutdown on the write side, the {exit_on_close, false} option is useful.

AUTHOR
tony@erix.ericsson.se - support@erlang.ericsson.se