Struct ipworksipc::PipeServer

Properties   Methods   Events   Config Settings   Errors  

The PipeServer struct is a lightweight server struct based on an asynchronous, event-driven architecture. It is designed to balance the load between connections for a fast, powerful server.

Syntax

ipworksipc::PipeServer

Remarks

PipeServer is the server complement of PipeClient (which is used to create client applications). They share a common design philosophy and interface. PipeServer is as easy to use as PipeClient.

The client connections are identified by a ConnectionId, an id generated by the component to identify each connection. This id is unique to each connection. PipeServer's events also have ConnectionId as a parameter to identify the connection to which they are related.

Our main goal in designing PipeServer was to make it easy to use without sacrificing performance. The struct has a minimum of properties, and events: on_connected, on_data_in, on_disconnected, on_ready_to_send, and on_error.

PipeServer can start to listen on a pipe by setting pipe_name and then setting listening to True. When a client connects the on_connected event fires, a ConnectionId is assigned, and communication can start. From this point on, the operation is very similar to PipeClient.

Object Lifetime

The new() method returns a mutable reference to a struct instance. The object itself is kept in the global list maintained by IPWorksIPC. Due to this, the PipeServer struct cannot be disposed of automatically. Please, call the dispose(&self) method of PipeServer when you have finished using the instance.

Property List

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The following is the full list of the properties of the struct with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

Method List

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The following is the full list of the methods of the struct with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

Event List

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The following is the full list of the events fired by the struct with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

Config Settings

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The following is a list of config settings for the struct with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

connection_count property (PipeServer Struct)

The number of records in the arrays.

Syntax

fn connection_count(&self) -> Result<i32, IPWorksIPCError> 

Default Value

0

Remarks

This property controls the size of the following arrays:

• accept_data
• bytes_sent
• connected
• connection_id
• eol
• max_line_length
• single_line_mode
• timeout

The array indices start at 0 and end at connection_count - 1.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

i32

accept_data property (PipeServer Struct)

This property indicates whether data reception is currently enabled.

Syntax

fn accept_data(&self, ConnectionId : i32) -> Result<bool, IPWorksIPCError> 

Default Value

true

Remarks

This property indicates whether data reception is currently enabled. When false, data reception is disabled and the on_data_in event will not fire for the connection. Use the pause_data and process_data methods to pause and resume data reception.

The ConnectionId parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the connection_count property.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

bool

bytes_sent property (PipeServer Struct)

This property shows how many bytes were sent after calling Send or SendBytes .

Syntax

fn bytes_sent(&self, ConnectionId : i32) -> Result<i32, IPWorksIPCError> 

Default Value

0

Remarks

This property shows how many bytes were sent after calling send or send_bytes. Please see send or send_bytes for more information.

NOTE: This property will always return 0 when the struct is operating in the synchronous mode (i.e., the timeout property is set to a positive value).

The ConnectionId parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the connection_count property.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

i32

connected property (PipeServer Struct)

This property is used to disconnect individual connections and/or show their status.

Syntax

fn connected(&self, ConnectionId : i32) -> Result<bool, IPWorksIPCError> 

Default Value

false

Remarks

The connected property may be set to false to close the connection.

connected also shows the status of a particular connection (connected/disconnected).

Use the connect and disconnect methods to manage the connection.

The ConnectionId parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the connection_count property.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

bool

connection_id property (PipeServer Struct)

This property contains an identifier generated by the struct to identify each connection.

Syntax

fn connection_id(&self, ConnectionId : i32) -> Result<i32, IPWorksIPCError> 

Default Value

0

Remarks

This property contains an identifier generated by the struct to identify each connection. This identifier is unique to this connection.

The ConnectionId parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the connection_count property.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

i32

eol property (PipeServer Struct)

The EOL property is used to define boundaries in the input stream using the value of the property.

Syntax

fn eol(&self, ConnectionId : i32) -> Result<Vec<u8>, IPWorksIPCError> 
fn set_eol(&self, ConnectionId : i32, value : Vec<u8>) ->  Option<IPWorksIPCError> 
fn set_eol_ref(&self, ConnectionId : i32, value : &[u8]) ->  Option<IPWorksIPCError> 

Default Value

""

Remarks

The eol property is especially useful with ASCII files. By setting it to CRLF ("\r\n") , the incoming ASCII text stream can be split into lines. In this case, one event is fired for each line received (as well as in packet boundaries). The CRLF ("\r\n") . bytes are discarded.

The eol property is a binary string. This means that it can be more than one byte long, and it can contain NULL bytes.

When reading the value of the property, if ConnectionId does not belong to a valid connection, then NULL will be returned, and the last_error property will contain a corresponding error message. If no error is encountered, then last_error will contain NULL.

The ConnectionId parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the connection_count property.

Data Type

Vec<u8>

max_line_length property (PipeServer Struct)

This property is the size of an internal buffer that holds received data while waiting for an EOL string.

Syntax

fn max_line_length(&self, ConnectionId : i32) -> Result<i32, IPWorksIPCError> 
fn set_max_line_length(&self, ConnectionId : i32, value : i32) ->  Option<IPWorksIPCError> 

Default Value

2048

Remarks

If an eol string is found in the input stream before max_line_length bytes are received, the on_data_in event is fired with the EOL parameter set to True, and the buffer is reset.

If no eol is found, and max_line_length bytes are accumulated in the buffer, the on_data_in event is fired with the EOL parameter set to False, and the buffer is reset.

The minimum value for max_line_length is 256 bytes. The default value is 2048 bytes.

The ConnectionId parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the connection_count property.

Data Type

i32

single_line_mode property (PipeServer Struct)

This property shows the special mode for line-oriented protocols.

Syntax

fn single_line_mode(&self, ConnectionId : i32) -> Result<bool, IPWorksIPCError> 
fn set_single_line_mode(&self, ConnectionId : i32, value : bool) ->  Option<IPWorksIPCError> 

Default Value

false

Remarks

This property shows the special mode for line-oriented protocols. When single_line_mode is True, the struct treats the incoming data stream as lines separated by carriage return (CR), line feed (LF), or CRLF. The eol property is ignored.

The ConnectionId parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the connection_count property.

Data Type

bool

timeout property (PipeServer Struct)

This property specifies a timeout for the struct.

Syntax

fn timeout(&self, ConnectionId : i32) -> Result<i32, IPWorksIPCError> 
fn set_timeout(&self, ConnectionId : i32, value : i32) ->  Option<IPWorksIPCError> 

Default Value

0

Remarks

If the timeout property is set to 0, all operations return immediately, potentially failing with a WOULDBLOCK error if data cannot be sent immediately.

If timeout is set to a positive value, data is sent in a blocking manner and the struct will wait for the operation to complete before returning control. The struct will handle any potential WOULDBLOCK errors internally and automatically retry the operation for a maximum of timeout seconds.

The struct will use do_events to enter an efficient wait loop during any potential waiting period, making sure that all system events are processed immediately as they arrive. This ensures that the host application does not freeze and remains responsive.

If timeout expires, and the operation is not yet complete, the struct fails with an error.

NOTE: By default, all timeouts are inactivity timeouts, that is, the timeout period is extended by timeout seconds when any amount of data is successfully sent or received.

The default value for the timeout property is 0 (asynchronous operation).

The ConnectionId parameter specifies the index of the item in the array. The size of the array is controlled by the connection_count property.

Data Type

i32

default_eol property (PipeServer Struct)

This property includes a default end-of-line (EOL) value to be used by incoming connections.

Syntax

fn default_eol(&self) -> Result<Vec<u8>, IPWorksIPCError> 
fn set_default_eol(&self, value : Vec<u8>) ->  Option<IPWorksIPCError> 
fn set_default_eol_ref(&self, value : &[u8]) ->  Option<IPWorksIPCError> 

Default Value

""

Remarks

This property contains a default end-of-line (EOL) value to be used by incoming connections. Once the struct accepts and establishes an inbound connection, it will set that connection's EOL to the value in this property. By default, this value is empty (""), meaning that data will be fired as it is received.

Data Type

Vec<u8>

default_max_line_length property (PipeServer Struct)

The property includes the default maximum line length value for inbound connections.

Syntax

fn default_max_line_length(&self) -> Result<i32, IPWorksIPCError> 
fn set_default_max_line_length(&self, value : i32) ->  Option<IPWorksIPCError> 

Default Value

2048

Remarks

This property controls the default size of an internal buffer that holds received data while waiting for an end-of-line (EOL) string.

The minimum value for this property is 256 bytes. The default value is 2048 bytes.

Data Type

i32

default_single_line_mode property (PipeServer Struct)

This property tells the struct whether or not to treat new connections as line oriented.

Syntax

fn default_single_line_mode(&self) -> Result<bool, IPWorksIPCError> 
fn set_default_single_line_mode(&self, value : bool) ->  Option<IPWorksIPCError> 

Default Value

false

Remarks

This property instructs the component whether or not to treat newly established connections as line-oriented protocols. If this value is True, newly accepted connections will read the incoming data stream as lines separated by a carriage return line feed (CRLF), carriage return (CR), or line feed (LF) and will ignore the end of lines (EOLs).

Data Type

bool

default_timeout property (PipeServer Struct)

This property includes an initial timeout value to be used by incoming connections.

Syntax

fn default_timeout(&self) -> Result<i32, IPWorksIPCError> 
fn set_default_timeout(&self, value : i32) ->  Option<IPWorksIPCError> 

Default Value

0

Remarks

This property is used by the struct to set the operational timeout value of all inbound connections once they are established.

By default, the timeout is 0, meaning that all inbound connections will behave asynchronously.

Data Type

i32

listening property (PipeServer Struct)

If True, the struct accepts incoming connections.

Syntax

fn listening(&self) -> Result<bool, IPWorksIPCError> 

Default Value

false

Remarks

Use this property to make the struct 'listen' (accept connections) on the pipe specified by pipe_name. Setting this property to False will make the struct stop listening. Please note that this does not close any existing connections.

Use the start_listening and stop_listening methods to control whether the struct is listening.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

bool

pipe_name property (PipeServer Struct)

The name of the pipe.

Syntax

fn pipe_name(&self) -> Result<String, IPWorksIPCError> 
fn set_pipe_name(&self, value : &str) ->  Option<IPWorksIPCError> 
fn set_pipe_name_ref(&self, value : &String) ->  Option<IPWorksIPCError> 

Default Value

""

Remarks

This property specifies the name of the pipe on which to accept connections. Clients must use this name when establishing a connection to PipeServer.

Data Type

String

config method (PipeServer Struct)

Sets or retrieves a configuration setting.

Syntax

fn config(&self, configuration_string : &str) -> Result<String, IPWorksIPCError>

Remarks

config is a generic method available in every struct. It is used to set and retrieve configuration settings for the struct.

These settings are similar in functionality to properties, but they are rarely used. In order to avoid "polluting" the property namespace of the struct, access to these internal properties is provided through the config method.

To set a configuration setting named PROPERTY, you must call Config("PROPERTY=VALUE"), where VALUE is the value of the setting expressed as a string. For boolean values, use the strings "True", "False", "0", "1", "Yes", or "No" (case does not matter).

To read (query) the value of a configuration setting, you must call Config("PROPERTY"). The value will be returned as a string.

disconnect method (PipeServer Struct)

This method disconnects the specified client.

Syntax

fn disconnect(&self, connection_id : i32) -> Result<(), IPWorksIPCError>

Remarks

Calling this method will disconnect the client specified by the connection_id parameter.

do_events method (PipeServer Struct)

This method processes events from the internal message queue.

Syntax

fn do_events(&self) -> Result<(), IPWorksIPCError>

Remarks

When do_events is called, the struct processes any available events. If no events are available, it waits for a preset period of time, and then returns.

interrupt method (PipeServer Struct)

This method interrupts a synchronous send to the remote host.

Syntax

fn interrupt(&self, connection_id : i32) -> Result<(), IPWorksIPCError>

Remarks

This property is called using the Connection Id if you wish to interrupt a connection and stop a file from uploading without disconnecting the client connected to the struct. If you use send_file to upload a file, the struct will run synchronously on that Connection Id until it is completed.

send method (PipeServer Struct)

This method sends binary data to the specified client.

Syntax

fn send(&self, connection_id : i32, text : &[u8]) -> Result<(), IPWorksIPCError>

Remarks

This method sends binary data to the client identified by connection_id. To send text, use the send_text method instead.

When timeout is set to 0, the struct will behave asynchronously. If you are sending data to the remote host faster than it can process it, or faster than the network's bandwidth allows, the outgoing queue might fill up. When this happens, the operation fails with error 10035: "[10035] Operation would block" (WSAEWOULDBLOCK). You can check this error, and then try to send the data again. . The bytes_sent property shows how many bytes were sent (if any). If 0 bytes were sent, then you can wait for the on_ready_to_send event before attempting to send data again.

NOTE: The on_ready_to_send event is not fired when part of the data is sent successfully.

send_bytes method (PipeServer Struct)

This method sends binary data to the specified client.

Syntax

fn send_bytes(&self, connection_id : i32, data : &[u8]) -> Result<(), IPWorksIPCError>

Remarks

This method sends binary data to the client identified by connection_id. To send text, use the send_text method instead.

When timeout is set to 0, the struct will behave asynchronously. If you are sending data to the remote host faster than it can process it, or faster than the network's bandwidth allows, the outgoing queue might fill up. When this happens, the operation fails with error 10035: "[10035] Operation would block" (WSAEWOULDBLOCK). You can check this error, and then try to send the data again. . The bytes_sent property shows how many bytes were sent (if any). If 0 bytes were sent, then you can wait for the on_ready_to_send event before attempting to send data again.

NOTE: The on_ready_to_send event is not fired when part of the data is sent successfully.

send_file method (PipeServer Struct)

This method sends the file to the remote host.

Syntax

fn send_file(&self, connection_id : i32, file_name : &str) -> Result<(), IPWorksIPCError>

Remarks

This method sends the file to the client specified by the connection_id.

send_line method (PipeServer Struct)

This method sends a string followed by a new line.

Syntax

fn send_line(&self, connection_id : i32, text : &str) -> Result<(), IPWorksIPCError>

Remarks

This method is used to send data with line-oriented protocols. The line is followed by CRLF ("\r\n") .

Please refer to the get_line method and single_line_mode property for more information.

send_text method (PipeServer Struct)

This method sends text to the specified client.

Syntax

fn send_text(&self, connection_id : i32, text : &str) -> Result<(), IPWorksIPCError>

Remarks

This method sends text to the client identified by connection_id. To send binary data, use the send_bytes method instead.

When timeout is set to 0, the struct will behave asynchronously. If you are sending data to the remote host faster than it can process it, or faster than the network's bandwidth allows, the outgoing queue might fill up. When this happens, the operation fails with error 10035: "[10035] Operation would block" (WSAEWOULDBLOCK). You can check this error, and then try to send the data again. . The bytes_sent property shows how many bytes were sent (if any). If 0 bytes were sent, then you can wait for the on_ready_to_send event before attempting to send data again.

NOTE: The on_ready_to_send event is not fired when part of the data is sent successfully.

shutdown method (PipeServer Struct)

This method shuts down the server.

Syntax

fn shutdown(&self) -> Result<(), IPWorksIPCError>

Remarks

This method shuts down the server. Calling this method is equivalent to calling stop_listening and then breaking every client connection by calling disconnect.

start_listening method (PipeServer Struct)

This method starts listening for incoming connections.

Syntax

fn start_listening(&self) -> Result<(), IPWorksIPCError>

Remarks

This method begins listening for incoming connections on the pipe specified by pipe_name.

To stop listening for new connections, call stop_listening. To stop listening for new connections and to disconnect all existing clients, call shutdown.

stop_listening method (PipeServer Struct)

This method stops listening for new connections.

Syntax

fn stop_listening(&self) -> Result<(), IPWorksIPCError>

Remarks

This method stops listening for new connections. After being called, any new connection attempts will be rejected. Calling this method does not disconnect existing connections.

To stop listening and to disconnect all existing clients, call shutdown instead.

on_connected event (PipeServer Struct)

Fired immediately after a connection completes.

Syntax

// PipeServerConnectedEventArgs carries the PipeServer Connected event's parameters.
pub struct PipeServerConnectedEventArgs {
  fn connection_id(&self) -> i32
}

// PipeServerConnectedEvent defines the signature of the PipeServer Connected event's handler function.
pub trait PipeServerConnectedEvent {
  fn on_connected(&self, sender : PipeServer, e : &mut PipeServerConnectedEventArgs);
}

impl <'a> PipeServer<'a> {
  pub fn on_connected(&self) -> &'a dyn PipeServerConnectedEvent;
  pub fn set_on_connected(&mut self, value : &'a dyn PipeServerConnectedEvent);
  ...
}

Remarks

This event fires immediately after a client connects. The ConnectionId parameter identifies the client connection.

on_data_in event (PipeServer Struct)

This event is fired when data come in.

Syntax

// PipeServerDataInEventArgs carries the PipeServer DataIn event's parameters.
pub struct PipeServerDataInEventArgs {
  fn connection_id(&self) -> i32
  fn text(&self) -> &[u8]
  fn eol(&self) -> bool
}

// PipeServerDataInEvent defines the signature of the PipeServer DataIn event's handler function.
pub trait PipeServerDataInEvent {
  fn on_data_in(&self, sender : PipeServer, e : &mut PipeServerDataInEventArgs);
}

impl <'a> PipeServer<'a> {
  pub fn on_data_in(&self) -> &'a dyn PipeServerDataInEvent;
  pub fn set_on_data_in(&mut self, value : &'a dyn PipeServerDataInEvent);
  ...
}

Remarks

Trapping the on_data_in event is your only chance to get the data coming from the other end of the connection specified by connection_id. The incoming data are provided through the text parameter.

eol indicates whether or not the eol string was found at the end of text. If the eol string was found, then eol is True.

If Text is part of the data portion of length larger than either default_max_line_length or max_line_length with no eol strings in it, then eol is False. Please note that this means that one or more on_data_in events with eol set to False can be received during a connection.

If the eol property is "" (empty string), then eol can be disregarded (it is always True).

NOTE: Events are not re-entrant. Performing time-consuming operations within this event will prevent it from firing again in a timely manner and may affect overall performance.

on_disconnected event (PipeServer Struct)

Fires when a client disconnects.

Syntax

// PipeServerDisconnectedEventArgs carries the PipeServer Disconnected event's parameters.
pub struct PipeServerDisconnectedEventArgs {
  fn connection_id(&self) -> i32
}

// PipeServerDisconnectedEvent defines the signature of the PipeServer Disconnected event's handler function.
pub trait PipeServerDisconnectedEvent {
  fn on_disconnected(&self, sender : PipeServer, e : &mut PipeServerDisconnectedEventArgs);
}

impl <'a> PipeServer<'a> {
  pub fn on_disconnected(&self) -> &'a dyn PipeServerDisconnectedEvent;
  pub fn set_on_disconnected(&mut self, value : &'a dyn PipeServerDisconnectedEvent);
  ...
}

Remarks

This event fires when a client disconnects. The ConnectionId parameters identifies the client that is disconnected.

on_error event (PipeServer Struct)

This event fires information about errors during data delivery.

Syntax

// PipeServerErrorEventArgs carries the PipeServer Error event's parameters.
pub struct PipeServerErrorEventArgs {
  fn connection_id(&self) -> i32
  fn error_code(&self) -> i32
  fn description(&self) -> &String
}

// PipeServerErrorEvent defines the signature of the PipeServer Error event's handler function.
pub trait PipeServerErrorEvent {
  fn on_error(&self, sender : PipeServer, e : &mut PipeServerErrorEventArgs);
}

impl <'a> PipeServer<'a> {
  pub fn on_error(&self) -> &'a dyn PipeServerErrorEvent;
  pub fn set_on_error(&mut self, value : &'a dyn PipeServerErrorEvent);
  ...
}

Remarks

The on_error event is fired in case of exceptional conditions during message processing. Normally, the struct fails with an error.

error_code contains an error code and description contains a textual description of the error. For a list of valid error codes and their descriptions, please refer to the Error Codes section.

connection_id indicates the connection for which the error is applicable.

on_ready_to_send event (PipeServer Struct)

Fired when the struct is ready to send data.

Syntax

// PipeServerReadyToSendEventArgs carries the PipeServer ReadyToSend event's parameters.
pub struct PipeServerReadyToSendEventArgs {
  fn connection_id(&self) -> i32
}

// PipeServerReadyToSendEvent defines the signature of the PipeServer ReadyToSend event's handler function.
pub trait PipeServerReadyToSendEvent {
  fn on_ready_to_send(&self, sender : PipeServer, e : &mut PipeServerReadyToSendEventArgs);
}

impl <'a> PipeServer<'a> {
  pub fn on_ready_to_send(&self) -> &'a dyn PipeServerReadyToSendEvent;
  pub fn set_on_ready_to_send(&mut self, value : &'a dyn PipeServerReadyToSendEvent);
  ...
}

Remarks

The on_ready_to_send event indicates that the underlying pipe is ready to accept data after a failed send_bytes. The event is also fired immediately after a connection to the remote host is established.

Config Settings (PipeServer Struct)

The struct accepts one or more of the following configuration settings. Configuration settings are similar in functionality to properties, but they are rarely used. In order to avoid "polluting" the property namespace of the struct, access to these internal properties is provided through the config method.

PipeServer Config Settings

Base Config Settings

Trappable Errors (PipeServer Struct)

PipeServer Errors