uv_poll_t — Poll handle

Poll handles are used to watch file descriptors for readability and writability, similar to the purpose of poll(2).

The purpose of poll handles is to enable integrating external libraries that rely on the event loop to signal it about the socket status changes, like c-ares or libssh2. Using uv_poll_t for any other purpose is not recommended; uv_tcp_t, uv_udp_t, etc. provide an implementation that is faster and more scalable than what can be achieved with uv_poll_t, especially on Windows.

It is possible that poll handles occasionally signal that a file descriptor is readable or writable even when it isn’t. The user should therefore always be prepared to handle EAGAIN or equivalent when it attempts to read from or write to the fd.

It is not okay to have multiple active poll handles for the same socket, this can cause libuv to busyloop or otherwise malfunction.

The user should not close a file descriptor while it is being polled by an active poll handle. This can cause the handle to report an error, but it might also start polling another socket. However the fd can be safely closed immediately after a call to uv_poll_stop() or uv_close().

Note

On windows only sockets can be polled with poll handles. On Unix any file descriptor that would be accepted by poll(2) can be used.

Data types

uv_poll_t

Poll handle type.

void (*uv_poll_cb)(uv_poll_t* handle, int status, int events)

Type definition for callback passed to uv_poll_start().

uv_poll_event

Poll event types

enum uv_poll_event {
    UV_READABLE = 1,
    UV_WRITABLE = 2
};

Public members

N/A

See also

The uv_handle_t members also apply.

API

int uv_poll_init(uv_loop_t* loop, uv_poll_t* handle, int fd)

Initialize the handle using a file descriptor.

Changed in version 1.2.2: the file descriptor is set to non-blocking mode.

int uv_poll_init_socket(uv_loop_t* loop, uv_poll_t* handle, uv_os_sock_t socket)

Initialize the handle using a socket descriptor. On Unix this is identical to uv_poll_init(). On windows it takes a SOCKET handle.

Changed in version 1.2.2: the socket is set to non-blocking mode.

int uv_poll_start(uv_poll_t* handle, int events, uv_poll_cb cb)

Starts polling the file descriptor. events is a bitmask consisting made up of UV_READABLE and UV_WRITABLE. As soon as an event is detected the callback will be called with status set to 0, and the detected events set on the events field.

If an error happens while polling, status will be < 0 and corresponds with one of the UV_E* error codes (see Error handling). The user should not close the socket while the handle is active. If the user does that anyway, the callback may be called reporting an error status, but this is not guaranteed.

Note

Calling uv_poll_start() on a handle that is already active is fine. Doing so will update the events mask that is being watched for.

int uv_poll_stop(uv_poll_t* poll)

Stop polling the file descriptor, the callback will no longer be called.

See also

The uv_handle_t API functions also apply.