.\" Copyright (c) 2010 Apple Inc. All rights reserved.
.Dd December 1, 2010
.Dt dispatch_io_read 3
.Os Darwin
.Sh NAME
.Nm dispatch_io_read ,
.Nm dispatch_io_write
.Nd submit read and write operations to dispatch I/O channels
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Fd #include <dispatch/dispatch.h>
.Ft void
.Fo dispatch_io_read
.Fa "dispatch_io_t channel"
.Fa "off_t offset"
.Fa "size_t length"
.Fa "dispatch_queue_t queue"
.Fa "void (^handler)(bool done, dispatch_data_t data, int error)"
.Fc
.Ft void
.Fo dispatch_io_write
.Fa "dispatch_io_t channel"
.Fa "off_t offset"
.Fa "dispatch_data_t data"
.Fa "dispatch_queue_t queue"
.Fa "void (^handler)(bool done, dispatch_data_t data, int error)"
.Fc
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The dispatch I/O framework is an API for asynchronous read and write I/O
operations. It is an application of the ideas and idioms present in the
.Xr dispatch 3
framework to device I/O. Dispatch I/O enables an application to more easily
avoid blocking I/O operations and allows it to more directly express its I/O
requirements than by using the raw POSIX file API. Dispatch I/O will make a
best effort to optimize how and when asynchronous I/O operations are performed
based on the capabilities of the targeted device.
.Pp
This page provides details on how to read from and write to dispatch I/O
channels. Creation and configuration of these channels is covered in the
.Xr dispatch_io_create 3
page. The dispatch I/O framework also provides the convenience functions
.Xr dispatch_read 3
and
.Xr dispatch_write 3
for uses that do not require the full functionality provided by I/O channels.
.Pp
.Sh FUNDAMENTALS
The
.Fn dispatch_io_read
and
.Fn dispatch_io_write
functions are used to perform asynchronous read and write operations on
dispatch I/O channels. They can be thought of as asynchronous versions of the
.Xr fread 3
and
.Xr fwrite 3
functions in the standard C library.
.Sh READ OPERATIONS
The
.Fn dispatch_io_read
function schedules an I/O read operation on the specified dispatch I/O
.Va channel .
As results from the read operation become available, the provided
.Va handler
block will be submitted to the specified
.Va queue .
The block will be passed a dispatch data object representing the data that has
been read since the handler's previous invocation.
.Pp
The
.Va offset
parameter indicates where the read operation should begin. For a channel of
.Dv DISPATCH_IO_RANDOM
type it is interpreted relative to the position of the file pointer when the
channel was created, for a channel of
.Dv DISPATCH_IO_STREAM
type it is ignored and the read operation will begin at the current file
pointer position.
.Pp
The
.Va length
parameter indicates the number of bytes that should be read from the I/O
channel. Pass
.Dv SIZE_MAX
to keep reading until EOF is encountered (for a channel created from a
disk-based file this happens when reading past the end of the physical file).
.Sh WRITE OPERATIONS
The
.Fn dispatch_io_write
function schedules an I/O write operation on the specified dispatch I/O
.Va channel .
As the write operation progresses, the provided
.Va handler
block will be submitted to the specified
.Va queue .
The block will be passed a dispatch data object representing the data that
remains to be written as part of this I/O operation.
.Pp
The
.Va offset
parameter indicates where the write operation should begin. It is interpreted
as for read operations above.
.Pp
The
.Va data
parameter specifies the location and amount of data to be written, encapsulated
as a dispatch data object. The object is retained by the system until the write
operation is complete.
.Sh I/O HANDLER BLOCKS
Dispatch I/O handler blocks submitted to a channel via the
.Fn dispatch_io_read
or
.Fn dispatch_io_write
functions will be executed one or more times depending on system load and the
channel's configuration settings (see
.Xr dispatch_io_create 3
for details). The handler block need not be reentrant safe,
no new I/O handler instance is submitted until the previously enqueued handler
block has returned.
.Pp
The dispatch
.Va data
object passed to an I/O handler block will be released by the system when the
block returns, if access to the memory buffer it represents is needed outside
of the handler, the handler block must retain the data object or create a new
(e.g.\& concatenated) data object from it (see
.Xr dispatch_data_create 3
for details).
.Pp
Once an I/O handler block is invoked with the
.Va done
flag set, the associated I/O operation is complete and that handler block will
not be run again. If an unrecoverable error occurs while performing the I/O
operation, the handler block will be submitted with the
.Va done
flag set and the appropriate POSIX error code in the
.Va error
parameter. An invocation of a handler block with the
.Va done
flag set, zero
.Va error
and
.Va data
set to
.Vt dispatch_data_empty
indicates that the I/O operation has encountered EOF.
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr dispatch 3 ,
.Xr dispatch_data_create 3 ,
.Xr dispatch_io_create 3 ,
.Xr dispatch_read 3 ,
.Xr fread 3