[Python-Dev] Return value from socket.fileno()

[Alan Kennedy]

Dear all,

I am writing to seek information about the socket.fileno() method, and 
opinions on how best to implement it on jython.

On cpython, socket.fileno() returns a file descriptor, i.e. an integer 
index into an array of file objects. This integer is then passed to 
select.select and select.poll, to register interest in specified events 
on the socket, i.e. readability, writability, connectedness, etc.

Importantly, it is possible to select and poll on a socket's file 
descriptor immediately after the socket is created, e.g. before it is 
connected and even before a non-blocking connect process has been started.

This is problematic on java, because java has different classes for 
client and server sockets. Therefore, on jython, creation of the actual 
socket implementation is deferred until the user has called a method 
which commits the socket to being a client or server socket, e.g. 
connect, listen, etc. This means that there is no meaningful 
descriptor/channel that can be returned from fileno() until the nature 
of the socket is determined.

Also, file descriptors have no meaning on java. Instead, java Selectors 
select on java.nio.channels.SelectableChannel objects. But, ideally, 
this should not matter: AFAICT, the return value from fileno should be 
simply an opaque handle which has no purpose other than to be handed to 
select and poll, to indicate interest in events on the associated socket.

I have been thinking that the simplest way to implement socket.fileno() 
on jython is to return the actual socket object, i.e. return self. When 
this object is passed to select/poll as a parameter, the select/poll 
implementation would know to retrieve the underlying java 
SelectableChannel, if it exists yet. If it does not yet exist, because 
the socket is not yet commited to being a server or client socket, then 
it is simply excluded from the select/poll operation.

The only problem with it is returning a non-integer from the fileno() 
method; instead a socket object would be returned.

So the question I'm asking is: Does anyone know of existing cpython code 
which relies on the return value from socket.fileno() being an integer? 
Or code that would break if it were returned a socket instance instead 
of an integer?

Thanks,

Alan.

P.S. If anyone is interested, a non-blocking sockets and select (and 
soon asyncore) implementation is currently residing in the jython 
sandbox. It is hoped that it will be included in jython 2.2rc1. More here

http://wiki.python.org/jython/NewSocketModule