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      1 
      2 :mod:`termios` --- POSIX style tty control
      3 ==========================================
      4 
      5 .. module:: termios
      6    :platform: Unix
      7    :synopsis: POSIX style tty control.
      8 
      9 
     10 .. index::
     11    pair: POSIX; I/O control
     12    pair: tty; I/O control
     13 
     14 This module provides an interface to the POSIX calls for tty I/O control. For a
     15 complete description of these calls, see :manpage:`termios(2)` Unix manual
     16 page.  It is only available for those Unix versions that support POSIX
     17 *termios* style tty I/O control configured during installation.
     18 
     19 All functions in this module take a file descriptor *fd* as their first
     20 argument.  This can be an integer file descriptor, such as returned by
     21 ``sys.stdin.fileno()``, or a file object, such as ``sys.stdin`` itself.
     22 
     23 This module also defines all the constants needed to work with the functions
     24 provided here; these have the same name as their counterparts in C.  Please
     25 refer to your system documentation for more information on using these terminal
     26 control interfaces.
     27 
     28 The module defines the following functions:
     29 
     30 
     31 .. function:: tcgetattr(fd)
     32 
     33    Return a list containing the tty attributes for file descriptor *fd*, as
     34    follows: ``[iflag, oflag, cflag, lflag, ispeed, ospeed, cc]`` where *cc* is a
     35    list of the tty special characters (each a string of length 1, except the
     36    items with indices :const:`VMIN` and :const:`VTIME`, which are integers when
     37    these fields are defined).  The interpretation of the flags and the speeds as
     38    well as the indexing in the *cc* array must be done using the symbolic
     39    constants defined in the :mod:`termios` module.
     40 
     41 
     42 .. function:: tcsetattr(fd, when, attributes)
     43 
     44    Set the tty attributes for file descriptor *fd* from the *attributes*, which is
     45    a list like the one returned by :func:`tcgetattr`.  The *when* argument
     46    determines when the attributes are changed: :const:`TCSANOW` to change
     47    immediately, :const:`TCSADRAIN` to change after transmitting all queued output,
     48    or :const:`TCSAFLUSH` to change after transmitting all queued output and
     49    discarding all queued input.
     50 
     51 
     52 .. function:: tcsendbreak(fd, duration)
     53 
     54    Send a break on file descriptor *fd*.  A zero *duration* sends a break for 0.25
     55    --0.5 seconds; a nonzero *duration* has a system dependent meaning.
     56 
     57 
     58 .. function:: tcdrain(fd)
     59 
     60    Wait until all output written to file descriptor *fd* has been transmitted.
     61 
     62 
     63 .. function:: tcflush(fd, queue)
     64 
     65    Discard queued data on file descriptor *fd*.  The *queue* selector specifies
     66    which queue: :const:`TCIFLUSH` for the input queue, :const:`TCOFLUSH` for the
     67    output queue, or :const:`TCIOFLUSH` for both queues.
     68 
     69 
     70 .. function:: tcflow(fd, action)
     71 
     72    Suspend or resume input or output on file descriptor *fd*.  The *action*
     73    argument can be :const:`TCOOFF` to suspend output, :const:`TCOON` to restart
     74    output, :const:`TCIOFF` to suspend input, or :const:`TCION` to restart input.
     75 
     76 
     77 .. seealso::
     78 
     79    Module :mod:`tty`
     80       Convenience functions for common terminal control operations.
     81 
     82 
     83 Example
     84 -------
     85 
     86 .. _termios-example:
     87 
     88 Here's a function that prompts for a password with echoing turned off.  Note the
     89 technique using a separate :func:`tcgetattr` call and a :keyword:`try` ...
     90 :keyword:`finally` statement to ensure that the old tty attributes are restored
     91 exactly no matter what happens::
     92 
     93    def getpass(prompt="Password: "):
     94        import termios, sys
     95        fd = sys.stdin.fileno()
     96        old = termios.tcgetattr(fd)
     97        new = termios.tcgetattr(fd)
     98        new[3] = new[3] & ~termios.ECHO          # lflags
     99        try:
    100            termios.tcsetattr(fd, termios.TCSADRAIN, new)
    101            passwd = raw_input(prompt)
    102        finally:
    103            termios.tcsetattr(fd, termios.TCSADRAIN, old)
    104        return passwd
    105 
    106