| .. highlightlang:: c |
| |
| .. index:: |
| single: buffer protocol |
| single: buffer interface; (see buffer protocol) |
| single: buffer object; (see buffer protocol) |
| |
| .. _bufferobjects: |
| |
| Buffer Protocol |
| --------------- |
| |
| .. sectionauthor:: Greg Stein <gstein@lyra.org> |
| .. sectionauthor:: Benjamin Peterson |
| .. sectionauthor:: Stefan Krah |
| |
| |
| Certain objects available in Python wrap access to an underlying memory |
| array or *buffer*. Such objects include the built-in :class:`bytes` and |
| :class:`bytearray`, and some extension types like :class:`array.array`. |
| Third-party libraries may define their own types for special purposes, such |
| as image processing or numeric analysis. |
| |
| While each of these types have their own semantics, they share the common |
| characteristic of being backed by a possibly large memory buffer. It is |
| then desirable, in some situations, to access that buffer directly and |
| without intermediate copying. |
| |
| Python provides such a facility at the C level in the form of the :ref:`buffer |
| protocol <bufferobjects>`. This protocol has two sides: |
| |
| .. index:: single: PyBufferProcs |
| |
| - on the producer side, a type can export a "buffer interface" which allows |
| objects of that type to expose information about their underlying buffer. |
| This interface is described in the section :ref:`buffer-structs`; |
| |
| - on the consumer side, several means are available to obtain a pointer to |
| the raw underlying data of an object (for example a method parameter). |
| |
| Simple objects such as :class:`bytes` and :class:`bytearray` expose their |
| underlying buffer in byte-oriented form. Other forms are possible; for example, |
| the elements exposed by a :class:`array.array` can be multi-byte values. |
| |
| An example consumer of the buffer interface is the :meth:`~io.BufferedIOBase.write` |
| method of file objects: any object that can export a series of bytes through |
| the buffer interface can be written to a file. While :meth:`write` only |
| needs read-only access to the internal contents of the object passed to it, |
| other methods such as :meth:`~io.BufferedIOBase.readinto` need write access |
| to the contents of their argument. The buffer interface allows objects to |
| selectively allow or reject exporting of read-write and read-only buffers. |
| |
| There are two ways for a consumer of the buffer interface to acquire a buffer |
| over a target object: |
| |
| * call :c:func:`PyObject_GetBuffer` with the right parameters; |
| |
| * call :c:func:`PyArg_ParseTuple` (or one of its siblings) with one of the |
| ``y*``, ``w*`` or ``s*`` :ref:`format codes <arg-parsing>`. |
| |
| In both cases, :c:func:`PyBuffer_Release` must be called when the buffer |
| isn't needed anymore. Failure to do so could lead to various issues such as |
| resource leaks. |
| |
| |
| .. _buffer-structure: |
| |
| Buffer structure |
| ================ |
| |
| Buffer structures (or simply "buffers") are useful as a way to expose the |
| binary data from another object to the Python programmer. They can also be |
| used as a zero-copy slicing mechanism. Using their ability to reference a |
| block of memory, it is possible to expose any data to the Python programmer |
| quite easily. The memory could be a large, constant array in a C extension, |
| it could be a raw block of memory for manipulation before passing to an |
| operating system library, or it could be used to pass around structured data |
| in its native, in-memory format. |
| |
| Contrary to most data types exposed by the Python interpreter, buffers |
| are not :c:type:`PyObject` pointers but rather simple C structures. This |
| allows them to be created and copied very simply. When a generic wrapper |
| around a buffer is needed, a :ref:`memoryview <memoryview-objects>` object |
| can be created. |
| |
| For short instructions how to write an exporting object, see |
| :ref:`Buffer Object Structures <buffer-structs>`. For obtaining |
| a buffer, see :c:func:`PyObject_GetBuffer`. |
| |
| .. c:type:: Py_buffer |
| |
| .. c:member:: void \*buf |
| |
| A pointer to the start of the logical structure described by the buffer |
| fields. This can be any location within the underlying physical memory |
| block of the exporter. For example, with negative :c:member:`~Py_buffer.strides` |
| the value may point to the end of the memory block. |
| |
| For :term:`contiguous` arrays, the value points to the beginning of |
| the memory block. |
| |
| .. c:member:: void \*obj |
| |
| A new reference to the exporting object. The reference is owned by |
| the consumer and automatically decremented and set to *NULL* by |
| :c:func:`PyBuffer_Release`. The field is the equivalent of the return |
| value of any standard C-API function. |
| |
| As a special case, for *temporary* buffers that are wrapped by |
| :c:func:`PyMemoryView_FromBuffer` or :c:func:`PyBuffer_FillInfo` |
| this field is *NULL*. In general, exporting objects MUST NOT |
| use this scheme. |
| |
| .. c:member:: Py_ssize_t len |
| |
| ``product(shape) * itemsize``. For contiguous arrays, this is the length |
| of the underlying memory block. For non-contiguous arrays, it is the length |
| that the logical structure would have if it were copied to a contiguous |
| representation. |
| |
| Accessing ``((char *)buf)[0] up to ((char *)buf)[len-1]`` is only valid |
| if the buffer has been obtained by a request that guarantees contiguity. In |
| most cases such a request will be :c:macro:`PyBUF_SIMPLE` or :c:macro:`PyBUF_WRITABLE`. |
| |
| .. c:member:: int readonly |
| |
| An indicator of whether the buffer is read-only. This field is controlled |
| by the :c:macro:`PyBUF_WRITABLE` flag. |
| |
| .. c:member:: Py_ssize_t itemsize |
| |
| Item size in bytes of a single element. Same as the value of :func:`struct.calcsize` |
| called on non-NULL :c:member:`~Py_buffer.format` values. |
| |
| Important exception: If a consumer requests a buffer without the |
| :c:macro:`PyBUF_FORMAT` flag, :c:member:`~Py_buffer.format` will |
| be set to *NULL*, but :c:member:`~Py_buffer.itemsize` still has |
| the value for the original format. |
| |
| If :c:member:`~Py_buffer.shape` is present, the equality |
| ``product(shape) * itemsize == len`` still holds and the consumer |
| can use :c:member:`~Py_buffer.itemsize` to navigate the buffer. |
| |
| If :c:member:`~Py_buffer.shape` is *NULL* as a result of a :c:macro:`PyBUF_SIMPLE` |
| or a :c:macro:`PyBUF_WRITABLE` request, the consumer must disregard |
| :c:member:`~Py_buffer.itemsize` and assume ``itemsize == 1``. |
| |
| .. c:member:: const char \*format |
| |
| A *NUL* terminated string in :mod:`struct` module style syntax describing |
| the contents of a single item. If this is *NULL*, ``"B"`` (unsigned bytes) |
| is assumed. |
| |
| This field is controlled by the :c:macro:`PyBUF_FORMAT` flag. |
| |
| .. c:member:: int ndim |
| |
| The number of dimensions the memory represents as an n-dimensional array. |
| If it is 0, :c:member:`~Py_buffer.buf` points to a single item representing |
| a scalar. In this case, :c:member:`~Py_buffer.shape`, :c:member:`~Py_buffer.strides` |
| and :c:member:`~Py_buffer.suboffsets` MUST be *NULL*. |
| |
| The macro :c:macro:`PyBUF_MAX_NDIM` limits the maximum number of dimensions |
| to 64. Exporters MUST respect this limit, consumers of multi-dimensional |
| buffers SHOULD be able to handle up to :c:macro:`PyBUF_MAX_NDIM` dimensions. |
| |
| .. c:member:: Py_ssize_t \*shape |
| |
| An array of :c:type:`Py_ssize_t` of length :c:member:`~Py_buffer.ndim` |
| indicating the shape of the memory as an n-dimensional array. Note that |
| ``shape[0] * ... * shape[ndim-1] * itemsize`` MUST be equal to |
| :c:member:`~Py_buffer.len`. |
| |
| Shape values are restricted to ``shape[n] >= 0``. The case |
| ``shape[n] == 0`` requires special attention. See `complex arrays`_ |
| for further information. |
| |
| The shape array is read-only for the consumer. |
| |
| .. c:member:: Py_ssize_t \*strides |
| |
| An array of :c:type:`Py_ssize_t` of length :c:member:`~Py_buffer.ndim` |
| giving the number of bytes to skip to get to a new element in each |
| dimension. |
| |
| Stride values can be any integer. For regular arrays, strides are |
| usually positive, but a consumer MUST be able to handle the case |
| ``strides[n] <= 0``. See `complex arrays`_ for further information. |
| |
| The strides array is read-only for the consumer. |
| |
| .. c:member:: Py_ssize_t \*suboffsets |
| |
| An array of :c:type:`Py_ssize_t` of length :c:member:`~Py_buffer.ndim`. |
| If ``suboffsets[n] >= 0``, the values stored along the nth dimension are |
| pointers and the suboffset value dictates how many bytes to add to each |
| pointer after de-referencing. A suboffset value that is negative |
| indicates that no de-referencing should occur (striding in a contiguous |
| memory block). |
| |
| If all suboffsets are negative (i.e. no de-referencing is needed, then |
| this field must be NULL (the default value). |
| |
| This type of array representation is used by the Python Imaging Library |
| (PIL). See `complex arrays`_ for further information how to access elements |
| of such an array. |
| |
| The suboffsets array is read-only for the consumer. |
| |
| .. c:member:: void \*internal |
| |
| This is for use internally by the exporting object. For example, this |
| might be re-cast as an integer by the exporter and used to store flags |
| about whether or not the shape, strides, and suboffsets arrays must be |
| freed when the buffer is released. The consumer MUST NOT alter this |
| value. |
| |
| .. _buffer-request-types: |
| |
| Buffer request types |
| ==================== |
| |
| Buffers are usually obtained by sending a buffer request to an exporting |
| object via :c:func:`PyObject_GetBuffer`. Since the complexity of the logical |
| structure of the memory can vary drastically, the consumer uses the *flags* |
| argument to specify the exact buffer type it can handle. |
| |
| All :c:data:`Py_buffer` fields are unambiguously defined by the request |
| type. |
| |
| request-independent fields |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
| The following fields are not influenced by *flags* and must always be filled in |
| with the correct values: :c:member:`~Py_buffer.obj`, :c:member:`~Py_buffer.buf`, |
| :c:member:`~Py_buffer.len`, :c:member:`~Py_buffer.itemsize`, :c:member:`~Py_buffer.ndim`. |
| |
| |
| readonly, format |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
| |
| .. c:macro:: PyBUF_WRITABLE |
| |
| Controls the :c:member:`~Py_buffer.readonly` field. If set, the exporter |
| MUST provide a writable buffer or else report failure. Otherwise, the |
| exporter MAY provide either a read-only or writable buffer, but the choice |
| MUST be consistent for all consumers. |
| |
| .. c:macro:: PyBUF_FORMAT |
| |
| Controls the :c:member:`~Py_buffer.format` field. If set, this field MUST |
| be filled in correctly. Otherwise, this field MUST be *NULL*. |
| |
| |
| :c:macro:`PyBUF_WRITABLE` can be \|'d to any of the flags in the next section. |
| Since :c:macro:`PyBUF_SIMPLE` is defined as 0, :c:macro:`PyBUF_WRITABLE` |
| can be used as a stand-alone flag to request a simple writable buffer. |
| |
| :c:macro:`PyBUF_FORMAT` can be \|'d to any of the flags except :c:macro:`PyBUF_SIMPLE`. |
| The latter already implies format ``B`` (unsigned bytes). |
| |
| |
| shape, strides, suboffsets |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
| |
| The flags that control the logical structure of the memory are listed |
| in decreasing order of complexity. Note that each flag contains all bits |
| of the flags below it. |
| |
| .. tabularcolumns:: |p{0.35\linewidth}|l|l|l| |
| |
| +-----------------------------+-------+---------+------------+ |
| | Request | shape | strides | suboffsets | |
| +=============================+=======+=========+============+ |
| | .. c:macro:: PyBUF_INDIRECT | yes | yes | if needed | |
| +-----------------------------+-------+---------+------------+ |
| | .. c:macro:: PyBUF_STRIDES | yes | yes | NULL | |
| +-----------------------------+-------+---------+------------+ |
| | .. c:macro:: PyBUF_ND | yes | NULL | NULL | |
| +-----------------------------+-------+---------+------------+ |
| | .. c:macro:: PyBUF_SIMPLE | NULL | NULL | NULL | |
| +-----------------------------+-------+---------+------------+ |
| |
| |
| .. index:: contiguous, C-contiguous, Fortran contiguous |
| |
| contiguity requests |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
| |
| C or Fortran :term:`contiguity <contiguous>` can be explicitly requested, |
| with and without stride information. Without stride information, the buffer |
| must be C-contiguous. |
| |
| .. tabularcolumns:: |p{0.35\linewidth}|l|l|l|l| |
| |
| +-----------------------------------+-------+---------+------------+--------+ |
| | Request | shape | strides | suboffsets | contig | |
| +===================================+=======+=========+============+========+ |
| | .. c:macro:: PyBUF_C_CONTIGUOUS | yes | yes | NULL | C | |
| +-----------------------------------+-------+---------+------------+--------+ |
| | .. c:macro:: PyBUF_F_CONTIGUOUS | yes | yes | NULL | F | |
| +-----------------------------------+-------+---------+------------+--------+ |
| | .. c:macro:: PyBUF_ANY_CONTIGUOUS | yes | yes | NULL | C or F | |
| +-----------------------------------+-------+---------+------------+--------+ |
| | .. c:macro:: PyBUF_ND | yes | NULL | NULL | C | |
| +-----------------------------------+-------+---------+------------+--------+ |
| |
| |
| compound requests |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
| |
| All possible requests are fully defined by some combination of the flags in |
| the previous section. For convenience, the buffer protocol provides frequently |
| used combinations as single flags. |
| |
| In the following table *U* stands for undefined contiguity. The consumer would |
| have to call :c:func:`PyBuffer_IsContiguous` to determine contiguity. |
| |
| .. tabularcolumns:: |p{0.35\linewidth}|l|l|l|l|l|l| |
| |
| +-------------------------------+-------+---------+------------+--------+----------+--------+ |
| | Request | shape | strides | suboffsets | contig | readonly | format | |
| +===============================+=======+=========+============+========+==========+========+ |
| | .. c:macro:: PyBUF_FULL | yes | yes | if needed | U | 0 | yes | |
| +-------------------------------+-------+---------+------------+--------+----------+--------+ |
| | .. c:macro:: PyBUF_FULL_RO | yes | yes | if needed | U | 1 or 0 | yes | |
| +-------------------------------+-------+---------+------------+--------+----------+--------+ |
| | .. c:macro:: PyBUF_RECORDS | yes | yes | NULL | U | 0 | yes | |
| +-------------------------------+-------+---------+------------+--------+----------+--------+ |
| | .. c:macro:: PyBUF_RECORDS_RO | yes | yes | NULL | U | 1 or 0 | yes | |
| +-------------------------------+-------+---------+------------+--------+----------+--------+ |
| | .. c:macro:: PyBUF_STRIDED | yes | yes | NULL | U | 0 | NULL | |
| +-------------------------------+-------+---------+------------+--------+----------+--------+ |
| | .. c:macro:: PyBUF_STRIDED_RO | yes | yes | NULL | U | 1 or 0 | NULL | |
| +-------------------------------+-------+---------+------------+--------+----------+--------+ |
| | .. c:macro:: PyBUF_CONTIG | yes | NULL | NULL | C | 0 | NULL | |
| +-------------------------------+-------+---------+------------+--------+----------+--------+ |
| | .. c:macro:: PyBUF_CONTIG_RO | yes | NULL | NULL | C | 1 or 0 | NULL | |
| +-------------------------------+-------+---------+------------+--------+----------+--------+ |
| |
| |
| Complex arrays |
| ============== |
| |
| NumPy-style: shape and strides |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
| |
| The logical structure of NumPy-style arrays is defined by :c:member:`~Py_buffer.itemsize`, |
| :c:member:`~Py_buffer.ndim`, :c:member:`~Py_buffer.shape` and :c:member:`~Py_buffer.strides`. |
| |
| If ``ndim == 0``, the memory location pointed to by :c:member:`~Py_buffer.buf` is |
| interpreted as a scalar of size :c:member:`~Py_buffer.itemsize`. In that case, |
| both :c:member:`~Py_buffer.shape` and :c:member:`~Py_buffer.strides` are *NULL*. |
| |
| If :c:member:`~Py_buffer.strides` is *NULL*, the array is interpreted as |
| a standard n-dimensional C-array. Otherwise, the consumer must access an |
| n-dimensional array as follows: |
| |
| ``ptr = (char *)buf + indices[0] * strides[0] + ... + indices[n-1] * strides[n-1]`` |
| ``item = *((typeof(item) *)ptr);`` |
| |
| |
| As noted above, :c:member:`~Py_buffer.buf` can point to any location within |
| the actual memory block. An exporter can check the validity of a buffer with |
| this function: |
| |
| .. code-block:: python |
| |
| def verify_structure(memlen, itemsize, ndim, shape, strides, offset): |
| """Verify that the parameters represent a valid array within |
| the bounds of the allocated memory: |
| char *mem: start of the physical memory block |
| memlen: length of the physical memory block |
| offset: (char *)buf - mem |
| """ |
| if offset % itemsize: |
| return False |
| if offset < 0 or offset+itemsize > memlen: |
| return False |
| if any(v % itemsize for v in strides): |
| return False |
| |
| if ndim <= 0: |
| return ndim == 0 and not shape and not strides |
| if 0 in shape: |
| return True |
| |
| imin = sum(strides[j]*(shape[j]-1) for j in range(ndim) |
| if strides[j] <= 0) |
| imax = sum(strides[j]*(shape[j]-1) for j in range(ndim) |
| if strides[j] > 0) |
| |
| return 0 <= offset+imin and offset+imax+itemsize <= memlen |
| |
| |
| PIL-style: shape, strides and suboffsets |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
| |
| In addition to the regular items, PIL-style arrays can contain pointers |
| that must be followed in order to get to the next element in a dimension. |
| For example, the regular three-dimensional C-array ``char v[2][2][3]`` can |
| also be viewed as an array of 2 pointers to 2 two-dimensional arrays: |
| ``char (*v[2])[2][3]``. In suboffsets representation, those two pointers |
| can be embedded at the start of :c:member:`~Py_buffer.buf`, pointing |
| to two ``char x[2][3]`` arrays that can be located anywhere in memory. |
| |
| |
| Here is a function that returns a pointer to the element in an N-D array |
| pointed to by an N-dimensional index when there are both non-NULL strides |
| and suboffsets:: |
| |
| void *get_item_pointer(int ndim, void *buf, Py_ssize_t *strides, |
| Py_ssize_t *suboffsets, Py_ssize_t *indices) { |
| char *pointer = (char*)buf; |
| int i; |
| for (i = 0; i < ndim; i++) { |
| pointer += strides[i] * indices[i]; |
| if (suboffsets[i] >=0 ) { |
| pointer = *((char**)pointer) + suboffsets[i]; |
| } |
| } |
| return (void*)pointer; |
| } |
| |
| |
| Buffer-related functions |
| ======================== |
| |
| .. c:function:: int PyObject_CheckBuffer(PyObject *obj) |
| |
| Return 1 if *obj* supports the buffer interface otherwise 0. When 1 is |
| returned, it doesn't guarantee that :c:func:`PyObject_GetBuffer` will |
| succeed. |
| |
| |
| .. c:function:: int PyObject_GetBuffer(PyObject *exporter, Py_buffer *view, int flags) |
| |
| Send a request to *exporter* to fill in *view* as specified by *flags*. |
| If the exporter cannot provide a buffer of the exact type, it MUST raise |
| :c:data:`PyExc_BufferError`, set :c:member:`view->obj` to *NULL* and |
| return -1. |
| |
| On success, fill in *view*, set :c:member:`view->obj` to a new reference |
| to *exporter* and return 0. In the case of chained buffer providers |
| that redirect requests to a single object, :c:member:`view->obj` MAY |
| refer to this object instead of *exporter* (See :ref:`Buffer Object Structures <buffer-structs>`). |
| |
| Successful calls to :c:func:`PyObject_GetBuffer` must be paired with calls |
| to :c:func:`PyBuffer_Release`, similar to :c:func:`malloc` and :c:func:`free`. |
| Thus, after the consumer is done with the buffer, :c:func:`PyBuffer_Release` |
| must be called exactly once. |
| |
| |
| .. c:function:: void PyBuffer_Release(Py_buffer *view) |
| |
| Release the buffer *view* and decrement the reference count for |
| :c:member:`view->obj`. This function MUST be called when the buffer |
| is no longer being used, otherwise reference leaks may occur. |
| |
| It is an error to call this function on a buffer that was not obtained via |
| :c:func:`PyObject_GetBuffer`. |
| |
| |
| .. c:function:: Py_ssize_t PyBuffer_SizeFromFormat(const char *) |
| |
| Return the implied :c:data:`~Py_buffer.itemsize` from :c:data:`~Py_buffer.format`. |
| This function is not yet implemented. |
| |
| |
| .. c:function:: int PyBuffer_IsContiguous(Py_buffer *view, char order) |
| |
| Return 1 if the memory defined by the *view* is C-style (*order* is |
| ``'C'``) or Fortran-style (*order* is ``'F'``) :term:`contiguous` or either one |
| (*order* is ``'A'``). Return 0 otherwise. |
| |
| |
| .. c:function:: void PyBuffer_FillContiguousStrides(int ndim, Py_ssize_t *shape, Py_ssize_t *strides, Py_ssize_t itemsize, char order) |
| |
| Fill the *strides* array with byte-strides of a :term:`contiguous` (C-style if |
| *order* is ``'C'`` or Fortran-style if *order* is ``'F'``) array of the |
| given shape with the given number of bytes per element. |
| |
| |
| .. c:function:: int PyBuffer_FillInfo(Py_buffer *view, PyObject *exporter, void *buf, Py_ssize_t len, int readonly, int flags) |
| |
| Handle buffer requests for an exporter that wants to expose *buf* of size *len* |
| with writability set according to *readonly*. *buf* is interpreted as a sequence |
| of unsigned bytes. |
| |
| The *flags* argument indicates the request type. This function always fills in |
| *view* as specified by flags, unless *buf* has been designated as read-only |
| and :c:macro:`PyBUF_WRITABLE` is set in *flags*. |
| |
| On success, set :c:member:`view->obj` to a new reference to *exporter* and |
| return 0. Otherwise, raise :c:data:`PyExc_BufferError`, set |
| :c:member:`view->obj` to *NULL* and return -1; |
| |
| If this function is used as part of a :ref:`getbufferproc <buffer-structs>`, |
| *exporter* MUST be set to the exporting object and *flags* must be passed |
| unmodified. Otherwise, *exporter* MUST be NULL. |
| |
| |
| |