
``msvcrt`` -- Useful routines from the MS VC++ runtime
******************************************************

Platform: Windows

*Platforms: *Windows

These functions provide access to some useful capabilities on Windows
platforms. Some higher-level modules use these functions to build the
Windows implementations of their services.  For example, the
``getpass`` module uses this in the implementation of the
``getpass()`` function.

Further documentation on these functions can be found in the Platform
API documentation.

The module implements both the normal and wide char variants of the
console I/O api. The normal API deals only with ASCII characters and
is of limited use for internationalized applications. The wide char
API should be used where ever possible


File Operations
===============

msvcrt.locking(fd, mode, nbytes)

   Lock part of a file based on file descriptor *fd* from the C
   runtime.  Raises ``IOError`` on failure.  The locked region of the
   file extends from the current file position for *nbytes* bytes, and
   may continue beyond the end of the file.  *mode* must be one of the
   ``LK_*`` constants listed below. Multiple regions in a file may be
   locked at the same time, but may not overlap.  Adjacent regions are
   not merged; they must be unlocked individually.

msvcrt.LK_LOCK
msvcrt.LK_RLCK

   Locks the specified bytes. If the bytes cannot be locked, the
   program immediately tries again after 1 second.  If, after 10
   attempts, the bytes cannot be locked, ``IOError`` is raised.

msvcrt.LK_NBLCK
msvcrt.LK_NBRLCK

   Locks the specified bytes. If the bytes cannot be locked,
   ``IOError`` is raised.

msvcrt.LK_UNLCK

   Unlocks the specified bytes, which must have been previously
   locked.

msvcrt.setmode(fd, flags)

   Set the line-end translation mode for the file descriptor *fd*. To
   set it to text mode, *flags* should be ``os.O_TEXT``; for binary,
   it should be ``os.O_BINARY``.

msvcrt.open_osfhandle(handle, flags)

   Create a C runtime file descriptor from the file handle *handle*.
   The *flags* parameter should be a bitwise OR of ``os.O_APPEND``,
   ``os.O_RDONLY``, and ``os.O_TEXT``.  The returned file descriptor
   may be used as a parameter to ``os.fdopen()`` to create a file
   object.

msvcrt.get_osfhandle(fd)

   Return the file handle for the file descriptor *fd*.  Raises
   ``IOError`` if *fd* is not recognized.


Console I/O
===========

msvcrt.kbhit()

   Return true if a keypress is waiting to be read.

msvcrt.getch()

   Read a keypress and return the resulting character.  Nothing is
   echoed to the console.  This call will block if a keypress is not
   already available, but will not wait for ``Enter`` to be pressed.
   If the pressed key was a special function key, this will return
   ``'\000'`` or ``'\xe0'``; the next call will return the keycode.
   The ``Control-C`` keypress cannot be read with this function.

msvcrt.getwch()

   Wide char variant of ``getch()``, returning a Unicode value.

msvcrt.getche()

   Similar to ``getch()``, but the keypress will be echoed if it
   represents a printable character.

msvcrt.getwche()

   Wide char variant of ``getche()``, returning a Unicode value.

msvcrt.putch(char)

   Print the character *char* to the console without buffering.

msvcrt.putwch(unicode_char)

   Wide char variant of ``putch()``, accepting a Unicode value.

msvcrt.ungetch(char)

   Cause the character *char* to be "pushed back" into the console
   buffer; it will be the next character read by ``getch()`` or
   ``getche()``.

msvcrt.ungetwch(unicode_char)

   Wide char variant of ``ungetch()``, accepting a Unicode value.


Other Functions
===============

msvcrt.heapmin()

   Force the ``malloc`` heap to clean itself up and return unused
   blocks to the operating system.  This only works on Windows NT.  On
   failure, this raises ``IOError``.
