curl/docs/libcurl/curl_ws_start_frame.md
Stefan Eissing 37cecfc7b9
websocket: support CURLOPT_READFUNCTION
Add support for CURLOPT_READFUNCTION with WebSocket urls when *not* in
connect-only mode, e.g. when using curl_multi_perform.

Install the callback function and set CURLOPT_UPLOAD. Return
CURL_READFUNC_PAUSE when having nothing more to send and unpause the
transfer when more data is ready.

This will send the read bytes in a WebSocket BINARY frame.

Add support for this mode in the pytest "ws_data" client and have all
tests run in 'curl_ws_send/recv' and 'peform' mode as well.

Add `curl_ws_start_frame()`. Document, cover in libcurl-ws.md and
explain the READFUNCTION mode for websockets.

Add example `websocket-updown` for this.

Closes #17683
2025-08-11 23:28:54 +02:00

143 lines
3.4 KiB
Markdown

---
c: Copyright (C) Daniel Stenberg, <daniel@haxx.se>, et al.
SPDX-License-Identifier: curl
Title: curl_ws_start_frame
Section: 3
Source: libcurl
See-also:
- curl_easy_getinfo (3)
- curl_easy_perform (3)
- curl_easy_setopt (3)
- curl_ws_recv (3)
- libcurl-ws (3)
Protocol:
- WS
Added-in: 8.16.0
---
# NAME
curl_ws_start_frame - start a new WebSocket frame
# SYNOPSIS
~~~c
#include <curl/curl.h>
CURLcode curl_ws_start_frame(CURL *curl,
unsigned int flags,
curl_off_t frame_len);
~~~
# DESCRIPTION
Add the WebSocket frame header for the given flags and length to
the transfers send buffer for WebSocket encoded data. Intended for
use in a CURLOPT_READFUNCTION(3) callback.
When using a CURLOPT_READFUNCTION(3) in a WebSocket transfer, any
data returned by that function is sent as a *CURLWS_BINARY* frame
with the length being the amount of data read.
To send larger frames or frames of a different type, call
curl_ws_start_frame() from within the read function and then return
the data belonging to the frame.
The function fails, if a previous frame has not been completely
read yet. Also it fails in *CURLWS_RAW_MODE*.
# FLAGS
Supports all flags documented in curl_ws_meta(3).
# %PROTOCOLS%
# EXAMPLE
~~~c
#include <string.h> /* for strlen */
struct read_ctx {
CURL *easy;
char *message;
size_t msg_len;
size_t nsent;
};
static size_t readcb(char *buf, size_t nitems, size_t buflen, void *p)
{
struct read_ctx *ctx = p;
size_t len = nitems * buflen;
size_t left = ctx->msg_len - ctx->nsent;
CURLcode result;
if(!ctx->nsent) {
/* Want to send TEXT frame. */
result = curl_ws_start_frame(ctx->easy, CURLWS_TEXT,
(curl_off_t)ctx->msg_len);
if(result) {
fprintf(stderr, "error staring frame: %d\n", result);
return CURL_READFUNC_ABORT;
}
}
if(left) {
if(left < len)
len = left;
memcpy(buf, ctx->message + ctx->nsent, len);
ctx->nsent += len;
return len;
}
return 0;
}
int main(void)
{
CURL *easy;
struct read_ctx rctx;
CURLcode res;
easy = curl_easy_init();
if(!easy)
return 1;
curl_easy_setopt(easy, CURLOPT_URL, "wss://example.com");
curl_easy_setopt(easy, CURLOPT_READFUNCTION, readcb);
/* tell curl that we want to send the payload */
memset(&rctx, 0, sizeof(rctx));
rctx.easy = easy;
rctx.message = "Hello, friend!";
rctx.msg_len = strlen(rctx.message);
curl_easy_setopt(easy, CURLOPT_READDATA, &rctx);
curl_easy_setopt(easy, CURLOPT_UPLOAD, 1L);
/* Perform the request, res gets the return code */
res = curl_easy_perform(easy);
/* Check for errors */
if(res != CURLE_OK)
fprintf(stderr, "curl_easy_perform() failed: %s\n",
curl_easy_strerror(res));
/* always cleanup */
curl_easy_cleanup(easy);
return 0;
}
~~~
# %AVAILABILITY%
# RETURN VALUE
This function returns a CURLcode indicating success or error.
CURLE_OK (0) means everything was OK, non-zero means an error occurred, see
libcurl-errors(3). If CURLOPT_ERRORBUFFER(3) was set with curl_easy_setopt(3)
there can be an error message stored in the error buffer when non-zero is
returned.
Instead of blocking, the function returns **CURLE_AGAIN**. The correct
behavior is then to wait for the socket to signal readability before calling
this function again.
Any other non-zero return value indicates an error. See the libcurl-errors(3)
man page for the full list with descriptions.