cmsg macro

struct cmsghdr *CMSG_FIRSTHDR(struct msghdr *msgh);

struct cmsghdr *CMSG_NXTHDR(struct msghdr *msgh, struct cmsghdr *cmsg);

size_t CMSG_ALIGN(size_t length);

size_t CMSG_SPACE(size_t length);

size_t CMSG_LEN(size_t length);

unsigned char *CMSG_DATA(struct cmsghdr *cmsg);

struct cmsghdr {

   socklen_t cmsg_len;    /* data byte count, including header */

   int       cmsg_level;  /* originating protocol */

   int       cmsg_type;   /* protocol-specific type */

   /* followed by unsigned char cmsg_data[]; */

};

DESCRIPTION

These  macros  are  used to create and access control messages (also called ancillary data) that are not a part of the socket payload. This control information may include the interface the packet was received on, various rarely used header fields,  an  extended  error description,  a  set  of  file  descriptors or Unix credentials.  For instance, control messages can be used to send additional header fields such as IP options.  Ancillary data is sent by calling sendmsg and received by calling recvmsg.

Ancillary  data is a sequence of struct cmsghdr structures with appended data.  This sequence should only be accessed using the macros described in this manual page and never directly.  See the specific protocol man pages for the available control message  types. The maximum ancillary buffer size allowed per socket can be set using /proc/sys/net/core/optmem_max;.

CMSG_FIRSTHDR() returns a pointer to the first cmsghdr in the ancillary data buffer associated with the passed msghdr.

CMSG_NXTHDR() returns  the  next  valid  cmsghdr after the passed cmsghdr. It returns NULL when there isnât enough space left in the buffer.

CMSG_ALIGN(), given a length, returns it including the required alignment.  This is a constant expression.

CMSG_SPACE() returns the number of bytes an ancillary element with payload of the passed data length occupies.   This  is  a  constant expression.

CMSG_DATA() returns a pointer to the data portion of a cmsghdr.

CMSG_LEN()  returns  the  value to store in the cmsg_len member of the cmsghdr structure, taking into account any necessary alignment.

It takes the data length as an argument.  This is a constant expression.

To create ancillary data, first initialize the msg_controllen member of the msghdr with the length of the control message buffer.  Use CMSG_FIRSTHDR()  on  the  msghdr to get the first control message and CMSG_NEXTHDR() to get all subsequent ones.  In each control message, initialize cmsg_len (with CMSG_LEN()), the other cmsghdr header fields, and the data portion using  CMSG_DATA().Finally,  the msg_controllen  field  of the msghdr should be set to the sum of the CMSG_SPACE() of the length of all control messages in the buffer. For more information on the msghdr, see recvmsg.

When the control message buffer is too short to store all messages, the MSG_CTRUNC flag is set in the msg_flags member of the  msghdr.

NOTES

For portability, ancillary data should be accessed only using the macros described here.  CMSG_ALIGN() is a Linux extension and should be not used in portable programs.

In Linux, CMSG_LEN(), CMSG_DATA(), and CMSG_ALIGN() are constant expressions (assuming their argument is constant); this could be used to declare the size of global variables.  This may be not portable, however.

See Also:

Socket Tutorial and Sample Codes

Advance Socket Tutorial and Sample Code