Issue in writing `NSOutputStream`.

Question

I have one basic question, While working with NSOutputStream, should we wait for NSStreamEventHasSpaceAvailable to send the packet, so we can call , [NSOutputStream write] as and when its needed,

I believe NSStream should take care of write function...

if this is not correct, then please provide your views on following logic,

===== To Write on NSOutputStream ================= Have Queue to add packet, that to be sent // StreamQueue.h

@interface StreamQueue : NSObject <NSCoding>
{
    NSMutableArray * data;
    NSRecursiveLock * theLock;
}

#pragma mark �Initialization & Deallocation�
- (id)init;
- (id)initWithQueue:(CommQueue *)queue;
- (id)initWithCoder:(NSCoder *)coder;
- (void)dealloc;
- (void)encodeWithCoder:(NSCoder *)coder;

#pragma mark
#pragma mark �Accessor Methods�
- (int)size;
- (BOOL)isEmpty;
- (id)top;
- (NSArray *)data;

#pragma mark
#pragma mark �Modifier Methods�
- (void)enqueue:(id)object;
- (id)dequeue;
- (void)removeAll;
@end

and its implementation

#import "StreamQueue.h"


@implementation StreamQueue
#pragma mark �Initialization & Deallocation�
- (id)init
{
    if (self = [super init]) {
        data = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
        theLock = [[NSRecursiveLock alloc] init];
    }
    return self;
}

- (id)initWithQueue:(StreamQueue *)queue
{
    if (self = [super init]) {
        data = [[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithArray:[queue data]];
        theLock = [[NSRecursiveLock alloc] init];
    }
    return self;
}

- (id)initWithCoder:(NSCoder *)coder
{
    if (self = [super init]) {
        data = [[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithArray:[coder decodeObject]];
        theLock = [[NSRecursiveLock alloc] init];
    }
    return self;
}

- (void)dealloc
{
    [data release];
    [theLock release];
    [super dealloc];
}

- (void)encodeWithCoder:(NSCoder *)coder;
{
    [coder encodeObject:data];
}

#pragma mark
#pragma mark �Accessor Methods�
- (int)size
{
    int size;
    [theLock lock];
    size = [data count];
    [theLock unlock];
    return size;
}

- (BOOL)isEmpty
{
    BOOL empty;
    [theLock lock];
    empty = ([data count] == 0);
    [theLock unlock];
    return empty;
}

- (id)top
{
    id object = nil;
    [theLock lock];
    if (![self isEmpty])
        object = [data objectAtIndex:0];
    [theLock unlock];
    return object;
}

- (NSArray *)data
{
    NSArray * array;
    [theLock lock];
    array = [NSArray arrayWithArray:data];
    [theLock unlock];
    return array;
}

#pragma mark
#pragma mark �Modifier Methods�
- (void)enqueue:(id)object
{
    [theLock lock];
    [data addObject:object];
    [theLock unlock];
}

- (id)dequeue
{
    id object = [self top];
    if (object != nil) {
        [theLock lock];
        [object retain];
        [data removeObjectAtIndex:0];
        [theLock unlock];
    }
    return [object autorelease];
}

- (void)removeAll
{
    [theLock lock];
    while (![self isEmpty])
        [data removeObjectAtIndex:0];
    [theLock unlock];
}
@end

Now when Application have something to send over socket(NSStream), it should add it into the queue,

-(bool)sendRawData:(const uint8_t *)data length:(int)len{

    // if still negotiating then don't send data
    assert(!networkConnected);

    NSData *pData  = [NSData dataWithBytes:(const void *)data length:len];

    // pToSendPacket is of type StreamQueue 
    [pToSendPacket enqueue:pData];

    return;
}

and this piece of code when we get NSHasSpaceAvailableEvent

-(void)gotSpaceAvailable{
    // is there any pending packets that to be send. 
    NSData *pData = (NSData *)[pToSendPacket dequeue];

    if(pData == nil){
        // no pending packets.. 
        return;
    }

    const uint8_t *data = (const uint8_t *)[pData bytes];
    int len = [pData length];

    int sendlength = [pOutputStream write:data maxLength:len];

    if(sendlength == -1 ){
        NSError *theError = [pOutputStream streamError];
        NSString *pString = [theError localizedDescription];
        int errorCode = [theError code];
        return ;
    }
}

I was expecting Application will keep on receiving the event, whenever OutputStream sends data, but i recieved only once... :( Please help ...

Answer 1

If you don't wait for the event, the write call will block until space is available. Generally you want to aim to design your code to work asychronously, so waiting for NSStreamEventHasSpaceAvailable is the best solution.

As for when you receive the space available notification, see the documentation here:

If the delegate receives an NSStreamEventHasSpaceAvailable event and does not write anything to the stream, it does not receive further space-available events from the run loop until the NSOutputStream object receives more bytes. When this happens, the run loop is restarted for space-available events. If this scenario is likely in your implementation, you can have the delegate set a flag when it doesn’t write to the stream upon receiving an NSStreamEventHasSpaceAvailable event. Later, when your program has more bytes to write, it can check this flag and, if set, write to the output-stream instance directly.

There is no firm guideline on how many bytes to write at one time. Although it may be possible to write all the data to the stream in one event, this depends on external factors, such as the behavior of the kernel and device and socket characteristics. The best approach is to use some reasonable buffer size, such as 512 bytes, one kilobyte (as in the example above), or a page size (four kilobytes).

So you should be getting regular NSStreamEventHasSpaceAvailable events as long as you do write data for each event.