I need to read lengthy command-line output of originally Linux-based Cygwin program. It works great under cmd.exe, printing new line every few seconds.
When I use this code below, which was discussed many times here on SO, ReadFile function does not return until that program stops. Then all output is provided by ReadFile and printed.
How to make that output read by ReadFile as soon as it is available?
MSDN says that ReadFile doesn't return until CR is reached in ENABLE_LINE_INPUT mode, or buffer full. That progam uses Linux line breaks LF, not Windows CRLF. I used small buffer 32 bytes and disabled ENABLE_LINE_INPUT (By the way what's the right way of disabling it?).
Maybe ReadFile doesn't return because of some other issue with Cygwin program itself, not just LF line breaks? But it works fine in Windows cmd.exe, why not in Delphi console application?
const
CommandExe:string = 'iperf3.exe ';
CommandLine:string = '-c 192.168.1.11 -u -b 1m -t 8 -p 5001 -l 8k -f m -i 2';
WorkDir:string = 'D:\PAS\iperf3\win32';// no trailing \
var
SA: TSecurityAttributes;
SI: TStartupInfo;
PI: TProcessInformation;
StdOutPipeRead, StdOutPipeWrite: THandle;
WasOK,CreateOk: Boolean;
Buffer: array[0..255] of AnsiChar;// 31 is Ok
BytesRead: Cardinal;
Line:ansistring;
try// except
with SA do begin
nLength := SizeOf(SA);
bInheritHandle := True;
lpSecurityDescriptor := nil;
end;
CreatePipe(StdOutPipeRead, StdOutPipeWrite, @SA, 0);
try
with SI do
begin
FillChar(SI, SizeOf(SI), 0);
cb := SizeOf(SI);
dwFlags := STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW or STARTF_USESTDHANDLES;
wShowWindow := SW_HIDE;
hStdInput := GetStdHandle(STD_INPUT_HANDLE); // don't redirect stdin
hStdOutput := StdOutPipeWrite;
hStdError := StdOutPipeWrite;
end;
Writeln(WorkDir+'\'+CommandExe+' ' + CommandLine);
CreateOk := CreateProcess(nil, PChar(WideString(WorkDir+'\'+CommandExe+' ' + CommandLine)),
@SA, @SA, True,// nil, nil,
CREATE_SUSPENDED or CREATE_NEW_PROCESS_GROUP or NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS or CREATE_DEFAULT_ERROR_MODE,// 0,
nil,
PChar(WideString(WorkDir)), SI, PI);
CloseHandle(StdOutPipeWrite);// must be closed here otherwise ReadLn further doesn't work
ResumeThread(PI.hThread);
if CreateOk then
try// finally
repeat
WasOK := ReadFile(StdOutPipeRead, Buffer, SizeOf(Buffer), BytesRead, nil);
if BytesRead > 0 then
begin
Buffer[BytesRead] := #0;
Line := Line + Buffer;
Writeln(Line);
end;
until not WasOK or (BytesRead = 0);
ReadLn;
WaitForSingleObject(PI.hProcess, INFINITE);
finally
CloseHandle(PI.hThread);
CloseHandle(PI.hProcess);
end;
finally
CloseHandle(StdOutPipeRead);
end;
except
on E: Exception do
Writeln('Exception '+E.ClassName, ': ', E.Message);
end;
Also: why do we have to close this handle right after CreateProcess? It is used to read program output:
CloseHandle(StdOutPipeWrite);
If I close it at the end of program, program output is Ok, but ReadLn is never read to stop the program.
HOW TO test all this: In one command window you start iperf3 server and let it listen:
D:\PAS\iperf3\win32>iperf3.exe -s -i 2 -p 5001
-----------------------------------------------------------
Server listening on 5001
-----------------------------------------------------------
In another command window you start the client, which immediately connects to server and start printing output every 2 sec:
D:\PAS\iperf3\win32>iperf3.exe -c 192.168.1.11 -u -b 1m -t 8 -p 5001 -l 8k -f m -i 2
Connecting to host 192.168.1.11, port 5001
[ 4] local 192.168.1.11 port 52000 connected to 192.168.1.11 port 5001
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth Total Datagrams
[ 4] 0.00-2.00 sec 240 KBytes 0.98 Mbits/sec 30
[ 4] 2.00-4.00 sec 240 KBytes 0.98 Mbits/sec 30
[ 4] 4.00-6.00 sec 248 KBytes 1.02 Mbits/sec 31
[ 4] 6.00-8.00 sec 240 KBytes 0.98 Mbits/sec 30
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth Jitter Lost/Total Datagrams
[ 4] 0.00-8.00 sec 968 KBytes 0.99 Mbits/sec 0.074 ms 0/121 (0%)
[ 4] Sent 121 datagrams
iperf Done.
Server prints output as well, together with client:
Accepted connection from 192.168.1.11, port 36719
[ 5] local 192.168.1.11 port 5001 connected to 192.168.1.11 port 52000
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth Jitter Lost/Total Datagrams
[ 5] 0.00-2.00 sec 240 KBytes 983 Kbits/sec 0.052 ms 0/30 (0%)
[ 5] 2.00-4.00 sec 240 KBytes 983 Kbits/sec 0.072 ms 0/30 (0%)
[ 5] 4.00-6.00 sec 248 KBytes 1.02 Mbits/sec 0.077 ms 0/31 (0%)
[ 5] 6.00-8.00 sec 240 KBytes 983 Kbits/sec 0.074 ms 0/30 (0%)
[ 5] 8.00-8.00 sec 0.00 Bytes 0.00 bits/sec 0.074 ms 0/0 (nan%)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth Jitter Lost/Total Datagrams
[ 5] 0.00-8.00 sec 0.00 Bytes 0.00 bits/sec 0.074 ms 0/121 (0%)
-----------------------------------------------------------
Server listening on 5001
-----------------------------------------------------------
So iperf3 client works great in the command window. Now let's start "my" code in client mode, while iperf3 server is still listening. Server accepts the connection and start printing output
Accepted connection from 192.168.1.11, port 36879
[ 5] local 192.168.1.11 port 5001 connected to 192.168.1.11 port 53069
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth Jitter Lost/Total Datagrams
[ 5] 0.00-2.00 sec 240 KBytes 983 Kbits/sec 0.033 ms 0/30 (0%)
[ 5] 2.00-4.00 sec 240 KBytes 983 Kbits/sec 0.125 ms 0/30 (0%)
[ 5] 4.00-6.00 sec 248 KBytes 1.02 Mbits/sec 0.106 ms 0/31 (0%)
[ 5] 6.00-8.00 sec 240 KBytes 983 Kbits/sec 0.109 ms 0/30 (0%)
[ 5] 8.00-8.00 sec 0.00 Bytes 0.00 bits/sec 0.109 ms 0/0 (nan%)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth Jitter Lost/Total Datagrams
[ 5] 0.00-8.00 sec 0.00 Bytes 0.00 bits/sec 0.109 ms 0/121 (0%)
-----------------------------------------------------------
Server listening on 5001
-----------------------------------------------------------
it means iperf3 client is started inside of 'my' code, but it is not printing anything! Only after client finished, 'my' code prints this output:
Connecting to host 192.168.1.11, port 5001
[ 4] local 192.168.1.11 port 53069 connected to 192.168.1.11 port 5001
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth Total Datagrams
[ 4] 0.00-2.00 sec 240 KBytes 0.98 Mbits/sec 30
[ 4] 2.00-4.00 sec 240 KBytes 0.98 Mbits/sec 30
[ 4] 4.00-6.00 sec 248 KBytes 1.02 Mbits/sec 31
[ 4] 6.00-8.00 sec 240 KBytes 0.98 Mbits/sec 30
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth Jitter Lost/Total Datagrams
[ 4] 0.00-8.00 sec 968 KBytes 0.99 Mbits/sec 0.109 ms 0/121 (0%)
[ 4] Sent 121 datagrams
iperf Done.
So, cygwin program output behaves differently, depending if it runs inside command window or Delphi console application. And yes, my output handling code with 'Line' is not perfect, but let's find out how to make ReadFile return in real-time, I'll fix the rest.