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<html lang=en-US-x-hixie>
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<head>
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<title>Node API</title>
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<!-- <link href="specification.css" rel=stylesheet>-->
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<link href="http://www.whatwg.org/style/specification" rel=stylesheet>
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<body class=draft>
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<div class=head>
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<!--
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<p><a class=logo href="http://www.whatwg.org/" rel=home><img alt=WHATWG
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src="../../../images/logo"></a></p>
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-->
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<h1>Node API</h1>
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<h2 class="no-num no-toc"
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id=draft-recommendation-mdash-date-01-jan-1>Draft</h2>
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<dl>
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<dt>This version:
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<dd><a href="index.html">http://tinyclouds.org/node</a>
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</dl>
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<p class=copyright>© Copyright 2009 Ryan Dahl</p>
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<p class=copyright>You are granted a license to use, reproduce and create
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derivative works of this document.</p>
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</div>
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<hr>
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<h2 class="no-num no-toc" id=abstract>Abstract</h2>
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<p>This specification defines a javascript API for creating
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servers and clients based around an event loop. It is provided to document
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Node's interface and provide a specification for similar efforts.
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<h2 class="no-num no-toc" id=contents>Table of contents</h2>
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<!--begin-toc-->
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<ul class=toc>
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<li><a href="index.html#introduction"><span class=secno>1 </span>Introduction</a>
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<ul class=toc>
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<li><a href="index.html#the-event-loop"><span class=secno>1.1 </span>The event loop</a>
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<li><a href="index.html#execution-context"><span class=secno>1.2 </span>Execution context</a>
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</ul>
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<li><a href="index.html#http_server"><span class=secno>2 </span>HTTP Server</a>
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<ul class=toc>
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<li><a href="index.html#http_request"><span class=secno>2.1 </span>Request object</a>
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</ul>
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<li><a href="index.html#tcp_client"><span class=secno>3 </span>TCP Client</a>
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<li><a href="index.html#timers"><span class=secno>4 </span>Timers</a>
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<li><a href="index.html#blocking"><span class=secno>5 </span>Blocking
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Functions</a>
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</ul>
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<!--end-toc-->
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<hr>
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<h2 id=introduction><span class=secno>1 </span>Introduction</h2>
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<p>This specification defines an API for creating evented servers and
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clients in javascript. It can be considered documentation for the Node
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project and will be versioned with that software. However, in places the
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API is only a specification and does not reflect Node's
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behavior—there I will try to note the difference.
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<p>Unless otherwise noted, a function is non-blocking. Non-blocking means
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that program execution will continue without waiting for an I/O event
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(be that network or device).
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<h3 id=the-event-loop><span class=secno>1.1 </span>The event loop</h3>
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<p>The program is run event loop. There are no concurrent
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operations. As long as there are pending events the program will continue
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running. If however there arn't any pending callbacks waiting for
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something to happen, the program will exit.
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<h3 id=execution-context><span class=secno>1.2 </span>Execution context</h3>
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<p>Global data is shared between callbacks.
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<p>
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<code>spawn()</code> to start a new context/event loop?
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<h2 id=http_server><span class=secno>2 </span>HTTP Server</h2>
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<pre class=idl>[Constructor(in String host, in String port, in Function
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onrequest)]
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interface <dfn id=httpserver>HTTPServer</dfn> {
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readonly attribute String <a href="index.html#host">host</a>;
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readonly attribute String <a href="index.html#port">port</a>;
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// networking
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attribute Function <a href="index.html#onrequest">onrequest</a>;
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void close(); // yet not implemented
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};</pre>
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<dl>
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<dt><code>HTTPServer(host, port, onrequest)</code></dt>
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</dl>
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<p class="big-issue"> error handling? </p>
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<h3 id=http_request><span class=secno>2.1 </span>Request object</h3>
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<pre class=idl>interface <dfn id=httprequest>HTTPRequest</dfn> {
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readonly attribute String <a href="index.html#path">path</a>;
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readonly attribute String <a href="index.html#uri">uri</a>;
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readonly attribute String <a href="index.html#query_string">query_string</a>;
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readonly attribute String <a href="index.html#fragment">fragment</a>;
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readonly attribute String <a href="index.html#method">method</a>;
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readonly attribute String <a href="index.html#http_version">http_version</a>;
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readonly attribute Array <a href="index.html#headers">headers</a>;
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// ready state
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const unsigned short HEADERS_RECEIVED = 0;
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const unsigned short LOADING = 1;
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const unsigned short DONE = 2;
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readonly attribute long readyState;
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attribute Function <a href="index.html#onbody">onbody</a>;
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void respondHeader (in short status, in Array headers);
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void respondBody (in ByteArray data);
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};</pre>
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<p class="big-issue">issue: client ip address</p>
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<p> A request object is what is passed to <code>HTTPServer.onrequest</code>.
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it represents a single HTTP request. Clients might preform HTTP
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pipelining (Keep-Alive) and send multiple requests per TCP
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connection—this does not affect this interface.
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<p> If any error is encountered either with the request or while using the
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two response methods the connection to client immediately terminated.
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<dl>
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<dt><code>respondHeader(status, headers)</code></dt>
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<dd>
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<p>This method sends the response status line and headers.
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This method may only be called once. After the first, calling it
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will raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception.
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<p>The <code>status</code> argument is an integer HTTP status response code as
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defined in 6.1 of <a href="#rfc2616">RFC 2616</a>.
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<p>The <code>header</code> argument is an <code>Array</code> of
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tuples (a two-element <code>Array</code>). For example
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<pre>[["Content-Type", "text/plain"], ["Content-Length", 10]]</pre>
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<p>This array determines the response headers. If the
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<code>header</code> parameter includes elements that are not tuples it
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raises <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code>. If the elements of the tuples do not
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respond to <code>toString()</code> the method raises
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<code>SYNTAX_ERR</code>.
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<p>Besides the author response headers interpreters should not
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include additional response headers. This ensures that authors
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have a reasonably predictable API.
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<p>If the client connection was closed for any reason, calling
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<code>respondHeader()</code> will raise a <code>NETWORK_ERR</code>
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exception.
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</dd>
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<dt><code>respondBody(data)</code></dt>
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<dd>
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<p>This method must be called after <code>respondHeader()</code>. If
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<code>respondHeader()</code> has not been called it will raise an
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<code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception.
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<p>When given a <code>String</code> or <code>ByteArray</code> the
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interpreter will send the data.
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<p>Given a <code>null</code> argument signals end-of-response.
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<p class="note"> The author must call <code>respondBody(null)</code>
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for each response, even if the response has no body.</p>
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<p>After the end-of-response, calling <code>respondHeader()</code> or
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<code>respondBody()</code> will raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception.
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<p>If the client connection was closed for any reason, calling
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<code>respondBody()</code> will raise a <code>NETWORK_ERR</code>
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exception.
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</dd>
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</dl>
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<h2 id=tcp_client><span class=secno>3 </span>TCP Client</h2>
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<pre class=idl>[Constructor(in String host, in String port)]
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interface <dfn id=tcpclient>TCPClient</dfn> {
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readonly attribute String <a href="index.html#host">host</a>;
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readonly attribute String <a href="index.html#port">port</a>;
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// ready state
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const unsigned short CONNECTING = 0;
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const unsigned short OPEN = 1;
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const unsigned short CLOSED = 2;
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readonly attribute long readyState;
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// networking
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attribute Function <a href="index.html#onopen">onopen</a>;
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attribute Function <a href="index.html#onread">onread</a>;
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attribute Function <a href="index.html#onclose">onclose</a>;
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void write(in ByteArray data);
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void disconnect();
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};</pre>
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<dl>
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<dt><code>TCPClient(host, port)</code></dt>
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<dd>
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<p>When a <code><a href="#connection0">TCPClient</a></code> object is
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created, the the interpreter must try to establish a connection.
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If the <code>host</code> parameter is not an IP address it
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will be looked up using the DNS.
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</dd>
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<dt><code>write(data)</code></dt>
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<dd>
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<p>Transmits data using the connection. If the connection is not yet
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established or the connection is closed, calling <code>write()</code>
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will raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception. </p>
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<p><code>write(null)</code> sends an EOF to the peer. Further writing
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is disabled. However the <code>onread</code> callback may still
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be executed.
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</dd>
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<dt><code>disconnect()</code></dt>
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<dd>
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<p>Closes the connection, if it is open. If the connection is already
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closed, it does nothing. Closing the connection causes a
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<code>onclose</code> callback to be made and the
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<code><a href="#readystate0">readyState</a></code> attribute's value to
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change to <code>CLOSED</code>.
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Note that a connection might not be closed instantaniously. In the
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case of secure connection some "goodbye" transmission might be sent.
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</dd>
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</dl>
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<p>The <dfn id="readystate0"><code>readyState</code></dfn> attribute
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represents the state of the connection. When the object is created it must
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be set to <code>CONNECTING</code>.
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<p id="onopen">Once a connection is established, the
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<code>readyState</a></code> attribute's value must be changed to
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<code>OPEN</code>, and the <code>onopen</code> callback will be made.
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<p id="onread">When data is received, the <code>onread</code> callback
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will be made with a single parameter: a <code>ByteArray</code> containing a
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chunk of data. The author does not have the ability to control how much data
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is received nor the ability to stop the input besides disconnecting.
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<!-- conf crit for this
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statement is in the various protocol-specific sections below. -->
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<p id="onclose">When the connection is closed, the <code
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>readyState</a></code>
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attribute's value must be changed to <code>CLOSED</code>, and the <code
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>onclose</a></code> callback
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will be made.
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<h2 id=timers><span class=secno>4 </span>Timers</h2>
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<p>Timers allow one to schedule an event at a later date.
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There are four globally exposed functions
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<code>setTimeout</code>,
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<code>clearTimeout</code>,
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<code>setInterval</code>, and
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<code>clearInterval</code>.
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These functions work similarly
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<a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/Window/#window-timers">as in the browser</a> except that
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the <code>timerID</code> and <code>intervalID</code> do not necessarily have
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type <code>long</code> but are rather opaque objects.
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<dl>
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<dt><code>setTimeout(function, milliseconds)</code></dt>
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<dd>
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<p>This method calls the function once after a specified number of
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milliseconds elapses, until canceled by a call to <code>clearTimeout</code>.
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The methods returns a <code>timerID</code> which may be used in a
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subsequent call to <code>clearTimeout</code> to cancel the callback.
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</dd>
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<dt><code>setInterval(function, milliseconds)</code></dt>
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<dd>
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<p>This method calls the function every time a specified number of
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milliseconds elapses, until canceled by a call to <code>clearInterval</code>.
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The methods returns a <code>intervalID</code> which may be used in a
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subsequent call to <code>clearInterval</code> to cancel the interval.
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</dd>
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<dt><code>clearTimeout(timerID)</code></dt>
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<dd>
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<p>Cancels a timeout that was set with the <code>setTimeout</code>
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method.
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</dd>
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<dt><code>clearInterval(intervalID)</code></dt>
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<dd>
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<p>Cancels an interval that was set with the <code>setInterval</code> method.
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</dd>
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</dl>
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<h2 id=blocking><span class=secno>5 </span>Blocking Functions</h2>
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<p>Node includes a number of blocking functions in its API. Some of these
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will be removed in the future as the software improves.
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<dl>
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<dt><code>log(string)</code></dt>
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<dd>
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<p>This function outputs the string to the stadard output device
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(usually the console).
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Its speed is dependent on where stdout is piped to.
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</dd>
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<dt><code>blockingFileRead(filename)</code></dt>
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<dd>
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<p>This method opens a file from the file system and returns its
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contents as a <code>ByteArray</code>. This function can be extremely
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expensive depending on the response time of the file system. It should
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only be used in start up.
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</dd>
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</dl>
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<h2 class=no-num id=references>References</h2>
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<dl>
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<dt>[<dfn id=rfc2616>RFC2616</dfn>]
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<dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2616">Hypertext Transfer
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Protocol -- HTTP/1.1</a></cite>, R. Fielding, J. Gettys, J. Mogul,
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H. Frystyk, L. Masinter, P. Leach, T. Berners-Lee, editors. IETF,
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June 1999.
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