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<H1><A NAME="SECTION00141700000000000000000">
12.17 <tt class="module">xdrlib</tt> --
Encode and decode XDR data</A>
</H1>
<P>
<A NAME="module-xdrlib"><!--z--></A>
<P>
<a id='l2h-3864'><!--x--></a>
<P>
The <tt class="module">xdrlib</tt> module supports the External Data Representation
Standard as described in <a class="rfc" id='rfcref-81786'
href="http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1014.html">RFC 1014</a>, written by Sun Microsystems,
Inc. June 1987. It supports most of the data types described in the
RFC.
<P>
The <tt class="module">xdrlib</tt> module defines two classes, one for packing
variables into XDR representation, and another for unpacking from XDR
representation. There are also two exception classes.
<P>
<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline">
<td><nobr><b><span class="typelabel">class</span> <tt id='l2h-3862' class="class">Packer</tt></b>(</nobr></td>
<td>)</td></tr></table></dt>
<dd>
<tt class="class">Packer</tt> is the class for packing data into XDR representation.
The <tt class="class">Packer</tt> class is instantiated with no arguments.
</dl>
<P>
<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline">
<td><nobr><b><span class="typelabel">class</span> <tt id='l2h-3863' class="class">Unpacker</tt></b>(</nobr></td>
<td><var>data</var>)</td></tr></table></dt>
<dd>
<code>Unpacker</code> is the complementary class which unpacks XDR data
values from a string buffer. The input buffer is given as
<var>data</var>.
</dl>
<P>
<div class="seealso">
<p class="heading"><b>See Also:</b></p>
<dl compact class="seerfc">
<dt><a href="http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1014.html"
title="XDR: External Data Representation Standard"
>RFC 1014, <em>XDR: External Data Representation Standard</em></a>
<dd>This RFC
defined the encoding of data which was XDR at the time
this module was originally written. It has
apparently been obsoleted by <a class="rfc" id='rfcref-81782'
href="http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1832.html">RFC 1832</a>.
</dl>
<P>
<dl compact class="seerfc">
<dt><a href="http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1832.html"
title="XDR: External Data Representation Standard"
>RFC 1832, <em>XDR: External Data Representation Standard</em></a>
<dd>Newer RFC
that provides a revised definition of XDR.
</dl>
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<LI><A href="xdr-packer-objects.html">12.17.1 Packer Objects</a>
<LI><A href="xdr-unpacker-objects.html">12.17.2 Unpacker Objects</a>
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<span class="release-info">Release 2.3.4, documentation updated on May 20, 2004.</span>
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