How to stop the repetition of inotify result? - c

Question

In this code, I am trying to monitor two paths at the same time. I used while(1) for this purpose. But the problem that I am facing is that whenever I run the code, it gives me the same result two times like this.
Giving result
Pathname1 "file" is modified
Pathname1 "file" is modified
Expected result
Pathname1 "file" is modified
I debugged the code. After breaking the main function and stepping over it, the next command stops at this line length = read(fd, buffer, EVENT_BUF_LEN ). Whenever I break a line after this length variable command, the program starts and after modifying the file, the program stops at this line struct inotify_event *event = ( struct inotify_event *)&buffer[i]; Although the program should not break.
I also used IN_CLOSE_WRITE instead of IN_MODIFY but no change in the result.
typedef struct{
int length, fd, wd1, wd2;
char buffer[4096] __attribute__ ((aligned(__alignof__(struct inotify_event))));
} notification;
notification inotify;
int getNotified(char *pathname1, char *pathname2){
inotify.fd = inotify_init();
inotify.wd1 = inotify_add_watch(inotify.fd, pathname1, IN_MODIFY);
inotify.wd2 = inotify_add_watch(inotify.fd, pathname2, IN_MODIFY);
while(1){
inotify.length = read(inotify.fd, inotify.buffer, EVENT_BUF_LEN);
int i = 0;
while(i < inotify.length){
struct inotify_event *event = (struct inotify_event *)&inotify.buffer[i];
if(event->len){
if(event->mask & IN_MODIFY){
if(event->wd == inotify.wd1){
printf("Pathname1 '%s' is modified\n", event->name);
break;
}
if(event->wd == inotify.wd2){
printf("Pathname2 '%s' is modified\n", event->name);
break;
}
}
}
i += EVENT_SIZE + event->len;
}
}
inotify_rm_watch(inotify.fd, inotify.wd1);
inotify_rm_watch(inotify.fd, inotify.wd2);
close(inotify.fd);
exit(0);
}

Answer 1

Some remarks:
You should not "break" as you go out of the inside "while" loop and call read() again
The IN_MODIFY event does not fill the event->name field (i.e. event->len = 0)
The number of IN_MODIFY events depends on how you modify the files ("echo xxx >> file" = write only = 1 IN_MODIFY; "echo xxx > file" = truncate + write = 2 IN_MODIFY)
Here is a proposition for your program (with additional prints):
#include <stdio.h>
#include <sys/inotify.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#define EVENT_BUF_LEN 4096
#define EVENT_SIZE sizeof(struct inotify_event)
typedef struct{
int length, fd, wd1, wd2;
char buffer[EVENT_BUF_LEN] __attribute__ ((aligned(__alignof__(struct inotify_event))));
} notification;
notification inotify;
int getNotified(char *pathname1, char *pathname2){
inotify.fd = inotify_init();
inotify.wd1 = inotify_add_watch(inotify.fd, pathname1, IN_MODIFY);
printf("wd1 = %d\n", inotify.wd1);
inotify.wd2 = inotify_add_watch(inotify.fd, pathname2, IN_MODIFY);
printf("wd2 = %d\n", inotify.wd2);
while(1){
inotify.length = read(inotify.fd, inotify.buffer, EVENT_BUF_LEN);
int i = 0;
printf("read() = %d\n", inotify.length);
while(i < inotify.length){
struct inotify_event *event = (struct inotify_event *)&inotify.buffer[i];
printf("event->len = %u\n", event->len);
if(event->mask & IN_MODIFY){
if(event->wd == inotify.wd1){
printf("Pathname1 is modified\n");
} else if (event->wd == inotify.wd2){
printf("Pathname2 is modified\n");
}
}
i += (EVENT_SIZE + event->len);
printf("i=%d\n", i);
}
}
inotify_rm_watch(inotify.fd, inotify.wd1);
inotify_rm_watch(inotify.fd, inotify.wd2);
close(inotify.fd);
exit(0);
}
int main(void)
{
getNotified("/tmp/foo", "/tmp/bar");
return 0;
} // main
Here is an example of execution:
$ gcc notif.c -o notif
$ > /tmp/foo
$ > /tmp/bar
$ ./notif
wd1 = 1
wd2 = 2
====== Upon "> /tmp/foo": 1 event (truncate operation)
read() = 16
event->len = 0
Pathname1 is modified
i=16
====== Upon "echo qwerty > /tmp/foo": 2 events (write operation, one event for truncate operation and one for the write of "qwerty" at the beginning of the file)
read() = 16
event->len = 0
Pathname1 is modified
i=16
read() = 16
event->len = 0
Pathname1 is modified
i=16
====== Upon "echo qwerty >> /tmp/foo": 1 event (write of "qwerty" at the end of the file)
read() = 16
event->len = 0
Pathname1 is modified
i=16

Answer 2

If the two pathnames refer to the same inode, then inotify.wd1 == inotify.wd2. In that case, because you have
if (event->wd == inotify.wd1) {
printf("Pathname1 '%s' is modified\n", event->name);
}
if (event->wd == inotify.wd2) {
printf("Pathname2 '%s' is modified\n", event->name);
}
both bodies would be executed; but the outputs would differ (Pathname1 ... and Pathname2 ...).
You really should be monitoring the directories the files reside in, rather than the actual pathnames, so you can catch rename events also. (Many editors create a temporary file, and rename or hardlink the temporary file over the old file, so that programs see either the old or the new file, and never a mix of the two.)
Consider the following program, which does not exhibit any undue duplication of events:
// SPDX-License-Identifier: CC0-1.0
#define _POSIX_C_SOURCE 200809L
#define _GNU_SOURCE
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>
#include <sys/inotify.h>
#include <signal.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <errno.h>
static volatile sig_atomic_t done = 0;
static void handle_done(int signum)
{
done = signum;
}
static int install_done(int signum)
{
struct sigaction act;
memset(&act, 0, sizeof act);
sigemptyset(&act.sa_mask);
act.sa_handler = handle_done;
act.sa_flags = 0;
return sigaction(signum, &act, NULL);
}
struct monitor {
/* Supplied by caller */
const char *directory;
const char *pathname;
int (*modified)(struct monitor *);
int (*completed)(struct monitor *);
/* Reserved for internal use */
int dirwatch;
};
int monitor_files(struct monitor *const list, const size_t count)
{
char *events_ptr = NULL;
size_t events_len = 65536;
size_t i;
int err;
/* Verify sane parameters */
if (count < 1) {
errno = ENOENT;
return -1;
} else
if (!list) {
errno = EINVAL;
return -1;
}
for (i = 0; i < count; i++) {
if (!list[i].directory || !list[i].directory[0]) {
errno = EINVAL;
return -1;
}
if (!list[i].pathname || !list[i].pathname[0]) {
errno = EINVAL;
return -1;
}
list[i].dirwatch = -1;
}
/* Obtain a descriptor for inotify event queue */
int queue = inotify_init1(IN_CLOEXEC);
if (queue == -1) {
/* errno set by inotify_init1() */
return -1;
}
/* Use a reasonable dynamically allocated buffer for events */
events_ptr = malloc(events_len);
if (!events_ptr) {
close(queue);
errno = ENOMEM;
return -1;
}
/* Add a watch for each directory to be watched */
for (i = 0; i < count; i++) {
list[i].dirwatch = inotify_add_watch(queue, list[i].directory, IN_CLOSE_WRITE | IN_MOVED_TO | IN_MODIFY);
if (list[i].dirwatch == -1) {
err = errno;
close(queue);
free(events_ptr);
errno = err;
return -1;
}
}
/* inotify event loop */
err = 0;
while (!done) {
ssize_t len = read(queue, events_ptr, events_len);
if (len == -1) {
/* Interrupted due to signal delivery? */
if (errno == EINTR)
continue;
/* Error */
err = errno;
break;
} else
if (len < -1) {
/* Should never occur */
err = EIO;
break;
} else
if (len == 0) {
/* No events watched anymore */
err = 0;
break;
}
char *const end = events_ptr + len;
char *ptr = events_ptr;
while (ptr < end) {
struct inotify_event *event = (struct inotify_event *)ptr;
/* Advance buffer pointer for next event */
ptr += sizeof (struct inotify_event) + event->len;
if (ptr > end) {
close(queue);
free(events_ptr);
errno = EIO;
return -1;
}
/* Call all event handlers, even duplicate ones */
for (i = 0; i < count; i++) {
if (event->wd == list[i].dirwatch && !strcmp(event->name, list[i].pathname)) {
if ((event->mask & (IN_MOVED_TO | IN_CLOSE_WRITE)) && list[i].completed) {
err = list[i].completed(list + i);
if (err)
break;
} else
if ((event->mask & IN_MODIFY) && list[i].modified) {
err = list[i].modified(list + i);
if (err)
break;
}
}
}
if (err)
break;
}
if (err)
break;
}
close(queue);
free(events_ptr);
errno = 0;
return err;
}
static int report_modified(struct monitor *m)
{
printf("%s/%s: Modified\n", m->directory, m->pathname);
fflush(stdout);
return 0;
}
static int report_completed(struct monitor *m)
{
printf("%s/%s: Completed\n", m->directory, m->pathname);
fflush(stdout);
return 0;
}
int main(void)
{
struct monitor watch[2] = {
{ .directory = ".",
.pathname = "file1",
.modified = report_modified,
.completed = report_completed },
{ .directory = ".",
.pathname = "file2",
.modified = report_modified,
.completed = report_completed }
};
int err;
if (install_done(SIGINT) == -1 ||
install_done(SIGHUP) == -1 ||
install_done(SIGTERM) == -1) {
fprintf(stderr, "Cannot set signal handlers: %s.\n", strerror(errno));
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
fprintf(stderr, "To stop this program, press Ctrl+C, or send\n");
fprintf(stderr, "INT, HUP, or TERM signal (to process %ld).\n", (long)getpid());
fflush(stderr);
err = monitor_files(watch, 2);
if (err == -1) {
fprintf(stderr, "Error monitoring files: %s.\n", strerror(errno));
return EXIT_FAILURE;
} else
if (err) {
fprintf(stderr, "Monitoring files failed [%d].\n", err);
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
If you compile it using e.g. gcc -Wall -Wextra -O2 example.c -o example and run it via ./example, it will report IN_MODIFY events (as "Modified") and IN_CLOSE_WRITE and IN_MOVED_TO events (as "Completed") for file1 and file2 in the same directory (current working directory). To exit the program, press Ctrl+C.
(Note that we should probably add third event type, "Deleted", corresponding to IN_DELETE and IN_MOVED_FROM events.)
If you open file1 or file2 in say a text editor, saving the file generates one or more Modified (IN_MODIFY) events, and exactly one Completed (IN_CLOSE_WRITE or IN_MOVED_TO) event. This is because each open()/truncate()/ftruncate() syscall that causes the file to be truncated, generates one IN_MODIFY event for that file; as does every underlying write() syscall that modifies the file contents. Thus, it is natural to receive multiple IN_MODIFY events when some process modifies the file.
If you have multiple struct monitor entries in the list with the same effective directory and the same pathname, the example program will provide multiple events for them. If you wish to avoid this, just make sure that whenever .pathname matches, the two get differing .dirwatches.

Answer 3

rewriting the while() loop into a for() loop, and flattening out the if()s"
while(1){
int i ;
struct inotify_event *event ;
inotify.length = read(inotify.fd, inotify.buffer, EVENT_BUF_LEN);
for(i=0; i < inotify.length; i += EVENT_SIZE + event->len ) {
event = (struct inotify_event *)&inotify.buffer[i];
if (!event->len) continue;
if (!(event->mask & IN_MODIFY)) continue;
if (event->wd == inotify.wd1){
printf("Pathname1 '%s' is modified\n", event->name);
continue;
}
if (event->wd == inotify.wd2){
printf("Pathname2 '%s' is modified\n", event->name);
continue;
}
}
}