rpcgen(1) rpcgen(1)
NAME [Toc] [Back]
rpcgen - an RPC protocol compiler
SYNOPSIS [Toc] [Back]
rpcgen infile
rpcgen [ -a ] [ -b ] [ -C ] [ -D name [ = value ] ]
[ -i size ] [ -I [ -K seconds ] ] [ -L ]
[ -M ] [ -N ] [ -T ] [ -u ] [ -Y pathname ] infile
rpcgen [ -c | -h | -l | -m | -t | -Sc | -Ss | -Sm ]
[ -o outfile ] [ infile ]
rpcgen [ -s nettype ] [ -u ] [ -o outfile ] [ infile ]
rpcgen [ -n netid ] [ -u ] [ -o outfile ] [ infile ]
DESCRIPTION [Toc] [Back]
rpcgen is a tool that generates C code to implement an RPC protocol.
The input to rpcgen is a language similar to C known as RPC Language
(Remote Procedure Call Language).
rpcgen is normally used as in the first synopsis where it takes an
input file and generates three output files. If the infile is named
proto.x, then rpcgen generates a header in proto.h, XDR routines in
proto_xdr.c, server-side stubs in proto_svc.c, and client-side stubs
in proto_clnt.c. With the -T option, it also generates the RPC
dispatch table in proto_tbl.i.
rpcgen can also generate sample client and server files that can be
customized to suit a particular application. The -Sc, -Ss and -Sm
options generate sample client, server and makefile, respectively.
The -a option generates all files, including sample files. If the
infile is proto.x, then the client side sample file is written to
proto_client.c, the server side sample file to proto_server.c and the
sample makefile to makefile.proto.
The server created can be started both by the port monitors (for
example, inetd or listen) or by itself. When it is started by a port
monitor, it creates servers only for the transport for which the file
descriptor 0 was passed. The name of the transport must be specified
by setting up the environment variable PM_TRANSPORT. When the server
generated by rpcgen is executed, it creates server handles for all the
transports specified in NETPATH environment variable, or if it is
unset, it creates server handles for all the visible transports from
/etc/netconfig file. Note: the transports are chosen at run time and
not at compile time. When the server is self-started, it backgrounds
itself by default. A special define symbol RPC_SVC_FG can be used to
run the server process in foreground.
Hewlett-Packard Company - 1 - HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003
rpcgen(1) rpcgen(1)
The second synopsis provides special features which allow for the
creation of more sophisticated RPC servers. These features include
support for user provided #defines and RPC dispatch tables. The
entries in the RPC dispatch table contain:
+ pointers to the service routine corresponding to that
procedure,
+ a pointer to the input and output arguments
+ the size of these routines
A server can use the dispatch table to check authorization and then to
execute the service routine; a client library may use it to deal with
the details of storage management and XDR data conversion.
The other three synopses shown above are used when one does not want
to generate all the output files, but only a particular one. See the
EXAMPLES section below for examples of rpcgen usage. When rpcgen is
executed with the -s option, it creates servers for that particular
class of transports. When executed with the -n option, it creates a
server for the transport specified by netid. If infile is not
specified, rpcgen accepts the standard input.
The C preprocessor, cc -E is run on the input file before it is
actually interpreted by rpcgen. For each type of output file, rpcgen
defines a special preprocessor symbol for use by the rpcgen
programmer:
RPC_HDR defined when compiling into headers
RPC_XDR defined when compiling into XDR routines
RPC_SVC defined when compiling into server-side stubs
RPC_CLNT defined when compiling into client-side stubs
RPC_TBL defined when compiling into RPC dispatch tables
Any line beginning with ``%'' is passed directly into the output file,
uninterpreted by rpcgen. To specify the path name of the C
preprocessor use -Y flag.
For every data type referred to in infile, rpcgen assumes that there
exists a routine with the string xdr_ prepended to the name of the
data type. If this routine does not exist in the RPC/XDR library, it
must be provided. Providing an undefined data type allows
customization of XDR routines.
Options [Toc] [Back]
-a Generate all files, including sample files.
-b Backward compatibility mode. Generate transport
specific RPC code for older versions of the operating
system.
Hewlett-Packard Company - 2 - HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003
rpcgen(1) rpcgen(1)
-c Compile into XDR routines.
-C Generate header and stub files which can be used with
ANSI C compilers. Headers generated with this flag can
also be used with C++ programs.
-Dname[=value] Define a symbol name. Equivalent to the #define
directive in the source. If no value is given, value
is defined as 1. This option may be specified more
than once.
-h Compile into C data-definitions (a header). -T option
can be used in conjunction to produce a header which
supports RPC dispatch tables.
-i size Size at which to start generating inline code. This
option is useful for optimization. The default size is
5.
-I Compile support for inetd(1M) in the server side stubs.
Such servers can be self-started or can be started by
inetd. When the server is self-started, it backgrounds
itself by default. A special define symbol RPC_SVC_FG
can be used to run the server process in foreground, or
the user may simply compile without the -I option.
If there are no pending client requests, the inetd
servers exit after 120 seconds (default). The default
can be changed with the -K option. All of the error
messages for inetd servers are always logged with
syslog(3C).
Note: This option is supported for backward
compatibility only. It should always be used in
conjunction with the -b option which generates backward
compatibility code. By default (i.e., when -b is not
specified), rpcgen generates servers that can be
invoked through portmonitors.
-K seconds By default, services created using rpcgen and invoked
through port monitors wait 120 seconds after servicing
a request before exiting. That interval can be changed
using the -K flag. To create a server that exits
immediately upon servicing a request, use -K 0. To
create a server that never exits, the appropriate
argument is -K -1.
When monitoring for a server, some portmonitors, like
listen, always spawn a new process in response to a
service request. If it is known that a server will be
used with such a monitor, the server should exit
Hewlett-Packard Company - 3 - HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003
rpcgen(1) rpcgen(1)
immediately on completion. For such servers, rpcgen
should be used with -K 0.
-l Compile into client-side stubs.
-L When the servers are started in foreground, use
syslog(3C) to log the server errors instead of printing
them on the standard error.
-m Compile into server-side stubs, but do not generate a
main routine. This option is useful for doing
callback-routines and for users who need to write their
own main routine to do initialization.
-M Generate multithread-safe stubs for passing arguments
and results between rpcgen generated code and user
written code. This option is useful for users who want
to use threads in their code.
-N This option allows procedures to have multiple
arguments. It also uses the style of parameter passing
that closely resembles C. So, when passing an argument
to a remote procedure, you do not have to pass a
pointer to the argument, but can pass the argument
itself. This behavior is different from the old style
of rpcgen generated code. To maintain backward
compatibility, this option is not the default.
-n netid Compile into server-side stubs for the transport
specified by netid. There should be an entry for netid
in the netconfig database. This option may be
specified more than once, so as to compile a server
that serves multiple transports.
-o outfile Specify the name of the output file. If none is
specified, standard output is used (-c, -h, -l, -m, -n,
-s, -Sc, -Sm, -Ss, and -t modes only).
-s nettype Compile into server-side stubs for all the transports
belonging to the class nettype. The supported classes
are netpath, visible, circuit_n, circuit_v, datagram_n,
datagram_v, tcp, and udp (see rpc(3N) for the meanings
associated with these classes). This option may be
specified more than once. Note: the transports are
chosen at run time and not at compile time.
-Sc Generate sample client code that uses remote procedure
calls.
-Sm Generate a sample Makefile which can be used for
compiling the application.
Hewlett-Packard Company - 4 - HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003
rpcgen(1) rpcgen(1)
-Ss Generate sample server code that uses remote procedure
calls.
-t Compile into RPC dispatch table.
-T Generate the code to support RPC dispatch tables.
The options -c, -h, -l, -m, -s, -Sc, -Sm, -Ss, and -t
are used exclusively to generate a particular type of
file, while the options -D and -T are global and can be
used with the other options.
-u When the server-side stub is produced, additional code
to handle signals is generated. On reception of a
signal, this signal handler code unmaps the server
program from the port mapper before the server
terminates. This code is added only if a main()
routine is produced in the server-side stub. The -u
option must not be specified with the -c, -h, -l, -m,
-Sc, -Sm, -Ss options. The following signals are
trapped: SIGHUP, SIGINT, SIGQUIT, and SIGTERM.
-Y pathname Give the name of the directory where rpcgen will start
looking for the C-preprocessor.
EXAMPLES [Toc] [Back]
The following example:
example% rpcgen -T prot.x
generates all the five files: prot.h, prot_clnt.c, prot_svc.c,
prot_xdr.c and prot_tbl.i.
The following example sends the C data-definitions (header) to the
standard output.
example% rpcgen -h prot.x
To send the test version of the -DTEST, server side stubs for all the
transport belonging to the class datagram_n to standard output, use:
example% rpcgen -s datagram_n -DTEST prot.x
To create the server side stubs for the transport indicated by netid
tcp, use:
example% rpcgen -n tcp -o prot_svc.c prot.x
AUTHOR [Toc] [Back]
rpcgen was developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Hewlett-Packard Company - 5 - HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003
rpcgen(1) rpcgen(1)
SEE ALSO [Toc] [Back]
cc_bundled(1), inetd(1M), syslog(3C), rpc(3N), rpc_svc_calls(3N).
Hewlett-Packard Company - 6 - HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003 [ Back ] |
