rpcgen(1) General Commands Manual rpcgen(1)
NAME
rpcgen - an RPC protocol compiler
SYNOPSIS
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ name [ = value ] ]
[ ] [ [ ] ] [ ]
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] infile
[ | | | | | | | ]
[ ] [ infile ]
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ infile ]
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ infile ]
DESCRIPTION
is a tool that generates C code to implement an RPC protocol. The input to is a language similar to C known as RPC Language (Remote Proce-
dure Call Language).
is normally used as in the first synopsis where it takes an input file and generates three output files. If the infile is named then gen-
erates a header in XDR routines in server-side stubs in and client-side stubs in With the option, it also generates the RPC dispatch table
in
can also generate sample client and server files that can be customized to suit a particular application. The and options generate sample
client, server and makefile, respectively. The option generates all files, including sample files. If the infile is then the client side
sample file is written to the server side sample file to and the sample makefile to
The server created can be started both by the port monitors (for example, or or by itself. When it is started by a port monitor, it cre-
ates servers only for the transport for which the file descriptor was passed. The name of the transport must be specified by setting up
the environment variable When the server generated by is executed, it creates server handles for all the transports specified in environ-
ment variable, or if it is unset, it creates server handles for all the visible transports from 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 can be used
to run the server process in foreground.
The second synopsis provides special features which allow for the creation of more sophisticated RPC servers. These features include sup-
port for user provided and RPC dispatch tables. The entries in the RPC dispatch table contain:
o pointers to the service routine corresponding to that procedure,
o a pointer to the input and output arguments
o 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
section below for examples of usage. When is executed with the option, it creates servers for that particular class of transports. When
executed with the option, it creates a server for the transport specified by netid. If infile is not specified, accepts the standard
input.
The C preprocessor, is run on the input file before it is actually interpreted by For each type of output file, defines a special pre-
processor symbol for use by the programmer:
defined when compiling into headers
defined when compiling into XDR routines
defined when compiling into server-side stubs
defined when compiling into client-side stubs
defined when compiling into RPC dispatch tables
Any line beginning with ``%'' is passed directly into the output file, uninterpreted by To specify the path name of the C preprocessor use
-Y flag.
For every data type referred to in infile, assumes that there exists a routine with the string 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 rou-
tines.
Options
Generate all files, including sample files.
Backward compatibility mode.
Generate transport specific RPC code for older versions of the operating system.
Compile into XDR routines.
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.
Define a symbol
name. Equivalent to the directive in the source. If no value is given, value is defined as This option may be specified
more than once.
Compile into data-definitions (a header). option can be used in conjunction to produce a header which supports RPC dispatch tables.
Size at which to start generating inline code.
This option is useful for optimization. The default size is 5.
Compile support for
inetd(1M) in the server side stubs. Such servers can be self-started or can be started by When the server is self-started,
it backgrounds itself by default. A special define symbol can be used to run the server process in foreground, or the user
may simply compile without the option.
If there are no pending client requests, the servers exit after 120 seconds (default). The default can be changed with the
option. All of the error messages for 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 option
which generates backward compatibility code. By default (i.e., when is not specified), generates servers that can be
invoked through portmonitors.
By default, services created using rpcgen and invoked through
port monitors wait seconds after servicing a request before exiting. That interval can be changed using the flag. To cre-
ate a server that exits immediately upon servicing a request, use To create a server that never exits, the appropriate argu-
ment is
When monitoring for a server, some portmonitors, like 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 immediately on completion. For such servers, should
be used with
Compile into client-side stubs.
When the servers are started in foreground, use
syslog(3C) to log the server errors instead of printing them on the standard error.
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.
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.
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 generated code. To maintain backward compatibility, this option is not the default.
Compile into server-side stubs for the transport
specified by netid. There should be an entry for netid in the database. This option may be specified more than once, so as
to compile a server that serves multiple transports.
Specify the name of the output file.
If none is specified, standard output is used (and modes only).
Compile into server-side stubs for all the
transports belonging to the class nettype. The supported classes are and (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 com-
pile time.
Generate sample client code that uses remote procedure calls.
Generate a sample Makefile which can be used for compiling the
application.
Generate sample server code that uses remote procedure calls.
Compile into RPC dispatch table.
Generate the code to support RPC dispatch tables.
The options and are used exclusively to generate a particular type of file, while the options and are global and can be used
with the other options.
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 pro-
gram from the port mapper before the server terminates. This code is added only if a routine is produced in the server-side
stub. The option must not be specified with the options. The following signals are trapped: and
Give the name of the directory where
will start looking for the C-preprocessor.
EXAMPLES
The following example:
generates all the five files: and
The following example sends the C data-definitions (header) to the standard output.
To send the test version of the server side stubs for all the transport belonging to the class to standard output, use:
To create the server side stubs for the transport indicated by netid use:
AUTHOR
was developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc.
SEE ALSO
cc_bundled(1), inetd(1M), syslog(3C), rpc(3N), rpc_svc_calls(3N).
rpcgen(1)