linux man page for pvm_bcast

BCAST(3PVM)							  PVM Version 3.4						       BCAST(3PVM)

NAME
       pvm_bcast - Broadcasts the data in the active message buffer to a group of processes.

SYNOPSIS
       C    int info = pvm_bcast( char *group, int msgtag )

       Fortran	 call pvmfbcast( group, msgtag, info )

PARAMETERS
       group   Character string group name of an existing group.

       msgtag  Integer	message  tag  supplied by the user.  msgtag should be >= 0.  It allows the user's program to distinguish between different
	       kinds of messages .
	       info integer status code returned by the routine.  Values less than zero indicate an error.

DESCRIPTION
       The routine pvm_bcast broadcasts a message stored in the active send buffer to all the members of group.  In PVM 3.2 and later  the  broad-
       cast  message is not sent back to the sender.  Any PVM task can call pvm_bcast(), it need not be a member of the group.	The content of the
       message can be distinguished by msgtag.	If pvm_bcast is successful, info will be 0. If some error occurs then info will be < 0.

       pvm_bcast is asynchronous.  Computation on the sending processor resumes as soon as the message is safely on its way to the receiving  pro-
       cessors.   This	is  in	contrast  to  synchronous  communication, during which computation on the sending processor halts until a matching
       receive is executed by all the receiving processors.

       pvm_bcast first determines the tids of the group members by checking a group data base.	A multicast is performed to these  tids.   If  the
       group  is changed during a broadcast the change will not be reflected in the broadcast.	Multicasting is not supported by most multiproces-
       sor vendors.  Typically their native calls only support broadcasting to all the user's processes on a multiprocessor. Because of this omis-
       sion, pvm_bcast may not be an efficient communication method on some multiprocessors.

EXAMPLES
       C:
	    info = pvm_initsend( PvmDataRaw );
	    info = pvm_pkint( array, 10, 1 );
	    msgtag = 5 ;
	    info = pvm_bcast( "worker", msgtag );

       Fortran:
	    CALL PVMFINITSEND( PVMDEFAULT )
	    CALL PVMFPKFLOAT( DATA, 100, 1, INFO )
	    CALL PVMFBCAST( 'worker', 5, INFO )

ERRORS
       These error conditions can be returned by pvm_bcast

       PvmSysErr
	      pvmd was not started or has crashed.

       PvmBadParam
	      giving a negative msgtag.

       PvmNoGroup
	      giving a non-existent group name.

SEE ALSO
       pvm_joingroup(3PVM)

								  30 August, 1993						       BCAST(3PVM)