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NAME

       rpcgen - an RPC protocol compiler

SYNOPSIS

       rpcgen infile
       rpcgen [-Dname[=value]] [-T] [-K secs] infile
       rpcgen -c|-h|-l|-m|-M|-t [-o outfile ] infile
       rpcgen [-I] -s nettype [-o outfile] infile
       rpcgen -n netid [-o outfile] infile

DESCRIPTION

       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  up  to  four  output  files.   If the infile is named proto.x, then rpcgen will
       generate a header file 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 will also
       generate the RPC dispatch table in  proto_tbl.i.   With  the  -Sc  option,  it  will  also
       generate   sample  code  which  would  illustrate  how to use the remote procedures on the
       client side. This code would be created in proto_client.c.  With the -Ss option,  it  will
       also  generate  a  sample  server  code  which  would  illustrate  how to write the remote
       procedures. This code would be created in proto_server.c.

       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  environmental  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  built  for  a  port  monitor  (rpcgen  -I),  and that 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.

       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.  Some examples of their usage is described in the
       EXAMPLE section below.  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 [see cc(1)], 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 header files
       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.

       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.

       The following options are available:

       -a     Generate all the files including sample code for client and server side.

       -b     This  generates  code  for  the  SunOS4.1  style  of  rpc.  It  is   for   backward
              compatibility.  This is the default.

       -5     This  generates  code  for  the  SysVr4  style  of rpc. It is used by the Transport
              Independent RPC that is in Svr4 systems.  By  default  rpcgen  generates  code  for
              SunOS4.1 stype of rpc.

       -c     Compile into XDR routines.

       -C     Generate  code  in  ANSI  C. This option also generates code that could be compiled
              with the C++ compiler.  This is the default.

       -k     Generate code in K&R C.  The default is ANSI C.

       -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  file).   -T  option  can  be  used  in
              conjunction to produce a header file which supports RPC dispatch tables.

       -I     Generate  a  service  that can be started from inetd.  The default is to generate a
              static service that handles transports selected with -s.  Using -I allows  starting
              a service by either method.

       -K secs
              By  default,  services  created  using  rpcgen  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, -K 0 can be used.  To
              create a server that never exits, the appropriate argument is -K -1.

              When monitoring for a server, some portmonitors, like listen(1M),  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 immediately  on  completion.   For
              such servers, rpcgen should be used with -K -1.

       -l     Compile into client-side stubs.

       -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 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.

       -N     Use  the newstyle of rpcgen. This 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 the argument itself. This behaviour is different from the  oldstyle  of  rpcgen
              generated  code.  The  newstyle  is  not  the  default  case  because  of  backward
              compatibility.

       -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  code  to  show the use of remote procedure and how to bind to the
              server before calling the client side stubs generated by rpcgen.

       -Sm    Generate a sample Makefile which can be used for compiling the application.

       -Ss    Generate skeleton code for the remote procedures on the server side. You would need
              to fill in the actual code for the remote procedures.

       -t     Compile into RPC dispatch table.

       -T     Generate the code to support RPC dispatch tables.

       The  options  -c, -h, -l, -m, -s 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.

NOTES

       The RPC Language does not support nesting of structures.  As a work-around, structures can
       be  declared  at  the  top-level,  and their name used inside other structures in order to
       achieve the same effect.

       Name clashes can occur when using program definitions, since the apparent scoping does not
       really apply.  Most of these can be avoided by giving unique names for programs, versions,
       procedures and types.

       The server code generated with -n option refers to the transport indicated  by  netid  and
       hence is very site specific.

EXAMPLE

       The following example:

              $ rpcgen -T prot.x

       generates 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 file) to the standard output.

              $ 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:

              $ rpcgen -s datagram_n -DTEST prot.x

       To create the server side stubs for the transport indicated by netid tcp, use:

              $ rpcgen -n tcp -o prot_svc.c prot.x

SEE ALSO

       cc(1).

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