.TH ic_c_protocol 3erl "ic 4.4.2" "Ericsson AB" "C Library Functions"
.SH NAME
ic_c_protocol \- IC C Protocol Functions
.SH DESCRIPTION
.LP
This manual page lists some of the functions of the IC C runtime library that are used internally for the IC protocol\&.
.LP
The listed functions are used internally by generated C client and server code\&. They are documented here for \fIthe advanced user\fR\& that want to replace the default protocol (Erlang distribution + gen_server) by his own protocol, For each set of client or sever functions below with prefix \fIoe\fR\&, the user has to implement his own set of functions, the names of which are obtained by replacing the \fIoe\fR\& prefix by \fIPrefix\fR\&\&. The \fIPrefix\fR\& has to be set with the option \fI{user_protocol, Prefix}\fR\& at compile time\&.
.LP
The following terminology is used (reflected in names of functions): a \fInotification\fR\& is a message send from client to server, without any reply back (i\&.e\&. a \fIoneway\fR\& operation); a \fIrequest\fR\& is a message sent from client to server, and where a \fIreply\fR\& message is sent back from the server to the client\&.
.LP
In order to understand how the functions work and what they do the user \fImust\fR\& study their implementation in the IC C library (source file is \fIic\&.c\fR\&), and also consider how they are used in the C code of ordinary generated client stubs or server skeletons\&.
.LP

.SH "CLIENT PROTOCOL FUNCTIONS"

.LP
The following functions are used internally by generated C client code\&.
.SH EXPORTS
.LP
.B
int oe_prepare_notification_encoding(CORBA_Environment *env)
.br
.RS
.LP
The result of this function is the beginning of a binary of in external format of the tuple \fI{\&'$gen_cast\&', X}\fR\& where \fIX\fR\& is not yet filled in\&.
.LP
In generated client code this function is the first to be called in the encoding function for each oneway operation\&.
.RE

.LP
.B
int oe_send_notification(CORBA_Environment *env)
.br
.B
int oe_send_notification_tmo(CORBA_Environment *env,  unsigned int send_ms)
.br
.RS
.LP
Sends a client notification to a server according to the Erlang distribution + gen_server protocol\&.
.LP
The \fIsend_ms\fR\& parameter specified a timeout in milliseconds\&.
.RE

.LP
.B
int oe_prepare_request_encoding(CORBA_Environment *env)
.br
.RS
.LP
The result of this function is the beginning of a binary in the external format of the tuple \fI{\&'$gen_call\&', {Pid, Ref}, X}\fR\& where \fIX\fR\& is not yet filled in\&.
.LP
In generated client code this function is the first to be called in the encoding function for each twoway operation\&.
.RE

.LP
.B
int oe_send_request_and_receive_reply(CORBA_Environment *env)
.br
.B
int oe_send_request_and_receive_reply_tmo(CORBA_Environment *env, unsigned int send_ms, unsigned int recv_ms)
.br
.RS
.LP
Sends a client request and receives the reply according to the Erlang distribution + gen_server protocol\&. This function calls the \fIoe_prepare_reply_decoding\fR\& function in order to obtain the gen_server reply\&.
.LP
\fIsend_ms\fR\& and \fIrecv_ms\fR\& specify timeouts for send and receive, respectively, in milliseconds\&.
.RE

.LP
.B
int oe_prepare_reply_decoding(CORBA_Environment *env)
.br
.RS
.LP
Decodes the binary version of the tuple \fI{Ref, X}\fR\&, where \fIX\fR\& is to be decoded later by the specific client decoding function\&.
.RE

.SH "SERVER PROTOCOL FUNCTIONS"

.LP
The following functions are used internally by generated C server code\&.
.SH EXPORTS
.LP
.B
int oe_prepare_request_decoding(CORBA_Environment *env)
.br
.RS
.LP
Decodes the binary version of the tuple \fI{\&'$gen_cast\&', Op}\fR\& (\fIOp\fR\& an atom), or the tuple \fI{\&'$gen_cast\&', {Op, X}}\fR\&, where \fIOp\fR\& is the operation name, and where \fIX\fR\& is to be decoded later by the specific operation decoding function; or
.LP
decodes the binary version of the tuple \fI{\&'$gen_call\&', {Pid, Ref}, Op}\fR\& (\fIOp\fR\& an atom), or the tuple \fI{\&'$gen_call\&', {Pid, Ref}, {Op, X}}\fR\&, where \fIOp>\fR\& is the operation name, and \fIX\fR\& is to be decode later by the specific operation decoding function\&.
.RE

.LP
.B
int oe_prepare_reply_encoding(CORBA_Environment *env)
.br
.RS
.LP
Encodes the beginning of the binary version of the tuple \fI{{Ref,X}\fR\&, where \fIX\fR\& is to be filled in by the specific server encoding function\&.
.RE

.SH "SEE ALSO"

.LP
ic(3erl), ic_clib(3erl), \fBIC Protocol\fR\&