.TH inets 3erl "inets 8.3.1.3" "Ericsson AB" "Erlang Module Definition"
.SH NAME
inets \- The Inets services API.
.SH DESCRIPTION
.LP
This module provides the most basic API to the clients and servers that are part of the \fIInets\fR\& application, such as start and stop\&.
.SH "DATA TYPES"

.LP
Type definitions that are used more than once in this module:
.LP
\fIservice() = httpc | httpd\fR\&
.LP
\fIproperty() = atom()\fR\&
.SH EXPORTS
.LP
.B
services() -> [{Service, Pid}]
.br
.RS
.LP
Types:

.RS 3
Service = service()
.br
Pid = pid()
.br
.RE
.RE
.RS
.LP
Returns a list of currently running services\&.
.LP

.RS -4
.B
Note:
.RE
Services started as \fIstand_alone\fR\& are not listed\&.

.RE

.LP
.B
services_info() -> [{Service, Pid, Info}]
.br
.RS
.LP
Types:

.RS 3
Service = service()
.br
Pid = pid()
.br
Info = [{Option, Value}] | Reason
.br
Option = property()
.br
Value = term()
.br
.RE
.RE
.RS
.LP
Returns a list of currently running services where each service is described by an \fI[{Option, Value}]\fR\& list\&. The information in the list is specific for each service and each service has probably its own info function that gives more details about the service\&. If specific service info returns {error, Reason}, Info will contain Reason term\&.
.RE

.LP
.B
service_names() -> [Service] 
.br
.RS
.LP
Types:

.RS 3
Service = service()
.br
.RE
.RE
.RS
.LP
Returns a list of available service names\&.
.RE

.LP
.B
start() -> 
.br
.B
start(Type) -> ok | {error, Reason}
.br
.RS
.LP
Types:

.RS 3
Type = permanent | transient | temporary
.br
.RE
.RE
.RS
.LP
Starts the \fIInets\fR\& application\&. Default type is \fItemporary\fR\&\&. See also application(3erl)\&.
.RE

.LP
.B
start(Service, ServiceConfig) -> {ok, Pid} | {error, Reason}
.br
.B
start(Service, ServiceConfig, How) -> {ok, Pid} | {error, Reason}
.br
.RS
.LP
Types:

.RS 3
Service = service()
.br
ServiceConfig = [{Option, Value}]
.br
Option = property()
.br
Value = term()
.br
How = inets | stand_alone - default is inets\&.
.br
.RE
.RE
.RS
.LP
Dynamically starts an \fIInets\fR\& service after the \fIInets\fR\& application has been started\&.
.LP

.RS -4
.B
Note:
.RE
Dynamically started services are not handled by application takeover and failover behavior when \fIInets\fR\& is run as a distributed application\&. Nor are they automatically restarted when the \fIInets\fR\& application is restarted\&. As long as the \fIInets\fR\& application is operational, they are supervised and can be soft code upgraded\&.
.LP
A service started as \fIstand_alone\fR\&, that is, the service is not started as part of the \fIInets\fR\& application, lose all OTP application benefits, such as soft upgrade\&. The \fIstand_alone\fR\&-service is linked to the process that started it\&. Usually some supervision functionality is still in place and in some sense the calling process becomes the top supervisor\&.

.RE

.LP
.B
stop() -> ok 
.br
.RS
.LP
Stops the \fIInets\fR\& application\&. See also application(3erl)\&.
.RE

.LP
.B
stop(Service, Reference) -> ok | {error, Reason} 
.br
.RS
.LP
Types:

.RS 3
Service = service() | stand_alone
.br
Reference = pid() | term() - service-specified reference
.br
Reason = term()
.br
.RE
.RE
.RS
.LP
Stops a started service of the \fIInets\fR\& application or takes down a \fIstand_alone\fR\&-service gracefully\&. When option \fIstand_alone\fR\& is used in start, only the pid is a valid argument to stop\&.
.RE

.SH "SEE ALSO"

.LP
httpc(3erl), httpd(3erl)