RPCGEN(1)                  OpenBSD Reference Manual                  RPCGEN(1)

NAME
     rpcgen - RPC protocol compiler

SYNOPSIS
     rpcgen [-aALTNbC] [-D [name[=value]]] [-K secs] [-i lines] infile
     rpcgen -c | -h | -l | -m | -t | -Sc | -Ss | [-o outfile] [infile]
     rpcgen -c | nettype [-o outfile] [infile]

DESCRIPTION
     rpcgen is a tool that generates C code to implement an RPC protocol.  The
     input 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 re-
     mote 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(8)) 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 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 RPC_SVC_FG can be used to run the server process in
     the foreground.  The second synopsis provides special features which al-
     low 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 EXAMPLES 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, cpp(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, un-
     interpreted by rpcgen.

     For every data type referred to in infile rpcgen assumes that there ex-
     ists 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 options are as follows:

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

     -b      This generates code for the SunOS4.1 style of RPC.  This is the
             default.

     -c      Compile into XDR routines.

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

     -D name[=value]
             Define a symbol name.  Equivalent to the #define directive in the
             source.  If no value is given, value is defined as 1.  This op-
             tion may be specified more than once.

     -h      Compile into C data-definitions (a header file).  The -T option
             can be used in conjunction to produce a header file which sup-
             ports RPC dispatch tables.

     -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 up-
             on 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 port monitors, like the SVR4 listen
             utility, always spawn a new process in response to a service re-
             quest.  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() rou-
             tine.  This option is useful for doing callback-routines and for
             users who need to write their own main() routine to do initial-
             ization.

     -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 mul-
             tiple arguments.  It also uses the style of parameter passing
             that closely resembles C.  So, when passing an argument to a re-
             mote 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 de-
             fault case because of backward compatibility.

     -o outfile
             Specify the name of the output file.  If none is specified, stan-
             dard output is used (-c -h -l -m -n -s 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(3) for the meanings associated with these classes.
             Note: BSD currently supports only the tcp and udp 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 gener-
             ated by rpcgen.

     -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.

EXAMPLES
     The command

           $ 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 stan-
     dard 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

NOTES
     The RPC Language does not support nesting of structures.  As a
     workaround, 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 indicat-
     ed by netid and hence is very site specific.

SEE ALSO
     cpp(1)

OpenBSD 4.0                      June 11, 1995                               3
