About This Manual

This manual explains how to write programs with the X/Open Transport Interface (XTI) calls, STREAMS I/O calls, and the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) socket calls. For XTI and sockets, it provides conceptual and programming information. Additionally, it explains how to port applications from Transport Layer Interface (TLI) to XTI and from sockets to XTI. For STREAMS, this manual explains any differences between the Tru64 UNIX® implementation and the AT&T System V Release 4 implementation. It also provides information on the Extensible System Network Management Protocol (eSNMP) application programming interface, the Resource ReSerVation Protocol (RSVP) application programming interface, and AF_INET6 sockets.

After reading this manual, you should be able to:

Audience

This manual addresses experienced UNIX programmers. We assume you are familiar with the following:

New and Changed Features

This revision of the Network Programmer's Guide contains the following changes:

Organization

This manual is organized as follows:

Chapter 1 Provides an overview of XTI, STREAMS, sockets, and the programming tasks required for network applications.
Chapter 2 Describes the dlb pseudodriver, which implements a subset of the the Data Link Provider Interface (DLPI).
Chapter 3 Describes the fundamental concepts associated with XTI, how to write connection-oriented and connectionless applications, compatibility issues with TLI, and how to port applications to XTI. XTI errors are also covered in this chapter.
Chapter 4 Describes the concepts associated with the socket interface, and how to write socket applications.
Chapter 5 Describes Tru64 UNIX implementation of STREAMS.
Chapter 6 Describes the Extensible System Network Management Application Programming Interface.
Chapter 7 Describes the Resource ReSerVation Protocol Application Programming Interface.
Chapter 8 Describes the ifnet STREAMS module and dlb STREAMS pseudodriver communication bridges.
Chapter 9 Describes how to write applications that use AF_INET6 sockets for communication.
Appendix A Provides a sample STREAMS module.
Appendix B Provides XTI and sockets programming examples.
Appendix C Provides Transport Protocol Control (TCP) specific programming information.
Appendix D Provides information required by token ring driver developers.
Appendix E Describes the Data Link Interface (DLI) and provides programming examples.

This guide also contains a glossary of terms and an index.

Related Documents

For general information about programming with Tru64 UNIX, refer to the Programmer's Guide.

For additional information about networking APIs, refer to the following manual:

For additional information about XTI, refer to the following manuals:

For additional information about the STREAMS I/O framework, refer to the following manuals:

For additional information about the socket interface, refer to the following books:

For information about administering networking interfaces, refer to the System Administration guide and the Network Administration guide.

Icons on Tru64 UNIX Printed Books

The printed version of the Tru64 UNIX documentation uses letter icons on the spines of the books to help specific audiences quickly find the books that meet their needs. (You can order the printed documentation from Compaq.) The following list describes this convention:

  G Books for general users
  S Books for system and network administrators
  P Books for programmers
  D Books for device driver writers
  R Books for reference page users

Some books in the documentation help meet the needs of several audiences. For example, the information in some system books is also used by programmers. Keep this in mind when searching for information on specific topics.

The Documentation Overview provides information on all of the books in the Tru64 UNIX documentation set.

Reader's Comments

Compaq welcomes any comments and suggestions you have on this and other Tru64 UNIX manuals.

You can send your comments in the following ways:

Please include the following information along with your comments:

The Tru64 UNIX Publications group cannot respond to system problems or technical support inquiries. Please address technical questions to your local system vendor or to the appropriate Compaq technical support office. Information provided with the software media explains how to send problem reports to Compaq.

Conventions

This document uses the following typographic conventions:

%
$

A percent sign represents the C shell system prompt. A dollar sign represents the system prompt for the Bourne, Korn, and POSIX shells.

#

A number sign represents the superuser prompt.

% cat

Boldface type in interactive examples indicates typed user input.

file

Italic (slanted) type indicates variable values, placeholders, and function argument names.

[ | ]
{ | }

In syntax definitions, brackets indicate items that are optional and braces indicate items that are required. Vertical bars separating items inside brackets or braces indicate that you choose one item from among those listed. 


colored text

In syntax definitions, literal elements are colored green. Variable values, placeholders, and function argument names are colored red. No special colored text is used outside of syntax descriptions.

. . .

In syntax definitions, a horizontal ellipsis indicates that the preceding item can be repeated one or more times.

cat(1)

A cross-reference to a reference page includes the appropriate section number in parentheses. For example, cat(1) indicates that you can find information on the cat command in Section 1 of the reference pages.

[Return]

In an example, a key name enclosed in a box indicates that you press that key.

[Ctrl/x]

This symbol indicates that you hold down the first named key while pressing the key or mouse button that follows the slash. In examples, this key combination is enclosed in a box (for example, [Ctrl/C] ).