Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)

FreeBSD Manual Pages

  
 
  

home | help
RPCGEN(1)		     General Commands Manual		       RPCGEN(1)

NAME
     rpcgen -- an RPC protocol compiler

SYNOPSIS
     rpcgen infile
     rpcgen [-a] [-b] [-C] [-Dname[=value]] [-i size] [-I -P [-K seconds]] [-L]
	    [-M] [-N] [-T] [-Y pathname] infile
     rpcgen [-c | -h | -l | -m | -t | -Sc | -Ss | -Sm] [-o outfile] [infile]
     rpcgen [-s nettype] [-o outfile] [infile]
     rpcgen [-n netid] [-o outfile] [infile]

DESCRIPTION
     The rpcgen utility is a tool that generates C code to implement an RPC pro-
     tocol.   The  input  to rpcgen is a language similar to C known as RPC Lan-
     guage (Remote Procedure Call Language).

     The rpcgen utility is normally used as in the first synopsis where it takes
     an input file and generates three output files.  If  the  infile  is  named
     proto.x,  then  rpcgen  generates	a  header  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 also generates the RPC dispatch table
     in proto_tbl.i.

     The  rpcgen  utility  can also generate sample client and server files that
     can be customized to suit a particular application.  The -Sc, -Ss	and  -Sm
     options  generate sample client, server and makefile, respectively.  The -a
     option generates all files, including  sample  files.   If  the  infile  is
     proto.x, then the client side sample file is written to proto_client.c, the
     server  side  sample  file  to  proto_server.c  and  the sample makefile to
     makefile.proto.

     If option -I is set, 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 name of the transport may be specified by
     setting up the environment variable NLSPROVIDER.  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
     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 fore-
     ground.

     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 exe-
     cute  the service routine; a client library may use it to deal with the de-
     tails 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.  See the
     "EXAMPLES" section below for examples of rpcgen usage.  When rpcgen is exe-
     cuted 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 is run on the input file before it is actually
     interpreted by rpcgen.  For each type of output file, rpcgen defines a spe-
     cial preprocessor symbol for use by the rpcgen programmer:

     RPC_HDR
	     defined when compiling into headers

     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,  unin-
     terpreted by rpcgen.  To specify the path name of the C preprocessor use -Y
     flag.

     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(3) routines.

OPTIONS
     The following options are available:

     -a      Generate all files, including sample files.

     -b      Backward  compatibility mode.  Generate transport specific RPC code
	     for older versions of the operating system.

     -c      Compile into XDR routines.

     -C      Generate ANSI C code.  This is always done, the flag is  only  pro-
	     vided for backwards compatibility.

     -Dname

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

     -i size
	     Size at which to start generating inline code.  This option is use-
	     ful for optimization.  The default size is 5.

	     Note:  in	order  to provide backwards compatibility with the older
	     rpcgen on the FreeBSD platform, the default is  actually  0  (which
	     means  that  inline  code	generation is disabled by default).  You
	     must specify a non-zero value explicitly to override this default.

     -I      Compile support for  inetd(8)  in	the  server  side  stubs.   Such
	     servers  can  be  self-started or can be started by inetd(8).  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 foreground, or the user may simply compile  without  the
	     -I option.

	     If  there are no pending client requests, the inetd(8) servers exit
	     after 120 seconds (default).  The default can be changed  with  the
	     -K  option.  All the error messages for inetd(8) servers are always
	     logged with syslog(3).

	     Note: Contrary to some systems, in FreeBSD this option is needed to
	     generate servers that can be invoked through portmonitors	and  in-
	     etd(8).

     -K seconds
	     By  default, services created using rpcgen and invoked through port
	     monitors 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, use -K 0.  To cre-
	     ate a server that never exits, the appropriate argument is -K -1.

	     When monitoring for a server, some portmonitors 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 im-
	     mediately on completion.  For such servers, rpcgen should	be  used
	     with -K 0.

     -l      Compile into client-side stubs.

     -L      When  the	servers  are started in foreground, use syslog(3) to log
	     the server errors instead of printing them on the standard error.

     -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  initializa-
	     tion.

     -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.  How-
	     ever, the rpc_svc_calls(3) functions are  not  yet  MT-safe,  which
	     means that rpcgen generated server-side code will not be MT-safe.

     -N      Allow  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 can pass the argument itself.   This
	     behavior  is different from the old style of rpcgen generated code.
	     To maintain backward compatibility, this option is not the default.

     -n netid
	     Compile into server-side  stubs  for  the	transport  specified  by
	     netid.   There  should be an entry for netid in the netconfig data-
	     base.  This option may be specified more than once, so as	to  com-
	     pile a server that serves multiple transports.

     -o outfile
	     Specify  the  name of the output file.  If none is specified, stan-
	     dard output is used (-c, -h, -l, -m, -n, -s, -Sc, -Sm, -Ss, and  -t
	     modes only).

     -P      Compile support for port monitors in the server side stubs.

	     Note: Contrary to some systems, in FreeBSD this option is needed to
	     generate servers that can be monitored.

	     If  the  -I  option  has been specified, -P is turned off automati-
	     cally.

     -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).	This op-
	     tion may be specified more than once.   Note:  the  transports  are
	     chosen at run time and not at compile time.

     -Sc     Generate sample client code that uses remote procedure calls.

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

     -Ss     Generate sample server code that uses remote procedure calls.

     -t      Compile into RPC dispatch table.

     -T      Generate the code to support RPC dispatch tables.

	     The options -c, -h, -l, -m, -s, -Sc, -Sm, -Ss, and -t are used  ex-
	     clusively	to generate a particular type of file, while the options
	     -D and -T are global and can be used with the other options.

     -Y pathname
	     Give the name of the directory where rpcgen will start looking  for
	     the C-preprocessor.

ENVIRONMENT
     If  the  RPCGEN_CPP  environment  variable is set, its value is used as the
     command line of the C preprocessor to be run on the input file.

EXAMPLES
     The following example:
	   example% rpcgen -T prot.x

     generates all 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) to the standard
     output.
	   example% 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:
	   example% rpcgen -s datagram_n -DTEST prot.x

     To create the server side stubs for the transport indicated by  netid  tcp,
     use:
	   example% rpcgen -n tcp -o prot_svc.c prot.x

SEE ALSO
     cc(1), rpc(3), rpc_svc_calls(3), syslog(3), xdr(3), inetd(8)

     The rpcgen chapter in the NETP manual.

FreeBSD ports 15.quarterly	September 2, 2005		       RPCGEN(1)

Want to link to this manual page? Use this URL:
<https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=rpcgen&sektion=1&manpath=FreeBSD+15.1-RELEASE+and+Ports.quarterly>

home | help