Preface

The STREAMS Programming Guide describes how to use STREAMS in designing and implementing applications and STREAMS modules and drivers, for architectures that conform to the Solaris^TM 7 DDI/DDK.

Who Should Use This Book

This manual is a guide for application, driver, and module developers. The reader must know C programming in a UNIX^TM environment, and be familiar with the system interfaces. Driver and module developers should also be familiar with the book Writing Device Drivers.

How This Book Is Organized

This guide is divided into three parts. Part 1, Application Programming Interface, describes how to use STREAMS facilities in applications. Part 2, Kernel Interface, describes how to design STREAMS modules and STREAMS drivers. Part 3, Advanced Topics, contains advanced topics. Every developer should read Chapter 1.

Part 1, Application Programming Interface

• Chapter 1, Overview of STREAMS is a general overview of STREAMS concepts and mechanisms.

• Chapter 2, STREAMS Application-Level Components describes the basic operations to assemble, use, and dismantle streams.

• Chapter 3, STREAMS Application-Level Mechanisms details the operations of messages, the flow of streams, and how to manipulate Steams from applications.

• Chapter 4, Application Access to the STREAMS Driver and Module Interfaces describes putting messages into and receiving them from a stream.

• Chapter 5, STREAMS Administration identifies and describes tools to monitor names and modules, and gather statistics.

• Chapter 6, Pipes and Queues describes pipes and named pipes (FIFOs).

Part 2, Kernel Interface

• Chapter 7, STREAMS Framework – Kernel Level describes STREAMS modules, drivers, and how they relate.

• Chapter 8, STREAMS Kernel-Level Mechanisms describes message types, structure, and linkage in detail. Flow control is also covered.

• Chapter 9, STREAMS Drivers describes specific STREAMS drivers, using code samples.

• Chapter 10, STREAMS Modules describes how specific examples of modules work based on code samples.

• Chapter 11, Configuring STREAMS Drivers and Modules describes configuring modules and drivers into the OS.

• Chapter 12, Multithreaded STREAMS describes the multithreaded environment and how to make modules and drivers MT- safe.

• Chapter 13, STREAMS Multiplex Drivers describes how to implement multiplexing in a driver.

Part 3, Advanced Topics

• Chapter 14, Debugging STREAMS-based Applications addresses commonly encountered problems and their resolution.

Part 4, Appendixes

• Appendix A, Message Types describes STREAMS messages and their use.

• Appendix B, Kernel Utility Interface Summary describes STREAMS utility routines and their use.

• Appendix C, STREAMS-Based Terminal Subsystem explains how to set up a terminal subsystem, and how to keep track of processes and handle interrupts.

• Appendix D, STREAMS FAQ contains answers to a variety of commonly asked questions about STREAMS.

• Glossary defines terms unique to STREAMS.

Related Books

You can obtain more information on STREAMS system calls and utilities from the on-line manual pages. For more information on driver-related issues, including autoconfiguration, see Writing Device Drivers.

You can also find STREAMS described to some extent in the System V Interface Definition, and in the following publications:

Goodheart, Berny and Cox, James. The Magic Garden Explained. Australia, & Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1994.

Rago, Stephen A. UNIX System V Network Programming. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley, 1993.

Accessing Sun Documentation Online

The docs.sun.com^SM Web site enables you to access Sun technical documentation online. You can browse the docs.sun.com archive or search for a specific book title or subject. The URL is http://docs.sun.com.

Typographic Conventions

The following table describes the typographic changes used in this book.

Table P–1 Typographic Conventions

Typeface or Symbol	Meaning	Example
AaBbCc123	The names of commands, files, and directories; on-screen computer output	Edit your .login file. Use ls -a to list all files. machine_name% you have mail.
AaBbCc123	What you type, contrasted with on-screen computer output	machine_name% su Password:
AaBbCc123	Command-line placeholder: replace with a real name or value	To delete a file, type rm filename.
AaBbCc123	Book titles, new words, or terms, or words to be emphasized.	Read Chapter 6 in User's Guide. These are called class options. You must be root to do this.

Shell Prompts in Command Examples

The following table shows the default system prompt and superuser prompt for the C shell, Bourne shell, and Korn shell.

Table P–2 Shell Prompts

Shell	Prompt
C shell prompt	machine_name%
C shell superuser prompt	machine_name#
Bourne shell and Korn shell prompt	$
Bourne shell and Korn shell superuser prompt	#