GETMEM(5) GETMEM(5)
Name
getmem, putmem - Transfer box contents.
Synopsis
getmemrq box off len
getmemrep box off len bytes
statusrep err
putmemrq box off len bytes
statusrep err
Description
Theses RPC are issued by the implementation of copy(2) and
also to service copy(5) requests.
Beware that they are not like read/write on other systems;
the differences will hopefully be clear after reading this
manual page. Getmem is issued to obtain the contents of a
boxwhich happens whenever the destination of a copy(2) is
not a local box, as a result of the copy(5) request.
Putmem is issued to send the contents of a box to the desti-
nation which happens whenever the destination of a copy(2)
request is not local.
Both Getmem and putmem transfer box contents and there can
be a series of requests followed by a series of replies for
a single copy(5) request. The series is terminated when less
than a full packet (i.e. less than MAXBYTES bytes) is sent;
if necessary, an empty packet is sent to terminate the
series when the total box size is a multiple of the packet
size.
Both packet types are meant to transfer entire boxes, start-
ing with a packet at offset 0, and terminating with a not-
full packet; they are not meant to tranfer some bytes start-
ing at a given offset.
See also
copy(2), copy(5).
Bugs
Only copies of less than MAXBYTES are atomic.