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<!-- =defdoc xpaintro xpaintro n -->
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Introduction to XPA</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<!-- =section xpaintro NAME -->
<H2><A NAME="xpaintro">XPAIntro: Introduction to the XPA Messaging System</A></H2>
<!-- =section xpaintro SYNOPSIS -->
<H2>Summary</H2>
<P>
A brief introduction to the XPA messaging system, which provides
seamless communication between all kinds of Unix event-driven
programs, including X programs, Tcl/Tk programs, and Perl programs.
<!-- =section xpaintro DESCRIPTION -->
<H2>Description</H2>
<P>
The XPA messaging system provides seamless communication between all
kinds of Unix programs, including X programs, Tcl/Tk programs, and
Perl programs. It also provides an easy way for users to communicate
with these XPA-enabled programs by executing XPA client commands in
the shell or by utilizing such commands in scripts. Because XPA works
both at the programming level and the shell level, it is a powerful
tool for unifying any analysis environment: users and programmers have
great flexibility in choosing the best level or levels at which to
access XPA services, and client access can be extended or modified
easily at any time.
<P>
A program becomes an XPA-enabled server by defining named points of
public access through which data and commands can be exchanged with
other client programs (and users). Using standard TCP sockets as
a transport mechanism, XPA supports both single-point and broadcast
messaging to and from these servers. It supports direct communication
between clients and servers, or indirect communication via an
intermediate message bus emulation program. Host-based access control
is implemented, as is as the ability to communicate with XPA servers
across a network.
<P>
XPA implements a layered interface that is designed to be useful both
to software developers and to users. The interface consists of a
library of XPA client and server routines for use in programs and a
suite of high-level user programs built on top of these libraries.
Using the XPA library, access points can be added to
<A HREF="./tcl.html#">Tcl/Tk</A>
programs,
<A HREF="./xt.html#">Xt</A>
programs, or to Unix programs that use the XPA event loop or any
event loop based on select(). Client access subroutines can be added
to any Tcl/Tk or Unix program. Client access also is supported at the
command line via a suite of high-level programs.
<P>
The major components of the XPA layered interface are:
<UL>
<LI>
A set of XPA server routines, centered on
<A HREF="./server.html#xpanew">XPANew(),</A>
which are used by XPA server programs to tag public access points with
string identifiers and to register send and receive callbacks for
these access points.
<LI>
A set of XPA client routines, centered on the
<A HREF="./client.html#xpaset">XPASet()</A>
and
<A HREF="./client.html#xpaget">XPAGet(),</A>
which are used by external client applications to exchange data and
commands with an XPA server.
<LI>
High-level programs, centered on
<A HREF="./programs.html#xpaset">xpaset</A>
and
<A HREF="./programs.html#xpaget">xpaget,</A>
which allow data
and information to be exchanged with XPA server programs from the
command line and from scripts. These programs have the command syntax:
<PRE>
[data] | xpaset <XPA name> [qualifiers ...]
xpaget <XPA name> [qualifiers ...]
</PRE>
<LI>
An XPA name server program,
<A HREF="./xpans.html">xpans,</A>
through which XPA access point names are
registered by servers and distributed to clients.
</UL>
<P>
Defining an XPA access point is easy: a server application calls
<A HREF="./server.html#xpanew">XPANew(),</A>
<A HREF="./server.html#xpacmdnew">XPACmdNew(),</A>
or the experimental
<A HREF="./server.html#xpainfonew">XPAInfoNew()</A>
routine to
create a named public access point. An XPA service can specify "send"
and "receive" callback procedures (or an "info" procedure in the case
of XPAInfoNew()) to be executed by the program when an external
process either sends data or commands to this access point or requests
data or information from this access point. Either of the callbacks
can be omitted, so that a particular access point can be specified as
read-only, read-write, or write-only. Application-specific client
data can be associated with these callbacks. Having defined one or
more public access points in this way, an XPA server program enters
its usual event loop (or uses the standard XPA event loop).
<P>
Clients communicate with these XPA public access points
using programs such as
<A HREF="./programs.html#xpaget">xpaget</A>,
<A HREF="./programs.html#xpaset">xpaset</A>, and
<A HREF="./programs.html#xpainfo">xpainfo</A>
(at the command line),
or routines such as
<A HREF="./client.html#xpaget">XPAGet(),</A>
<A HREF="./client.html#xpaset">XPASet(),</A>
and
<A HREF="./client.html#xpainfo">XPAInfo()</A>
within a program. Both methods require specification of the name of
the access point. The xpaget program returns data or other
information from an XPA server to its standard output, while the
xpaset program sends data or commands from its standard input to an
XPA application. The corresponding API routines set/get data to/from
memory, returning error messages and other info as needed. If a
<A HREF="./template.html">template</A>
is used to specify the access point name (e.g., "ds9*"), then
communication will take place with all servers matching that template.
<p>
Please note that XPA currently is not thread-safe. All XPA calls must be
in the same thread.
<!-- =section xpaintro SEE ALSO -->
<!-- =text See xpa(n) for a list of XPA help pages -->
<!-- =stop -->
<P>
<A HREF="./help.html">Go to XPA Help Index</A>
<H5>Last updated: March 10, 2007</H5>
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