+ Release Notes
. DECrpc, Version 1.0
H DECrpc is the remote procedure call mechanism supported by the VMS
H operating system. DECrpc is based on and is compatible with the RPC
H components of Apollo's Network Computing System (NCS) Version 1.5,
B which is a set of tools for heterogeneous distributed computing.
H Using remote procedure calls, software applications can be distributed
H across heterogeneous collections of computers, networks, and
H programming environments. Distributed applications can take advantage
H of computing resources throughout a network or Internet, with
H different parts of each program executing on the computers best suited
for the tasks.
H The software for writing distributed applications is written in
D portable C wherever possible and include the following components:
6 o Remote Procedure Call (RPC) runtime library
@ o Network Interface Definition Language (NIDL) compiler
o Location Brokers
5 o Universal Unique Identifier (UUID) utility
H o STCODE (translates hexadecimal status code values to textual
messages)
H You can install and run the DECrpc Version 1.0 on any system running
H VMS Version 5.2 or higher. However, to receive support from Digital
H Customer Software Support Center, you must install the Connection on
VMS Version 5.3 or higher.
H The RPC runtime library and the Location Brokers provide runtime
H support for distributed applications. For more detail, see DECrpc
Programming Guide.
: If you use DECrpc, you should be aware of the following:
H o For DECrpc applications to run properly, the system manager
H must define the following foreign commands in the site
$ SYS$MANAGER:SYSLOGIN.COM:
4 $ LB_ADMIN :== $ RPC$EXE:RPC$LB_ADMIN.EXE
4 $ UUID_GEN :== $ RPC$EXE:RPC$UUID_GEN.EXE
, $ NIDL :== $ RPC$EXE:RPC$NIDL.EXE
0 $ STCODE :== $ RPC$EXE:RPC$STCODE.EXE
H o Two object library files are now included with DECrpc,
H RPC$LIBNCK.OLB and RPC$LIBUCX.OLB. RPC$LIBNCK.OLB contains
H the objects of the DECrpc run-time library. RPC$LIBUCX
H contains the Connection-dependent low-level support modules
$ stored in RPC$LIBNCK.OLB.
H Page 2
H Therefore, you can chose to link against either the object
H library or the shared image (RPC$LIBNCK.EXE). If you decide
H to link against the object library, you must link with both
files.
H o The options file RPC$LIBNCK.OPT has been added to assist in
. linking against the object library.
H o If you have VAX C Version 3.0 or later and VMS Version 5.2,
H you can mix D_FLOAT and G_FLOAT modules within the same
H program. To do this include the files STDIO.H, STDLIB.h,
H MATH.H, and UNIXLIB.H in all G_FLOAT modules of the program
H and compile those G_FLOAT modules with
H /DEFINE="CC$mixed_float". Then link all modules agains the
, files VAXCRTL.EXE or VAXCRTL.OLB.
G Refer to VMS Version 5.2 Release Notes for more information.
H o The startup and shutdown files have been renamed. The new
C names are RPC$UCX_STARTUP.COM and RPC$UCX_SHUTDODWN.COM.
H o The NIDL compiler produces one include file for both the
H server and the client stub modules defined by the same IDL
H input file. The include file contains references to data
H structures allocated in the server and client stubs. Usually
H the server part of an application is built with the server
H stub module and the client part built with the client stub
H module. Because of the references contained in the include
H file, you may see warning messages produced at link time by
H the linker telling you about "undefined symbols". These
H symbols terminate with the suffix "_EPV", and are generated
H by the NIDL compiler. You can ignore these warning messages.
H For the same reason above, the DECrpc Run-time shared image
H was also linked with these warning messages. Therefore, when
H you link your application with the run-time shared image, you
A will see the following message produced by the linker:
0 %LINK-W-WRNERS, compilation warnings
P in module RPC$LIBNCK file SYS$COMMON:[SYSLIB]RPC$LIBNCK.EXE;1
/ You can ignore this message as well.
H o The Location Broker (which is included with every DECrpc
H program) uses broadcast messages to communicate with the
H Global Location Broker. By default, an application program
H requires SYSPRV or BYPASS privileges to send broadcast
H messages. However, the UCX Set COMMUNICATION command
H includes a new qualifier (/[NO]BROADCAST) that enables or
H disables the privilege checking for all applications sending
H broadcast messages. For more information on the
H /[NO]BROADCAST qualifier, see the VMS/ULTRIX Connection
+ release notes and documentation.