Inside Macintosh: Networking /

Preface - About This Book

Chapter Organization

Most chapters in this book follow a standard general structure. For example, the chapter "Name-Binding Protocol (NBP)" contains these major sections:

• "About NBP." This section provides an overview of the Name-Binding Protocol and its features.
• "Using NBP." This section describes how to use the most common NBP functions, gives related user interface information, provides code samples, and supplies additional information. For example, the section describes how to register your application with NBP so that users and other applications can locate and contact your application. It also describes how to look up another application's address based on its name and how to cancel a pending NBP request that you have made.
• "NBP Reference." This section provides a complete reference to NBP by describing the constants, data structures, and routines that you use to gain access to the NBP services. Each routine description follows a standard format that gives the routine declaration; a description of every parameter; the routine result, if any; and a list of errors, warnings, and notices. Most routine descriptions give additional information about using the routine and include cross-references to related information elsewhere. Many of the AppleTalk programming interface routines use parameter blocks to pass information to and receive it from the software driver that implements the protocol. The parameter block data type is described in the data structures section, and any parameter block fields that are common to all the routines that use the parameter block are defined in that section. Fields particular to a routine, but not common to all routines, are described along with the routine to which they pertain.
• "Summary of NBP." This section shows the Pascal, C, and assembly-
  language interfaces for the constants, data types, and routines associated with NBP. It also lists the result codes.