Specifying Port Names and Location Names(IM:IC)

Inside Macintosh: Interapplication Communication /: Chapter 11 - Program-to-Program Communications Toolbox / Using the PPC Toolbox

Specifying Port Names and Location Names
Before initiating a session, you must open a port to communicate with other programs. A port name and location name identify each port. An application can open as many ports as it requires as long as each port name is unique within a particular computer. You specify both the port name and the location name in the PPC parameter block.
Figure 11-10 illustrates a single Macintosh computer with two applications, and their corresponding port names and location names.
To open a port, you need to specify a port name. A port name consists of a name string, a type string, and a script code for localization. For example, you can designate "make memo" as the application's name string, "word processor" as its type string, and "smRoman" as its script code.
A port name is defined by a PPC port record. The PPC port record contains a script code, name string, port kind selector, and type string. The script code is an integer script identifier used for localization. The name string consists of a 32-byte character string that designates the application name. You should keep both the script code and the name string in a resource. The port kind selector is an integer that selects the kind of type string. You should make it consistent internationally. The type string can be either a 32-byte character string or a 4-character creator and a 4-character file type. See the chapter "Finder Interface" of Inside Macintosh: Macintosh Toolbox Essentials for information on creators and file types. See Inside Macintosh: Text for information on script codes and localization.
Figure 11-10 Two Macintosh applications and their corresponding ports

The PPCPortRec data type defines the PPC port record.
TYPE PPCPortRec = 
   RECORD
      nameScript:       ScriptCode;       {script identifier}
      name:             Str32;            {port name in program } 
                                          { linking dialog box}
      portKindSelector: PPCPortKinds;     {general category of }
                                          { application}
      CASE PPCPortKinds OF
                        ppcByString:      (portTypeStr: Str32);
                        ppcByCreatorAndType: 
                                          (portCreator: OSType;
                                          portType: OSType);
   END;
The location name identifies the location of the computer on the network. The PPC Toolbox provides the location name when the user starts up the computer. The location name is specified in the standard Name-Binding Protocol (NBP) form, <object string>:PPCToolBox @<AppleTalk zone>. The object string is the name provided in the Sharing Setup control panel in the Control Panels folder. By default, the type string is "PPCToolBox". The AppleTalk zone is the zone to which the particular Macintosh computer belongs. For example, "Jane Doe's Macintosh:PPCToolBox@twilight" specifies the object string, type string, and AppleTalk zone for a particular computer.
The LocationNameRec data type defines the location name record. The locationKindSelector field can be set to ppcNoLocation, ppcNBPLocation, or ppcNBPTypeLocation.
TYPE LocationNameRec = 
   RECORD
      locationKindSelector: PPCLocationKind;    {which variant}
      CASE PPCLocationKind OF
         {ppcNoLocation: storage not used by this value}
         ppcNBPLocation:                     
                        (nbpEntity: EntityName); {NBP name entity}
         ppcNBPTypeLocation:     
                        (nbpType: Str32); {just the NBP type }
                                          { string for the }
                                          { PPCOpen function}
   END;
The ppcNoLocation constant is used when the location received from or passed to a PPC Toolbox function is the location of the local machine.
The ppcNBPLocation constant is used when a full NBP entity name is received from or passed to a PPC Toolbox function.

Note
You should assign an NBP value directly--do not pack it using nbpSetEntity.
The ppcNBPTypeLocation constant is used only by the PPCOpen function when an alias location name is needed.
The NBP type to be used for the alias location name is passed in the location name record's nbpType field. Alias location names allow you to filter the NBP objects (Macintosh computers) displayed by the program linking dialog box (shown in
Figure 11-12 on page 11-22) using the PPCBrowser function. See "Browsing for Ports Using the Program Linking Dialog Box" beginning on page 11-22 for information on the PPCBrowser function.
An alias location name could be used to advertise a service (such as a dictionary service) that is available to any application located on the network. For example, "Joe Smith's Macintosh: dictionary@ozone" specifies the object string, type string, and AppleTalk zone for a particular dictionary service.
To search for all dictionary services available within a zone, you use the PPCBrowser function and a filter. Figure 11-11 illustrates a Macintosh dictionary service application, its corresponding port name, and its alias location name.
Figure 11-11 The PPC Toolbox and a dictionary service application

Opening a Port
To open a port and associate a name with it, use the PPCOpen function. Listing 11-2 illustrates how you use the PPCOpen function to open a port. In this listing, the name is "Inside Macintosh" and the port type string is "Example". The location name is <object string>:PPC Example@<AppleTalk zone>.
Listing 11-2 Opening a PPC port
FUNCTION MyPPCOpen(VAR thePortRefNum: PPCPortRefNum;
                   VAR nbpRegisteredFlag: Boolean): OSErr;
VAR
   thePPCOpenPBRec:        PPCOpenPBRec;
   thePPCPortRec:          PPCPortRec;
   theLocationNameRec:     LocationNameRec;
BEGIN
   WITH thePPCPortRec DO
   BEGIN
      {nameScript and name should be resources to allow }
      { easy localization}
      nameScript := smRoman;  {Roman script}
      name := 'Inside Macintosh';
      {the port type should always be hard-coded to allow the }
      { application to find ports of a particular type even }
      { after the name is localized}
      portKindSelector := ppcByString;
      portTypeStr := 'Example';
   END;
   WITH theLocationNameRec DO
   BEGIN
      locationKindSelector := ppcNBPTypeLocation;
      nbpType := 'PPC Example';
   END;
   WITH thePPCOpenPBRec DO
   BEGIN
      serviceType := ppcServiceRealTime;
      resFlag := 0;                    {must be 0 for 7.0}
      portName := @thePPCPortRec;
      locationName := @theLocationNameRec;
      networkVisible := TRUE;          {make this a visible }
                                       { entity on the network}
   END;
   MyPPCOpen := PPCOpen(@thePPCOpenPBRec, FALSE);{synchronous}
   thePortRefNum := thePPCOpenPBRec.portRefNum;
   nbpRegisteredFlag := thePPCOpenPBRec.nbpRegistered;
END;
The PPCOpen function opens a port with the port name and location name specified in the name and location fields of the parameter block. When the PPCOpen function completes execution, the portRefNum field returns the port reference number. You can use the port reference number in the PPCInform, PPCStart, StartSecureSession, and PPCClose functions to refer to the port you have opened.

Browsing for Ports Using the Program Linking Dialog Box
Before initiating a session, you can use either the PPCBrowser function or the IPCListPorts function to locate a port to communicate with.
Use the PPCBrowser function to display the program linking dialog box (shown in Figure 11-12) on the user's screen.

Note
Because this function displays a dialog box on the user's screen, you must not call the PPCBrowser function from an application that is running in the background.
Figure 11-12 The program linking dialog box

In the program linking dialog box, the user selects the computer, zone, and application. The zone list is not displayed if there is no network connection. Figure 11-13 shows the dialog box without the zone list.
Figure 11-13 The program linking dialog box without a zone list

As shortcuts for the user, the program linking dialog box supports standard keyboard equivalents. Pressing Command-period or the Esc (Escape) key selects Cancel--pressing Enter or Return selects the OK button.
Each list is sorted in alphabetical order. As in the Chooser, the current list is indicated by a thick outline around its border. The program linking dialog box supports keyboard navigation and use of the arrow keys to select items from the current list. Pressing Tab or clicking the rectangle of another list switches the current list. Pressing Shift-Tab reverses the order in which the lists are selected. In addition, double-clicking an application name in the Programs list of the program linking dialog box is equivalent to clicking the OK button.
The PPCBrowser function allows users to browse for PPC ports.
err := PPCBrowser (prompt, applListLabel, defaultSpecified, 
                   theLocation, thePortInfo, portFilter, 
                   theLocNBPType);
If the defaultSpecified parameter is TRUE, the PPCBrowser function tries to select the PPC port specified by the parameters theLocation and thePortInfo when the program linking dialog box first appears. If the default cannot be found, the PPCBrowser function selects the first PPC port in the list.
An application can open multiple ports as long as each port name is unique within a particular computer. Unique ports can have duplicate name fields but different types. For example, you can designate "make memo" as the application's name string and "word processor" as its type string. You can also designate a separate port as "make memo" (the application's name string) and "text only" (its type string).
In such a case, the PPCBrowser function does a secondary sort based on the port type. Ports with a type selector of ppcByCreatorAndType are displayed before ppcByString ports, and types are sorted alphabetically within each type selector.
The PPCBrowser function uses the IPCListPorts function to obtain the list of existing ports on a particular computer within a particular zone. The portFilter parameter of the PPCBrowser function allows you to filter the list of PPC ports before it displays them in the program linking dialog box. If you set the portFilter parameter to NIL, the PPCBrowser function displays the names of all the existing PPC ports returned by the IPCListPorts function. If you do not set the portFilter parameter to NIL, you must set it to a pointer to a port filter function that you create.
Listing 11-3 illustrates how you use a sample port filter function. In this listing, the MyBrowserPortFilter function returns TRUE for ports with the port type string "Example".
Listing 11-3 Using a port filter function
FUNCTION MyBrowserPortFilter(theLocationNameRec: LocationNameRec;
                             thePortInfoRec: PortInfoRec)
                             : Boolean;
BEGIN
   IF thePortInfoRec.name.portKindSelector = ppcByString THEN
      IF thePortInfoRec.name.portTypeStr = 'Example' THEN
         MyBrowserPortFilter := TRUE
      ELSE 
         MyBrowserPortFilter := FALSE
   ELSE 
      MyBrowserPortFilter := FALSE;
END;
The PPCBrowser function calls your filter function once for each port on the selected computer. Your function should return TRUE for each port you want to display in the program linking dialog box, and FALSE for each port that you do not want to display. Do not modify the data in the filter function parameters theLocationNameRec and thePortInfoRec.
The PPCBrowser function returns the selected port name in the parameter thePortInfo. The IPCListPorts function returns the port names in the area of memory pointed to by the bufferPtr field of the IPCListPorts parameter block. Both functions specify each port name in a port information record.
TYPE PortInfoRec =
   RECORD
      filler1:       SignedByte;       {space holder}
      authRequired:  Boolean;          {authentication required}
      name:          PPCPortRec;       {port name}
   END;
If the authRequired field returns TRUE, the port requires authentication before a session can begin. You should use the StartSecureSession function to initiate a session with this port. If this field returns FALSE, you can use either the PPCStart function or the StartSecureSession function to initiate a session. See "Initiating a PPC Session" beginning on page 11-29 for detailed information. The name field of the port information record specifies an available port name.
Listing 11-4 illustrates how you use the PPCBrowser function to display the program linking dialog box in order to obtain the location and name of a port chosen by the user. In this listing, the PPCBrowser function builds lists of zones (shown in the AppleTalk Zones list of the program linking dialog box), objects (shown in the Macintoshes list), and ports (shown in the Programs list). In this example, the PPCBrowser function next tries to default to object "Moof\x81" in the "Twilight" zone. If it matches the object and zone, it also tries to default to the port "Inside Macintosh" with the port type "Example".
Note that the data in the records LocationNameRec and PortInfoRec is used to match the names in the program linking dialog box. The data has nothing to do with the NBP type used by NBPLookup or the filtered PPC ports that show up in the program linking dialog box. The NBPLookup function uses the NBP type supplied in theLocNBPType. The PPC port names are filtered using the MyBrowserPortFilter function shown in Listing 11-3 on page 11-24.
Listing 11-4 Browsing through dictionary service ports
FUNCTION MyPPCBrowser(VAR theLocationNameRec: LocationNameRec;
                      VAR thePortInfoRec: PortInfoRec): OSErr;
VAR
   prompt:              Str255;
   applListLabel:       Str255;
   defaultSpecified:    Boolean;
   theLocNBPType:       Str32;
BEGIN
   prompt := 'Choose an example to link to:';
   applListLabel := 'Examples';
   defaultSpecified := TRUE;
   WITH theLocationNameRec DO
   BEGIN
      locationKindSelector := ppcNBPLocation;
      WITH nbpEntity DO
      BEGIN
         objStr := 'Moof(TM)';
         {typeStr is ignored}
         zoneStr := 'Twilight';
      END;
   END;
   WITH thePortInfoRec.name DO
   BEGIN
      {nameScript and name should be resources to allow easy }
      { localization}
      nameScript := smRoman;  {Roman script}
      name := 'Inside Macintosh';
      {the port type should always be hard-coded to allow the }
      { application to find ports of a particular type even }
      { after the name is localized}
      portKindSelector := ppcByString;
      portTypeStr := 'Example';
   END;
   {when building the list of objects (Macintoshes), }
   { show only those with the NBP type "PPC Example"}
   theLocNBPType := 'PPC Example';  {match this NBP type}
   MyPPCBrowser := PPCBrowser(prompt, applListLabel, 
                              defaultSpecified,
                              theLocationNameRec,
                              thePortInfoRec,
                              @MyBrowserPortFilter,
                              theLocNBPType);
END;
Obtaining a List of Available Ports
To generate a list of ports without displaying dialog boxes, you can use the IPCListPorts function. The IPCListPorts function allows you to obtain a list of ports on a particular computer within a particular zone. To obtain a list of ports, several steps are required. First, use the GetZoneList function to obtain a list of zones. Next, you must use the PLookupName function to obtain a list of computers with ports. After establishing the zone and the computer, you can use the IPCListPorts function to obtain the list of available ports. See Inside Macintosh: Networking for information on the GetZoneList and PLookupName functions.
Listing 11-5 illustrates how you use the IPCListPorts function to obtain a list of ports on a particular computer. This function returns a list of port information records in the buffer pointed to by the parameter thePortInfoBufferPtr. The actual number of port information records is returned in the parameter theActualCount.
Listing 11-5 Using the IPCListPorts function to obtain a list of ports
FUNCTION MyIPCListPorts 
         (theStartIndex: Integer; 
          theRequestCount: Integer; VAR theActualCount: Integer; 
          theObjStr: Str32; theZoneStr: Str32; 
          thePortInfoBufferPtr: PortInfoArrayPtr): OSErr;
VAR
   theIPCListPortsPBRec:      IPCListPortsPBRec;
   thePPCPortRec:             PPCPortRec;
   theLocationNameRec:        LocationNameRec;
BEGIN
   {list all PPC ports at the specified location}
   WITH thePPCPortRec DO
   BEGIN
      nameScript := smRoman;
      name := '=';         {match all names}
      portKindSelector := ppcByString;
      portTypeStr := '=';  {match all types} 
   END;
   WITH theLocationNameRec DO
   BEGIN
      locationKindSelector := ppcNBPLocation;
      WITH nbpEntity DO
      BEGIN
         {set NBP object from the list returned by NBPLookup}
         objStr := theObjStr;
         {set NBP type, in this example to "PPC Example"; if you }
         { don't supply your own NBP type, use "PPCToolBox"}
         typeStr := 'PPC Example';
         {set NBP zone from the list returned by GetZoneList}
         zoneStr := theZoneStr;
      END;
   END;
   WITH theIPCListPortsPBRec DO
   BEGIN
      startIndex := theStartIndex;
      requestCount := theRequestCount;
      portName := @thePPCPortRec;
      locationName := @theLocationNameRec;
      bufferPtr := thePortInfoBufferPtr;
   END;
   MyIPCListPorts := IPCListPorts(@theIPCListPortsPBRec, FALSE);
   theActualCount := theIPCListPortsPBRec.actualCount;
END;
The IPCListPorts function returns information about ports that are on the computer specified in the locationName field of the list ports parameter block. If you set the locationName field to NIL or if you set the locationKindSelector field in the location name record to ppcNoLocation, the IPCListPorts function returns only the port names for the local computer.
The bufferPtr field points to an area of memory that contains the requested port names. You are responsible for allocating enough memory to hold the requested port names. The buffer length must be equal to
sizeof(PortInfoRec) * requestCount

Shop the Apple Online Store (1-800-MY-APPLE), visit an Apple Retail Store, or find a reseller.