Named Pipes

Named Pipes

[Paul]

Is there a standard GNAT package for named pipes?  I have looked but have
found nothing.  The package GNAT.Expect seems promising but it says it
emulates the TCL expect tool.  After reading web articles on TCL and Expect
it probably does not do what I want.

Trolling thru the web suggests that named pipes are not equal/the same
across platforms - ie Win32 named pipes are not the same as Unix pipes.  I
confess to knowing zip about Unix.  Can I assume the reason there is no
standard GNAT package for named pipes is because it cannot be portable?

I am in the process of converting an OS/2 Ada 83 program to OS/2 & Win32
Ada95 and am trying to reduce the number of platform dependancies.  I've
never really done any serious programming in Ada 95 until now and am
discovering some really neat stuff in Ada 95 that didn't exist in Ada 83.
OK so I'm 10 years late but I'm only doing it for fun - to keep the grey
cells active.

Cheers & TIA

Paul

Re: Named Pipes

[Mark Lorenzen]

"Paul" <pcas1986@bigpond.net.au> writes:

> Is there a standard GNAT package for named pipes?  I have looked but have
> found nothing.  The package GNAT.Expect seems promising but it says it
> emulates the TCL expect tool.  After reading web articles on TCL and Expect
> it probably does not do what I want.
>
> Trolling thru the web suggests that named pipes are not equal/the same
> across platforms - ie Win32 named pipes are not the same as Unix pipes.  I
> confess to knowing zip about Unix.  Can I assume the reason there is no
> standard GNAT package for named pipes is because it cannot be portable?
>
> I am in the process of converting an OS/2 Ada 83 program to OS/2 & Win32
> Ada95 and am trying to reduce the number of platform dependancies.  I've
> never really done any serious programming in Ada 95 until now and am
> discovering some really neat stuff in Ada 95 that didn't exist in Ada 83.
> OK so I'm 10 years late but I'm only doing it for fun - to keep the grey
> cells active.
>
> Cheers & TIA
>
> Paul

Named pipes is a POSIX invention. You should therefore use the ISO/IEC
14519 Ada interface to POSIX-like operating systems. The GNAT
implementation is called 'florist'.

- Mark Lorenzen

Re: Named Pipes

[Ludovic Brenta]

Mark Lorenzen writes:
> Named pipes is a POSIX invention. You should therefore use the
> ISO/IEC 14519 Ada interface to POSIX-like operating systems. The
> GNAT implementation is called 'florist'.

I don't know who invented them, but I am prety sure OS/2 and Windows
both have named pipes and they do not use anything resembling a POSIX
interface.  For example, on OS/2:

http://www.edm2.com/os2api/Dos/DosConnectNPipe.html

I don't think there is a portable interface to named pipes, is there?

-- 
Ludovic Brenta.

Re: Named Pipes

[Paul]

Thanks for that.  I'm familiar with the OS/2 APIs for named pipes - I wrote
a partial thin binding to them years ago.  My impression is that named pipes
were invented, or at least introduced, by Microsoft and therefore are common
to both OS/2 and Windows.  As I said, I was looking for something a little
more portable.  I'll try Florist.

Paul

"Ludovic Brenta" <ludovic.brenta@insalien.org> wrote in message
news:87ekpyk220.fsf@insalien.org...
> Mark Lorenzen writes:
> > Named pipes is a POSIX invention. You should therefore use the
> > ISO/IEC 14519 Ada interface to POSIX-like operating systems. The
> > GNAT implementation is called 'florist'.
>
> I don't know who invented them, but I am prety sure OS/2 and Windows
> both have named pipes and they do not use anything resembling a POSIX
> interface.  For example, on OS/2:
>
> http://www.edm2.com/os2api/Dos/DosConnectNPipe.html
>
> I don't think there is a portable interface to named pipes, is there?
>
> -- 
> Ludovic Brenta.

Re: Named Pipes

[Mark Lorenzen]

"Paul" <pcas1986@bigpond.net.au> writes:

> Thanks for that.  I'm familiar with the OS/2 APIs for named pipes - I wrote
> a partial thin binding to them years ago.  My impression is that named pipes
> were invented, or at least introduced, by Microsoft and therefore are common
> to both OS/2 and Windows.  As I said, I was looking for something a little
> more portable.  I'll try Florist.
>
> Paul

Bill Gates didn't invent named pipes as they existed at the time he
wore diapers (well, roughly). I can't remember if they originate from
BSD or SYS V, but they are now a part of The Single UNIX
Specification.

If you want to work with UNIX named pipes, then you need the POSIX
binding (i.e. florist). If you want to work with the Windows or OS/2
ones I think you have to write a your own binding.

- Mark Lorenzen