Using the Highest Layer of RPC
Programmers who write remote procedure calls can make the highest layer of RPC available to other users through a simple C language front-end routine that entirely hides the networking.
To illustrate a call at the highest level, a program can call the rnusers routine, a C routine that returns the number of users on a remote workstation. The user need not be explicitly aware of using RPC.
Other RPC service library routines available to the C programmer are as follows:
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
| rusers | Returns information about users on a remote workstation. |
| havedisk | Determines whether the remote workstation has a disk. |
| rstat | Gets performance data from a remote kernel. |
| rwall | Writes to a specified remote workstation. |
| yppasswd | Updates a user password in the Network Information Service (NIS). |
RPC services, such as the mount and spray commands, are not available to the C programmer as service library routines. Though unavailable, these services have RPC program numbers and can be invoked with the callrpc subroutine. Most of these services have compilable rpcgen protocol description files that simplify the process of developing network applications.
For more information, see Using the Highest Layer of RPC Example.