Ocamlnet 4 Reference Manual : Netplex_internal

# Module Netplex_internal

    module Netplex_internal: sig .. end

Internal services

Internal services are available to multi-threaded programs only, and implemented via `Netsys_polysocket`.

See below for an introduction.

    val register_server : string -> Netplex_types.polyserver_box -> unit

`register_server name server`: registers a server under the given `name`. It is an error if a server is already registered for the same name.

The registration is thread-safe.

    val connect_client : 'a Netplex_types.kind_check ->
           int -> string -> 'a Netsys_polysocket.polyclient

`connect_client is_kind n name`: Creates a new polyclient that is connected to the registered service `name`. The arg `is_kind` determines the type of the messages that can be exchanged. The number `n` is the size of the pipe buffer, in number of messages.

The function fails if the service is not registered, or assumes the wrong message kind.

The client lookup is thread-safe.

Example how to invoke a service exchanging strings (kind `Tstring`):

    let same : type s t . s polysocket_kind * t polysocket_kind -> (s,t) eq =
      function
      | Tstring, Tstring -> Equal
      | _ -> Not_equal

    let client =
      Netplex_internal.connect_client
        { Netplex_types.kind_check = fun k -> same(Tstring,k) }
        n
        "name"

(You should strictly stick to this pattern. Any abbreviation will probably not type-check.)

### How to configure and use internal services

Internal services are a fast mechanism to invoke containers from other containers. So far, internal services are only available for multi-threaded programs. The messages can have any type.

You add an internal service by configuring an address "internal" in the protocol section of the configuration file, e.g.

    protocol {
      name = "my-protocol";
      address {
        type = "internal";
        name = "my-identifier";
      }
      address {                    (* other addresses ok *)
        ...
      }
    }

The internal service is only activated when multi-threading is selected. In programs using multi-processing the internal service is simply ignored.

You need to choose the types of your messages. There is the GADT `Netplex_types.polysocket_kind` listing possible types. It comes with the variants `Txdr` (for RPC messaging) and `Tstring` (for any custom strings):

    type _ polysocket_kind = ..
    type _ polysocket_kind +=
       | Txdr : Netxdr.xdr_value polysocket_kind
       | Tstring : string polysocket_kind

This is an extensible GADT, i.e. you can add more variants with the "+=" notation. (Note that extensible variants are first available since OCaml-4.02. With older OCaml versions, you cannot extend more variants.)

Let's add integers:

    type _ polysocket_kind +=
      | Tint : int polysocket_kind

The connections to the internal services do not arrive via the normal `process` mechanism. There is a second path using the new processor hooks `config_internal` and `process_internal`. The hook `config_internal` defines which message type you are really using. The hook `process_internal` is invoked when a new connection to the internal service is established. It works very much like `process`, only that it doesn't use file descriptors but so-called polysockets (see `Netsys_polysocket`).

    class hello_world_processor hooks : processor =
    object(self)
      inherit Netplex_kit.processor_base hooks

      method config_internal =
         [ "my-protocol", Polysocket_kind_box Tint ]

      method process_internal ~when_done container srvbox proto_name =
        let Polyserver_box(kind, srv) = srvbox in
        match kind with
          | Tint ->
             let endpoint = Netsys_polysocket.accept ~nonblock:false srv in
             (* Now send and receive messages over endpoint *)
             ...;
             when_done()
          | _ ->
             failwith "wrong kind"

      method process ~when_done container fd proto_name =
        (* this is still invoked when non-internal connections arrive *)
        ...
      method supported_ptypes =
        ...
    end

The `endpoint` is actually a pair of polypipes (`Netsys_polypipe`):

    let (rd, wr) = endpoint

Over `rd` you receive messages of type `int` from the client, and via `wr` you can send messages to it.

Use `Netplex_internal.connect_client` to get a client (usually in a different container, or in an arbitrary other thread):

    let same : type s t . s polysocket_kind * t polysocket_kind -> (s,t) eq =
      function
      | Tint, Tint -> Equal
      | _ -> Not_equal

    let client =
      Netplex_internal.connect_client
        { Netplex_types.kind_check = fun k -> same(Tint,k) }
        5
        "my-identifier" in
    let client_endpoint =
       Netsys_polysocket.endpoint ~synchronous:true ~nonblock:false client

Again, the endpoint is a pair of polypipes in reality:

    let (client_rd, client_wr) = client_endpoint

#### Complete example

You find a complete example in the distribution tarball at `code/examples/netplex/internal_service.ml`.

### Using internal services via RPC

RPC clients and servers have now support for polysockets. Note that you need to select `Txdr` as message kind. The messages are not serialized into strings, but instead the structured XDR format is used as transport encoding.

XXX TODO