Intro(3nw)

Intro -- NetWare client library functions

Description

The primary audience for this manual page section is the programmer experienced in writing applications to run in the NetWare^® environment. It documents the NetWare API functions necessary to write applications running in the NetWare environment, and is an exhaustive and descriptive parts catalog to choose from in building or accessing applications.

Note that NWCallsInit(3nw) must be called before any other NetWare API function. Note also that paths passed to functions must be uppercase or the functions fail for platforms other than UnixWare.

NetWare-specific information

In addition to the standard information supplied by UnixWare manual pages, the pages in the current section may supply some or all of the following:

NLM information
If the function supports the NLM^® platform, the summary is followed by two lines that indicate whether the function can be called locally or remotely, and whether the function blocks or not. Blocking functions relinquish control of the CPU, allowing other functions to run: non-blocking functions do not relinquish control of the CPU, but run to completion.
Local Server indicates whether the function can be called on the server upon which the NLM is running (locally). Remote Server indicates whether the function can be called on a server other than the server that the NLM is running on (remotely). If ``N/A'' (not applicable) appears, that platform is not supported. That is, if the Remote Server category states ``N/A'', the function cannot be called remotely. Values other than ``N/A'' indicate that local/remote servers are supported, and also give blocking information as follows:

blocking
the function blocks (relinquishes control of the CPU)
nonblocking
the function does not block (runs to completion before relinquishing control of the CPU)
either blocking or nonblocking
the function might or might not block depending on the circumstances surrounding the call (look in the ``Remarks'' section for a paragraph entitled ``Blocking Information'' for a discussion of these circumstances).
Platform information
The NetWare Server line lists all the NetWare server versions supporting that function.
The Platform line lists all the client platforms supporting the function. The functions are only tested with the newest versions of the Requesters. If you want your application to run with older versions, you are responsible for fixing any resulting incompatibilities.
The UNIX platform designation is slightly different than the other platform designations. ``UNIX'' in this context is a generic term referring to many different implementations of UNIX. Specifically, ``UNIX'' indicates the function is supported for the UnixWare operating system.
The NetWare for UNIX Server line lists the NetWare for UNIX server versions that support the function.
Services information
This section notes the service group that the function belongs to, and corresponds to the information given in the following sections.
NCP calls information
Lists the NCP calls used by the function.

For a guide to building applications using the NetWare client functions, see NetWare applications programming.

The abstract data types employed by the NetWare Client API are defined in the nwalias.h header file. Throughout this documentation, the abstract data type is used to refer to a data item, wherever possible. For a complete list, refer to Abstract data types. For a listing of the error conditions returned by the NetWare Client API, refer to ``Error return values''.

Note that any references to VLM or VLM.exe refer to the NetWare 4 requestor on UnixWare platforms.

The following list gives the services affiliations of the functions of the NetWare API functions. Clicking on an entry will display a list of the functions in that service group.

Accounting Services

The accounting services API is used for administering and recording events, for example, in time sharing and the tracking of print server and database usage.

For a list of the supported functions, refer to Accounting services functions; for a guide to the use of this API, see ``Accounting services''.

AppleTalk Services

The AppleTalk Filing Protocol Services enable applications to create, access and delete Mac OS fileystems on or supported by a NetWare server.

For a list of the supported functions, refer to Appletalk services functions; for a guide to the use of this API, see ``AppleTalk filing protocol services''.

Auditing Services

The auditing services functions allow NetWare users to generate files that track and record network events.

For a list of the supported functions, refer to Auditing services functions; for a guide to the use of this API, see ``Auditing services for UnixWare''.

Bindery Services

Bindery services are used by NetWare servers to identify objects (including users and applications) on the network, and to store information about them. This data may be created and modified by the servers.

For a list of the supported functions, refer to Bindery services functions; for a guide to the use of this API, see ``Bindery services''.

Connection Services

The functions supplied by the connection services API control the relationship between a NetWare workstation and the network.

For a list of the supported functions, refer to Connection services functions; for a guide to the use of this API, see ``Connection services''.

Connection Services (Directory Support)

The directory support connection services are used to configure and maintain the NetWare workstation's local environment.

For a list of the supported functions, refer to Connection services (directory support) functions; for a guide to the use of this API, see ``Connection (directory support) services''.

Data Migration Services

The data migration functions enable client applications to move NetWare files to storage devices such as volumes, servers, and filesystems.

For a list of the supported functions, refer to Data migration services functions; for a guide to the use of this API, see ``Data migration services''.

Deleted File Services

The deleted file services API enables the user to either permanently purge (deallocate) deleted files from the filesystem, or to recover them.

For a list of the supported functions, refer to Deleted file services functions; for a guide to the use of this API, see ``Deleted file services''.

Directory Services

The NetWare Directory Services (NDS) is a distributed name service that provides global access to all network resources, irrespective of their physical location.

For a list of the supported functions, refer to Directory services functions; for a guide to the use of the directory services supplied by this API, see the following topics:

Extended Attribute Services

Extended attributes contain information associated with a file, such as its author and any icons that may be used to point to the file, and any explanatory comments and history. This API lists, reads and writes these attributes.

For a list of the supported functions, refer to Extended attribute services functions; for a guide to the use of this API, see ``Extended attribute services''.

File I/O Services

The functions supplied by the file I/O API are used to access NetWare files, and for converting file network handles to and from NetWare format.

For a list of the supported functions, refer to File I/O services functions; for a guide to the use of the filesystem APIs, see ``File system services''.

File Server Environment Services

The functions supplied by the environment services API are used to provide detailed information about NetWare servers and manage server logins.

For a list of the supported functions, refer to File server environment services functions; for a guide to the use of this API, see ``File server environment services''.

Filesystem Services

The filesystem services manipulate NetWare filesystems, providing access to files, directory entry information, and routines for managing disk space, file usage and trustees.

For a list of the supported functions, refer to Filesystem services functions; for a guide to the use of this API, see ``File system services''.

Internationalization Services

The NetWare internationalization services provide management of character sets and locales, as an alternative to the standard C system.

For a list of the supported functions, refer to Internationalization services functions; for a guide to the use of this API, see ``Internationalization services''.

Message Services

The message services allow the sending of broadcast messages to any of the workstations attached to a NetWare server.

For a list of the supported functions, refer to Message services functions; for a guide to the use of this API, see ``Message services''.

Miscellaneous Services

For a list of these functions, refer to Miscellaneous services functions; for a guide to the use of these routines, see NetWare applications programming.

Name Space Services

The name space services (implemented as NLM applications) allow servers to store files in formats compatible with workstations' local filesystems.

For a list of the supported functions, refer to Name space services functions; for a guide to the use of this API, see ``Name space services''.

NCP Extension Services

These functions are of two types. The first group contains the functions that are used when programming applications that run on a NetWare server. The second group contains the functions used when programming for a client workstation. A comparison of the functions in the two sections will reveal those functions that perform the same operation. The function names in some cases are similar but differences must be noted.

For a guide to the use of these services, see ``NCP extension services''. The first group is that of the NLM NCP extension functions. If the NCP extension client is being programmed to run on a NetWare server machine these functions must be used instead of those functions found in the second group. For a list of the supported functions, refer to NCP extension services functions. The second group, the client NCP extension functions, are used when programming a client application that runs on any of the platforms specified. Workstations running DOS, Windows, NT, or OS/2, as well as those running UnixWare, are currently the platforms for which these functions have been developed. For a list of the supported functions, refer to NLS services functions.

NetWare Application Launcher (NAL) Services

For a list of the NAL functions, refer to NAL services functions.

NetWare Licensing System (NLS) Services

The NLS API provides routines for the monitoring and control of licensed applications within a network.

For a list of the supported functions, refer to NLS services functions; for a guide to the use of this API, see ``Netware licensing system (NLS) services''.

Print Server Services

The print server services API relies on the Queue Management System to assign user access to print queues and match queues with print servers. Two components are implemented, the print server configuration functions and the communications services functions, which allow access to print servers from remote workstations.

For a list of the supported print server configuration functions, refer to Print server configuration services functions; for more information on the use of this API, see ``Print server configuration services''. For a list of the supported print server communications functions, refer to Print server communications services functions; for more information on the use of this API, see ``Print server communication services''.

Print Services

The functions in the print services API integrate DOS, Windows and OS/2 workstations into the NetWare print environment.

For a list of the supported functions, refer to Print services functions; for a guide to the use of this API, see ``Print services''.

Queue Management System (QMS) Services

The QMS API provides applications with a generic queueing system, used principally for print jobs.

For a list of the supported functions, refer to QMS services functions; for a guide to the use of this API, see ``Queue management system (QMS) services''.

Server Management Services

For a list of the supported server management functions, refer to Server management services functions.

Synchronization Services

The synchronization interface protects files from being updated by more than one user at once. The various locking routines thereby assure data integrity on the network.

For a list of the supported functions, refer to Synchronization services functions; for a guide to the use of this API, see ``Synchronization services''.

Transaction Tracking System (TTS) Services

The transaction tracking routines provide a further data integrity guarantee by tracking the status of file transactions and undo-ing interrupted or only partly completed operations.

For a list of the supported functions, refer to TTS services functions; for a guide to the use of this API, see ``Transaction tracking services''.

Unicode Services

The Unicode services API provides management of the wide-character (16-bit) encoding scheme used by NetWare Directory Services as the basis of its internationalization capability.

For a list of the supported functions, refer to Unicode services functions; for a guide to the use of this API, see ``Unicode services''.

Volume Services

The volume services API supplies routines for the management of NetWare volumes.

For a list of the supported functions, refer to Volume services functions; for a guide to the use of this API, see ``Volume services''.

Usage

NetWare obsolete functions

A number of functions have become obsolete, and their role assumed by other functions, although they may be still contained in the library header files.

For a complete list, refer to Obsolete functions, where for each obsolete function, where appropriate, the equivalent new function is indicated.

UNIX-specific functions

There are numerous functions that have been deleted from all platform library headers except UNIX. However, these functions still exist in the UNIX platform library headers for this release only. For the list of these functions, refer to UNIX-specific functions.

Standards compliance

These library functions are not a part of any currently supported standard; they are an extension of AT&T System V provided by The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc.

References

NetWare applications programming