Inter-Client Exchange LibraryX Consortium StandardX Version 11, Release 6.4RalphMorX ConsortiumX Consortium Standard1993X Consortium1994X Consortium1996X Consortium1.0
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Overview of ICE
There are numerous possible inter-client protocols, with many similarities
and common needs - authentication, version negotiation, byte
order negotiation, and so on.
The Inter-Client Exchange (ICE) protocol is intended to provide a framework
for building such protocols, allowing them to make use of common negotiation
mechanisms and to be multiplexed over a single transport connection.
The ICE Library - C Language Interface to ICE
A client that wishes to utilize ICE must first register the protocols it
understands with the ICE library. Each protocol is dynamically assigned
a major opcode ranging from 1-255 (two clients can use different
major opcodes for the same protocol). The next step for the client is either
to open a connection with another client or to wait for connections made
by other clients. Authentication may be required. A client can both
initiate connections with other clients and be
waiting for clients to connect to itself (a nested session manager is an
example). Once an ICE connection is established between the two clients, one
of the clients needs to initiate a
ProtocolSetup
in order to
"activate" a given protocol. Once the other client accepts the
ProtocolSetup
(once again, authentication may be required), the
two clients are ready to start passing messages specific to that protocol to
each other. Multiple protocols may be active on a single ICE connection.
Clients are responsible for notifying the ICE library when a protocol is no
longer active on an ICE connection, although ICE does not define how each
subprotocol triggers a protocol shutdown.
The ICE library utilizes callbacks to process incoming messages. Using
callbacks allows
ProtocolSetup
messages and authentication to happen
behind the scenes. An additional benefit is that messages never need
to be buffered up by the library when the client blocks waiting for a
particular message.
Intended AudienceThis document is intended primarily for implementors of protocol libraries
layered on top of ICE. Typically, applications that wish to utilize ICE
will make calls into individual protocol libraries rather than directly
make calls into the ICE library. However, some applications will have to
make some initial calls into the ICE library in order to accept ICE
connections (for example, a session manager accepting connections from
clients). But in general, protocol libraries should be designed to hide
the inner details of ICE from applications.Header Files and Library NameThe header file
<X11/ICE/ICElib.h>
defines all of the ICElib data structures and function prototypes.
ICElib.h
includes the header file
<X11/ICE/ICE.h>,
which defines all of the ICElib constants.
Protocol libraries that need to read and write messages should include
the header file
<X11/ICE/ICEmsg.h>.Applications should link against ICElib using -lICE.Note on PrefixesThe following name prefixes are used in the library to distinguish between
a client that initiates a
ProtocolSetup
and a client that
responds with a
ProtocolReplyIcePo
- Ice Protocol OriginatorIcePa
- Ice Protocol AcceptorProtocol Registration
In order for two clients to exchange messages for a given protocol, each
side must register the protocol with the ICE library. The purpose of
registration is for each side to obtain a major opcode for the protocol
and to provide callbacks for processing messages and handling authentication.
There are two separate registration functions:
One to handle the side that does a
ProtocolSetup
One to handle the side that responds with a
ProtocolReply
It is recommended that protocol registration occur before the two clients
establish an ICE connection. If protocol registration occurs after an
ICE connection is created, there can be a brief interval of time in which a
ProtocolSetup
is received, but the protocol is not registered.
If it is not possible to register a protocol before the creation of an
ICE connection, proper precautions should be taken to avoid the above race
condition.
The IceRegisterForProtocolSetup
function should be called for the client that initiates a
ProtocolSetupint IceRegisterForProtocolSetupchar *protocol_namechar *vendorchar *releaseint *version_countint *version_countIcePoVersionRec *version_recsint auth_nameschar **auth_namesIcePoAuthProc *auth_procsIceIOErrorProc *io_error_procprotocol_name
A string specifying the name of the protocol to register.
vendorA vendor string with semantics specified by the protocol.releaseA release string with semantics specified by the protocol.version_countThe number of different versions of the protocol supported.version_recsList of versions and associated callbacks.auth_countThe number of authentication methods supported.auth_namesThe list of authentication methods supported.auth_procs
The list of authentication callbacks, one for each authentication method.
io_error_procIO error handler, or NULL.IceRegisterForProtocolSetup returns the major
opcode reserved or -1 if an error occurred. In order to actually activate
the protocol, the IceProtocolSetup
function needs to be called with this major opcode. Once the protocol is
activated, all messages for the protocol should be sent using this major
opcode.
A protocol library may support multiple versions of the same protocol.
The version_recs argument specifies a list of supported versions of the
protocol, which are prioritized in decreasing order of preference.
Each version record consists of a major and minor version of the protocol
as well as a callback to be used for processing incoming messages.
typedef struct {
int major_version;
int minor_version;
IcePoProcessMsgProc process_msg_proc;
} IcePoVersionRec;
The
IcePoProcessMsgProc
callback is responsible for processing the set of messages that can be
received by the client that initiated the
ProtocolSetup
For further information,
see
.Authentication may be required before the protocol can become active.
The protocol library must register the authentication methods that it
supports with the ICE library.
The auth_names and auth_procs arguments are a list of authentication names
and callbacks that are prioritized in decreasing order of preference.
For information on the
IcePoAuthProc
callback, see
The
IceIOErrorProc
callback is invoked if the ICE connection unexpectedly breaks.
You should pass NULL for io_error_proc if not interested in being notified.
For further information,
The
IceRegisterForProtocolReply
function should be called for the client that responds to a
ProtocolSetup
with a
ProtocolReplyBool IceRegisterForProtocolReplychar *host_nameprotocol_nameA string specifying the name of the protocol to register.vendorA vendor string with semantics specified by the protocol.releaseA release string with semantics specified by the protocol.version_countThe number of different versions of the protocol supported.version_recsList of versions and associated callbacks.auth_countThe number of authentication methods supported.auth_namesThe list of authentication methods supported.auth_procsThe list of authentication callbacks, one for each authentication method.host_based_auth_procHost based authentication callback.protocol_setup_procA callback to be invoked when authentication has succeeded for a
ProtocolSetup
but before the
ProtocolReply
is sent.protocol_activate_procA callback to be invoked after the
ProtocolReply
is sent.io_error_procIO error handler, or NULL.IceRegisterForProtocolReply
returns the major opcode reserved or -1 if an error occurred. The major
opcode should be used in all subsequent messages sent for this protocol.A protocol library may support multiple versions of the same protocol.
The version_recs argument specifies a list of supported versions of the protocol,
which are prioritized in decreasing order of preference.
Each version record consists of a major and minor version of the protocol
as well as a callback to be used for processing incoming messages.
typedef struct {
int major_version;
int minor_version;
IcePaProcessMsgProc process_msg_proc;
} IcePaVersionRec;
The
IcePaProcessMsgProc
callback is responsible for processing the set of messages that can be
received by the client that accepted the
ProtocolSetup
For further information,
see
Authentication may be required before the protocol can become active.
The protocol library must register the authentication methods that it
supports with the ICE library.
The auth_names and auth_procs arguments are a list of authentication names
and callbacks that are prioritized in decreasing order of preference.
For information on the
IcePaAuthProc,
See
If authentication fails and the client attempting to initiate
the
ProtocolSetup
has not required authentication, the
IceHostBasedAuthProc
callback is invoked with the host name of the originating client.
If the callback returns
True
the
ProtocolSetup
will succeed, even though the original
authentication failed.
Note that authentication can effectively be disabled by registering an
IceHostBasedAuthProc
which always returns
True
If no host based
authentication is allowed, you should pass NULL for host_based_auth_proc.Bool HostBasedAuthProcchar *host_nameprotocol_nameThe host name of the client that sent the ProtocolSetupThe host_name argument is a string of the form protocol/hostname,
where protocol is one of {tcp, decnet, local}.Because
ProtocolSetup
messages and authentication happen behind the scenes
via callbacks, the protocol library needs some way of being notified when the
ProtocolSetup
has completed.
This occurs in two phases.
In the first phase, the
IceProtocolSetupProc
callback is invoked after authentication has
successfully completed but before the ICE library sends a
ProtocolReply
Any resources required for this protocol should be allocated at this time.
If the
IceProtocolSetupProc
returns a successful status, the ICE library will
send the
ProtocolReply
and then invoke the
IceProtocolActivateProc
callback. Otherwise, an error will be sent to the
other client in response to the
ProtocolSetupThe
IceProtocolActivateProc
is an optional callback and should be registered only if the protocol
library intends to generate a message immediately following the
ProtocolReply
You should pass NULL for protocol_activate_proc if not interested
in this callback.Status ProtocolSetupProcIceConn ice_connint major_versionint minor_versionchar *vendorchar *releaseIcePointer *client_data_retchar **failure_reason_retprotocol_nameThe ICE connection object.major_versionThe major version of the protocol.minor_versionThe minor version of the protocol.vendorThe vendor string registered by the protocol originator.releaseThe release string registered by the protocol originator.client_data_retClient data to be set by callback.failure_reason_retFailure reason returned.The pointer stored in the client_data_ret argument will be passed
to the
IcePaProcessMsgProc
callback whenever a message has arrived for this protocol on the
ICE connection.The vendor and release strings should be freed with
free
when they are no longer needed.If a failure occurs, the
IceProtocolSetupProc
should return a zero status as well as allocate and return a failure
reason string in failure_reason_ret.
The ICE library will be responsible for freeing this memory.The
IceProtocolActivateProc
callback is defined as follows:void ProtocolActivateProcIceConn ice_connIcePointer client_dataice_connThe ICE connection object.client_data
The client data set in the IceProtocolSetupProc callback.
The
IceIOErrorProc
callback is invoked if the ICE connection unexpectedly breaks.
You should pass NULL for io_error_proc if not interested in being notified.
For further information,
see
Callbacks for Processing MessagesWhen an application detects that there is new data to read on an ICE
connection (via
select
it calls the
IceProcessMessages
function
.
When
IceProcessMessages
reads an ICE message header with a major opcode other than
zero (reserved for the ICE protocol), it needs to call a function that will
read the rest of the message, unpack it, and process it accordingly.If the message arrives at the client that initiated the
ProtocolSetup
the
IcePoProcessMsgProc
callback is invoked.void PoProcessMsgProcIceConn ice_connIcePointer client_dataint opcodeunsigned long lengthBool swapIceReplyWaitInfo *reply_waitBool *reply_ready_retice_connThe ICE connection object.client_dataClient data associated with this protocol on the ICE connection.opcodeThe minor opcode of the message.lengthThe length (in 8-byte units) of the message beyond the ICE header.swapA flag that indicates if byte swapping is necessary.reply_waitIndicates if the invoking client is waiting for a reply.reply_ready_retIf set to
True
a reply is ready.If the message arrives at the client that accepted the
ProtocolSetup
the
IcePaProcessMsgProc
callback is invoked.void IcePaProcessMsgProcIceConn ice_connIcePointer client_dataint opcodeunsigned long lengthBool swapice_connThe ICE connection object.client_dataClient data associated with this protocol on the ICE connection.opcodeThe minor opcode of the message.lengthThe length (in 8-byte units) of the message beyond the ICE header.swapA flag that indicates if byte swapping is necessary.In order to read the message, both of these callbacks should use the
macros defined for this purpose (see
.).
Note that byte swapping may be necessary.
As a convenience, the length field in the ICE header will be swapped by ICElib
if necessary.In both of these callbacks, the client_data argument is a pointer to client
data that was registered at
ProtocolSetup
time.
In the case of
IcePoProcessMsgProc
the client data was set in the call to
IceProtocolSetup
In the case of
IcePaProcessMsgProc
the client data was set in the
IceProtocolSetupProc
callback.The
IcePoProcessMsgProc
callback needs to check the reply_wait argument.
If reply_wait is NULL ,
the ICE library expects the function to
pass the message to the client via a callback.
For example, if this is a Session Management "Save Yourself" message,
this function should notify the client of the "Save Yourself" via a callback.
The details of how such a callback would be defined
are implementation-dependent.However, if reply_wait is not NULL ,
then the client is waiting for
a reply or an error for a message it previously sent.
The reply_wait is of type
IceReplyWaitInfo
typedef struct {
unsigned long sequence_of_request;
int major_opcode_of_request;
int minor_opcode_of_request;
IcePointer reply;
} IceReplyWaitInfo;
IceReplyWaitInfo
contains the major/minor opcodes and sequence number of
the message for which a reply is being awaited.
It also contains a pointer to the reply message to be filled in
(the protocol library should cast this
IcePointer
to the appropriate reply type).
In most cases, the reply will have some fixed-size part, and the client waiting
for the reply will have provided a pointer to a structure to hold
this fixed-size data. If there is variable-length data, it would be
expected that the
IcePoProcessMsgProc
callback will have to allocate additional
memory and store pointer(s) to that memory in the fixed-size
structure. If the entire data is variable length (for example., a single
variable-length string), then the client waiting for the reply would probably
just pass a pointer to fixed-size space to hold a pointer, and the
IcePoProcessMsgProc
callback would allocate the storage and store the pointer.
It is the responsibility of the client receiving the reply to
free any memory allocated on its behalf.If reply_wait is not NULL and
IcePoProcessMsgProc
has a reply or error to return in response to this reply_wait
(that is, no callback was generated), then the reply_ready_ret argument
should be set to
True
Note that an error should only be returned
if it corresponds to the reply being waited for. Otherwise, the
IcePoProcessMsgProc
should either handle the error internally or invoke an error handler
for its library.If reply_wait is NULL,
then care must be taken not to store any value in reply_ready_ret,
because this pointer may also be NULL.The
IcePaProcessMsgProc
callback, on the other hand, should always pass
the message to the client via a callback. For example, if this is a Session
Management "Interact Request" message, this function should notify the
client of the "Interact Request" via a callback.The reason the
IcePaProcessMsgProc
callback does not have a reply_wait, like
IcePoProcessMsgProc
does, is because a process that is acting as
a server should never block for a reply (infinite blocking can
occur if the connecting client does not act properly, denying access
to other clients).Authentication MethodsAs already stated, a protocol library must register the authentication
methods that it supports with the ICE library. For each authentication
method, there are two callbacks that may be registered:
One to handle the side that initiates a ProtocolSetup
One to handle the side that accepts or rejects this request
IcePoAuthProc
is the callback invoked for the client that initiated the
ProtocolSetup
This callback must be able to respond
to the initial "Authentication Required" message or subsequent
"Authentication Next Phase" messages sent by the other client.IcePoAuthStatus IcePoAuthStatus IceConn ice_connIcePointer client_dataint opcodeice_connThe ICE connection object.auth_state_ptrA pointer to state for use by the authentication callback procedure.clean_upIf
True
authentication is over, and the function
should clean up any state it was maintaining. The
last 6 arguments should be ignored.swapIf
True
the auth_data may have to be byte swapped
(depending on its contents).auth_datalenThe length (in bytes) of the authenticator data.auth_dataThe data from the authenticator.reply_datalen_retThe length (in bytes) of the reply data returned.reply_data_retThe reply data returned.error_string_retIf the authentication procedure encounters an error during
authentication, it should allocate and return
an error string.Authentication may require several phases, depending on the authentication
method. As a result, the
IcePoAuthProc
may be called more than once when authenticating a client, and
some state will have to be maintained between each invocation.
At the start of each
ProtocolSetup
*auth_state_ptr is NULL,
and the function should initialize its state and set
this pointer. In subsequent invocations of the callback, the pointer
should be used to get at any state previously stored by the callback.If needed, the network ID of the client accepting the
ProtocolSetup
can be obtained by calling the
IceConnectionString
function.ICElib will be responsible for freeing the reply_data_ret and
error_string_ret pointers with
freeThe auth_data pointer may point to a volatile block of memory.
If the data must be kept beyond this invocation of the callback, be sure
to make a copy of it.The
IcePoAuthProc
should return one of four values:IcePoAuthHaveReply
- a reply is available.IcePoAuthRejected
- authentication rejected.IcePoAuthFailed
- authentication failed.IcePoAuthDoneCleanup
- done cleaning up.IcePaAuthProc
is the callback invoked for the client that received the
ProtocolSetupIcePoAuthStatus PoAuthStatus IceConn ice_connIcePointer *auth_state_ptrBool swapint auth_datalenIcePointer auth_dataint *reply_datalen_retIcePointer *reply_data_retchar **error_string_retice_connThe ICE connection object.auth_state_ptrA pointer to state for use by the authentication callback procedure.swapIf
True
auth_data may have to be byte swapped
(depending on its contents).auth_datalenThe length (in bytes) of the protocol originator authentication data.auth_dataThe authentication data from the protocol originator.reply_datalen_retThe length of the authentication data returned.reply_data_retThe authentication data returned.error_string_retIf authentication is rejected or fails, an error
string is returned.Authentication may require several phases, depending on the authentication
method. As a result, the
IcePaAuthProc
may be called more than once when authenticating a client, and
some state will have to be maintained between each invocation.
At the start of each
ProtocolSetup
auth_datalen is zero,
*auth_state_ptr is NULL,
and the function should initialize its state and set
this pointer. In subsequent invocations of the callback, the pointer
should be used to get at any state previously stored by the callback.If needed, the network ID of the client accepting the
ProtocolSetup
can be obtained by calling the
IceConnectionString
function.The auth_data pointer may point to a volatile block of memory.
If the data must be kept beyond this invocation of the callback, be sure
to make a copy of it.ICElib will be responsible for transmitting and freeing the reply_data_ret and
error_string_ret pointers with
free
The IcePaAuthProc should return one of four values:
IcePaAuthContinue - continue (or start) authentication.
IcePaAuthAccepted - authentication accepted.
IcePaAuthRejected - authentication rejected.
IcePaAuthFailed - authentication failed.
ICE Connections
In order for two clients to establish an ICE connection, one client has to be
waiting for connections, and the other client has to initiate the connection.
Most clients will initiate connections, so we discuss that first.
Opening an ICE Connection
To open an ICE connection with another client (that is, waiting
for connections), use IceOpenConnectionIceConn IceOpenConnectionchar *network_ids_listIcePointer contextBool must_authenticateint major_opcode_checkint error_lengthchar *error_string_retnetwork_ids_list
Specifies the network ID(s) of the other client.
context
A pointer to an opaque object or NULL. Used to determine if an
ICE connection can be shared (see below).
must_authenticate
If True the other client may not bypass authentication.
major_opcode_check
Used to force a new ICE connection to be created (see below).
error_lengthLength of the error_string_ret argument passed in.error_string_ret
Returns a null-terminated error message, if any. The error_string_ret
argument points to user supplied memory. No more than error_length bytes
are used.
IceOpenConnection
returns an opaque ICE connection object if it succeeds;
otherwise, it returns NULL.
The network_ids_list argument contains a list of network IDs separated
by commas. An attempt will be made to use the first network ID. If
that fails, an attempt will be made using the second network ID, and so on.
Each network ID has the following format:
tcp/<hostname>:<portnumber>ordecnet/<hostname>::<objname>orlocal/<hostname>:<path>Most protocol libraries will have some sort of open function that should
internally make a call into
IceOpenConnection
When
IceOpenConnection
is called, it may be possible to use a previously opened ICE connection (if
the target client is the same). However, there are cases in which shared
ICE connections are not desired.The context argument is used to determine if an ICE connection can
be shared.
If context is NULL,
then the caller is always willing to share the connection.
If context is not NULL,
then the caller is not willing to use a previously opened ICE connection
that has a different non-NULL context associated with it.In addition, if major_opcode_check contains a nonzero major opcode value,
a previously created ICE connection will be used only if the major opcode
is not active on the connection. This can be used to force multiple ICE
connections between two clients for the same protocol.Any authentication requirements are handled internally by the ICE library.
The method by which the authentication data is obtained
is implementation-dependent.
The X Consortium's ICElib implementation uses an .ICEauthority file (see
Appendix A).
After
IceOpenConnection
is called, the client is ready to send a
ProtocolSetup
(provided that
IceRegisterForProtocolSetup
was called) or receive a
ProtocolSetup
(provided that
IceRegisterForProtocolReply
was called).Listening for ICE ConnectionsClients wishing to accept ICE connections must first call
IceListenForConnections
or
IceListenForWellKnownConnections
so that they can listen for connections. A list of opaque "listen" objects are
returned, one for each type of transport method that is available
(for example, Unix Domain, TCP, DECnet, and so on).Normally clients will let ICElib allocate an available name in each
transport and return listen objects. Such a client will then use
IceComposeNetworkIdList
to extract the chosen names and make them
available to other clients for opening the connection. In certain
cases it may be necessary for a client to listen for connections
on pre-arranged transport object names. Such a client may use
IceListenForWellKnownConnections
to specify the names for the listen objects.Status IceListenForConnectionsint *count_retIceListenObj **listen_objs_retint error_lengthchar *error_string_retcount_retReturns the number of listen objects created.listen_objs_retReturns a list of pointers to opaque listen objects.error_lengthThe length of the error_string_ret argument passed in.error_string_retReturns a null-terminated error message, if any.
The error_string_ret points to user supplied memory.
No more than error_length bytes are used.The return value of
IceListenForConnections
is zero for failure and a positive value for success.Status IceListenForWellKnownConnectionschar *port_idint *count_retIceListenObj **listen_objs_retint error_lengthchar *error_string_retport_id
Specifies the port identification for the address(es) to be opened. The
value must not contain the slash ("/"> or comma (".") character; thse are
reserved for future use.
count_retReturns the number of listen objects created.listen_objs_ret
Returns a list of pointers to opaque listen objects.
listen_objs_ret
Returns a list of pointers to opaque listen objects.
error_length
The length of the error_string_ret argument passed in.
error_string_ret
Returns a null-terminated error message, if any. The error_string_ret
points to user supplied memory. No more than error_length bytes are used.
IceListenForWellKnownConnections constructs a list
of network IDs by prepending each known transport to port_id and then
attempts to create listen objects for the result. Port_id is the portnumber,
objname, or path portion of the ICE network ID. If a listen object for
a particular network ID cannot be created the network ID is ignored.
If no listen objects are created
IceListenForWellKnownConnections
returns failure.
The return value of IceListenForWellKnownConnections
is zero for failure and a positive value for success.
To close and free the listen objects, use
IceFreeListenObjsvoid IceFreeListenObjsint countIceListenObj *listen_objscountThe number of listen objects.listen_objsThe listen objects.
To detect a new connection on a listen object, use
select on the descriptor associated with
the listen object.
To obtain the descriptor, use
IceGetListenConnectionNumberint IceGetListenConnectionNumberIceListenObj *listen_objslisten_objThe listen objects.
To obtain the network ID string associated with a listen object, use
IceGetListenConnectionStringchar IceGetListenConnectionStringIceListenObj listen_objlisten_objThe listen objects.A network ID has the following format:tcp/<hostname>:<portnumber>ordecnet/<hostname>::<objname>orlocal/<hostname>:<path>
To compose a string containing a list of network IDs separated by commas
(the format recognized by IceOpenConnection
use IceComposeNetworkIdListchar IceComposeNetworkIdListint countIceListenObj *listen_objscountThe number of listen objects.listen_objsThe listen objects.Host Based Authentication for ICE Connections
If authentication fails when a client attempts to open an
ICE connection and the initiating client has not required authentication,
a host based authentication procedure may be invoked to provide
a last chance for the client to connect. Each listen object has such a
callback associated with it, and this callback is set using the
IceSetHostBasedAuthProc
function.
void IceSetHostBasedAuthProcIceListenObj listen_objIceHostBasedAuthProc host_based_auth_procIceListenObjThe listen object.host_based_auth_procThe host based authentication procedure.
By default, each listen object has no host based authentication procedure
associated with it. Passing NULL for host_based_auth_proc turns off
host based authentication if it was previously set.
Bool HostBasedAuthProcchar *host_namehost_name
The host name of the client that tried to open an ICE connection.
The host_name argument is a string in the form
protocol/
hostname,
where protocol is one of
{tcp, decnet, local}.
If IceHostBasedAuthProc returns
True
access will be granted, even though the original authentication failed.
Note that authentication can effectively be disabled by registering an
IceHostBasedAuthProc
which always returns True
Host based authentication is also allowed at
ProtocolSetup time.
The callback is specified in the
IceRegisterForProtocolReply
function (see
).
Accepting ICE Connections
After a connection attempt is detected on a listen object returned by
IceListenForConnections
you should call IceAcceptConnection
This returns a new opaque ICE connection object.
IceConn IceAcceptConnectionIceListenObj listen_objIceAcceptStatus *status_retlisten_objThe listen object on which a new connection was detected.status_retReturn status information.The status_ret argument is set to one of the following values:IceAcceptSuccess
- the accept operation succeeded,
and the function returns a new connection object.IceAcceptFailure
- the accept operation failed, and the function returns NULL.IceAcceptBadMalloc
- a memory allocation failed, and the function returns NULL.In general, to detect new connections, you should call
select
on the file descriptors associated with the listen objects.
When a new connection is detected, the
IceAcceptConnection
function should be called.
IceAcceptConnection
may return a new ICE connection that is in a pending state. This is because
before the connection can become valid, authentication may be necessary.
Because the ICE library cannot block and wait for the connection to
become valid (infinite blocking can occur if the connecting client
does not act properly), the application must wait for the connection status
to become valid.The following pseudo-code demonstrates how connections are accepted:
new_ice_conn = IceAcceptConnection (listen_obj, &accept_status);
if (accept_status != IceAcceptSuccess)
{
close the file descriptor and return
}
status = IceConnectionStatus (new_ice_conn);
time_start = time_now;
while (status == IceConnectPending)
{
select() on {new_ice_conn, all open connections}
for (each ice_conn in the list of open connections)
if (data ready on ice_conn)
{
status = IceProcessMessages (ice_conn, NULL, NULL);
if (status == IceProcessMessagesIOError)
IceCloseConnection(ice_conn);
}
if data ready on new_ice_conn
{
/*
* IceProcessMessages is called until the connection
* is non-pending. Doing so handles the connection
* setup request and any authentication requirements.
*/
IceProcessMessages ( new_ice_conn, NULL, NULL);
status = IceConnectionStatus (new_ice_conn);
}
else
{
if (time_now - time_start > MAX_WAIT_TIME)
status = IceConnectRejected;
}
}
if (status == IceConnectAccepted)
{
Add new_ice_conn to the list of open connections
}
else
{
IceCloseConnection
new_ice_conn
}
After
IceAcceptConnection
is called and the connection has been
validated, the client is ready to receive a
ProtocolSetup
(provided
that
IceRegisterForProtocolReply
was called) or send a
ProtocolSetup
(provided that
IceRegisterForProtocolSetup
was called).Closing ICE ConnectionsTo close an ICE connection created with
IceOpenConnection
or
IceAcceptConnection
use
IceCloseConnectionIceCloseStatus IceCloseConnectionIceConn ice_connice_connThe ICE connection to close.To actually close an ICE connection, the following conditions
must be met:The open reference count must have reached zero on this ICE connection.
When
IceOpenConnection
is called, it tries to use a previously opened
ICE connection. If it is able to use an existing connection, it increments
the open reference count on the connection by one.
So, to close an ICE connection, each call to
IceOpenConnection
must be matched with a call to
IceCloseConnection
The connection can be closed only
on the last call to
IceCloseConnectionThe active protocol count must have reached zero. Each time a
ProtocolSetup
succeeds on the connection, the active protocol count
is incremented by one. When the client no longer expects to use the
protocol on the connection, the
IceProtocolShutdown
function should be called, which decrements the active protocol count
by one (see
).
If shutdown negotiation is enabled on the connection, the client on the other
side of the ICE connection must agree to have the connection closed.IceCloseConnection
returns one of the following values:IceClosedNow
- the ICE connection was closed at this time. The watch procedures were
invoked and the connection was freed.IceClosedASAP
- an IO error had occurred on the connection, but
IceCloseConnection
is being called within a nested
IceProcessMessages
The watch procedures have been invoked at this time, but the connection
will be freed as soon as possible (when the nesting level reaches zero and
IceProcessMessages
returns a status of
IceProcessMessagesConnectionClosedIceConnectionInUse
- the connection was not closed at this time, because it is being used by
other active protocols.IceStartedShutdownNegotiation
- the connection was not closed at this time and shutdown negotiation started
with the client on the other side of the ICE connection. When the connection
is actually closed,
IceProcessMessages
will return a status of
IceProcessMessagesConnectionClosedWhen it is known that the client on the other side of the ICE connection
has terminated the connection without initiating shutdown negotiation, the
IceSetShutdownNegotiation
function should be called to turn off shutdown negotiation. This will prevent
IceCloseConnection
from writing to a broken connection.void IceSetShutdownNegotiationIceConn ice_connBool negotiateice_connA valid ICE connection object.negotiateIf
False
shutdown negotiating will be turned off.To check the shutdown negotiation status of an ICE connection, use
IceCheckShutdownNegotiationBool IceCheckShutdownNegotiationIceConn ice_connice_connA valid ICE connection object.IceCheckShutdownNegotiation
returns
True
if shutdown negotiation will take place on the connection;
otherwise, it returns
False
Negotiation is on by default for a connection. It
can only be changed with the
IceSetShutdownNegotiation
function.Connection Watch ProceduresTo add a watch procedure that will be called
each time ICElib opens a new connection via
IceOpenConnection
or
IceAcceptConnection
or closes a connection via
IceCloseConnection
use
IceAddConnectionWatchStatus IceAddConnectionWatchIceWatchProc watch_procIcePointer client_datawatch_proc
The watch procedure to invoke when ICElib opens or closes a connection.
client_dataThis pointer will be passed to the watch procedure.
The return value of IceAddConnectionWatch
is zero for failure, and a positive value for success.
Note that several calls to IceOpenConnection
might share the same ICE connection. In such a case, the watch procedure
is only invoked when the connection is first created (after authentication
succeeds). Similarly, because connections might be shared, the
watch procedure is called only if IceCloseConnection
actually closes the connection (right before the IceConn is freed).
The watch procedures are very useful for applications that
need to add a file descriptor to a select mask when a new connection
is created and remove the file descriptor when the connection is destroyed.
Because connections are shared, knowing when to add and remove the file
descriptor from the select mask would be difficult without the watch
procedures.
Multiple watch procedures may be registered with the ICE library.
No assumptions should be made about their order of invocation.
If one or more ICE connections were already created by the ICE library at the
time the watch procedure is registered, the watch procedure will instantly
be invoked for each of these ICE connections (with the opening argument
set to True
The watch procedure is of type IceWatchProcvoid WatchProcIceConn ice_connIcePointer client_dataBool openingIcePointer *watch_dataice_conn
The opened or closed ICE connection. Call
IceConnectionNumber
to get the file descriptor associated with this connection.
client_data
Client data specified in the call to
IceAddConnectionWatchopening
If True the connection is being opened. If
False the connection is being closed.
watch_dataCan be used to save a pointer to client data.
If opening is True the client should set the
*watch_data pointer to any data it may need to save until the connection
is closed and the watch procedure is invoked again with opening set to
False
To remove a watch procedure, use
IceRemoveConnectionWatchvoid IceRemoveConnectionWatchIceWatchProc watch_procIcePointer client_datawatch_proc
The watch procedure that was passed to
IceAddConnectionWatchclient_data
The client_data pointer that was passed to
IceAddConnectionWatchProtocol Setup and Shutdown
To activate a protocol on a given ICE connection, use
IceProtocolSetupIceProtocolSetupStatus IceProtocolSetupIceConn ice_connint my_opcodeIcePointer client_dataBool must_authenticateint *major_version_retint *minor_version_retchar **vendor_retchar **release_retint error_lengthchar *error_string_retice_connA valid ICE connection object.my_opcode
The major opcode of the protocol to be set up, as returned by
IceRegisterForProtocolSetupclient_data
The client data stored in this pointer will be passed to the
IcePoProcessMsgProc callback.
must_authenticate
If True the other client may
not bypass authentication.
major_version_retThe major version of the protocol to be used is returned.minor_version_retThe minor version of the protocol to be used is returned.vendor_retThe vendor string specified by the protocol acceptor.release_retThe release string specified by the protocol acceptor.error_length
Specifies the length of the error_string_ret argument passed in.
error_string_ret
Returns a null-terminated error message, if any.
The error_string_ret argument points to user supplied memory.
No more than error_length bytes are used.
The vendor_ret and release_ret strings should be freed with
free when no longer needed.
IceProtocolSetup returns one of the following values:
IceProtocolSetupSuccess - the major_version_ret,
minor_version_ret, vendor_ret, release_ret are set.
IceProtocolSetupFailure or
IceProtocolSetupIOError
- check error_string_ret for failure reason. The major_version_ret,
minor_version_ret, vendor_ret, release_ret are not set.
IceProtocolAlreadyActive
- this protocol is already active on this connection.
The major_version_ret, minor_version_ret, vendor_ret, release_ret
are not set.
To notify the ICE library when a given protocol will no longer be used
on an ICE connection, use IceProtocolShutdownStatus IceProtocolShutdownIceConn ice_connint major_opcodeice_connA valid ICE connection object.major_opcodeThe major opcode of the protocol to shut down.
The return value of IceProtocolShutdown
is zero for failure and a positive value for success.
Failure will occur if the major opcode was never registered OR the protocol
of the major opcode was never activated on the connection. By activated,
we mean that a ProtocolSetup succeeded on the connection.
Note that ICE does not define how each sub-protocol triggers a
protocol shutdown.
Processing MessagesTo process incoming messages on an ICE connection, use
IceProcessMessagesIceProcessMessagesStatus IceProcessMessagesIceConn ice_connIceReplyWaitInfo *reply_waitBool *reply_ready_retice_connA valid ICE connection object.reply_waitIndicates if a reply is being waited for.reply_ready_ret
If set to True on return, a reply is ready.
IceProcessMessages is used in two ways:
In the first, a client may generate a message and block by calling
IceProcessMessages repeatedly until it gets its reply.
In the second, a client calls IceProcessMessages
with reply_wait set to NULL in response to select
showing that there is data to read on the ICE connection.
The ICE library may process zero or more complete messages.
Note that messages that are not blocked for are always processed by
invoking callbacks.
IceReplyWaitInfo contains the major/minor opcodes
and sequence number of the message for which a reply is being awaited.
It also contains a pointer to the reply message to be filled in (the
protocol library should cast this IcePointer
to the appropriate reply type). In most
cases, the reply will have some fixed-size part, and the client waiting
for the reply will have provided a pointer to a structure to hold
this fixed-size data. If there is variable-length data, it would be
expected that the
IcePoProcessMsgProc
callback will have to allocate additional
memory and store pointer(s) to that memory in the fixed-size
structure. If the entire data is variable length (for example, a single
variable-length string), then the client waiting for the reply would probably
just pass a pointer to fixed-size space to hold a pointer, and the
IcePoProcessMsgProc
callback would allocate the storage and store the pointer.
It is the responsibility of the client receiving the reply to
free up any memory allocated on its behalf.
typedef struct {
unsigned long sequence_of_request;
int major_opcode_of_request;
int minor_opcode_of_request;
IcePointer reply;
} IceReplyWaitInfo;
If reply_wait is not NULL and
IceProcessMessages
has a reply or error to return in response to this reply_wait
(that is, no callback was generated), then the reply_ready_ret argument
will be set to True
If reply_wait is NULL, then the caller may also pass NULL for
reply_ready_ret and be guaranteed that no value will be stored in
this pointer.
IceProcessMessages returns one of the following values:
IceProcessMessagesSuccess - no error occurred.
IceProcessMessagesIOError - an IO error occurred,
and the caller must explicitly close the connection by calling
IceCloseConnectionIceProcessMessagesConnectionClosed
- the ICE connection has been closed (closing of the connection was deferred
because of shutdown negotiation, or because the
IceProcessMessages
nesting level was not zero). Do not attempt
to access the ICE connection at this point, since it has been freed.
Ping
To send a "Ping" message to the client on the other side of the
ICE connection, use IcePingStatus IcePingIceConn ice_connIcePingReplyProc ping_reply_procIcePointer client_dataice_connA valid ICE connection object.ping_reply_procThe callback to invoke when the Ping reply arrives.client_data
This pointer will be passed to the IcePingReplyProc
callback.
IcePing
returns zero for failure and a positive value for success.When
IceProcessMessages
processes the Ping reply, it will invoke the
IcePingReplyProc
callback.void PingReplyProcIceConn ice_connIcePointer client_dataice_connA valid ICE connection object.client_dataThe client data specified in the call to
IcePingUsing ICElib Informational FunctionsIceConnectStatus IceConnectionStatusIceConn ice_connIceConnectionStatus
returns the status of an ICE connection. The possible return values are:IceConnectPending
- the connection is not valid yet (that is, authentication is taking place).
This is only relevant to connections created by
IceAcceptConnectionIceConnectAccepted
- the connection has been accepted.
This is only relevant to connections created by
IceAcceptConnectionIceConnectRejected
- the connection had been rejected (that is, authentication failed).
This is only relevant to connections created by
IceAcceptConnectionIceConnectIOError
- an IO error has occurred on the connection.char *IceVendorIceConn ice_connIceVendor
returns the ICE library vendor identification
for the other side of the connection.
The string should be freed with a call to
free
when no longer needed.char *IceReleaseIceConn ice_connIceRelease
returns the release identification of the ICE library
on the other side of the connection.
The string should be freed with a call to
free
when no longer needed.int IceProtocolVersionIceConn ice_connIceProtocolVersion
returns the major version of the ICE protocol on this connection.int IceProtocolRevisionIceConn ice_connIceProtocolRevision
returns the minor version of the ICE protocol on this connection.int IceConnectionNumberIceConn ice_connIceConnectionNumber
returns the file descriptor of this ICE connection.char *IceConnectionStringIceConn ice_connIceConnectionString
returns the network ID of the client that
accepted this connection. The string should be freed with a call to
free
when no longer needed.unsigned long IceLastSentSequenceNumberIceConn ice_connIceLastSentSequenceNumber
returns the sequence number of the last message sent on this ICE connection.unsigned long IceLastReceivedSequenceNumberIceConn ice_connIceLastReceivedSequenceNumber
returns the sequence number of the last message received on this
ICE connection.Bool IceSwappingIceConn ice_connIceSwapping
returns
True
if byte swapping is necessary when reading messages on the ICE connection.IcePointer IceGetContextIceConn ice_connIceGetContext
returns the context associated with a connection created by
IceOpenConnectionICE Messages
All ICE messages have a standard 8-byte header. The ICElib macros that
read and write messages rely on the following naming convention for message
headers:
CARD8 major_opcode;
CARD8 minor_opcode;
CARD8 data[2];
CARD32 length B32;
The 3rd and 4th bytes of the message header can be used as needed.
The length field is specified in units of 8 bytes.
Sending ICE Messages
The ICE library maintains an output buffer used for generating messages.
Protocol libraries layered on top of ICE may choose to batch messages
together and flush the output buffer at appropriate times.
If an IO error has occurred on an ICE connection, all write operations
will be ignored. For further information, see
.
To get the size of the ICE output buffer, use
IceGetOutBufSizeint IceGetOutBufSizeIceConn ice_connice_connA valid ICE connection object.
To flush the ICE output buffer, use IceFlushint IceFlushIceConn ice_connice_connA valid ICE connection object.
Note that the output buffer may be implicitly flushed if there is
insufficient space to generate a message.
The following macros can be used to generate ICE messages: IceGetHeaderIceConn ice_connint major_opcodeint minor_opcodeint header_size<C_data_type> *pmsgice_connA valid ICE connection object.major_opcodeThe major opcode of the message.minor_opcodeThe minor opcode of the message.header_sizeThe size of the message header (in bytes).<C_data_type>The actual C data type of the message header.pmsg
The message header pointer. After this macro is called, the
library can store data in the message header.
IceGetHeader
is used to set up a message header on an ICE connection.
It sets the major and minor opcodes of the message, and initializes
the message's length to the length of the header. If additional
variable length data follows, the message's length field should be
updated.
IceGetHeaderExtraIceConn ice_connint major_opcodeint minor_opcodeint header_sizeint extra<C_data_type> *pmsgchar *pdataice_connA valid ICE connection object.major_opcodeThe major opcode of the message.minor_opcodeThe minor opcode of the message.header_sizeThe size of the message header (in bytes).extra
The size of the extra data beyond the header (in 8-byte units).
<C_data_type>The actual C data type of the message header.pmsg
The message header pointer. After this macro is called, the
library can store data in the message header.
pdata
Returns a pointer to the ICE output buffer that points
immediately after the message header. The variable length
data should be stored here. If there was not enough room
in the ICE output buffer, pdata is set to NULL.
IceGetHeaderExtra
is used to generate a message with a fixed (and relatively small) amount
of variable length data. The complete message must fit in the ICE output
buffer.
IceSimpleMessageIceConn ice_connint major_opcodeint minor_opcodeice_connA valid ICE connection object.major_opcodeThe major opcode of the message.minor_opcodeThe minor opcode of the message.IceSimpleMessage
is used to generate a message that is identical
in size to the ICE header message, and has no additional data.
IceErrorHeaderIceConn ice_connint offending_major_opcodeint offending_minor_opcodeint offending_sequence_numint severityint error_classint data_lengthice_connA valid ICE connection object.offending_major_opcode
The major opcode of the protocol in which an error was detected.
offending_minor_opcode
The minor opcode of the protocol in which an error was detected.
offending_sequence_numThe sequence number of the message that caused the error.severityIceCanContinueIceFatalToProtocol
or
IceFatalToConnectionerror_classThe error class.data_length
Length of data (in 8-byte units) to be written after the header.
IceErrorHeader sets up an error message header.
Note that the two clients connected by ICE may be using different
major opcodes for a given protocol. The offending_major_opcode passed
to this macro is the major opcode of the protocol for the client
sending the error message.
Generic errors, which are common to all protocols, have classes
in the range 0x8000..0xFFFF.
See the Inter-Client Exchange Protocol
standard for more details.
IceBadMinor0x8000IceBadState0x8001IceBadLength0x8002IceBadValue0x8003Per-protocol errors have classes in the range 0x0000-0x7fff.
To write data to an ICE connection, use the
IceWriteData macro. If the data fits into the
ICE output buffer, it is copied there. Otherwise, the ICE output buffer
is flushed and the data is directly sent.
This macro is used in conjunction with
IceGetHeader and
IceErrorHeader IceWriteDataIceConn ice_connint byteschar *dataice_connA valid ICE connection object.bytesThe number of bytes to write.dataThe data to write.
To write data as 16-bit quantities, use IceWriteData16 IceWriteData16IceConn ice_connint byteschar *dataice_connA valid ICE connection object.bytesThe number of bytes to write.dataThe data to write.
To write data as 32-bit quantities, use IceWriteData32 IceWriteData32IceConn ice_connint byteschar *dataice_connA valid ICE connection object.bytesThe number of bytes to write.dataThe data to write.
To write data as 32-bit quantities, use IceWriteData32
To bypass copying data to the ICE output buffer, use
IceSendData to directly send data over the network
connection. If necessary, the ICE output buffer is first flushed.
IceSendDataIceConn ice_connint byteschar *dataice_connA valid ICE connection object.bytesThe number of bytes to send.dataThe data to send.
To force 32-bit or 64-bit alignment, use IceWritePad
A maximum of 7 pad bytes can be specified.
IceWritePadIceConn ice_connint byteschar *dataice_connA valid ICE connection object.bytesThe number of bytes to write.dataThe number of pad bytes to write.Reading ICE Messages
The ICE library maintains an input buffer used for reading messages.
If the ICE library chooses to perform nonblocking reads (this is
implementation-dependent), then for every read operation that it makes,
zero or more complete messages may be read into the input buffer. As
a result, for all of the macros described in this section that read
messages, an actual read operation will occur on the connection only if
the data is not already present in the input buffer.
To get the size of the ICE input buffer, use
IceGetInBufSizeint IceGetInBufSizeIceConn ice_connice_connA valid ICE connection object.
When reading messages, care must be taken to check for IO errors. If
any IO error occurs in reading any part of a message, the message should
be thrown out. After using any of the macros described below for reading
messages, the IceValidIO
macro can be used to check if an IO error occurred on the
connection. After an IO error has occurred on an ICE connection, all
read operations will be ignored. For further information, see
.
Bool IceValidIOIceConn ice_connice_connA valid ICE connection object.The following macros can be used to read ICE messages. IceReadSimpleMessageIceConn ice_conn<C_data_type> *pmsgice_connA valid ICE connection object.<C_data_type>The actual C data type of the message header.pmsgThis pointer is set to the message header.IceReadSimpleMessage
is used for messages that are identical in size to the 8-byte ICE header, but
use the spare 2 bytes in the header to encode additional data. Note that the
ICE library always reads in these first 8 bytes, so it can obtain the major
opcode of the message. IceReadSimpleMessage
simply returns a pointer to these 8 bytes; it does not actually read any data
into the input buffer.
For a message with variable length data, there are two ways of reading
the message. One method involves reading the complete message in one
pass using IceReadCompleteMessage
The second method involves reading the message header (note that this may
be larger than the 8-byte ICE header), then reading
the variable length data in chunks (see
IceReadMessageHeader and
IceReadData IceReadCompleteMessageIceConn ice_connint header_size<C_data_type> *pmsgchar *pdataice_connA valid ICE connection object.header_sizeThe size of the message header (in bytes).<C_data_type>The actual C data type of the message header.pmsgThis pointer is set to the message header.pdata
This pointer is set to the variable length data of the message.
If the ICE input buffer has sufficient space,
IceReadCompleteMessage
will read the complete message into the
ICE input buffer. Otherwise, a buffer will be allocated to hold the
variable length data. After the call, the pdata argument should
be checked against NULL to make sure that there was sufficient memory
to allocate the buffer.
After calling IceReadCompleteMessage
and processing the message, IceDisposeCompleteMessage
should be called.
IceDisposeCompleteMessageIceConn ice_connchar *pdataice_connA valid ICE connection object.pdata
The pointer to the variable length data returned in
IceReadCompleteMessage
If a buffer had to be allocated to hold the variable length data (because
it did not fit in the ICE input buffer), it is freed here by ICElib.
IceReadMessageHeaderIceConn ice_connint header_size<C_data_type> *pmsgice_connA valid ICE connection object.header_sizeThe size of the message header (in bytes).<C_data_type>The actual C data type of the message header.pmsgThis pointer is set to the message header.IceReadMessageHeader reads just the message header.
The rest of the data should be read with the
IceReadData
family of macros. This method of reading a message should be used when the
variable length data must be read in chunks.
To read data directly into a user supplied buffer, use
IceReadData IceReadDataIceConn ice_connint byteschar *pdataice_connA valid ICE connection object.bytesThe number of bytes to read.pdataThe data is read into this user supplied buffer.
To read data as 16-bit quantities, use IceReadData16 IceReadData16IceConn ice_connBool swapint byteschar *pdataice_connA valid ICE connection object.swap
If True, the values will be byte swapped.
bytesThe number of bytes to read.pdataThe data is read into this user supplied buffer.
To read data as 32-bit quantities, use IceReadData32 IceReadData32IceConn ice_connBool swapint byteschar *pdataice_connA valid ICE connection object.swap
If True, the values will be byte swapped.
bytesThe number of bytes to read.pdataThe data is read into this user supplied buffer.To force 32-bit or 64-bit alignment, use
IceReadPad
A maximum of 7 pad bytes can be specified. IceReadPadIceConn ice_connint bytesice_connA valid ICE connection object.bytesThe number of pad bytes.Error HandlingThere are two default error handlers in ICElib:
One to handle typically fatal conditions (for example,
a connection dying because a machine crashed)
One to handle ICE-specific protocol errors
These error handlers can be changed to user-supplied routines if you
prefer your own error handling and can be changed as often as you like.
To set the ICE error handler, use IceSetErrorHandler IceSetErrorHandlerIceConn ice_connint byteshandler
The ICE error handler. You should pass NULL to restore the default handler.
IceSetErrorHandler returns the previous error handler.
The ICE error handler is invoked when an unexpected ICE protocol
error (major opcode 0) is encountered. The action of the default
handler is to print an explanatory message to
stderr
and if the severity is fatal, call
exit
with a nonzero value. If exiting
is undesirable, the application should register its own error handler.
Note that errors in other protocol
domains should be handled by their respective libraries (these libraries
should have their own error handlers).
An ICE error handler has the type of IceErrorHandlervoid IceErrorHandlerIceConn ice_connBool swapint offending_minor_opcodeunsigned long offending_sequence_numint error_classint severityIcePointer valueshandlerThe ICE connection object.swapA flag that indicates if the values need byte swapping.offending_minor_opcodeThe ICE minor opcode of the offending message.offending_sequence_numThe sequence number of the offending message.error_classThe error class of the offending message.severityIceCanContinueIceFatalToProtocol
or
IceFatalToConnectionvalues
Any additional error values specific to the minor opcode and class.
The following error classes are defined at the ICE level:IceBadMinorIceBadStateIceBadLengthIceBadValueIceBadMajorIceNoAuthIceNoVersionIceSetupFailedIceAuthRejectedIceAuthFailedIceProtocolDuplicateIceMajorOpcodeDuplicateIceUnknownProtocol
For further information, see
the Inter-Client Exchange Protocol standard.
To handle fatal I/O errors, use IceSetIOErrorHandlerIceIOErrorHandler IceSetIOErrorHandlerIceIOErrorHandler handlerhandler
The I/O error handler. You should pass NULL to restore the default handler.
IceSetIOErrorHandler returns the previous
IO error handler.
An ICE I/O error handler has the type of
IceIOErrorHandlervoid IceIOErrorHandlerIceConn ice_connice_connThe ICE connection object. There are two ways of handling IO errors in ICElib:
In the first, the IO error handler does whatever is necessary
to respond to the IO error and then returns, but it does not call
IceCloseConnection
The ICE connection is given a "bad IO" status, and all future reads
and writes to the connection are ignored. The next time
IceProcessMessages
is called it will return a status of
IceProcessMessagesIOError
At that time, the application should call
IceCloseConnection
In the second, the IO error handler does call
IceCloseConnection
and then uses the longjmp
call to get back to the application's main event loop. The
setjmp and
longjmp
calls may not work properly on all platforms,
and special care must be taken to avoid memory leaks.
Therefore, this second model is less desirable.
Before the application I/O error handler is invoked, protocol libraries
that were interested in being notified of I/O errors will have their
IceIOErrorProc
handlers invoked. This handler is set up in the protocol registration
functions (see IceRegisterForProtocolSetup and
IceRegisterForProtocolReply
and could be used to clean up state specific to the protocol.
void IceIOErrorProcIceConn ice_connice_connThe ICE connection object.
Note that every IceIOErrorProc
callback must return. This is required
because each active protocol must be notified of the broken connection,
and the application IO error handler must be invoked afterwards.
Multi-Threading SupportTo declare that multiple threads in an application will be using the ICE
library, use
IceInitThreads
Status IceInitThreads()
The
IceInitThreads
function must be the first ICElib function a
multi-threaded program calls. It must complete before any other ICElib
call is made.
IceInitThreads
returns a nonzero status if and only if it was able
to initialize the threads package successfully.
It is safe to call
IceInitThreads
more than once, although the threads package will only be initialized once.Protocol libraries layered on top of ICElib will have to lock critical
sections of code that access an ICE connection (for example, when
generating messages). Two calls, which are generally implemented as
macros, are provided:void IceLockConnIceConn ice_connvoid IceUnlockConnIceConn ice_connice_connThe ICE connection object.To keep an ICE connection locked across several ICElib calls, applications use
IceAppLockConn
and
IceAppUnlockConnvoid IceAppLockConnIceConn ice_connice_connThe ICE connection object.The
IceAppLockConn
function completely locks out other threads using the connection
until
IceAppUnlockConn
is called. Other threads attempting to use ICElib
calls on the connection will block.
If the program has not previously called
IceInitThreadsIceAppLockConn
has no effect.void IceAppUnlockConnIceConn ice_connice_connThe ICE connection object.The
IceAppUnlockConn
function allows other threads to complete ICElib
calls on the connection that were blocked by a previous call to
IceAppLockConn
from this thread. If the program has not previously called
IceInitThreadsIceAppUnlockConn
has no effect.Miscellaneous FunctionsTo allocate scratch space (for example, when generating
messages with variable data), use
IceAllocScratch
Each ICE connection has one scratch space associated with it.
The scratch space starts off as empty and grows as needed.
The contents of the scratch space is not guaranteed to be preserved
after any ICElib function is called.char *IceAllocScratchIceConn ice_connunsigned long sizeice_connThe ICE connection object.sizeThe number of bytes required.Note that the memory returned by
IceAllocScratch
should not be freed by the caller.
The ICE library will free the memory when the ICE connection is closed.Acknowledgements
Thanks to Bob Scheifler for his thoughtful input on the design
of the ICE library. Thanks also to Jordan Brown, Larry Cable, Donna Converse,
Clive Feather, Stephen Gildea, Vania Joloboff, Kaleb Keithley,
Stuart Marks, Hiro Miyamoto, Ralph Swick, Jim VanGilder, and Mike Wexler.
Authentication Utility Functions
As discussed in this document, the means by which authentication data
is obtained by the ICE library (for
ConnectionSetup
messages or
ProtocolSetup
messages) is implementation-dependent.†
The X Consortium's ICElib implementation assumes the presence of an
ICE authority file.
This appendix describes some utility functions that manipulate an
ICE authority file. The authority file can be used to pass authentication
data between clients.
The basic operations on the .ICEauthority file are:Get file nameLockUnlockRead entryWrite entrySearch for entry
These are fairly low-level operations, and it is expected that a program,
like "iceauth", would exist to add, remove, and display entries in the file.
In order to use these utility functions, the
<X11/ICE/ICEutil.h>
header file must be included.
An entry in the .ICEauthority file is defined by the following data structure:
typedef struct {
char *protocol_name;
unsigned short protocol_data_length;
char *protocol_data;
char *network_id;
char *auth_name;
unsigned short auth_data_length;
char *auth_data;
} IceAuthFileEntry;
The protocol_name member is either "ICE" for connection setup authentication
or the subprotocol name, such as "XSMP". For each entry, protocol specific
data can be specified in the protocol_data member. This can be used
to search for old entries that need to be removed from the file.
The network_id member is the network ID of the client accepting
authentication (for example, the network ID of a session manager).
A network ID has the following form:
tcp/<hostname>:<portnumber>ordecnet/<hostname>::<objname>orlocal/<hostname>:<path>
The auth_name member is the name of the authentication method.
The auth_data member is the actual authentication data,
and the auth_data_length member is the number of bytes in the data.
To obtain the default authorization file name, use
IceAuthFileName
char *IceAuthFileName()
If the ICEAUTHORITY environment variable if set, this value is returned.
Otherwise, the default authorization file name is $HOME/.ICEauthority.
This name is statically allocated and should not be freed.
To synchronously update the authorization file, the file must
be locked with a call to
IceLockAuthFile
This function takes advantage of the fact that the
link
system call will fail if the name of the new link already exists.
int IceLockAuthFilechar *file_nameint retriesint timeoutlong deadfile_nameThe authorization file to lock.retriesThe number of retries.timeoutThe number of seconds before each retry.dead
If a lock already exists that is the specified dead seconds old,
it is broken.
A value of zero is used to unconditionally break an old lock.
One of three values is returned:IceAuthLockSuccess - the lock succeeded.
IceAuthLockError - a system error occurred, and
errno may prove useful.
IceAuthLockTimeout - the specified number of
retries failed.
To unlock an authorization file, use IceUnlockAuthFileint IceUnlockAuthFilechar *file_namefile_nameThe authorization file to unlock.
To read the next entry in an authorization file, use
IceReadAuthFileEntryIceAuthFileEntry *IceReadAuthFileEntryFILE *auth_fileauth_fileThe authorization file.
Note that it is the responsibility of the application to open the file
for reading before calling this function. If an error is encountered,
or there are no more entries to read, NULL is returned.
Entries should be free with a call to
IceFreeAuthFileEntry
To write an entry in an authorization file, use
IceWriteAuthFileEntryStatus IceWriteAuthFileEntryFILE *auth_fileIceAuthFileEntry *entryauth_fileThe authorization file.entryThe entry to write.
Note that it is the responsibility of the application to open the file
for writing before calling this function. The function returns a nonzero
status if the operation was successful.
To search the default authorization file for an entry that matches a given
protocol_name/network_id/auth_name tuple, use
IceGetAuthFileEntryIceAuthFileEntry *IceGetAuthFileEntrychar *protocol_namechar *network_idchar *auth_nameauth_fileThe name of the protocol to search on.network_idThe network ID to search on.auth_nameThe authentication method to search on.
If IceGetAuthFileEntry
fails to find such an entry, NULL is returned.
To free an entry returned by
IceReadAuthFileEntry or
IceGetAuthFileEntry use
IceFreeAuthFileEntryvoid IceFreeAuthFileEntryIceAuthFileEntry *entryentryThe entry to free.MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 AuthenticationThe X Consortium's ICElib implementation supports a simple
MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 authentication scheme using the authority file utilities
described in Appendix A.In this model, an application, such as a session manager, obtains a
magic cookie by calling
IceGenerateMagicCookie
and then stores it in the user's local .ICEauthority file
so that local clients can connect. In order to allow remote clients to
connect, some remote execution mechanism should be used to store the
magic cookie in the user's .ICEauthority file on a remote machine.In addition to storing the magic cookie in the .ICEauthority file, the
application needs to call the
IceSetPaAuthData
function in order to store the magic cookie in memory. When it comes time
for the MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 authentication procedure to accept or reject the
connection, it will compare the magic cookie presented by the requestor to
the magic cookie in memory.char *IceGenerateMagicCookieint lengthlengthThe desired length of the magic cookie.The magic cookie returned will be null-terminated. If memory can not be
allocated for the magic cookie, the function will return NULL.
Otherwise, the magic cookie should be freed with a call to
freeTo store the authentication data in memory, use
IceSetPaAuthData
Currently, this function is only used for MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1
authentication, but it may be used for additional authentication
methods in the future.void IceSetPaAuthDataint num_entriesIceAuthDataEntry *entriesnum_entriesThe number of authentication data entries.entriesThe list of authentication data entries.Each entry has associated with it a protocol name
(for example, "ICE" for ICE connection setup authentication,
"XSMP" for session management authentication), a network ID for the
"accepting" client, an authentication name (for example, MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1),
and authentication data. The ICE library
will merge these entries with previously set entries, based on the
(protocol_name, network_id, auth_name) tuple.
typedef struct {
char *protocol_name;
char *network_id;
char *auth_name;
unsigned short auth_data_length;
char *auth_data;
} IceAuthDataEntry;