NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #1/NN_1993_1.iso/spool/comp/sys/mac/programm/20691

Internet Message Format | 1993-01-05 | 1.9 KB

Xref: sparky comp.sys.mac.programmer:20691 comp.sys.mac.comm:12636
Path: sparky!uunet!portal!cup.portal.com!Chewy
From: [e-mail] (Paul Frederick Snively)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer,comp.sys.mac.comm
Subject: Re: Mac RPC calls
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: Tue,  5 Jan 93 09:07:04 PST
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
References:  <[e-mail]>
Lines: 31

It depends upon what you mean by `RPC.'

All three of the platforms that you mention support `RPC' in one form or
another in their current respective OSes (Windows for Workgroups, BSD UNIX/X/
Motif, and System 7.0 or later).  The problem is that Windows for Workgroups
speaks `Network DDE,' Berserkeley UNIX speaks SUN RPC and probably others, and
System 7.x speaks AppleEvents.

Obviously, you're facing a language barrier if you wish to get these platforms
talking to each other. :-)

The situation between the Mac and the UNIX worlds doesn't actually have to be
too much of a pain--you may have seen the recent announcement for GUSI (the
Grand Unified Socket Interface) here.  Amongst other nice things, it gives
Macs using MacTCP Berserkeley-style sockets, which SUN RPC relies on, and
SUN's RPC code is available at a number of FTP sites (including Apple's, if
memory serves me correctly).  So if you're willing to use MacTCP to yak at
your UNIX boxes, and your UNIX boxes speak SUN RPC, and you're willing to
perform the marriage of SUN RPC and GUSI, then you've solved that problem.

You can find GUSI at nic.switch.ch as software/mac/src/mpw_c/GUSI_10.sit.bin.
If you have access to archie, you can use it to find SUN's RPC code; it's all
over the net.  Again, I'd even try ftp.apple.com.

I believe that Microsoft has a DDE library for the Mac (but don't hold me to
this).  If so, that should complete the construction of this unholy trinity
that you propose. ;-)

Hope this helps,
Paul Snively
[e-mail]