The putmsg() function creates a message from user-specified buffer(s) and sends the message to a STREAMS file. The message may contain either a data part, a control part, or both. The data and control parts to be sent are distinguished by placement in separate buffers, as described below. The semantics of each part is defined by the STREAMS module that receives the message.

The putpmsg() function does the same thing as putmsg(), but provides the user the ability to send messages in different priority bands. Except where noted, all information pertaining to putmsg() also pertains to putpmsg().

The fildes argument specifies a file descriptor referencing an open stream. The ctlptr and dataptr arguments each point to a strbuf structure, which contains the following members:

int      maxlen;     /* not used here */
int      len;        /* length of data */
void     *buf;       /* ptr to buffer */

The ctlptr argument points to the structure describing the control part, if any, to be included in the message. The buf member in the strbuf structure points to the buffer where the control information resides, and the len member indicates the number of bytes to be sent. The maxlen member is not used in putmsg() (see getmsg(2)). In a similar manner, dataptr specifies the data, if any, to be included in the message. The flags argument indicates what type of message should be sent and is described later.

To send the data part of a message, dataptr must not be NULL, and the len member of dataptr must have a value of 0 or greater. To send the control part of a message, the corresponding values must be set for ctlptr. No data (control) part is sent if either dataptr (ctlptr) is NULL or the len member of dataptr (ctlptr) is negative.

For putmsg(), if a control part is specified, and flags is set to RS_HIPRI, a high priority message is sent. If no control part is specified, and flags is set to RS_HIPRI, putmsg() fails and sets errno to EINVAL. If flags is set to 0, a normal (non-priority) message is sent. If no control part and no data part are specified, and flags is set to 0, no message is sent, and 0 is returned.

The stream head guarantees that the control part of a message generated by putmsg() is at least 64 bytes in length.

For putpmsg(), the flags are different. The flags argument is a bitmask with the following mutually-exclusive flags defined: MSG_HIPRI and MSG_BAND. If flags is set to 0, putpmsg() fails and sets errno to EINVAL. If a control part is specified and flags is set to MSG_HIPRI and band is set to 0, a high-priority message is sent. If flags is set to MSG_HIPRI and either no control part is specified or band is set to a non-zero value, putpmsg() fails and sets errno to EINVAL. If flags is set to MSG_BAND, then a message is sent in the priority band specified by band. If a control part and data part are not specified and flags is set to MSG_BAND, no message is sent and 0 is returned.

Normally, putmsg() will block if the stream write queue is full due to internal flow control conditions. For high-priority messages, putmsg() does not block on this condition. For other messages, putmsg() does not block when the write queue is full and O_NDELAY or O_NONBLOCK is set. Instead, it fails and sets errno to EAGAIN.

The putmsg() or putpmsg() function also blocks, unless prevented by lack of internal resources, waiting for the availability of message blocks in the stream, regardless of priority or whether O_NDELAY or O_NONBLOCK has been specified. No partial message is sent.

Upon successful completion, 0 is returned. Otherwise, -1 is returned and errno is set to indicate the error.

The putmsg() and putpmsg() functions will fail if:

EAGAIN

A non-priority message was specified, the O_NDELAY or O_NONBLOCK flag is set and the stream write queue is full due to internal flow control conditions.

EBADF

The fildes argument is not a valid file descriptor open for writing.

EFAULT

The ctlptr or dataptr argument points to an illegal address.

EINTR

A signal was caught during the execution of the putmsg() function.

EINVAL

An undefined value was specified in flags; flags is set to RS_HIPRI and no control part was supplied; or the stream referenced by fildes is linked below a multiplexor.

ENOSR

Buffers could not be allocated for the message that was to be created due to insufficient STREAMS memory resources.

ENOSTR

The fildes argument is not associated with a STREAM.

ENXIO

A hangup condition was generated downstream for the specified stream, or the other end of the pipe is closed.

EPIPE or EIO

The fildes argument refers to a STREAMS-based pipe and the other end of the pipe is closed. A SIGPIPE signal is generated for the calling process. This error condition occurs only with SUS-compliant applications. See standards(5).

ERANGE

The size of the data part of the message does not fall within the range specified by the maximum and minimum packet sizes of the topmost stream module. This value is also returned if the control part of the message is larger than the maximum configured size of the control part of a message, or if the data part of a message is larger than the maximum configured size of the data part of a message.

In addition, putmsg() and putpmsg() will fail if the STREAM head had processed an asynchronous error before the call. In this case, the value of errno does not reflect the result of putmsg() or putpmsg() but reflects the prior error.

The putpmsg() function will fail if:

EINVAL

The flags argument is set to MSG_HIPRI and band is non-zero.

intro(2), getmsg(2), poll(2), read(2), write(2), standards(5)

STREAMS Programming Guide