Guardian Application Conversion Guide

New Process Identifiers
Conversion Concepts
2–10 096047 Tandem Computers Incorporated
New Process
Identifiers
A process identifier identifies a process in a system or network. The D-series
operating system uses these process identifiers:
Process names
Process file names
Process descriptors
Process handles
These identifiers are described in the following paragraphs. For compatibility with
C-series systems, the D-series operating system also supports C-series process names,
process file names, and process IDs.
Process Names A process name identifies a process or process pair in a system. A D-series process
name uses the same format as a C-series process name, which is a dollar sign followed
by one to five letters or digits. The first character after the dollar sign must be a letter.
Examples of valid process names are:
$SERVR
$Z146
$SPLS
$A0020
If a process is named, the name is assigned to the process when it is created. If you
create a process using either the TACL RUN command or a process-creation
procedure such as PROCESS_CREATE_ , you can specify a process name or you can
request that the system generate a name for the process.
A converted process on a D-series system can identify remote processes with names
that have a maximum of six characters including the dollar sign on other D-series
systems in a network. A process on a C-series system can identify remote processes
with names that have a maximum of five characters including the dollar sign on other
systems.
However, a process on a D-series system can identify remote processes with names
that have only five characters or less, including the dollar sign, on C-series systems in
the network. For more information about the compatibility of C-series and D-series
process names, refer to Appendix C, “System Compatibility.”
Process File Names The D-series process file name replaces the C-series process file name. A D-series
process file name is a variable-length string that specifies either a named or unnamed
process (or a named process pair). The length in bytes of the string is specified as a
separate integer value. You use a D-series process file name with Guardian
procedures that operate on files (for example, the FILE_OPEN_ procedure).
The formats for the D-series unnamed and named process file names are described in
the following paragraphs.