Open System Services System Calls Reference Manual (G06.25+, H06.03+)

About This Manual
The HP NonStop Open System Services (OSS) application program interface (API)
provides an open interface for programs to be run with the underlying HP NonStop
operating system.
The Open System Services System Calls Reference Manual contains reference pages for
OSS system functions, files, and miscellaneous topics.
The description of the OSS API is divided into system functions (documented in this
manual) and library functions (documented in the Open System Services Library Calls
Reference Manual). Functions appear in one manual or the other, based on the logical
section number assigned to the reference page for the function. (So that all threads-
related functions can be described in a single manual, certain HP extensions to the
standard POSIX threads functions do not obey this rule.) Refer to Reference Section
Numbers later in this section for an explanation of the logical section numbers.
This division does not imply any restrictions upon the use of the functions described in
either manual. The division exists for many reasons, including:
•
Consistency with the documentation of the Guardian API. The Guardian API for
process management and low-level file-system access is documented separately from
other portions of the API available to users of a C run-time library.
•
Consistency with the separation of functions used in some UNIX systems. In those
systems, an important distinction exists between the API for code that is to run in
kernel space and the API for code that is to run in user space. This distinction is
meaningless for users of the OSS API. The HP NonStop operating system does
distinguish among code that runs in user code space, code that runs in system code
space, and code that runs in library code space, but the distinction does not separate
the functions of the OSS API.
• Ease of use for the printed version of the material, which would be a multiple-volume
manual regardless of organization.
Unless otherwise indicated in the text, discussions of native mode behavior, processes,
and so forth apply to both the TNS/R code that runs on G-series systems and to the
TNS/E code that runs on H-series systems. Discussions of TNS or accelerated code
behavior in the OSS environment apply only to G-series systems; H-series systems do
not support TNS or accelerated code execution in the OSS environment.
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