ISO/IEC 13886:1996
(Main)Information technology — Language-Independent Procedure Calling (LIPC)
Information technology — Language-Independent Procedure Calling (LIPC)
Specifies a model for procedure calls, and a reference syntax for mapping to and from the model. The syntax is referred to as the Interface Definition Notation. The model includes procedure invocation, parameter passing, completion status and environmental issues.
Technologies de l'information — Appel de procédure indépendant du langage (LIPC)
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Standards Content (Sample)
INTERNATIONAL
lSO/IEC
STANDARD
First edition
1996-03-l 5
Information technology - Language-
Independent Procedure Calling (LIPC)
Technologies de I ‘information
- Appel de procbdure indbpendant du
langage (L/PC)
Reference number
ISO/lEC 13886:1996(E)
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ISO/IEC 13886:1996(E)
Contents
1 Scope
1
2 References
2
3 Definitions and Abbreviations
2
3.1 Definitions. .
4
3.2 Abbreviations .
4 Conformance
4.1 Modes of conformance .
4.1.1 Client mode conformance .
.............................
4.1.2 Server mode conformance
6
5 A model of procedure calling: informal description
5.1 Model overview . 6
5.2 Parameter passing . 7
5.2.1 Methods of parameter passing . 9
5.2.1.1 Call by Value Sent on Initiation . 9
Call by Value Sent on Request . 9
5.2.1.2
5.2.1.3 Call by Value Returned on Termination . 10
10
5.2.1.4 Call by Value Returned when Available .
10
5.2.2 Global data .
5.2.3 Parameter Marshalling / Unmarshalling . 11
11
5.2.4 Pointer Parameters .
5.2.5 Private types . 12
5.3 Execution-time Control . 12
5.3.1 Terminations . 12
Normal termination . 12
5.3.1.1
5.3.1.2 Abnormal Termination . 13
......................... .
5.3.1.3 External Cancellation 13
5.3.1.4 Predefined conditions . 13
5.4 Execution Control . . 14
5.4.1 Synchronous and Asynchronous Calling . 14
..................................... 14
5.4.2 Recursion
14
6 A model of procedure calling: formal description
6.1 Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . “. 14
0 ISO/IEC 1996
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................................... 14
6.2 Boxes and global state
........................................... 15
6.3 Symbol
16
......................................
6.4 Procedure image
......................................... 16
6.5 Association
..................................... 17
6.6 Procedure closures
.......................... 17
6.7 Boxes, pointers, values, and datatypes
18
......................................
6.8 Interface closure
19
6.9 Interfacetype .
19
........................................
6.10 Specifications
................................ 20
6.11 Basic procedure invocation
20
......................................
6.12 Type correctness
21
..........................................
6.13 Associates
21
.................................
6.13.1 Simple Associates
22
...............................
6.13.2 Generalized Associates
............................ 23
6.14 Execution and Invocation contexts
24
...................................
6.15 Parameter translations
26
.............................
6.16 Defining Translation Procedures
27
7 Interface Definition Notation
.................................. 27
7.1 Definitional Conventions
27
....................................
71.1 Character Set
27
...................................
7.1.2 Formal Syntax
28
.....................................
7.1.3 Whitespace
................................ 29
7.2 Interface Type Declarations
29
...................................
7.2.1 Type references
30
..................................
7.2.2 Value References
30
....................................
7.3 Import Declarations
31
.....................................
7.4 Value Declarations
................................... 31
7.5 Datatype Declarations
................................ 32
7.5.1 Primitive Datatypes
.................................. 32
7.5.1.1 Integer
32
............................
7.5.1.2 The real datatype
33
.........................
7.5.1.3 The character datatype
.......................... 33
7.5.1.4 The boolean datatype
33
........................
7.5.1.5 The enumerated datatype
........................... 33
7.5.1.6 The octet datatype
34
.........................
7.5.1.7 The procedure datatype
36
...........................
7.5.1.8 The state datatype
36
..........................
7.5.1.9 The ordinal datatype
............................ 37
7.5.1.10 The time datatype
............................ 37
7.5.1.11 The bit datatype.
.......................... 37
7.5.1.12 The rational datatype
........................... 37
7.5.1.13 The scaled datatype
38
..........................
7.5.1.14 The complex datatype
38
............................
7.5.1.15 The void datatype
38
................................
7.5.2 Generated datatypes
38
...........................
7.5.2.1 The record datatype
........................... 39
7.5.2.2 The choice datatype
. . .
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........................... 39
7.5.2.3 The array datatype
40
..........................
7.5.2.4 The pointer datatype
...................................... 40
7.5.3 Subtypes
.................................... 40
7.6 Parameterized Types
.......................................... 41
7.7 Identifiers
.............................. 42
7.7.1 Value references to fields
7.7.2 Value references to parameters, return-args, or to fields contained within them 42
...................... 43
7.7.3 Value references to formal-value-parms
....................... 43
7.7.4 Value references to value-expressions
.................... 43
7.7.5 Value references to enumeration-identifiers
............................... 44
7.7.6 Termination references
Annexes
45
A Procedure Parameters
.............................. 45
A.1 LIPC Reference / Local Access
45
..............................
A.2 LIPC! Reference / LIPC Access
..............................
46
A.3 Local Reference / Local Access
47
B Interface Definition Notation Syntax
53
C How to do an LIPC binding for a language
............................. 53
C.1 Linking the client and the server
.................................... 54
C.2 Client mode binding
.................................... 55
C.3 Server mode binding
................................... 56
C.4 Procedure parameters
....................................... 57
C.5 Global variables
58
D LIPC IDN - RPC IDL Alignment overview
................................... 58
D.l Interface Declarations
...................................... 58
D.l.l Attributes
58
...................................
D.l.2 Imports Clause
59
.....................................
D.2 Other Declarations
................................. 59
D.2.1 Type Declarations
................................. 59
D.2.2 Value Declarations
.............................. 59
D.2.3 Procedure Declarations
............................. 60
D.2.4 Termination Declarations
.................................... 60
D.3 Primitive Datatypes
....................................... 60
D.3.1 Boolean
......................................... 60
D.3.2 State
.................................... 60
D.3.3 Enumerated.
...................................... 61
D.3.4 Character
....................................... 61
D.3.5 Ordinal
61
.......................................
D.3.6 Time.
........................................ 61
D.3.7 Integer
....................................... 62
D.3.8 Rational
........................................
62
D.3.9 Scaled
......................................... 62
D.3.10 Real
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63
.....................................
D.3.11Complex.
63
D.3.12Void .
63
D.4 Type Qualifiers .
63
D.5 Generated Datatypes .
63
D.5.1 Choice .
64
D.5.2 Pointer .
64
D.5.3 Procedure .
64
....................................
D.6 Aggregate Datatypes
64
D.6.1 Record. .
64
D.6.2 Set. .
65
D.6.3 Bag .
65
D.6.4 Sequence .
65
........................................
D.6.5 Array
66
D.6.6 Table .
66
............................
D.7 Derived Datatypes and Generators
66
...................................
D.7.1 Naturalnumber
66
D.7.2 Modulo .
66
D.7.3 Bit .
66
D.7.4 Bitstring. .
67
D.7.5 Characterstring .
67
....................................
D.7.6 Timeinterval
67
D.7.7 Octet .
67
D.7.8 Octetstring .
68
.......................................
D.7.9 Private
68
D.8 Other RPC Datatypes .
68
. “Dependent Values” .
D.9
68
D.10 Cross References .
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ISO/IEC 13886:1996(E)
Foreword
IS0 (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotech-
nical Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies
that are members of IS0 or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through
technical committees established by the respective organizations to deal with particular fields of
technical activity. IS0 and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other
international organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with IS0 and IEC, also
take part in the work.
In the field of information technology, IS0 and IEC have established a joint technical committee,
ISO/IEC JTC 1. Draft International Standards adopted by the joint technical cotittee are
circulated to national bodies for voting. Publication as an International Standard requires approval
by at least 75 % of the national bodies casting a vote.
International Standard ISO/IEC 13886 was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC
JTC 1, Information technology, Subcommittee SC 22, Programming languages, their environments
and system software interfaces.
Annexes A to D of this International Standard are for information only.
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Introduction
The purpose of this International Standard is to provide a common model for language standards for
the concept of procedure calling. It is an enabling standard to aid in the development of language-
independent tools and services, common procedure libraries and mixed language programming. In
mixed language applications, server procedures would execute on language processors operating
in server mode, and the procedures would be called from language processors operating in client
mode. Note that the languages need not be different, and if the processors are the same the model
collapses into conventional single processor programming.
Most programming languages include the concepts of procedures and their invocation. The main
variance between the methods used in various programming languages lies in the ways parameters
are passed between the client and server procedures. Procedure calling is a simple concept at the
functional level, but the interaction of procedure calling with datatyping and program structure
along with the many variations on procedure calling and restrictions on calling that are applied by
various programmin g languages transforms the seemingly simple concept of procedure calling into
a more complex feature of programming languages.
The need for a standard model for procedure calling is evident from the multitude of variants of
procedure calling in the standardized languages. The existence of this International Standard for
Language-Independent Procedure Calling (LIPC) d oes not require that all programming languages
should adopt this model as their sole means of procedure calling. The nominal requirement is
for programming languages to provide a mapping to LIPC from their native procedure calling
mechanism, and to be able to accept calls from other programmin g languages who have defined a
mapping to this International Standard.
This International Standard is a specification of a common model for procedure calling. It is not
intended to be a specification of how an implementation of the LIPC is to be provided. Also, it
is important to note that it does not address the question of how the procedure call initiated by
the client mode processor is communicated to the server mode processor, or how the results are
returned. The model defined in this International Standard is intended for use by languages so
that they may provide standard mappings from their native procedure model. This International
Standard depends on the International Standard for Language-Independent Datatypes, ISO/IEC
11404, for the definition of the datatypes that are to be supported in the model for LIPC that it
provides.
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ISO/IEC 13886:1996(E)
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD @ ISO/IEC
Information technology -
Language-Independent Procedure Calling (LIPC)
1 Scope
This International Standard specifies a model for procedure calls, and a reference syntax for map-
to and from the model. This syntax is referred to as the Interface Definition Notation. The
Pi%
‘I
model defined in this International Standard includes such features as procedure invocation, pa-
rameter passing, completion status, and environmental issues relating to non-local references and
state.
This International Standard does not specify:
l the method by which the procedure call initiated by the client mode processor is communi-
cated to the server mode language processor;
l the minimum requirements of a data processing system that is capable of supporting an
implementation of a language processor to support LIPC;
l the mechanism by which programs written to support LIPC are transformed for use by a
data processing system;
l the representation of a parameter.
NOTE - Originally it was the intention to align the definitions and concepts of this International
Standard with those of the RPC standard (ISO/IEC 11578). Unfortunately, in a late stage of the
development process of the RPC standard it was decided to use for that standard a completely
different approach. Hence the intended alignment did not materialize.
Annex D gives an overview of the differences between the concepts as defined by this Interna-
tional Standard and the RPC standard.
2 Normative References
The following standards contain provisions which, through reference in this text, constitute pro-
visions of this International Standard. At the time of publication, the editions indicated were
valid. All standards are subject to revision, and parties to agreements based on this International
Standard are encouraged to investigate the possibility of applying the most recent editions of the
standards indicated below. Members of IEC and IS0 maintain registers of current valid Interna-
tional Standards.
1
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ISO/IEC 13886:1996(E) @ ISO/IEC
Procedure for registration of escape sequences.
IS0 23751985, Data processing -
Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character
ISO/IEC! 10646-l: 1993, Information technology -
Set (KS) - Part 1: Architecture and Basic Multilingual Plane.
- Programming languages, their environments
ISO/IEC 11404:1996, Information technology
and system software interfaces - Language-independent datatypes.
ISO/IEC 8824-l: 1995, Information technology - Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN. 1):
Specification of basic notation.
ISOIIEC 8825~1:1995, Information technology - ASN.1 encoding rules: Specification of Basic
Encoding Rules (BER), Canonical Encoding Rules (CER) and Distinguished Encoding Rules
(DER).
3 Definitions and Abbreviations
3.1 Definitions
For the purposes of this International Standard, the following definitions apply.
3.1.1 actual parameter: A value that is bound to a formal parameter during the execution of
a procedure.
3.1.2 association: Any mapping from a set of symbols to values.
3.1.3 box: A model of a variable or container that holds a value of a particular type.
3.1.4 client interface binding: The possession by the client procedure of an interface reference.
3.1.5 client procedure: A sequence of instructions which invokes another procedure.
3.1.6 complete procedure closure: A procedure closure, all of whose global symbols
are
mapped.
3.1.7 configuration: Host and target computers, any operating system(s) and software used
to operate a processor.
3.1.8 execution sequence: A succession of global states ~1, ~2, . . . where each state beyond
the first is derived from the preceding one by a single create operation or a single write operation.
3.1.9 formal parameter: The name symbol of a parameter used in the definition of a procedure
to which a value will be bound during execution.
3.1.10 global state: The set of all existing boxes and their currently assigned values.
3.1.11 global symbol:
Symbol used to refer to values that are permanently associated with a
procedure.
3.1.12 implementation defined:
An implementation defined feature is a feature that is
left implementation dependent by this International Standard, but any implement ation claiming
conformity to this International Standard shall explicitly specify how this feature is provided.
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3.1.13 implementation dependent: An implementation dependent feature is a feature which
shall be provided by an implementation claiming conformity to this International Standard, but
the implementation need not to specify how the feature is provided.
A formal parameter
3.1.14 input parameter: with an attribute indicating that the corre-
actual parameter is to be made available to the server procedure on entry
sponding from the client
procedure.
3.1.15 input/output parameter: A formal parameter with an attribute indicating that the
corresponding actual parameters are made available to the server procedure on entry from the client
procedure and to the client procedure on return from the server procedure.
3.1.16 interface closure: A collection of names and a collection of procedure closures, with a
mapping between them.
3.1.17 interface execution context:
The union of the procedure execution contexts for a
given interface closure.
3.1.18 interface reference: An identifier that denotes a particular interface instance.
3.1.19 interface type: A collection of names and a collection of procedure types, with a
mapping between them.
3.1.20 interface type identifier: An identifier that denotes an interface type.
3.1.21 invocation association: The invocation association of a procedure closure
Association> applied to a set of actual parameter values is the association of the closure augmented
by a mapping of all local symbols to values and all formal parameter symbols to the corresponding
actual parameter values. Thus it is a binding to values of all symbols in the procedure image for
the duration of the’ invocation.
3.1.22 invocation context:
For a particular procedure call, the instance of the objects
referenced by the procedure, where the lifetime of the objects is bounded by the lifetime of the call.
3.1.23 marshalling: A process of collecting actual parameters, possibly converting them, and
assembling them for transfer.
3.1.24 output parameter: A formal parameter with an attribute indicating that the corre-
sponding actual parameter is to be made available to the client procedure on return from the server
procedure.
3.1.25 parameter: A parameter is used to communicate a value from a client to a server
procedure. The value supplied by the client is the actual parameter, the formal parameter is used
to identify the received value in the server procedure.
3.1.26 partial procedure closure: A procedure closure, some of whose global symbols are
not mapped. Procedure closures may be complete, with all global symbols mapped, or partial with
one or more global symbols not mapped.
3.1.27 procedure: The procedure value.
3.1.28 procedure call: The act of invoking a procedure.
3.1.29 procedure closure: A pair where the association
defines the mapping for the image’s global symbols and no others.
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ISO/IEC 13886:1996(E)
Procedure closures are the values of procedure type referred to in ISO/IEC 11404 -
NOTE -
Language-Independent Datatypes.
For a particular procedure, an instance of the objects
3.1.30 procedure execution context:
satisfying the external references necessary to allow the procedure to operate, where these objects
have a lifetime longer than a single call of that procedure.
A representation of a value of a particular procedure type, which
3.1.31 procedure image:
embodies a particular sequence of instructions to be performed when the procedure is called.
3.1.32 procedure invocation: The object which represents the triple: procedure image,
execution context, and invocation context.
The name of a procedure within an interface type definition.
3.1.33 procedure name:
The act of return from the server procedure with a specific termi-
3.1.34 procedure return:
nation.
The family of datatypes each of whose members is a collection of
3.1.35 procedure type:
operations on values of other datatypes. Note, this is a different definition from procedure value.
3.1.36 procedure value: A closed sequence of instructions that is entered from, and returns
control to, an external source.
3.1.37 processor: A compiler or interpreter working in combination with a configuration.
3.1.38 server procedure: The procedure which is invoked by a procedure call.
3.1.39 symbol: A program entity used to refer to a value.
3.1.40 termination: A predefined status related to the completion of a procedure call.
3.1.41 unmarshalling: The process of disassembling the transferred parameters, possibly
converting them, for use by the server procedure on invocation or by the client procedure upon
procedure return.
3.1.42 value: The set Value contains all the values that might arise in a program execution.
3.2 Abbreviations
3.2.1 ASN.l: Abstract Syntax Notation - One
3.2.2 IDN: Interface Definition Notation
3.2.3 LID: Language-Independent Datatypes, as defined in ISO/IEC 11404:1995.
3.2.4 LIPC: Language-Independent Procedure Calling
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@ ISO/IEC ISO/IEC 13886: 1996(E)
4 Conformance
A language processor may conform to this International Standard by mapping its native procedure
calling mechanism to the LIPC model that this International Standard defines.
NOTE - The term “language processor” used in this clause may be extended to include
anything which processes information and contains a procedure dling mechanism.
4.1 Modes of conformance
A language processor claiming conformance to this International Standard shall conform in either
or both of the following ways.
4.1.1 Client mode conformance
In order to conform in client mode, a language processor shall allow programs written in its lan-
guage to call procedures written in another language and supported by another processor, using
the language-independent procedure calling (LIP C) as p rovided by clauses 5, 6 and 7 of this Inter-
national Standard. In this case it is said to conform in (and be able of operating in) client mode.
As part of this, the language processor shall define a mapping from its own procedure calling model
to the LIPC model.
NOTE - If a program using the LIPC facility is to be portable between processors which
conform in client mode, the program and processors will also need to conform to the relevant
language standard and the relevant standards binding for that language to the LIPC and LID
standards.
4.1.2 Server mode conformance
In order to conform in server mode, a language processor shall allow programs written in another
language to call procedures written in its language (i.e. it will accept and execute procedure calls
generated by another processor which is executing in a program that is written in that other
language and which is operating in client mode, and return control to that client processor upon
completion), using the language-independent procedure calling (LIPC) as provided by clauses 5, 6
and 7 of this International Standard. In this case it is said to conform in (and be able of operating
As part of this, the language processor shall define a mapping from the LIPC
in) server mode.
model to its own procedure calling model.
NOTES
1 It’ is also possible in principle for a client processor to use the model for procedure calls
defined in this International Standard to call procedures in the same language; executing on
a server processor in the same language, and if the processor conforms in both client and
server mode, it is even possible for it to serve itself using this model.
2 If a procedure is to be portable between processors which conform in server mode and the
procedure is still to be called by client processors and programs, the procedure, and the
processors, will also need to conform to the relevant language standard and the relevant
standards binding for that language to the LIPC and LID standards.
5
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ISO/IEC 13886:1996(E) @ ISO/IEC
5 A model of procedure calling: informal description
5.1 Model overview
A procedure is defined to be a closed sequence of instructions that is entered from, and returns
control to, an external source.
The general structure of a procedure call can be described as a single thread of execution in
a particular program where the flow of control is passed from one procedure to another. The
originator of the call is known as the client procedure and the procedure being called is referred to
as the server procedure.
It is possible for a server procedure to also be a client procedure if it makes a call
NOTE 1 -
to another procedure in order to complete its desired function.
Procedures have the ability to exchange data between the client and server via the use of parameters
(see 5.2). In addition, client and server procedures may also share data through the use of global
data (see 5.2.2). In order for the parameters specified by the client procedure to be interpreted
correctly, the parameters are required to be marshalled (see 5.2.3) to a base form for transmission
that is shared by both the client and the server procedure. After the data has been transmitted,
the server procedure must then unmarshall (see 5.2.3) the data from the base form into datatypes
that are defined in the server language or in the language binding to ISO/IEC 11404 - Language-
Independent Datatypes for that particular language.
- An example of the process of marshalling and unmarshalling of parameters would be
NOTE 2
if a Pascal client procedure made a call to a Fortran server procedure passing a single character
parameter by value. The Pascal “char” datatype would map to a LID character. In order to
have the LID character be transmitted to the server procedure, the LID character is marshalled
to an appropriate ASN.l value, for example, which is a form that would be understood by both
the client and server procedures. The ASN.1 value would then be transmitted to the server and
upon receipt it is unmarshalled into a LID character, which in turn maps to a “character*l” in
Fortran.
The following diagram outlines the basic components of the language-independent call model:
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ISO/IEC 13886:1996(E)
@ ISO/IEC
Contract
e--e
Client Procedure - Server Procedure
MarshaIIing u nmarshalling
Interface Interface
Actual
Contract
I .
Y
I I
A r-l
1 Client Provider 1-u c Server Provider
c
Language-Independent Procedure CaII Model
This model illustrates how the client and server procedures communicate when their implementa-
tions conform to this International Standard. The virtual contract between the client procedure and
server procedure is defined by the Interface Definition Notation contained within this International
Standard. Upon the instantiation of a call, the m
...
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