-<!-- $Id: comstack.xml,v 1.9 2002-08-17 07:55:51 adam Exp $ -->
+<!-- $Id: comstack.xml,v 1.10 2003-02-21 12:06:05 adam Exp $ -->
<chapter id="comstack"><title>The COMSTACK Module</title>
<sect1 id="comstack.synopsis"><title>Synopsis (blocking mode)</title>
<para>
The &comstack;
subsystem provides a transparent interface to different types of transport
- stacks for the exchange of BER-encoded data. At present, the
- RFC1729 method (BER over TCP/IP), local UNIX socket and an
+ stacks for the exchange of BER-encoded data and HTTP packets.
+ At present, the RFC1729 method (BER over TCP/IP), local UNIX socket and an
experimental SSL stack are supported, but others may be added in time.
The philosophy of the
module is to provide a simple interface by hiding unused options and
<variablelist>
<varlistentry><term><literal>tcpip_type</literal></term>
- <listitem><para>TCP/IP (BER over TCP/IP)
+ <listitem><para>TCP/IP (BER over TCP/IP or HTTP over TCP/IP)
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><literal>ssl_type</literal></term>
<listitem><para>Secure Socket Layer (SSL). This COMSTACK
- is experimental and is not fully implemented.
+ is experimental and is not fully implemented. If
+ HTTP is used, this effectively is HTTPS.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><literal>unix_type</literal></term>
- <listitem><para>Unix socket (unix only). Fast local transfer via
+ <listitem><para>Unix socket (unix only). Local Transfer via
file socket. See <citerefentry><refentrytitle>unix</refentrytitle>
<manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
</para></listitem>
The <literal>blocking</literal> parameter should be one if
you wish the association to operate in blocking mode, zero otherwise.
The <literal>protocol</literal> field should be
- <literal>PROTO_Z3950</literal>.
+ <literal>PROTO_Z3950</literal> or <literal>PROTO_HTTP</literal>.
Protocol <literal>PROTO_SR</literal> is no longer supported.
</para>
</synopsis>
<para>
- Receives a PDU from the peer. Returns the number of bytes read.
+ Receives a PDU or HTTP Response from the peer. Returns the number of
+ bytes read.
In nonblocking mode, it is possible that not all of the packet can be
read at once. In this case, the function returns 1. To simplify the
interface, the function is